Tag Archives: Recipes

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake

Posted on by

4

I promised M I would make him this a long time ago, so I decided it was best to make good on that promise. Besides, he’s been giving me many guilt-trips these past few days about wanting something sweet. I hope he appreciates this! 🙂 I love lemon zest and the step where you have to rub the zest and sugar together – it smells amazing! While it’s baking is smells buttery and sweet…swoon!

Verdict: I thought it best to cut this recipe in half so the extra loaf wouldn’t tempt me! The crumb is dense, but when I bit into it; it was like a cloud 😉 It’s so light and airy – totally unexpected. It was sweet, lemony (of course) and the texture is so unique. It’s great – if you love lemon, try this!

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake – adapted from Joy the Baker 

Cake:

  • 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2-1/3 cups sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
  • 1 stick, plus 7 tbsp unsalted butter (15 tbsp total), melted and cooled

Syrup:

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • juice of two lemons
Directions:
  1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9×5-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of lemon.
  4. Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract, then whisk in the cream. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula.
  5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. As soon as the cake goes into the oven, make the syrup. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color- if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.
  6. Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
  7. When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

French Bread

Posted on by

7

Maybe I enjoy making things more difficult, or it may just be the fact that I love making as much from scratch as possible. I enjoy learning new techniques as well as avoiding buying more over-priced foods from Publix, (the money saving makes it even more rewarding for me). I needed to make these for meatball sandwiches, so hopefully they’ll hold up well to the sauce, cheese and of course – the meatballs. This dough was hard to work with because it was so sticky.
Verdict: These were really good with a nice tight crumb so they held up well to the meatball subs we used these for. They have a nice chewy crust too – overall a great choice for future sandwiches. Before adding the meatballs, I hollowed out the bread to make room for easier handling and eating. All the bread guts went into a freezer bag to be used for bread crumbs – waste not, want not! Thanks for reading, enjoy!
French Bread – adapted from The Sisters’ Cafe
  • 2 ¼ c. warm water
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp yeast
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp oil
  • 5 ½ -6 cups flour-stirred before measured

First dissolve sugar and yeast in the warm water. Let this proof—or sit for a few minutes until it bubbles. Then add salt, oil and 3 cups of flour and beat well (At this point I switch to my dough/kneading attachment on my mixer) Add in 2 1/2 -3 more cups of flour. The dough should clean off the sides of the bowl and not be too sticky. Knead for a few minutes. Leave the dough in the mixer to rest for 10 minutes and then stir it down (turn on your mixer for 10 seconds) and then allow to rest another 10 minutes. Repeat for a total of 5 times. Then turn dough onto a floured surface and knead it 2 or 3 times to coat with flour. Divide into 2 equal parts. Roll each part into a 9×13 rectangle. Roll dough up, starting from long edge of loaf to seal. Arrange seam side down on large baking sheet that’s been sprinkled with corn meal, allowing room for both loaves. Repeat with second part of dough. With a sharp knife, cut 3 gashes at an angle on the top of each. Cover lightly; allow to rise 30 minutes. Brush entire surface with egg wash (one egg beaten slightly with 1 Tbsp of water). If desired, sprinkle with sesame seads. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. Cool on racks

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Posted on by

1

Quick Post: I love balsamic vinaigrette! This one is full of flavor and it’s not too tangy because the sweetness of the honey mellows out the vinegar. This couldn’t be easier and I used one of my favorite kitchen tools to knock this out. Using the stick blender quickly made this creamy and homogenized mixture. I will make this again as soon as this batch runs out, but thankfully I doubled it to fill my 8 ounce Ball jar perfectly. It’s so good! I’m pretty happy that I don’t have to waste money on store bought dressings that are full of junk – this is a dressing I can feel good about using. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Balsamic Vinaigrette – adapted from Jan’s Sushi Bar

  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. If you have a stick blender, use it to blitz all these ingredients together. If not, whisk all ingredients together, pour into a glass, sealable container and place in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavors to marry. Enjoy over your favorite salad greens 🙂

Basic Baked Eggs

Posted on by

2

I knew I would need a heartier breakfast for gym mornings, and I figure the extra calories and fat are ok as long as I’m working hard. Lately I’ve been getting headaches, probably from not having any caffeine or refined sugar these past few days. Thankfully they’re minor headaches and I expect my body to come to terms with the new eating habits soon.

Protein and complex carbs are always good choices pre workout – so I’ve read anyway. I’m no dietician, but it makes sense to me 😉 I’m using some of the leftover roasted veggies that I made the other day to make this even more balanced and substantial. This recipe is for one serving, but it’s easily doubled, tripled, ect.

Verdict: I worked out for two hours after having this breakfast, and it made a huge difference in my stamina, reaction time and my overall “good” feeling. I wasn’t sluggish or tired and I felt great. After my workouts I eat an apple  and 1/4 cup of raw walnuts to refuel so I’m not starving until lunch time. During the day I have more energy, I’m never starving and my body just works better – I’m loving it! Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Baked Eggs –

  • 1 egg
  • butter for greasing the ramekin
  • small amounts of roasted veggies, grape tomatoes, spinach, ham, herbs, cheese – whatever you would like
  • kosher salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease your ramekin.
2. Place a few TBSP of your preferred add ins, crack and egg and drop it on top. Bake in the oven 10 – 15 minutes or until just set – if it looks fully cooked in the oven, it will be over cooked later.
3. Serve with fresh fruit and whole grain toast, enjoy!

Green Monster Smoothie

Posted on by

0

I’m going to be brave and hopefully I will enjoy this. I really need to get more vegetables into my diet! When I eat healthfully, I feel so much better inside and out; and I have so much more energy. I slacked off big time these past few months – food is my weakness. But now that school has started again I have a lot more time to get my workouts in and plan for healthier snacks and meals for me.

Verdict: Wow! Not bad at all 🙂 The more frozen banana the better though, and next time I’ll add some strawberries and maybe some blueberries. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Green Monster Smoothie –

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 large handfulls of spinach
  • 1 frozen banana
Blend all ingredients until perfectly smooth. Drink, enjoy, feel healthier! 😉

Brioche Buns

Posted on by

3

Yum – hamburgers with caramelized onions, chipotle Gouda, avocado, and tomato…so good. Up until today, I have never caramelized onions before, but it couldn’t be easier. If you have 15 minutes, onion and olive oil – you’re golden! Just be sure to stir them around every once in a while so they brown evenly. My house smells amazing and I am going to have to make these every time we make hamburgers now – for the smell alone! 😉 Oh, and if that wasn’t enough to make these burgers special, I made brioche buns. These are light, fluffy and slightly sweet buns enriched with eggs, butter and sweetened with honey. The dough is pretty sticky but so light and pillow soft. These burgers had so many flavors going on – sweet, salty, savory and spicy. I am so hooked on caramelized onions now, I’m going to have to find more ways to use them. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Brioche Buns  –  adapted from Home Cooking in Montana
  • 2/3 cup warm milk
  • 1/3 cup warm water
  • 3 TBS honey
  • 2 ex-large eggs, room temp.
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 cups bread flour(+ more, if needed)
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
Topping:
  • 1 egg yolk, for brushing( you can mix the yolk with a bit of water, if you like)
Directions:
1. In the bowl of a mixer add the flours(3 cups first), yeast and the salt. Whisk to combine and add the sliced soft butter.
2. In a glass measuring cup, combine milk, warm water, eggs and honey. Whisk to combine and add it all to the dry ingredients.
3. Place a kneading hook and turn on mixer. Mix on low scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the flour. Increase the speed to medium. Knead for 8 minutes…the dough should be tacky and look pretty sticky. If you feel the dough is sticking to the sides too much add 1 TBS of flour at a time until the dough gathers around the hook and slaps around the sides of the bowl. It may still stick a bit to the sides, but not overly. Don’t be tempted to add too much flour or the buns will be dry.~ I probably added another couple of tablespoonfuls of extra flour.
4. Continue kneading for an additional 2 more minutes… for a total of 10 minutes.
5. Scrape the sticky dough that clings to the sides of the mixer bowl and then form all of the dough in a ball. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until at least doubled in bulk and is nice and puffy… 1 to 2 hours.
6. Plop the soft dough unto a floured countertop… sprinkle a bit of flour on top as well. Using a dough scraper, divide dough into 8-10 equal parts. With floured hands form balls and place on lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet as they will rise some more.
7. Flatten the balls down a bit( to about 1 1/2-2 inches or so) and brush with egg yolk. Cover loosely( with oiled plastic wrap) and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours… or until nicely puffed.
8. Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. F with rack in center. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes(depending on the size of the bread buns…mine took about 11 minutes.)

Simple Roasted Chicken

Posted on by

6

This is great practice in roasting for me – Fall is just around the corner! I love  Fall because of all the warm, comforting recipes I can make again. The chicken smelled amazing about 10 minutes in and only took about 70 minutes to cook to the 160 degree mark. Once the bird is out of the oven, it continues to cook (“carry-over cooking); so you want to take it out early or it will be toast!
Verdict: Moist, tender, delicious! Trussing the chicken does make a difference and using the probe thermometer makes this a worry free method of cooking the whole chicken. I’m not one to eat the skin, but it was nice and crispy and perfectly browned. Don’t throw the carcass away – there is a lot of great flavor and meat remaining which is perfect for making homemade chicken stock. I’m going to collect a few more for the freezer before making some. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Roast Chicken – 
  • 1 – 3.5 pound chicken
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lemon, halved (*rolled and pierced with the knife)
  • 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
  • a hand full of cilantro
  • 1 TBSP softened butter
Special equipment:
  • kitchen twine for trussing (*not completely necessary, but it ensures even roasting and nicer presentation)
  • probe thermometer
  • half sheet pan
  • heavy duty foil
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Wrap a half sheet pan in heavy duty foil.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of cilantro, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Insert a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the breast (*it’s the easiest, fool proof way of knowing when the chicken is finished cooking*)

Roast the chicken until a thermometer reads 160 degrees, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

Linguine and Clam Sauce

Posted on by

2

Quick, easy and flavorful! My favorite kind of meal. I only had 1/4 cup of white wine so I used enough of the drained clam juice to make up the difference. I also added lemon zest to brighten up the flavor, besides – lemon and seafood are best buds 😉 I didn’t have heavy cream and used half and half instead. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Linguine and Clam Sauce – adapted from The Pioneer Woman

  • 1 pound linguine
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 – 10 ounce cans chopped clams, juice reserved
  • 3/4 cup white wine
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • zest of one lemon
  • lemon slices for garnish
  • 2 TBSP flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Cook the linguine according to package directions. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the garlic and clams and stir together and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the white wine, scrapping the bottom of the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce is reduced. Add one more tablespoon of butter and stir to melt. Reduce heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir in the parsley and pour in the cream. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir well and taste for seasoning, adding a splash of clam juice in if the sauce needs thinning. Cook over low heat for 3 more minutes or until heated through. Pour the sauce over the cooked linguine, toss to combine. Top with freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!

Smoothies to Go!

Posted on by

5

My son’s first day of third grade is tomorrow, so last week I started looking for clever lunch ideas for him. This frozen smoothie idea is genius because it will keep his lunch box cool and give him a healthy treat that I can feel really good about. I bought these plastic freezer containers that Ball makes and they’re the perfect size. I made our favorite smoothie recipe in the food processor and it made enough to fill 5 containers plus some extra that the kids happily shared. After they were all nicely portioned I wiped the rims well, sealed them up and stowed them in the freezer. All he needs to do is stir it up once it’s lunch time – I’m hoping that it is soft enough for him to drink, but not too soft that it becomes watery.

Verdict: Yay! I am pleased to report that Little Boy M had a great first day and the smoothie thawed out enough and he happily ate it with a spoon. He also reported that his juice box was nice and cold, too. I asked him how it tasted and he said it tasted like one I just made for him. I think I might have to buy more of the freezer jars because both my kids are going to expect these everyday in their lunches.  Best. Idea. Ever! Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Smoothie

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 2 TBSP mild honey
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 cup frozen peaches
Directions:
It couldn’t be easier! Pour all your ingredients in a food processor and blend away! Spoon the smoothie into the freezable Ball containers, wipe the rims and place in your freezer. Enjoy!

Parmesan Baked Tilapia

Posted on by

1

Quick Post: This dinner couldn’t be easier, and it was so tasty. I modified this a little with the addition of lemon zest for the butter/cheese mixture. Mine cooked perfectly in 10 minutes plus the 2 minute broiler time. Watch your fish carefully and adjust the cook time as necessary. I had one really small piece of fish that I added to the baking sheet 5 minutes into the cooking and it came out perfectly. We enjoyed this meal with a green salad, but you could serve it with rice, pasta or steamed veggies. Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Parmesan Baked Tilapia – adapted from How Sweet Eats
  • 4 tilapia filets
  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup grated/shredded parmesan cheese
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • zest of one lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • lemon slices for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pat tilapia dry (if frozen, it should be thawed first) with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Lay on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and bake for 10-12 minutes. While fish is baking, mix butter with garlic, lemon zest and parmesan cheese.

Remove fish from oven and gently flip. Spread about 1/2 tablespoons of butter mixture on the fish, and heat the broiler in your oven. Set fish under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes, or until cheese gets golden and bubbly.

Serve with lemon.