Lemon-y Goodness

20 July 2010
Posted by GS
from milkandhoneycafe.blogspot.com, serves 8-10


Lemon Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbs. cake flour
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
9 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
2. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Line with parchment and grease loaf pan.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. (Please do the full 4-5 minutes because this makes the cake really light and fluffy.) Increase the speed to medium-high and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla and 2 Tbs. of the lemon juice. (Here, I added 5 instead!)
5. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, beating each addition until just incorporated and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the lemon zest.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 70 to 75 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes.

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Lasagne

05 July 2010
Posted by GS
from Jamie's Food Revolution, serves 4-6


For the Bolognese Sauce

2 slices of smoked bacon
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
olive oil
2 heaped teaspoons of dried oregano
1 pound of good-quality ground beef, pork, or a mixture of the two
2 x 14-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a small bunch of fresh basil
2 oz. Parmesan cheese

For the lasagne

8 oz. dried egg lasagne sheets
2 cups of creme fraiche or 2 cups thick sour cream
4 oz. Parmesan cheese
1 large ripe tomato, sliced

To make your Bolognese sauce

Finely slice the bacon. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Place a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, your sliced bacon, and the oregano and cook and stir until the bacon is lightly golden. Ad the vegetables to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly coloured. Stir in the ground meat and the canned tomatoes. Fill one of the empty cans with water and add to the pan. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pick the basil leaves and place in the refrigerator for later. Finely chop the basil stalks and stir into the pan. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with a lid on for 45 minutes, stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

To finish the sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the Bolognese sauce from the heat. Finely grate the 2 ounces of Parmesan into the sauce. Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones aside for later. Have a taste of the sauce, and season with a little more salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

To make your lasagne

Grate your 4 ounces of Parmesan. Boil some water in a pan, then add all your lasagne sheets with a drizzle of oil and blanch (slightly soften) for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the sheets in a colander and carefully pat them dry with some paper towels to absorb any excess water. Spoon a third of your Bolognese sauce into the bottom of an earthenware ovenproof dish. Follow with a layer of lasagne sheets. Dollop over a third of your creme fraiche and smooth it out to cover the lasagne sheets. Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and pepper and a third of your grated Parmesan. Add another layer of lasagne, and repeat the layers twice more, finishing with a layer of creme fraiche and the remaining Parmesan. Top with some slices of tomato, scatter over the small basil layers, and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil, place in the preheated oven, and bake for 20 minutes. After that, remove the aluminum foil and cook for a further 35 minutes until the lasagne is bubbling and golden.
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Lemon Glazed

16 June 2010
Posted by GS

For anyone who loves lemon, you're in for a treat. The cookies have a light lemon flavour but for an extra burst of tanginess, you must add the glaze. On Martha Stewart's website, the cookies appear to be quite flat holding a sizeable amount of glaze; however, my cookies turned out quite domed leaving much glaze to drip down the sides. In saying that, I had about half of the glaze left so, of course, I had to bake another batch of cookies. One should never waste frosting, right? I should also mention that the second time around, I used exactly a tablespoon of dough for each cookie, instead of "heaping" tablespoons, and ended up making about 35 cookies instead of 24. Life is good.


Glazed Lemon Cookies
marthastewart.com, makes 24

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze (below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until combined. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool 2 minutes on sheets, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread cookies with Lemon Glaze and let set, about 1 hour.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice until smooth.
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Jamie's Basic Risotto

15 June 2010
Posted by GS
from jamieoliver.com, serves 6

approx. 1.1 litres/2 pints stock (chicken, fish or vegetable as appropriate)
1 knob of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
½ a head of celery, finely chopped
400g/14oz risotto rice
2 wineglasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
70g/2½oz butter
115g/4oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

stage 1

Heat the stock. In a separate pan heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.


stage 2

The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the vermouth or wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.

stage 3

Once the vermouth or wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

stage 4

Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.
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Simple Black Cupcakes

12 June 2010
Posted by GS
from allrecipes.com, makes one dozen

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 eggs
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Simple White Buttercream (see below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with twelve cupcake liners. In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Whisk together by hand for about a minute. *Note: the batter will be thin. Use an ice cream scoop to evenly divide the batter into the prepared cupcake liners.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire frame to finish cooling.


Simple White Buttercream
makes enough to frost 1 dozen cupcakes

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whip together all the ingredients using an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
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