Lemon Bars

Wow, lemon bars are one of those special treats that you always remember having! Maybe it’s the tart yet sweet tang you get from the fresh squeezed lemon juice and zest in the custard or the rich flakiness you get from the crust that almost reminds you of lemon meringue pie…of course with out the meringue. All and all I think making lemon bars are a lot easier than making pie. If fact, until you try this great recipe you’ll never believe how easy it is to whip up and all your friends will think you are an incredible baker!

The inspiration came from my neighbor Julie who is one of those amazing homemaker’s who could give Martha Stewart a run for her money! Julie is always creating little treats for people and when she delivered these lemon bar wedges in a pretty little tin I knew was going to have to blog about them. These really do make a lovely gift especially now around the holidays and you can divide one batch into several gifts with ornate tins that you can find every where lining them with parchment paper so the lemon bars don’t bounce around too much in the tin.

You can cut them into squares or wedges and you don’t have to worry about little imperfections that happen naturally when you slice them because the confectioners sugar that you sprinkle on top makes the whole process a lot more forgiving then you anticipated. The recipe Julie follows is from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. So of course I went through several recipes and I found hers to be the most straight forward without any nonsense. For example, one recipe had you putting down foil under the crust for ease of removal later after the custard is baked and cooled. The BIG problem here is when you pull up the edges of the aluminum foil and remove it out all in one piece it destroys the entire smoothness of the custard and that confectioners sugar can be only so forgiving. So forget the foil! What helps when cutting the lemon bars is keeping a very sharp knife in a glass of very hot water, wipe off excess water drips and then cut thru for a cleaner edge.

There were where several other recipes that use confectioners sugar in the dough mixture for the crust, but as Julie put’s it they are already sweet enough we don’t need to over do it.  I know you will enjoy these lemon bars as much as I do and now with the holidays upon us you have a great excuse to eat them too!

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST – PRE-HEAT OVEN TO 350º

• 2 c. flour
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter-ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS FOR CRUST:

• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with mixer.
• Sift flour and salt and add to butter mixture on low until just mixed
• Turn dough out onto well floured board and form into a ball
• Flatten out ball in 9″ X 13″ X 2″ baking pan like shown in photo and then chill 20 minutes
• Bake crust for 15-20 minutes til very light brown. Let cool on wire rack and keep oven going
• Once the crust is cooled the begin to mix custard…DO NOT MAKE CUSTARD BEFORE MAKING CRUST (you don’t want the custard mixture laying around while you wait for crust to cool)

INGREDIENTS FOR CUSTARD:

• 6 extra-lg eggs
• 3 c. sugar
• 1 c. flour
• 2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (4-6 lemons)
• 1 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (from zested lemons)
• 1/2 c. confectioners sugar for dusting the top

DIRECTIONS FOR CUSTARD:

• Whisk the eggs, sugar, and flour
• Then whisk in lemon zest and lemon juice
• Pour over the cooled crust and bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling is set
• NOTE: it may look a little giggly but will firm more as it cools
• Let it cool a little
• Put into frigerator for 2 hours
• When cutting the lemon bars keep the sharp knife in a glass of very hot water, wipe off excess water drips and the cut thru for a cleaner edge
• Cut them into wedges or squares and sprinkle with confectioners sugar

Here are some other dishes you may want to take a peak at….enjoy : )

 

Meatballs Stuffed with Mozzarella

There’s a nice little surprise in these yummy Italian beef meatballs… mozzarella! I serve these with a bowl of marinara and a sprinkle of Reggiano Parmesano…they fly off the plate. The best thing about this appetizer is making them ahead of time when you are making your normal style meatballs (see my “authentic Italian Meatballs” post) for pasta sauce. Just take 1/3 of the meatball mixture and stuff them with the mozzarella and then freeze for a later date, thaw and bake briefly to heat thru. There nothing more comforting then gooey mozzarella oozing from mouth watering meatballs dunked in homemade tomato and basil marinara! Try them… you’ll love them and so will your friends.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Ingredients – Makes 21 Small Meatballs:

• 1 lb. Angus beef
• 1 extra-large egg
• 3/4 cup after soaked in milk – (1/2 loaf of 2 day old Italian bread soaked in 1 cup milk)
• 1/2 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan cheese
• 1 lg. garlic clove put thru garlic press
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1/4 Tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1 16 oz. mozzarella block cut into 1/2″ squares

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400º
2. Break up a 1/2 loaf of 2 day old Italian bread and place into a large bowl as shown in photo
3. Pour 1 cup milk over bread and let it absorb for 10 minutes
4. Wash, spin, dry and finely chop parsley, set aside
5. Discard outer crusts from soaking Italian bread
6. Begin to break soaking bread pieces apart with your fingers…if you feel any gooey pieces throw those away (if it sat out for a couple of days it won’t get gooey)…the bread should just fall apart easily
7. Take 3/4’s cup of this soaking bread and add to a large mixing bowl
8. To this bowl add in Parmesan, chopped parsley, garlic clove thru garlic press, salt and pepper and 1 egg
9. Whisk til just combined
10. Add in 1 lb. of Angus beef and begin to mix gently with your hands…DON’T over work the meatballs you don’t want it to look fully combined like a meatloaf
11. Using a cookie scooper begin to shape and roll mixture with your hands – they will be small about 1 1/2″…have a small bowl of water to the side to keep hands damp not wet (this makes it easier to rolls meatballs)
12. Cut up 1/2″ squares of the mozzarella block
13. Press thumb into middle of the round meatball, place in cheese square & pull the sides of the meat back over the cheese to seal it up
14. Spray cookie tray with Pam canola oil
15. Place 21 shaped & stuffed meatballs onto the cookie tray and spray the tops of the meatballs
16. Place them into the oven for 15 minutes, take out flip meatballs over and bake for another 10 minutes…mangia mangia : )

Thai Quinoa Salad

This Thai quinoa salad with a ginger peanut dressing is out of this world and so good for you! The salad was introduced to me by my good friend Kathy who brought it to one of our other friends house for a graduation party. It was so addictive I found that many people, including myself, were going back for seconds and thirds. Come to find out that Kathy had acquired it from a food blog called ambitiouskitchen.com where you must go for a visit for some yummy, and healthy recipes. As always I have tweaked the recipe slightly but you can find the original at ambitiouskitchens.com under “crunchy cashew Thai quinoa salad with ginger peanut dressing”.

This is a perfect salad for summer especially if you need to bring a dish to the beach or to a BBQ because it holds up great and it’s not your run of the mill picnic salad, everyone will be asking you for the recipe! The flavors are much like my Thai cole slaw with the peanut butter, ginger, soy, sesame oil combo but here you have the delicious soft yet slightly chewy quinoa. You are just going to love this salad!

   

   

   

 

Ingredients for the Salad – Serves 12-15 side dish proportions:

• 2 1/4 cups cooked quinoa (follow quinoa directions …usually 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa) but that will make more than 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
• 3/4 cup diced red pepper
• 3/4 cup diced purple onion
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup green onions diced (about 3 green onions)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup cashew halves or whole …which ever you prefer
• 1 cup chick peas

Directions for Salad:

1. Add all of the above ingredients to a large mixing bowl
2. When the dressing is made add to bowl and combine all of the ingredients gently til mixed and enjoy!

Ingredients for the Ginger Peanut Dressing:

• 1/4 cup all natural peanut butter (I love Teddies Peanut Butter)
• 2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy
• 1 Tbsp Honey (I use Lavender Honey)
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1Tbsp rice wine vinegar (seasoned)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• juice for 1 lime
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• A few dashes of Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce (OPTIONAL)

Directions for Salad and Dressing:

1. Add all of the above ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk til combined
2. Pour over quinoa salad and mix

This salad would be great with some of my favorites like:

 

Elizabeth’s Cafe

Penne alla vodka con gamberetti or in english translation penne in vodka sauce with shrimp is a dish I first had in Urbino, Italy where I studied for a summer and a semester back in college. This became my very favorite pasta dish to eat there. I am a huge fan of sauces and you really can’t beat all the big flavors of a thick red sauce, cream and vodka (I also add in white wine or extra dry vermouth in my recipe) that all come together to create this wonderful creation called vodka sauce which is exactly how it’s made here in Madison, CT at Elizabeth’s Cafe. Adding in the shrimp just makes makes it that much more amazing and Elizabeth’s Cafe hits it right on the nose really bringing back those memories from Italy!

Every time I have eaten at Elizabeth’s Cafe they out do themselves in executing fine sauces and flavors in their dishes. When my friend Wendy and I met there for our celebratory birthday  lunch just recently they originally stated that they were making the vodka sauce and shrimp dish with rigatoni which wasn’t a problem for us, but since we had ordered saying “penne alla vodka sauce” when the plates arrived to our surprise they had specially made it with penne pasta for us. What a lovely thing to do, so simple yet going the extra mile for the customer! I highly recommend going to Elizabeth’s Cafe for the finer things in culinary cuisine. You can access their web site at perfectparties.com.

If you would like to make vodka sauce yourself I have two versions, one with cream and one with coconut cream for gluten-free: