Lemon Roasted Chicken

Ina Garten's recipe for Lemon Chicken with Croutons was the inspiration for this recipe.  I used chicken breasts & thighs instead of a whole chicken and added carrots & peas otherwise it closely follows her technique.  It was great and will definitely be making it again soon.









Lemon Roasted Chicken


3  boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 large vidalia (or sweet) onion sliced
6 carrots sliced
2 lemons halved & quartered
salt & pepper
4 T Butter, sliced
olive oil for pan
1/2 white wine
1 C chic broth
1c frozen peas

**Loaf of fresh bread from bakery such as a boulé  ( I used a rosemary boule)


In large Dutch oven drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil, sear chicken seasoned with salt & pepper to get a bit of brown coating on chicken.  You may need to do this in batches or have 2 pans going.  When all chicken is seared add onion, carrots, lemons stir to combine. Deglaze pan with wine add broth then put butter over top cover and roast till chicken is cooked through, about an hour.

Remove from oven pull chicken apart with forks to shred it and let stand 10 minutes  ( this will soak up more juices) then stir in the peas just before serving.

**While chicken is cooking cut or tear bread into cubes/chunks.  In large sauté pan sauté bread in olive oil tossing to coat, when bread is crisp remove to large serving platter.  You want bread to be a bit crispy for serving, like a soft crouton.


To serve Scoop everything from pot onto layer of croutons, allow to sit a minute so that juices soak into bread.  Chicken should be tender enough it begins to fall apart, you can pull apart any large chunks.  When serving scoop to bottom of platter to get down to bread.  The drippings make the bread yummy, there won't be a lot of liquid but enough to absorb into the bread.

toasted Rosemary Bread

topped with some fresh parsley before serving

Fruit Bars

Using a basic crumble type pastry these are delicious and so easy.  You can adapt them with most any berry if you want to change it up as the berries begin to ripen in your area.    What a great treat to take on a picnic, serve for brunch, tailgate party, dessert.........

Fruit Bars

1 C sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3 c flour

1 cup butter

1 egg--beaten

zest & juice of 1 lemon

2 c blueberries

1/4 c sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350° butter 9 x 13 pan  (you can double this and make it in a rimmed cookie sheet if you want to feed a crowd)

With pastry blender in large bowl mix sugar, baking powder, flour, lemon zest, butter (I use cold butter and grate it with a box grater for quicker blending), egg....mix till crumble looking texture forms.

Press 1/2 of mixture into 9 x 13 pan reserve the rest for the topping.

Mix berries with lemon juice, 1/4 c sugar and cornstarch and distribute evenly into pan.  Top with rest of crumble mixture and bake on middle rack about 50-55 min or till topping begins to brown.

Let cool completely then add:

juice & zest of 1 lemon mixed with 1 c confectioner sugar add a bit of water for desired consistency then drizzle over cooled bars, let set then cut into equal sized squares.

Great served for brunch or  with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

alternate berry ideas:

raspberry & almond
raspberry & white chocolate chips
strawberry & orange in place of lemon
blackberry & orange in place of lemon
apples with the orange in place of lemon

also cinnamon is a nice addition

Any other suggestions for fruit combinations I should try?

Mix blueberries with cornstarch, 1/4 c sugar & lemon juice.

use pastry blender to mix crumble mixture

press into pan

layer blueberries then top with rest of crumble

bake till golden brown

YUM!

Lemon Brownies

This is one of the most intense lemon desserts I have ever tried.  If you love lemon don't make these if you are home alone you won't be able to stop eating them till they are gone.  They are so quick and easy.

* After making this again I felt it was to flat in fact wonder if somewhere along the line something was omitted so I added 1/4 tsp baking soda to get a little more cake texture and a thicker brownie it didn't add a lot of height but still maintained that intense lemon flavor.

Lemon Brownies

Ingredients:

3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 T lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
* 1/4 tsp baking soda

Glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
4 T lemon juice
8 tsp lemon zest


Preheat oven to 350°F butter and flour 8 x 8 pan ( I used 9 in round cake pan)

Zest and juice lemons.

In mixer bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and butter till combined.  *(baking soda added here if using)

Whisk eggs, lemon juice & zest add to mixer bowl beat till smooth & creamy about 2 minutes.

Pour into baking dish bake 23- 25 minutes or till edges begin to brown or toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake.

Spread into pan.

When brownies are cooled completely whisk the glaze ingredients together and spread over brownies let set.  Glaze will not harden.  Cut and serve.

Lemon Cookie

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I needed something quick to make to take to a post tennis lunch, this fit the bill perfectly with all the ingredients on hand.  This recipe has been on many blogs, websites, pinterest, etc. after winning a cookie contest the news spread fast how good they are. Lauren's Latest  is the blogger who won the contest and started this Lemon Cookie craze.  Thank you Lauren!  They are quick & simple to make.  A couple changes I would make for my taste are I like more tart lemon flavor so will add some lemon extract and maybe even substitute it for the vanilla completely.  I love a good tart lemon taste, so will also add more zest.  This recipe makes 2-3 dozen I did get that many out of it but will double the recipe next time.  

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter, softened

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 t vanilla

1 egg

1 t lemon zest

1 T lemon juice

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking powder

1/8 t baking soda 

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c powdered sugar

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 350° line cookie sheet with parchment.

In mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy.  Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, & lemon juice scraping sides once.  Stir together salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour and add to mixer bowl.  Mix till combined, scrape sides, mix again.  Put powdered sugar into bowl.  Drop dough by teaspoonful into powdered sugar coating the whole ball of dough.  Place on baking sheet allowing room to spread.  Bake for 9-11 min or till bottom edges begin to brown.  I used a higher oven rack and it took the full 11 minutes for mine.  Let cookies sit a few minutes then transfer to cooling rack.  

Thats my honeysuckle plant that is covered in blooms.

Lemon Cake

Lemon Bliss Cake
(from the King Arthur Flour website)

Ingredients:

1 c unsalted butter
2 c sugar
1 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3 c King Arthur unbleached all purpose Flour
1 c milk
finely grated rind of 2 lemons

Glaze:

1/3 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 c confectioner sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 10 inch tube pan.

Beat together butter, sugar, and salt to combine then till fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating after each.  Mix flour, baking powder then add alternately with the milk to the butter mixture.  Stir in rind and spoon into prepared pan.

Bake 50-60 min depending on your oven.  While baking blend the glaze ingredients together.

Let cake rest for 5 minutes, run knife around edge and remove cake from pan to cake plate.  Poke holes into cake with toothpick or skewer then drizzle with glaze allowing it to run into holes.  Let set a minute then drizzle with more glaze till it is gone.

Lemon Pound Cake

Lemon or chocolate are the only two things I can't resist if I'm looking at a dessert menu.  This pound cake is heavy on the lemon and by baking some lemon curd into the batter it adds another layer of lemon also makes even moister.  I used Whole wheat white flour from my all time favorite King Arthur Flour so it gave it a bit of a grainier bread like texture which I liked but if you prefer the cake type texture you can use all purpose flour or a mixture will give you that.
 With a cup of tea this is perfect!


Lemon Pound Cake

2 sticks butter softened
2 c granulated sugar
4 extra large eggs
1/3 c lemon zest
3 c flour--I used whole wheat white
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
3 T lemon curd

syrup:
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c lemon juice

glaze:

2 c confectioner sugar
3 T lemon juice

Directions:
preheat oven to 350°
Cream your butter and sugar in a large bowl, then add eggs one at a time mixing between each, add lemon zest.
Sift together flour, powder, soda, salt and set aside.
Mix together lemon juice, buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon extract.
Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to creamed butter/sugar bowl mixing well between each.

Grease and flour two bread pans 8 1/2 x 4 1/2,  I also line bottom with parchment.  Spoon 1/4 batter into each pan, drop by spoonfuls lemon curd over the top of batter.  Spoon the rest of batter over the lemon curd in each pan.

Bake about 45 minutes till cake tester comes out clean.

Let cakes cool then set on wire rack over pan.  Meanwhile combine 1/2 c granulated sugar and 1/2 c lemon juice in a saucepan and stir till sugar dissolves.  Spoon over cakes.  Then allow to cool completely.

Mix confectioners sugar and lemon juice to form glaze, drizzle over cake allowing it to run down sides.

Lemon curd spread over batter.

cakes having just had syrup drizzled.

Creamy Mascarpone Cheese And Wild Arugula Pasta

I'm a big fan of NPR, always enjoyed it on the radio but my current car came with Sirius Radio which I didn't think I would use that much but my husband would have bought the car just for that.  In fact he has been swayed by a car for its stereo system before, I just wasn't that into it.  However I spend a lot of hours on the road so after the 6 months of free Sirius I was convinced to buy the subscription.........6 months free has to have been a great promotion for Sirius.  Well if you haven't heard Click and Clack you gotta check it out online, between the Boston accents and their infectious laughter it'll give you an hour of fun whether you are into cars or not.  My father in law is a huge "Prairie Home Companion" fan, we would often listen to that coming home from State College after Penn State games with him.  The NPR website is a wealth of information on all types of subjects so when I saw this article on Arugula and I had a ton of it in my refrigerator I had my dinner side dish for the night.  The recipes in this article come from Susan Russo who is a contributor to "Kitchen Window" and her blog Food Blogga  is a great find for new ideas, especially after a visit to a farmers market.   This pasta recipe is really simple, easy, quick and for me could have been the whole meal. A good meal if you are home alone and you'll have some to reheat the next day---maybe.

Link for NPR article:
Fresh, Feisty Arugula:  More Than a Salad Green

Creamy Mascarpone Cheese And Wild Arugula Pasta

Ingredients:

1/2 lb spiral pasta  (Barilla Plus  my favorite)

3 oz mascarpone cheese (I used 6 oz)

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

2 T pasta water  (I used 1/4 cup)

3 c packed arugula

4 T fresh grated parmigiana cheese (I stirred some into the pasta also)

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

extra olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

In a large pot, cook pasta in salted water till al dente.

Meanwhile in small bowl whisk mascarpone cheese, lemon zest & juice, salt & pepper, and hot pasta water until smooth and creamy.

Drain pasta, add back to pot with arugula and toss.  

Add cheese mixture and toss till coated.

Divide onto plates, top with grated parmigiana, red pepper flakes, and drizzle of olive oil if desired.

I add a bit of grated lemon zest on top
with the cheese and red pepper flakes.

Served it with Tilapia sprinkled with Old
Bay on Spinach.

Grandma Gibson's Lemon Meringue Pie

There isn't a memory of Grandma's house that doesn't include Lemon Pie.  We have the recipe but have yet to have it match hers.  I recently found the recipe in her hand writing on a piece of scrap paper, she must have written it from memory while visiting me.  I wish I had gotten a photo of her with one of her famous pies.  She baked pies for her church, the fire company picnics, friends celebrating or mourning, for all of us every time we asked.  She lived to be 95 and was still baking pies.  My grandfather passed away when she was only 49, she went to work and  put in enough years to retire from the Post Office.  She quilted almost everyday until both wrists required surgery at 89, she always had an amazing flower garden, she painted, mowed her 7 acres on her John Deere, truly an example for all of us.  The pie didn't come out as good as hers, but I also think some of the memory lies in having it with her at the lake.

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 baked pie shell

2 lemons (zest of one and juice of both)

1 1/4 c sugar

pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

2 C cold water

1 T butter

mix in top of double boiler

add:

2 Large Tablespoons Flour

2 Large Tablespoons cornstarch (dissolved in cold water)

cook until thick, pour into pie shell.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of cream of tarter

5 T sugar

with mixer beat adding one Tablespoon of sugar at a time till stiff peaks form.

That is all that is written on the slip of paper she wrote while visiting me, so I have googled different recipes to compare directions.  I used her measurements with the following instructions:

In top of double boiler bring to boil the lemon juice, zest, sugar, salt, water, & butter stirring with a whisk.  When it appears well blended dip about 1/2 cup out to mix with the blended egg yolks to temper them,  adding it gradually then mixing it all back into pot.  Stirring constantly until mixture thickens.  Then pour into hot pie crust.

Beat all meringue ingredients until stiff peaks form, then spoon onto warm lemon mixture.  Bake at 350° for 10-12 min till meringue is golden.  Let cool completely so lemon sets or it will run.

Not bad for my first attempt!

With an ice tea today--that was lunch. 

Lewis Lake, Union Dale, PA