lemon curd, berry topped meringues

I just bought some meringue cookies (from Trader Joe's) and used a grapefruit spoon to carefully hollow out the centers of the cookies without piercing the bottoms.  Yes, I broke a few in the process.  I spooned lemon curd into the centers and garnished with blueberries.

pasta with peas and ham

Light Pasta with ‘Cream’, Peas and Ham

Serves 6.  This is one of our favorite kinds of pasta, but it is usually made with lots of cream and butter.  This version is only 390 calories per serving.  We were all out of fettuccine the day we made it so linguine worked just fine. 

            12 oz. fettuccine                                   4 oz. chopped Canadian bacon

            2 c. peas (fresh or defrosted)                1 c. half-and-half

            1 shallot, chopped                                ¾ c. grated Romano cheese

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, adding peas to water for last 5 minutes.  Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, sauté shallot with Canadian bacon for 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add the drained pasta and peas, and half-and-half; heat 2 minutes until sauce clings to pasta.  If it is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta cooking water.  Toss with cheese and serve.       

pasta with fresh tomato sauce and some roast chicken

Thanks to Martha Stewart Living for the chicken recipe, and then to Food and Wine for the pasta recipe.  I made the pasta sauce and boiled the pasta while the chicken was roasting and resting.
http://www.marthastewart.com/1064387/roasted-quartered-chicken-herb-sauce

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tagliatelle-with-garlicky-tomato-sauce

pound cake and strawberries

Ricotta-Orange Pound Cake with Prosecco Strawberries

Serves 8.  This wonderful and tasty dessert is from the May 2014 issue of Food and Wine magazine.  I heard that Prosecco is now the top selling sparkling wine.

            1½ sticks of butter (12 Tbs.), at            2 Tbs. amaretto liqueur

              room temperature, plus more              1 tsp. vanilla extract

              for greasing the pan                             1 tsp. finely grated orange zest

            1½ c. cake flour                                   1 lb. strawberries, hulled and quartered

            2½ tsp. baking powder                         2 Tbs. Prosecco

            1 tsp. kosher salt                                  powdered sugar, for dusting

            1½ c. fresh ricotta cheese                     lightly sweetened whipped cream,

            1½ c. + 2 Tbs. granulated sugar              for serving

            3 large eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a DEEP, 9”-round cake pan.  In a bowl, whisk cake flour, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat ricotta, 12 Tbs. butter, and 1½ c. sugar at medium high speed until smooth.  Beat in eggs one at a time until just incorporated, then beat in amaretto, vanilla and orange zest.   Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches just until incorporated.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.  Transfer to a rack to cool for 20 minutes; unmold and let cool completely.

In a bowl, toss strawberries with remaining Prosecco and remaining 2 Tbs., sugar and let stand at room temperature until juicy, about 30 minutes. 

Dust pound cake with powdered sugar.  Cut into wedges and serve with the strawberries and whipped cream.      

chopped kale salad

Chopped Kale Salad

Serves 8-10.  This is adapted from a recipe in the May 2014 issue of Food and Wine magazine and is a great combination of salty and sweet.

            1 c. pecans, chopped                            three Belgian endives – halved,

            ½ c. mascarpone cheese                         cored and thinly sliced

            6 Tbs. apple cider vinegar                     one 6-oz. head of radicchio – halved,

            5 Tbs. olive oil                                         cored and thinly sliced

            salt and pepper                                     8 dates, or fresh figs, cut into wedges

            10 oz. Tuscan kale, stems tossed          4 oz. sliced prosciutto, chopped

              and leaves thinly sliced                        4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread pecans in a pie plate and bake for 8 minutes, until golden.  Let cool.

In a very large bowl, whisk mascarpone, vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper.  Add toasted pecans, kale, endives, radicchio, dates and prosciutto and toss well.  Season salad with salt and pepper.  Top with Gorgonzola crumbles and serve.    

japanese curry

This recipe from Saveur makes a large quantity.  I cut it in half and had 4-6 servings.  For the curry powder, go to an Asian market and pick up the S&B brand of oriental curry powder - this is a different blend than in an Indian curry.
http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/retro-japanese-curry

red shrimp remoulade

Thanks Saveur magazine for a virtual trip to New Orleans.  http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/leruths-red-shrimp-remoulade

zucchini roll-ups

Zucchini Rollatini

Makes 12 rollatini, serves 4.  I enjoyed this dish from Martha Stewart.  The bright tomato taste marries beautifully with the creamy cheese and the salty prosciutto.  You can make it vegetarian by leaving out the prosciutto.

            2 large zucchini (8-10” long), cut           5-6 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto

              lengthwise into 12 ⅛” slices                 1 lb. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

            coarse salt and fresh ground pepper      24 large fresh basil leaves, plus more

            1 Tbs. olive oil, plus as needed                 for garnish

1⅓ - 2 c. good quality tomato sauce

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Season zucchini slices on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Blot moisture from zucchini.  Swirl oil into skillet and cook zucchini in 2 single-layer batches, adding more oil between batches as needed, until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. 

Top each strip of zucchini with a piece of prosciutto torn to fit, a slice of cheese cut to fit, and 2 basil leaves.  Roll each stack into a pinwheel and spear with a toothpick to hold together.          

Place tomato sauce in an 8” diameter baking dish (or divide among four 3½ - 4” diameter ramekins).  Place rollatini (pinwheel side down) side by side in dish and remove toothpicks.  Bake until cheese is bubbling, 10 – 12 minutes.  Before serving, garnish with basil.  

chicken and leeks

Braised Chicken with Honey-Lemon Leeks

Serves 4.  From the April 2014 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

            4 tsp. olive oil, divided                          1 Tbs. grated lemon rind

            8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs          4 c. thinly sliced leeks (about 3 large)

              (about 2 lbs.)                                      3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

            ¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided                    2 tsp. honey

            ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper          2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley or chives,

                                                                          garnish

Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Add 2 tsp. oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Sprinkle chicken evenly with ½ tsp. salt and pepper.  Massage lemon rind into chicken.  Place chicken in pan; cook 4 minutes per side or until browned.  Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add remaining 2 tsp. oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add leeks and remaining ¼ tsp. salt; cook 15 minutes or until leeks begin to brown, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Remove pan from heat; stir in lemon juice and honey.  Return chicken to pan.  Mound leeks on top of chicken thighs.  Bake chicken in the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165 degrees.  Top with fresh parsley or chives and serve.        

vegetable lasagna

From Cooking Light, I used no-boil lasagna noodles but soaked them in hot water first.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-artichoke-asparagus-lasagna-50400000134220/

crab cakes with buttermilk ranch dressing

Thank you Cooking Light magazine - and thank you herb garden.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/crab-cakes-buttermilk-ranch-50400000134173/

decadent bacon ice cream

Pecan-Brown Sugar and Bacon Ice Cream

Makes one pint.  I saw a recipe for this as a homemade ice cream on the website of The Splendid Table.  While wanting to try it, I just didn’t have time to make ice cream, so I devised this version as a mix-in to store bought vanilla ice cream.  Scrumptious! 

            1 pint premium vanilla ice cream            ⅓ lb. bacon, cooked until very crisp,

            2 Tbs. brown sugar                                 blotted on paper towels and finely

            ⅓ c. chopped pecans                              chopped

Let ice cream soften at room temperature a bit.  Meanwhile, melt sugar in a sauté pan over medium heat and stir in pecans to coat.  Pour out on foil sprayed with cooking spray, break apart when cooled.  Stir the candied pecans and cooked bacon into the softened ice cream; return to the freezer to re-freeze.  Try not to eat the entire pint by yourself in one sitting!      

peach date bars

From Saveur magazine - I figured they were good for you since they had fruit AND oats
http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/peach-date-bars

grilled lamb chops

These shoulder chops are marinated in a yogurt mixture to tenderize them before grilling, then just grill the onions and oranges alongside for even more flavor.  From Saveur magazine:

http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/grilled-yogurt-marinated-lamb-shoulder-chops