Tag Archives: lemon

Lemon-Ginger Icebox Cake

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Desserts, Easy, Entertaining

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I will repeatedly tell you that icebox cakes are one of the most versatile, easy, and impressive desserts you can make. All you need are thin wafter cookies, some sort of delicious filling, and a springform pan.

Proof that they are versatile: Chocolate Strawberry Icebox Cake and Peaches N’ Cream Icebox Cake

Proof they are easy: I am the new mother of a two month old and I managed to make this cake between feedings.

Proof they are impressive: It’s a cake you don’t have to bake…come on! It looks like a lot of work and it’s not. We served this to a party of 6 and everyone loved it! Continue reading →

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Broccoli Crunch Salad

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Easy, Entertaining, Salad, Side Dish

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Broccoli Crunch Salad

One of the things in life that I really excel at, seriously, I don’t even have to try – is making healthy things not so healthy anymore. But I am also dangerously good at convincing people (mostly myself) that the un-healthified meal in question is basically like eating plain lettuce.

Broccoli Salad

The real moral of the story here is that for this ridiculous dialog to be happening, there has to be a sliver of healthy goodness in there. I don’t scream out, “HEY, IT’S VEGGIE!” when I’m shoving my face at Burgerville eating my favorite Spicy Anasazi Bean Burger. I usually know when to shut up and just enjoy it. But at least I don’t get the double bacon cheeseburger….

Broccoli Salad

So anyways, this broccoli salad, yeah. It’s pretty good. No, we aren’t eating plain broccoli here, we are throwing on some creamy dressing and bacon. But broccoli is going to steal the show no matter how much we try to trash this up.

Broccoli Crunch Salad

This is a riff on those broccoli salads you have at Bridal Showers, Summer BBQ’s, and the stuff you pick up for lunch from the deli counter. Since first making this, it’s been requested by Jordan for his work lunches several times. However, if you are bringing it to work, you may want to leave out the garlic in the dressing and those red onions out of the salad…Broccoli + garlic + onions can be pretty potent, if you know what I mean. Your call though, it’s really tasty either way!

Recipe
Broccoli Crunch Salad
Serves 6 to 8
by Baked Northwest

Ingredients

for the dressing:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

for the salad:
2 heads broccoli, cut into bite sized florets (you can also trim and cube the stems for use in this salad)
8 ounces (about half of a regular sized package) bacon, cooked and chopped into bit size pieces
1/2 cup slivered almonds (can substitute peanuts or cashews)
1/3 cup Zante currants (can sub dried cranberries)
1/4 cup diced red onions (optional)
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Place all dressing ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Base amounts on how thin you like your dressing. If you like a thicker dressing, add 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. Like it thinner? Add about 2 tablespoons. If you want a sweeter dressing, add more honey, if you need a little zing, add some lemon juice! We eyeball ours and it comes out a little different each time, but it’s always delicious.

2. Place broccoli florets and all other salad ingredients into a large mixing bowl and top with dressing. Fold together until fully combined.

3. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

4. Toss salad before serving. This salad is great to make ahead and save for work lunches, but it’s always a hit at parties too!

Chewy Meringues with Tangerine-Citrus Curd

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Baking, Desserts, Entertaining, Healthy

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Meringues with Tangerine Lemon Curd

This has become one of our favorite desserts. We made it last year and could not believe how good it was! I always want a chocolatey dessert and will almost always choose that over a lighter fruit dessert (go figure) but this tangy treat is so delicious and satisfying! Luckily I was able to track down the recipe and post it here to live on in the family archives forever!

The best part about this dessert is you can switch up the citrus. In these photos, we subbed grapefruit for just about everything except for the topping, because that was the fruit we had on hand. These would be great as just plain lemon, lime, or orange as well!

Meringue with Tangerine Citrus Curd

Recipe
Chewy Meringues with Tangerine-Lemon Curd
adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 6 Meringues

Ingredients

For the Meringues:

  • 3 large egg whites
  • Dash of salt
  • 3/4 cup superfine sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (or any other citrus)
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice (same as above, any citrus works!)
For the Curd:
  • 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup fresh tangerine juice (grapefruit, orange, lemon, or lime works!)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 tangerines (fresh or canned)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare meringues, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw 6 (3-inch) circles on paper. Turn paper over; secure paper with masking tape onto baking sheet.

3. Place egg whites and salt in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium-high. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice; beat 1 minute or until the mixture is well combined.

4. Divide egg white mixture among 6 drawn circles on parchment paper. Shape meringues into nests with 1-inch sides using the back of a spoon. Place baking sheet in oven; immediately reduce oven temperature to 225°. Bake meringues at 225° for 1 hour or until dry to the touch. Turn oven off (leave pan in oven); partially open oven door. Cool meringues in oven 1 hour. Remove pan from oven; carefully remove meringues from paper. (Meringues will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.)

5. To prepare curd, combine granulated sugar and next 5 ingredients (through yolks) in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and cook 1 minute or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat; add butter, stirring until butter melts. Pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Place plastic wrap on surface of curd, and chill.

6. Peel and section tangerines; discard membranes. Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons curd into each meringue. Top each meringue with about 3 tangerine sections. You can also used canned tangerines.

Smoked Salmon Spread

25 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Appetizers, Bloggerific, Breads, Breakfast, Easy, Entertaining, Seafood

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Smoked Salmon SpreadA family friend gave us some AWESOME smoked salmon, and I’m pretty sure when most people think of smoked salmon, their brain immediately goes to…bagels…cream cheese…and Heaven.

The only thing about smoked salmon is you can never have enough. Have you ever been to party where there is just extra smoked salmon laying around? No. It’s always the first thing to go because it’s so. damn. good. When I saw Shutterbean’s post on this smoked salmon spread, I pretty much wanted to cry because I too have been late to the smoked salmon plate before. And then it was just…obvious…Smoked Salmon spread is so easy to make, and it solves the problem of all the salmon disappearing before the bagels and crackers do! And it’s super adaptable and easy, you can easily adjust to your taste!

Recipe
Smoked Salmon Spread
adapted from Shutterbean
makes about 1 1/2 cups, serves 6-8

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, at room temperature
  • about 4 oz smoked salmon, roughly chopped and divided
  • 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1-2 tsp of capers (a little bit of juice from the jar is fine, I opted to do this instead of adding milk or greek yogurt to thin it out slightly).
  • dash of hot pepper sauce (such as tabasco or sriracha)
  • 1 tbsp. fresh or dried dill (you may want to scale it back to 1 tsp, we really like dill over here)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

PRO TIP: Instead of cream cheese, try Neufchâtel cheese! It’s always right by the cream cheese at the store and often contains less fat and calories than regular cream cheese. And whoa – tastes almost the same.

Optional add-ins:

  • fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish, or you can mix a little in!
  • 1 tbsp milk or greek yogurt – if your cream cheese is too thick you may want to thin it out with another dairy product.
  • a few tbsp. red onion, mix it in or serve it on the side for the onion-o-phobes
  • want some kick? Add a dash of horseradish
  • Lemon slices always make a pretty garnish…

Directions

Combine the cream cheese, at least 2 oz of the salmon, lemon juice, capers, hot sauce, pepper, and dill to a small food processor and process until smooth. Want more salmon in there? Then add the rest. It’s a nice touch to keep a little bit of salmon set aside to garnish the dip, but you don’t need much.

Serve with crackers for a nice pre-dinner appetizer, or serve at brunch (who are we kidding, eat this whenever you want), with bagels, tomatoes, red onion and fresh slices of lemon.

Make Ahead: Dip can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Thirsty Thursday | Autumn Gin Sour

18 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Boozy, Thirsty Thursday

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Autumn Gin SourWell, the leaves have changed, the air is crisp…and all of the usual stuff everyone says about fall. However, I have never had someone serve me this awesome autumn cocktail. No, it does not reek of pumpkin spice, apples, cinnamon, or any of the fall flavors that are so overplayed now that you just kind of wince. This cocktail is just…a nice way to ease into the season.Autumn Gin Sour

Recipe
Autumn Gin Sour
adapted from Bon Appétit
Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dry gin (I used Portland’s Aviation Gin)
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ¼  cup Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or triple sec
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2 tbsp. orange marmalade

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, until very frothy, at least 1 minute. Strain into the fancy (or autumn-esque) cocktail glass of your choice.

Note: See link for Bon Appétit’s version, their recipe is 12 servings and takes a little more TLC. Our take on it is the need-it-now-I’m-so-thirsty version. Still Good.

Autumn Gin Sour

Homemade Applesauce

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Easy, Healthy, LuLu's Classics, Sauces

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Homemade Apple Sauce

When life gives you apples…you make…applesauce! Lulu’s apple tree produced a lot of good (and yes, a few bad) apples this year. While I would have liked to make 10 batches of apple cobbler, I felt like applesauce was a little more practical and healthy. Plus, I had never made homemade applesauce before, and it’s a pretty dang easy, wing-it recipe. From scratch applesauce is also about 130912830912 times better than anything you would buy at the store. I don’t care how cute those little squeeze tubes are!

Apples

Continue reading →

Quinoa Tabbouleh

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Entertaining, Healthy, Meatless Monday, Salad, Side Dish, Weeknight Meals

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Quinoa TabboulehHave you ever found yourself with an abundance of an herb, and you don’t quite know what to do with all of it? Have you ever decided to plant something, thinking you would probably kill it, when all of a sudden you have too much of one thing?Quinoa TabboulehI feel like this has happened to a lot of home gardeners with mint. You imagine you are going to have some mojitos, maybe throw it in some tea, and that’ll be it. However…many times you are left with so much mint you just don’t know how you will EVER use it all.

This Tabbouleh salad is a great solution to your mint problem. Here we use 3 cups (!!!) mint to make a refreshing and healthy summer salad. Of course, if you don’t quite have that much mint in your garden you can easily use only 1-2 cups and you are still going to have a GREAT tabbouleh. The quinoa and cabbage really mix things up too.Quinoa Tabbouleh

Recipe
Quinoa Tabbouleh
Adapted from Bon Appétit
serves 8 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1/4 – 1/2 medium head green cabbage, cut into 1”-thick wedges, then very thinly sliced crosswise (about 2 cups)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 medium head purple cabbage, cut into 1”-thick wedges, then very thinly sliced crosswise (about 2 cups)*
  • 1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia), finely chopped
  • 4 cups assorted small tomatoes, halved, quartered if large (we used red and yellow cherry tomatoes)
  • 3 cups coarsely chopped fresh mint
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt, to taste

*NOTE: you can use only green or only purple cabbage – just make sure you have about 4 cups chopped cabbage total.

Directions

  • Place rinsed, dried quinoa in a pot and add 2 cups water. Bring quinoa to a boil, then let simmer, covered, on the stove until quinoa has absorbed most of the water. Fluff quinoa with a fork and remove from heat.
  • Toss quinoa, cabbage, onion, tomatoes, mint, oil, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl to combine; season with salt.
  • DO AHEAD: Tabbouleh can be made 4 hours ahead. You can toss with oil and lemon juice just before serving, but I like adding it right away and letting the flavors develop. This salad is great the next day, straight out of the fridge!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Breakfast

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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

It’s not often that I make homemade pancakes. Confession time: normally I use the Snoqualmie Falls pancake and waffle mix, because it is the best store-bought mix out there. But after making these lemon-ricotta pancakes…I don’t know if I can ever go back. They are fluffy yet light and airy, and go perfectly with leftover citrus syrup from my candied citrus peels. Yes – I have found yet another way to use the leftover spoils of those damn delicious citrus pieces of heaven.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

We ended up making the regular size batch of pancakes because we were supposed to have guests come over for brunch, but when they had to cancel last minute, we had lots of leftover pancakes. And – shocker – they are awesome reheated in the microwave.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

These melt in your mouth…They may seem thick but once you bite into them they are so light and airy. These are what pancake dreams are made of.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Recipe
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Adapted from the Newlywed Cookbook
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups AP Flour
  • 1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I used part skim ricotta)
  • 1 large egg, separated
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp grated lemon zest (about the zest from 1 lemon)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • butter, for the pan (and finished pancakes!)

Toppings:

Lemon or pure maple Syrup, bananas, strawberries

Directions

Whisk together flour, cornmeal. salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, ricotta, egg yolks, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and whisk in the wet ingredients until just incorporated.

Beat the egg whites and sugar with an electric mixer or a whisk in a clean bowl until they just hold stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula or whisk until evenly incorporated, make sure not to overmix.

Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan to medium-high heat until butter sizzles when added to the pan. Pour desired amount of pancake batter onto griddle, leaving about 2 inches between pancakes. When little bubbles form on the surface of the batter, flip the pancakes with a flexible spatula. Cook on the other side until the pancakes are golden brown around the edges, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately with syrup, butter, and fresh fruit.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Smoked Salmon BLT’s

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by in Easy, Main Dish, Sandwiches

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Smoked Salmon BLT's

Having in-laws that live in Alaska is awesome for many reasons, one of them being is they send you smoked salmon around the holidays! One can only eat so many smoked salmon bagel sandwiches for breakfast, and I wanted to get creative with our salmon, and these epic smoked salmon BLT’s were born.

Smoked Salmon BLT's

 

Smoked Salmon BLT's

A Wingin’ It Recipe
Smoked Salmon BLTs
Makes 2 Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 8 slices thick cut bacon
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup whipped cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons capers
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill leaves
  • 4 slices multigrain bread
  • 6 – 8 ounces smoked salmon
  • 1 cup arugula, divided
  • 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
  • about 1/2 – 1/4 of a red onion, either sliced thin or diced small
  • 1 ripe avocado

Directions
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh dill, and capers. Stir together to form a spread. A note of the amounts – you can use as much cream cheese and mayo as you like, doesn’t have to be 1/4 cup of each. Spread the mixture over 1 side of each slice of bread. Arrange the smoked salmon on 4 slices of the bread. Break the bacon in half and put on top of the smoked salmon. Top the bacon with tomatoes and arugula. Add sliced avocado and onion slices (if using). Cover with remaining slices of bread, spread side down.

Arrange the sandwiches on a platter and serve.

Thirsty Thursday | Juice of a Few Flowers

09 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Easy, Entertaining, Thirsty Thursday

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Juice of a Few Flowers

Back in December, we made Candied Citrus Peels and they essentially changed life as we know it. They are an amazing gift, portable, last a long time (I’m still enjoying one of our batches!) and taste freaking amazing. Oh, and you are also left with this ridiculous citrus simple syrup once you are done making the peels. Heaven knows we can’t let that go to waste!

Juice of a Few Flowers Continue reading →