French Yogurt Cake with Lemon Curd and Strawberries (and a surprise... and a giveaway!)

This is an exciting week! Not only was the Tuesdays with Dorie choice from Liliana fabulous, it was also delicious. I changed mine up a little my reducing the oil to 1/3 a cup.

I made mine with ground almonds as Dorie suggested and topped it with some homemade lemon curd and strawberries. I've never made lemon curd before and surely will again- it's simple, delicious, and a good way to use up some of the lemons that are over flowing in AZ right now!

Now for the kiddos I have a yogurt giveaway. You know how kids love Dora. However, I'm sure they would even appreciate this dessert with a little more sophisticated yogurt flavor than Dora Yoplait. My son loves this stuff (and the grown up versions too). However they enjoy their yogurt, I think everyone is glad to get a little calcium into picky eaters. I know my mom always was. Make sure to leave your email or that it's on your profile if you want to be entered in the giveaway (and US residents only for that, sorry kids!) I'll say the deadline for this contest is Saturday night (March 21) at Midnight, AZ time. I'll announce three winners next Tuesday (one entry per person please).

And now for my favorite picture of the week... meet my new little leprauchan (coming hopefully in time for my birthday in September!) and please accept my humble apologies for skipping out on the kitchen so often and for neglecting my blog. I'm happy to report I'm interested in food again (and feeding my poor husband) and we are all happy and healthy. And Happy St. Patty's day- you can bet we're eating Corned Beef and Cabbage tonight!

(Cake Recipe Here)


Lemon Curd
from Epicurious

*note: Next time I'll pulverize the zest and the sugar in the food processor before starting the cooking so the final product is a little smoother but still flavorful

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

Barefoot Bloggers- Chicken Piccata

I love watching Barefoot Contessa and laugh when every time Ina makes chicken for Jeffrey and they show him at the end saying, "This is even better than my favorite roast chicken, and you know how I love chicken!" She laughs and says she loves him and they pan out showing their beautiful home and I smile. Well, my man loves steak like Jeffrey loves chicken, but for the budget and cholesterol levels we try to stick with chicken for the most part. This recipe is as good as Jeffrey makes it out to be and while there are a lot of dishes from the breading, the end product is delicious. It doesn't even usually require a trip to the grocery store for me, which makes this recipe a winner. Thanks, Lindsey, for the fun choice and don't forget to see all the other Barefoot Bloggers delicious dinners!

Chicken Piccata
from Ina Garten

2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs (whole wheat)
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used white grape juice)
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

TWD- Lemon Cup Custard

For such a simple little dessert, this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection sure brought out a lot of opinions! I made it during beloved "nap time" Sunday afternoon and liked how quickly it came together. We have an enormous lemon tree so a quick trip into the beautiful "winter" AZ weather and I had two enormous lemons ready to zest. I used a veggie peeler to cut wide pieces off the lemons to steep in the milk. I thought the final product had a nice lemon taste and it complimented the vanilla- I used about 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract but let's be honest, I just dump that stuff in (my bottle even has a flip top) like the vanilla junky that I am.

I attempted to unmold these little buddies and while they were less than cute, I like that this photo shows the texture of the final product. I baked them just about as long as Dorie recommended and they were still a little jiggly but totally done. I had two faithful taste testers and they both agreed that this was fine, but not enough. My husband thought there should be some sort of crust (like a tart? he suggested) and my mom thought there should be a lot of drippy caramel or lemon sauce (like flan!)

I thought that while this dessert was simple, didn't require any weird or expensive ingredients, and was even pretty fast, it's just not worth the calories to me. Not when I could be making pastry cream with the same ingredients. I'd love to hear your flavor ideas, though, for some inspiration. I think there's something to be said for such a simple and quick dessert. I'm glad I made it, but if you'll excuse me, now I'm really feeling the need to make some pastry cream. Now that's a treat that doesn't even need a tart shell or caramel sauce!

(Recipe available at Bridget's beautiful blog)

Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Mini-Cheesecakes

We're totally cake-less this week, although I'm sure my Tuesdays with Dorie friends have baked up some amazing treats this week. For excuses I'll just say strep throat and 103 fever kept me away from the oven. However, these little Girl Scout Cookie treats are quick and delicious. I've been saving these photos to post for a while and with those little girls outside the supermarket testing the most devout among the new years resolutioners, it's time.

I literally had to fight my brother in laws off with a spatula to keep them from devouring these before the girls had a chance. You'll love them. And forgive me for skipping this week's cake- I'll be back soon, I promise! With good news too!

PS I didn't hear back on my last address so I have a new third winner for the giveaway... email me your address asap and I'll get all of those sent out! :)

1freshstart said...
Ha! We make protein shakes every morning... frozen strawberries,1% milk and soy protein, couldn't do it without our blender!
Oatmeal can be pretty scary- just don't buy the microwave packets... TOTALLY different texture. If you get the traditional cook stuff - it's kinda nutty and good.
~Cat
February 17, 2009 9:05 AM

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecake Cups
adapted from Picky Palate
1 sleeve Thin Mint Cookies, ground in food processor or blender (or Mint Oreos)
3 Tablespoons melted butter
8 oz softened cream cheese (Neufchatel reduced fat works great)
1/2 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons Sour Cream or Butter Milk
5 Thin mint cookies coarsely crumbled

1/4 Cup Chocolate, chopped
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
6 Thin mint cookies, crumbled (for top of cups)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine ground cookies and butter in a medium bowl. Drop about 1 Tablespoon of cookie mixture into 24 mini cupcake tins prepared with liners. Press crust into cups with back of a spoon.

In an electric or stand mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add egg and sour cream until well combined as well. Stir in crumbled cookies. Pour cheesecake mixture into cupcake tins filled almost to the very top. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and cool for 15 minutes. Melt chocolate in microwave on very low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Stir in heavy cream until smooth and shiny. Spoon over each cheesecake cup and sprinkle with additional crumbled cookies.

Barefoot Bloggers- Meringues Chantilly and Giveaway Winners

Meringues Chantilly, this week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe, is quick and simple, but leaves you feeling like you've just enjoyed a nice "Barefoot in Paris" experience (see my tall man and I at Versailles, above. I don't think we could have enjoyed Meringues on that day, though, because Ina strictly prohibits you from making them when it's humid!). With some sugar and egg whites and a hard working KitchenAid, you can pull off a pretty impressive dessert in only a few minutes prep (plus hours in the oven!) I've seen this recipe on Barefoot Contessa a couple times and was happy to finally make it. I served it with strawberries and whipped cream for some of our new friends. They don't know about my weird habit of photographing my food, so I neglected to take any photos of the final product.

Let me know how you served this and what people thought. My testers thought it tasted kind of like cotton candy! My son just picked out the whipped cream and strawberries, haha. He must be related to me after all (sometimes I wonder when I see my husband running around in miniature!)

Now for the giveaway winners... you should all know I was perfectly random and didn't even rig my mom to win. She's going to be disappointed, but these lovely ladies won't be:

Melody said...
My favorite healthy breakfast needs lots of protein to keep me satisfied. My blog has a recipe for yummy mini quiche that are great for a quick breakfast! Thanks for the giveaway!

shortSTACKSlife said...
papaya with cottage cheese!!

Carolyn G said...
My healthy breakfast is oatmeal and orange juice and a banana

Please email me your address by Sunday night or I will choose more winners (I just need ShortStacks). :) Thanks ladies and to everyone who entered!

Meringues Chantilly
from Ina Garten
Ingredients
6 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature (I used seven large eggs)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
Berries

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

Spread some of the sauce from the stewed berries on each plate. Place a meringue on top and fill with whipped cream. Top with berries and serve.