Roasted Rosemary Shrimp

I've really been enjoying my subscription to Cooking Light magazine, and I find myself flipping through recent issues for dinner ideas more and more lately. This recipe comes from the June 2009 issue, though the shrimp were only part of the recipe. They were paired with an arugula and white bean salad, which looked delicious, but if you visit regularly you know there's no chance Shane would eat a salad - no matter how many shrimp I threw on top!

There's not much to say about the shrimp - they were fantastic! If you're looking for a quick and healthy dinner, this is a recipe worth trying. The original recipe called for roasting the shrimp for 10 minutes, but mine were done at about 6 minutes. I scanned a few additional roasted shrimp recipes and 5-6 minutes at 400 F seemed pretty standard so those are the instructions I've included below.

Roasted Rosemary Shrimp

from Cooking Light, June 2009

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 1/2 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic cloves in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the shrimp to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 10 minutes.

Arrange shrimp on a baking sheet. Roast for 5-6 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.

TWD: Vanilla Ice Cream

This week's TWD was selected by Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu: vanilla ice cream! I haven't made homemade ice cream in a few weeks so this recipe came at the perfect time. There's nothing better than grabbing a bowl of homemade ice cream to enjoy on a hot summer night!

Shane's been asking me to make him ice cream with M&M's mixed in for a week or so now so I knew I'd add M&M's to Dorie's ice cream. (On that note, has anyone seen the mini baking M&M's they used to carry in the store? I couldn't find them anywhere.) I also decided to experiment by substituting brown sugar for the granulated sugar. A few weeks ago I'd made brown sugar vanilla ice cream for the Sweet Melissa Sundays group and we absolutely loved it so I was curious to see what would happen if I tried brown sugar in Dorie's recipe.

We dug in to the ice cream last night and we both enjoyed it, though I think Shane was a bigger fan than me. Something about the texture was a bit off and I'm sure it probably had something to do with my brown sugar substitution. The flavor was great though! This is a very rich ice cream to begin with - 2 cups of cream, 2 cups of whole milk and 6 egg yolks - and the brown sugar only made it richer and more decadent. Oh, and those frozen M&M's? Fantastic! They also added some fun color streaks to the ice cream. I'll definitely be trying the recipe again with granulated sugar soon because I've heard it's really terrific.

Thanks to Lynne for her selection this week! You can find the recipe for the ice cream on her blog. There were likely quite a few variations on this week's recipe so head over to TWD to check them out!

Almond Ciabatta French Toast

Breakfast for dinner. It rarely happens at our house but I'm a huge fan. It's probably because I'm always too lazy and/or too hungry to spend more than a few minutes making breakfast on the weekend. I was at the gym today flipping through an old issue of Health magazine and this french toast recipe caught my eye. I didn't have any ciabatta on hand, but I knew there was some challah in the freezer and since we didn't have a plan for dinner, I decided to make the french toast. (Added bonus - the recipe uses egg whites and I've got a ton of them in my freezer thanks to all of the ice cream I've been making this summer!)

My photo doesn't tell the entire story of the recipe as I skipped the sliced almonds, which serve as a sort of crust on one side of each slice of french toast (You can click on the link to Health magazine below for a photo of the french toast with the almond crust). I still had some almond flavor, however, thanks to the almond extract. I really enjoyed the flavors in this recipe - so much in fact that I didn't even feel the need to add any maple syrup to the french toast. I simply ate it with some sliced strawberries.

While the flavors were great, I struggled a bit with the texture. The outside developed a fairly crispy crust, but the middle was too soggy for me. Like I said, I don't make french toast all that often so I'm no expert, but I have a few theories on what I might change when I make the recipe again. First, I obviously didn't use the type of bread recommended by the recipe. The challah didn't tolerate the 3 minute soak in the egg mixture per side as well as I suspect the ciabatta would have. Were I to use challah again I'd definitely soak for a shorter time. I also used fresh bread as opposed to stale since this was a last minute dinner plan and given the heat today I didn't want to turn on the oven to stale the bread.

Almond Ciabatta French Toast

adapted from Gale Gand's Brunch! (as seen in Health, April 2009)

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk

1/4 cup whole milk

8 (1-inch) slices round ciabatta (I used challah)

Cooking spray

1 cup sliced almonds (I omitted)

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-low heat.

Whisk egg, egg whites, salt, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract together in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in both types of milk. Pour mixture into a shallow baking dish. Working in batches, if necessary, place bread in dish and let soak 3 minutes on each side.

Coat a griddle or skillet with cooking spray. For each slice of the bread, place 2 tablespoons almonds in a single (but fairly densely packed) layer on the hot griddle, forming an area the size and shape of a bread slice. Press 1 side of the bread into the almonds, and cook 4 minutes or until golden brown. (You will probably need to repeat this process in 2 batches.) Flip the bread over, and cook 3–4 minutes or until speckled golden brown. Serve immediately.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Strawberry-Ruby Grapefruit Preserves

This week's SMS was selected by one of my very favorite bloggers - Margot of Effort to Deliciousness (she rates each and every recipe she tries, factoring in how delicious it is compared to how much effort is required to make it - how cool!): strawberry-ruby grapefruit preserves! I've never made preserves before so I was looking forward to a new experience. That said, I had some preconceived notions that it was going to be either difficult or time-consuming to make the preserves, so I was also a bit hesitant.

As it turns out, this recipe really couldn't be easier! The fruit is cup up (here we used strawberries, granny smith apples and the zest and juice of grapefruit) and then thrown into a pot where it is boiled and reduces to a sweet spread. I had hoped to use my preserves to fill some cupcakes but the weekend got away from me and it didn't happen. Instead, I toasted some challah I found in my freezer and used the preserves as a spread. It was quite good though maybe a tad too sweet for my tastes. I may have myself to blame for the sweetness as I backed off a bit on the grapefruit juice due to my fear of overly tart preserves. Lesson learned :)

Many thanks to Margot for such a terrific and fun selection this week! The recipe can be found on her blog - though I echo her sentiment that this is really a book worth picking up! You can check out what the other SMS bakers were up to this week by visiting our site.

Barbecued Chicken

Summer is here and when the weather cooperates, we try to use our grill as often as possible. It's a win-win situation. We don't have to turn the oven on and heat up our house and generally there are less dishes to wash when dinner is over!

I was browsing the archives over at The Kitchen Sink Recipes not too long ago and came across this recipe for barbecued chicken. Kristin raved about the recipe, though I can't say I was surprised. The recipe comes from Ina Garten and I don't think I've ever been disappointed by one of her recipes. I knew I'd be whipping this sauce up and sticking some chicken on the grill the next night.

We have an abundance of chicken drumsticks in our freezer, so I used those instead of whole chickens. I made only 1/4 of the barbecue sauce and it was more than enough to marinate about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of chicken, brush the chicken as it grilled and still have some leftover to serve on the side. Ina cooks the chicken entirely on the grill, but on Kristin's recommendation, I cooked the chicken in the oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes and then finished it on the grill for another 15-20 minutes and it turned out perfectly! The sauce is fantastic and was a hit with us for sure. The only thing I'd change next time is to cut back on the mustard as I found it a bit too prominent in the sauce. I think I'll also halve the recipe and stick the extra sauce in the freezer for another day!

Barbecued Chicken

from Ina Garten via FoodNetwork.com (seen on The Kitchen Sink Recipes)

2 chickens (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each), quartered, with backs removed

1 recipe Barbecue Sauce, recipe follows

Marinate the chickens in 2/3 of the barbecue sauce for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat the coals in a charcoal grill. Spread the bottom of the grill with a single layer of hot coals and then add a few more coals 5 minutes before cooking, which will keep the fire going longer. Place the chicken quarters on the grill, skin side down, and cook for about 45 minutes, turning once or twice to cook evenly on both sides. Brush with the marinade as needed. The chicken quarters are done when you insert a knife between a leg and thigh and the juices run clear. Discard any unused marinade.

Serve with extra barbecue sauce on the side.

Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup tomato paste

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

In a large saucepan on low heat, saute the onions and garlic with the vegetable oil for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 30 minutes. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator.

Nectarine and Amaretti Crostata

I was browsing through the July issue of Bon Appetit last weekend and a recipe for Apricot and Amaretti Crostata caught my eye. I can't even explain what it was about the recipe - I'm not a big fan of either apricots or amaretti cookies. I think it had more to do with the nature of the recipe. It just seemed like a lovely, rustic summer treat and I knew I'd be making it soon. When I found myself at the store earlier this week, I saw all of the lovely stone fruit and was reminded of the crostata. The nectarines were gorgeous and their scent heavenly so I decided to substitute them for the apricots.

As I made the crostata, I thought of the galettes I'd made last summer and wondered what the difference was between a galette and a crostata. I turned to Google to find an answer. As far as I can tell, there really isn't a difference. Galette is the French term and crostata is the Italian term for this freeform tart. Glad to have cleared that up :)

This recipe is pretty simple to put together. The crust is made in the food processor in just a minute or two. Amaretti cookies are crushed and serve as a bed for the fruit. I only had a few leftover amaretti cookies from a previous TWD recipe so I used graham crackers to make up the difference. The nectarines are tossed with brown sugar, honey, butter and cinnamon and complete the crostata. I baked mine on a baking stone, which worked perfectly.

I cut a slice of the crostata while it was still warm and threw a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side instead of making the honey-sweetened whipped cream. It was dinnertime, but that didn't stop me from eating my slice and ruining my dinner! The crostata definitely lived up to my expectations. It was terrific! The nectarines were perfectly sweetened and definitely shone as the star of this dessert for me. I'm already looking forward to trying other variations with the various stone fruit available this summer!

Nectarine and Amaretti Crostata

adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2009 via Epicurious.com

For the Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 tablespoons (or more) ice water

For the Filling and Cream

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds nectarines, halved, pitted, each half cut into 5 or 6 wedges

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon melted butter

6 teaspoons honey, divided, plus extra for brushing fruit

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup coarsely crushed amaretti cookies

1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

To Make the Crust: Blend flour, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in processor. Add chilled butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles very coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons ice water. Blend to moist clumps, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic; chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Roll out dough on lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to 13-to 14-inch round. Slide dough, still on parchment paper, onto rimless baking sheet (or baking stone); chill 10 minutes.

To Make the Filling and Cream: Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss nectarines, brown sugar, butter, 2 teaspoons honey, and cinnamon in large bowl to coat. Spread amaretti crumbs in center of dough, leaving 2-inch plain border. Top crumbs with nectarines and juices. Fold border over edge of fruit; brush with beaten egg to glaze.

Bake crostata on parchment on baking sheet (or baking stone) for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Bake until crust is golden and juices bubble thickly, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk whipping cream and 4 teaspoons honey in medium bowl until peaks form. Chill until ready to serve.

Run spatula under crust to loosen from parchment. Slide crostata onto platter. Brush fruit lightly with additional honey. Serve crostata warm or at room temperature with honey-sweetened whipped cream.

TWD: Raspberry Blanc-Manger

This week's TWD was chosen by Susan of Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy: raspberry blanc-manger! I have to confess that I had no idea what blanc-manger was so I was thankful this was one of the recipes which included a photo. The blanc-manger is made with milk, cream and sugar and flavored with ground almonds. Gelatin acts as the thickener. The recipe is actually fairly simple and didn't require any baking, which was terrific given that it's been fairly warm here recently. That said, the process was labor intensive for me because I wanted to blanch and remove the skins from all of my almonds before I ground them so the color of my blanc-manger wouldn't be affected by the brown skins.

I had a bit of trouble unmolding my blanc-manger. Dorie's recommendation to dip the pan in hot water didn't work for me so I ran a knife around the sides of the pan a few times and was finally able to release the blanc-manger from the pan. I used frozen raspberries to make the coulis to top the blanc-manger and garnished with fresh blueberries since I was out of fresh raspberries.

I only tried a small bite of the dessert because I'd made plans to give my blanc-manger to my mom. The bite I did try was good - very creamy, though not completely smooth due to the almonds. Dorie likens the blanc-manger to panna cotta but I've never tried panna cotta so I can't compare them. This week's recipe was a reminder that I really need to expand my horizons when it comes to desserts.

Thanks to Susan for her selection! You can find the recipe on her fantastic site and you can see how the other TWD members fared this week by visiting our site.

SMS: Whole Orange Cake

Well, life got in the way of blogging this weekend, but I'm not complaining! We had a wonderful weekend full of friends and family and gorgeous weather. Here's what we were up to today:

I made this week's SMS recipe on Friday night, but just haven't found time to blog about it. Now, it's pushing midnight on Sunday so I'll keep this brief. The recipe was chosen by Melissa of Lulu the Baker: whole orange poppy seed cake! The cake uses an entire orange (skin and all) and I was really excited to give it a shot. We made a tart using an entire lemon for TWD not too long ago and it was way far too bitter for everyone who tried it, but I was hopeful I'd have more luck with the orange! I'm not a fan of poppy seeds so I skipped them but otherwise made the recipe exactly as written.

This cake smelled ridiculously good as it baked - I love the smell of oranges! The cake is topped with a glaze made from lemon juice, orange juice and sugar. The glaze made the top of the cake quite shiny and kept it really moist! We enjoyed some of the cake for breakfast this morning before heading to Shane's triathlon and everyone liked it! It had great orange flavor and you really couldn't detect any bitterness resulting from the use of the entire orange. I'll definitely make it again!

Thanks to Melissa for selecting this week's recipe - you can find it on her blog if you'd like to give it a shot!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondies

It was my mom's birthday this week and I knew I wanted to make her a treat to go along with the rest of her gift. Many options crossed my mind, but I kept coming back to these blondies. I've seen them on quite a few blogs over the past couple of months and they always look so good! Plus, my mom really likes coconut so I thought these would be a hit with her. As an added bonus, I had all of the ingredients on hand and the recipe couldn't be easier to throw together.

I made the blondies in my 9-inch pan as I don't have an 8-inch pan so the bars are a bit thinner than some of the ones I've seen on other blogs. I did have a bit of trouble figuring out when these were done baking. I always get wary when a recipe tells me not to overbake something so I was perhaps a bit too cautious and pulled the blondies out a few minutes too early (which of course I didn't really learn until I tried cutting into them and saw they were a little gooey). They were still delicious though! It's basically a really yummy chocolate chip cookie made even better by the addition of coconut!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondies

as seen on Two Peas and Their Pod

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the bars

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy; beat in egg and vanilla extract until well blended.

Slowly fold in the flour and salt until just blended. Add the coconut and chocolate chips to the batter. Scrape the batter into the pan. Make sure the batter is spread evenly, smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle extra coconut on top of the bars.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until set in the center but still soft. Do not overbake the bars. Let cool slightly before serving. Cut the bars into squares.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Let me first say that I found these cookies impossible to photograph. I just couldn't make them look good, no matter how many times I tried. Still, I loved them way too much not to share them with you guys!

When I first saw Giada make these, I was skeptical. Ricotta in cookies? Weird. I'd looked up the recipe though and seen that the cookies were well liked by the reviewers. I'd also picked up a container of ricotta at the farmer's market recently and was trying to find different uses for it. So I decided to halve the recipe and give the cookies a shot and wow, am I glad that I did! They're delicious - great lemon flavor! The cookies are very cake-like and so tender and moist. I much prefer soft, chewy cookies to crispy ones, so these were perfect for me. Though the little specks of lemon zest in the glaze were pretty, I actually preferred the cookies plain.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

from Giada de Laurentiis via FoodNetwork.com

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 (15-oz) container whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

Preheat oven to 375 F.

To Make the Cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer until light about fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets (leave a few inches in between the cookies - they do spread). Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

To Make the Glaze: Combine the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.

TWD: Brioche Tart

So let's all just pretend it's still Tuesday and my post isn't a day late, ok? This week's TWD was chosen by Denise of Chez Us: Brioche Plum Tart! I'd made brioche in the past and really enjoyed it, so I knew this would probably be delicious. That said, we were drowning in desserts here so I was going to sit out this week. But then I was on Twitter the other day and learned that Holly of PheMOMenon was also thinking about sitting out. Holly hasn't missed a single week of TWD so Kayte, Di and I decided to bake along with her for support, knowing that we may all post late since we'd made this decision at the last minute.

I hadn't purchased the ingredients I needed for the recipe so I had to make a few substitutions. I made a half recipe of the brioche and baked my "tarts" in two 4-inch springform pans. I debated many fruits options but went with raspberries instead of plums. I didn't have any jam in the house so I decided to use Nutella after reading about several of the other TWD bakers using it. I also left out the nuts. The recipe is actually fairly easy considering it involves yeast, it's just time a bit time consuming letting the dough rest and rise.

My tarts looked cute before I stuck them in the oven to bake, but I don't think I pressed the dough into the pan properly because when they were done baking, the brioche had sort of overtaken the fruit in the center. I also didn't have the pretty fluted edges I would have if I'd used a tart pan. But ultimately, the question is how did it taste? I enjoyed it! I really loved the Nutella and raspberries together. The brioche was great too and since it's a bit less rich than your typical brioche, I felt slightly less guilty eating it. I agree with many of the other TWD bakers that the tart makes for a terrific breakfast treat!

Thanks to Denise for a delicious pick! You can find the recipe on her blog. Head over to TWD to see the other tarts - there was a huge variety in flavor combinations this week!

Sweet & Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

(I realize it's now Wednesday and still no TWD post on the blog. I promise that I'm working on it and hopefully I'll get it up on the blog before the day ends. See, I told you I was a procrastinator...)

Recently I borrowed a copy of Giada's newest cookbook, Giada's Kitchen, from my library. I went through and tagged a ton of recipes I wanted to try and this is the first one I got around to making, probably because it's super easy. The recipe is actually in the "(not) just for kids" section of the cookbook and was designed to be something kids could help out with in the kitchen. Sometimes I just want something I can pull together without much effort and this recipe fits the bill.

One interesting thing about the recipe is that Giada reserves the marinade and reduces it to glaze the chicken after it bakes. I think people tend to have conflicting views on this practice of reusing the marinade after the raw meat sits in it. I found several sources which say that it's fine so long as the marinade is boiled for an appropriate length of time and I found others which say you should never reuse a marinade. If you're concerned about reusing a marinade, no need to skip the recipe - there's enough marinade here that you could put a bit aside and use the rest to marinate the chicken. Later, just reduce the portion of the marinade you put aside.

We enjoyed the chicken but found it perhaps a bit too sweet. I would still make the recipe again because the flavor was nice but next time I'd probably cut back a little on the amount of honey or brown sugar, or maybe both.

Sweet & Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

from Giada's Kitchen by Giada de Laurentiis

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup soy sauce

5 fresh rosemary sprigs

5 garlic cloves, halved

10 to 12 chicken drumsticks

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Combine the vinegar, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves in a large, resealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken to the bag and seal, squeezing out as much air from them as possible. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Remove the chicken drumsticks from the bag, reserving the marinade, and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes.

Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the sesame seeds and chopped parsley before serving.

General Tso's Chicken

General Tso's chicken is one of our favorite dishes from Chinese restaurants so when I saw this lightened up version on La Table de Nana, I knew I'd give it a shot. I used 2 chicken breasts and halved the sauce recipe below, which was perfect for just Shane and I. We really enjoyed this dish and I thought the flavor was really close to the General Tso's dishes we've had in restaurants. This is, however, not a very spicy version of the dish, so if you prefer more heat you'll want to adapt the recipe a bit. I've also seen a great version of this recipe adapted to use tofu on The Lives and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch so be sure to check out her site if you'd like instructions for tofu instead of chicken.

General Tso's Chicken

adapted from Coup De Pouce Magazine (seen on La Table de Nana)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3-4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

6-8 spring green onions, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated

hot pepper flakes (optional)

Mix together the first 6 ingredients (through the water) and set aside. This is the sauce.

Dredge the chicken cubes in the cornstarch, shaking off any excess. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the chicken until browned. Remove the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Wipe pan clean with paper towel and add sesame oil with onions and chopped ginger. Fry about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add sauce mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer about 2 minutes, until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the chicken back to the skillet, toss to coat with sauce and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through. Serve garnished with green onion tops and red pepper flakes, if desired.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake with Cornmeal Crumble Crust

This week's SMS was chosen by Eliana of A Chica Bakes: lemon blueberry cheesecake with cornmeal crumble crust! A few weeks ago I was shopping, found a great deal on cream cheese and picked up far too many packages so this cheesecake comes at just the right time!

The last time I made a cheesecake I opened the oven to find a huge crack across the top so my main goal was to avoid that problem this time. I did some research and found that cracks usually form when the cheesecake is overbaked. Instead of trying to visually judge whether the cheesecake was done (which I find difficult), I used a thermometer to check its internal temperature. I baked mine to 160 F and successfully avoided any cracks!

Of course, that's not to say I didn't have any issues. This recipe calls for baking the cheesecake in a water bath and I think some of the water seeped through the foil covering my pan. The crust looked a bit soggy when I removed the springform pan. I was pretty worried about how it would affect the flavor. Fortunately, aside from appearance, I don't think it had a negative impact - the cheesecake was terrific! The cornmeal crust had great texture and provided contrast to the smooth, creamy filling. The blueberry sauce was my favorite part - sweet and juicy and the perfect finishing touch for the cheesecake!

Thanks to Eliana for a great pick! She will post the recipe on her site if you'd like to give it a shot. You can also check out the other cheesecakes by visiting the SMS site.

Morning Glory Muffins

I'm a procrastinator. I remember scrambling to finish English papers in high school as the teacher was walking up the down the rows to collect them. This was, of course, because I'd waited until 11:30 pm the night before the paper was due to start working on it. Perhaps if I'd received bad grades I'd have learned my lesson, but I always did well so I never changed my ways. I procrastinated throughout college, during law school and even to this day, if something doesn't have to be done today I'll put it off until tomorrow.

We had friends coming into town to stay with us for one night at the start of the long July 4th weekend. About 15 minutes before they were to arrive I realized we didn't have anything in the house for breakfast and decided I should make muffins. So maybe in addition to being a procrastinator, I'm a bad hostess not thinking ahead about what we'd feed our friends. I frantically flipped through my America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book looking for ideas. I decided on the morning glory muffins because I'd never made them before and was intrigued by the combination of raisins, carrots, pineapple, and coconut.

Our friends wound up hitting a ton of traffic so thankfully I finished the muffins long before they arrived. I tried one when they came out of the oven (you know, just to make sure they were ok) and loved it! The muffins are sweet and have a really warm flavor, thanks to the cinnamon. They were a hit with our friends the next morning too! I think they were pleasantly surprised that all of the flavors worked together. I can definitely see making these again and perhaps trying to make them even healthier by subbing whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose.

Morning Glory Muffins

from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book by America's Test Kitchen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 medium carrots, peeled and grated (2 cups)

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, drained and pressed dry with paper towels

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped coarse (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin (or use paper liners).

Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together until smooth. Gently fold the sugar mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and walnuts until just combined.

Using a greased 1/3 cup measure, portion the batter into each muffin cup. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Saffron Orzo with Shrimp

When I sat down to plan meals for the month recently, I flipped through Giada's Everyday Pasta. I can't get enough of her quick and simple pasta recipes. She can take just a few ingredients and put them together to form a really delicious meal. When I came across this saffron orzo and shrimp recipe, I immediately added it to the list!

As is pretty obvious from the name, the recipe calls for saffron. Saffron are stigmas from the crocus sativus flower, which are hand harvested, making this spice quite expensive. I happened to have some saffron on hand from a recipe I made many months ago so it wasn't an issue for me but if you plan to make the recipe and don't have any saffron, I didn't want you to be shocked at its price tag!

We both really enjoyed this dinner. The olive oil and lemon juice combine to form a dressing with a light, citrus flavor. I did think the dish was a bit too peppery but Shane didn't agree. One great thing about this dish is that Giada says it's good at room temperature so it's a perfect make ahead dish!

Saffron Orzo with Shrimp

from Everyday Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon saffron threads

1 pound orzo

7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

juice of 1 lemon

3 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, bringing the broth to a simmer. Add the saffron, stir and simmer until the saffron has "bloomed," about 5 minutes. Return the heat to medium and bring the stock to a boil, then add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bit, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the orzo and transfer to a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the parsley, half the lemon juice, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and combine thoroughly.

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and the remaining lemon juice. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook until the shrimp are just turning pink, about 2 minutes per side. Add the shrimp to the bowl with the orzo. Toss to combine and serve.

TWD: Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies!

This week's TWD was chosen by Lisa of Surviving Oz: tribute to Katharine Hepburn brownies! Lisa isn't actually a member of TWD, but she was the winner of a recent contest to design a new logo for us. Here's what she came up with:

Isn't it terrific? Thanks for the new logo Lisa and thanks for hosting this week! Lisa will be posting this week's recipe on her site so head over there to check it out! You can also visit the TWD site to see all of the other brownies.

These brownies were really interesting to make. I don't think I've ever made brownies where the batter was entirely mixed in a saucepan as it is with this recipe. Not that I'm complaining - less dishes to wash makes me a happy camper! The recipe called for walnuts or pecans, but I went with peanut butter chips instead since I had some I wanted to use up and I don't really like nuts in my brownies. I also omitted the cinnamon and used instant espresso instead of instant coffee. I didn't want the coffee flavor to be overwhelming so I only used 1 teaspoon rather than the 2 called for in the recipe.

I baked the brownies for exactly 30 minutes as Dorie suggests. I let them cool for quite a while before trying to remove them from the pan. Sadly, at that point, they did not want to come out of the pan - I cursed myself for not making a parchment sling for the pan. I sacrificed the first brownie so I could get the rest of them out relatively unscathed. I could tell as soon as I cut them that they'd be incredibly gooey and fudgey and they definitely were! I prefer my brownies less dense so these weren't my favorite. The flavor was pretty good (the coffee flavor was just right with 1 teaspoon), but I couldn't get past the texture. I'm sending them to work with Shane today so we'll see what his coworkers think! For me, I think I'll stick with some of my other favorite brownie recipes.

No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies combine most of my favorite cookie ingredients in one - chocolate, peanut butter and oats! They're really perfect for summer since there's no baking involved and thus no need to heat up your house with the oven when it's already 90 degrees out. I needed a dessert at the last minute this past weekend and I just didn't have time to do anything elaborate so I turned to these cookies. They didn't disappoint - they're so simple and delicious! The chocolate and peanut butter lend some serious flavor, the oats contribute texture and the end result is a perfect treat!

One quick note: Rebecca warns that these cookies won't set if it's really humid, so keep that in mind. That said, I've heard the batter is pretty yummy straight from the bowl if forming cookies isn't an option due to the weather :)

No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies

from Recipezaar.com (as seen on Ezra Pound Cake and Brown Eyed Baker)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups quick-cooking oats

Add the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa powder to a large saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets. Let cool until set.

Yields 2 to 3 dozen cookies (depending on how large you make them)

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

This week's SMS recipe was chosen by Karen of Karen's Cookies Cakes & More: brown sugar vanilla ice cream! There's nothing better than homemade ice cream in the summer and, given that we're having a fabulous long holiday weekend complete with warm, sunny weather, it was the perfect choice!

Melissa's recipe is even easier than your usual custard based ice cream because it calls for combining all of the ingredients in one bowl over a double boiler and heating to 180 F versus tempering the eggs by adding warmed cream/milk to the egg and sugar mixture. I was in a bit of a hurry, though, and figured tempering the eggs and making the custard that way would be faster than doing it over a double boiler. I whisked the egg yolks, brown sugar, salt and milk powder in one bowl, then heated the milk and cream combo before adding some of it slowly to the egg mixture to temper the eggs. I then heated the custard to about 175 F, strained it and finally added the vanilla extract (I was all out of vanilla beans so I just added a bit of extra extract).

I only made a half batch of the ice cream because I have so many other flavors I want to try and only have so much room in my freezer. Unfortunately, we've already eaten the entire half batch! It was absolutely delicious! I didn't think the flavor was all that different from traditional vanilla ice cream - the brown sugar wasn't very noticeable. The texture, though, that was a different story. This was an incredibly smooth and creamy ice cream - probably one of the best textures of any of the ice creams I've made to date. We enjoyed some sandwiched between some of the no bake cookies I made yesterday (I hope to post the recipe later tonight) and some plain with festive red and blue sugar sprinkled over the top.

Thanks to Karen for a wonderful pick this week! You can find the recipe over on her site and you can check out the SMS site to see how the other bakers fared with their ice cream.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Happy 4th of July everyone! After a really, really rainy June it looks like we just might get a glimpse of the sun on this long holiday weekend and I couldn't be happier! I'm planning to start the day with a trip to the farmer's market and then head into the kitchen to make dessert to bring to the cookout we're attending later in the day. There have been a ton of festive desserts popping up all over the web and I can't wait to get in on the fun!

I saw blueberries on sale at the store recently and went a little crazy piling pints of them into my basket. Fortunately, I had seen these blueberry crumb bars on Smitten Kitchen recently and was able to use up the last of my berries before they went bad. If you're still looking for a last minute dessert for today, these are an excellent option! They're super simple and come together in no time. You wind up with colorful little bars that are buttery and rich, sweet but not too sweet and just a tad bit tangy from the lemon juice and zest. I found the lemon flavor a bit more prominent than I expected but loved them nonetheless. These bars are terrific with blueberries, but I bet they'd also be delicious with raspberries or blackberries!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan (I used nonstick cooking spray).

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently fold in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. (I cut the bars after chilling them in the fridge for a bit which seemed to make it easier.)

Simple Milk Loaf

I probably would never have found this wonderful recipe were it not for my friends Cathy, Nancy, and Kayte. They’d all made this bread and raved about it on Twitter. I was starting to feel like I was missing out on something so I asked for a link to the recipe and got to work!

As bread recipes go, this one is super simple. It’s fairly similar to a few other basic bread recipes I’ve tried except it uses milk in place of water (hence the name milk loaf!). The other neat thing about this recipe is that it calls for kneading by greasing both your hands and the work surface with olive oil. I’m pretty sure it’s the only recipe I’ve seen that didn’t call for dusting the work surface with flour to prevent sticking. The olive oil trick worked perfectly for me – this dough is easy to work with and I didn’t have any issues with it sticking to my countertop or me.

All of the rave reviews I’d heard about this bread were well deserved. It’s terrific! Since I’ve started making bread more regularly I’ve found the ultimate test for me is whether I can make a tasty grilled cheese sandwich with the bread and this loaf passed with flying colors! Sadly, the loaf is already gone so I need to get into my kitchen and bake another one soon!

Milk Loaf

from The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard (as seen on BBC)

1 1/2 tsp fresh yeast, crumbled (conversion to instant/active dry yeast here)

350 g (12 oz) whole milk, at room temperature, plus extra for brushing

20 g (3/4 oz) golden or maple syrup

250 g (9 oz) plain white flour (plain = all-purpose)

250 g (9oz) strong white flour (strong = bread flour)

1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

olive oil, for greasing

flour, for dusting

Preheat oven to 410 F.

Place the yeast, milk and syrup into a large bowl and whisk together. Add the flour and salt and mix with your hands to bring together as a soft, sticky dough. Pour the warm melted butter over the dough and mix into the dough with your hands. Cover the bowl and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Grease your hands and a flat clean surface with olive oil. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for ten seconds, then form the dough into a smooth round ball. Wipe the bowl clean and grease with olive oil, then return the dough ball to the bowl and leave for a further ten minutes.

Repeat this ten-second kneading and resting process every ten minutes twice, then leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

Grease a deep 5 x 8 inch loaf pan and dust with flour. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, shape into two balls and place side-by-side into the loaf tin. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for one and a half hours, or until almost doubled in height.

Brush the top of the loaf with a little milk and place into the preheated oven to bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F and bake for a further 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is a shiny dark brown and the loaf has come away from the sides of the tin.