BSI: LEMONS Roundup & Winner

I should have foreseen this, but somehow I didn't.  My list of bookmarks with the label 'lemon' is now bursting at the seems!  Although I can't say that's a bad thing...because I crave citrus quite often and I'm always looking for a new way to prepare it!  We have so many wonderful LEMONY foods this week that run the gamut from soups to side dishes to main courses with different meats and fish to cooling beverages to breakfast and snack foods all the way through to dessert!  I'm feeling particularly sunny and happy after visiting everybody and now I'm looking forward even more (if that's possible) to warm air and sunshine.

So, without any further ado...prepare to pucker and swoon over....

Starting things off this week is Amanda from Amanda's Cookin' with her stunning Lemon Olive Oil Rosemary Cake.

Vernonica from Recipe Rhapsody brought some sunny, "firm on the outside, chewy on the outside" Easy Lemon Cookies.

Chaya from Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog shares some creamy, tangy Lemon Pasta with Norwegian Salmon.

Music City Foodie made me nostalgic with some beautiful, bright Old Fashioned Mini Lemon Poundcakes.

Swathi from Zesty South Indian Kitchen made a Lemony Minty Poppy Cake that sounds different...and divine!

 

In need of an antidote for a rainy weekend, Monika of Illo Pro (check out her amazing illustrations!) produced some lemon sun with a Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake.

 illustration by Monika Roe of Illo Pro. Wow!

Kankana of Sunshine & Smile made a Lemon Mint Cake with Almonds to share with a friend who is visiting from across the country.  Wish it was me!

Roz from La Bella Vita made an absolutely delightful Lemon Layer Cake with Limoncello Cream Frosting.  How heavenly!

Renee from My Kitchen Adventures whipped up a beautiful batch of Lemon Ginger Cupcakes in which lemon was the star and ginger was the awesome understudy.

Lemon and Mint are "spiced up" with a few peppercorns to form this amazingly refreshing looking Spicy Mint Lemonade from My Creative Flavors.  Seriously, I think my thirst is quenched from here.

Biz from My Bizzy Kitchen (BSI creator) revisited a summer post in which she uses fresh thyme, lemon juice, and lemon zest in her Lemon Thyme Sauce that she serves with a beautiful, fat, grilled pork chop.

 

I haven't had crab in far too long, and I'm totally craving it now after seeing Sonali's Crab in Mustard and Lemon Juice Gravy over at Only Fish Recipes.

Shobha at Food Mazaa shares a beautifully spiced dish of Lemon Rice with BSI this week that I would gladly eat as a side dish or as my entire meal.

I would love to start the day off with one of these tempting Eggless Lemon Poppyseed Muffins baked by Priya from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.

I am dreaming of one of these beautiful glasses of Lemon and Cardamom Mousse from Ana at Anasbageri.  The combination sounds so luscious.

I know that I would have a hard time resisting these Greek-inspired Garlic Lemon Potatoes brought today by The V Kitchen.  Yum!

As a complete and total soup addict, I am thrilled to see this delicious bowl of Lemon and Coriander Soup from nicks n jits kitchen.

Sonali from Only Fish Recipes is back with some tempting kingfish flavored with lots of lemon and coriander in her Grilled Fish with Lemon and Coriander.

Inspired by the bright, sunny skies outside her windows, Karen from Karen Cooks made a batch of soft, cake-like Lemon Ricotta Cookies.

Debbi from Debbi Does Dinner...healthy and low calorie made a dish that I think sounds fantastic and I want it to grace my table very soon, Lemon Quinoa with Broccoli.

Our creator Biz from My Bizzy Kitchen is back with what I consider a fantastic way to start any day...with Mock Buttermilk Pancakes.  MmmmHmmm.

And now we will end where the week began...with these Lemon Bars that I made to take to a program at school...and then wound up making again almost immediately for home. So fantastic!

Every single dish, side, soup, and dessert that was sent in this week in gloriously lemony in its own rite, but the thing that I have not been able to get out of my head since the moment I laid eyes on it was the Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake from Amanda! But honestly, everything looked so wonderful, I wish I could have a big, lemon-filled buffet to try everything.  Congratulations Amanda, please shoot me an email with your mailing address so I can get a little prize mailed out to you.  Thanks to everybody who joined in BSI: Lemons this week!

And another big thanks to Biz from My Bizzy Kitchen for having me as a host this week.  Please head over to visit my friend Tina at Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor to find out the next Blogger Secret Ingredient!

Lemon Bars

Once upon a time, lemon desserts hated me.  I could never get them to turn out right...which was infinitely frustrating since I adore the tartness of lemon combined with a little sweet somethin'.  After some "fails" and disappointments and "eeehhh, it's ah-ight's", I was ready to try again.  And just to prove that I enjoy making things hard on myself, I decided to bake them to share with others.  So, if I failed miserably I would do it in a public arena.  Nothing like a little pressure to make things go smoothly.  

As it turned out, I didn't fail.  In fact, I triumphed colossally.  And off to school my triumph went.  For moms and kids to enjoy.  I made sure I snatch one...the last one I might add.  I'm odd like that.  I'd rather eat something that I baked and I know I will enjoy than grab some random food made by some random person.  What can I say?  These lemon bars were so great that I made another batch for home less than 48 hours after this giveaway batch.  I will also be bringing them to the next family get together (at mama's request...although I planned on it, anyway).  They're adapted from an Ina recipe in that I made using one and a half times the (awesome, shortbready) crust so that the base would be a bit thicker.  Also, instead of making a lip (which I did for the first batch), I prefer the crust and filling to be even (which I tested on the second batch).  Equal cookie and lemony custard in each and every bite.

And okay, I suppose I was being a bit melodramatic about the public humiliation.  I totally gave myself enough time to make a backup...should I have failed.

Rustic Plum, Ginger and Almond Tart for BSI

When I saw these 3 types of beautiful plums at the market this week, I secretly sent a little wish to the foodie-fairies for this week's Blogger Secret Ingredient to be PLUMS...and it came true!!! This weeks BSI host is LK from Healthy Delicious (did you read my mind LK?). I didn't write down the names because I just knew I'd remember them...guess what? I don't remember them. Typical! They were something like...Red Star, Purple Moon, Yellow Rain...I don't know...they were dreamy, though! A quick side note...have you ever seen or taken a photo of food that you just know should be featured somewhere? Showcased? Seen? Well, Laura from Hey What's for Dinner Mom? has a new event over at her place for just this reason! It's called Best Foodie Foto...simple as that. Send her a picture (or 2 or 3) from your posts for the week...it's a weekly roundup...with a link to the post it was in and she will post a roundup. Get your readers to vote or leave it all to chance and you could win a prize. Cool, right? Right! So, just click on the name of the event above to find out the more detailed rules and start photographing your food...or keep photographing your food! You may be too late to enter this week...hmmmm, perhaps I subconsciously waited to tell you about it until last minute so that I would have a better chance this week... so if you just happen to be visiting her site sometime between mid-Sunday & mid-Monday and you didn't get a chance to enter a photo... I'll have a few on there (hint, hint)... but seriously, vote for somebody because don't we all like to win prizes? Back to Blogger Secret Ingredient: Plums! I knew I wanted to make a dessert, so I went for a "rustic" tart. I was feeling a bit lazy. I did not want to make a crust (I know, it's not hard and usually I like making it from scratch, but...) so I decided to use a sheet of puff pastry that I had in the freezer instead. Rustic Plum, Ginger & Almond Tart by girlichef 1 sheet Puff Pastry flour for rolling 8 plums, any variety 1/2" pc. of ginger, minced zest of 1 orange 1 Tbs. cornstarch freshly grated nutmeg- to your taste 1/2 - 3/4 c. raw sugar (depends on the tartness of your plums) + more for sprinkling ~1/3 c. almond paste 1 Tbs. chilled butter, cut into small pcs. for egg wash: 1 egg splash of cream or milk Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. Cut plums into 1/8's. Add ginger, oj zest, nutmeg, cornstarch and sugar. Toss well to combine. Let sit ~15-20 minutes. Sprinkle your work surface with some flour and roll out your puff pastry dough to ~14". It doesn't have to be circular...I'm going for rustic. But it can be if you wish. Transfer to baking stone (or inverted cookie sheet). Roll out almond paste until thin and ~12". Place in center of rolled dough. Mound your plum filling on top of the rolled almond paste. Fold edges roughly over the topping, leaving the center exposed. Dot fruit with butter. Combine egg wash ingredients and brush over crust. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for ~35 minutes or until crust is golden and fruit filling is bubbly. You probably want to line the bottom of the oven with foil...some of my filling seeped through...or alternately, bake it in a pie plate if you wish. Serve alone or with ice cream! Don't forget to head over to Healthy Delicious to what other delicious PLUM recipes everybody came up with! And send your "best food fotos" over to Hey What's for Dinner Mom? while you're at it!

Good Morning Pizza

Whew! Today was a crazy day...it started out fairly normal, though. I was really in the mood for pizza. Homemade pizza. For breakfast. My favorite way to make a pizza is just grab anything good...everything good that's laying around and slice & dice...and bake into bliss! The pizza turned out beautifully. The day seemed "regular" enough. Then I decided that I needed to take a road trip. Things were feeling stale. So, we hopped in the car and headed to my mom's house (just a couple of hours away). We hit the beach...we drank some wine...we raided a taqueria...and we watched fireworks. And now, here I sit at a little past 1 o'clock in the morning writing this post. I don't sleep well when I'm not at home, so I figured I may as well use my time wisely (as opposed to tossing and turning). Plus, I really wanted to enter this pizza into this week's BSI (Blogger Secret Ingredient): Potato assignment; which is being held at Chez What? this week by Christo (aka DoggyBloggy). So, here's to fun weekends and spontaneity and pizza for breakfast!

Good Morning Pizza

by girlichef ...ingredients used in bold

Using 1 portion of pizza dough (homemade, store bought, whatever...I used one of those mixes..just add H20)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Prepare your dough...get it rolled out onto your pizza stone or baking sheet. Drizzle with Olive Oil. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper and then grate some fresh Parmesan over it.

Have your chosen toppings sliced, diced & ready to go. I decided to use onion, garlic, plum tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, ham and this weeks BSI...potatoes (b-sized reds to be exact...sliced paper thin!)Pile all of your toppings onto the pizza. Next, add some sliced homemade Mozzarella (yup, here's one application of that mozzarella I so recently made), crack a couple of eggs on top, drizzle with a bit more olive oil, sprinkle with some more crushed red pepper and freshly grated Parmesan and pop into the preheated oven for ~15 minutes.

Let sit for a few minutes so you don't burn the top layer of skin from that little section between your two front teeth.

Slice and serve.

MMMMMMMM.....BREAKFAST! Good morning, pizza.

Okay, you can eat this anytime you like. But look at all of those yummy ingredients that may normally make their way onto your breakfast plate anyway! **Don't forget to enter my giveaway celebrating the 101 post mark!** Happy 4th of July to those celebrating today!!...and everybody else, too...

When feeling blue is oh-so-good!

I'm starting to see the first of the seasons blueberries popping up at markets and roadside stands. I've also started to notice myself making more drink/beverage recipes to share. Sangria has been the latest temptation...and of course, I finally gave in! One of my sisters and my niece & nephew came to visit last weekend and we made quick work of finishing off this pitcher...but it's simple and delicious and easy to make more. Blueberry Pomgria by girlichef yield: 1 pitcher red wine- 1 bottle (preferably one with blueberry notes...like a Merlot) Sprite (or other lemon-lime soda)- 1 can Blueberry PomWonderful- ~1 c. (tricky move w/ those samples...I'm hooked!) Blueberries- big handful Other assorted fruits, sliced thin (I used oranges, apples, lemons & limes) Place sliced fruits and blueberries in bottom of a pitcher. Pour all of beverages over fruit. Refrigerate. Add more fruit to your glass and pour in the chilled Blueberry Pomgria.

Warning: This beverage is extremely easy to consume. You may want to employ back-ups in case of empty pitcher! I am sending this recipe over to Reeni at Cinnamon, Spice & Everything nice for this weeks BSI assignment: Blueberries!

Blogger Secret Ingredient (BSI) ASSIGNMENT: GREENS

Yup, Ms. Kim, the Ungourmet has left me in charge of choosing this week's Blogger Secret Ingredient...and I choose GREENS. Collard, Turnip, Mustard, Beet, Dandelion...you name it. Your assignment is to create a recipe that features or incorporates Greens. Make sure you link back to me (preferably this post) and then email me with a link to your post. Or if you don't have a blog and would still like to enter, then just email me your creation and I'll include it, as well. Throughout the week as I receive entries, I will add them along with a link to your post at the end of this post! I will then choose my "favorite" entry and that person will receive a little prize from me. That will definitely be the hardest part. Please have your entries to me no later than noon, Eastern Standard time on Sunday, June 21st (so I can choose and post a winner ASAP)!

When I chose greens, I knew that they were an amazing source of antioxidants and that they had many health benefits...I just couldn't really remember exactly what those benefits were. So, I asked my friend Rebecca from Chow & Chatter (remember, she's a dietician) if she could refresh my memory on those benefits. Greens are rich in folate, iron and vitamins A & K. Vitamin A is great for your vision and your skin health. Vitamin K increases bone mass (ladies), helping to stave off osteoporosis. I do remember enough from my nutrition classes to know that dark greens contain good amounts of calcium & fiber, as well. So, are you convinced to go out and cook with greens yet? Get some of those beautiful leafy tops (and I gave you so many choices...you should be able to find at least one) and show us what you can do! A traditional way of cooking greens, especially in the South (U.S.) is with some fat back or smoked pork product. Yum. Rebecca reminded me that cooking with Olive Oil would be much healthier...but is it as tasty?

I found some beautiful Turnip Greens that I wanted to cook with this past weekend. Turnip greens aren't as dark as some of the choices, but they are still high in these vitamins and they add a nice bite!

Greens & Spicy Sausage Soup

yield: ~3 qts.

by girlichef

Olive Oil- 2 Tbs.

red onion, sliced- 1

garlic cloves, smashed-4

Hot & Spicy Smoked Italian Style Sausage, sliced on the bias- 12 oz.

canned, diced, fire-roasted tomatoes- 1 (14.5 oz) can

Cannellini Beans w/ their liquid- 2 (15 oz.) cans

Sprigs of fresh herbs- I used thyme, marjoram, oregano and some bay leaves

Crushed Red Pepper- to taste (optional)

Chicken broth/stock- 2 qts.

Turnip Greens (or another kind of green), washed well & chopped- 1 big bunch

Black Pepper- to taste

Red wine vinegar- 2 Tbs.

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high. When hot, add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until they start to soften, ~5 minutes. Add sausage and cook for a few more minutes, until everything starts to brown a bit.

Add tomatoes, beans and herbs and crushed red pepper (if using). Add broth/stock. Bring to a boil.

Add chopped greens and stir. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for ~15-20 minutes.

Greens will have cooked through and turned a deeper shade of green (and shrunk considerably). Remove from heat.

Taste for seasoning. The sausage adds a good deal of salt, so you may not need to add any. Add black pepper to taste. Stir in vinegar. Serve with a nice loaf of crusty bread for sopping up the juices.

How will you use your greens?

Here is a list of entries for this week's BSI: Greens-

Dinner at Christina's- Orzo Soup

Cookbook Cuisine- Sauteed Chicken and Baby Bella Mushrooms w/ Garlic Spinach

Chow and Chatter- Easy Spinach South Indian Style

Angie's Recipes- Escarole and Alaska Pollock Cutlets

Dianasaur Dishes- Fresh Greens with Buttermilk Salad Dressing in Parmesan Lace Bowls

5 Star Foodie- Collared Wrapped Sockeye Salmon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Fried Potato Cream

feeding maybelle- Red Veined Dandelion Salad with Roasted Chicken, Dried Cherries and Almonds

Baker's Corner- Bosnian Green Strudel

Health Nut- Radish Greens Brown Rice Soup

Cooking Stuff- Rotini with Broccoli, Peppers, Spinach and Italian Sausage

Once Upon a Gourmet Gin- Gin's Mustard Greens Fresh Pesto

DoggyBloggy- Green Genie

Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice- Kale w/ Garlic & Cranberries

Bread + Butter-Spinach Pizza w/ Cream Sauce

Johnstone's Vin Blanc- Spring Vegetable Lasagna

The Ungourmet- Wasabi Ginger Kale Slaw

(envision your name & dish here...updated all week)

Here is a list of BSI Assignments to date:

Week 35: Girlichef - Greens Week 34: The Ungourmet - Watermelon Week 33: Bread + Butter - Bell Pepper Week 32: Burp and Slurp - Corn Week 31: Say Yes to Salad – Kabocha Week 30: Thinspired – Bananas

Week 29: To Be The Whole Package – Almonds

Week 28: Kristas Kravings – Lemon

Week 27: From French Fries To Flax Seeds – Coconut

Week 26: Plentiful Plants – Avocado

Week 25: Training Fuel – Eggs

Week 24: Dinner at Christina’s – Cabbage

Week 23: Hey What’s for Dinner, Mom? – Strawberries

Week 22: One Bite at a Time – Basil

Week 21: Just Sweet Enough – Black Beans

Week 20: What I Ate Yesterday – Kale

Week 19: What’s for Dinner – Orange

Week 18: BranAppetit! – Spinach

Week 17: Tales of Expansion – Dates

Week 16: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Zucchini

Week 15: Sweet & Natural – Peppermint

Week 14: bella eats [and runs] – Ginger

Week 13: Coffee Talk – Walnuts

Week 12: For the Love of Oats – Pumpkin

Week 11: Trying to Heal – Sweet Potatoes

Week 10: The Inner Workings of a College Graduate – Eggplant

Week 9: Itzy’s Kitchen – Pears

Week 8: The Fitnessista – Cranberries

Week 7: Tri to Cook – Lentils

Week 6: Rhodey Girl Tests – Polenta

Week 5: Eating Bender – Butternut Squash

Week 4: Care to Eat – Apples

Week 3: On a Lobster Placemat – Mushrooms

Week 2: Hangry Pants – Tomatoes

Week 1: Sportsnutritionliving – Quinoa

I'm also sending this over to Deb (early) at Kahakai Kitchen for my contribution to this week's Souper (soup, salad, sammie) Sunday!