Strawberry Lemon Trifle

What better way to end a nice dinner than with a super easy and delicious dessert?! Now, it’s very easy to go and grab a scoop of ice cream, but it’s almost just as easy to make this beautiful trifle. Basically, a trifle is assorted stuff layered into deliciousness. Once you master the technique you can use almost anything that sounds good to you. You can make individual servings in wine glasses as shown here, or use a glass trifle bowl. Typically you want to use something you can see through to see the pretty layers, but you can also pop it in a baking dish if that’s what you have.


For my trifle I layered pieces of homemade citrus pound cake, lemon cream and strawberries together. If you are in a time crunch, you can buy a good quality pound cake, already-made lemon curd, and cool whip and end up with a decent outcome.

I love lemon curd and use it in a lot of different desserts so I think it’s worth the effort of making myself, besides its super easy.

Lemon Curd

• 2 large eggs

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• 2 teaspoons (packed) lemon zest

Bring a pot of water up to a simmer.

In a bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together.

Place the bowl over the simmering water and add the lemon juice. Whisk constantly until curd has thickened and looks like pudding.

Remove bowl from water and stir in butter and zest.

At this point, you can put a piece of plastic laying on the curd to form a false skin and pop it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. To use the curd in the lemon cream you want it to be as cold as possible.

After the lemon curd is chilled, whip a cup of heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks and then gently fold in the curd.

To layer, start with cubed pound cake on bottom, top with the cream and then strawberries. Repeat with 1-2 more layers depending on how you are serving. This amount of curd is good for about 4 individual servings or one 8x8 baking dish.

The great thing about this dessert is its better if it can be made ahead the day before. It’s the perfect ending to a fun summer picnic or a fancy dinner party. Enjoy!

Italian Shrimp and Grits

Ever since I introduced polenta to my husband a few months ago, he’s been asking for it for dinner every night. Overjoyed for a starch other than roasted potatoes, I have been trying to incorporate it into a variety of meals. One of my favorite ways to prepare polenta is to stir in some herbed goat cheese, yum!


Tonight we decided to give something new a try, an Italian take on shrimp and grits. The polenta itself was just a normal recipe, I usually do half water or stock and half milk, and finish it off with some butter and grated Parmesan.

For the shrimp, I rendered some diced bacon. Pancetta would be more Italian, but that’s not what I had on hand. After removing the bacon, I sautéed some onion, garlic, and chili flakes in the remaining bacon fat. Then, I added a can of tomatoes and let the sauce reduce down a bit. About five minutes before the polenta was done, I added the shrimp to the tomato sauce. I usually shell my shrimp before adding them to dishes because I don’t like to be slowed down later during the eating/enjoying process. The shrimp shells, however, would offer a little more “shrimpy” flavor to the sauce. When the shrimp were done I just tore a little fresh basil into the sauce for garnish. Top the polenta with the tomato and shrimp sauce and there you go!

This is a really great quick and satisfying meal. You can have everything done in the time it takes you to make the polenta, about 25 minutes, unless, of course, you use the quick-cooking variety. (Insert “My Cousin Vinny” quote here). I think any recipe that starts off with some rendered bacon is probably going to be pretty darn good, and this definitely did not disappoint!

A Night from "Bon Appetite"

Being at the end of May, I knew it was going to be any day that I would get my new issue of “Bon Appétit” in the mail. It came on Friday, before I was scheduled to work all weekend. So I was very excited Sunday, when I ended up with a little more free time than I had planned (long story), to spend some quiet time looking through the magazine for some new inspiration. This is the summer grilling issue so I knew there would be some really great finds. Lots of the dishes sounded delicious, but in particular the Shrimp and Andouille Skewers stood out first. I made a mental note. Then, as I kept turning the pages I came across something that just sounded too scrumptious for words, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars. No sooner than I had finished reading that title I knew I had fallen in love and that I must have this delicacy! Unfortunately, I was confined to “bed rest” under close watch by my caring yet militant husband. This menu would have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, I laid out my plan in detail and got the OK from the Boss that this menu was a “Go”. For anyone who knows Brandon, you know the dessert was a tough sell, HA!


So after dreaming about the cheesecake all night, Monday morning finally rolls around and I can hit the grocery store and get the last minute ingredients for my little menu with a Spanish flair. The cheesecake called for store-bought Dulce de Leche sauce. Ok, that’s fine, but I’m not messing around here. I wanted to make my own, which is really quite simple.

Dulce de Leche is a milk caramel sauce, made from caramelizing the sugars in the milk. All you need to do is take a can of sweetened condensed milk, crack two holes in the top for vents and, put it in a saucepan of simmering water. The water should leave about a ¼ in clearance from the top of the can. Let this simmer for 3 hours or so until the desired coloring is reached. You will probably have to add more water during the cooking time. Now, you’re probably thinking if the milk is in the can, how am I supposed to tell if it’s the right color? Well, yes you will have that dilemma. I let it simmer for 2 hours and found that the bottom of the can was more caramelized than the top. If you run into this situation you can pour the milk into a bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water, aka a double boiler, and slowly heat it until it does reach the desired color. You can also go this route from the very beginning and it should take about 40-50 minutes or so. A third option is to pour the sweetened condensed milk into a pie plate, cover it with foil and, place it in a 350ºF oven for about 40 minutes or until desired coloring is achieved. You may find that it’s just easier to start out with one of the other two options than play the guessing game. As a side note, the longer you cook the sauce, the more caramelized, and the thicker the consistency.

So, back to the recipe. It’s really just a standard graham cracker crust and cheesecake filling with the addition of some of the cooled dulce de leche. Once the cake has you mix some of the dulce de leche with a little cream and warm it in the microwave to a pourable consistency and pour it over the top of the cheesecake. I chose, instead of doing bars, to use a spring form pan to make more of a traditional cheesecake. Everything turned out fine, except that I had enough of all the parts left over to make some skimpier bars in a 9x9 pan. An 8x8 probably would have been a better choice, but that was too difficult to reach at the time. As a finishing touch to the cheesecakes, you sprinkle some fleur de sel on top which really sends the cake overboard delicious.

I guess I should mention that the Shrimp and Andouille skewers were also very delicious and oh so simple. You just skewer some nice big shrimp (16/20), sliced Andouille sausage, cherry tomatoes, and red onion. Then, glaze the skewers with a marinade of smoked paprika, sherry vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme and olive oil and grill them off. Smoked paprika, or Pimentón Dulce, is very Spanish and you should be able to find it in the regular grocery store. I know Spice Islands offers it.

These skewers are so quick and easy and really perfect for a picnic or camping. I would recommend leaving enough space in between the different skewer components so that everything can cook properly. The sausage should be a kind that is already cooked so you’re really only getting some marks on it. If you are using bamboo skewers make sure to soak them in water for about 30 minutes before grilling so that they don’t just burn up on the grill. I served them with a simple side salad and some roasted potatoes sprinkled with the smoked paprika.

I would highly recommend this menu as the skewers are so light and delicious that they don’t weigh you down from what you’re really going for, the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake! And trust me, this cheesecake is so rich and filling, you don’t want anything getting in your way. It really was the perfect ending to the meal. I didn’t feel that it was too sweet, which I had worried about. It was creamy and smooth with a perfect touch of salt to round out the complete flavor. I would only recommend having one piece, however, because as bad as you want seconds, you will find it to be a bad idea. Just hold on to that will power and wait until tomorrow for another piece!

Strawberry Insanity

Ok so let’s give this blog thing another try! I’ve been wanting to blog, but ever since we found out I was pregnant (January) I haven’t been doing anything really amazing in the kitchen. That all changed yesterday when I got a burst of energy, that was supposed to be used for cleaning, and made strawberry pie and jam instead! I think my pregnancy “nesting” is going to manifest itself much more in the culinary sense than in the cleaning sense, but hey what else is new?!


Right now in San Diego we have some really wonderful strawberries available and they are on sale so how could I resist? I knew I wanted to do something delicious with my insane amount of strawberries and during my morning internet perusal came across an Epicurious article, “How to Make the Perfect Pie”. In the article was a recipe for a really delicious sounding mixed berry pie with a streusel topping. Ok, done!

I’m not a fan of a double crusted pie, I just don’t like crust that much, even when sprinkled with sugar and all that jazz, so the streusel topping really works for me. This streusel had almonds in it, giving it a nice crunch. In my head I’m already thinking, “Almonds and strawberries, what a healthy pie!” Yeah, I can justify anything food related.

I did decide to tweak the filling recipe because for some strange reason Brandon doesn’t care much for raspberries, blackberries or blueberries. Weird guy, I know, but I love him anyway. I decided to just go full on with strawberries, so I checked out a few other recipes to make sure I wouldn’t have a super liquid-y filling. I do not like the gel-like strawberry pies I’ve seen in restaurants like Coco’s. There’s something unnatural about that, I think. I wanted a nice natural looking filling that really let my delicious strawberries shine. Taking bits from some other recipes, I finally settled on the following:

• 6 cups of quartered strawberries

• Scant ¼ c brown sugar-more or less depending on the sweetness of the berries

• ¼ c corn starch

• 2 splashes of Grand Marnier

• 1 tsp (about) ground cinnamon

Let me just say, I hit this pretty right on, and it wasn’t just my I’m-pregnant-give-me-pie emotions getting the better of me. Brandon thought the pie was pretty incredible too. The strawberries tasted like strawberries. It wasn’t too sugary at all. The shortening-butter combination crust was nice and flakey and the streusel topping had a satisfying crunch. I served it with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and it was just blissful. (Again, we hit quite a few food groups here; fruit, nuts, dairy and starches. What a healthy dessert!)

What to do with all those left over strawberries? Make some jam, of course! My mother-in-law has been making strawberry jam for years which my husband and I covet every time we have it. I keep forgetting to ask for the recipe so I just did another Epicurious search and found one. This recipe doesn’t use gelatin, just strawberries, lemon juice and sugar, and not even an insane amount of sugar at that. (12 c quartered strawberries, 1 c sugar, ½ lemon juiced) I did reduce my recipe since it would have made an absolutely insane amount of jam, and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out without the gelatin. I had to boil it down for a while to get gel-like but I think it turned out pretty good, again, nothing to interfere with the delicious tasting strawberries. One cup of sugar for 12 cups of strawberries is pretty minimal.

All in all I had a pretty productive day. I even got some cleaning up done, of course it was mostly just from my strawberry mess, but hey, it’s something!

NYE Dinner

Happy New Year everyone! New Year's Eve is always such a big ordeal trying to figure out how to ring in the New Year. After looking at a bunch of overpriced parties that promise unlimited drinks, no lines, and food (and very subpar food at that), we thought maybe going to a nice restaurant for a 4 course meal would be nice. We looked through a bunch of different menus and still couldn't decide. Then we had an AHHHHHH moment...I can make a fabulous 4 course dinner for 2 for about 1/3 of what we could spend at a restaurant...AND we don't have to deal with drunk annoying people. So I consulted my new wonderful Flying Pans cookbook from Chefs Bernard and Ron at the Marine Room for something special. Here is the menu I came up with:

Appetizer

Risotto Cakes with Pulled Pork

Salad

Mixed Greens with Figs, Gorgonzola and Vanilla Fig Vinaigrette

Intermezzo

Lemon Ginger Sorbet

Entree

Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables

Dessert

Individual Chocolate Heart Cakes

Of course, we didn't take pictures because we were too excited to eat...but I can assure you it looked delicious. Risotto cakes are soooo good and a great way to use up left over risotto. You can top them with anything and I decided on the Pulled Pork because I had that left over as well. I have found that if you spread the risotto out in an even layer on a sheet pan in the fridge overnight, the next day you can use a round cutter to get perfect little cakes. This helps the cakes stay together a little better than packing the risotto into balls and flattening them. Once you have the cakes formed just pan-fry them in some veg oil. They turn out so nice and crispy and golden brown.

The sorbet was just a ginger simple syrup lemon zest and juice.

I pretty much followed the recipe in Flying Pans for the lamb except in the sauce I used dried figs instead of sun dried huckleberries. I have no clue where you would find the huckleberries. In any event the figs worked out just fine.

For the chocolate cakes I made chocolate cake and then used a heart shaped cuter and cut each (2) heart in half horizontally. Then mixed a little raspberry jam with some Chambord and spread on the cut sides of each heart. Then you make a chocolate mousse and spread it on top of the jam on the bottom hearts and then the top jam side down. As if that wasn't enough the whole cake is then enrobed in a chai tea infused chocolate ganache!

So that was it! It was really a great meal and not difficult at all...and I used up leftovers! Talk about fabulously delicious fine dining right in your own home! The best part was it was all really easy too! This was also a really great idea because it got me to actually stay awake until midnight! Happy eatings to you all in the New Year!

Peppermint Bark

So, I know that this is my second chocolate peppermint posting this month, but as soon as December comes around that seems like the perfect combination for all sorts of holiday treats. This particular treat piqued my interest for a very special person’s birthday, my Mom. Of course my Mom lives across country from me so we will have to see how it all turns out shipping chocolate across country, but that’s a different story.


This original recipe was for a layer of white chocolate and crushed peppermint candies, followed by a layer of a stiff dark chocolate peppermint ganache and another layer of white chocolate and crushed peppermint candies. For me, that sounded like an awful lot of white chocolate that I’m not too wild about, so I changed the recipe a little bit. Here’s more or less what it was:

Layer 1-Chocolate

2/3 c dark chocolate-I used Ghirardelli and they now have those little discs that aren’t chocolate chips but are good for melting

15 crushed peppermint candies

-In a double boiler melt the chocolate, stirring until it reaches about 110 F with a candy thermometer. Using an offset spatula spread the chocolate into a 12x9 rectangle on a foil lined sheet pan. This will be a pretty thin layer. Sprinkle a layer of crushed peppermint candies over the chocolate. Place sheet pan in fridge to set up for about 15 minutes or so.

Layer 2-Chocolate peppermint ganache

1 c dark chocolate

3 oz heavy cream

¾ tsp peppermint extract

-Melt chocolate and heavy cream in saucepan or double boiler, gently stirring to combine. It may look like it doesn’t want to mix, but it will. You don’t want to incorporate air by whipping so just stir it gently. When the chocolate is melted, remove from heat and stir in the extract. Spread ganache over first layer of chocolate and put in fridge for about a half hour until set.

Layer 3-White chocolate

7 oz white chocolate

15 crushed peppermint candies

-Melt white chocolate, stirring until it reaches 110F. Spread over the ganache layer being careful to not mix the dark chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining peppermint candies and pop in the fridge until set and then cut into pieces.

And that’s it! It’s so nice and creamy and just looks really fancy. It’s a really delicious holiday treat that is so easy to do.

*For shipping I just layered it with wax paper and popped it in a tin. Since its winter I’m not super worried about melting, but if you pack the box with packing peanuts it helps insulate a bit.

Chocolate Peppermint Meringue Torte

After spending 2 days in the kitchen making a huge Thanksgiving dinner for 5, I'm the crazy person who wants to spend another full morning making a fancy torte. That's just the crazy kind of person I am. I first eyed this torte up when my December Bon Appétit arrived in my mailbox. I knew then that I MUST make this cake. It just looked soooo delicious! Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if my husband would be interested in such a dessert. Luckily, our friends Shawn and Lisa invited us over for dinner so I now had the perfect excuse in the event the cake wasn't received as well as I hoped.


I had nothing to worry about though, because this torte was just sooooooo good...chocolaty and pepperminty and a richness but with a light texture from the meringues. My husband said it was the BEST dessert he’s ever had! It starts out the first layer with a peppermint meringue slathered with chocolate buttercream, topped with a chocolate sponge and then repeated. I sprinkled crushed peppermint candies on top for garnish. I did make a small change to the recipe in the chocolate buttercream by using a different recipe for a French meringue chocolate buttercream. The original recipe called for corn syrup, which I didn't have and don't like to use. The French meringue is kind of the same but you make it by boiling sugar and water until it reaches 250 F. While doing that beat your egg whites to about medium peaks. Then when the syrup hits the right temp you have to very carefully pour it in to the bowl while the mixer is still whipping without spilling it on the bowl or whip (it will harden on there...no fun). You continue beating until the meringue is cooled and then add butter and chocolate if necessary. This just gives such a nice glossy sheen to the buttercream and it just looks beautiful!

This is a labor intensive cake, but totally worth it. I made up a little plan before I got started and decided it was best to get the cake part taken care of first then while that was baking/cooling do the meringues which take 2 hours or so to cook. While the meringues cook you can make the peppermint simple syrup and the buttercream. The meringues will also just cool in the oven, after cooking time just turn it off and prop open the oven. I found this plan to work really well for making and serving all in the same day.

Also, the original recipe called for a rectangular shape, which is fine but I have a torte ring mold. I think it helps give it a cleaner look and hold it together while you are layering.

I totally recommend this recipe but make sure you make it for a special occasion or special person because it is a lot of work but totally worth it!