Lemon "Brownies"

I have been back on Pinterest - that's how bored I am!  What a time-sucker it is.  But it's irresistible at the same time.  I have posted a few recipes I've found there on here, but then they marked this blog as spam and I was pissy about it, sent an email, which was never responded to, and then I promptly left the site for over a year and a half.  Now I am back...and once more addicted.

There is so much food on Pinterest it's ridiculous.  I found this recipe for Lemon Brownies the other day and was immediately intrigued.  I love a good lemon square, but this was a different kind of bar, so I wanted to try it.  There is a bit of risk with Pinterest recipes; some of them don't turn out and you never really know if they're as tried and true as they claim to be.  But this worked out wonderfully, despite the fact that there is no leavening agent in it.  I was worried about that small detail; I thought perhaps the cake part of the brownie would turn out like a chunk of cement.  I needn't have worried.  Though I slightly over baked it, the cakey part was just great.

I took them to a dinner for dessert and they were a big hit!  I will definitely make these again!

The recipe is here.

Enjoy!

Lemon Scented Pull-apart Coffee Cake

Hot on the heels of my pumpkin/cinnamon pull-apart loaf from the other day, I had another pull-apart bread experience, this week in Seattle, that was just as exceptional. My friend Jodi, whom I am visiting, made this lemon pull-apart loaf Thursday. She had some issues with the dough - it needed a lot of flour added to it because it was too sticky - but the results were just great nonetheless.

Here is the original recipe.

Jodi made a marscapone glaze for this loaf instead of the glaze in the rec

ipe. It was very good. She didn't think it was that great, or that it went with the bread that well, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Lemon Trifle

Happy Easter to all my readers who celebrate it!

We had our Easter dinner last night due to scheduling issues, and after my lemon pound cake disaster last Tuesday, I offered to bring a dessert so I could get rid of that ugly beast pronto to make room in my freezer for more successful endeavours. Lemon-flavoured desserts in the spring are just the best, I think. Well, they're the best at any time of year, but it seemed particularly appropriate yesterday because it was a beautiful sunny day for once and lemons remind me of sunny things. This is a super simple trifle that was an enormous hit.

So:

- one lemon pound cake, cut into cubes
- 1 jar lemon curd (I used Robertson's because it was the least expensive at LOGS)
- 500mL whipping cream, whipped to a decent firmness, just not butter
- 1 large package (the one that makes 6 servings) vanilla pudding, prepared

Layer in the cake with the lemon curd dabbed over the top of the cake cubes, then pour over the pudding, then some whipping cream, and repeat till everything is used up, topping the trifle with whipping cream. I topped mine with some almond flower decorations.

It took about 15 minutes to make and was absolutely heavenly and delicious!

Have a great day everyone, and for those of you who are Canucks, enjoy the long weekend!

The Loaf Failure

Something must be in the air in this God-forsaken place! Spring is soooooooo slow in arriving, I'm cranky as hell, and today I had a very frustrating kitchen failure that didn't do anything to help my mood.

I was inspired to make lemon loaf today after seeing my friend Pierce's success with this recipe this morning. I have a thing to go to tomorrow afternoon, and I thought I'd pack a dessert with me, and since lemons were on sale this week at LOGS, I thought a lemon loaf would be perfect. Plus, it's spring-like! And God knows, I need more springlike things in my life right now!

Tina had great success with her loaf. But mine was a disaster. Granted, I didn't use the food processor as directed in the original recipe, but I don't think that's the explanation for this loaf that A) overflowed from the side of the pan during baking (luckily, I baked it on a baking sheet), B) had a texture that was a bizarre mixture of coarse sponginess with a bit of rubber thrown in, C) didn't rise, and D) it seemed like all the butter sunk to the bottom of the loaf during baking because the bottom was full of grease, and E) it wasn't very lemony. Perhaps my lemons were lemons.

BY NO MEANS AM I DISSING TINA'S RECIPE OR TINA! Tina's looks lovely and according to her, tasted great, too. I obviously messed up big time somewhere along the line, I just don't where. Sometimes things just don't work out. Like I said, there is something in the air up here... I will freeze the loaf and use it for trifle down the line somewhere. I certainly am not letting it go to waste.

Magazine Monday #70: Lemon Loaves!

OK, I got a great deal on lemons from the States recently (yes, you can bring certain types of fresh produce across the border, but stop off at Canada Customs on the way down to find out what you can & cannot bring home; tropical fruits are OK) - something like 2lbs for $3.50. This is an unreal deal since lemons are ridiculously expensive up here and if I'm lucky, I might be able to find a 2/99¢ sale, but I guarantee you the lemons will be crappy.

So, I brought all these lemons home and proceeded to not really know what to do with them. I'm a single person who lives alone; I was tempted to make a lemon pie, this one or a meringue, but seriously, I didn't want to eat it all myself. So, I made stuff I could freeze and pull out if I have company (which doesn't happen often).

The first thing I made was this lemon poppy seed loaf from Canadian Living. The original recipe has them as mini bundt cakes, but there is a variation in the recipe saying you can make it into a loaf, too. What issue is a mystery to me; the date was clipped off when I took the recipe from the magazine and the web site doesn't mention the date, either. Delicious! But a warning: there is too much batter for the specified loaf pan. I wound up getting a really ugly-looking, flat-topped loaf because the batter came right up to the rim of the loaf pan. But the texture and richness was lovely.

On a lemon roll, a couple of days later, I decided to make another Canadian Living recipe, this time the Lemon Yogurt Loaf from the September 2010 issue of the magazine. I had a bit of a disaster, though: my oven element began sparking away most alarmingly, and caught some piece of debris on fire. The loaves were almost done, but not quite, so I had to stick them in the toaster oven to finish baking. Disaster averted, but now I'm ovenless until the element can be replaced, and since the whole appliance is a total dinosaur, I'm worried they don't make the part anymore. (Check out The Dino here.) Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of these loaves before I wrapped them up tightly and put them in the freezer!

Oh, I also made a roast chicken with lemon, but that is a post for another time!

Magazine Monday #62: Roasted Lemon Cake

I rarely go to the liquor store, but other people I know go regularly, and one of those someones brought back a recent copy of Taste Magazine, which is put out by the BC Liquor Stores. This is the first time I've made a recipe from the magazine, and the occasion was Father's Day. Lemons, as it happened, were on sale at the time! The original recipe involved a lavender syrup, but as I didn't have any access to lavender, I skipped it altogether.

Roasted Lemon Cake, adapted Taste Magazine Spring 2010, page 129

4 large lemons, washed well & dried
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375C. Grease sides of a 9" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.

2. Slice lemons thinly & remove seeds. Place them in a layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper & sprinkle with the 6tbsp of sugar. Roast for about 15 minutes or until lightly caramelized on the edges. Let cool.

3. Arrange 3/4 of the lemon slices on the bottom of the cake pan. Chop the remaining lemons & set aside. Sift flour & baking powder into a bowl & stir in almonds. In a separate bowl, beat butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Fold in flour mixture, and add chopped lemons & accumulated juices. Spread batter over roasted lemons. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until done in the centre. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes at least before turning out of the pan. Serve with whipped cream.


This was a hit with my family. The cake was so moist it was pretty much pudding-like. The lemony flavour was over the top. Unfortunately, the cake was so moist that it was hard to serve nicely because it kept breaking up. Also, the lemons I got were particularly thick-skinned, which was kind of annoying: more skin than fruit really, and it got pretty chewy at times. Still, a really worthwhile and adaptable recipe that I can see going well with other citrus fruits like oranges or even grapefruit.

Enjoy!

Magazine Monday #59: Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake

Oh, where has the Coyote been?

Busy!

I spent about a week painting my new place, and the fruits of my labours can be viewed here.

I have been cooking, but not so much into blogging about it. But last week, oysters were on sale at LOGS, so I decided to make oyster burgers for dinner. In order to do this, I needed buttermilk, because I soak the oysters in this before breading them. I had a whole bunch of buttermilk left over, and happened across a recipe for Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake in the November 2009 issue of...wait for it...you'll never guess...Canadian Living!

Here is the recipe.

This was really easy to make and so incredibly luscious...It was tart and tasted quite a lot like a lemon meringue pie without the crust. It puffed up like a souffle in the oven, and was light and fluffy when served. I didn't bother with the water bath, as specified in the recipe, and it worked out just fine. Definitely a keeper recipe!

Heaven on a Plate

Yeah, baby! This dish rocked my world - and I totally whipped it out of my ass after being inspired by this dish made my MonicaJane of Yes, We Cook, and sort of by Nigella's so-so pasta dish I made a while back. This was so easy to make it wasn't funny, and it made a ton of left-overs so I didn't have to cook for a few nights. And it was spectacular - SPECTACULAR, I tell you!

Penne with Chicken, Mushrooms, Thyme, Lemon, and Goat's Cheese

500g penne (1lb package)
140g package goat's cheese (not feta; soft, unripened goat's cheese)
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 lemon
3 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
salt & pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While the pasta cooks, saute the chicken until cooked through. Remove from pan, leaving any accumulated juices. Add mushrooms & thyme & saute until mushrooms have cooked down. Return chicken to pan, add garlic, and stir. Keep warm until pasta is cooked.

3. Drain pasta & return to pot. Add chicken & mushrooms, lemon zest & juice, and add the package of goats cheese. Stir together; the cheese will get all melty and create a "sauce". Season with salt & pepper to taste.I can't tell you how good this was! I am really enjoying cooking with chicken thighs, too; I didn't think I would, but I am rethinking my opinion of them. They certainly are WAY more affordable than breasts, I can tell you that. I would like to have used more exotic mushrooms (MonicaJane's recipe uses shiitake, which would have been great) but I only had a choice between regular white mushrooms, brown mushrooms, and portobellos, but the portobellos were way too expensive for my budget. So, I used white mushrooms (the browns weren't very fresh-looking).

A great meal! Thanks for the inspiration, MonicaJane!

Magazine Monday #48 & 101 Uses for a Roast Chicken #18: Lemon Basil Chicken

At the beginning of the summer, my good friend Pierce of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor fame sent me & Juno some goodies and part of the packing material was the Feb/March 2009 issue of Taste of Home. My grandmother actually used to send me a subsciption to this magazine way back in the day, and I see it's improved considerably since then. There are quite a few recipes from this issue I intend on trying out.

This Monday, however, I present you with Lemon Basil Chicken. As you all know, I do love roasting chickens, which is why this post also qualifies as part of my 101 Uses for a Roast Chicken series in addition to being my weekly Magazine Monday contribution. Since I have some jaundiced basil languishing in my garden, I thought this was the perfect time to put some of it out of its misery (and mine - basil does not like me or my garden for some weird reason).

Lemon Basil Chicken

1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, divided (OK, I used way more than this)

1/4 cup minced fresh basil, divided

1 broiler/fryer chicken

2 tbsp butter, melted

salt & pepper

1. Zest whole lemon. Cut lemon in half and juice one half. Set aside the other half.

2. Slice one garlic clove. Place sliced garlic, 2 tbsp basil, and remaining lemon half in the chicken cavity.

3. Place chicken, breast side up, in roasting pan. Rub with reserved lemon juice. Mince remaining garlic & combine with butter & reserved lemon peel. Brush mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, & remaining basil.

4. Roast until done. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

OK. Butter on top of a chicken? Um, this doesn't work for me - even though I was willing to give it a sporting chance. All it did was drip off into the drippings. It added nothing to the taste or texture or look of the chicken. So, I won't do that again. Otherwise, this was a nice easy dish and I love lemon, basil, and garlic together. This would have been just as nice without the butter part. So, a bit of a disappointing recipe, but a good learning experience.

Joining me this week with their magazine experiments:

Tia of Buttercream Barbie made this luscious Cinnamon Chocolate Twist bread from Canadian Living.

Kylie of Thin Crust, Deep Dish made Peanut Sesame Noodles and a Cucumber Salad from a couple of Gourmet back issues.

Pierce of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made yummy chicken marsala from an issue of Family Circle.

Lunch at The Hume Hotel

Another week, another trip to Nelson to take advantage of Save-On Foods' weekly specials. Which also means a lunch out with my most constant dining partner nowadays, my dad.

This week, I suggested the Hume Hotel, which has a salad bar I was interested in. My appetite being what it is these days, I needed the flexibility the salad bar had to offer. That, and I really wanted some soup. The salad bar comes with soup of the day, which that day happened to be white bean & chorizo. Not my bag, so I subbed in the French Onion Soup.

Now, if you read this post, you'll see that the Hume has a history, and part of that history for me, involves a spectacular French Onion Soup I had there when I was a kid that had beer in it. To this day, it is the yard stick against which I measure all other French Onion Soups! In fact, my dad is the same - he still rhapsodizes about that soup. I knew, however, from our last lunch there that the recipe had changed and the beery soup was no longer on offer, but the current soup is supposedly made with sherry, as specified in the menu's description.

After having a sampler from the salad bar, my soup finally came. And...
...Well, it was good, but not that good. A bit weak, and not tasting too much of the sherry. It also didn't have very many onions in it. Also - they hadn't taken the bay leaves out and had used small bay leaves, so twice I took a spoonful and chomped down on bay leaves. I was a little annoyed.

My dad had ordered the lasagne, which came with garlic toast and a surprise Caesar salad. The salad was a surprise because the night shift had just come on and they put salad with their dinner entrees, so Dad got lucky.He said the lasagne was really good and enjoyed it very much.

The shift change might explain the slowness of the service. Because it was S-L-O-W.

Dad was full, but I wanted dessert, and I knew that the Hume has a great dessert list. I opted for the lemon meringue pie and was not disappointed at all - except, once again, it took forever to come out. But it was delicious and I realized I hadn't had lemon meringue pie in ages. Yum!
So, while the food was good, the service was iffy. Perhaps they were having an off day. It happens.