A Taste of Spring
Key West Citrus Coolers
Apple, Brie and Fig Jam Panini
Kale and Craisin Salad with Feta Cheese
Cheddar Biscuits
Apple and Brie Soup
Rack of Lamb
Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes
Peas in Cream
Yellow Cake with Coconut
Julia’s Sugar Cookies
Key West Citrus Coolers
6 cups water
3 cups sugar
3 cups fresh lime juice
3 cups orange juice
Crushed ice
Bring 3 cups water and sugar to boil in large saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 3 minutes creating syrup. Transfer syrup to bowl, cover and chill at least 3 hours and up to 1 week.
Mix lime juice, orange juice, 3 cups syrup, and 3 cups water in large pitcher. Fill glasses with ice. Pour cooler over. Serves 10
Apple, Brie and Fig Jam Panini
This is essentially a grilled cheese sandwich. And if you don’t have a panini press, just grill in a skillet or a griddle. We know you all know how to make grilled cheese—but here goes…
Slices of bread—we used sourdough
Cheese, thinly sliced—we used brie
Tart apples, thinly sliced
Fig jam
Butter
Preheat a skillet on medium heat. Spread on side of one slice of bread with fig jam. Evenly distribute a layer of sliced cheese and sliced apples between two slices of bread. With the sandwich together, spread a thin layer of butter on the outside of the top piece of bread. When the skillet is hot, place the sandwich in the skillet, butter side down. Then spread a thin layer of butter on outside of the top piece of bread. If you do not have a panini press, cover with a piece of foil and place a heavy pan on top of the sandwich. This will compress the sandwich like a panini. When the bottom of the sandwich is brown, flip and replace the foil and pan on top of the sandwich. Remove when the second side is browned.
Kale and Craisin Salad with Feta Cheese
www.melskitchencafe.com
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 bunch Kale
3/4 tsp coarse kosher salt or sea salt
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup dried cranberries/craisins
3/4 cup small-diced apple
1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup crumbled Feta cheese
Directions:
Wash the kale and pat it dry. Slice off the stiff stems below the leaves and continue slicing the stem away from the leaf until you have cut a thin v-shape into the kale leaf and removed the tough stem all the way up. Stack the kale leaves two or three at a time, roll them up, and slice the leaves into thin ribbons.
Place the kale ribbons in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and massage it into the kale with your hands for two minutes. You'll notice the kale start to turn a darker green and the texture of the kale will begin to soften a bit.
Toss in the red onions, craisins, apples, and sunflower seeds. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and sugar. Pour over the salad and toss. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top and serve. The salad can be refrigerated for up to a day before serving (if doing this, I would suggest refrigerating the salted kale separately from the other ingredients and tossing the salad together an hour or two before serving).
Cheddar Biscuits
Makes 10 to 12 large biscuits
3-1/2 cups minus 1 tsp all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
2 Tbsp baking powder
2-1/2 tsp kosher salt*
9 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cold unsalted butter (use a good brand with a high butterfat content)
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1-3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
* Some find the biscuits to be too salty. We definitely did not, but if you are sensitive to salt, perhaps reduce the salt to 2 teaspoons or less.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and put it in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes. In the meantime, cut the butter into chunks and leave out at room temperature (you want it malleable, but not soft).
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the chilled dry ingredients, the cheese and the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for a few minutes, until the chunks of butter are no bigger than a large pea, or a small bean. (In the oven, the water in the chunks of butter creates steam, which in turn will create lovely pockets of air within the biscuits.)
Add the buttermilk to the bowl and mix on low just until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured board, dust your fingers with flour and gently knead it a few times. Quickly and carefully pat the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2-inch thick.
Dip a 3-inch round cutter with sharp edges in flour and then cut the biscuits using an even downward motion, without twisting the cutter. Transfer the rounds of dough to the baking sheets, leaving an inch or two of space between them. When you've cut the first batch of biscuits, gently pat the dough into another rectangle and cut a few more—discard the dough or add the funky leftover shapes to the baking sheets after the second batch is cut (if you shape the dough a third time, the biscuits will be tough).
Beat the egg with a splash of water (if you're feeling fancy, you can then pass it through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any clumps of egg white that might burn). Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with egg wash* and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the biscuits are a deep golden brown. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets but serve them while still warm!
* At this point you can stick your prepared pan in the freezer. Once the biscuits are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag to store. When you are ready to bake, there is not need to thaw the biscuits. Just bake them straight from the freezer. I had to cook mine about 3 minutes longer when baking them from the freezer. And I did apply the egg wash before freezing them—worked beautifully.
www.food52.com
Apple-brie Soup
Serves 4
Adapted from Bistro du Soleil in Playa del Rey. This soup can be made ahead of time through
puréeing and chilled; reheat the purée before continuing the recipe.
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery with leaves, finely chopped
2 large or 3 medium tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced
2 Tbsp flour
3 cups chicken broth, divided
1/2 lb cold Brie, rind removed and cheese cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Brown sugar to taste
Parsley for garnish
In a large saucepan heated over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the onion, celery and apple and reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the contents are soft and slightly golden, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over and stir to coat the contents. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes to moisten the flour.
Whisk in 1 cup of the chicken broth. Increase the heat to medium and continue to whisk until the broth has thickened and begins to bubble,about 3 minutes. Whisk in the remaining broth and bring the contents to a brisk boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and purée the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Strain the purée into a clean saucepan. The soup can be made up to this point and chilled; reheat the purée over low heat before serving.
Note: You don't really need to strain the soup. We tried it both ways and liked it better without straining. Just be sure to purée well. -nb
Heat the purée over medium-low heat and stir in the Brie cubes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is fully melted, then whisk until the soup is completely smooth. Whisk i the heavy cream and thyme, and season to taste with salt and pepper and optional brown sugar.
Garnish the soup with parsley before serving. This makes about 1 quart soup.
Rack of Lamb
Serves 2
1 rack of lamb, about a pound
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp mustard
Chopped fresh herbs*: rosemary,thyme, chives, mint, tarragon—whatever you have
* Rosemary and lamb always go well together but tarragon is good with this recipe as well.
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Place lamb on a parchment-lined (for easy clean-up) rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper on all sides. Mix together mayo, mustard and herbs. Spread in an even layer across the rack of lamb—you might not need it all.
Place pan in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 400 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes. Take pan out of the oven and place lamb on a board to rest. Let rest for at least 10 minutes. Seriously, no less than 10 minutes—I can't emphasize resting enough. Cut and serve.
Notes: The lamb takes about 20 minutes to cook but depending on the size of the rack, the temperature of the lamb (room temperature or cold), and the reliability of your oven, the time will vary slightly. might take a teensy bit of practice to nail it.
www.alexandracooks. com
Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes
8 medium to large russet potatoes—approximately 6 pounds
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
Salt and Pepper
Peel and dice potatoes. Bring to boil in stockpot and simmer until tender. Drain and return to pan. Add cream cheese to potatoes. With electric mixer, whip potatoes and cream cheese until incorporated. Add sour cream and do the same. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
At this point, you can serve the potatoes or refrigerate for one to two days. Place mashed potatoes in baking dish and let cool on counter. Cover and refrigerate. Prior to serving, warm potatoes in 350 °F oven until warmed through. Stir to fluff before serving.
Peas in Cream
Gourmet, January 2008
3 cups fresh peas (shelled from 3 to 6 pounds peas in pods) or thawed frozen peas (1 pound)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp finely chopped chervil, chives, or mint
Bring a large heavy saucepan of salted water (4 teaspoons salt for 2 quarts water) to a rolling boil, then slowly add peas so water maintains a boil. Stir in sugar and cook peas, uncovered, until tender, 5 to 12 minutes, depending on size of peas.
Drain peas in a colander.
Boil cream in saucepan until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add butter, peas, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and salt to taste and cook over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and peas are warmed through. Stir in herbs.
Yellow Cake with Coconut
This is a gem! It's sooo easy to make and is ALWAYS a huge hit.
1 yellow cake mix with pudding—mix and bake as directed in two 8-inch round pans
Filling:
16 oz sour cream
2 cups sugar
12 oz frozen coconut
1 small Kool Whip
With mixer, mix sour cream and sugar and coconut—save some coconut for topping. Reserve one cup of mixture for topping. Slice each cake layer in half (so you have a total of four rounds—two tops and two bottoms).
Start with the top half of one of the layers. Place it top-side down on the cake plate and place strips of waxed paper or foil slightly underneath the cake and covering the rim of the plate—this is to catch any filling that overflows the cake. Spread approximately one third of the mixture on top of the layer. Top the first layer with its bottom half, cut-side down. Again, spread with approximately one third of the mixture.
For the third layer, place the second of the two bottom halves, bottom-side down, on the two-layer stack. Spread with the remainder of the mixture. You may have some mixture left over in addition to the 1 cup you have in reserve. If you bake the cake mix in 9-inch rounds you will likely have less mixture left over. Top the cake with the final top layer, cut-side down.
Mix the cup of the mixture with the Kool Whip. Starting with the sides of the cake, frost the outside of the cake with the Kool Whip mixture. The frosting should be fairly thick. Work quickly while the Kool Whip is still cool or the frosting will slide off of the cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Remove the waxed paper or foil strips from beneath the cake very carefully. KEEP REFRIGERATED.
Julia’s Sugar Cookies
1-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
In a large bowl, using a hand-mixer, beat sugar, butter, shortening and eggs until fluffy. Mix in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 °F. Roll out dough thickly. Bake until cooked but not brown. Let cool. Frost with powdered sugar icing.
Frosting
1 lb powdered sugar
1 cube butter, softened
Dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla
Boiled milk
Cream together the butter, powdered sugar and dash of salt with the boiled milk and vanilla. Beat to desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired.
Labels: Julia, Nanci
