Monday – Recipe Recap

First, before I forget, I did some recipe catch-up and below you’ll find the recipes for the Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad I made Saturday night, as well as the Glazed Lemon Cake and Chocolate and Nut Cookie Bars from yesterday.

No new recipes to report for tonight, because The Neighbors cooked! The Neighbor Husband was inspired to do some grilling, and who am I to stand in his way? He’s working on coming up with his own “signature hamburger,” and tonight used the recipe from last year’s winner of Sutter Home’s Build a Better Burger contest. We have to work on the stocking of The Neighbor’s kitchen, because after he got through substituting most of the ingredients, it was an entirely different recipe, but it was still very moist and delicious. And speaking of Sutter Home‘s contest, next month, they will be beginning to accept recipes for this year’s contest, and you can bet I’ll be sending in an entry or two.

And speaking of contest winners, I am really glad that Guy Fieri won The Next Food Network Star last night. His new show, Off the Hook, premieres on Sunday, June 25th and I can’t wait. I really like his fun, irreverent cooking style and am looking forward to what recipes he’ll be dishing up. If you can’t wait until then, you can try his recipes for Rhode Island Calamari, Waka Waka Salad, Chipotle Pasta, La Manzania Frittata, Chicken Avocado Egg Rolls, The Grape Ape Bowla, Havana Prawns, Guido’s Artichoko, Jackass Roll, Tequila Turkey Fettucine and lastly, a recipe I’m making this weekend, his Breath Mint Pie. Along with his personality, I love the names he gives his dishes.

Some exciting news … I am now a Contributing Writer to the Chicgao-based team of Hungry Magazine. Some of you guys actually helped write my first article, which you can read here. And lastly, my next article is up on Food Bounds’ site, featuring a wonderful Panzanella recipe I made last month.

Alright folks, all for tonight. Tune in tomorrow for the ARF/5-A-Day round-up. Until then…

A year ago today… a wonderful Chicken Satay.

Glazed Lemon Cake

Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs separated
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (I used 1 teaspoon lemon extract instead)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat oven to 375. Grease and flour 4-1/2 cup fluted tube pan. In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy and blended. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 1/4 cup lemon juice and lemon peel. In medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder; stir into butter mixture. In clean medium bowl, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until firm but not stiff peaks form. Stir one-fourth of the egg whites into butter mixture to lighten batter; gently fold in remaining egg whites. Spread batter in pan. Bake 25-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together all glaze ingredients. Invert cake onto wire rack. Prick top with fork or toothpick; brush with glaze. Cool completely.

Chocolate and Nut Cookie Bars
Recipe courtesy of Pillsbury
36 servings

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/ teaspoon salt
1 cup candy-coated chocolate candies or semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and shortening with electric mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla and egg until well blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda and salt until dough forms. With spoon, stir in chocolate candies and nuts. Spread dough in ungreased 13×9 inch pan. Bake 15-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.

Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad
Courtesy of Italian Salads cookbook
Serves 4

2 balls of buffalo mozzarella, 5 oz. each
2 large rip tomatoes, roughly the same size as the balls of mozzarella
2 oz. fresh basil leaves
about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the mozzarella and tomatoes into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Arrange the tomato slices on a large plate and season with salt and pepper. Put a slice of mozzarella on each slice of tomato and top with a basil leaf. Tear up the remaining basil and scatter over the top. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil just before serving. This salad must be made at the last moment to prevent the tomatoes from weeping and the mozzarella from drying out. Serve at room temperature, never chilled, as this would kill the flavors.