April 28, 2009

Happy Birthday to all Spring Babies! :)


March through May are soooo many birthdays for family and close friends to me, including my own. April alone has 17 birthdays on my calendar in a month of 30 days! So two of my beautiful friends had a bbq to celebrate their birthdays and friendships and I felt it was a perfect opportunity to make a cake. My awesome neighbor Lisa came up and helped me bake it for a great Saturday experiment. I found this recipe on Rachel Ray and I knowing that I have only made meringue once and it was in a freshman high school cooking class, I thought it would be fun. It so yummy and fun to make that I actually did it again on Sunday - just so Lisa could actually try it. :-)

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Finely grated peel of 2 lemons, plus 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
One 11-ounce jar lemon curd
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

  • Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, then butter the paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk, lemon peel and lemon juice.
  • Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with 2 cups confectioners' sugar on medium speed until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add the whole eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture.
  • Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake until springy to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.
  • Clean the mixer. Beat the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and the egg whites. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water and cook, whisking, until the confectioners' sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and the mixture is cool, 7 to 10 minutes.
  • Peel the paper off 1 cake layer and place bottom side down on a cake plate. Spread one-third of the lemon curd on the cake and arrange the berries on top. Drizzle the remaining curd evenly over the berries. Peel the paper off the remaining cake layer and place upside down on the filling. Top the cake with the meringue.
Preheat the broiler to high. Broil the cake just until the meringue peaks are golden, about 2 minutes.

April 15, 2009

Teamwork makes the best Jambalaya



Last Saturday, I visited a friend and we decided we would make dinner. After much debating (lasagna, casserole, something "interesting") we ended up choosing jambalaya - which neither one of us have ever made or knew how to make. I've never made it because I always thought it came with shrimp and I'm allergic. This might be where an iPhone would come in handy but neither one of us having one we stopped at the store and just started grabbing things that we thought would go into jambalaya; tomatoes, chilis.. we then ran back to the house to google a couple of recipes and ideas on what would go in. After just glancing at a couple, we went back to the store and grabbed the rest of the ingredients. We went back to the house and I started cutting up veggies and throwing things in a pan. It turned out amazing and always seem the best meals come from not following a recipe (ironic I have a food blog) but here is what we did.

1/2 diced onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. vegetable oil
cubed chicken breasts
Italian sausage (we used turkey sausage)
1 diced green bell pepper
1 chopped carrot
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
sliced jalepenos
hot sauce
cooked rice
*can add shrimp if not allergic like me :)


Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add diced onions and minced garlic. Add chicken breasts and cook fully. In another smaller pan cook the sausage at the same time until they are fully cooked. Meanwhile, heat green bell pepper and carrots until tender. Cut cooked sausage into pieces and add to the large saucepan. Add the tomatoes, jalepenos, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and jalepenos. Cook on medium low heat for 15 minutes or until hot. Serve over rice.


So easy and tasty and I've realized that experimenting in the kitchen with a partner is much more fun than doing it by yourself. It also makes for an entertaining Saturday night, especially combined with many hours of Guitar Hero. ;-)