Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 5 medium), peeled and sliced 1/8-thick
  
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
  

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PREPARATION

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and light browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add potatoes, chicken broth, cream, and bay leaves and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are almost tender (paring knife can be slipped into and out of potato slice with some resistance), about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

Transfer mixture to 8-inch square baking dish (or other 1 1/2-quart gratin dish) and press to an even layer; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake until cream is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

Scalloped Potatoes

I love potatoes with cheese! This past weekend I had a craving for some and just went ahead and made these. I got the recipe from Cooksillustrated.com Guaranteed yummy results! I'll be making these again this week since I have leftover ingredients.

Recipe: Yellow Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature

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PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the middle position.

Cream butter with sugar for 4-5 minutes.

Beaat eggs and vanilla in small bowl.

With mixer on medium, add eggs to butter mixture, about 1 tablespoon at a time. About halfway through, turn off mixer and scrape down bowl, then resume adding eggs.

With fine mesh srainer, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl and whisk together.

With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately, begining with one third of flour mixture and half of the sour cream, repeat, then finishe with flour mixture. Scrape the bowl and finish blending batter by hand.

Fill 1/4 from top of liner. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Recipe: Raspberry Squares

Makes 25 squares

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or almonds, or combination
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 12 pieces and softened but still cool
• 1 cup raspberry preserves

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Note: Lining the pan with foil makes removal of the squares for cutting very easy (just lift out the entire block and place it on a cutting board to cut). For a nice presentation, trim 1/4 inch off the outer rim of the uncut baked block. The outside edges of all cut squares will then be neat.

PREPARATION

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fold two 16-inch pieces of foil lengthwise to measure 8 inches wide. Fit one sheet in bottom of greased pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan (over hang will help in removal of baked squares). Fit second sheet in pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray. See picture:


In a bowl of standing mixer, mix flour, oats, sugars, baking soad, salt, and nuts at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer running at low speed, add butter pieces; continue to beat until mixture is well-blended and resembles wet sand, about 2 minutes.

Transfer 2/3 of mixture to prepared pan and use hands to press crumbs evenly into bottom. Bake until starting to brown, about 20 minutes. Using rubber spatula, spread preserves evenly over hot bottom crust; sprinkle remaining oat/nut mixture evenly over preserves. Bake until preserves bubble around edges and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours, then remove from pan using foil handles. Cut into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch squares and serve.

ENJOY!

Recipe: Smoked Paprika Shrimp and Red Pepper-Agave Sauce

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Red Pepper-Agave Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar or agave honey
• 1 jar (12 to 13 oz.) roasted red peppers, drained
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Smoked Paprika Shrimp:

• 1 pound large shrimp (21 to 25 count), peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse grind black pepper
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

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PREPARATION

Red Pepper-Agave Sauce:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet on medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 2 minutes or until softened. Add agave nectar; cook and stir 1 minute or until onion starts to caramelize. Place peppers, stock, cream, tomato paste and onion mixture in blender or food processor; cover. Puree until smooth. Spoon into medium saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Cook 10 to 12 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Keep warm

Smoked Paprika Shrimp:
Toss shrimp with 1 tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, sea salt, and pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

To serve, spoon Poblano Polenta onto each plate. Drizzle Red Pepper-Agave Sauce around polenta. Arrange Smoked Paprika Shrimp on sauce. Sprinkle with green onions.

ENJOY!

Recipe: Poblano Polenta

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 quart (4 cups) milk
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup polenta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese
• 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
• 1/4 cup finely chopped roasted Poblano chile or 1 tablespoon chopped, drained pickled jalapeño pepper

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Note: To roast the Poblano chile on a gas stove-top, cook the chile directly over a medium-high gas flame until blackened on all sides, turning with tongs. Transfer chile to a paper bag. Close bag. Let stand 15 minutes or until is cool enough to handle. Peel off blackened skin. Remove tops, ribs and seeds.

PREPARATION

Bring milk and sea salt to simmer in heavy 2-quart saucepan on medium heat. Whisking constantly, add polenta in thin stream. Stirring frequently, cook 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, corn, cheese and chile until well mixed. Keep warm.

ENJOY!

Recipe: Lemon Bundt Cake Glaze

For one bundt cake

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 2 cups confectioner's sugar

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PREPARATION

While lemon bundt cake is baking, whisk confectioner's sugar to get rid of any lumps. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the buttermilk, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk.)

Cool cake in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack. Pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours total. Cut into slices and serve.

Recipe: Lemon Bundt Cake

Serves 12

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 lemons, zest grated and saved (will need 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
• 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature

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Note: The cake has a light, fluffy texture when eaten the day it is baked, but if well wrapped and held at room temperature overnight its texture becomes more dense--like that of pound cake--the following day.

PREPARATION

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup Bundt pan by making a simple paste from 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tablespoon flour and applying it with a pastry brush. Thoroughly coat the surface of the pan, including all the nooks and crannies.

Zest the lemons and mince to a fine paste. In a small bowl, soak the lemon zest in the lemon juice. Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In a small bowl (or preferably a liquid measuring cup), whisk the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon mixture together.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Whisk the eggs and egg yolk separately and then beat in half of the eggs into the butter mixture. Once incorporated, beat in the other half of the egg mixture.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Wipe any drops of batter off the sides of the pan and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Let the cake cook in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Let the cake cool completely, about 2 hours, before serving.

ENJOY!

Lemon Bundt Cake

I've always wanted to make one of these cakes since I love to eat this so much. The ones at the supermaket and at the coffee shops are decent, but nothing beats homemade! It's a bit of hassle to wait 2 hours to eat this but what are you gonna do?

I got this recipe from the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. All foolproof recipes in there!