Spring is coming and bringing Lemon Ricotta Cake!

What is likely the last snow of the season here in Charlotte fell overnight last night. Merely a dusting here in my area, but enough to make it soft and pretty for a small time until the sun chased it all away. The promise of spring is starting to pop up everywhere. My neighborhood has a flock of Canadian geese that spend spring and fall with us yearly. They roost and raise their chicks every year. It is fascinating to watch them return every year and bear witness to their cycle of life. A few years ago a gosling was born missing one of his little webbed feet; he had the leg just no foot. I was saddened because I knew this was likely one that wouldn’t make it and probably would not be chosen as a mate if he did. The next spring he returned with a mate and for several years now has returned and helps raise a whole new brood of goslings. It really is heartwarming! Without that missing little foot, I may never have given a second thought to the fact that it is the same flock of geese each year. Life really is a miraculous succession of events if you look for it.

The recipe I am giving you this week is decidedly NOT a diet food. I give this as a sort of peace offering begging your pardons for being busy with my school work and not getting enough blog posts out! This recipe could easily be converted to a diet recipe and I will tell you at the end how and how many points that would make it. I make no apologies for using real butter and sugar now and then; we have gone over that in the past. Real ingredients cannot hurt you when you eat them now and then! This recipe also gives you the opportunity to use your spring form pan or your Bundt cake pan, which I always find fun!

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Ingredients

· ¾ cup softened butter

· ¾ cup sugar

· Lemon zest (How much you want depends on how lemony you really want this! I use about a tablespoon worth of lemon zest.)

· Juice from one Lemon

· 3 Large or extra-large eggs, separate the yolks from the whites

· 1 cup Ricotta Cheese

· ½ cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· Dash of salt

How to Make:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray your spring form or Bundt cake pan, would also work with a regular cake pan, with some Pam type spray. Wipe out any excess; you just want a light coating.

2. Beat together the butter and sugar until you have a light and fluffy looking mix.

3. Add your lemon zest, lemon juice, yolks, and the ricotta cheese; beat until smooth.

4. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until just mixed. Be careful not to over mix.

5. Wash the beaters really well or use different beaters and beat the egg whites until stiff, like making a meringue. Very gently (GENTLY) fold the egg whites into the batter using a spatula.

6. Pour the batter into your cake pan of choice.

7. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the edges are just browned and a fork or cake tester stuck into the center comes out clean.

8. Allow to cool before serving.

I served with this cake topped with a mix of blueberries, a couple packets of Splenda, and about a tablespoon of Fat Free half and half mixed together. Though any fruit would be an excellent topping! Or just plain! This cake is elegant and remarkably simple. This time of year Florida strawberries are in season, the first big mark of the coming season in my humble opinion, and would go great on top of this cake! Makes about eight servings depending on how you cut your slices.

To lower the fat content in this cake you could use Fat Free or Reduced Fat Ricotta, replace the butter for a butter substitute, and Splenda instead of sugar. Cut into eight servings it makes it a 7 point dessert on the Weight Watchers Points Plus plan. (A bit heavy points wise, but well worth the indulgence.)

Please enjoy! Play with the recipe and let me know what you do with it! I love feedback!

New Years Traditions

For as long as I can remember on New Year’s Day my family has always eaten black eyed peas, collard greens, and a pork loin. My mother always told me it was to bring good luck and prosperity. I am not a huge fan of collard greens so once a year is fine by me. The south isn’t the only place that has traditions for the new year; every culture has its own way of celebrating New Year’s.

In Spain and some other countries of Spanish descent eat 12 grapes at midnight; one for each stroke and it is considered necessary to finish the last grape on the final stroke. Each grape is thought to represent the 12 months of the year that is to say if the first grape is especially cold January could be a very cold month.

The eating of steamed or boiled greens is not limited to collard greens. German cultures tend to eat sauerkraut and Danish people eat stewed Kale. It is thought that cooked greens resemble folded money, and will bring the eater extra money in the coming year. Here in the south I was always told that the more greens you can eat the more prosperous you will be in the New Year. (This explains why I am not rich.... Hmmmm.)

The tradition of eating some type of pork whether it is sausages or in my family’s case the pork loin comes from the belief that pigs represent advancement. Pigs push and move forward with their noses when they root around in the dirt. Chickens on the other hand are considered bad luck to eat on New Year’s because they scratch backwards in the dirt and this can cause you to look back on your life with regret and sadness. In fact eating any poultry or bird is not recommended because the good luck could fly away! Lobster is not recommended as well because of their ability to move backwards.

The world is filled with superstitions regarding the New Year. Do you have any in your family? What are you favorite ways to ring in the New Year? How do you celebrate the holiday? My favorite is fireworks! All of my life I have been fascinated by firework displays.

All in all a new year symbolizes a fresh start and promises new beginnings. As we head into 2011 I wish all of my readers a blessed new year and hope that all of you discover a way to embrace your joy! Writing this blog has been such a great way to for me to express my passion of food and writing. Happy New Year to you all!

 

 

Sources:

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/newyearsday/luckyfoods

http://www.wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm

When it works it works: Pear Tart and Ambrosia Bread

Sometimes great recipes just happen. There are times when you are throwing things together in your kitchen and magic just happens. Food miracles… I have these miracles sometimes. Other times, even Queens cannot make fabulous happen. Today was one of those days. I am forever experimenting in the kitchen; trying to find some new flavor that makes people ask for more.

Tonight I decided despite suffering from a horrible cold that I would make roasted Cornish game hens. (I am not a glutton for punishment, cooking just makes me happy… and I think I was kind of out of my head.)  I have had game hens in the past, but never cooked them myself. I decided I would prepare them like I prepare my roasted chicken. After all they are just mini chickens, developed in the 50’s to provide a single serving of white meat poultry. When done correctly these little hens can be very impressive; my roasted chicken always gets rave reviews so I thought why not start there. (Ordinarily it takes me several attempts to get a recipe just right, unless it is one of those magical nights….) This evening’s adventure in cooking was not even a good start. I think I will blame the cold medicine… Yeah… It was the cold medicine that caused me to lose my mind.

I decided I would use fresh herbs, which are usually stronger in flavor than my typical dried herbs. So I opted not to add much to the outside of the chicken other than some salt and olive oil.  For some reason I picked up the Thyme instead of the Tarragon. Tarragon goes very well with poultry; Thyme not so much. My thought process was to make a lemony, garlic herb infused hen. Instead I got something that resembled two tiny rubber chickens with lemons and what appeared to be dead weeds shoved in a very rude place. My images of aromatically infused herb flavoring fell on its tookis. They just did not brown up like I would have liked. The lemon flavor was nice but that’s the only flavor you could taste. Overall very moist and juicy, kind of bland and lemony; next time I attempt these little chickadees; I will go a different route.

I noticed we had some very ripe bananas sitting in the fruit basket and I thought I would try to make banana bread. I remembered that my mother hates, no loathes, warm banana so I thought I would try and make it different and therefore more appealing to everyone. For special occasions my family makes a fruit salad called “Ambrosia” that is a mix of pineapple, banana, orange, coconut, and marshmallows. I say to myself, “Self, I am going to make “ambrosia bread”. What results is not a complete disaster like the chicken. However, the bread seems to be missing something. I am not sure what, yet, maybe just a pat of butter or a caramel sauce. Try the recipe and see what you think, please send suggestions as I continue to play with this one.

Ambrosia Bread

Ingredients:

2 eggs

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup butter melted

1 ½ cup mashed RIPE bananas (about 3-4 mid-size bananas)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup flaked coconut

½ teaspoon orange extract

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease 13x9 baking dish

Mix together mash banana and pineapple together in mixing bowl. Add flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, eggs, salt, and orange flavor. Mix until well blended. Add melted butter and cream cheese, mix until well blended again. Fold in pecans and marshmallows. Pour mix into 13x9 dish, it will be full! Place on baking sheet (in case you have any spills).

Bake in preheated oven for 1 ½ hours, or until toothpick stuck in center comes out clean; keep an eye on it as it browns up, you may want to lightly cover with foil to prevent heavy browning.

 

My success for the evening was the simple pear tart I made. It needs no introduction because it was perfect! I whipped up some whipping cream and served a slice of this tart with a dollop of the cream on top. My family said it more than made up for my rubber looking lemon flavored chickens.

Pear Tart

Ingredients

1 Prepared Pastry Pie Crust (look for it in the refrigerator section)

3-4 Pears, peeled, cored, and sliced

3 tablespoons butter

3-4 tablespoons sugar

Sugar to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 400°

Unroll prepared pie crust and lay over lightly greased tart pan, or if like me no tart pan was available a 9 inch cake pan will work as a substitute. Press dough into greased tart pan with the overlap hanging over the edges. Lay the pears into the tart pan; I stand mine up because I think it is pretty to look at. Fold overhang of pie crust in on top of pears, around the edge. Melt butter in a sauce pan and mix in sugar. When sugar dissolves brush butter and sugar mix over the pears and over crust. Sprinkle with sugar and place in oven. Bake for about 45 minutes. Keep an eye on the tart so that it does not brown too much on one side. Rotate to prevent this from happening. Let stand for about 20 minutes to cool. ENJOY!

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Merry Christmas! Have some Church Supper Salad!

I hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas! My family is very blessed and it was nice to have everyone together. For the first time in my whole life we had a white Christmas; something completely unheard of here in the south! It was so beautiful! Santa brought me a brand new coat which was a shock, warm and cozy! Interestingly enough my father gave me two DVD’s; movies I do want to see however they were Blu-ray DVD’s and I don’t own a Blu-ray player… He owns one though. Bless him; he wants to spend time with me! I love him so much, and I will have to just save up for my own Blu-ray player. Until then he and I have some movies to watch together. “Daddee” also got me the greatest set of measuring cups and spoons from Williams Sonoma, which for any Blue Jean Foodie Queen is like Disney World or Mecca. They are simply wonderful! I immediately placed a ban on them; no one is allowed to touch them but me. You might be thinking, “What a selfish twit!” for placing said ban until you realize that without this ban, I would never see these kitchen tools again. Measuring spoons and cups in our house are the kitchen equivalent of the odd missing sock in the laundry room. My mom got her greatest wish this year! She has always wanted a Bose sound wave radio/CD player system. You know the one that is sold on television… Dad/Santa got her one this year and the look on her face made the whole day mean that much more! Especially when she found the pearls he had tucked into her stocking. Overall this Christmas was one of the best in recent memory and I am very thankful and blessed to have such a great family.

Of all the familiar family holiday dishes that I grew up eating the one I am going to share with you now is my very favorite. For me, it is not a special occasion unless this particular dish is served. I even have taken to requesting this dessert instead of birthday cake for my birthday. Originally it was considered a “salad” because in my grandmother’s day congealed salads were fashionable. Though it is sweet and not at all what I would consider a salad ever... My love for Church Supper Salad is so great that it cannot mingle with other foods on the plate and must have its own plate when possible! It may be borderline obsession level love, but I have no remorse for this. When you read the recipe it sounds kind of crazy, but trust me, give this a chance and you will love it too. In all my life of serving this dish to people at church gatherings, family gatherings, social functions, and the like I have yet to hear anyone say they don’t care for it. This dish is also so easy to prepare it will soon become a standby for you to take to pot lucks or family meals. So please try it and enjoy it!

Church Supper Salad

Ingredients:

2 packages of Cherry Jell-O (I sometimes use Black Cherry, both are equally good)

1 can cherry pie filling

1 20 oz. can Crushed Pineapple with Juice

2 cups water

½ pint sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup granulated sugar

Pecans chopped (or just broken up) approximately 1 cup, you can use more or less depending on your preference for Pecans. (Don’t skip the pecans they add a texture that really makes this dish!)

Salad:

Dissolve Jell-O with 2 cups of water mix in pie filling and crushed pineapple with the juice. (I literally just dump everything in a bowl and mix well until the Jell-O is dissolved) Place mixture into a 13x9 casserole dish; allow to congeal at least 3-4 hours or for best results overnight. (I always make it the night before.)

Topping:

Mix sour cream, cream cheese, and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix well. Spread evenly over the top of the congealed Jell-O. Sprinkle with pecans. You can refrigerate at this point or serve immediately. Keeps well for several days in the refrigerator, but never really lasts that long because people eat it too fast!

Happy Holidays y’all!

Traditional Southern Cheese Straws

When people think of the south they likely have images of lazy summer days where women fan themselves on large porches while sharing a tall pitcher of sweet tea; gentlemen talking over cigars and a couple fingers of whiskey. The heady smell of gardenia, honeysuckle, and magnolia waft through thick sultry air and the sounds of cicadas calling surround you. I find that most people assume we either live like Scarlett O’Hara or something out of the Beverly Hillbillies. That just isn’t true on either count. We are just like everyone else; we just talk a bit slower (draw out our vowels) and move at a different pace. Generally we know our neighbors and wave at passing cars. I don’t know that I have ever honked my car’s horn in my life, even when I may have wanted to, southerners just don’t do that. If I have something bad to say about someone I usually follow it up with “Bless her heart”. (Or his heart) I use the word y’all a lot and if I am about to do something I frequently say I am “fixin” to do it.

I am extremely proud of my heritage as a southern woman, and the food I learned to make is a huge part of that. There are so many iconic southern foods but feeling festive for the holidays I am going to share a quintessential southern party food. Cheese straws can be found at most any southern affair, from weddings to wakes and from baby showers to cocktail parties. In fact an old friend of our family gave, as her gift, a huge amount of cheese straws to be served at my mother’s wedding reception! The cheese straw is about as traditional as it gets here in the south. They date back to at least the Civil War era, but no one is really sure on when they came to be. Every family tends to have its own recipe but they are all about the same. Please try this recipe with my compliments. Share it with your friends and have a very Merry Christmas!

Southern Cheese Straws

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter (room temperature)

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (room temperature)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 300° Fahrenheit.

Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

In a food processor, add butter, cheese, flour, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne. Process until a smooth dough is formed. It may seem like it is taking too long sometimes, but trust me it will get smooth. Pat dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap or seal in a Ziploc bag. Chill 30 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is a ¼ inch thick rectangle. Cut into small strips 2 or 3 inches long. Bake 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool. Sprinkle with Paprika if you like. (I don’t but some people like this)

I prefer to use parchment paper because I can slide them off the pans easily for cooling and start another batch if I want. These delectable treats could not be easier to make and are a HUGE crowd pleaser. You can cut fat by using a butter substitute and low fat cheese. Though my opinion is if it is a party food then use the real stuff, and really enjoy the party!  Trust me when I tell you these are way better than dumping a box of Cheez-Its in a bowl!