New camera = better pictures . . . hopefully

Yes, that's right folks, I no longer live in the stone-age. I actually own my own digital camera courtesy of my husband (who bought it for me while purchasing "his" big fat plasma digital hidef bla bla tv:) So, I can actually take pictures of food and have them look sort of what I made.

I had bought some plain yogurt on another of my "whims" at Trader Joes the other day and it was close to getting to that looming date located on all food products that scares us silly, so I knew I had to do something with it. I had remembered seeing a yogurt cake on orangette so that's what I made in the beautiful, silent 30 min on Wednsday when Riley is at AWANA and Daniel is asleep. Oh how I love and long and yearn for that half hour. Anyway, back to the cake.




French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon

This type of cake is an old classic in France, the sort of humble treat that a grandmother would make. Traditionally, the ingredients are measured in a yogurt jar, a small glass cylinder that holds about 125 ml. Because most American yogurts don't come in such smart packaging, you'll want to know that 1 jar equals about 1/2 cup.

For the cake:
1 jar plain yogurt
2 jars granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 jars unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 jar canola oil

For the glaze:
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 jar powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour and scrape the batter into a buttered 9-inch round cake pan (after buttering, I sometimes line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and then I butter that too).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.

When the cake is thoroughly cooled, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.
Serve.

Super easy and super fast (hence the 30 min time slot) and super delicious and super . . . super. That's a weird looking word, super.

What's better than a brownie?

How about a brownie with cheesecake swirl on top?! That's right I said it and I know you (that's all 3 of you who read this) are going to heart it:)

Cheesecake-Swirled Brownies (www.smittenkitcen.com)
Adapted from Gourmet, June 2007

Makes 16 2-inch square, thick brownies

Brownie batter
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Plus
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Make brownie batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan — though I did mine double-boiler style, placing the mixing bowl I was using over simmering water, thereby creating one less dirty dish and melting the chocolate more gently — over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Make cheesecake batter: Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.

[I actually like using a butter knife because the tip of it is round enough that you can use it to fold bits of the brownie batter over the cheesecake batter for a more visibly marbled effect. Try it!]

Sprinkle chocolate chips over cheesecake/brownie batter swirl. Although it might be more logical to just mix them into the cheesecake batter (and feel free to do this, it will have no ill-effect) I thought it might interrupt the swirl-ability of it.

Bake brownies: Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Slicing tip: I like to chill my brownies until they’re almost frozen before cutting them. It makes it much easier to get a clean slice. I also like to eat my brownies super-cold, but that’s just personal taste.

Courtney's note: I doubled the recipe cause let's just say it, an 8in pan of brownies aren't gonna last long. I also have to say that the brownies were like 10x better eaten cold!

Got Rotten Bananas?

Cause I did. So I made these. . .



Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
www.tastykitchen.com

CUPCAKES
1-¾ cup All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
¾ cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs Room Temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 whole Large Ripe Banana (or Almost 1 Cup)
½ cups Whole Milk, Room Temperature
Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cups Butter, Room Temperature
8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 box(es) Or 1 Lb. Confectioners Sugar
Yellow Icing Color To Tint
Preparation Instructions
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tray with 12 baking cups.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a wire whisk.
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer for about four minutes.
Add banana and mix until combined.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add half the flour in three additions alternating with milk in two additions. Scrape down the sides with each addition.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until done.
Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream butter and cream cheese in mixer until thoroughly combined
Add vanilla. Then Add sugar in small batches until combined and creamy.
Add a small amount of buttercup yellow icing color to frosting and mix.
Refrigerate leftover cupcakes.

I obviously added chocolate chips to the batter right at the end, and then to the frosting I added 1/2 a mashed banana to give it a little more banana flavor. They were good. Tasted like a banana cream pie in the form of a cupcake. Can't really go wrong with anything in the form of a cupcake if you ask me.

Inspired By Trader Joes

Ahi Tuna. Gorgonzola. This happens to me at other grocery stores too, but Trader Joes just has a power over me. I usually have a list, but it never matters here. There's just too many delicious things that as soon as I step foot through the door, Dave Ramsey and my budget go out the window. Most of the time I leave with about a bag full of extra items that have nothing to do with each other but are all wonderful in and of themselves. That's what happened on one fateful day last week, so I decided to cook. I asked Ashley over for her lunch break and we ate in a rushed frenzy while throwing cheerios at Daniel and replenishing Riley's mac&cheese.
Again, these aren't recipes, just methods.

For the tuna, I marinated it for a half hour in "Yoshida's Sauce" (you can get it at Costco and it's good on anything), some soy sauce, and sesame oil. Just sear it in a pan till it's done to your liking. It's best pink in the middle! Oh Yeah! Yum! I can practically taste it!

With the Gorgonzola cheese I made a salad with baby spinach, toasted walnuts, pears, and the cheese. I used the "goddess" dressing from TJ's but it would probably be good with any kind of mild vinaigrette.

This goes out to you, Trader Joe, whoever you are.

Lemony Goodness Part Deux

Meyer Lemon Cake. That was next on my list of lemony things to make. I had made it one other time months ago and got pretty good review so I thought I would revisit it. It's sweet, (but not too sweet) tart, creamy, and cakey. I love it when cake is cakey.

Meyer Lemon Cake
Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated Meyer lemon zest, divided
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs together with sugar until combined. Beat in 1 cup of oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon zest, and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended.

3. Gradually beat in flour mixture then beat in sour cream. Pour batter into tube pan and bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cake rest 15 minutes before inverting and frosting.

4. To make frosting, beat butter, cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until well blended. Frost cake when fully cooled and store in refrigerator.

Lemony Goodness

A few weeks ago we got a huge bag of Meyer lemons so I've been frantically searching for lemon recipes to make sure they didn't go to waste. I had seen a recipe on The Pioneer Woman for a baked lemon pasta so I decided to give it a go. It turned out so yummy that I made it again 2 days later cause I had all the ingredients. Really fast, really simple, and really good! The only tweaking I did was to add shredded cooked chicken.

Baked Lemon Pasta

1 pound thin spaghetti
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
Plenty of grated Parmesan cheese
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT.
When butter is melted, add minced garlic.
Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.
Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary.
Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)
When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top.
Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley.
Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Serve with crusty French bread and a simple green salad.

Happy Birthday to Me!

No, don't worry, you didn't forget my birthday. But I do accept gifts at any time of the year:)
When I was younger and my parents would ask me what I wanted for dessert for my birthday, my answer was pretty much always berry pie, or berry crisp, basically anything with berries and a crust. And specifically blackberries. I love it and heart it and want to hug it and squeeze it. I love the tart berries with the salty/sweet crust/crumble. I also love back slashes as you can see ////:)
There are some thornless blackberries growing in our backyard so I've been taking full advantage of this little gift since usually the regular blackberries that grow around here don't start popping up till late August. As a result I've made a couple crisps. And crisps only cause it's faster and easier than a pie dough and these days that's just what works for me. This recipe is for a triple berry crisp which is what I did origionally but works just as well for a single berry, or any kind of fruit you have.

Triple Berry Crisp
www.allrecipies.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups blackberries
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 1 1/2 cups raspberries
• 4 T white sugar
• 2 C flour
• 2 C rolled oats
• 1 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 C butter
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large bowl toss together berries and sugar. Set aside.
3. In another bowl mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, cover with berries and then cover with the rest of the crumble mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until bubbly.
   

One thing that makes it easier is melting the butter and pouring it over the crisp mixture instead of cutting it in. The double layer of "crisp" is why I like this recipe. Can't have too much crisp. I like to say crisp and use /////:)