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pork tenderloin medallions with braised fennel and cider gorgonzola cream sauce
I came up with this recipe on my way home from my writing group while I was still doing my cleanse—nothing like 6 glasses of lemonade in your system to really appreciate other flavors. No doubt this lunch will undo any cleanliness I achieved, but it was worth it. Oh my goodness was it worth it.
The fennel and pork work well together like some sort of deconstructed sausage. And then the mustard and gorgonzola complement it perfectly. I made the whole dish for around $20, so it’s perfect for a fancy at home dinner if your kids are willing, or even a double date (and it has no garlic, another plus for the date idea).
orange blossom baklava
Alright, so I am doing a cleanse right now. Basically, for the last 5 days, and for at least the next five, I drink lemonade made from maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Brooke started me on it.
Among the many benefits it provides, it is supposed to be helping me cure cravings for various naughty foods. It must be day 5 that really lets me have it, because let me tell you. I have never wanted lasagna, chips and dip, pizza, pasta, soup, cheese, couscous, and whatever else you’re serving more than I wanted it today. The most terrible thing today was making this warm buttery baklava. I was able to make it while I am cleansing because I already tried out the recipe a few weeks ago on the women at church, and therefore didn’t have to taste it to see if it was good enough to post. And I was so good. I didn’t even lick it, well maybe just a little of the honey that dribbled off.
My recipe uses orange blossom water
my dream cookbook
Oh . . . my goodness. I have never been this giddy about a cookbook before. And I have loved many a cookbook.
Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen
Family Meals completely captures the life I have often pictured for my family—slow paced, relaxed, simple. I usually envision living that way on a small pumpkin patch somewhere in New England with a golden retriever running around our huge farm we’ll use mainly for horseback riding. But since it seems that dream will be shelved for some time, I suppose I can do my best for now with this book.
It is packed with beautiful photography and is printed on high quality matte finish paper. It’s just gorgeous.
lemon cloud cupcakes
When I was first married, I became mildly obsessed with New York City. Right after college, quite a few of my friends moved there, and I was envious of their lives in the glamorous city (Of course, they are always quick to tell me how glamorous their lives weren’t.).
I would watch You’ve Got Mail over and over—not for the story, but for sets and locations. Nora Ephron really portrayed an idyllic New York in that movie. The special features on the DVD even had a map to all the cool sites around the city. Of course, the food places were all I remember. I still want to go to Zabar’s for a black and white cookie and to Gray’s Papaya for a fantastic hotdog.
Around the same time I had this obsession, I watched an episode of Martha Stewart Living that introduced me to the The Doughnut Plant, where they make fresh doughnuts from scratch out of organic ingredients every day. When I get back to New York one of these days, I will get off the plane and take a taxi straight there.
Though my infatuation with New York is more rounded out after all this time, I must say that I am dying to get one of the cupcakes everyone’s been buzzing about for the last few years. Was it the Magnolia Bakery that started that big trend? or was it someone else? Sadly, I have never had a true New York cupcake, but today, I thought I’d attempt to make something that I think comes close.
These are moister than the strawberries and cream cupcakes I posted last September, because I added sour cream to the batter. Also, I thought I’d add a little something in the middle, as is the new way to make them now (One must be hip when making cupcakes).
Some people had trouble with the frosting on those strawberry ones, and today I wondered, were they using real butter? Please. Use real butter. We can’t have these tasting like something from a grocery store, now can we?
lemon curd and my feature by A Duck in Her Pond!
Okay, so our good friend Brooke at ConversationsWithACupcake nominated me to be featured on ADuckinHerPond.com. I felt so cool. Go take a look at this very fun, very bright blog if you haven’t already. Click here to read my feature.
Most recipes for lemon curd want you to go through all these steps with tempering the eggs, slowly incorporating the butter, yadah, yadah, yadah. But Ina Garten always mixes all her ingredients in a mixer and then cooks them on the stove, which is a better solution, I think.
She grinds the zest in a food processor with the sugar. I skip that step and just strain it when it’s done cooking. It works like a charm.
You might wonder, Oh what would I do with lemon curd? Trust me. You’ll think of all kinds of things. Here are some of my ideas:
Put it on a spoon and eat it
Dip strawberries in it
Put it on top of biscuits or scones (They’d be great on my cherry scones!).
Put it in the middle of a layer cake.
Make thumbprint cookies with it.
Dip shortbread cookies in it.
Put it with yogurt.
Or, if those aren’t doing it for you, try my lemon cloud cupcakes, which I’ll post in a day or two!
Read the rest of this entry »
a quick tip
It wasn’t sunny enough today to take any good pictures, so here’s just a quick tip I’ll share that makes my life easier.
When I used to go to bakeries that sell good bread, I’d buy a nice baguette, set it on my counter, and the kids and I would eat through it in one day. Then, a few days later, I would need it for a recipe and then wouldn’t have it. Three negative consequences occurred from this: 1) I got fat from eating all that bread; 2) I would have to go back out to the bakery to buy more bread; and, 3) I got fat from eating the second loaf of bread.
Here is my solution and my tip for you:
While still fresh, slice bakery bread into desired thickness. Keep some on the counter for eating. Freeze the rest in plastic bags.
Yeah, I know it shouldn’t take a whole post or pictures to explain this, but I didn’t want you to all think I ditched you today.
grilled cinnamon sugar bruschetta with strawberries and mascarpone cheese
When I was a kid, my dad used to make the most over the top cinnamon toast. He would butter both sides of a slice of bread and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Then he’d fry it in a pan on both sides until the cinnamon and sugar turned to candy. Oh, it was amazing.
This recipe is a grown-up version of what my dad made. But grown-up or not, kids will love it, too.
a movie your kids will love almost as much as you will
I first saw Matilda
Based on Roald Dahl’s novel
white chocolate dipped easter egg sandwich cookies
On my way to Target this morning, I remembered I had promised to make some cookies for a little Easter party in my daughter’s kindergarten class. These pastel sandwich cookies are a variation of a Valentine’s cookie I make with strawberry jam and semi-sweet chocolate. Apparently I work well under pressure, because I was able to whip them up in just over an hour. Since I had to rush to get them done for morning kindergarten, I didn’t take any how-to photographs. But you’re all quite smart, so I’m sure you’ll manage without them.
roasted flower patch
I often see these beautiful multi-colored cauliflowers, but never know quite what to do with them. Lately, though, I’ve been roasting the normal white cauliflower, and love the flavor. So for Easter, I thought I’d roast a nice grouping of three different colors of cauliflower. Aren’t they pretty?
