Blog Archives
Frozen Treats: Blueberry Sorbet
This week I’m doing frozen treats. Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream began the series here. This is the next treat.
The sorbet was by request and I’m so glad they voted for it. It was terrific. Cool, light, tangy and slightly sweet. The lemon is the perfect addition to the blueberries, giving it a nice depth. Easy to make. Perfect for a warm summer day.
Blueberry Sorbet
- 1 cup water (3/4 cups if you’re using frozen blueberries)
- 1/2 cup sugar (you can use half sugar, half honey if you prefer)
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 5 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- a few blueberries and fresh mint for garnish
saucepan, blender, ice cream maker
In the saucepan, add water, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a low boil and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved. To blender add blueberries and slightly cooled sugar mixture and puree until smooth. I have a vitamix, so I got a very smooth puree, you may need to run the blueberry mixture through a cheesecloth or fine sieve to remove any remaining skins or stems.
Let mixture cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour and then process in your ice cream maker according to directions.
Remove to an airtight container and let freeze solid. I actually covered the top with wax paper to keep it from getting a dry crust on top. It worked well.
Stay tuned, tomorrow there will be another treat. Until then….
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Friday Recipe Exchange: Chicken Piccata
I think because winter moved back into the neighborhood (seriously, Tuesday’s forecast was for honest to goodness ‘ice pellets’, can ‘raining frogs’ be far behind?) I am finding myself in a berry and citrus mood. I bought 3 lbs of strawberries over the weekend and they are gone. I stocked up on oranges yesterday and I’ll have to do it again by the weekend.
I was going to do a sirloin roast tonight. I had made a really nice one last week, but didn’t get around to photographing it, so I was going repeat it yesterday. But when it came down to it, I just didn’t feel like roast. Instead I grabbed a bunch of lemons and some chicken breasts and decided on Chicken Piccata, tonight’s featured recipe. I like the tangy sauce with the crispy, moist chicken and the herb noodles are a nice side to accompany it.
If spring ever arrives, what do you look forward to most in the produce aisle? Do you crave certain foods by season? Hit the comments and complain about the weather and share your favorite spring foods.
Of course, once I found my recipe, I went hunting to see what JeffreyW might have in the way of lemons and chicken and found a Chicken with Lemon Curd, that sounded yummy. You can see it here, along with a nice slideshow of the prep and final dish.
Now, tonight’s recipe:
Chicken Piccata with Herb Noodles:
Chicken Piccata
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp basil, crushed
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, sliced into very thin slices*
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp fresh snipped parsley
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
bowl, skillet
Combine breadcrumbs, basil, zest, and pepper in bowl. Mix ½ tbsp oil and garlic together. Coat both sides of chicken with oil/garlic and dredge in breadcrumbs. Over medium-high heat 1 tbsp ea. of butter and oil in skillet, add chicken and cook 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken – keep warm – add lemon slices to pan, sauté 30 seconds, add water, parsley and juice, boil for 1 minute, spoon over chicken.
*Scrub well before slicing.
Herb Noodles
- 12 oz egg noodles
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp basil, crushed
- ½ tsp oregano, crushed
- ½ tsp rosemary, finely crushed
- ¼ tsp crushed garlic
- Sesame seeds, opt
saucepan, serving dish
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well. Melt butter in saucepan, add spices, mixing well. Toss with noodles. For an extra touch you can add 1 tbsp of sesame seeds.
Thursday Recipe Exchange: When Life Gives You Lemons
I had some recipe testing and photography to do last week for another project, so I tried to group things together and buy ingredients in bulk. That inspired me to choose lemons as our ingredient for tonight’s recipe exchange. A bag of lemons provided me with two of my favorite recipes last week. And this week I’ll be working on a Chicken Piccata (same bag of lemons) but I didn’t get it done in time for tonight’s list. And, yes that’s right, you’re getting leftovers tonight.
The Tangy Lemon Pie got a makeover with a lemon cookie crust which won it rave reviews from my taste-testers, (recipe here)
JeffreyW gives us a a Lemon Garlic Basil Shrimp recipe, complete with a beautiful slideshow (recipe here).
When life gives you lemons, what do you make?
And tonight’s featured recipe, which turned out better than I remembered. I hadn’t made it in quite a while and had forgotten what a good combination butter, lemon and in this case, pecans are with pork.
Lemon-Nut Pork Chops
- 4 boneless pork loin chops (approx. 1/2 to 3/4” thick)
- ½ tsp crushed garlic
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup finely chopped pecans or hazelnuts (the finer the grind, the better this works, if you have a coffee grinder that’s best)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 lemon, quartered
skillet
Rub chops with garlic, salt, pepper, & zest. Melt butter in skillet on medium heat. Brown chops, 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Spread 1/4 nuts on plate. Remove chops 1 at a time and press 1 side into nuts. Add ¼ more nuts each time. Sprinkle any remaining nuts over chops. Stir lemon juice into pan drippings, deglaze, heat for 1 minute and spoon over chops. Serve with lemon wedges.
Playing with Photos…again. UPDATED: Lemon Nut Pork Chop Recipe
Another tease.
This is Lemon-Nut pork chops. I haven’t made them in ages and had forgotten how good they were. I’m still up to my eyeballs in cooking and pictures, but I’ll try to post recipes to go along with these photos eventually. Otherwise they’ll be in the Spring cookbook.
I thought I had posted the recipe before and I did. You’ll find the Lemon-Nut Pork Chop recipe here.
Stir-Fry Vegetables in a Bread Bowl
My favorite way to have vegetables is to quickly stir-fry them, so they are still crisp. A restaurant I used to go to a lot, served them in a beautiful woven lattice bread bowl and it was the perfect lunch. These veggies can be served over rice, rice noodles or as a side with stir-fried meat, poultry or tofu.
If you’re feeling creative I found a recipe for a lattice bread basket here.
Stir-Fry Vegetables
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water or broth (vegetable or chicken)
Photo by ddpiesslice.blogspot.com
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 6-8 mushrooms, washed and sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp ground ginger or 2 tsp fresh minced
- ¼ tsp crushed garlic
- 8 oz broccoli crowns
- 8 oz sliced carrots, or baby carrots
- 8 oz snow peas
- 6 oz can sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots, drained
- salt & pepper to taste
wok or deep skillet
Mix cornstarch, soy, water, lemon and honey together. Set aside. Heat wok, add oil add all the remaining ingredients. Stir-fry quickly, about 2 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp. Add sauce, bring to boil for 1 minute or more until thickened. Let simmer 2 minutes.
