It's been a while since I've had shared one of mama's chaotic Lebanese recipes. Well, I needed to get one more in before the new year. I can't think of a better one to share than homemade spinach pies. I have to tell you...I absolutely love spinach pies. They are so tasty and it's so hard for me to eat just one. It's one of the few bakery items that don't do it justice. The difference between the homemade versions and the ones you get at the bakery is so significant. You really can't get better than homemade spinach pies. It's a lot of prep work and there is a lot going on at the same time. That's why I call it chaotic. But, don't be intimidated. Have fun, get in there and try out the delicious chaos.
I've previously shared a lemon tart recipe on this blog. This one is a bit different. It's a bit more involved because we're using a yellow short dough instead of my sugar cookie dough. We're also adding in a bit of blueberry sauce on the bottom to bump up the flavor. It's a bit more work, but well worth it in my opinion. Spring is officially here and this tart is a great way to indulge in it.
Cheesecakes are easy, but at the same time, they take just a bit of work. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it's not. Stay with me for a bit here. So, cheesecakes aren't complicated. They involve ingredients we typically have on hand. Graham cracker crumbs, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, heavy cream, etc. Cream the ingredients in a pan and bake them off. However, they are also a bit of work. Some people bake their cheesecakes in a water bath. I'm not saying a water bath is difficult to set-up, but anyone who's done it will attest to its awkward set-up. On top of that, it's not like you can just dive-in once it's baked. You have to wait for the next day for the cheesecake to set-up before doing that. That's probably the hardest part of it all. Well, sometimes you're just not feeling it. Sometimes you want to cut the ingredients, time, and effort in half. This recipe for no-bake mini cheesecakes will fill your cheesecake sweet tooth and it's so easy and quick to put together. No baking, no crust, no water bath, just easy mixing.
Vegetarian food can get a bad wrap for being flavorless, dull and boring. Sorry vegetarians, it's a hard truth you have to admit. However, that's not the case with Lebanese food. We have a lot of vegetarian dishes that are packed with flavor and this dish is no different.
Warak Enab is the counterpart of the beef-filled Warak Areesh. They're both Lebanese stuffed rolled grape leaves. Where they differ is the filling. The filling for warak enab is vegetarian and full of flavor. The filling includes parsley, tomato, rice and more. When cooked, the grape leaves are tender, tangy and they melt in your mouth. You won't be missing any flavor with this very healthy Lebanese vegetarian dish.
There is currently six inches of snow outside. We still have a couple of months of this. I need something bright to remind me of the light of at the end of the tunnel, Spring. That's where these lemon bars come in. Lemon bars are a staple of your local bake sales for good reason. They're incredibly easy to make, tangy, creamy, and chewy. Great flavor and texture, which is what we all really want. Bakery-style bars right from your own home. It doesn't get much better than that!
This is my mom's version of oven-baked chicken. It's done the Lebanese way, which is made with tons of garlic and lemon.
To start this dish, you'll want to make my mom's chicken stock. This dish is typically the entree that accompanies my mom's Lebanese vegetable soup that I shared with you last week. You don't absolutely have to serve this with the veggie soup, although I highly recommend it. What's not optional is the use of chicken stock in this recipe. Using the stock recipe I offered to you last week, is the epitome of why this dish is so good. That stock is part of the reason why this chicken is so tender, juicy and flavorful. If you're a garlic lover, this recipe is most definitely the one for you. Also, just a FYI, this recipe is not accompanied by a video tutorial. I just didn't have enough video footage to make a video from it. Regardless, the vegetable soup tutorial is up and that's where you can see how to make this stock. Once you make the stock, the rest is super easy.
I have a cheat that I can teach you. It's called "healthy" desserts. See, my brothers always give me a hard time about having to eat certain desserts that I make for my posts all by myself. How do I mitigate their teasing? Well, I put fruit on my dessert. That dessert then technically becomes a "healthy" dessert at that point. So, they can't say much and I feel less guilty. One of my favorites "healthy" desserts to eat is a tart. Some people are daunted at the thought of making tarts, but that's something I've never understood. Tarts are very easy to make and man are they delectable. Normally, tarts are filled with pastry cream. However, I chose to fill this version with lemon curd filling and top it with blueberries and strawberries. Like I said....healthy! Lemon and berries just works. It's a match made in heaven. And man oh man do the angels sing when I take a bite of this healthy dessert.
The sun is staying up longer, birds are chirping and we can be outside without a huge winter coat. That only means one thing. Spring is right around the corner! What represents spring better than raspberry and lemon? Not much. That's why when I wanted to celebrate surviving another long winter, I decided to make these easy no-bake lemon raspberry cheesecake bars.
Lemon curd is the best of both worlds. It's delicious and it's super easy to make. It's jam and jelly's richer, more luxurious cousin. I don't know about you, but I play favorites. And curd is definitely my favorite of the fictitious food relatives. You can eat curd with fresh fruit as is or you can use the curd as a filling for a variety of tarts and pies or you can pour it over some ice cream. You have plenty of options. This curd is just tart enough. If you want a make your face pucker tart curd, you'll have to add more lemon to this one. In my opinion, it's perfectly balanced. Do yourself a favor and make this. It's too easy, it's ridiculous and it's always great to have on hand for a nice light dessert.
**Note: For my fellow Muslims or for anyone else who can't use pork gelatin, there is halal beef gelatin available. Other substitutes include agar agar or you can just use cornstarch. Both will act as thickeners.**
Bloom your gelatin in about a tablespoon or two of cold water. Set aside.
Prepare a pot of water and get it simmering. Meanwhile, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, whole eggs and egg yolks in a medium to large sized bowl.
Place the bowl of ingredients over the simmering water and whisk until the mixture reaches 180°F.
Take off the heat, add in the bloomed gelatin and whisk in until dissolved. Immediately, whisk in the diced up butter, a couple pieces at a time. Whisk until smooth.
Pour through a sieve into a container. I love using mason jars personally, but you can use whatever container floats your boat. You can see from the picture below, this is a necessary step because the sieve will catch any eggs that were partially cooked. Cooked eggs are lovely for breakfast, but they're not welcome in my lemon curd.
That's it! You are finished. Wait until the mixture is room temperature. I like skimming the top foam with a spoon. Then, I cover the container and place it in the fridge. You'll notice it will be a thin consistency, but it will thicken as it cools.
I took final pictures after a couple days because I was working all week. You can see how significantly thicker the consistency got. It will look like this after a few hours in the fridge as well. Give a stir before using or leave it as is if you like it very thick. Enjoy in whatever application you'd like!
See how I do it:
Ingredients
- 3 Whole eggs
- 2 ½ Egg yolks
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- 4 Lemons (juice)
- ⅛ cup lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon gelatin
- 5 oz, unsalted butter, diced
- small pinch of salt
Instructions
Bloom your gelatin in about a tablespoon or two of cold water.
Combine the zest, juice, yolks, whole eggs and salt in a medium to large size bowl.
Prepare a pot or saucepan with water and heat until simmering.
Place the bowl of combined ingredients over the simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 180°F or about five to ten minutes on medium-low heat.
Once the proper temperature is reached, remove from heat.
Immediately whisk in the bloomed gelatin. Stir until dissolved.
Then, immediately whisk in the diced butter, a couple pieces at a time.
Whisk until completely smooth.
Pour the mixture through a sieve into the appropriate container for storage. I love using mason jars.
Leave uncovered until room temperature.
Skim the foam off the top with a spoon.
Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
Enjoy!
Notes
I find lemon curd is best used the day it's made. It will store in the fridge for up to a week in a mason jar or a well-covered container, but really is the best day of or within the first few days. Lemon curd freezes well. Just place it in a well-covered container and thaw before use. It will last up to a month frozen. You may leave the gelatin out completely, it won't be as thick or you can substitute the gelatin with agar or a bit of cornstarch. If you're using cornstarch instead, experiment with the amount and you would have to place it in while cooking the curd, not after you remove it from the heat. I think this is perfectly tart, but if you want it more tart, add more lemon to the recipe.
Lemon, vanilla and berries. You can't really do any wrong with these flavor combinations. The Italians get that. Many of their desserts are small-form, light and not too sweet. And many of their desserts involve these great flavor combinations. They really have nailed the formula for guilt-free desserts. One of the many Italian sweets that is well-known to everybody is panna cotta. In case you have to brush up on your Italian, panna cotta translates to "cooked cream." And guess what, that's exactly what panna cotta is. It's just cooked cream, milk and some other goodies. Very simple and very delicious. Now, one of the key ingredients in panna cotta is gelatin. You need the gelatin to help set the cream. Many of you may not be able to use gelatin, due to it not being available or maybe religious/moral reasons. Well, luckily for you, there are other options. They do sell halal beef powdered gelatin for all the Muslims out there. You can also use agar agar. This is a natural vegetable counterpart. It will help firm up and set the panna cotta, but you don't have to worry about it coming from an animal. As you see, there are many options when it comes to gelatin and gelatin substitutes. So, don't let that stop you from making this very easy and tasty dessert. Great for a rewarding sweet for yourself or for entertaining guests.
We'll need granulated sugar and gelatin.
Lemon and vanilla.
Milk.
Lastly, heavy cream.
Start by sprinkling the gelatin over the top of the cold milk. Make sure all the gelatin is coated in milk and let it sit and bloom for about five minutes.
Next, combine the sugar, heavy cream and vanilla in a sauce pan that has a thick bottom.
Scald mixture. Don't boil! Whisk until combined. Take it off the heat and add in the bloomed gelatin and whisk until dissolved. Also, add in the lemon juice and whisk to combine.
Pour into containers and let it come to room temperature for about 15 minutes. Wrap in saran and refrigerate and chill for four hours to overnight.
After they're set, unmold by placing the container in a bowl of very hot water for a minute or two. Go around the sides with an off-set spatula and use a blow torch if needed. Give it a shake or two on the plate and that should help unmold it as well.
Serve with some berries and sauce and enjoy!
See how I do it:
Ingredients
- 1 ½ C heavy cream
- 2.5 oz granulated sugar
- ½ t vanilla extract or paste
- 7.5 grams gelatin or agar agar
- ½ c milk
- 2.5 oz lemon juice
Instructions
Bloom the gelatin in the cold milk.
In a thick bottom pot, scald the cream, sugar and vanilla. Don't boil!
Remove from heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin.
Stir in lemon juice.
Pour into molds or containers and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
Refrigerate and chill until set. Anywhere from four hours to overnight.
Summertime brings all of the delicious lemon recipes to the forefront. From Pinterest to Instagram to Facebook, you're bombarded with lemon recipes. There is one that eluded me for years. I couldn't for the life of me find a recipe for lemon cookies that were the way I liked them. The taste wasn't right and the texture wasn't what I was looking for in a cookie. Personally, I like my cookies soft and chewy. Others prefer them crisp on the outside, but chewy on the inside. All the recipes I tried, provided a decent lemon cookie, but they definitely weren't what I wanted. So I did what I always do when I can't find a recipe that fits my needs. I made one up. I found a decent base recipe and tweaked it. The results were fabulous. The lemon was prominent and the texture was so perfect. Soft and chewy for days!
Ensure that the ingredients are at room temperature before getting started. In the mixing bowl, start by creaming the butter, cream cheese and sour cream all together for a couple minutes on medium speed until combined.
Add in the sugar gradually on low speed and then turn up the speed to medium and mix until light fluffy for about a minute or two. Scrape the bowl well. Add in the vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest and food coloring, if you're using it. Mix for about 30 seconds until combined on medium speed.
Scrape the bowl again. Add in the whole egg and let it absorb on medium speed. Then, add in the yolk and do the same.
Mix until uniform for about two minutes.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
On low speed, dump in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Flour will still be visible at this point.
With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour into the dough. The flour should be absorbed, but don't overmix.
Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least an hour, but you can rest it up to overnight.
Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or with parchment paper. I still spray with the mat or parchment with cooking spray, just in case.
I recommend using a cookie scoop to scoop out about 1 ½ tablespoon sized dough. Roll it between the palms of your hands until a round ball forms. Line them up about 2" apart.
Press down with your three fingers to flatten them slightly.
Bake at 350°F for about 9-10 minutes. It should look slightly under baked. Allow it to cool on the pan, out of the oven for about 5 minutes. Then move it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled completely, enjoy! Soft and chewy cookies. Just how they should be.
Watch how I make them.
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ cup [1 stick] plus 2 Tbsp), softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 2 medium lemons (about 1 tablespoon lemon zest)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about ½ medium lemon)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Ensure that the ingredients are at room temperature before getting started. In the mixing bowl, start by creaming the butter, cream cheese and sour cream all together for about five minutes on medium speed until combined.
Add in the sugar gradually on low speed and then turn up the speed to medium and mix until light fluffy for about a minute or two. Scrape the bowl well. Add in the vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest and food coloring, if you're using it. Mix for about two minutes until combined on medium speed.
Scrape the bowl again. Add in the whole egg and let it absorb on medium speed. Then, add in the yolk and do the same.
Mix until uniform for about two minutes. Scrape the bowl well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
On low speed, dump in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, about 15 seconds. Flour will still be visible at this point.
With a rubber spatula, fold in the rest of flour into the dough. The flour should be absorbed, but don't overmix.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least a couple hours, but preferably overnight.
Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or with parchment paper. I still spray with the mat or parchment with cooking spray, just in case.
I recommend using a cookie scoop to scoop out about 1 ½ tablespoon sized dough. Roll it between the palms of your hands until a round ball forms. Line them up about 2" apart.
Press down with your three fingers to flatten them slightly.
Bake at 350°F for about 9-10 minutes. It should look slightly under baked. Allow it to cool on the pan, out of the oven for about 5 minutes. Then move it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
You can keep the cookies stored in a covered plastic container for about a week. You can keep the dough in the fridge covered for about a week or in the freezer for about a month.
If you know me, you know that I appreciate all things Italian. The culture, the country, the language and of course the food. The Italians are well-known for taking simple ingredients and making them shine. Simplicity is the key in Italian food and I really appreciate that. They somehow carry that mentality to desserts as well, which is hard to imagine. While many want to overcomplicate desserts, the Italians say "no way!" They want simple ingredients to shine. They want smaller portions and lighter desserts. Semifreddo is a great example of that. Semifreddo literally translates to "semi-frozen." That's what semifreddo is. It's a half-frozen mousse. Much lighter than ice cream, but with the same creaminess. It's very easy to make and very versatile. You can flavor a semifreddo pretty much anyway you'd like. You can also serve it anyway you'd like. Me, I decided to not overcomplicate it. I made a vanilla semifreddo and served it with strawberry sauce and a few fresh strawberries. The next day, I made a fresh strawberry compote. I served it slightly warm and oh my gosh was it delicious. The cold and warm contrast in desserts always works best. What I'm saying is, flavor and serve as you please! Learn the technique and have some fun with it.
February is a busy month. With the Super Bowl (America's unofficial holiday) and Valentine's Day (Hallmark's official holiday) coming up, we're going to be doing a lot of decorating. If you're like me, you're always bringing goodies with you to family functions. Well, every year, my family has a huge Super Bowl party. I'm sure you guys do the same. Well, I'm thinking of making cupcakes and some sugar cookies. To decorate both, I'm going to need some royal icing. Royal icing is so easy to make, but it is so versatile. I mean like unbelievably versatile. It can be used in so many different applications. It's very important to know how to make this, if you want to be taken seriously as a pastry cook. Especially, if you're going to focus on decorating specifically. Once you get making and managing royal icing down, you'll be able to create beautiful decorations in no time.
When you live in the mid-west, you suffer through cold winters that feel endless. Because of that, you miss the simple things in life. You miss the flowers, the sounds of birds chirping and most importantly, you miss seeing the sun! Yes, southerners, we miss the sun. I really can't wait for spring to finally arrive. A way for me to bring spring a little earlier is to make things I associate with spring. One of those things is this lovely lemon loaf cake. I call it a loaf cake and not a pound cake for one reason. It's technically not a pound cake. It doesn't have the pound ratio of ingredients that makes up a pound cake. So, loaf cake it is. This cake is so delicious! The bright, tart lemon flavor with the sweetness with some berries on the side, really sets this off. If you're feeling wild, add some whip cream or ice cream on the side as well. I wouldn't blame you. The texture of the cake is perfect. It's fluffy, moist and a fine crumb. Exactly what I want from a cake.
