I can’t tell you how nice it is to be able to cook and bake with lemon again…I love this time of year! I got the inspiration for this dish from a recipe I saw on another blog- ok, tell me this isn’t the cutest name ever- Feed Me, Seymour. Get it?? Like, from Little Shop of Horrors?? I LOVE that musical, so naturally I was drawn to Kim’s blog from the start. I loved Kim’s idea of serving small pieces of chicken over asparagus and immediately set out to recreate it for dinner that night. This was an absolutely scrumptious dish! Joel and I loved it and cleaned our plates! I really hope you’ll try this- it’s so quick and easy (literally, if you’ve got 30 minutes, you’ve got lemon chicken and asparagus for dinner!) and really, really delicious.
Lemon Chicken and Asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the asparagus
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped or cut into thin strips
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper
juice of one large lemon
1 bunch fresh asparagus
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Lay the asparagus in a single layer on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake for about 6-8 minutes, until just barely tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook, turning the pieces so they cook evenly, for about 5 minutes. Add in the peppers. Cook for an additional 5 minutes then using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and peppers to a plate and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium-low and whisk the flour into the drippings left in the skillet. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice. Whisk constantly until the sauce starts to thicken slightly. Add the chicken and peppers back in and cook for 5-7 minutes.
Spoon the chicken, peppers and sauce over the asparagus and serve. Serves 2.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original, inspired by Feed Me, Seymour
Sometimes you reach a point in your month-to-month routine where you just NEED a break. Joel reached his about 2 months ago but has been so swamped, it wasn’t until this past weekend that he got to finally take a day off. So what do we decide to do when we’ve got a beautiful, sunny 3 day weekend? We go to College Station, Texas. Joel went to college and grad school at Texas A&M University (I know most of you already know this) and loves to go back every chance he gets. I love it too and have my fair share of happy memories there. So we dropped Izzy off at my parents’ house and took off- first stop, College Station.
We took a tour of the George Bush Library and museum that sits on the campus of A&M. This is the Berlin wall memorial statue. There is actually a piece of the actual Berlin wall inside the museum.
Joel is having a conversation with ‘ol George. “Dan Quayle? Really???”
Next up, we drove to Brehnam to tour the Blue Bell factory. For those of you unfortunate souls (*cough* yankees) who aren’t familiar, Blue Bell is the world’s BEST ice cream. Ever. But they mostly sell it in the Southern states. And they have a new flavor that we got to try- Homemade In the Shade- it’s vanilla ice cream with a fudge swirl. SO GOOD!
Mmmm, fudge swirl…..
Next up, my favorite part of the trip- Messina Hof Winery in Bryan. Joel and I have always loved their wine (especially since it’s a Texas wine!) and were super excited to finally get to see where its made.
This place is absolutely gorgeous and the wine is excellent! We got to taste 4 different wines and we learned all about proper wine etiquette (those weird slurping noises, swirling the glass, etc). I highly recommend the Gewurztraminer!
After 2 days in the College Station area, we headed over to Austin for the afternoon. First stop- Torchy’s Tacos. We had the fried avocado tacos and green chile pork tacos – OMG YUM!! Joel takes his tacos very seriously and said these were two of the best he’s ever had!
In case you’re wondering, fried avocado is miraculous.
We can’t forget Hey Cupcake! We first tried this place a couple of years ago and haven’t forgotten it! Anytime we’re near Austin, we HAVE to stop by South Congress St. and pick up a few cupcakes. My all-time favorite is the Michael Jackson- chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. We also got red velvet and sweet berry. LOVE this place.
This is the food truck/trailer section of S. Congress – a whole block of trailers and food trucks full of awesome food. This place is always packed! So much character here! Our favorite part was the hippie singing songs on the corner.
Gimme mah cupcakes! OM NOM NOM!!
And finally, a stop in Belton, Texas to visit my alma mater, The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Some of the best years of my life were spent here, getting my bachelors degree in music. I have so many happy memories here- Joel coming to visit on weekends, spending time with some of the best friends I’ve ever had, voice lessons with Ms. Clement, the BEST voice teacher in the world, working in the music office with Ginger, singing with One Voice….so many memories.
I spent practically all of my college career in this building- Presser Hall- the music building. All my classes, recitals and rehearsals were here. I love this building. Even if it is haunted.
And that completes our tour of the Texas Hill Country- starting in College Station and working our way to Brenham, Bryan, Austin and Belton. We had a fantastic time and I’m happy to share some of it with you! If you’re ever in Texas, be sure and visit some of these places- you definitely won’t be disappointed!
Restaurants visited:
Rudy’s BBQ– our favorite BBQ in the whole state!
Shipley Donuts– we don’t have these in North Texas so anytime I’m down in the area, I have to stop by and get a chocolate cream filled donut!
Blue Baker– Aggieland’s best sandwiches!
Cafe Eccell– delicious upscale food with the best strawberry tart I’ve ever had (and it totally doesn’t hurt that they play Harry Connick, Jr. on their website!)! Thanks to my reader, Lauren, for the dessert recommendation!
Sweet Eugene’s House of Java– we started every morning with a latte from Sweet Eugene’s. My favorite- the Al Pacino.
Layne’s– all they serve is chicken fingers and fries. A College Station legacy. We never miss it.
Torchy’s Tacos– do NOT miss the fried avocado taco!
Hey Cupcake!– one of the many delicious food trailers on S. Congress; a must visit when you’re in Austin!
For some strange reason, scones are something I don’t often make. I really have no idea why, because I actually love them. They’re like biscuits, but slightly sweeter and you can add any number of ingredients to customize them however you like! Chocolate chip, strawberry, cinnamon, ginger….anything you want! I chose to make lemon blueberry because I had a couple of big, beautiful lemons and a pint of fresh blueberries just begging to be used. These were SO good! Light and tender, just bursting with fresh lemony flavor and full of big, juicy blueberries – a perfectly delicious breakfast (I really need to make scones more often!)! Believe it or not, I’m not one of those people who love overly sweet, heavy foods at breakfast – sure, I’ll indulge in a stack of chocolate chip pancakes every now and then, but really, I prefer more subtle breakfast foods, like scones. They’re ever-so-slightly sweet and light enough that I can have more than one. 😉
I started with Dorie Greenspan’s Basic Cream Scones recipe, made a few changes and came up with a truly delicious scone that I know I’ll be making many, many times. If you’re looking for an easy, delicious breakfast recipe, this one won’t fail! Oh! And an exciting tidbit about this post- I’m guest posting over at Beantown Baker today as part of her Friday Favs series! How fun! Head over to Jen’s site and check out my post and be sure to check out all her other fabulous recipes as well! Thanks again, Jen, for inviting me to participate!
Lemon-Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of 2 large lemons
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash.
sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Beat egg, buttermilk and lemon zest together and set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter, fork or your fingers (Dorie prefers using her fingers best) cut it into the flour until you have a pebbly mixture the size of peas.
Pour the egg and cream into the flour/butter mixture and stir to combine with a rubber spatula. Very gently, fold the blueberries into the dough, being careful not to crush them. When the mixture is totally incorporated, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat out until it is 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out circles and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; alternatively you can just cut the dough into squares or triangles.
Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, then sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the are nicely browned. Serve immediately. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Makes approximately 10 scones.
Recipe source: heavily adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours
Thursday night at our house is usually “pizza night”. We didn’t really plan it out that way, it just sort of happened over time. By the time Thursday rolls around, I’ll have cooked dinner every night that week and we’re ready for something convenient, plus, we happen to live within a stones throw of the best pizza in the area. So, somehow, Thursday night eventually turned into “pizza night”. But just because it happens to be “pizza night”, doesn’t mean it has to be take out pizza. We love making pizza at home- our favorite variety is black olives, mushrooms, green olives and fresh tomatoes, but last week we wanted something different. I had some leftover grilled pineapple from the night before and thought the classic ham/pineapple combination might be good, but honestly, I’m a little tired of that one. Then I remembered I had two small chicken breasts thawed in the fridge, so I decided on BBQ chicken pizza with pineapple and cilantro! YES!
I cooked my chicken in the crockpot, then shredded it and tossed it with BBQ sauce, brushed the pizza crust with a very thin layer of BBQ sauce and ranch dressing, topped it with cheddar and mozzarella cheese, the BBQ chicken and the pineapple, then after baking, gave it a hearty sprinkling of cilantro. OMG-HOLY-YUM!!! We gobbled this up as if we hadn’t eaten in days! An instant favorite! You MUST try this pizza!
BBQ Chicken and Grilled Pineapple Pizza
1 large, thin pizza crust (I used Boboli brand)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 chicken breasts, fully cooked and shredded
1/2 cup BBQ sauce, plus more for brushing on the crust
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing (*I make my own with a ranch seasoning packet, mayo and buttermilk)
fresh pineapple, cut into 1-inch pieces (however much you like- we like lots!)
fresh cilantro, chopped, about 1/3 cup
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the cooked, shredded chicken breasts with the BBQ sauce. Set aside.
Brush the pizza crust with a thin layer of BBQ sauce (if you’re using homemade pizza dough or the roll-out kind in the can, you’ll need to pre-bake it for 10 minutes or so, just to crisp it up a little bit. My crust was pre-baked already, so I skipped this step), then spread on the ranch dressing. Top with the cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese, then the chicken and pineapple. Bake for about 15 minutes, until all the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. Top with the chopped cilantro. Makes 1 pizza.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
Every once in awhile, a dessert comes along that you can’t stop daydreaming about. You think about it while lying in bed trying to sleep, you think about it when you’re having a rough day, maybe you even think about it while you’re in the middle of giving a voice lesson (ahem…not me, of course…). I mean, who can resist a warm, gooey cookie with ice cream on top? Not me. NOT me.
A couple of months back, I posted an excellent recipe for peanut butter cookies; after I made the initial batch, I safely tucked the extra dough away in the freezer for safe-keeping. The other night, in the midst of a warm-gooey-chocolaty craving emergency, I made these beauties. Peanut butter cookie dough, baked in a ramekin until just barely cooked (even a little gooey on the inside), then topped with chocolate chips and a big scoop of ice cream. Pretty much the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in a long time! I simply cannot resist warm gooey cookie dough, so this was an absolutely heavenly treat for me. Joel loved it too!
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cookie Cups
peanut butter cookie dough (homemade or store-bought)
chocolate chips
ice cream
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 2 1/2-3 inch ramekins (muffin cups would also work if you don’t have ramekins).
Fill the ramekins 3/4 full with the cookie dough (slightly packed). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to brown on the outside, but still slightly undercooked on the inside (feel free to bake a little longer if you don’t like it too gooey).
Top immediately with chocolate chips (as much as you’d like) and allow to melt slightly.
Top with ice cream and serve with a spoon. Perfect for late-night cravings and sweet tooth emergencies.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
Mmmm….gooey peanut butter cookie…….
[keen-wah]. You thought it was [kwin-oah], didn’t you? 😉 That’s ok, so did I at first. Up until a couple of years ago, I had never even heard of this stuff, much less know how to cook it. But it’s become pretty popular lately- mostly due to how healthy it is (very high in protein and fiber), but also because it’s extremely versatile. You can bake with it, eat it for breakfast (like oatmeal), make a salad with it, cook it like rice and throw in lots of yummy vegetables…the list goes on! It’s a grain-like seed with a texture similar to a cross between rice and couscous (you can read all about quinoa here). Joel and I both loved the texture and thought it was all-around a delicious new food to add to our menu rotation! I cooked it with red and yellow bell peppers, red onions, garlic, baby portobella mushrooms, black olives and feta cheese for a flavorful Mediterranean twist – absolutely delicious! I’m so happy I finally decided to try quinoa and can’t wait to experiment with all kinds of flavors and dishes!
Mediterranean-Style Quinoa
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
6-8 baby portobella mushrooms, cut into quarters
1 small can chopped black olives
1/3 cup feta cheese
salt and pepper
Bring the quinoa and chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes, until all the liquid has absorbed.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the onions, peppers and garlic until beginning to soften, about 7 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
Add the cooked quinoa to the pan with the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lemon juice, black olives and feta cheese. Serve immediately. Serves 2-4.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
In my opinion, there’s nothing better than a good old fashioned yellow cake with chocolate frosting. There’s just something so comforting and homey about it. While I do love a good chocolate-on-chocolate cake, the combination of a moist, buttery yellow cake with rich, creamy chocolate frosting is unbeatable! Makes me feel as if I were sitting at my mom’s kitchen table after school. I love desserts like that- nothing fancy or intricately decorated, just simply frosted, like my grandmother would do.
And I have to say, this is the BEST yellow cake I’ve ever had. I was unsure which recipe to use (there are so many good ones out there), but luckily my friend Bridget of The Way The Cookie Crumbles did an in-depth yellow cake comparison on her blog recently and took all the guess work out of it for me! Thanks Bridget (she’s done lots of these comparisons on her blog, so be sure to check them all out!)! I ended up choosing a Cooks Illustrated recipe and it definitely did not disappoint! It’s definitely the most moist yellow cake I’ve ever had and by far the most flavorful. The butter flavor really comes out and the texture is just perfect- light and tender. I paired it with my favorite chocolate frosting recipe and it was just scrumptious. We LOVED this cake (in fact, I’ve had an embarrassing amount of it in the past few days)!
For those of you who are searching for the perfect yellow cake recipe (and I know there are a lot of you!), this is it. I’ve made Martha Stewart’s recipe as well and it doesn’t compare. It may be a little more involved than your average cake recipes, but trust me, it’s worth it.
Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake
Makes two 9-inch round cakes
2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting pans
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks plus 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Grease the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and knock out the excess. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 1/2 cups sugar together in a large bowl. In a 4-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.
In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks just form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak but mixture should appear moist). Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Add the flour mixture to the now-empty mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. With the mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in the butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape the whisk and sides of the bowl. Return the mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.
Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten, then add the remaining whites and gently fold into the batter until no white streaks remain. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Lightly tap the pans against the counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.
Bake until the cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the cakes from the sides of the pan with a small knife, then invert onto a greased wire rack and peel off the parchment. Invert the cakes again and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.
Perfect Chocolate Frosting
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup cocoa powder
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Stir melted butter into cocoa and alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add a small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 3 1/2 cups frosting.
Frost cake when completely cooled, as desired.
Recipe sources: cake recipe seen on The Way The Cookie Crumbles, originally from Cooks Illustrated. Frosting recipe from Hershey’s.
Have I mentioned how much I love quesadillas? All you need is tortillas and cheese and you’ve got the foundation for a great weeknight dinner! This time around, I chose black beans and avocado. Black beans are so good for you and full of flavor (we love them!) and the avocado added a nice creaminess. Add in a little grated monterrey jack cheese and cilantro and you’ve got a delicious dinner! I whipped up a quick dipping sauce with ranch dressing and homemade salsa that really gave the quesadillas a nice kick. We loved this meal and I’m certain I’ll be making it again and again.
Black Bean and Avocado Quesadillas
4 large flour tortillas
1 cup grated monterrey jack cheese
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, sliced
cilantro
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two of the tortillas with the cheese, black beans, avocado and cilantro. Place the two remaining tortillas on top and bake for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Slice into quarters.
If desired, mix 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing and 1/4 cup salsa for dipping. Serves 2.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
I have to confess that one of my favorite fast-food treats is Whataburger’s breakfast taquitos. Particularly the potato, egg and cheese variety. They’re huge and full of crispy tater tots, scrambled eggs and lots of cheese. LOVE it! Unfortunately, like most places, they stop serving breakfast at 11AM, so I can’t get them at dinner time (shucks, Whataburger!), so I just made my own! These were so good and a teensy bit healthier since I didn’t deep-fry my potatoes. Topped with a big spoonful of homemade salsa, these weren’t only better than Whataburger’s, they were some of the best breakfast taquitos I’ve ever had! Go me! 🙂
Potato, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Taquitos
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
half an onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
2 large flour tortillas (I used the burrito size)
salsa, for serving (optional)
Put the potatoes in a pot and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just beginning to soften, about 5-7 minutes. You don’t want them to cook all the way; they’ll finish cooking in the skillet. Drain and set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and starting to get brown and crisp around the edges.
In a separate skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk until homogeneous. Add to the hot skillet and stir constantly, until all the eggs are scrambled. Season with salt and pepper.
To assemble: Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, until warm. Divide the eggs, potatoes and cheese between the two tortillas. Top with salsa if desired. Serves 2.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original, inspired by Whataburger (thanks, Whataburger!)
Spring is just around the corner, and lately we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a few gorgeous, Spring days a little early. Which, naturally means I’m dying to get in my kitchen and whip up something with fresh, bright, lemony flavors. A couple of weeks ago, the weather was absolutely gorgeous- warm, sunny and breezy- so Joel and I decided to go on a picnic. He made us some sandwiches, and I whipped up some pasta salad and these tart, crunchy lemon cookies. They turned out to be the perfect picnic treat! We sat and munched on our cookies and soaked up the sun while Izzy chased a tennis ball around – it was an absolutely beautiful afternoon.
My two cuties!
We really must go on more picnics!
Lemon Snowball Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
confectioners’ sugar
In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and egg until well blended. Add lemon juice, peel and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned (cookies will not brown on top).
Transfer immediately to wire racks and cool for 5 minutes, then roll in confectioners’ sugar.
Recipe source: allrecipes.com
