{IHCC} LEMONS!!

This is not at all what I had planned to make for this week’s IHCC ingredient – LEMONS!.  The weather was rather chilly when I picked out a nice lemon risotto and then the weather turned warm – mid 70s this week (and keep in mind it is mid-January) – so I switched to a nice citrus-y cake.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

4 oz butter
1 cup superfine sugar {I subbed in 1 cup Splenda and 1/2 tsp bulk stevia}
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup plain yogurt
3 Tbl lemon juice
1 Tbl lemon zest
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix the butter and sugar together ’til fluffy.  Add the eggs and incorporate well.  Add in the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, and baking soda.  Mix well.

Spoon (it’s way to thick to pour) mixture into a 9″ cake pan and bake 45 minutes in a 350F degree oven.  {Mine only took 35 minutes}.  Cake is done if toothpick comes out clean.

While cake is still hot pour the syrup over the cake and let the cake sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Syrup:

1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbl lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

My syrup didn’t turn out like I wanted but it did add some more lemon into the cake.  I ended up making a lemon drizzle and putting, way too much, over the cake.  The cake wasn’t real sweet and had just the right lemony flavor.  Good cake!

The recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s the new cook page 181

Want More?  -> LEMONS!

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{WWDH} Asian Flair: Coconut Chicken Curry

Wednesdays with Donna Hay is BACK!!  At least with two of us.  We just couldn’t go any longer with out cooking with Donna Hay!  Since I had already planned to make one of Donna’s Asian style dishes we decided to start with that!  A good way to get back into the swing of things.

Unlike many of Donna’s dishes this one is not very colorful.  It is her Coconut Chicken Curry and while quite tasty it is not a repeat.

Chicken breasts are simmered in a sauce of coconut milk, green curry paste, Kaffier lime leaves, onions, lemon grass, and shredded ginger. Fresh basil and coriander are added in at the end.

The sauce is really good.  The chicken…not so much.  I think it would have been much tastier if the chicken had been seasoned and browned before it went into the sauce.  So, if I make it again, that is what i will do.

The recipe is from Donna’s the new cook (page 120)

What else is coming from the WWDH kitchens this week?  Check out the WWDH blog.

The new themes will be up soon if you want to join us.  We post every Wednesday.

 

{WWDH} Eat More Chicken

I love the commercial with the cows.  Eat mor Chikin!  And we follow those instructions – a lot!  Not much beef in this house any more.  It’s nice to have lots of good recipes including this one from Donna Hay.

coconut chicken curry

Simple to make.  Spicy with the Green curry paste.  2 – 3 Tbl.  LOTS of spicy flavor.  I only made 1/2 of the recipe but 2/3 of the sauce.  I love having extra sauce.

Donna suggested serving with Jasmine rice but I already had some brown rice cooked so that is what I used.  I also left out the lemon grass.  Not one of my faves.  But I do at least have some Kaffir lime leaves now and lived the flavor they added.  Definitely making this one again since it was so easy to put together.

This week’s Theme was Eat More Chicken.  Thanks, Kayte, for this theme.  Loved this dish.  This dish is on page 120 of Donna’s The New Cook.

What other Chicken dishes are on the menu this week with WWDH.  Check them out on the Blog.

 

{IHCC} Pumpkin Gnocchi

I am so excited to be cooking with I Heart Cooking Clubs. For the last six months the members have been cooking with Yotam Ottolenghi but I didn’t really have much time so I skipped him. Kinda sorry now as there have been some wonderful recipes posted. But now I have time again and the chef the members chose for the next six months is one of my favorites – Donna Hay from Australia. I have been making her recipes with a group of far flung friends since February 2012. Now I get to make a dish twice a week – YAY!!

We are starting off with a pretty open Theme: G’day Donna Hay – a welcome party where we can make ANYTHING from her long long list of recipes.

Since it is now fall I decided to make…

Pumpkin Gnocchi

I have made gnocchi before. Several times it seems after looking back thru’ the blog but never with pumpkin. That is what made these interesting to me. No mashed potatoes. Pumpkin! Pumpkin gnocchi in a brown butter and Thynme. Brown Butter – one can never go wrong with that! The only thing was I didn’t have any Thyme, not fresh anyway. So I subbed in Sage instead. Mighty Tasty. But, was it supposed to taste like pumpkin? Cause it didn’t. It was good, but I was expecting some pumpkin flavor.

1 1/2 lb pumpkin, peeled and chopped 2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 egg yolk
Parmesan cheese shavings

Butter Sauce
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl thyme leaves {I used about 2 Tbl chopped sage leaves}

Place pumpkin in a saucepan of boiling water and cook until soft. Drain and press pumpkin through a potato ricer or a sieve. {I roasted my pumpkin, deseeded it and then chopped it up and pureed it.}
Return pumpkin to saucepan and add butter. Cook, stirring, over low heat until pumpkin has thickened and dried. Remove pan from heat and stir through flour, egg yolk and ground pepper. Mixture should be a soft dough. Roll tablespoons of mixture in the palm of your hand to form a flat disk. Press with fork on one side to indent. {I made smaller gnocchi and used a board.}

To make sauce, place butter and sage in a saucepan over low heat and simmer until golden. Cook gnocchi a few at a time in a saucepan of boiling water until they rise to the top of the water. To serve, top gnocchi with butter sauce, Parmesan and pepper.

Making gnocchi is fun. They take a while, but that’s okay.

Stop by the IHCC website and see what the other cooks/bakers chose for this first week.

Next week – Pantry Magic! What do you have in your pantry for ingredients?