Hollywood's Lemon Squares

I confess to being a Hollywood magazine junkie. There is something irresistible about the combination of beautiful people and chaotic lives I find absolutely riveting. But I also end up saying "I want my hour back" after wasting it leafing through pages of expensively dressed stars. I did get one wonderful thing out of my bad habit -- this recipe for Michael Romano's Lemon Squares came from People magazine. I halved it and adjusted the baking times to my satisfaction. It is my go-to sweet if I am craving something refreshing and citrusy.

1 cup and 2 T flour divided

1 cup sugar divided (¼ cup and ¾ cup)

½ cup butter

2 large eggs slighly beaten

Juice of 1 lemon

powdered sugar

Whisk 1 cup flour with ¼ cup sugar. Work softened butter until combined. Press onto an 8x8 inch pan or similar. Bake 20-25 minutes in 350°F until firm and golden. Combine ¾ cup sugar and 2 T flour. Whisk in eggs and lemon juice. Pour over crust. Bake 20-25 minutes in 325°F until just barely set. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar.

Jack-Approved Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookie

We have a neighbor named Jack who runs an organic vegetarian cafe. Every so often, I share with Jack some of my baked goodies. Jack is always grateful but sparing with his praise, but there is one cookie that he complimented and so his approval is especially memorable. If Jack says it's good, it must be good. I came across this recipe when someone gifted us with shredded coconut and I wasn't sure what to do with it. The original recipe from Ambitious Kitchen called for coconut oil but I like butter better. 

1 cup oats (original recipe called for quick oats. I used regular rolled oats just fine)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 t baking soda

¼ t salt (I omit this if I use salted butter which is sometimes the only thing available)

½ cup butter

¾ cups sugar

1 egg

2 t vanilla

1 cup shredded coconut

2 t milk

100 g chocolate (original recipe called for chocolate chunks. I just used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Mix wet ingredients, then mix in the dry ingredients, chunkier ingredients last. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. 

Frances' Chocolate Cake

"Oh yes," said Mother, "you may be sure that there will always be 

plenty of chocolate cake around here."

- A Baby Sister for Frances, Russel and Lillian Hoban

Every family ought to have their own go-to chocolate cake recipe, and this happens to be ours. I got it off the back of the packet of Ghirardelli's Premium Baking Cocoa and it's their recipe for their Grand Fudge Cake (or cupcake). One time I ran out of confectioner's sugar and discovered a way to make a nice chocolate frosting without it. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

½ t salt (I omit this if I use salted butter which is sometimes the only thing available)

1 cup butter 

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 t vanilla

2 large eggs

1 ⅓ cups milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 9" round cake pans. In a bowl, sift together baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl,cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla and eggs. Alternately add flour mixture and milk (starting and ending with flour mixture) while mixing until smooth. Pour into the pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

No Confectioner's Sugar Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

1 t vanilla

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat then add vanilla. Cool partially and then beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Spread on cooled cake. 

Southern Fried Chicken Karaage

Every book I've read set in the American South almost always has Southern Fried Chicken in it. I'm gastronomically curious as to how different this is from the fried chickens I've ever had. Someone passed on to me Amy Sedaris' I like you: Hospitality under the influence and saw how ridiculously simple her recipe is. Unfortunately, I don't have the buttermilk and lard that her recipe called for so I substituted yoghurt for buttermilk and just plain cooking oil for frying. I also used chicken breast and cut them into bite-sized pieces much like your regular Japanese karaage. The results were outstanding. My husband who used to be stationed at South Carolina declared this to be as good as he remembered. He requested this for his birthday.   

Chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

yoghurt

paprika

salt

pepper

cornstarch and flour (1:1 ratio)

oil for frying

Marinate chicken pieces in yoghurt, paprika, salt and pepper overnight. Dredge in the cornstarch-flour mix. Deep fry until done. Serve hot.

Bring Out the Rice Zesty Chicken

Mark Bittman's gigantic cookbook How to Cook Everything is a kitchen essential. While I think some recipes are a bit off (ex. his pizza crust is way too salty - perhaps a printing error?), there are some absolutely sumptuous dishes.  This chicken dish is one of those I'm-glad-I-gave-you-a-try recipes. Plus it's an enjoyable book to flip to a random page to read and learn techniques and technical details about a food stuff or two. Mark Bittman knows food and he writes about it well. I liked this chicken recipe so much I scribbled "WINNER! Love the sauce." right beside it. 

1 T oil

2 lbs bone in chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry

1 t minced garlic

1 T grated lemon zest

¼ t cayenne (I have actually never tried it with cayenne but if you like a little kick, you should!)

2 T soy sauce

1 t sugar

⅓ cup water

Juice of one lemon

Heat a skillet. Add oil, swirl, then add the chicken. Brown quickly on both sides. Remove the chicken but keep the oils. Add the garlic and cook until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients except the lemon juice. Stir. Return the chicken and settle it in the liquid in the skillet. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, turning once or twice until chicken is done, about 20-30 minutes. 

Put chicken in serving platter and stir in the lemon juice. Pour some broth over the chicken and pass the rest at the table. Everyone will be looking for rice to enjoy this delicious sauce with.

Tastes Better Than It Looks Salad

It was that or "Scraps from the Vegetable Pile Salad". That's because my husband says the taste of this salad is always a pleasant surprise. I personally think the color mix is wonderful and I like the fact that there is something for every one (i.e. the kids like olives, I like chickpeas, my husband likes cucumbers). Prior to discovering this recipe, I have mostly bought ready made salad dressing. The only salad dressing I would make (which doesn't really count) is mixing Stillwater Olive Oil Co.'s Raspberry Vinegar and Lemon Olive Oil -- it doesn't count because this vinegar is so good you can drink the stuff as is. Coming back, the tedious part of this recipe is the chopping and slicing but otherwise is quite easy to make and is great for parties. I usually make do without the feta cheese. It still tastes great even without. I also do not follow the second part of the recipe strictly. If I find only orange and yellow bell peppers on sale, that's what I use. No tomatoes, no problem. It's a very easy going salad recipe that always satisfies. 

Dressing:
2 t olive oil
2 T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

1 can chickpeas drained
1 red bell pepper cubed
1 yellow bell pepper cubed
1 green bell pepper cubed
1 small onion chopped finely
15 tomatoes halved
1/3 cup olives sliced
1-2 cucumbers quartered
feta cheese

Toss everything. This salad can be prepared a day in advance but same day preparation also tastes great. 

No Fuss Raspberry Ice Cream

I'm not sure I understand the fuss about ice cream makers/machines.Do I really need yet another equipment for my kitchen? Conclusion: No. I made this amazingly delicious, make-you-swoon raspberry ice cream without an ice cream maker/machine in less than 5 minutes (without the freezing time). The kids like to eat their morning pancake with a scoop of this. 

Half a package of frozen raspberries (I used unsweetened berries. You can put more or less berries)

½-¾ cup sugar

1 cup cream (I used soy cream just because I like that the resulting ice cream is less heavy than with regular cream, plus soy cream is cheaper. Using soy cream makes this dessert vegan)

1 t vanilla

Put everything in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until well blended. Put in a bowl and freeze. Enjoy later when frozen.