Lemon Posset

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup superfine sugar
juice of one meyer lemon, a regular lemon or other citrus (about 1/4 cup)

Combine the cream and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring just to a simmer over medium low heat and remove from heat. Let stand until just cool, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the lemon juice. Blend well. Divide between 2 goblets or small serving dishes, cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. Garnish with fresh blueberries, if desired, before serving. Recipe may be doubled, tripled, etc with no problem

 

Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Back in 2008, watching an NCIS dvd, with commentary, I heard the actor, David McCallum, who portrays Ducky, the medical examiner, talk about roasting Brussel sprouts in this way. I felt intrigued.. and despite never having liked the vegetable, I gave it a try. They were so good, not the smelly, mushy sprouts of my childhood, but delicious, slightly sweet. Even my kids plowed through them. Now they're a regular, and not just at the holidays.

2 lbs brussel sprouts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp maple syrup
sea salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
Wash sprouts and remove yellowed and discolored leaves, and slice in half. In a large bowl, whisk together oil and syrup ’til emulsified, then pour in the sprouts. Using your hands rub oil/syrup mixture over all sides of the sprouts until they are completely coated. Spoon the sprouts into a roasting pan, making sure to leave any extra oil/syrup in the bowl. Sprinkle with several good grinds of sea salt & black pepper. Bake in oven between 20 to 30 minutes, until they are caramelized (checking occasionally after 20 minutes. You can also insert a thin sharp knife in and if it inserts easily they are done).

Larb

I read about this Thai

recipe on Orangette, in 2008, or '09, and adapted it.. it originally called for grinding a type of rice down to a powder, to use as a thickener, I opted for corn starch. It also called for galangal, which is comparable to ginger. I added in carrots because I felt they complimented the dish. My kids love it, spooning rice and the larb into lettuce leaves and eating them out of hand.

Serves 4 - 6, depending on appetites

1 tsp corn starch
3 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp Nam pla (fish sauce, I use 3 Crabs brand)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 medium red onion, minced
1 stalk lemon grass, bottom portion minced, or 1 tsp lemon zest
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup julienned carrot, optional
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, optional
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 lb ground pork, or turkey or chicken

lettuce leaves
2 cups sticky rice (optional)

Poach ground meat of your choice in the broth in a skillet on medium heat, stirring frequently breaking the meat down so it's crumbly and it is cooked through. Add juice, fish sauce, veggies, herbs and seasonings. Stir well for a few minutes so flavors combine. Sprinkle 1 tsp of corn starch and stir well. The corn starch is intended to give a bit of body to the remaining liquid so it coats the mixture, keeping it looking moist and coated with the liquid. Remove from heat and serve, with lettuce leaves alone or include cooked sticky rice.

Cherry Coconut Frozen Yogurt Pops & Happy 4th of July!

It's been a while since I last posted here, and only sporadically on other's blogs. I have been diagnosed with vertigo, and it was an adjustment. It was frustrating and I didn't respond well to physical therapy.. so sitting at my desk in front of my laptop was hard to do. Even inclining my head the way you do to look at the screen, type, etc.. made me feel as though I was spinning. Then I got out of the habit of blogging and it took me a while to get started going online for more than just just a cursory check of my email. I hope all in the path of hurricane/tropical storm Arthur are safe and well.

So here we are in July, our 4th cookout is postponed until tomorrow, Saturday, when the weather won't be rainy. We're serving barbecue chicken, a pasta salad with an Asian theme, with lots of veggies. One of the sweet treats I've prepared, geared towards the kids are these ice pops. You could use any type of frozen, or even fresh fruit. I selected cherries as they were red, as another dessert is a tart with blueberries, and I thought it complimented the patriotic theme of the day.

Makes 8-10 ice pops

16 oz bag frozen cherries, thawed 

1 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp fresh lime juice

3/4 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup plain yogurt

Combine the cherries, water and sugar in a blender or food processor and puree. If you would prefer to strain out any small pieces of fruit, strain through a mesh strainer. Stir in the lime juice. Add in coconut milk, and yogurt and whisk together. Divide the mixture between the ice pop molds, I used small paper cups. Then freeze for 2 hours before serving. If like me you use small paper cups, freeze for 1/2 hour, cover opening of each cup with foil (to insure the sticks stand upright) then insert wooden popsicle sticks through foil and into the ice pop mixture. Return to freezer for remaining 1 1/2 hours or longer. 

Vertigo

Prior to last September, I only associated the word "vertigo" with the Hitchcock film, starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak... and then got out of bed one morning, and I felt the room spin as though I was in a barrel. For a bit over a week, I was at the mercy of this condition.. even simple movements like bending, tilting my head, laying down on my back set it off.

Slowly but surely it lessened, and I felt like my old self, but it came back after Christmas. That time it passed after a few days. It reoccurred in January, and my doctor prescribed a medication similar to dramamine, meclizine, that while knocking me out, lessened the symptoms. The vertigo disappeared that time within a week, but in February, it returned with a vengeance, and didn't respond to the medication any longer... which was disheartening, because each recurrence disrupted my ability to get things done...  you don't realise how important the little movements we all take for granted are. Since February, it has come and gone and when each time it returned, it was worse.

I was sent to an ENT, and given a few tests that showed I had meniere's disease.. essentially, a few of the calcium particles we all have in our inner ear that help us balance, got loose.. which cause the dizziness and spinning. I've been getting physical therapy, which has really helped, and I've been vertigo free for almost a week now... and really feel that I will beat this thing. The exercises really help lessen and stave off the bouts of vertigo.

Lazy Daisy Coconut Oatmeal Cake

Anyone else remember the Lazy Daisy cake? My mom made it quite regularly in the '70s. Basically an easy to throw together vanilla snack cake, with a scrumptious brown sugar coconut topping. Tonight while blog hopping, I stopped off at Serious Eats, and found this new take on the Lazy Daisy, an inspired choice of an oatmeal cake base, taken from the pages of a new cookbook, One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/04/one-bowl-oatmeal-cake.html I plan on making this over the weekend, but I couldn't resist sharing it here tonight.

Ingredients

    For Cake:
    1 cup rolled oats
    3/4 cup boiling water
    1/2 cup milk
    1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
    8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, very soft
    1 3/4 cup (12 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    2 large eggs
    1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
    1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    
    For Topping:
    6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, very soft
    3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
    3 tablespoons milk
    2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
    1 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Procedures

    1 Combine oats, boiling water, and milk; let sit 20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to upper and lower middle position and preheat to 350°F. Grease 9- by 9-inch pan.

    2 Add salt, butter, sugar, and vanilla to oat mixture and stir to combine. Stir in eggs and coconut. Add flour, baking soda, and cinnamon to bowl, then stir until completely combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake on middle rack until just set, about 30 minutes.

    3 While cake is baking, mix topping in same unwashed bowl: toss butter, brown sugar, milk, coconut, and nuts to form moist crumbs.

    4 As soon as cake is baked, remove from oven and spread topping over the top. Return pan to oven and increase heat to broil. Briefly heat until topping melts and coconut is lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool.

Baked Cauliflower and Cheese Casserole

This is another family favorite, the kids at first didn't even suspect they were eating their nemesis, the evil cauliflower :) If you'd rather use less dairy, you can substitute stock for some of the milk. If you're tempted to cut out the cream replace it with milk.

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into 5 to 6 cups of
florets
5 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese, either shredded or diced I use an 8 oz package of Sargentos Extra Sharp Cheddar
1/2 tsp dry mustard, like Colman's, but you could use 1 tsp of prepared mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the florets and return to a boil, for 2 minutes, you just want to blanch them. Strain, then cut florets into halves or quarters, you want a uniform size.

In a large saucepan, melt 4 of the tbsp of  butter. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and cook 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat, whisking until a roux forms. Add the milk and whisk until the roux dissolves into the milk. Cook sauce on medium-low heat until it starts to thicken. Add heavy cream, mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and then start adding the cheese, a small handful at a time, stirring until each addition has melted in. Once it's thoroughly combined, turn off heat and stir well. You want a smooth sauce, not thick and pastey.

In small pan melt remaining 1 tbsp butter and then mix in to the panko bread crumbs until the butter is  thoroughly absorbed. Mix in Parmesan cheese.

Butter a 3 quart casserole, then pour in cauliflower, then pour the cheese sauce over that til cauliflower is covered. Sprinkle the crumb/Parmesan mixture over top, and bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes, and crumb topping is toasty and brown.