Have at room temperature
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs, separated when cold
1 teaspoon lemon zest (about half of one small lemon)
1/3 cup lemon juice (juice of two small lemons)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
pinch of cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.

The Cake Baker’s Note: I used an ungreased non-stick 8 inch pan.

In a large bowl on medium-high speed, beat together egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter or margarine until combined. Beat on high speed until thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. In another large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Add flour-sugar mixture alternately with milk to the yolk mixture, beating well after each addition, starting and ending with the flour-sugar mixture.

The Cake Baker’s Note: Add one-third of the flour mixture  followed by half of the milk. Continue alternating flour and milk until well combined.

2. Add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites. Using a whisk or whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter. To do this, first lighten the batter. This means to add a cup of whipped whites to the batter and whisk vigorously until blended. Then add the remaining whites all at once. Fold gently using a cut, through, turn motion. Continue folding until streaks of egg white remain. Pour into prepared baking dish.

The Cake Baker’s Note: For a demonstration of folding egg whites into batter, see the link below to a YouTube video.

3. Place a pan of hot water in the oven, and set the baking dish into the pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully take the baking dish out of the water. Cool in the pan on a wire rack about 10-20 minutes. After 10 minutes I found that the cooling cake had started to pull away from the sides of the non-stick pan. So an ungreased non-stick pan is the pan of choice for me! Slice with a thin blade into 12 pieces.

The Cake Baker’s Note: This cake is best served warm. It will have a pudding on the bottom. I recommend serving the cake with fresh berries and low-fat low sugar whipped topping for a delicious low calorie treat. Without the berries and cream 1/12 of the cake is approximately 165 calories.

Related articles

• Lemon Chiffon Cake (toomuchbutter.com)
• Lemon Surprise Pudding (busyellebee.wordpress.com)
• How to Fold Egg Whites into Batter (YouTube video)

I borrowed this book from the NYPL (2011, Oxmoor House) to try the low fat-low carb recipes. All of the recipes have nutrition information and all of them are 200 calories or below per serving. What I liked about it was how simple and uncomplicated the recipes were so that the cook need never feel that eating healthy is too much of a pain. Recipes that are quick and easy are helpfully marked. Don’t just look at the calories; also check the portion size, especially if the calories seem too good to be true! For example, one dulce de leche tartlet is 180 calories–it’s a tiny, tiny thing made from a mini phyllo shell. Can you seriously eat just one and not do irreparable damage to your diet?

The table of contents is quirky, with the soups coming just before the desserts.

Appetizers, Snacks & Beverages
Entrées
Salads
Soups
Desserts

In any case, I like to adjust recipes to taste so I seldom follow them exactly. I call it, getting inspiration!  And since I like to go low salt as well, I prefer to substitute my own homemade broths and stocks for canned. The chicken-vegetable-barley soup I made last week was inspired by this cookbook. I am also inspired to bake a lemon pudding cake. But that’s for another posting!

A friend in Chicago gave me a copy of the cookbook from this famous Chicago German restaurant, now closed. This recipe is from that book. I went straight to the soups.  I like lentils because unlike other dried beans, they don’t need to be soaked before cooking and they cook up fairly quickly. I halved the recipe because I am not feeding a crew of eight and I did want leftovers; just not that much. I used low fat turkey ham instead.

I also made my own chicken stock in a 3 quart saucepan using the bones from two chicken breasts, a two-inch piece of ginger, two chopped scallions, and 3 whole cloves of garlic. I cooked it for 1 1/2 hours on low heat, then strained the broth, discarding the solids. Then I set the pot aside. All this is prelude to

Berghoff lentil soup
2 teaspoons canola oil
¾ cup diced onion
2-4 teaspoons minced garlic
¾ cup diced celery
¾ cup diced carrots
4 cups chicken stock
¾-1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 large bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 cup diced ham (use turkey ham)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes in juice
3 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

In a 3 or 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute. Add the celery and carrots and continue to sauté for 1 minute. [Cook's tip: since I am already using the saucepan for the stock, I used a large skillet, like my 12 inch Calphalon Everyday skillet to sauté the vegetables]

Add the stock, lentils, bay leaves, and red pepper. Bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the lentils are tender. [Cook's tip: Instead of adding the stock to the skillet, I added the vegetables to the stock in the saucepan]

Stir in the ham and tomato and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and adjust the seasonings; simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat and serve with grated Parmesan cheese for garnish, if desired.

Related articles

• In The Kitchen – Lentils (mye1212.wordpress.com)
• Real Food Lentil Soup in the Crock Pot (arealfoodlover.wordpress.com)
• Lentil Chili By Paula Wharton (outsiderswindow.com)

Originally styled “Halibut in Rice Wine” on allrecipes.com, I think any white fish will do for this recipe. Perhaps even a good thick salmon steak. I made this dish by baking instead of grilling the fish and using basa instead of halibut. I’m a great believer in using whatever fish is available at the supermarket. The sauce, you could also say, isn’t even the expected color for a rice wine based sauce. That’s because there is black bean and soy sauce in it. It came out rather sweetish because of the mirin. I think if you prefer it more tart, then add more rice vinegar.

INGREDIENTS:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
1/2 cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
6 (4 ounce) fillets halibut, skin removed
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oil in a 10 inch non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Cook shallots and garlic gently until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in black bean sauce, rice wine, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar; taste and adjust seasonings. Set aside.

2. Pat fish dry. Brush with sesame oil and sprinkle with pepper. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.

3. Grill fish for about 5 minutes per side, or just until cooked through.  Cook’s note: I baked the fish in a 350˚F oven for 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully so that they don’t get overdone. Thinner fillets like basa cook up faster than thicker fillets. The rule is that the fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

4. To serve, spoon sauce on a fillet and sprinkle with cilantro.

Chicken-Vegetable-Barley Soup

5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup pearl barley
2 small carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 yellow squash
1/2 gray squash or zucchini
1 cup baby lima beans, frozen
1 cup corn niblets, frozen
1/4 of a red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup green beans,  chopped in 1” lengths
1 chicken breast, sliced into 1″ bits
Salt and pepper to taste
Dried herbs, e.g. thyme, parsley

In a large pot, heat the broth. Add the pearl barley and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes. Add the carrots and celery; continue simmering for 5 more minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and continue simmering for 5 minutes. Drop the chicken into the soup one at a time and watch it change from pink to white. Add seasoning and herbs to taste. Serve at once.

This is a very special recipe. My mother-in-law had years of cooking and baking for her family so that when I finally got her recipe, it was very terse–more like a set of reminders to herself. So I’ve filled in the gaps.  For instance, there was no mention of cake pan sizes or how to prepare the pans. I have also added a few tips, especially for folding the batter–that always means to fold by hand–which is a key step to the success of the butter cake. The resulting cakes domed and cracked on top which is typical of butter cakes. If you are going to frost them, trim the domes with a large serrated knife–but don’t throw away the scraps! Eating the leftovers is a true guilty pleasure.

Ingredients :
8   oz.  shortening or butter
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
2  1/4  cups  all purpose flour
5 large eggs [original recipe 6 small eggs]
1  1/2  cup castor or superfine sugar
2   teaspoons baking powder

Preparation :

1. Preheat oven 325˚F. Grease and flour one 9×3 inch round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment or wax paper circle. In the photograph above, I used three 6×3 inch cake pans.
2. Beat butter or shortening and  vanilla in a large mixing bowl, gradually adding sugar and eggs one by one. Cake Baker’s Tip: The texture should be smooth; rub a bit of batter  between your fingers. If you feel grit from the sugar, mix it again until smooth.
3. In another large bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Gently mix flour mixture into butter mixture by folding carefully. Cake Baker’s Tip: To fold batter, use a flat rubber spatula and cut down the center of the batter. Scrape along the bottom of the bowl, bringing the batter towards the side then flip the spatula over. Turn the bowl one quarter turn. Repeat until the flour is blended into the butter mixture. Don’t over mix.
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Tap the pan a few times on the counter top to eliminate air bubbles. Bake for 35 minutes. For the smaller pans, I baked them for 25-30 minutes. Cake Baker’s Tip: Test for doneness after the shortest length of time by examining the crack in the top. If it looks wet, it’s not ready, so give it 5 more minutes. If it looks dry, poke it with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out dry.
5. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack then unmold. To unmold, turn the pan upside down and shake gently. Remove the parchment or waxed paper circle. Turn the cake upright to cool completely before frosting. Frost if desired or simply sprinkle with powdered sugar.

The word is Car-rib-bee-an, not Ca-rib-bee-an. I’m from the Caribbean but I’ve never had this dish before. Despite its dubious provenance (about.com), I can say that it was not bad at all; unusually sweet, salty, spicy, tart, and sour–which surprises the mouth rather like the first time one eats Pad Thai. One thing I don’t understand is why a recipe calls for alcohol and then notes you can leave it out. Since I don’t drink, I don’t have alcohol on hand, so I was happy to leave it out.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
1/8 cup tequila, about half a mini-bottle (optional)
1 tablespoon Triple Sec or Cointreau orange liqueur, about half a mini-bottle (optional)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup minced sweet onion
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 to 1-1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on for presentation if you wish

PREPARATION:
Measure 1/4 cup olive oil, lime juice, orange juice concentrate, tequila (if using), Triple Sec (if using), cilantro, garlic, sweet onion, curry powder, salt, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and black pepper into a large zip-top bag. Seal and squish contents to mix. Add shrimp to marinade, squeeze out all the air, and seal. Turn bag to coat shrimp. Refrigerate for 1 hour. (Do not over-marinate or the citrus acids will “cook” the shrimp.)

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the hot pan and swirl to coat. Remove shrimp from marinade, reserving marinade, and place in a single layer in the hot pan. Cook for 1 minute, then flip the shrimp to the other side. Do not overcook the shrimp or it will become rubbery. Add the reserved marinade to the pan. Cook 1 minute, then remove shrimp and keep warm. Continue cooking the marinade until it reduces two-thirds to a thick sauce. Turn off the heat, return the shrimp to the pan, and toss in the sauce.

Cook’s note: If using medium shrimp (31 per pound), don’t cook for 2 minutes. Cook for 1 minute then remove from the pan. To cook all the shrimp at the same time, and to prevent overcooking, I turned off the heat while putting them in the pan. It’s important to work quickly so don’t be squeamish;  stick your hand in the bag and grab a handful of shrimp and sprinkle them in the oil. That’s why it’s safer with the heat off.

Serve Caribbean Island Lime Shrimp over white rice. Another serving idea, and low calorie too, is to serve it with romaine lettuce leaves. This dish is also good as a room temperature appetizer for parties. I made this dish last night so other good accompaniments are roasted yams (American sweet potato–yam in the Caribbean is a different vegetable), and of course,  the strawberry, spinach, hearts of palm salad.

Yield: 4 servings

My cousin Cathy got a tin of hearts of palm so she wrote our cousins’ group wondering how to serve it. I had this recipe on my Wait List to try and her SOS just prodded me out of procrastination mode. This is Paula Deen’s recipe but I tweaked it. Now I’m not fond of hearts of palm. To me it has a metallic taste, which probably comes from the tin can.  Nevertheless, I found this salad to be quite delicious. The strawberries were tart and the salad dressing had just the right proportion of sweetness to tartness that totally disguised the metallic taste of the hearts of palm. So on St. Valentine’s Day, show you love somebody–but not with chocolate, with strawberries, spinach and hearts of palm!

Ingredients

For the salad dressing
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (reduced from 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used EVOO and reduced the amount of oil  from 1 cup)
1/2 small red onion, grated
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika

For the salad
1 1/2 pounds fresh baby spinach (I added some mixed greens to the spinach)
1 can hearts of palm, drained and chopped
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)

Directions
Prepare the dressing.  Combine the vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a small non-reactive saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature. When cooled, whisk in the oil, onion, poppy seeds, dry mustard and paprika until thoroughly combined. Set dressing aside.

Assemble the salad ingredients. In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, hearts of palm, strawberries, and nuts, if using. When ready to serve, add some of the dressing, and toss gently. Serve the remaining dressing alongside the salad so diners may add more, if desired.

Reblogged from Savory Simple:

Hello Lovers!  Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I have a special treat for you.  Sometimes a heavy dessert can kill the mood, but a few bites of these passion fruit geleés will be the perfect end to a romantic meal.  They need to be made the day before but the recipe steps are very easy.  Also, you may have to go searching for a few of the ingredients.  I ordered passion fruit puree from L’Epicure, but you can use any fruit puree sold at your local grocery store (check the freezer and …

Great idea for Valentine’s Day!