Here’s a reblog from December 2010.

Isn’t it funny that just when the snow hits the ground, the produce section gets flooded with citrus fruit?  The sweet and tart juices echo the tropical climates from whence they came.  And lemons, well aren’t they just sunshine itself?  This year bottle some of their cheer and give it to a friend.  Here are three simple, but elegant gift ideas anyone can easily make.  All you need are lemons, salt, sugar, vodka, butter and eggs.  Does this mean you’re Christmas shopping at the grocery store this year?  You bet. 

Limoncello: An Italian Delicacy
I first indulged in limoncello when I was dating the man who would become my husband.  We used to frequent a seafood restaurant on the Miami River for lazy weekend lunches.  We enjoyed the food and the relaxed atmosphere created the romance that blossomed into our family.  The first time I ordered a limoncello, I had no idea what it was.  It just sounded divine.  It is, but also strong.  Those small digestives we ordered cost a ridiculous $14 a piece, so I quickly learned how to make my own.  Now for the price of a round of drinks you can have a couple of gifts (and chef nips) yourself.

12 lemons 
4 c vodka (medium quality)
4 c filtered water
3 c sugar

1.  Using a vegetable peeler, gently peel only the yellow part of the lemon peel from the fruit.  Scrape off any excess white part with a sharp knife.  This is a great TV watching activity and husband involvement is required appreciated.

2.  Put peels in a large pitcher and pour vodka over them.  Cover top.  Allow to sit at room temperature for 4 days, giving them a small swirl once a day.

3.  Make a simple sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small sauce pan over a medium flame.  Stir and gently warm until sugar is dissolved, about 7 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.  Pour over lemon peels and vodka.  Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 day.

4.  Strain the lemon peels and pour into sterilized containers.*   Chill.  Best consumed within 2 months.

Serving Suggestions:
Limoncello is traditionally served as a digestive, after a meal.  It is also delicious as a champagne cocktail when served with a crisp prosecco.  I also like a splash of it with amaretto over ice.  Enjoy!

Lemon Curd: An English Delicacy
My sister, Kate, introduced me to this during my High Tea Phase.  In my early twenties, I became drawn not to the bar scene, but the old-fashioned ladies tea scene.  Blame Jane Austin.  I hosted tea parties for my friends and delighted in cucumber sandwiches and scones.  My sister and I lived a few states apart, but when we saw each other, we went for tea at grand hotels.  Kate has a knack for always finding the best stationary shops, breakfast joints and cute, girly stores.  One year she bought a tiny jar of lemon curd for my annual Christmas tea party and it was love at first bite.

6 egg yolks
1 c sugar
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 4 lemons
pinch of sea salt
1 stick of butter, cut into tiny bits

1.  Fill a medium sized saucepan with about an inch of water and bring to a boil.  Place a glass bowl over it and egg the yolks, sugar, salt, juice and zest.  Stir and cook until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  This will take about 10-15 minutes.  It’s important to keep stirring.

2.  Remove from heat and put it through a strainer.  You will need to use your rubber spatula to help it along.  Allow it to cool slightly.

3.  Bit by bit whisk in the cold butter.  It will become nice and fluffy.  Put in sterilized jars* and refrigerate.  Good for a week.  You can also freeze it for a month, just place plastic wrap directly on the curd and leave space for a slight expansion.

Serving Suggestions:
Scones are the classic choice, but any baked good will appreciate a dollop.  Blueberry muffins, pound cake, and pumpkin bread go particularly well.  You can also pipe it into mini fillo cups and sprinkle berries on top for a last minute dessert.  Enjoy!

Preserved Lemons: A Moroccan Delicacy
This is a more recent discovery, initiated by my study of yoga in India. I ate meals with my teacher, Master-ji, and his family.  We ate in the kitchen and just behind the table was a shelf full of colorful pickles.  Well, I didn’t know they were picked at first, because they were all sorts odd shapes and vibrant hues.  I only knew of green dill pickles.  These were hot and spicy, made of mangoes, lemons and other exotic Indian fruits.  I was too afraid to try them until just before leaving.  On my last night, Master-ji coaxed me to try one.  It was amazing!  That got me started on my hunt for (what should I call it?) global pickles.  These preserved lemons are a foodie’s dream: a new, but faintly familiar ingredient that can be added to just about any recipe.

lemons
fine sea salt
lots of fresh lemon juice

1.  The ingredient list is non-specific, because the quanity really depends on the size and shape of your sterilized* jars.  For each lemon that will fit in your jar, it will take about 1 1/2 T sea salt.  You want your lemons to be tightly packed in the jar, so think of that when your shopping.  You will use a lot of lemon juice, so using the left-over peeled lemons from the limoncello is an excellent idea.

2.  Place about a tablespoon of sea salt in the bottom of the jar.  Wash and dry your lemons.  Slice them in quarters, lengthwise being careful to leave them in tact at the top.  Carefully remove seeds.

3.  Take about 1 1/2 T salt and thoroughly coat the flesh of the lemon.

4.  Push lemon back into it’s original shape and place it in the jar.  Repeat the process, filling the jar as tightly as you can.  Pour fresh lemon juice over the top until lemons are covered completely.

5.  Place jar on a sunny window sill for 21 days.  Once a day, say hello and give it a nice shake.  (If you don’t have 21 days before gift giving, simply include a note instructing the recipient of this for whatever number of days is left.)

6.  After 21 days, the lemons are ready.  They’ll be good for 6 months. 

Serving Suggestions:
The peels and flesh can both be used in cooking.  They can be added to sauces, soups and sautes.  This is a great gift for a foodie or cook.  Tell them to explore Moroccan and Persian recipes or they can create their own.  Enjoy!

*To sterilize jars either fill a large pot with water and boil them for 5 minutes or run your dishwasher without soap.

Here’s a reblog of Christmas Tree Soup from 2010.  I always serve this as a first course on Christmas night!

Here’s a lovely soup that tastes every bit as wonderful as it looks.  It’s a great first course for Christmas Eve dinner or even a nice lunch or simple dinner.  Make it whenever you need to warm up this winter.  Did I mention this incredibly rich soup is also healthy?  No, I’ll keep that a secret.  Enjoy!

1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 bulb of garlic
olive oil
1 T butter
1 onion, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 large spring of rosemary, plus smaller ones for garnish
1 bay leaf
sea salt
white pepper
2 c vegetable stock
1 can evaporated skim milk
juice of 1/2 a lemon
star anise for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 400°.  Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil.  Spread the cauliflower florets over the sheet.  Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil over it.  Sprinkle generously with sea salt and touch of white pepper.  Toss everything so it is well-coated, then spread them all out again. 

2.  Cut off just the top of your bulb of garlic.  Place it in a small scrap of foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt.  Wrap it all up and put it on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, turn the cauliflower, then bake for 15-20 minutes more.  Don’t worry if you see golden spots.  This tastes great and will not effect the creamy color of your soup.  Trust me.

3.  As soon as it’s cool enough to handle (be brave!) unwrap the garlic.  Gently squeeze out that amazing paste, not wasting a drop.  

4.  Heat a soup pot over a medium flame.  Add 1 T each, butter and olive oil.  Add onions and a pinch of sea salt.  Saute for 2 minutes.  Add celery and another pinch of sea salt.  Saute for another 2 minutes, until softened.  Add garlic, cauliflower, large sprig of rosemary, bay leaf and vegetable stock and a pinch of white pepper.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add milk and lemon juice.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Remove bay leaf and rosemary.

4. Transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  You may have to do this in batches.  Leave room for steam to escape by removing the small circle on the lid and pressing a kitchen towel on top.  Taste and adjust seasonings one more time.  If soup is too thick, add more stock.  If it is too thin, heat it up again and let it reduce.  If you want, you can strain soup to perfection.  Personally, I love it as is.

5.  To serve, ladle soup into bowls and place a spring of rosemary and a star anise in each bowl.  Bask in the adulation of your guests.  Enjoy!

Here’s a reblog from last year.  Excellent tips to make baking a breeze.

Everybody loves holiday baking, either the process or the results. 

If you plan to do a lot of baking this year, here are a few simple tips that will make your kitchen run as smoothly as Mrs. Claus’.

1.  The first step is always: THINK AHEAD. 

Are you planning on giving cookies as a gift, serving them at a party or keeping a plate on hand for your own little elves?  If the baking is just for yourself, you can do it whenever you want.  If  it’s for a specific occasion, it is best to start three days back from your serve date.  Almost every recipe says that cookies sealed in an airtight container will keep for a week or two, but they really lose their freshness and flavor.  Also, your friends probably won’t eat them all in one sitting, so make sure you don’t give them cookies that will expire immediately.

I like to give cookies as gifts, so I wait until very close to Christmas.  I also like to have them on hand, so I’ll choose one or two recipes just for us and bake them throughout the season.  Mini gingerbread boys are great for this, because they’re easy to make and when they get a little dry, they make wonderful dunkers.

2.  Make cookies in steps: mixing, baking and decorating.

The first step is dough making.  Most cookies need to chill, so this is the perfect do-ahead step.  Freeze the dough if it will be more than a week before you bake it.  Otherwise, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and keep in ready in the fridge.

If you are doing a lot of baking, it’s easiest and most energy efficient to bake all the cookies on one day and decorate them on the next.  That gives the cookies time to cool before frosting and prevents baker burn out.  Cute cookies take time and effort to decorate, so start fresh the day before you plan to serve/give them.

3.  Bring all ingredients to room temperature before baking.

Dough mixes better when all ingredients are  the same temperature.  Leave butter and eggs on the counter in the morning if you plan on cooking them that night, or overnight if you bake early.  Eggs are hermetically sealed and safe to leave on the counter for a week. 

4.  Plan tasks for little helpers.

Take into account your kids’ ages and interests when choosing how they will help.  Are they looking forward to frosting and adding sprinkles?  Is mixing fun?  Do they like to cut out the shapes?  If you need to make a lot for gifts, you may want to limit their involvement so you don’t get frustrated.  You can plan a batch or two just for your family and let them take over.

Young children benefit from getting everything set up before they are invited to help.  Prep bowls of ingredients like you were on a cooking show, so you don’t have to scurry around.  They will be excited and don’t like to wait, so this keeps things positive.  For frosting, get all the bowls, spreaders and sprinkles ready before you call them in to help.  Stop the clock during this time.  Grab the camera and cherish the moment.  It’ll be more yummy than the cookies.

5.  Cut down on clean-up.

When making your doughs, use one mixer and make them from lightest to darkest.  You don’t need to wash in between each dough. 

Use liquid measuring cups and a liquid measuring shot glass for your wet ingredients.  Use your dry measuring cups and spoons for your dry ingredients.  You won’t have to wash any of them in between doughs if you use them properly.

Again, if you divide your days into mixing, baking and decorating, you will only clean up after each task once!

6.  Exercise cookie -cutter smarts.

Not all cookie cutters are created equal.  Many of the cutest cutters turn to blobs once baked.  The best choices have very straight-forward shapes and no special details.  Think about what is fun to decorate.  You don’t have to make every shape in your set.  I always make at least one batch of just Christmas trees, because they are my favorite.

BEST SHAPES: Christmas trees, stockings, wreathes, snowmen, ornaments and mittens

WORST SHAPES: Santa, sleighs, wreathes with candles, elves, intricate snowflakes

BEST EXTRAS: a few stars and bells are great for decorating burn-out.  They can use whatever frosting color is left.  Also, I like something not as cute to nibble on first, so I can eat while I admire my work.

LAST SHAPE TIP: reindeer are really cute when made out of gingerbread.  Add a red dot for Rudolf.

7.  Know your icing.

Buttercream tastes best, but never hardens.  I use it on sugar cookies.  Royal icing hardens to a perfect glaze which makes it best for a cookie that will be stacked or smushed, but it’s not as delicious.  Add a bit of lemon juice to improve the taste.  I use this for gingerbread people.

If any icing gets too runny, add more powdered sugar.

8.  Decorate cookies factory-style.

Triple the amount of frosting your recipe suggests.  Leftover frosting can be sandwiched between graham crackers and frozen for a treat.  However, you probably won’t have any leftovers.

Color your frosting with gel colorings (widely available at craft stores), rather than the liquid food dyes found at the grocery store.  You’ll get true colors that way.  It’s the only way to get a real red or black.  Add cocoa powder for brown; it’s yummy and the right color.

Use piping bags.  Apply all the green, then all the white and so on.  Trees get the green first, because you if you run out, better to have a pink mitten than a pink Christmas tree.  Your technique will improve as you go along.  Stars and bells are last.  

Use tweezers to apply sprinkles in just the right place.  Do it while the frosting is wet or it will never stick.

9.  Buy this pan!

Williams Sonoma sells wonderful baking sheets that have lids, so your frosted cookies can lay flat for storage.  This keeps them cute, because tins always smash them.  It’s important to have completed all your baking the previous day, so you don’t tie up your baking sheet with storage.

10.  Take pictures.

Cookies are deeply appreciated, but quickly gobbled.  Capture the cuteness, then insist they be eaten.  It hate it when people say they’re too cute to eat.  If it was meant to last, I would’ve used clay.

Happy Baking!

Lasagna is a perfect holiday food.  Everybody loves it!  It can be made in advance and it feeds a crowd.  Round out the meal with a salad and herbed garlic bread and you’ll have a feast the whole family can enjoy.  This is a classic vegetarian recipe with red and green layers which are perfect for Christmas.

I perfected this recipe while anticipating the birth of my second child.  I knew it would be hard to cook with a newborn, so I filled my freezer with wholesome meals that would last.  At the time I was very confused about which noodles to use and whether or not to cook them.  Through trial and error I discovered that regular lasagna noodles (not the ones labeled no cook) are the best choice when layered uncooked in the lasagna.  There is plenty of liquid and time for the noodles to soften and cook while baking.  This saves the messiest step in making lasagna.  I found that he pre-cooked noodles made the lasagna rather soupy.  Enjoy!

3 cups sliced mushrooms (I prefer crimini.)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed with the flat edge of a knife
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
1 package frozen spinach, thawed
zest of 1/2 a lemon
juice of a lemon
about a 1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 14 oz container ricotta cheese
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 large can of diced tomato
2 T tomato paste
1/4 c red wine
2 bay leaves
2 T dried basil
1 T herbs de provence
1 t dried oregano
16 ounces mozzarella, grated
1/4 -1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
about 9-16 lasanga noodles, depending on the size of your pan (I use whole wheat.)
chopped fresh parsley or basil for garnish

This recipe is made in 3 parts, then assembled and baked.  You can freeze it after it is assembled.

For the Garlic Mushrooms:
1.  Pour several tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high flame.  Add the smashed garlic cloves to perfume the oil without burning.  Once hot, add the mushrooms.  Spread them out in an even layer and then leave them alone. 

2.  When they begin to brown a few minutes later, turn them over.  Cook them one more minute.  Season with sea salt and pepper.  Remove garlic cloves.  Set mushrooms aside and wait for assembly.  I often use this pan for the marinara sauce to save washing a dish.

For the Marinara:
1.  Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over a medium flame.  Add half the onions, red pepper flakes and a generous pinch of sea salt.  Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add half of the minced garlic and cook for another minute. 

2.  Add tomato paste and stir it in with gusto.  Add diced tomatoes, wine, bay leaves and dried herbs.  Turn the heat to low and allow sauce to simmer.  Taste and season with sea salt and black pepper.  Set aside for assembly.  Be sure to remove the bay leaves before the layering begins.

For the Spinach Mixture:
1.  Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.  Add half of the onions and a generous pinch of sea salt and pepper.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until softened.  Add 1/2 the minced garlic and cook for another minute.

2.  Put the thawed spinach in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out excess water over the sink.  Add spinach to onions and garlic.  Stir, untangling the spinach.  Quickly add the nutmeg, lemon zest and juice.  Check seasonings and add more salt and pepper if you need it.  Turn off the heat.

3.  In a food processor combine the ricotta cheese and spinach mixture.  Pulse several times to break down the spinach and combine.  If you are using your food processor to grate the mozzarella, do that first, so you won’t have to wash it.

For the Lasagna:
1.  Heat oven to 400°.  Combine mozzarella and parmesan cheese together.  Place about 1/2 c marinara on the bottom of an oblong pan.  Layer uncooked lasagna noodles on top.  My pan fits 3 with a broken one covering the end.

2.  Layer 1/3 spinach mixture.  Top with 1/3 of the mushrooms.  Top with 1/3 of the cheese.  Top with 1/3 of the marinara.  Repeat layering 3 times, but switch around the last layer so that the cheese tops the marinara.

3.  Cover very loosely with foil and bake 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake another 25 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.  Remove from oven.  Just before serving top with fresh parley or basil.  Enjoy!