BLT Panini with Lemon and Herb Potato Salad

The BTL’s weren’t great… putting them in the Panini maker wasn’t the best idea (hot, wilted lettuce=not so good). But, the potato salad was excellent. Next time we’d reduce the dill (we’re not huge dill fans), but the vinegar and lemon really add a nice kick to the potatoes. Mmmm.

Creamy Potato Salad with Lemon and Fresh Herbs

Makes 8 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds baby red potatoes
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
11/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

DIRECTIONS
Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 17 minutes. Drain; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.

Cut potatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Place 1 layer of potatoes in large bowl; sprinkle with some of vinegar and salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add all remaining ingredients; toss. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Sautaced Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Almonds

Good brussels sprouts? Isn’t that an oxymoron? You might think so, but then you haven’t tried these.

This post is hereby redemption from the barrage of sweets I’ve posted in the past few weeks. My apologies. I am not trying to put anyone in a sugar coma… but sometimes the desserts are the only part of the meal worth posting.

From Bon Appetit: “A dish to convert all the brussels sprout haters,” and that is truly what it is. The trick is how you cut them, then how you cook them. Separating the leaves and tossing the cores spreads out the brussels sprout flavor, making them less like the hunk of green-ness that makes children cringe, and more like a fresh and delicious and sweet (yes sweet!) salad.

Trust me on this one. Don’t allow yourself to eat those mouth-watering Molten Chocolate Cakes until you first eat your brussels sprouts. And I promise you, you’ll like them. I may even try feeding these to my dad… the man who will not eat anything green save maybe iceberg lettuce.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Almonds

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
12 large brussels sprouts (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed, leaves separated from cores, cores discarded.
1/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios or sliced toasted almonds
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and stir about 30 seconds. Add brussels sprout leaves and nuts, and sauté until leaves begin to soften but are still bright green, about 3 minutes. Drizzle lemon juice over. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. Realize that you really do love brussels sprouts.

Lemon Fettuccine with Broccoli and Bacon

I swear, once you’ve gotten used to fresh, homemade pasta, it is awfully hard to go back to the dried stuff.

This recipe originally called for thick sliced pancetta, cubed and cooked until crispy, like croutons. Too bad for us the only pancetta in the store is paper thin and way overpriced. So we used some bacon, cooked until crispy. Not bad, though I do wonder how the pancetta croutons would improve it? It’s a little short on flavor – and if it weren’t for the fresh pasta, we might have deemed this one a failure. The potential is there, it just needs some work.

We make a good team in the kitchen, Taylor and I. For this recipe, you have Taylor at the stove dealing with the pasta water and bacon – anything cooked, boiled, or protein-packed. I sometimes call myself his sous-chef—I do all the chopping, dicing, slicing, washing, prepping, dressings, sauces, marinades, pasta-making… and he does all the heavy lifting. It works, and we’re not stepping on each other’s toes trying to man the same stations in the kitchen. Even more perfect is when the food is finished, I plate it and scurry away to photograph the dish by the sliding glass door (hello, natural light!). By the time I’ve got the money shot, he’s got the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned and sparkling. Yes, a man who does the dishes. Isn’t it a wonderful thing? I should get a photo of it to prove it’s not a myth…

Lemon Fettuccine with Broccoli and Bacon

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
4 oz. bacon or thick sliced pancetta
5 1/2 cups 1-inch broccoli florets (from 1 pound broccoli crowns)
9 ounces fresh or dried fettuccine
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Sauté bacon or pancetta in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat until almost crisp and brown. Transfer to paper towels.

Cook broccoli in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender but still bright green, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer broccoli to medium bowl. Add pasta to same boiling water; cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta; return to same pot. Add next 5 ingredients. Toss over low heat to coat. Add pancetta, broccoli, and cheese; toss to blend. Season pasta with pepper.

Fruit-Filled Lemony Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

I’ve been meaning to try another variation on the Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes for some time now. You see, those cupcakes are unbelievable. But the pink frosting? Well, it kind of clashes with our wedding color combo. So I’ve been pondering how to get the same delicious flavors without all the pastel color.

The end result of that pondering was a dozen seemingly color-less cupcakes, discreetly filled with homemade fruit preserves. I made two fillings, half strawberry, half blackberry, both of which I thought went excellently with the moist lemon cake and frosting. Ultimately we’ll probably go with the strawberry, as the blackberries presented a peculiar problem of too many seeds, another step in the process that we don’t really want to deal with. So strawberry it is, I guess?

Never filled a cupcake before? No problem. Simply cut out a ‘cone-shaped’ piece from the top of each cupcake. Resist the urge to snack on these bite sized bits (I had to stop Taylor from nabbing a few), as you’ll need them again later. Spoon the filling into the gaping holes, and then replace the bits where they belong. They’ll look a little funny and stick up a bit, but that’s what frosting is for, right? Once you’ve got a gorgeous swirl of lemony fluff piped on top, no one will be the wiser as to what’s hidden inside.

Disclaimer: I am not a lemon lover. So these are on the light side of the lemon spectrum. Both the cake and the frosting have an ever so slightly lemon tang, apparent but not so sour that it overwhelms the sweetness. True lemonhead? Add some more juice and zest to both the cake and the frosting (where you might need a bit more sugar to compensate for the extra liquid). Don’t like lemon at all? Omit it completely and call it a perfectly tasty vanilla cupcake.

Yum.

Fruit-Filled Lemony Cupcakes with Sweet Lemon Buttercream

Makes 12 cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup oil
1 cup full fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Fruit Preserves:
1 pint fruit (strawberries, blackberries, or other berry)
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 – 1/4 cup lemon juice, to taste
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Lemon Buttercream:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon soy creamer or heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350?F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix. Whisk together oil, coconut milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To make fruit preserves, add berries to medium heavy saucepan along with sugar, lemon juice, and zest. Lightly mash berries and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until preserves coat the back of a spoon. They will seem a bit runny. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-safe container, and allow to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Move to refrigerator and chill for 1 hour or until set.

For frosting, cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture is smooth. Add lemon juice and zest and mix until combined. Add creamer and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).

To assemble, cut a cone-shaped piece out of the tops of cooled cupcakes, approximately 3/4″ in diameter and set aside. Fill cavities with chilled preserves, and replace tops of cupcakes. Pipe on frosting, being sure to cover the seams.

Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce

We eat a lot of broccoli in this house. Steamed with butter and salt (or maybe dipped in mayo - ever tried it that way?) Roasted in olive oil and kosher salt. Sauteed with cabbage and pork. Raw in salads. Marinated with cheese and bacon. You name it. We eat it. It's one of the only green vegetables I can get Brad to eat (and of course he only wants the florets.) But since I love it, too, that's no problem. But sometimes you get tired of the same old, same old so it's nice to switch it up now and again.

Enter this new recipe. The kick from the cayenne is a great aftertaste, and if you cook it just long enough (not too long as my picture above shows) it's even better. The lemon flavor makes it taste so bright, and it's a great cold dish for summer, too. It's not too hot here yet, but I know steamy days are right around the corner. Grilled chicken and steamed broccoli on the side? Yes, please. A few minutes on the stove. A quick stay in the fridge. And dinner on the patio.

It doesn't get much better than that!

Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce / AllRecipes
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This dish can also be made with fresh broccoli, and it can be served hot or cold.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen broccoli florets

Directions:
In a large skillet, combine the butter, water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the broccoli to the pan, stir to coat, and cover with a lid. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring once, until broccoli is tender but still bright green. Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold