Whip it Up Challenge: Week 8*

*AKA: The End.

When I was pregnant with the Little Goat, I craved all things Lemon. It really didn't matter what form it took - main ingredient or seasoning - I wanted LEMON! Well the pregnancy is obviously long over but my love for lemons has only increased. Seriously; the only thing better than lemony things (and it's not better by much) is chocolate. So it seemed only natural when I saw this recipe that I NEEDED to eat it. It also seems like a fitting culmination of my participation in the Whip it Up Challenge. So, for my Week 8 (and final) submission, I present Lemon Pudding Souffle.

I felt a little rushed in my preparation of this dessert and had homemade soup and cheesy biscuits on the go for dinner at the same time which meant I was suffering from a severe shortage of counter space. We have limited counter space in our kitchen to begin with and usually, when I'm trying a new recipe (or really, cooking anything) I like to start in a clean kitchen. (Mr. J.'s Mom can attest to my compulsive dish-washing while cake & filling-making at their house a couple weeks ago.)

I also felt a little like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina and the look of fear on her face when she was preparing her souffle in culinary school, but it turns out I had nothing to fear. The recipe was relatively easy although probably because I felt rushed I also felt it was a little picky. I could just as easily make a lemon pudding cake I suppose, but I've made those before so this was something new.

Here's the Q&A:
Was the recipe easy to follow? Relatively. I'm glad I read it through a couple times before I started, but I still goofed it up. I used four egg whites instead of the three the recipe said to use but in the end I don't think it really made a difference.

...Did it taste good? It was surprisingly good. I used all the rind from both lemons (1/4 cup of lemon juice is roughly two good-sized lemons, just in case you need to know). I was hoping to further enhance the lemon flavour and I think it was a success.

Would we make it again? Mr. J. said he'd eat it again and I think I could be convinced to make it again if we had more time. We ate it warm although it says you can serve it chilled. We don't own a 'proper' souffle dish so we just used a regular baking dish and we think it turned out fine. It didn't fall nearly as much as we thought it would either and the texture of the 'cake' was quite light. We only had two complaints. The first being that the sauce didn't really thicken up as much as we would've liked and the second being that I wish the sauce wasn't so.....creamy. Back in Canada (and I'm sure you could find it in America if you looked hard enough) we have this lemon pudding/pie filling mix called Shirriff, which now goes under the name Dr. Oetker.** It's amazing and non-dairy. It looks more clear and is just really zingy. It seems to me that milk sort of mellows the lemon taste a bit. So, if we did make it again, maybe we'd try it with water or half water/half milk and see what happens. Definitely an elegant-looking dessert for a dinner party if you're so inclined. It would look really nice in individual souffle dishes with icing sugar sprinkled on top. Mmmmm.... Oh yes, here's the picture of the souffle straight out of the oven. Please pardon the poor lighting.

**Woot! Woot! I just checked and the Dr. Oetker website says it's "now available in the USA!" I should add that this is the ONLY filling I EVER use for making lemon meringue pie and I've had several people tell me it's the best lemon pie they've ever had (hah! Little do they know it's a MIX!). So if you can find it, try it! Okay? Okay!

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 7*

*Also known as: Barely Getting in Under the Wire

We only got back to the hotel after midnight last night and tried to get up at 8:30 which since we are now adjusted to Pacific Standard Time, is (way too freaking early) 5:30am. Ugh. So I'm sitting here this morning barely awake, the Little Goat is crawling over one of the beds eating (dumping) cheerios and making a rather crumbly mess with a piece of bread, but at least I can sit here and type in peace and down my Special K with milk (*shudder*) without any little hands searching for a taste test.

I actually did two new recipes last week and I'm using one of them for this week per my understanding of the rules which allow me one sort of freebie. Who has had time to cook this week? We've been so busy hopping from one spot to another, meals have been all over the place. It will actually feel nice to get back into some routine this next week.

Anyway, you'll recall that last week I was madly working on a wedding cake for Mr. J.'s sister, Michelle and her new husband Jiminy (okay, Jim, but Jiminy is more fun to say) and I shared a link to a recipe for pastry cream which turned out quite tasty indeed. That was the filling I used in the extra top tier of the cake I made for them to freeze for their first anniversary. The real cake had lime curd as filling in the top two tiers and black raspberry jam in the bottom and my submission for the Whip it Up Challenge, Week Six slathered all over the outside of the cake. Here's the link for an amazingly tasty butter cream icing (or "frosting" if you happen to be American).

The Q & A:

Was the recipe easy to follow? For sure. If you ever try to make it and you're wondering where to get clear vanilla, check at any store that carries Wilton products - the walmarts or a craft store-type place. You don't have to use clear vanilla, but it will make the icing an even more off-white colour if you use regular.*

...Did it taste good? It really was good, better than I expected in fact and the Bride wanted to eat it by the spoonful.

Would we make it again? Heaven forbid I ever make another wedding cake. I just get too bored and it's just too time-consuming, particularly when we're on vacation and visits and coffee runs with old friends beckon. IF (and I really do mean IF) I ever make another wedding cake, or just a fancy cake for that matter, this will be my go-to recipe for icing. It can't get any easier to make or eat or decorate with and here's the picture.

I have other pictures that show more of the cake in progress, but it's still early and we have 20 minutes to vacate the room. See ya!

*Just in case you're wondering: I could have made a pure-white icing, but that would mean using only vegetable shortening and no butter. Using real butter gives it a proper butter taste; butter flavouring just doesn't have the same subtlety as real butter. Generally, I think making this icing in winter would produce a lighter colour as butter is usually less 'yellow' during the months when dairy cows are eating less fresh grass. Did you know that? There you go. Some companies even add small amounts of food colouring to butter to make it a more 'buttery' colour. Mr. J.'s Dad remembers margarine coming with a little capsule of colouring to stir into the tub to make the margarine 'look' right.

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 6

Well here we are in the raging inferno that is Washington State. Presently, it's 100+ degrees (F) and certainly not ideal for icing a wedding cake. Granted the bigger concern is keeping it from melting tomorrow evening before it even gets cut.

So today I finished icing all three cake layers and stacking them. All that's left tomorrow is adding the ribbon and the orchids on top. I'll try to post pictures next week though I may have to wait until we get home since the computer doesn't seem to want to read the card at the moment.

Moving along, my recipe for the Whip it Up Challenge, Week 6 is this pastry cream. I mixed it up on Monday along with the lime curd filling. Instead of just vanilla, I added in some almond flavouring and it turned out really well.

The Q & A:

Was the recipe easy to follow? Relatively. For a bit there, I wasn't sure it was going to thicken up, but it's just the right consistency and tastes great. Also, it's not nearly as white as the picture shows.

...Did it taste good? Oh yes! Super-rich and just right for cake filling.

Would we make it again? Well I won't be making any wedding cake in the near future (IF EVER AGAIN) so I wouldn't make it again for that, but it would sure taste good squished inside a chocolate cupcake (or vanilla or cherry or pumpkin) or snuggled up next to some dark chocolate in a lovely piece of puff pastry. That said, Erin K., if we get home for Christmas this year, we're going to bake! Something involving pastry and chocolate and cream....Mmmmmm.

Sorry I don't have a picture to post today. I did take one but my head is pounding and by the way, we're all sick, so you'll just have to wait. Thanks for checking out the recipe.

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 5

This week is a busy one for us. Mr. J. was on call all weekend and was gone for three hours in the middle of last night; he's working a double tomorrow. Wednesday night we'll be furiously packing only to give up, play Zuma (this is your fair warning: it's addictive!) for an hour, go to bed late, and resume frantically packing on Thursday morning. Thursday we're driving down to Airport City to catch our flight to Seattle via Newark. In retrospect, we should've booked a series of shorter flights instead of one two-hour and one six-hour flight but there's nothing to be done about it now. When we booked the flights, back in...March, I think, we weren't thinking about a squirming crawler/almost-walker who doesn't like to sit still for too long anymore. We were still gazing warmly at our not-yet-crawling Little Goat, playing quietly (for the most part) in one spot (for the most part) on the floor. Hm.

So given all this busyness, I decided to make some sort of desserty type thing we could take on our trip with us. Portable Airport/Airplane 'Supplements'. The recipe is a combination of a kind of blondie recipe topped with copious amounts of Reese's products. A few things about the Reese's: We bought this GIGANTIC bag of Reese's treats for Halloween oh, TWO years ago. We ended up not giving out candy in 2006 because we weren't in our own place yet. Then in 2007 we had all of - wait for it - FIVE (or maybe 6, tops) trick-or-treaters. Tres disappointing. In order to prevent our gourging ourselves on Reece's peanut butter cups, I forced Mr. J. to store them in a grocery bag in the back of his car. That's where they road around for more than a year. We finally brought them inside a few weeks ago and jammed them in the fridge because it was getting too hot to shuttle them around in ol' RubySu (not that we thought of that LAST summer or anything). We decided it was time, we had to use them up. So let me tell you something about two-year old Reece's PB cups - they're lower in fat! It's true!* All the greasy shortening seems to have leaked out and soaked into that piece of cardboard inside the package. Hah!

Therefore, today, I present to you, for the Whip it Up Challenge, Week 5:
Not Really But Sort-of Lower-Fat PB Cup Blondie-ish Squares**
(Sorry, but Blogger isn't letting me upload the picture at the moment.)

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
scant 1/2 cup sugar
scant 1 cup brown sugar
Add:
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Mix in:
1 3/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour (or just use white)
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
8 Reese's PB Cups (or however many you have leftover from Halloween 2006)

Spread batter in a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (or until almost done); top with chopped up Reese's PB Cups and bake for 5-7 minutes longer.

The Q & A:

Was the recipe easy to follow? Yeah, it was. I substituted 1/2 cup of the flours with oatmeal and we added the two leftover snack-packs of Reece's Pieces.

...Did it taste good? Not bad. I think the recipe could be improved by a) not baking it quite as long as I did (I adjusted the time in the recipe above) and b) not messing with the flours and adding oatmeal.

Would we make it again? Maybe, maybe not. I love blondies and the PB cups rocked, but I really need to find a better blondie recipe (I'm open to suggestions here, people. Lest I disappoint you too with this rather dud-ish recipe, read on!

This past weekend I tried another new recipe, though not specifically for the Challenge because I already posted about our fabulous pork last week. I tried Yogurt-Marmalade Cake: To DIE For as posted by Pioneer Woman. I don't know that I would go quite so far as to die for it, but it IS like lemony heaven in my mouth and if you don't make it soon, well, then, shame on you for depriving your tastebuds of such excellent lemony goodness!

Make sure to stop by next week because it'll be an extra-special WIU Challenge week for me. Mr. J.'s sister is getting married on the 16th and I'm in charge of the wedding cake. I've made a wedding cake only once before (see here) so that's not the new recipe. The new recipe will be the pastry cream that's going in the top layer of the cake. If it turns out well, it'll be perfect for adding to all kinds of things....like, um, PASTRY. See you then!

* Okay, not really at all, but a girl can dream, right? RIGHT?!
** Yes, that's right, I called them "squares" and you can be darn thankful I didn't go all out and call them "dainties" because I sure could've. Dangit, I'm Canadian and I don't know a single Canadian who actually calls them "bars." "Bars" are where you go to drink or what you're always supposed to set so high, or things you pass to become a filthy-rich lawyer. "Squares," among other things, are sweet little squares of sugary delectability. So there!

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 4

We've tried three new recipes this week - one of our own invention, one that we haven't actually tasted yet (it's a salad that's chilling overnight in the fridge) and the one I'll post here today, the Absolute Best Pork Loin Chops We've Ever Eaten.( Or some sort of pork cut with no bone.) Boo for me, I don't even have a picture to show you because I didn't decide I was going to post this recipe until all the meat was down the hatch. (And also, yes, I realize the theme for this week is vegetarian. Sorry about that. The original recipe I was going to post was in fact, quite vegetarian, but this one was too good not to share this week - and the rules do say the theme is but a guideline/suggestion!)

Essentially we were trying one new 'recipe' and one new 'technique.' The new technique was brining. Here's what Allrecipes.com says about Brining. We made one mistake in that we didn't rinse the meat, but it didn't occur to either of us to do that anyway.

We used three pork loin chops that were about 3 inches wide and 6 inches long. I microwaved two teaspoons of salt with 3/4 cup water until the salt was dissolved. I poured that over the pork (which was sitting in a pie plate) and then covered it with cold water and plastic wrap and let it refrigerate for about four hours. We read somewhere that you can refrigerate it for three hours or overnight.

Once we were ready to cook the pork, we put it on a plate and used a spice rub on it. We are huge fans of spice rubs because they add flavour without all the extra calories and preservatives of store-bought sauce.

Our favourite and most-used spice rub recipes come from the July/August 2004 issue of Everyday Food (if you can swing the subscription price, it's quite a nifty little mag that usually contains some very excellent recipes). We've used the Chile Rub (which I couldn't find a link for) and the Curry Rub which you can find here.*/** Anyway, there are two rub recipes we hadn't tried yet and one was recommended for pork so we gave it a go.

Behold, the recipe for Whip it Up Challenge, Week Four:

Spicy Paprika Rub (as found in Everyday Food, July/August 2004, p. 52)
(Makes 9 teaspoons - but we mixed up a 1/2 recipe and still had some leftover)

Ingredients:
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix all ingredients. Store in an airtight container (an empty spice jar works great!)

Now, The Q & A:

Was the recipe easy to follow? Um, yeah. Look at it! The brining needs a little tweaking and we need to remember to rinse the meat next time. It was a bit salty, but...

...Did it taste good? Oh my goodness - yes! It was amazing. Kind of a sweet/spicy taste with a hint of something....foreign, and the meat was perfectly tender.

Would we make it again? A resounding yes! I went through a phase in life where I refused to eat any pork except ham and the tastiest meat in the world, Pioneer Farmers Sausage. (You may have heard of other farmers sausages, but unless it's Pioneer, you're wasting your time and I mean that from the bottom of my gullet.) I only recently started eating pork again because we came across a) some cheap meat and b) some tasty recipes for preparing it. Using a rub made this a relatively 'light' meat and making it on the barbecue meant it was really easy to prepare. Again, the only thing we would do differently is rinse the meat before we use the rub - oh and we might try letting it sit in the brine for even longer. So go! Eat! Enjoy!

* The Curry Rub is amazing on barbecued chicken; chop up leftovers and mix with Miracle Whip (we use MW light), chopped celery, and a smidgen of S&P for one super chicken salad!

** I always get so distracted when I visit the MS website but this time in a very good way. I think I found a recipe which may be the culmination of the WIU Challenge for us this summer. Check this out!

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 3

This weeks recipe is nearly beyond the epitome of easy but it's been a busy week for some weird reason and - alas - my Great Amazing Meal Plan of the Century failed me. *gasp* I know! It's craziness, isn't it? It turned out that we didn't have all the ingredients we needed for one recipe and it also turned out that on Tuesday, not even a feat as incredible as a month-long meal plan could entice me to the kitchen to prepare something.

You might remember from the last post, that we spent some time exploring the various booths at the Local Festival last weekend. You may also remember that I exclaimed over the (virgin) Lime Rickey we consumed with lunch. We watched the pastor (it was a fundraiser for a local church) mix our drink so we had a pretty good idea what all was in it so we decided to try to replicate it at home. Now, beyond the usual assortment of snobby beer, we don't have any alcohol to speak of in the house at the moment, so our version of the Lime Rickey remains non-alcoholic. According to Drinksmixer.com, the appropriate alcohol to use is Angostura bitters, so if you're inclined then go ahead and add "3 dashes."

Otherwise, here is the recipe for the WIU Challenge, Week 3:
Lime Rickey:
Ingredients:
4 ice cubes or more if you're inclined
juice from 1/2 of one lime
2 ounces simple syrup - more or less to taste*
soda water

Directions: In a large glass, deposit the ice cubes, lime juice and simple syrup. Add enough soda water to fill the glass. Stir with your straw and enjoy. Makes: one.

The Q & A:
Was the recipe easy to follow? Well we made it up, so yeah, it wasn't too bad - just guessing until we got it right.

Did it taste good? It was brilliant! Just perfect for a humid summer day such as last Saturday, or Sunday, or Tuesday, or today. It's kind of like making lemonade, only with soda water which makes me think we should try making lemonade with soda water. Hm.

Would we make it again? I think you'll notice from the answer to the last question that it's already been made several times.

*To make simple syrup, which I'd never made before, measure equal parts water and sugar in a measuring cup and microwave 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.

The Lime Rickey: Sweet, sweet summer satisfaction.

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 2

Well this week we actually ended up trying three new recipes because that's what was on our July Menu, and I'm in the process of prepping for another new one for tomorrow because the local festival is going on this week and the parade and fireworks are tomorrow and we're having company for a chicken barbecue. Yippee! I'll include all three recipes here because I did mention them a few posts ago and I don't want to disappoint anyone who may (or may not) have been waiting for pictures of the results.

Officially, however, I present to you - for the WIU Challenge, Week 3 - Citrus-Pineapple Salsa. Here's the recipe which was adapted from one my Mom found somewhere several years ago:

Ingredients:
1 red grapefruit, peeled & chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 orange, peeled & chopped
8 ounces crushed pineapple with juice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
3-4 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
Juice from one lime (or about ¼ cup)

Directions: 1) Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl. Serve immediately or chill first.

Serving Suggestions: Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, or over grilled chicken or fish.

The Q & A:
Was the recipe easy to follow? This recipe could NOT have been easier to prepare. I didn't use a whole jalapeno, just the parts from one serano pepper that hadn't yet gone bad.

Did it taste good? It was great! Mr. J. would've liked a LOT more spiciness, but that's just like his Non-Taster self. I found it just about perfect. It was so light and fresh - and hello! - NO FAT and lots of citrusy nutrients. What could be better? We sampled it with Ritz crackers and some multi-grain saltines because we didn't have have tortilla chips, but we officially served it with chunks of barbecued chicken (coated with a spice rub something like this) and rice.

Would we make it again? Yup. In fact the ingredients are on this weeks grocery list. Only this time we'll get some tortilla chips to have with it.


(Sorry for the poor lighting in the pics.)


********************
Now, the other two recipes:
Easy Peasy Orzo Salad: After I cooked all the pasta I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like this salad. There was just so much PASTA! But it turned out pretty well and Mr. J. loved it and said he would definitely eat/make it again. It's better the day after when the flavours have had time to mingle and it makes enough to be a good (and reasonably cheap/easy) potluck contribution.
Ingredients:
Dressing:
1/3 cup Italian dressing
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salad:
2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
½ cup orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup black olives, chopped (Optional) <-we omitted these, because - ugh - olives! *shudder*
2-3 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves, minced
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Directions:

For dressing: Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. For salad: Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Mix together orzo and all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and chill overnight for best flavour.Here's a newer, better picture. That last picture was just ugly.

The last recipe we tried was Bacon, Cheese & Tomato Crescents which were SO GOOD! Ours didn't look much like the picture and we didn't have any red pepper but we will totally be making these again. They didn't require much effort at all and would be a great appetizer. We did bake them in the oven, but it wasn't too hot out that day. In the interest of keeping most of our summer cooking outdoors we may try them on the barbecue next time.

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 1

As I mentioned, uh, I think it was yesterday, summer is the perfect time for trying out recipes that require little to no effort. Not only because we have this hungry little mouth around now - who hasn't quite mastered the art of self-feeding - but also because we have to hurry to eat so we can go back to parking our roasting sticky selves on the couch after bathtime and bedtime. (Less movement, less sweat, as you know.)


It's not unusual for us to try more than one new recipe in a week around here and this week was no different. I made quite a stellar variation of this key lime pie a few nights ago but decided not to submit that as my recipe this week because I never managed to get one 'perfect' piece of pie out of the plate without one of us inhaling it five seconds later.

So for Week One, I submit to you: Pizza Pasta Salad.

Was the recipe easy to follow? Quite, but we made ours with the following 'alterations': We didn't use penne because we didn't have enough, so you'll notice from the pictures that we used fiori; we used one and a half big tomatoes, seeded; we only used three relatively thick slices of some sort of pepperoni or salami that Mr. J. picked out and it was perfectly spicy; and finally, we didn't use the mozzarella crumbles, we used about 1/3 cup of fresh mozzarella cut into cubes.

Did it taste good? Yup. Really good. So good that I'm not sending the rest of the leftovers to work with Mr. J. tomorrow. It didn't taste exactly like pizza, but that's okay. It was a hearty pasta salad, definitely good enough for a meal with a side of fresh veggies.

Would we make it again? It's very, very likely. Yum! Here's a couple pictures because I couldn't decide which one I liked better.