Lemon Balm- Lemon cake, goats’ cheese cream, lemon curd, roasted rhubarb, sugared almonds

Lemon cake served with a goats’ cheese cream, lemon curd, sugared almonds and roasted rhubarbhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemon_cake_served_with_a_72886

Lemon cake served with a goats’ cheese cream, lemon curd, sugared almonds and roasted rhubarb

Ingredients

For the lemon cake
75g/2½oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
3 medium free range eggs
2 lemons, zest and juice only
200g/7oz caster sugar
75g/2½oz crème fraîche
150g/5½oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the glaze
75g/2½oz icing sugar
1 lemon, juice only

For the lemon cake, preheat the oven to 180C/170C Fan/Gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square cake tin.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Put the eggs, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric whisk, beat until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the butter and crème fraiche. Sift the flour and baking powder over the top and gently fold in. Stir in the lemon zest and spoon into the prepared tin.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden-brown and risen (the cake will split along the top). Put the cake on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Place a tray or a piece of baking paper underneath the rack.

For the glaze, whisk the icing sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl then pour over the still warm cake. Remove the tray or paper from underneath the cake and pour any excess back over the cake. Allow to cool before serving.
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For the roasted rhubarb
300g/10½oz rhubarb, cut in 2cm/¾in pieces
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 orange, juice only

For the roasted rhubarb, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer in a roasting tin. Sprinkle over the sugar and drizzle over the orange juice. Roast for 8-12 minutes, or until just tender.
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For the lemon curd
4 lemons, zest and juice
110g/4oz butter
175g/6oz caster sugar
4 free-range eggs, beaten

For the lemon curd, put a heatproof bowl over a pan a gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Put the lemon zest, juice, butter and sugar in the bowl and whisk occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved. Beat in the eggs and whisk until thickened and cooked through. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
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For the goats’ cheese cream
110g/4oz mild soft goats' cheese
50ml/2fl oz double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar

For the goat’s cheese cream, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
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To serve
100g/3½oz candied almonds
4 tbsp lemon balm leaves or baby basil leaves

For the sugared almonds, preheat the oven to 130C/110C Fan/Gas 1 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

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To serve
Cut the cake into cubes or small slices and arrange on serving plates. Dress the plate with lemon curd, roasted rhubarb, goats’ cheese cream, sugared almonds and lemon balm or baby basil leaves.

Michael Kiwanuka

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Cold Brew Coffee - How To

Cold Brew Coffee
https://food52.com/blog/7317-how-to-make-cold-brewed-coffee


The ratio of coffee grounds to water is subjective and depends on personal taste. A good place to start is to grind 3/4 cup beans for 4 cups of cold water—the size of a 32-ounce French press. You can double—with 1.5 cups beans for 8 cups water—or even triple the quantities depending on the size of your container. Next, grind the beans very coarsely. We mean it. A smaller grind will result in cloudy coffee.





Soak and wait (and wait, and wait…)

Put the coffee in your container, which can be plastic, glass, or ceramic and doesn’t need to have a lid. The container should be deep enough to hold the coffee and water and light enough you can pick the whole thing up to strain. For a French press, pour the coffee into the bottom of the canister. For both a container or a French press, gradually add the water. Stir gently, making sure all the coffee grounds are moistened.



If using a large container, cover the top with cheesecloth. For a French press, place the top on (but don’t press down on the plunger). Let stand at room temperature for at least 12 hours. Don’t rush this. The long steep time is important for proper extraction.



Press

If you’re using a container, take the cheesecloth from the top of the container and use it to line a fine mesh sieve set over a large pitcher (or bowl or whatever else you’d like to store your cold brew in). Pour the coffee through the sieve, waiting a minute or two until the coffee’s filtered out, and discard solids and cheesecloth.

For the French press, simply press down on the plunger to move grounds to the bottom. Pour.




That’s it! You have cold brew. The concentrate will keep for up to 2 weeks covered and chilled in the fridge. Add ice, milk, or your other favorite coffee things and enjoy.

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Rolling Pin

Rolling Pin

https://food52.com/blog/20058-don-t-avoid-rolling-pins-just-use-the-right-one?bxid=58e7c829cbcf48b1688b4fa5&utm_campaign=20170804_eds_pies_nonbuyer&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_term=10223017

I especially like the skinny pin for cookies, because I don’t follow the usual cookie dough order of things. Instead of chilling and resting dough before I roll and cut cookies, I roll out the freshly made soft dough first (between sheets of wax paper), and then stack and rest the rolled out sheets in the refrigerator before I cut and bake my cookies. This means I’m rolling extremely soft dough and a heavy pin would be very hard to control—the light one is perfect.


If you are already good at rolling dough and love your rolling pin, don’t change a thing. If you are new at baking or just have trouble rolling dough, cast an eye towards your rolling pin. Is it tapered? Try a straight pin. Is it heavy? Try a lighter one. If you want to test drive something like my skinny pin, go to the hardware store or lumberyard and get a 13-inch length of dowel 7/8-inch in diameter!

Louchest & a Horse known as Eclipse

The temperamental, spirited, fast steed that changed horse racing forever. The greatest racehorse of the 18th century was allegedly born during the 1764 solar eclipse, which tracked from Iberia to Scandinavia, at noon on April Fool’s Day. He was named, appropriately, Eclipse.

The 1760s and 1770s were some of the louchest years in Britain’s history. One woman in five made a living selling sex. Gambling was similarly rife through every level of society. At its tamest, this involved cock fighting and horse racing. When a man collapsed outside the posh gentlemen’s club Brooks, members staked money on whether or not he was dead. Even high-society women were involved.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eclipse-famous-racehorse-gambling?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b38f479191-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-b38f479191-63124913&ct=t(Newsletter_8_4_2017)&mc_cid=b38f479191&mc_eid=dbc2f66964


louche
lo͞oSH

-adjective
superlative adjective: louchest
disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way.

Origin -
[French, from Old French losche, squint-eyed, feminine of lois, from Latin luscus, blind in one eye.]
1810–20; < French: literally, cross-eyed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adj. 1. louche - of questionable taste or morality; "a louche nightclub"; "a louche painting"
shady
disreputable - lacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance

"Pepper Steak" with "Port-Wine Mushroom Sauce"

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pepper-steak-with-port-wine-mushroom-sauce?utm_campaign=yummly&utm_medium=yummly&utm_source=yummly

Pepper Steak with Port-Wine Mushroom Sauce

Slather pan-seared beef tenderloin fillets with a homemade port-wine mushroom sauce for a easy but elegant entrée. Serve with steamed asparagus and a buttered roll for a complete meal.
---- or braised sliced green &/or red peppers, onions; braised green beans & pearl onions; mashed potatoes

Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 steak and 1/4 cup sauce)

Ingredients

4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks (about 1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt



Directions

Step 1
Prepare the Port-Wine Mushroom Sauce, and keep warm.

Step 2
Sprinkle steaks with peppercorns and salt. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve steaks with Port-Wine Mushroom Sauce.


Nutrition:
Calories 280
Sodium 15% 360mg
Fat 31% 20g
Protein 45% 23g
Carbohydrates 0% 1g


Port-Wine Mushroom Sauce


http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/port-wine-mushroom-sauce

This deeply flavored brown mushroom sauce is reminiscent of the classic bordelaise sauce but made in a fraction of the time. It's virtually fat-free--another plus. This sauce garnered our highest rating in the Test Kitchens. Try it with beef, lamb, venison, or pork.

Yield 1 cup (serving size: 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/3 cup port or other sweet red wine
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

Step 1
Combine mushrooms and flour in a bowl; toss well.

Step 2
Combine wine, shallots, and vinegar in a medium skillet. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 3 minutes). Reduce heat to medium. Add broth, Worcestershire, tomato paste, and rosemary; cook 1 minute. Add mushroom mixture; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in mustard.



Nutrition
Calories 69 Calories from fat 3%
Fat 0.2g
Sat fat 0.0g
Mono fat 0.0g
Poly fat 0.1g
Protein 3.8g
Carbohydrate 8.4g
Iron 1mg
Sodium 367mg
Calcium 14mg

Pepper Steak, Chinese- American

Pepper, Steak Chinese- American


http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2014/09/my-familys-pepper-steak.html?utm_campaign=yummly&utm_medium=yummly&utm_source=yummly

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 2, with leftovers

Flank, hanger, and top round steak also work here. Pepper steak is perfect with a cold beer!
This Chinese-American dish is a home-cooking habit enforcer, the kind of dinner you can easily make on a weeknight, then take one bite of and say, “There’s nothing like a home-cooked dinner.”

Ingredients

Neutral oil (olive oil is okay here too)
¾ pound skirt steak, cut into ¼-inch thick slices against the grain
Salt

3 peppers, various colors, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
(you can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of wine, water, or even beer to the soy sauce mixture before it goes in the pan. It'll thicken but leave you with more sauce.)

½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Cooked white or brown rice for serving

Instructions
Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat for 5 minutes.

While the pan is heating, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar in a small bowl and set the sauce aside.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of oil into the hot pan--enough to generously coat the surface. Immediately throw in the steak (it'll splatter), and leave for about 2 minutes to form a crust on each slice of steak. Sprinkle with salt, then stir fry to brown the steak on all sides, another 1 to 2 minutes.

Push the meat to the side and add the onions. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring only occasionally. Sprinkle with salt, then add the peppers, and stir everything back together, then cook for 8 to 10 more minutes, until the vegetables have reduced and the onions have turned nicely brown, and even quite dark in places.

Says mom "I love how they taste when they get a little burnt/caramelized with the soy sauce."

Add the sauce and turn off the heat. Toss to combine. Drizzle with the rice wine vinegar, toss again, taste for salt, and serve.

Nutrition
Calories 560
Sodium 59% 1410mg
Fat 37% 24g
Protein 78% 40g
Carbohydrate 14% 41g

Malawach. - Yemenite Jewish Flat Bread

https://food52.com/recipes/72132-malawach-yemenite-jewish-pancakes


Malawach. - Yemenite Jewish Flat Bread

Flatbread that resembles a pancake and pulls apart like a croissant; irresistible, buttery, flaky flatbread. Commonly eaten for breakfast, served with a drizzle of honey or with hard boiled eggs, grated tomato**, and zhug (a Yemeni spicy herb sauce)* The dough is time consuming to prep, but make this recipe or double it, and store them in the freezer-- the pancakes can go straight from the freezer to the grill pan and be ready within 3 minutes.

Makes 8 (8-inch) pancakes
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https://food52.com/recipes/72133-zhug?preview=true
* Zhug

Think of this sauce as a fresh, fiery middle eastern pesto; perfect dolloped into soups, slathered in a sandwich, or my favorite-- on eggs. The general framework for this recipes includes fresh parsley and cilantro, pulsed with spices, and hot peppers. Experiment with your favorite pepper (Thai chiles, even) and add more depending on the heat you can handle. Make a batch now and use it throughout the week.

Makes 2 cups
( Read more... )

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https://food52.com/recipes/72140-grated-tomato

** Grated Tomato

This is a traditional condiment used in Mediterranean cuisine and is delicious served alongside eggs, with a favorite toasted bread, or on pasta as salsa cruda.

Makes 1 1/2 cups
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