Sweetie Pie

Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars are a rich and wonderful treat with the buttery crumbly crust, creamy tart lemon and magical sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. 

This recipe is from Southern Living magazine, contributed by Trisha Stevens of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Luscious Lemon Bars

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup (that's 2 sticks) cold butter, cut into pieces

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides.  Lightly grease paying attention to the sides, where it is more likely to stick. 
Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Cut in butter using a fork, or smash it into the flour by squeezing it between your finger tips.  Press into bottom of the pan and bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl until smooth; whisk in granulated sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Make sure you have at least 1/3 cup lemon juice and at least 1 teaspoon lemon zest.  I like LOTS o' lemon, so I used 1 tablespoon zest, and more than 1/3 cup juice.  Stir together the baking powder and remaining 1/4 cup flour; whisk into egg mixture.  Pour mixture over hot baked crust and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until filling is set. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes.  Lift from pan, using foil sides as handles.  Cool completely on a wire rack about 30 minutes.  Remove foil, and cut into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

DL Chocolate Tart

When I decided to make an indulgent Chocolate Tart for Valentine's Day and began to research recipes, it was no contest.  David Lebovitz's recipe is the only one I would even consider.  I totally agree with everything he has to say in his post and have no interest in making a tart that focuses on cream and sugar when what I really want to eat is chocolate.  Honestly, there are few desserts that compare with a really excellent chocolate bar in my personal opinion.
This super dark and decadent tart takes chocolate to the next level.  With un-sweet and bittersweet chocolate, caramel, coffee and rum it is like no pie you've ever tasted.  If you love someone who loves chocolate, make this and seal their affection for you forever this Valentine's Day.

Click through for the complete recipe at David Lebovitz living the sweet life in Paris.  He gives clear and easy to follow instructions but here is a brief outline of the steps and ingredients involved.  We begin by making caramel.  If you've never made caramel before, don't be scared because it's really fun to see dry sugar transform into molten sauce. 

Just remember that liquefied sugar gets seriously hot and be very careful.  Have everything you need and an oven mit ready at hand before you begin.  Be patient.  Once the caramel is a nice golden color, coffee is added (stand back!), then butter (!!) and this hot and luxurious sauce is used to melt the chocolate.
The mixture is glossy and smooth and luscious; then eggs and a little flour and rum are added before it's poured into a pre- baked shell.  I used my typical pie crust rather than the sweet crust recommended with this recipe.

After it is baked, it needs to cool completely before serving.  The finished product is indeed a delectable and toothsome tart of deep dark chocolate flavor.  You will not be dissapointed.

Broccoli: It's what's for dinner

My small son was dismayed to come to the dinner table and find nothing but a big bowl of broccoli and some veggie fried rice.  It was a delicious meal of Ginger Garlic Broccoli and yummy rice, but it held no charms for him.  Admittedly I am no lover of broccoli either, but in an effort to bring more green veg to the family I have been trying some new recipes.  This is a cool season vegetable, so now is the time to find it on sale along with cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and greens such as spinach.       I had high hopes that this recipe would magically transform the broccoli into an irresitably savory mouthful that even my child wouldn't be able to resist.  This dish is very tasty, but it's not magical.  I followed the recipe I found on Simply Recipes and just increased the flavor a little bit here and there.  The grown-ups at the table were pleased with the result.

Broccoli with Ginger and Garlic

1 pound broccoli

2 Tablespoons fresh ginger finely chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

1 pinch red pepper flakes

sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

Begin by washing and chopping up the broccoli.  Separate the florets from the stems.  Peel the stems with a vegetable peeler and chop them up.  Break the florets apart to your desired size and put them in a separate pile.

Heat the cooking oil in a big saute pan and add the broccoli stems.  Let them cook for a few minutes before adding the florets because the stems will cook more slowly.  Stir everything so that it's all evenly coated.  Now scoot the broccoli to the outside of the pan so that you have a little space right in the middle to add the garlic and ginger. You may need to add another splash of oil here to get it going.   Let the garlic and ginger become fragant, then stir everything together and add the stock, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Stir and cook on high heat.  If the broccoli is getting over done, you can take it out with a slotted spoon and let the sauce reduce on it's own.  Continue cooking the sauce until only a few tablespoons remain, then add the broccoli back to the pan.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Mini Lime Cheesecakes

I hesitated to post about this recipe for mini cheesecakes.  They aren't particularly pretty, and if you're a real cheesecake aficionado, these are not for you.  However, they are very easy to make and really tangy and tasty, and best of all they are much lower in fat than the real thing.  Since I'm more of a chocolate girl I don't like to waste too many calories on other desserts, but this makes a nice treat for my husband.
You may be wondering just how easy and how low fat this recipe is.  Well, let me tell you that the crust is no more than a vanilla wafer cookie dropped into each cup in a muffin tin.  No sour cream, and only one block of cream cheese, how can this be creamy and delish?  The cheesecake is made with neufchatel cheese and 2% greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt is very high in protien and wonderfully rich and creamy.  My favorite brand is Fage, click through to check out lots of good recipes on their website.  If seeing is believing, then take a look at this photo.  That's high protien, low fat, super thick, healthy yogurt.
Mini Lime Cheesecakes

12 vanilla wafer cookies

1 (8 ounce) package neufacthel cheese

1 (7 ounce) cup of 2% plain greek yogurt  (we're going for low fat, not no fat)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 lime, zested and juiced

Lay the cheese, yogurt and lime out and let them warm up to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with oil or line with paper cups.  Place one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each muffin cup. 

Place all ingredients in a food processor.  You will have cheese, yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, the zest of one lime, and about 2 Tablespoons of lime juice in there.  Whiz everything all up until it's smooth and lucious.  Pour it into the muffin tin and bake at 325 for about 25 to 30 minutes.  The little cakes will puff up while baking and then fall again as they cool.  Pop them out of the tin and let them cool completely, then refrigerate.  I like these better after they are nice and cold.  The texture is better, and the lime flavor really comes out.  Some fresh strawberries would be lovely with these tangy treats.