A look back at our Valentine's Day

I managed to find the time to bake and mail out quite a few Valentine's sugar cookies (lemon & almond) just before Valentine's Day. I sent them out as DIY gifts to friends and family back home. I miss them all so much.

Here are a few photos of my beginner's endeavours.

I used the sugar cookie recipe from Sweetopia, as well as her Royal Icing recipe. The icing works like a charm, and although I did experience some spreading with the cookies, I'm fairly sure that it's due to the higher elevation where we live.

Lemon-Almond Sugar Cookies

 

Lemon-Almond Sugar Cookies

*makes 4 dozen-1 tablespoon cookies

 

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated Sugar

Zest of two large Lemons

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon Almond extract

1 tablespoon Lemon extract

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon Baking powder

½ teaspoon Baking soda

3 ¼ cups All-purpose Flour

½ cup powdered Sugar

 

Directions:

I adapted this from a Slow Roasted Italian recipe (I only changed a couple minor things), but found that the increase in lemon flavor was simply spectacular.

 

Preheat oven 350°F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer or an electric mixer combine sugar and lemon zest, until sugar is coated in lemon.

 

Add butter, cream until light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes.  Add almond extract, lemon extract and eggs.  Mix until combined.  Scrape sides down as needed.  Add salt, powder, soda and flour.  Mix until combined.  Scrape sides of bowl as necessary.

 

Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Scoop 1 tablespoon portions of dough and roll into a ball.  Roll in powdered sugar until coated.  Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.  I made 12 per sheet, but you could easily fit 18.

 

I baked mine for 14 minutes, but the recommended time is only 9-11 minutes. We live in a higher altitude, so I attributed that to the longer cooking time. Make sure once you remove from the cookie sheet you allow to cool on a cookie rack, then sprinkle with more powdered sugar.

 

Lemon-Garlic Chipotle Shrimp

This is a scrumptious meal, especially if you like a hot, spicy, & tomato-ey shrimp dish. I normally serve this over my Asiago-Corn Polenta, which is also a little spicy, but you can also serve over some cheesy grits, or omit the Serrano peppers from the polenta.

Lemon-Garlic Chipotle Shrimp

**served over Asiago-Corn Polenta-see recipe

For Shrimp:

1 & ½ pounds Shrimp-washed, deveined & tail removed

3 cloves of fresh chopped Garlic

2-3 sprigs of Green onions-sliced

1 cup fresh chopped flat leaf Parsley

1 cup Chipotle pepper in Adobo sauce

Juice of 2 Lemons

2-3 Shallots-minced

Nature’s Seasoning to taste

1 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

½ teaspoon Chipotle powder

Serrano pepper (optional) with seeds removed

Directions:

Heat oil & butter on medium-high heat. Sauté garlic, green onions, & shallots together. Add shrimp, mixing well. Add parsley, lemon juice, and all seasonings. Cook for about 5minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through. Add Serrano peppers if you like it very spicy. Otherwise, omit. Serve over Asiago-Corn Polenta.

Chicken Sausage Paella

This recipe came out delicious, but if you prefer seafood, you can very easily substitute the chicken sausage for shrimp or other types of seafood. You could also add chicken (I didn't have any) & I wanted to make a meal with what I had in the house already.

Chicken Sausage Paella

Ingredients for Broth:

1 clove Garlic-peeled & to be removed before adding to rice

1/2 teaspoon Saffron threads

4 cups Chicken or Veggie Stock

2 Tablespoons Sun dried Tomato paste

½ teaspoon Green peppercorns

1 large sprig fresh Sage (to be removed later)

½ cup dry Red Wine

3 tablespoons Penzey’s Northwood Seasoning

Ingredients for Rice:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Basil

1 package (about 6) spicy Chicken Sausage

Nature’s Seasoning

Salt & Pepper

3-4 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 yellow Onion-diced

3-4 cloves fresh Garlic-minced

½ green Bell Pepper-cored, seeded & diced

2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice

2 teaspoons smoked Spanish Paprika

2 cups peeled whole tomatoes-roughly chopped (I used the ones I canned last summer). Then extract juice to add to broth pot.

1 cup frozen Peas

4 Celery stalks-diced

Lemon wedges (for garnish)

Directions:

In a large pot, over medium heat, bring to a boil all of the ingredients for broth. Reduce heat & allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes covered.

In either a Paella pan, or a dutch oven, over high heat, heat olive oil. Sauté onions, garlic, & basil. Add chicken sausage & cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add celery, & bell pepper & seasonings. Cook until tender. Add tomatoes, peas & rice. With a ladle, add exactly 4 & ½ cups of broth to your pot & stir briefly & gently so that all ingredients are evenly dispersed. Reduce heat to low & cover until rice is tender & all liquid is gone.

**I used exactly 4 ½ cups of broth & my rice was perfect. Remember that if your tomatoes had a lot of juice you may want to decrease the broth measurement a little. I use the following measurement for making Jasmine rice:

1 cup uncooked rice + 1 & ¼ cup liquid = perfect rice!

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
**Adapted from a Brown Eyed Baker recipe

• 1 cup of granulated Sugar
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 cups of All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Sour cream
• Juice of one Lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of unsalted Butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons Poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat 2 loaf pans with cooking spray.

Rub the sugar with the lemon zest together in a bowl with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the lemon fragrance strong. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until well combined.

Beat the sour cream, lemon juice, eggs, vanilla extract, softened butter, and lemon sugar together in a bowl with a mixer until creamy and smooth. Slowly combine the flour mixture with the sour cream mixture. Add the poppy seeds and mix well.

Disperse the batter evenly between two loaf pans. Place into the oven and cook for approx. 20-25 minutes. Allow the pans to cool on a rack before slicing & serving. We topped ours with a simple glaze (recipe below) Enjoy.

Lemon Glaze

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups Confection sugar-Sifted

1 teaspoon rum or Vanilla

Mix ingredients together with a whisk. Drizzle over lemon-poppy seed cake once cooled.

Meyers Lemon-Buttermilk Chess Pie

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 5-6 tablespoons ice water
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the filling:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
• Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (from about 1 medium lemon)

INSTRUCTIONS

For the crust: Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl until combined. Add the butter and shortening and toss with your fingers until well coated in the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until reduced to pea-size pieces, about 3 to 4 minutes.

1. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the ice water and the lemon juice and mix just until the dough comes together. (Add the last tablespoon of ice water if the dough is too dry, but don’t overwork the dough or it’ll become tough.) Form the dough into a flat disk. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a round approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough, fold the excess under itself, and crimp the edges. Refrigerate the pie crust until ready to bake.

For the filling: Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack at the lowest level. Place the dough-lined pie plate on a baking sheet.

1. Whisk the sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl to aerate and combine. Add the buttermilk, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add the melted butter and lemon zest and whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture into the pie plate.
2. Bake until the filling is just set in the middle and the top is golden brown, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place the pie on a wire rack and let it cool to room temperature before cutting. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature before serving.