Sweet Corn Risotto

The produce this time of year makes me so excited.  Every time I pick up my CSA share I feel like I'm unwrapping presents at Christmas time.  What in the world could possibly be better than heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, watermelon and peaches?

With such great produce overflowing out of my fridge, you need some really fantastic dishes to showcase it.  Most of these are so simple I don't even post them because it feels like cheating.  Is it really a recipe if it takes 5 ingredients or less and involves mostly chopping?

Risotto on the other hand is to me the definition of the craft.  There's something about chopping and sauteing aromatics, toasting rice, meditatively stirring to coax the rice into drinking up the stock and finishing with a flourish of butter and cream that personifies what it is to be a cook.  It's a very zen activity for me because the dish is not difficult, but needs consistent nurturing.  I guess that's why I've already given you so many versions, from a homey wintery sausage and radicchio, a bright primavera, and a briny seafood version.

This time around I'm showcasing one of summer's mascots - sweet corn.  Some gorgeous tomatoes also made their way in there, providing the acid to counterbalance the corn's sweetness and the richness of the butter and cream.  Inspired by a corn chowder, it starts with a little smidge of bacon.  Some scallions and basil lend a seasonally herbaceous finish.

Sweet Corn Risotto

Serves 8 as a first course, 4-6 as an entree depending on how hungry your guests are

3 cobs of local sweet corn, husked (the local part is imperative to getting the sweetest corn - the sugar converts to starch quite quickly after harvesting)
5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup milk

3 slices center cut bacon, diced
1 small sweet onion, diced (about a cup)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio or other risotto rice
2/3 cup sweet white wine such as Riesling

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup grated parmiggiano reggiano

1 large heirloom tomato, cored and diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

3 Tbsp chopped scallions

1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Remove the kernels from the cob and reserve.  I love my corn zipper for this job, although now they have this nifty new version that looks like it might be a little more natural to use and remove more kernels at once, so it might be time for an upgrade - future Christmas gift anybody? ;)  Snap the corn cobs in half and add them to a medium saucepan along with the stock and milk.  Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low.

In a large saucepan or small stockpot over medium heat, brown the bacon.  Once it starts to get crispy add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic and the rice and toast until the rice is golden and smells nutty.  Deglaze with the sweet wine and add a couple of ladles full of the stock mixture.

Stir the risotto occasionally with a wooden spoon as it cooks over medium heat.  It is time to add a couple more ladle-fulls of stock every time you can push the risotto off the bottom of the pan and no liquid seeps in to fill the line you made.  Continue stirring occasionally and adding stock for about 20 minutes, then add the reserved corn kernels and continue as before.  When the risotto has gotten quite creamy and is almost al dente, add the cream and cook until done (should be 1-2 minutes at this point).

Finish the risotto by melting in the butter and parmesan cheese.  At this point check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.  I don't recommend salting before this point, as the bacon and parmesan both contribute significant salt.  Toss in tomatoes and herbs and serve piping hot.

Leftovers make great arancini or risotto cakes - top them with tomato jam - assuming you don't lick the pot clean first!

Looking Forward to Leftovers...Part 2

OK - this is really pathetic - how is it that I took these pictures on October 25, Wrote this Nov 8th and am only now publishing it??! Well - at least this is great for leftovers year round. Whenever I make mashed potatoes, this is really the reason - I want to use the leftovers! P.S. - here's why I have time to post this (finally):







Every thanksgiving we make what my brother-in-law lovingly refers to as "heart-attack mashed potatoes." Since this holiday comes but once a year, these yukon golds are loaded up with roasted garlic, butter, cream, cheddar cheese, bacon, and scallions. Eat them too often and expect to see scary cholesterol levels at your next doctors visit. But boy are they good, and once a year fits most people's definitions of moderation.

I often find myself with leftover mashed potatoes, usually even more leftovers when it is not the holiday season. Since we are much bigger fans of the mashed potato the first time around, I love this recipe to use up the extras. Any flavors you have in your potatoes will work here, and this bread is just to die for.

Roasted Garlic Potato Rosemary Bread

Starter
2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
3/4 - 1 cup of room temp water

"Finishers"
1 head of garlic
olive oil

3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 Tbsp of roasted garlic olive oil from the previous step
3 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup - 1 cup room temp water

To make the starter: Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined. Start with 3/4 cup of water and add water if needed to form a slightly tacky dough. Knead in a stand mixer on medium-low speed for 4 minutes or by hand for 8 minutes. Put aside into a well oiled bowl, cover and keep on the counter for 24-48 hours.

To finish the bread:
Preheat an oven (or a toaster oven) to 300 degrees. Slice the top off a head of garlic, so that the cloves are just exposed. Drizzle with olive oil and place face down in a pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Drizzle the outside with olive oil. Roast until golden and fragrant, about an hour. Let cool, then squeeze out cloves and dispose of "garlic paper."

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together remaining bread flour, salt, pepper, yeast and garlic powder. Cut the starter into ten pieces and add them all separately, alternating with the mashed potatoes, oil, rosemary and 3/4 cups water. Mix on low speed for a minute (with the bread hook attachment). Add more water as needed until the dough comes together into a ball. Knead about 6 minutes on medium speed. At this point you should be able to take a small bit of dough and stretch it thin enough to see light through it without it ripping.

Flatten the dough into a large rectangle and spread garlic cloves over it. Gather it back into a ball, dust it with flour and knead for a minute by hand. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and shape into 2 round loaves. Let rise on parchment paper or silpat for an additional 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Brush the loaves with olive oil and transfer them (still on the parchment/silpat) to a sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15-25 minutes or until golden brown and a thermometer inserted in the middle reads at least 195 F. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Getting Baked...Twice!

I've had a glut of scallions and potatoes from the CSA lately. Although normally I would turn to Loaded Potato Soup, it's been approaching 100 degrees in Baltimore and soup is just not an option. So I turned instead to Twice Baked Potatoes - admittedly the oven does get some use, but it's not nearly as bad as standing over a simmering pot. This is classic American - like overstuffed potato skins - a guilty pleasure. They're just so good!

Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes


4 large or 7 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
olive oil

1 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup light sour cream
8 oz. shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
3 large scallions, sliced thin
6 slices hickory smoked bacon, cooked until crisp
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ancho chile powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub potatoes with olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Roast until cooked through, about an hour.

Using an oven mitt to hold the potato, slice down the middle and scoop the insides into a bowl, leaving a 1/4 inch of potato around the skins. Set aside skins and mash butter and sour cream into potato. Stir in 2/3 of the cheese, all of the scallions, bacon and seasonings. Refill the skins with the potato mixture, pressing it into the skins. Press remaining cheese on top. Bake for another 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

A Taste of the Sea

I was hunkered down in front of Anthony Bourdain on Monday night. Although I was exhausted and it was past my bedtime, I just couldn't turn it off. He was meandering around Venice, sampling some of the tastiest tidbits from one of the most seductive places on earth. And then he visited Barono, where he had the most dreamy, magical seafood risotto. It has haunted my dreams and my thoughts ever since. So I just had to make my own (most likely inferior) version of this Venetian classic. It tastes of sea spray and sweet cream, caressed with a hint of garlic and lemon. Although it may not be the real thing, I highly recommend the experience.


Seafood Risotto

Broth:
1 quart really spectacular seafood or fish stock
1 1/2 bottles Irish red beer (I like Sam Adams) - This would also be great with white wine, but reduce the lemon juice
1 bottle clam juice
1 1/2 cups leeks, white parts only, sliced thin
3 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
2 lbs. blue mussels, scrubbed and debearded
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a large saucepan, combine all broth ingredients and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, melt butter in another large saucepan over medium heat and toast rice in melted butter until light golden in color, stirring occasionally.

Add a couple of ladle-fulls of broth at a time, stirring occasionally, and letting the rice absorb each addition before adding more. You'll know when it's been absorbed because you can push the rice back with a spoon and no liquid will fill the place it had been. Continue until rice is almost cooked, but a little al dente. After that last addition, leaving just a bit of broth in the first saucepan, add mussels to the pan and cover. Continue stirring and cooking the risotto while the mussels steam.

Remove the steamed mussels from their shells. Add them to the finished risotto, along with the cream. Stir well, then mix in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, risotto gets gummy when it sits.


Serves 4 as a substantial entree. Each serving is approximately 500 calories.

Loaded

The universe was taunting me yesterday.

I had to take my Environmental students outside to make some measurements at the forest buffer surrounding our stream to determine if it is sufficient.

It started snowing 5 minutes before my first section. Not a few small flakes, but full white out flurry. In Maryland. In November. When even my relatives back in the Northeast haven't really had snow yet. So we went out in the snow, slipped and slid and almost had a couple of kids in the water. Came back in, feet soaked, hair wet, and thoroughly chilled, and it instantly stopped snowing. Of course.

Then the sun comes out and all the fallen snow melts away. It's supposed to stay warmer. But when 7th period rolls around, it starts up again, even thicker than before. So shoes get sloshier, banks are slippier, and once again, as we walk inside, it stops snowing.


Well fine. If the universe is laughing at me I can laugh back. It's suceeded in chilling me to the bone. What it didn't count on is my secret weapon. A thick, creamy, heartwarming and oh so filling loaded potato soup. So hah! You may have won the battle, but you lost the war!

Loaded Golden Potato Leek Soup


4 slices thick cut hickory smoked bacon
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 leeks - white and light green parts only, cleaned and sliced thin
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2.5 - 3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin
8 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 parmesan rinds
1/2 cup eggnog (yes - eggnog! heavy cream would work too)
1/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

For serving;
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped scallions
sour cream
crumbled bacon

Fry bacon in the bottom of a large stockpot until crisp. Remove and save for topping. Add butter to bacon fat, then saute leeks until soft. Add seasonings and potatoes, then stock. Bring to a boil. Add bay leaves and rinds and simmer until potatoes are really soft and falling apart.

Remove bay leaves and rinds. Use a hand blender to blend to the desired consistency (I like it still a little chunky). Bring back to a simmer just long enough that it gets really thick. Remove from heat, stir in eggnog, sour cream and season to taste.


Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of bacon, cheese and scallions. Chase away the cold!

Better than You Know Who's Biscuits

There is a certain seafood restaurant empire named after a scarlet crustacean that serves up baskets of cheesy biscuits with every meal. They're a favorite of many, and I decided they couldn't be that hard to make at home. I was right, these are one of the simplest recipes, and sure to impress. I served them up next to some fancy fish and broccolini at a dinner party last week, and every time I bring one in to work people scrounge for a bite. Neither too casual or too standoffish, these should definitely find a place on your table.

Although you can certainly roll these out and cut them, I find they rise better as drop biscuits, plus I love the texture of those crispy, craggy corners.

Smoky Cheddar Scallion Drop Biscuits
Makes 24 (halves easily).


4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (preferably White Lily-not the self rising kind)
5 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp sugar (for browning)
2 tsp hickory smoked salt (or regular salt)
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 sticks of butter, cut into cubes
2-3 cups coarsely grated smoked cheddar
5 finely chopped scallions
1/2 cup finely chopped jalapenoes or two finely chopped chipotles in adobo(optional)
1 cup buttermilk (shake well before measuring)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with two racks dividing it into thirds. Line 2 cookie sheets with silpat or parchment paper.

Whisk together all dry ingredients. Add butter cubes and use a fork or pastry blender to cut them into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add remaining ingredients, stir until just combined. Do not over mix.

Use your hands to form large biscuits. Drop 12 rounds onto each cookie sheet.

Bake until golden (about 20 - 25 minutes), rotating pans halfway through.

Best served warm. These reheat easily. I make a lot because they freeze well and everyone always wants more. Feel free to halve the recipe.

Bistro Classics: Potato Gratin

I have been a bad food blogger. Not only have I not be blogging, I haven't even been cooking. This past week I had one day where I actually made something for dinner and it was the spaghetti and meatballs I've already raved about twice. Our other meals have consisted of leftovers, a dinner out for the anniversary, pizza, hot wings, and sushi. So yes, even I get too busy to cook. Even I order takeout (although I cringe while doing it). So when Saturday rolled around, it was time for some home cooked pleasure. This heavenly potato gratin certainly delivers.

I must ask you to excuse my deteriorating photography skills. The problem is I have no natural light after 6:30, and I never manage to make dinner by then. I've been trying all the tricks I have up my sleeve, but I think I'm going to have to fold and get some real photography lights like these ones I've been eyeing. Until then, I apologize, but guarantee you that this is SO good, even if it doesn't look it.


Don't even think about using another variety of potato here. Trust me, I've tried. Waxy potatoes don't absorb any liquid, leaving you with a funky separated sauce, russets absorb too much and get mushy like mashed potatoes. Yukon Golds are richer in flavor, absorb just enough liquid to result in a thick, creamy sauce and hold their shape well. I've also found this method allows the potatoes the perfect amount of cooking time and results in a tender, well sauced gratin.

Golden Bacon, Leek and Gruyere Potato Gratin


6 slices maple smoked bacon
8 oz cleaned leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and sliced into half moons
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of salt
2 1/2 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/8 inch thin (if your knife skills could use improvement, employ a mandolin)
7 oz shredded gruyere cheese
3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmaggiano reggiano
2 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Set aside on paper towels to cool, reserving grease. Add leeks and saute until softened but still green. Empty into a bowl and set aside.

Combine stock, cream and seasonings and bring to a simmer. Add potato slices and simmer until they are just starting to get tender, about 8 minutes.

In a large greased gratin dish, layer in 1/3 of potatoes, followed by 1/2 of gruyere, leeks and bacon. Repeat, then top with remaining third of potatoes (pour any liquid left down over the gratin).

Mix together breadcrumbs, parmesan and butter with a fork. Sprinkle in an even layer over the top of the gratin.


Bake until breadcrumbs are golden and bubbling sauce has thickened, about 25 minutes.

Serve alongside another bistro classic, such as steak au poivre and haricots vert. (I had chicken marsala with mine)



P.S. Omit the bacon, sub milk or veggie stock for chicken and this is an oh, so satisfying vegetarian meal!

Super Starches

I could never live on an Atkins diet. I tried South Beach for a while, but after 2 months without even fruit and not a single pound dropped, I said goodbye to that idea forever. This meal is decidedly not Atkins friendly, filled with the starchy goodness of cheesy yukon gold mashed potatoes tumbled into a crispy and flavorful pie crust and topped with tender pencil-thin asparagus. This is similar to Jamie Oliver's asparagus and potato tart, but housed in pastry crust instead of filo, and laced with mushrooms and leeks. This lovely vegetarian dish makes a hearty dinner in spring or fall.

Mushroom Leek Mashed Potato Pie with Roasted Asparagus


6 large yukon gold potatoes

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups cleaned leek, sliced thin
2 large portobello mushroom caps, diced
2 Tbsp marsala wine

a double recipe of piecrust - this parmesan black pepper one is great!

1 cup shredded mixed Italian cheeses (i like the 6 cheese blend)
2 Laughing Cow Light garlic and herb cheese wedges
2 Laughing Cow Light French onion cheese wedges
1 cup shredded gruyere
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

2 cups thin asparagus spears, ends trimmed

Preheat oven to 425. Cook potatoes in microwave until fork tender, 13-15 minutes. Let cool.

Saute leeks and mushrooms in butter until softened. Deglaze with marsala. Set aside to cool.

Roll out pie crusts to fit a 13 x 9 pyrex dish or other large shallow baking dish.

Mash potatoes with a fork. Blend in cheeses, eggs and seasonings. Combine with mushrooms and leeks and mix well. Empty into pie crust. Top with asparagus spears and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in lower third of oven until crust is crispy, about half an hour.

Americana

There are few things as American as Thanksgiving. In fact, I think it speaks more to what it means to be an American than the fourth of July. Gathering with family, partaking in a feast with so many ingredients that were here hundreds of years ago, such as turkey, corn, cranberries, taking some time to realize how lucky we are. The fact is, we have a lot to be thankful for, and I don't think one day is really enough time to devote to gratitude for the privileges we have in this country. What's more - traditional foods served at Thanksgiving are just too good to deprive yourself of the rest of the year. So I try to make one Thanksgivingish weekend dinner every couple of months, and it helps me put things in perspective when times are tough, as they have been for much of the past year.

With the mild weather we've been having and the return to school, I've been longing for my favorite season: autumn. While I love the scarlet tomatoes and sweet corn and will be sad to see them go, I'm dreaming of roasts and braises, hearty soups and root vegetables. In this meal I found some of those fall flavors, without departing completely from the lightheartedness of summer.

Maple Herbed Roast Turkey Thighs with Roasted Vegetables


1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 cup baby patty pan squash
1 cup frozen pearl onions
1 cup new potatoes, cut into the same size pieces as the squash
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 turkey thighs
1 tsp chopped sage
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp chopped thyme
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp softened butter

2 slices of thick-cut bacon
2/3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 425. In a 9 x 13 pyrex dish, toss veggies with olive oil.

Stick a finger in between the skin and turkey meat at one edge of the thigh. Separate skin from thigh, creating a large pocket, while leaving the edges connected. Combine herbs, garlic and butter in a bowl and squish together with your fingers to form a paste. Rub paste into pocket between meat and skin. Place turkey thighs on top of veggies.

Place bacon on any seams in the turkey thighs were meat is not covered by skin. Alternatively, wrap around outside edges. Brush with some maple syrup (you won't use all of it yet). Sprinkle turkey and veggies with salt.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven, brushing with maple syrup every 15 minutes, until turkey reads 155 degrees F on an instant read thermometer and skin is lacquered, crispy and caramelized. Remove turkey to a plate to rest.


Preheat broiler. Strain vegetables of turkey drippings (reserve). Broil veggies until they're caramelized. In the meantime, mix the drippings with a slurry of marsala wine and cornstarch in a small saucepan to make a gravy. Bring to a simmer (should thicken).

Serve turkey with roasted veggies, gravy, cornbread stuffing and cranberry orange relish.



Cranberry Studded Cornbread Stuffing with Bacon and Leeks


6 large (storebought-size) or 12 small (homemade size) corn muffins- dry corn muffins work best for this, especially low-fat or fat free. If the flavor is pure corn, and it's really too dry to be a pleasant muffin, it will be perfect - day old muffins also work well.

6 slices thick center cut bacon
1 1/2 cups sliced cleaned leeks
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp cream sherry
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp chopped sage
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
coarse salt, pepper and coarse sugar

Crumble muffins onto a sheet pan. you should have some larger chunks and lots of crumbs. Let sit for 2 hours to dry out. Alternatively, toast in a 350 degree oven until golden and dried out. Place dried out muffins in a large bowl.

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat, until it has rendered it's fat and it's crispy. Remove bacon. Add leeks and cook until tender. Add remaining ingredients, including 1 1/2 cups stock (except salt, pepper and sugar) and bring to a simmer. Pour over muffin pieces and mix with a wooden spoon. If it's not moist enough, add additional stock. Transfer to an oven safe dish and sprinkle with coarse salt, sugar and ground pepper. Bake in the oven with the turkey for 20 minutes, or until golden on top.



Cranberry Orange Relish


This is my mother's recipe. It's simple, but such a bright, textural contrast to turkey, it's so much more interesting than a traditional cranberry sauce. This is a classic on my Thanksgiving table, and if you freeze a few bags of cranberries in the fall, you can have it year round. I make it with less sugar, since I like it a little more bitter than most people. This quantity of sugar seems to please most palates.

1 bag whole fresh (or thawed frozen) cranberries
1 fresh mandarin orange (also works well with clementines - but use 2)
3/4 cup sugar

Combine cranberries and zest of the orange in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped.


Seed and segment the orange and add orange flesh and sugar to the bowl. Pulse until it comes together in a fine relish. Transfer to a plastic container and let sit at least 2 hours (the sugar is grainy at first - this time lets the sugar dissolve and flavors meld).

For The Love of Lime...

Back to school tomorrow, although I won't be seeing any of those pesky teenagers ;) until next week. Another year with its own challenges, its own rewards and a whole new hundred and fifty smiling (or not so much) faces to keep track of. I love teaching, but I'm not really a fan of the beginning of the year. I never was good at introductions. Things go slowly at the beginning, before my students know what I want and how they need to do it, when they're testing me with their every move to see what they can and can't get away with. It's an uncertain time because they don't know what to expect from me and I'm not sure what I'll get from them. You develop such a relationship with kids over the course of the year, so you really know them, well enough to predict their next move. By the end of the year, I feel like my classes can almost teach themselves. Everything works together like one big machine (or at least most of the time).

Working with ingredients is much the same. New ingredients are intimidating, unpredictable. You brave it, trying a bit of the new stuff with tried and true flavors, feeling it out until you know its flavor, how it behaves, if it plays well with others. And over time, you develop your favorites, ones that you turn to time after time (OK - so I try not to do this with kids, but I'm definitely biased with flavors). My teacher's pet is lime (Ok - and vanilla and basil - why else would I have named my blog this way?). Lime lends a fresh finish to sweet and savory concoctions. It gets along best with mexican and thai flavors, tropical tastes like coconut, mango and macademia, pumps up berries' sweetness, and lends bright character to baked goods, such as these cardamom lime sweet rolls.


So on the eve of uncertainty, of course I turned to my favorite team player. Since I firmly believe in dessert first, and this is in fact the order in which I cooked, photographed and ate my lovely limey creations, I will start you off with a delicate lime cookie. If you stick around for dinner you'll get a yummy grilled garlic lime chicken, with coconut lime rice and corn on the cob. This food deserves the limelight!


This type of cookie has many aliases, russian tea cakes or mexican wedding cakes, meltaways or liar's cookies (because your shirt will give you away!). When I was growing up my mom made a gluten free version that always came out looking rather grey, so we called them moldy mice, a name that I've now realized is not all that appetizing to people outside our family. I think I like Dorie Greenspan's name the best, so these will be called powder puffs. These are traditionally made with pecans and can be made with or without citrus zest. L happens to love lime as much as I do, and it paired perfectly with buttery rich macademias, and earned the title of his favorite cookie!

Key Lime & Macademia Powder Puffs


1 cup macademia nuts, toasted until golden
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of ground green cardamom
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter at room temperature
zest of 5 key limes (or one regular lime)
2 Tbsp key lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

Grind nuts with 1 Tbsp of sugar with short pulses of a food processor, until they form a chunky paste. Add flour, salt and cardamom and pulse until well combined. Transfer to a small mixing bowl.

In the bowl of the food processor, combine butter and sugar. Pulse until creamy and pale. Add lime zest and juice. Pulse to combine. Add dry ingredients back in and use short pulses to mix until just combined (scraping the bowl as needed). Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. Ball up dough into small, bite sized spheres and place on cookie sheet (don't worry about spacing them too much, they don't spread a lot).

Bake 13-16 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool on sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When just slightly warm, roll in confectioners sugar.




Garlic Lime Chicken with Grilled Red Onions


4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp orange muscat vinegar (or other fruity vinegar)
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 packet Baja Citrus marinade seasoning (McCormick makes this)
2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (you can use boneless but cook them for less time)

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate at least 3 hours in the fridge.

Preheat grill on high. Start chicken on hottest part of the grill (if it flares up you may have to move it or turn down the heat). Cook over direct heat 5 minutes / side. Move to indirect heat, and continue to cook with grill lid down until the internal temperature reads 165 F on an instant-read thermometer (carryover will take it up almost another 10 degrees), about 30 minutes. Baste chicken periodically with marinade during cooking. Grill a halved lime alongside chicken (only about 1 minute on either side).


Grill onions in an oiled grill pan until charred, but still crunchy in parts. Transfer to a plate, top with chicken pieces and a squeeze of grilled lime.

Grilled Corn on the Cob


1 ear corn / person

Peel back husks and remove silks from corn. Replace husks back around the corn, removing the tougher ones on the outside.
Preheat grill to high and brush with oil. Place corn in husks on grill and cook, turning regularly, until husks begin to burn. take off grill and let cool.


Remove husks and knobby end part. Brush with some of the chicken marinade and return to grill over direct heat until lightly charred.



Coconut Lime Rice


1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (not light)
2 cups chicken broth
zest of one lime
2 kieffer lime leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chile powder
1 3/4 cups basmati or jasmine rice

Mix together all ingredients except rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Add rice and return to a simmer. Turn heat down to low and pop a lid on it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add chopped scallions or cilantro if desired (I didn't have any).



To serve:


Make a bed of rice on the bottom of a plate. Pile on grilled onions and chicken, place grilled corn alongside. Squeeze a grilled lime half down over the whole dish. Finish with a dash of salt.