Apricot-Lemon Chicken and Lemon Orzo

So I've cooked before. I've made fried rice for a crowd, prepared spaghetti pie with herb biscuits for my family, heated up some frozen food on the side. But because my mom was gone last week and she's normally the one to do all the cooking, I decided that I'd make a REAL meal for me, my dad, and my brother to take her place.

Well, real-er than what I've done before, I guess. The recipe I used called for chicken breasts but all I could find in our freezer were tenders made of breasts? Or something like that, anyway, I didn't feel like going out to buy more, so I just stuck with those and it was fine. Unfortunately I burned them a little and there didn't seem to be enough sauce, but now I know! I've actually cooked chicken on my own! Woohoo!

Apricot-Lemon Chicken
Recipe from Cooking Light

1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1/3 cup apricot spread (such as Polaner All Fruit)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
2 tsp grated lemon rind

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; rub mixture over chicken.

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Cook chicken 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan, and keep warm.

Add apricot spread, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water to pan, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat 1 minute. Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with lemon rind.


Lemon Orzo
Recipe from Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1/2 cup prechopped onion
1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used water)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in pasta, broth, wine, and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente. Stir in chopped chives and lemon juice. Keep warm.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

And now, the final installment to my Mother's Day breakfast! This one's the most self-explanatory I guess, so it has the least pictures (especially since all the pictures of the final product turned out blurry).

This was very, very rich. I think the whipped cream is pretty much necessary because it's such a rich, bittersweet chocolate. The whipped cream was delicious, though.

Whipped Cream

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Vanilla

Whip cream in a medium bowl with a handmixer or whisk attachment until thick.

Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until stiff.




Hot Chocolate

2 cups milk (I used 1%. The thicker the milk, the thicker the hot chocolate, but 1% works great)
4 ounces 60% chocolate
1 1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Chop chocolate into small pieces that can easily dissolve in liquid.

Place milk in a small pot on low heat, and bring to a low simmer, whisking once in a while so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Once the milk is simmering, add the vanilla, powdered sugar, salt, and chocolate, and whisk until the chocolate has melted.

Heat for at least another 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Makes 2 cups.

Mini Quiches

Here's the second installment to my mom's belated Mother's Day breakfast! I did end up buying a frozen pie crust instead of making my own for this, and it made it unbelievably easy.

These tasted pretty good but I think I should have made sure there were more veggies and meat in each quiche. I put a tablespoon of cheddar and a tablespoon of broccoli mixed with turkey in half, and bacon in the other (I used about 2 strips of bacon, and cut up a large slice of deli turkey). I only put a few shakes of pepper and salt in there too and probably should have put more in. Also, when pouring 1/4 cup of the egg mixture into each muffin cup, I ran out, so I would put less in.

Mini Quiche
Recipe from Amber's Delectable Delights

1 roll refrigerated pie crust
6 eggs
1/3 cup half and half
3 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Filling ingredients of your choice (meat, cheese, veggies, herbs)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray the wells of 12 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.

Unroll the pie dough and cut out twelve 3" circles. You will have to smash all the scraps together and roll them out to get the last few circles cut out, but you will have enough dough. Place one dough circle into the bottom of each muffin cup.

Prepare filling ingredients and place ~2 tablespoons of filling per muffin cup.
Pour a scant 1/4 cup of the egg mixture over the filling ingredients in each muffin cup.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from muffin cups and let cool a few minutes before serving.

Chocolate Brioche

Since I was at college for Mother's Day, I could only send her a card for the actual day. Last year what I did was make Father's Day brunch for the both of them, but this year I wanted to bake more and make a breakfast that was much more specialized to my mom's tastes since she likes different things from my dad, so I separated the two (though still made the breakfast for both of my parents, with extras for my brothers and me).

One of the things my mom loves are chocolate croissants. I didn't exactly feel like I could make those, so I found a great Chocolate Brioche recipe. It was my first time making a yeast bread and it was extremely successful and relatively easy! It just took a lot of time and patience. I also made my mom mini quiches, because she likes quiche, and homemade hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream, which she also likes. And I cut up some watermelon. My mom isn't a big breakfast person, but I really wanted to pick the things that I know she likes!

I did all the mixing for this recipe by hand, and forgot the egg wash, but definitely didn't need it as the brioche looked and tasted beautiful. It was a very sticky dough but chilling it overnight definitely made it easier to work with. The result was a very light and buttery bread--absolutely amazing.



Chocolate Brioche
Recipe adapted from Sari

Ingredients
1/3 cup warm milk
1/3 cup warm water
10 g dry active yeast
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup + 5 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes, softened
150g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water, for egg wash (I left this out)

In a large bowl mix warm water, warm milk, 1 teaspoon of sugar and yeast. Stir until yeast dissolves and let proof for 10 minutes.
Add flour and salt and mix with a wooden spoon until flour is moistened. Beat in eggs, adding one egg at a time, making sure each egg is well incorporated before adding another one.

Add sugar and keep kneading dough until it comes together. Now comes the tricky part. Mix in butter, adding only one or two cubes at a time, kneading well until each cube is incorporated before adding another cube. This can takes about 10 minutes before all butter is fully incorporated. Dough is fully kneaded when it pulls away form sides of your bowl.
Transfer the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hours or until double in size. Lift up dough around edges and allow it to deflate.

Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours. Punch the dough down to deflate it every 30 minutes until it stops rising. Cover bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to make brioche, butter a muffin pan or brioche tins you want to use.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and scrape it out on a floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece between your palms to form a ball. Flatten each ball of dough and put several pieces of chocolate in the middle of each one. Roll up into a ball shape and place in the pan.

Cover the pan loosely with a plastic wrap and let rise for two hours at room temperature.

Brush each ball with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven to 350 degrees F for 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown.

Allow brioche to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan and then transfer onto the cooling rack.

Bacon-Cheddar Scones

I made these once last year for Father's Day brunch. My older brother wasn't home, and my mom has been telling me for ages to make them for him. Because CJ graduated, he moved out pretty much offcially yesterday...so I made these scones Saturday.

I don't know what I did this time, but they were a little harder to work with than I remember. These are very crumbly, and I remember that from last year, but it seemed like it was even harder this time to mix all of the dry ingredients together. I baked these scones about 1.5 inches tall instead of just half an inch tall as the recipe specifies, but they were browned and were well baked on the inside without any extra time in the oven, and they still turned out perfectly. I'd probably make these more often except they take a long time to mix, and they're really bad for you...but so worth it!

Bacon-Cheddar Scones
Recipe from The Pastry Queen
Found on The Biscuit Pusher

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly sliced
10 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped into 1 inch pieces
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 400. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper in a large bowl on low speed. With the mixer running, gradually add the cubes of butter until the mixture is crumbly and studded with flour-butter bits about the size of small peas. Add the grated cheese and mix until blended. (This can also be done by hand: using a pastry blender or two knives to cut in the butter until the mixture looks like small peas)

Add the green onions, bacon and 3/4 cup of the buttermilk to the flour and cheese mixture. Mix by hand just until all the ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is too dry to hold together, use the remaining buttermilk, adding 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is pliable and can be formed into a ball. Stir as lightly and as little as possible to ensure a light-textured scone. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a circle about 8 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into 8 to 10 equal wedges.

Whisk the egg and water in a small mixing bowl. Brush each wedge with the egg wash. Place the scones on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and no longer sticky in the middle.

Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

I'm baking so often that I'm going to switch my schedule to Monday/Wednesday/Friday for a bit!

My older brother, CJ, just graduated from college a few weeks ago. I couldn't attend because it was during finals week for me, but I watched it online (which, when I told him later, is apparently "creepy"). In honor of his graduation, I baked him this cake on Friday.

It took me about 4 hours to make this cake, and I am extremely proud of it. It fell together very nicely. This is Dorie Greenspan's "Perfect Party Cake", a deliciously light and fluffy lemon cake with raspberry preserves and a very light, delicate lemon buttercream. I decorated it with the suggested coconut and used about a cup instead of the cup and a half of coconut, and only decorated the sides, putting fresh raspberries on top. What made this cake even easier compared to recipes I've made at college, was that I had both a hand-mixer for the frosting, a long serated knife to cut the layers in half, and a cake frosting knife!! Oh my god that made it so much easier! I really really enjoyed this cake, both the making and the eating. It was such a light lemony flavor and a delicate texture. I didn't really like the store-bought raspberry preserves that I used, because it was a little sweet, but my family still liked it.

Unfortunately my brother was very displeased that I did something for him...so he refused to accept this cake as any form of gift or celebration for his graduation...but at least he ate a piece!

Perfect Party Cake
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's
Baking: From My Home to Yours
For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting ReadyCentre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.

Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.

Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.

Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

Spread it with one third of the preserves.

Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.

Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).

Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

I followed the exact directions for frosting the first layer: I put down the preserves and then tried to put the frosting on top of the jam. But it's MUCH easier to spread the preserves, and then on the side of the next layer of cake that you're going to put on top, frost that with frosting before.

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