Saturday Recipes

Yes, another Saturday Post. Here are six recipes to help you through the rest of the weekend, including Crockpot Beef Stroganoff and Broccoli Cheese Soup. Enjoy!

MEYER LEMON TART

This is from Amanda Hesser at The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Amanda wrote, “The Meyer lemon has always been something of a California secret, and every year when its brief growing season begins there, eager cooks sigh with relief. The Meyer is not as assertive as the common supermarket varieties, but it offers so much more in nuanced flavor that it is unforgettable. And these days, the Meyer's secret is finally out. A Meyer lemon contains about four times the sugar of a regular lemon, but it can be used almost interchangeably with the traditional varieties, adding a rounder edge to both sweet and savory dishes. And you can use the whole thing – from pulp to peel. This gorgeous tart is the ideal way to showcase its seductive fragrance and flavor. (Regular lemons will work well in this recipe too, but you'll likely want to add a bit more sugar.)”

Yield: One 10-inch tart; Time: 1 hour.

This was featured in “All Perfume, No Pucker” and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

For the Crust

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing pan

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 tablespoon milk

12 ounces (about 2 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Lemon Curd

1 1/4 pound (5 or 6) Meyer lemons

1 cup sugar

5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing pan

7 large egg yolks

5 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Make the crust: in the bowl of a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and the milk, and beat to combine. In a medium bowl, combine the flour with salt. Slowly add the flour to the butter mixture, stirring until completely blended. Gather dough into two balls. Freeze one for future use, chill the other for at least 1 hour.

Heavily butter a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the pan and trim the edges. Prick the bottom with a fork, and place the shell in the freezer for 30 minutes.

While shell is in freezer, prepare lemon curd. Grate zest of lemons. Squeeze lemons to extract 1 cup of juice. In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine juice and zest. Add remaining sugar, butter and salt. Place over medium heat, stirring once or twice, until sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted.

In bowl of a mixer, combine eggs and egg yolks until blended. Slowly add hot lemon mixture to eggs until blended. Return mixture to saucepan, and place over low heat. Whisk constantly until mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency; do not allow it to boil. Remove from heat, and continue to stir to stop the cooking. Strain lemon curd into a bowl. Adjust sugar to taste; the curd should be tart, but may need additional sugar if the lemons were unripe. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it right against the surface of the curd. Allow to cool.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove tart shell from freezer, and bake until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Spoon lemon curd into tart shell, and smooth the top. Bake until filling has puffed around the edges, about 30 minutes. Cover edges with foil, if necessary, to prevent over-browning. Cool to room temperature before serving.

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

This is from Ree Drummond of The Food Network’s The Pioneer Woman. Total Time: 45 minutes; Active Time: 10 minutes; Yield: 10 servings; Level: Easy.

Click here to view this online.

Ingredients

4 heads broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces

Olive oil, for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

1 whole onion, diced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

2 cups half-and-half

Pinch nutmeg

3 cups grated cheese (mild Cheddar, sharp Cheddar, Jack, etc.), plus more for garnish, optional

1 cup chicken broth, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove 2 cups of the broccoli florets, cut in half, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet cut-side down and bake until the florets begin to crisp and turn slightly brown.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top. Stir to combine and cook until the flour is absorbed and smells lightly toasted, 1 minute or so. Add the milk and half-and-half. Add the nutmeg, then the broccoli, a small dash of salt and plenty of black pepper. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and allow to melt.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve the soup as is, mash with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree in a blender, return the soup to the heat to heat back up. Splash in some chicken broth if needed for thinning.) Garnish with the toasted broccoli or grated cheese and serve.

CROCKPOT BEEF STROGANOFF

This comes from Diana Rattray, the Southern cooking expert for The Spruce. If you remember from previous posts about Diana being on About.com, you’re right. However, About.com recently launched The Spruce as “a standalone site for home decor and food,” according to Techcrunch (“About.com launches The Spruce, a standalone site for Home Decor and Food”).

Anyway, Diana wrote, “For an easy cold-weather meal you can throw together in 20 minutes, look to the crockpot to cook hearty beef to perfection for this hearty Strognaoff. Making this dish in a slow cooker allows the flavors to blend together and fully marinate the meat until it's juicy, tender, and totally satisfying. Serve with sour cream for an extra rich dinner on top of your favorite hot cooked noodles.” Time: 8 to 10 hours.

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew beef or round steak or lean chuck, cut in 1/2-inch cubes

3 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

1 cup beef broth

2 tbsp. ketchup

1 sm. garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp. salt

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 med. onion, chopped

1 c. sour cream, blended with 2 tablespoons flour

hot cooked noodles, 3 to 4 cups

Directions

Dredge beef in flour and salt.

Melt butter or margarine in large skillet and add beef and onion.

Cook over medium heat until browned.

Combine beef broth, ketchup, garlic and mushrooms in crockpot. Add cooked beef and onions; stir gently to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. Add sour cream, cover and cook on HIGH for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Serve over hot cooked noodles.

CORN AND BLACK BEAN TAQUITOS

This begins, “Minimum prep and bake time makes homemade taquitos a healthy "fast food" for busy days. Couple with a side salad for a balanced meal.”

This is from Diabetic Connect.

Can be viewed at http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diabetic-recipes/general/7259-corn-and-black-bean-taquitos

Ingredients

8 low carb tortillas

15 oz. black beans, drained

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

3 TBSP salsa

2 TBSP lime juice

1/2 tsp cumin

Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slightly mash beans with a fork. Add all ingredients together and mix well.

Spoon 3 – 4 TBSP of mixture into the center of each tortilla. Tightly roll and place on greased baking sheet. Spray the taquitos with olive oil or coconut oil cooking spray.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until taquitos are lightly brown and crisp.

Nutritional Facts: Servings: 8; For 1 taquito: Calories 102; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Sodium: 242 mg; Carbohydrates: 12 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Protein: 7 g

AU GRATIN POTATOES

This was in a Weight Watchers' email years ago. The recipe begins, “Our cheesy potato dish is the perfect crowd pleaser: rich enough for your spouse and kids, yet light enough to keep your waistline slim.”

The POINTS® Value at that time listed this as 3 points.

Servings: 8; Preparation Time: 20 min; Cooking Time: 90 min; Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients

1 sprays cooking spray

1 Tbsp butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cup fat-free skim milk

2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced

1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.

Change oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

JASON'S HOME FRIES

This is one of my oldest son's inventions. He fixed this on one of his many trips back home; it didn't take long to become a favorite.

This can be found in my e-book, Off the Wall Cooking.

3 – 4 potatoes, scrubbed, not peeled

1 pepper (red, green or yellow), diced

1 onion, chopped

3 – 4 T butter or oil (or both)

1 clove garlic, minced (opt.)

Cut potatoes across (not length-wise). Heat oil or butter. Add potatoes, onions, pepper and garlic. Cover, cook over medium heat, turning occasionally with a spatula, until brown and crusty.