I love lemon. And like all lemon lovers I always am on the lookout for lemon bars. All. The. Time. They have to have the perfect crust, the perfect filling. The perfect everything. I am pretty happy with my recipe, but I tried something a little different – I bruleed the top, much like you would a creme brulee. I was looking for a little crunch and I think it adds something nice and unexpected to your traditional lemon bar.

ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

filling ingredients:
4 eggs
1-3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 lemon juice
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar. Slowly add the flour mixture until combined to a nice dough. Pat the dough into the greased baking pan, and prick with a fork.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until just golden around the edges.

When it comes to lemons,I like to use fresh lemons, and 3/4 cup is approx. 6 medium sized lemons. I always strain it after I’ve juiced them, not only to avoid seeds, but I like to get rid of some of that heavy pulp too. Make sure you measure your 3/4 cup after you’ve strained it.

I also like to use a microplane to zest right into the sugar. It makes the sugar pick up that lemon scent and sort of mixes even better throughout the bars.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest. Pour this mixture over the hot crust. Return it to the oven for about 20-23 minutes.

Then sprinkle the top with sugar, alllllll over. Then quickly stick it under your broiler until you get that nice bubbly brulee. Try not to burn the house down.

Let it cool, then cut into squares. I love the crunch of the sugar on top and the crust should be crisp, not soggy. A fun variation on lemon bars.

I make this pasta salad A LOT. I never really thought to put the recipe up until I started doing a series of Chicken 2 Ways meals for the kids. So when I made some buttermilk fried chicken, I added it to the pasta salad and it was FANTASTIC.

There are a lot of ingredients to the dressing, but DON’T let that deter you. The flavor is exactly what you are looking for. Please don’t be tempted to wimp out and use that bottled dressing crap. It’s full of preservatives and so much oil that it will never stick to the pasta anyway. You won’t regret it, I promise.

ingredients:
8 ounces of pasta
1-1/2 cups cooked broccoli
1 cup chopped green/red/yellow peppers
1/4 cup sliced olives
2 cups buttermilk oven-fried chicken, cut into cubes

dressing ingredients:
4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Obviously, make sure you make Buttermilk Oven-Fried Chicken in advance of this recipe.

Boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse. If you don’t want to cook fresh broccolli (I never do) just defrost Trader Joe’s frozen broccoli. It’s always frozen at the height of freshness so when it’s defrosted it tastes just fine.

Put all the dressing ingredients into a shaker and shake well to combine. If you don’t have a shaker, mix it in a bowl!

In a large bowl toss the pasta, broccoli, peppers, olives and chicken with the dressing. You don’t need to use all the dressing if you don’t want, just as much as you need. Mmm, you’d be surprised how good this is – it’s great for parties.

Part of my Chicken 2 Ways meals for the kids – I LOVE fried chicken. But when it comes to the kids I like to do things a little bit healthier. This chicken is so flavorful that putting it in the oven tastes just as great. Oh and the leftovers! The things you can do with that…

ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mustard and garlic. Get a ziploc freezer bag, and put the chicken in – then pour the buttermilk mixture inside. Make sure the bag is closed well (I also lay the bag in a pan) and chillax it in the fridge overnight. If you are desperate for chicken now – then just chill it for a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment. And put a wire rack on top. You want the chicken to be lifted up off the pan.

In another freezer bag, put the flour, paprika, onion powder, baking powder, salt and pepper. Shake it to mix it up. Take the marinated chicken pieces one by one, try and not let them be too drippy – and put them one by one into the flour mixture. Shake to coat.

Put the flour coated chicken pieces on the wire rack. Bake until brown about 40-50 minutes depending on your oven. Like most brines or marinades, that’s what makes this chicken so tender and flavorful!

The kids decided they liked green beans. This gave me the go ahead to incorporate it into a full blown meal. Yay for veggies! This recipe is really quick when you have very little time to make dinner. Just throw it together and serve it up.

ingredients:
8oz bowtie pasta
1 cup saved pasta water
6oz dry salami
1-1/2 cups frozen green beans
6oz mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
cracked pepper

Boil the pasta according to the package, in salted water.

While the pasta is boiling, chop up the salami into strips. Defrost the green beans. When the pasta is ready to be drained, reserve 1 cup of the water that it was boiled in. This helps the pasta stay moist and keeps everything together.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the salami, beans, mozzarella, parmesan, lemon and pepper. Slowly add the reserved pasta water. Toss and serve immediately while still warm.

“Matcha” is powdered green tea. It is used in lots of japanese desserts, I used it when I made green tea ice cream.

I decided to try it in a ‘jelly roll’ style cake. I’ve seen recipes with mousse filling, and cream filling, but I thought I’d try something different and fill it with “an” or sweetened red bean. Red bean and green tea go together like, well, peas and carrots. But tastier.

ingredients:
4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon matcha powder

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting, sifted
1 can an/red bean
Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Separate the whites and the yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until light. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and matcha powder.

Add the sifted flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the egg whites into the egg mixture.

Prep a jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet – by lining it with parchment paper, and spraying it with oil. This will make it easy to remove.

Pour the batter right onto the lined pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until a golden brown.

While the cake is baking, put a clean towel down and dust it with powdered sugar. You will invert the cake onto this to start the rolling process.

When the cake comes out, turn it onto the towel. Peel off the parchment and trim it if you want it to be a more ‘perfect’ shape. Now the fun…

Begin with the narrow side and roll the cake and towel up together.

Cool cake on rack, seam side down, for 10 to 15 minutes. Once cake has cooled, gently unroll and spread cake with an filling and re-roll.

Now you have yourself a perfect rolled cake! Sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice and serve with whipped cream!

I wanted to use the leftover pecans from making cookies. These seemed like an easy jump. They are SO GOOD you just want to eat them standing up, right out of the pan. But don’t. It’s not attractive.

ingredients for the crust:
2 sticks butter
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3/4 cups flour

ingredients for the filling:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I use whole milk. Don’t tell anyone.)
pinch of salt
2 cups pecan halves
1 teaspoon vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until combined. Add the salt, then slowly add the flour until the mixture is crumbly.

Press into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Chill in the fridge for about 20 mins. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prick the crust with a fork and bake for 17-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. While the crust is cooling, make the filling. In a saucepan over high heat, melt the butter, brown sugar, honey, cream and white sugar. Stirring constantly. When it is all combined, take if off the heat and add the salt, vanilla and pecans. Mix together.

Pour on top of the cooled crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

I swear, these things look like rocks. But when you bite into them, boy are they light and fluffy! Surprisingly so! I like smaller biscuits, so I cut them into 16 pieces. Perfect with soups and stews.

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1-1/2 sticks COLD butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk (OR – 1/2 cup milk+3teaspoons lemon juice)
1 egg
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon water for egg wash)

some extra flour
some sea salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Turn it on low, and carefully add the diced butter until the mixture is crumbly, like small peas.

If you don’t have buttermilk, who does, then just substitute the milk+lemon juice. It works ok too. Combine the buttermilk and egg and beat lightly. Add to the flour mixture until moistened.

In a separate bowl, mix the cheese with a handful of flour for stickage purposes, then add the cheese to the dough, while still mixing on low. Don’t over mix!! Just until combined, then STOP.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead slightly. Pat it out to a nice rectangle. Cut it in half, then in quarters, then again, making about 16 pieces.

Transfer to a prepped baking sheet and brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with sea salt (YUM) and bake for 20-25 mins.

I think these taste even better the second day. They are really quick to make and you can even prep them the night before, then just stick ‘em in the oven.

See, first I made a roast chicken, since I had a lot of leftovers I came up with this Chicken 2 Ways concept to get two dinners out of one chicken. The Baby wanted pot pies but I didn’t have any pie shells, and I thought, biscuits might work just as well. It was BETTER! Because you got to make cute little cut out biscuits for the tops. Who wouldn’t eat their food if there was a Batman signal on it?

ingredients:
2 cups leftover roast chicken, cut into cubes
1/2 cup leftover roasted onions, cut up
1/2 cup leftover roast carrots, cut into a small dice
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peas
1-1/2 cups chicken broth

biscuit ingredients:
1 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 stick (4 Tablspoons) butter COLD, diced
3 ounces half and half
1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water (for egg wash)

Take all your leftover roast chicken ingredients, plus the corn and peas, and divide them up into ramekins (either 4 large or 8 small). Divide the chicken broth into each ramekin evenly. Now make the biscuits.

In a mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter and mix on low speed until crumbly. Slowly add the half and half, still on low speed.

Dump the dough onto a flour board and roll out to about 3/8″ thick. Round is kind of boring, but you can do it, I like to get the cookie cutters out and really have fun with it. Plus it makes the kids WANT to eat.

Who can resist Batman, am I right? The Baby called this BAT POT PIE.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Arrange the ramekins on a lined baking sheet, in case it bubbles over. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the chicken mixture is hot.

This is a great use of leftovers and so fun to eat. Also – before the egg wash, you can just freeze what you have and pull them out for a meal later. Just finish up with the egg wash and baking on another day!

This is an easy once a week recipe – and you can do so much with it if you have leftovers. I love the crispy skin the roasted veggies and the great way it makes the house smell. MMM.

ingredients:
1 onion
1-1/2 cups carrots
4 small potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
salt
pepper
olive oil

1 whole fryer, in pieces
salt
pepper
3 cloves garlic
butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the onion into rounds and lay them down on a lined baking sheet. This will make a nice ‘bed’ for the chicken. Arrange the carrots and potatoes around the onion. Season with salt and pepper and little olive oil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the pan out, arrange the chicken on top, skin side up. season again with salt and pepper, both under and on top of the skin. Smash the garlic cloves and scatter them over and around the chicken. Dab the top of the chicken with a little bit of butter, probably about a half a tablepoon on each.

Cook for 35-40 minutes depending on your oven. Your house will smell so good.

This meal is so easy, and really doesn’t take long to prepare.

I’m actually not a fan of shortbread, my sweet tooth runs a little more sugary. But so many people I know adore it, I find myself making it quite often. Instead of plain ol’ shortbread, or even chocolate covered shortbread, I like to mix in things. These have mini chocolate chips in them and I cut them into little hearts cause they looked so cute. Shortbread is the best because if you don’t have milk or eggs, you can still get a nice baked good going.

ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups sifted flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I like to mise en place everything before I start so I sift the sugar and set it aside, then I sift the flour, cornstarch and salt and set that aside in a separate bowl.

In a mixer cream the butter – then add the sugar, the vanilla, then the flour mixture. Couldn’t be simpler, really.

Once everything is combined, stir in the mini chocolate chips. Your batter should look like above, pull away from the bowl on it’s own.

Now here’s where things differ. You’ll find some recipes that say to bake it in a pan, then cut it. Others say just cut it out and call it a day. Here’s how I do it. Once the dough is done, pat it out on a floured surface, a little less than 1/2 an inch thick.

I then cut out the shapes and place them on a silpat lined baking sheet. They look lovely right? but because of all the butter in these, they are going to spread….

Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes, until just browned on the edges. They cookies will still look pale. Once they come out, I let them rest for a minute, then I cut them AGAIN. All those leftover pieces? Well, you eat them yourself of course.

If you don’t mind blobby shapes, then don’t do the second cut, but if you are giving them away, I always suggest it. You get a nice crisp edge. And a professional looking cookie.