Lemon Cream and Raspberry Phyllo Napoleons

Adapted from Bon Appetit

These are AWESOME. I made these to take as a dessert when our friends invited us for dinner a week and a half ago. I loved them so much I made them again for my mother-in-law a few days later. The lemon curd I made was enough for two batches. You wouldn't want to make these too far in advance, but the eight hours suggested in the recipe worked fine for me. Overnight would cause the phyllo dough squares to get soggy. This was so delicious. Kind of dainty and very pretty- it would be perfect for a tea party. Nice summer dessert.

Makes 6. Phyllo Squares 6 fresh phyllo pastry sheets or frozen, thawed 6 teaspoons (generous) sugar 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Lemon Cream 1/2 cup chilled whipping cream 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup purchased lemon curd 2 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries or 2 cups frozen unsweetened, thawed, drained Powdered sugar For Phyllo Squares: Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. Stack phyllo sheets on work surface. Trim to 10 1/2-inch square (reserve scraps for another use). Place 1 phyllo square on work surface (cover remaining phyllo with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel). Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with second phyllo square. Brush lightly with melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with third phyllo square. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Cut phyllo stack into 9 equal stacked squares. Arrange stacked phyllo squares an prepared baking sheet. Repeat layering and cutting with remaining 3 phyllo sheets, sugar and butter making total of 18 stacked phyllo squares. Bake until phyllo is golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool completely.

For Lemon Cream:
Beat cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until medium peaks form.

Whisk lemon curd in another medium bowl until smooth. Add to cream mixture. Beat to stiff peaks.

Spread 1 generous tablespoon lemon cream on each of 6 stacked phyllo squares.

Top each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 1 phyllo square, 1 more tablespoon lemon cream and 6 raspberries (save any remaining lemon cream for another use). Top each with 1 phyllo square. Sift powdered sugar over desserts. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover loosely and refrigerate).

For Lemon Cream:
Beat cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until medium peaks form.

Whisk lemon curd in another medium bowl until smooth. Add to cream mixture. Beat to stiff peaks.

Spread 1 generous tablespoon lemon cream on each of 6 stacked phyllo squares.

Top each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 1 phyllo square, 1 more tablespoon lemon cream and 6 raspberries (save any remaining lemon cream for another use). Top each with 1 phyllo square. Sift powdered sugar over desserts. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover loosely and refrigerate).

I didn't know if I could find lemon curd at the supermarket in my small town, so I made my own and here is the recipe I used from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything":

Lemon Curd (this recipe makes about 2 cups, so I cut the recipe in half)

3 lemons
8 Tbs (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp peeled and very finely minced fresh ginger (I left this out when I made my curd, but I'm leaving it in now because I think it would taste fabulous- just may not be right for this recipe)
3 eggs

Zest the lemons and mince the zests; juice the lemons. Combine the zest and juice with the butter and sugar and place in a small saucepan over very low heat or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add the ginger if you like. Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture; make sure the heat is very low.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes; do not let the mixture boil or the eggs will curdle. Cool slightly, then pour into custard cups, small bowls, or jars; cool, then refrigerate.

How to make a good impression your first Sunday in a new ward

So we moved into our new home this week. I can't believe that tomorrow morning it will only have been one week since we closed on our house. It feels like so much has happened since then! Well, since we moved across town, our home is now in the boundaries of the "other" ward and today was our first Sunday. (Remember on Lost, when they met "the others.")

Well, our kids embarrassed us today on so many different occasions that I started to make a mental list and thought it would make for some entertaining reading. My pain is your entertainment. Enjoy:

1. The family is 15 minutes late for church. (My fault. I couldn't find the box with the blow dryer in it.)
2. Franny announcing to everyone in the foyer: "The water is coming!"
3. After Franny takes the sacrament, she forces out a very small but still audible burp.

Before I continue, I feel the need to explain that Sophie, who did not attend nursery due to some green nasal drainage this morning, would not sit on our laps during either of the two meetings held in the cultural hall. We wanted to sit near the Crapo's, who unfortunately for us had chosen seats on the first row. It was the 5th Sunday, so instead of the normal one hour for Sunday school, we had to endure two hours of unwanted attention on us thanks to one very small, and slightly wild Sophie. Oh yeah, and the doctor Bobby is rotating with just happens to be in the ward and witnessed the whole thing.

4. Sophie runs circles around the Sunday school teacher AND the bishop who taught the combined lesson during the third hour.
5. On one of my futile attempts to calm her down by bringing her out into the hall, I stop to talk to another lady in the ward and find Franny. (She has escaped primary and is looking for her Dad.) While I was talking to my friend, Sophie gets back into the cultural hall and Franny stops her by grabbing her by the foot and dragging her out on her belly. The good news is I did not have to witness this. Jessica saw it and told me about it later. The bad news is, the door Franny pulled her out was in the back of the room and Jessica was on the front row. If Jessica saw it, that means there were plenty of other witnesses, too. :)
6. She stands behind one of the chalkboards on wheels and slowly and repeatedly peeks her head around the corner and gives everyone "the stink eye".
7. She lays down on the floor several different times showing the whole room her diaper.
8. Oh yeah, and speaking of diapers... at one point I decided to just hold her on the side of the room so I could still listen to the lesson but let her run around where it wouldn't be so distracting to everyone else. Bad idea, because she just starts running from me to the teacher then to Bobby and then around the room. Well, one of the times she was running to Bobby, I looked down at Sophie and to my horror noticed her diaper had fallen down around her ankles! Apparently I hadn't attached the strap securely enough and it just fell off! That one I had to laugh at.

Normally I would have spent the whole time out in the hall, but poor Bobby and I were so exhausted from this past week's activities that we just sat there and watched. I think we were just too tired to really care. We even played "rock, paper, scissors" once during Sunday School to see who would have to get up and walk over to where Sophie was laying on her back in the front of the classroom.

Sigh. Kids are fun.

And the ward was very nice. Everyone was very kind and welcoming and other than our children's appalling behavior, we enjoyed it very much.

Our first home

It's a big day for the Fields family! It's a done deal- we closed on our house today. I've been tempted to write about the whole house-buying experience, but I knew my husband would want me to wait until it was a for sure thing. More pictures will come later. If I didn't have a million things to do right now, I'd photoshop that bruise off of my leg. This huge and unsightly bruise has prompted many questions like, "what the heck did you do to your leg?!" You'd think I'd know. That I would be scarred for life by an accident that would cause such an ugly mark. Nope. I have no clue. And sometimes I wonder why Sophie is so clumsy.

Special thanks to this nice lady (Bobby's mom). We couldn't have done it without her.

And to this little one. We could have done it without her, but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun. ;)

Day 3 of cheap raspberries

Natalie gave me a couple boxes of this a while back and I was always planning on using it or my next strawberry pie. I've tried making my own strawberry glace before and not loving the results. I'm not sure I did it right by this box either. The consistency seemed like that of jello rather than a glaze to me. Oh well, I didn't get the look I was going for, but it still tasted great! :)

I decided to make this one a strawberry raspberry pie. It's not really much of a recipe, just a pre-baked pie crust filled with 1 1/2 16 oz cartons fresh hulled strawberries, and one carton fresh raspberries. I tossed them in the pie glaze/jello and then placed them carefully so the ends of the strawberries pointed up. After talking it over with Jessica, I think next time I would just try adding more boiling water to the mix so the consistency would be thinner and the flavor not as strong.

Pre-baked Pie Crust
(Pie recipe from barefoot contessa, enough for 2 pie crusts.)

• 12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water (about 1/2 cup)

Directions

1. Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.

2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.

3. Add the butter and shortening.

4. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.

5. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

6. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.

7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

8. Cut the dough in half.

9. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.

10. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan.

Okay, so after you're through with step 10, flute or pinch the edges as desired around edge of pie plate. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stick the pie in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The chilling will help the pie to retain its shape during baking. Take your pie out of the refrigerator and line it with a large piece of aluminum foil. Fill the pie with unbaked beans or pie weights. (I just have a container of beans that I keep in my pantry for such occasions. They're my pie beans. :) Put in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove foil and turn heat down to 325 degrees. Bake another 15-20 minutes until desired shade of golden brown.

Parmesan Chicken, Barefoot Contessa style

This is one of my favorite quick and easy meals to make. It's very tasty and can easily be made kid-friendly. I just love how the vinaigrette from the salad soaks into the breading on the chicken. I love the way the chicken tastes with the warm tossed salad on top. I think we'll have this again soon.

PARMESAN CHICKEN

adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

FOR CHICKEN:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 extra-large eggs

1 ¼ cups seasoned dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

unsalted butter

Good olive oil

Salad greens, washed and spun dry

FOR VINAIGRETTE:

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)

½ cup good olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

1. Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/2 inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin. You can pound the meat between two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap.

2. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Keep the chicken breasts warm for about 15 minutes on a sheet pan in a 200-degree oven. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

How I made this kid-friendly: I cut one of the breasts into about 6 small pieces. I dipped each tender in the flour mixture, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. (I waited until after I had prepared Franny's to add the parmesan, so it would be dairy-free.) Then I heated some margarine (yuck, again, only so franny's could be dairy free) and some olive oil and prepared some delicious chicken nuggets for the girls. They didn't even ask for ketchup! Then of course I added butter to the pan and parmesan to the bread crumbs for Bobby and I.

Day 2 of cheap raspberries

On Tuesday I made Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins from Smitten Kitchen. They were lovely. I ate four of them for breakfast yesterday and two for dessert the night before. After breakfast I gave to my friends so I could start plotting my next raspberry caper.

Missouri must have really big lemons because I was able to get four tsp grated lemon zest from 1 lemon without any of the pith. I thought three raspberries would atop each muffin would suffice, but after they were finished baking I could see the wisdom in four. They were amazing!

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins

Yield: 14 large or 56 miniature muffins

1 1/8 cups sugar, divided
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (from two large lemons)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 1/2-pint containers (about) fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. Mash 1/8 cup sugar and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter among muffin cups (the 2/3-3/4 level worked well for minis). Top each large muffin with 4 raspberries (or mini muffins with one each). Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (baking time was on the shy side of 20 minutes for mini muffins).

Day 1 of cheap raspberries

I love raspberries. Whole-heartedly. They are my favorite fruit by far and my favorite flavor of dessert. They are often expensive. This week they were cheap at my local grocery store, so I bought eight cartons of them. I had twelve in my cart, but I thought that seemed a little excessive.

So I've been making a lot of raspberry treats this week. On Monday night for dessert I made Broiled Berries + Cream. I found the recipe on 101 cookbooks, a blog I've seen linked on many cooking blogs, but one I've never really checked out. It was very easy and very delicious. I'll just link to the recipe since I didn't really change anything.