Lemon Custard Cake

I saw an instagram picture of this and had to make some. Peter helped. It hit the spot! Custard-y, cake-y, lemon-y...the whole family loved it but there just wasn't enough! Maybe next time I will experiment with a bigger batch. Or maybe we should eat less dessert.... In any case, you would need to double this for company.

• 3 eggs, seperated
• 1 cup sugar (we used 3/4 cup)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter a 2-quart souffle dish. An 8x8 glass pan would work as well.
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.
4. In large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice and zest.
5. Add milk and flour and mix until well combined.
6. Gently fold in beaten egg whites.
7. Pour batter into the buttered dish. Place the dish in a pan of water, with water coming up the sides of the souffle dish at least a ½ inch). Place inside the oven and bake until the cake is set, about 45-50 minutes (the very center will still be slightly jiggly, it will set up as it cools.)
8. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
9. This is delicious warm or cold. Store in refrigerator.

From 5BoysBaker

Mom's Fluffy Lemon Cheesecake

I've always loved fluffy cheesecake, which Mom used to make for RS functions & dinner parties. I have many memories of taking a half-eaten pan out of the fridge and shaving off several horizontal swaths to eat rather than the more obvious route of cutting myself a piece. As far as whole-food eating goes, this has a trifecta of 1980's processed ingredients (graham crackers, cream cheese, jello (although I used unflavored gelatin). But it does have the comfort/memory factor.

11 graham crackers (or 1.25 cups of crumbs)
1/4 c butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. Use food processor to crush crackers into crumbs, add butter. Press into 9x13 pan and bake for 5-7 minutes. Place hot pan in refrigerator to cool.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2.5 teaspoons)
1/2 c boiling water
1/2 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice (two lemons)
8 oz cream cheese (1 brick)
1 c sugar (or a little less)
lemon zest from two lemons (or 3-4 strips of zest using a peeler)
1 can evaporated milk (very cold: put in freezer for 30 min or so)

Dissolve gelatin into the hot water. Add the lemon juice and then pour the lemon/gelatin mixture into the blender. Add cream cheese, sugar, and zest. Blend until smooth.

Add cold evaporated milk to a stand mixer with a wire beater (or use hand mixer). Beat until peaks form (usually 3-4 minutes). You can add a few teaspoons of lemon juice to make this stiffer. It should resemble whipped cream.

Gently fold the blender mixture into the whipped evaporated milk. Pour the combination onto cooled graham cracker crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or as long as you need to).

Middle Eastern Chickpea Nachos

We LOVED this dinner (3 out of 4 kids). So fresh and different. It's from Smitten Kitchen (though with heavily simplified instructions because she always includes complicated alternatives).

It has four parts: toasted pita chips, spiced chickpeas, cucumber "relish", and yogurt sauce (I'm obviously not a food photographer...so sue me :-)

Serves 6 generously, if eaten nacho-style

For the chickpeas
4 15-ounce cans chickpeas (or prepare from dried)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika or sumac
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Few gratings fresh lemon zest
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (she has different instructions for dry peas)

Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). In a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven, heat olive oil in the bottom of the pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add garlic and saute garlic and onions together for 3 to 4 minutes more, until everything is wilted. Add spices, zest and salt and cook with onions and garlic for one minute. 

Add drained soaked or canned chickpeas and broth. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one full minute. Place a lid on the pot and transfer it carefully to the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While the chickpeas bake:

Pita Chips 

6 or so store-bought pitas (we used whole wheat from Aldi)

Separate the layers of pitas and cut into wedges. Arrange on a large baking sheet and brush lightly with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake alongside chickpeas for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally to ensure that they toast evenly. Let cool.

Cucumber Relish/Salad

Chop a handful of whatever decent-looking tomatoes you can find in March, and 1 large or a few smaller cucumbers into very small pieces.  Mix vegetables and dress to taste with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Lemon Sauce:

Whisk in the juice of a whole lemon, 1 minced garlic clove and 4 tablespoons water until smooth. Whisk in 1 cup plain yogurt, about 1/4 at a time, until smooth. Season with salt. Adjust all levels to taste. 

Serve and let everyone assemble: Start with a handful of pita chips, heap on the baked chickpeas, dollop on the yogurt sauce, tomato-cucumber “relish” salad.