making everyday family meals extraordinary
These Lemon Blueberry Pancakes are crazy fluffy and light! AND they’re a make ahead batter so you can sleep in and still get an amazing breakfast on the table in no time flat! Fluffy pancakes are our family favourite and the lemon blueberry combo cannot be beat.
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I feel like I could be the chimney sweep character in Mary Poppins who does the heel click as he’s joyfully whistling down the street when I make anything sweet involving citrus. Do you remember that scene? Meyer Lemons in particular as they’re so freaking good, don’t pack as much tang as regular lemons, but are still filled with fantastic citrus notes that brighten dishes with flavour and colour. I made this Meyer Lemon Meringue Tart easy by using store-bought puff pastry. One roll, a quick bake and the tart is ready to be filled! And, truth be told (please don’t hurt me), I usually prefer puff pastry versus pie crust. Not always, but I love how light, pliable, and even special it feels to me (more mille-feuille versus apple pie kind of feels).
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For both my pregnancies I’ve craved cucumber; an unusual amount. Apparently it has something to do with cucumber helping to balance out the acid in my tummy. Who knew? Regardless, this crostini takes all things yummy and puts it on toast. Crazy simple and crazy good.
I’m going to start roasting lemon slices for everything: salsas, salads, side dishes. Okay, everything that starts with an “s” apparently. Seriously, roasting lemon slices, peel and all makes them all caramelized and soft (the peel is definitely palatable this way). They still have that bit of zest you’re looking for, but are no longer tart.
Whipping up the ricotta takes about a minute, but you get so much more in return. It smoothes out the cheese and makes it so much easier to smear. Note that I wrote smear and not spread. You really want to glob it on the crostini. It’s base to your “salad” toppings and all good salads need a solid foundation.
This quick pickle for the red onion is my go to. I often put it on salads for an extra bit of tang. It goes extremely well with cheesy items and cut through any sort of heaviness the cheese may add to the plate.
Makes 4
Ingredients:
4 x 1″ thick pieces of rustic bread loaf (I used a Sourdough)
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved lengthwise
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 red wine vinegar, approx.
2 mini or Persian cucumbers,cut into 1/4″ thick slices
Salt and pepper
Optional garnishes: micro-greens, parsley, chives, cilantro
Directions:
Place red onion in a small bowl and over with vinegar. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 425° F. Place lemon slices on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes, flipping once. Remove from oven and rub with garlic halves. Let cool.
Meanwhile, drizzle both sides of bread pieces with olive oil and rub in. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes per side, flipping once. Remove from oven and let cool.
In a small bowl whisk ricotta with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
To assemble, smear a good amount of ricotta onto each piece of bread. Top with cucumber, lemon, red onion, and any desired garnishes. Drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
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The pomegranate train is slowing for the season. As winter transitions into spring we do lose some wonderful foods to the bright and sunny season ahead. Pomegranate became one of my favourites to use this past winter. And it became one of my daughter’s favourite fruits next to watermelon. She could eat pomegranate for days. It takes forever 😉
Although getting the seeds out of the pomegranate is a bit of pain, the reward is worth the effort every now and then when a treat is in order. And, pomegranate seeds can hold up pretty good on their own. Thrown on top of yogurt, oatmeal, lamb, salads, etc. they always add a hit of colour and are big on flavour and nutritional value.
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For these scones don’t get too fussy about the technique. It took me the longest time to find a scone recipe that I truly loved. I’m happy it’s arrived. Flaky, buttery, and topped with a thick lemon cream?! (That exclamation mark was clearly needed). It’s a perfect base for me to play around with in the future. I’m hoping to find a great savoury flavour soon.
There’s an appropriate amount of cold butter required here. My pro-tip for you is to keep the butter in the freezer and using the large holes of box-like grater, grate it into the batter. Grating the frozen butter shapes it perfectly into pea size and saves time and mess as you won’t have to cut it up and mash into pea size later on.
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Recipe Adapted from Alexandra’s Kitchen, adapted from Tartine Bakery
Makes 12-16 scones (depending up your thickness of disks before cutting out scones)
Ingredients:
Scones:
4 3/4 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt (table salt)
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 lemon, zest grated
1 cup plus 1 tbsp cold, unsalted butter (see pro-tip above)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (plus more if needed)
3 tbsp melted butter
sugar for sprinkling (about 3 tbsp in total)
Lemon Cream:
1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup unsalted butter (room temp or from the fridge is fine)
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions:
Scones:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or butter it).
Whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add sugar, salt and lemon zest and stir to combine. Grate frozen butter over the dry ingredients (alternatively, cut butter into 1/2″ cubes and using a fork cut butter into dry ingredients with the back of a fork). When you are finished, the butter should be dispersed throughout the flour in approximately pea-sized lumps.
Add the buttermilk all at once along with the pomegranate seeds and mix gently with a wooden spoon until the dough holds together. If the mixture seems dry, add a little bit more buttermilk. (I added 3 more tablespoons of buttermilk.)
Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Divide the dough into two even portions. Using your hands, pat each portion into a circular disk about 1.5″ thick. Brush the top with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Using a biscuit cutter or any round cutter, cut each disk into 8 circles, gathering the scraps together to shape another circle unit the batter is used up. (You can also cut the batter into triangles if you don’t have a circular cutter.)
Transfer scones to baking sheet. Bake until the tops of the scones are lightly browned, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Lemon Cream:
Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.
Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, butter, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.)
Place the bowl over the saucepan and whisking constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick. This will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool, stirring from time to time to release the heat.
You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To use after refrigeration, if necessary, gently heat in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water until it has softened, whisking constantly.
Serves scones along side lemon cream.
Enjoy!
I am a big fan when the line between breakfast foods and desserts gets really blurry. Crisps, cobblers, and this cake all walk a fine line between an amazing dessert topped with ice cream or whipped cream and breakfast served with a nice cup of coffee and perhaps even some thick Greek yogurt. By adjusting the sugar content against the eggs, flour, and fruit ratios make me feel great about eating this for breakfast. I’ll leave it up to you – breakfast or dessert?
For me, this is going to be my breakfast and possibly my mid afternoon snack. Hey, a pregnant lady’s gotta eat. And apparently, eat a lot of lemon-raspberry ricotta cake. I may even been eating a piece as I type. I do need to say, it’s really good. This recipe would work really well if you divided it up between little loaf pans and enjoy this cake as a loaf. That may also ease any guilt you have about eating cake for breakfast.
Slightly Adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes one 9″ cake, 8-10 servings
Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp kosher salt
3 large eggs
1.5 cups ricotta
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Lemon zest, from 1/2 a lemon
Lemon juice, from 1/2 a lemon
1.5 cups frozen raspberries, divided
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9”-diameter cake pan with parchment paper and lightly coat with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl.
