Chicken with Thyme, Lemon and White Wine

We eat a lot of chicken in my house. But unless it's summer and we're using the grill, it's very rare for us to just eat a chicken breast for dinner. Usually I serve chicken in things: pastas, salads, various casseroles. Sometimes, though, for simplicity's sake, it's nice to just be able to serve a piece of chicken, as-is. On the night I made this, I didn't have a particular recipe in mind; I just kind of winged it based on what I had on hand. The results were truly outstanding!

This recipe fancies up a plain old chicken breast with the additions of thyme, lemon and white wine. The chicken cooks in butter that has been infused with the thyme, and then gets a bath in a bright, fragrant sauce made with chicken stock, white wine, and splash of lemon juice. The chicken stays so moist, and every bite is loaded with flavor.

If you have some chicken breasts on hand and have no idea what to do with them, here's a simple recipe with just a few ingredients to make them taste fancy and delicious.

Chicken with Thyme, Lemon and White Wine

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

Juice of 1 lemon

1. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Strip the leaves from the thyme sprigs. Add the thyme leaves to the melted butter and let them cook for a few minutes until fragrant.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook, turning once, until browned and cooked through. Remove to a plate, cover with foil, and keep warm.

3. To the same skillet you used for the chicken, add the white wine. Let it reduce, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to pick up any browned bits. After the wine is reduced, add the chicken stock and bring it to a bubble. Reduce the heat and return the chicken to the pan. Let it cook for a few more minutes in the sauce.

4. Just before serving, squirt the lemon juice over the skillet.

Lovely Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello, my name is Cassie, and I have a Seasonal Sprinkles Addiction.

It all started with these sugar cookie bars, the first time I made them for Christmas. I just had to buy festive sprinkles to adorn them. When I made them again for Valentine’s Day, they were just begging for a sweet topping of tiny hearts, colored sugar, and festive nonpareils. By the time the Easter goodies hit the shelves, I was completely addicted to sprinkles. I bought a giant multi-pack of Easter-themed sprinkles at the grocery store, and when I saw some different ones a few weeks later at another store, I bought another one. The question then became: What am I going to do with all these Easter sprinkles? A secondary question was: Is there some sort of Sprinkle-holics Anonymous meeting I can attend?

I’ve been craving lemon baked goods for I don’t know how long now, and when my stepmom hosted a family dinner recently and asked me to bring dessert, these cupcakes seemed like the perfect thing to make. In addition to fulfilling my craving (and making my family happy, too, since they’re lemon-loving people), it would also be a great way to use up my surplus of sprinkles.

These cupcakes are delicious. Yes, they start with a boxed mix, but the additions of sour cream and the zest and juice of a lemon make them taste homemade. They’re moist and fluffy, with the perfect balance of sweet and tangy elements. The frosting is a lemon cream cheese frosting that I wanted to (and did, actually) eat with a spoon. It was creamy and sweet and just perfect to go on top of the cupcakes. And not only did my extended family love them, my sons did, too. This thrilled me, since their father is not a lemon fan. I’m happy to report that the boys seem to have inherited my lemon love.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Lovely Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
cupcakes adapted from Sugar Plum; frosting is my recipe

For the cupcakes:

3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 box lemon pudding mix
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 box lemon cake mix

For the frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
5 cups powdered sugar
Splashes of heavy cream
Yellow food coloring, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together the eggs, sour cream, pudding mix, oil and milk until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in lemon juice, lemon zest and cake mix until moistened. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat an additional 1 minute.

3. Divide batter into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until well risen, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached (mine definitely took the full 20 minutes). Cool 5 minutes in pans before transferring to wire racks to cool.

4. To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, lemon zest, and powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Use heavy cream to thin out the frosting, if needed. Tint the frosting yellow with food coloring, if desired. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes, and decorate with sprinkles if desired. Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.

Lemon Cheesecake Fruit Dip

The Super Bowl is nearly upon us. I’m rooting for the Giants this year, not really because I like them, particularly, but more because I don’t like Tom Brady. My husband doesn’t either. We’re an anti-Brady household. The reasons for this are varied and not really all that important, I promise.

For me, the Super Bowl has always been more about the food than anything. It’s one of the few days a year when you can pig out on tons of foods and drinks that aren’t very good for you, because everyone else around you is doing the exact same thing. Today, I’m bringing you something lighter to add to your Super Bowl spread. It’s still not “good” for you, exactly, but you’ll be eating it with fruit, so at least you’ll get something of nutritional value!

This lemon cheesecake fruit dip is simply delicious. It has a wonderful lemon flavor and a creamy texture that makes it perfect for dipping. And it comes together in less than five minutes. I made this for Will’s birthday party last month, and I got tons of compliments and requests for the recipe. I served it with apple slices, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, and graham crackers. My favorite dipper was the grapes, but Andrew much preferred strawberries (as you can tell by his hand in the photo), and Will? Well, he preferred to just eat handfuls of the dip. Not that I blame him. If I could have gotten away with it, I probably would have done the same thing. I’m not two years old with pinchable cheeks, though. ;)

Lemon Cheesecake Fruit Dip
seen on Taste and Tell and originally from The Real Mom Kitchen Cookbook

1 6-ounce container lemon flavored yogurt
1 7-ounce container marshmallow creme
1 8-ounce container whipped cream cheese
Zest of 1 lemon

With a hand mixer, blend all of the ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Reserve a small amount of the lemon zest to sprinkle on top, if desired. Serve with fresh fruit.

Lemon Yogurt Sugar Muffins

Lemon. Yogurt. Sugar. Muffins. What’s not to love about those four words? When you put them all together, they make up one luscious, irresistible sweet treat that would be absolutely perfect for Easter this weekend.

As soon as I saw this recipe pop up in my blog reader, I knew I’d be making these muffins. This is in spite of the fact that my husband detests lemon desserts (he had a bad experience with something called “lemonade pie” years ago, and it really stuck with him). I’m so glad that I made them anyway, because my boys and I loved them -- and I even caught Joe sneaking a second muffin after he’d just told me that they were only “all right.” He has a lemon-hating reputation to uphold, apparently.

These muffins remind me of the pumpkin doughnut mini muffins I love so much, in that both muffins are dipped in butter and rolled in sugar. It’s such a wonderful method to use to add a different textural element. I upped the lemon flavor of these even more by using lemon yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt called for in the original recipe. I love the way the crackly, sweet sugar complimented the soft, tangy muffins. I’m going to try this with oranges, too, and I can almost guarantee that version will be just as delicious.

By the way, if you haven’t checked out Reeni’s blog, you really should. She has so many incredible original recipes. Somebody needs to get that girl a cookbook deal!

Lemon Yogurt Sugar Muffins
slightly adapted from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter
Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl stir together milk, lemon juice, 1/4 cup butter, egg, yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla (don't worry if it looks clumpy or curdled).

3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add wet, stir just to combine. Spoon batter or use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin pan. Bake 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool pans on wire racks 5 minutes, then turn out and brush tops with melted butter. Dip or roll in sugar while still warm. Best eaten immediately. If they cool off and become sticky roll in sugar again.

Lemon Tassies

These lemon tassies are by far the most time-consuming cookies I’ve ever made. And to be honest, normally I would have passed this recipe off as too complicated without a second look. But these were Martha Stewart’s Cookie of the Day on an afternoon when I was really craving something lemony, and I was powerless to resist.

I’m so glad I took the time to make these, because they were absolutely delicious. The dough was really easy to work with, the filling was creamy and smooth, and together they had the perfect amount of lemon flavor without being too tart. They lasted for a few days in the refrigerator and I really loved the way they tasted cold. I did decide to forego the candied lemon zest listed in the original recipe, since that seemed like a lot of time to dedicate to a mostly decorative element, but I kept the rest of the recipe the same. (But in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you I added a couple drops of yellow food coloring to the filling just to make them look a bit more...lemony.)

These cookies are so adorable and elegant-looking, but they really aren’t complicated to make at all. In fact, I’ll probably even make these again using orange or lime zest. Yum!

Lemon Tassies
source: adapted from Martha Stewart

For the crusts:

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for pans
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in upper third. Lightly butter a 24-cup mini-muffin pan; set aside.

2. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flour and butter. Pulse until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Process until evenly incorporated and smooth; do not overprocess.

3. Divide the dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 pieces. Shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press down in the centers so that the dough fits the cups snugly. Set muffin pan on a baking sheet.

4. Bake until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet with muffin pan to a wire rack to cool.

5. Make the filling: In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until completely smooth.

6. Using a 1/4-ounce ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts. Bake until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to a wire rack. Let cool completely before serving.

Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon and Goat Cheese

Sorry today’s post is up a little later than usual. This day has sort of gotten away from me. Do you ever have days like that? You’re just going along, doing your thing, and suddenly you look down and six hours have gone by.

Anyway, I loved the pasta dish I’m sharing with you today. However, I was the only one in our house who really enjoyed it. Joe isn’t a big fan of lemon in savory dishes, and apparently Andrew is following in his footsteps, because although this dish is full of things he typically loves (pasta, asparagus, and goat cheese), he took one bite and didn’t want anymore. And honestly, I was okay with that, because it just left more for me! Did I mention I loved this pasta?

I made some changes to this recipe, the most notable being that I roasted the asparagus before I added it to the pasta. Pretty much any time a recipe calls for asparagus, you can bet I’m roasting it, no matter what the recipe says. I just love the nutty, rich flavor that roasting the asparagus brings out. My adapted version of the recipe is below.

This pasta dish is light and refreshing and tastes like spring. And it was so quick, too, which made it the perfect meal for a weeknight. Those boys don't know what they were missing.

Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon and Goat Cheese
source: adapted from Epicurious

1 pound penne pasta
1 pound slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 5- to 5 1/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange asparagus spears in a single layer on a baking sheet. Combine olive oil and butter and pour over asparagus. Season liberally with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Roast, tossing as needed, for 15 minutes or until spears are browned and tender.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, stirring occasionally.

3. While pasta is cooking, in a large bowl, combine lemon peel and goat cheese. Stir until smooth.

4. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Add hot pasta, asparagus, and 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid to bowl with cheese mixture. Toss to coat, adding more reserved liquid if dry. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.

Greek-Style Potatoes

I have a confession to make: I have never been to a Greek restaurant. I haven't tried a lot of traditional Greek dishes, so I can't tell you how much these potatoes taste like the ones you'd get in a Greek restaurant. What I can tell you, however, is that they are really good. Joe didn't really like them, but that's because he's not a huge fan of lemon, and these potatoes are very lemony. I knew when I started making them that he probably wouldn't like them, but you know what? Sometimes I have to make something just for me.

Some of the commenters on Allrecipes said the potatoes were bland, so I did a couple of things to combat that: I added lots of salt and pepper, and I used fresh herbs. If you don't like the flavor of lemon all that much, definitely cut back on the amount of lemon juice you use. Or, you know what? If you don't like the flavor of lemon, just skip these and make something else. Since rosemary and thyme both have lemony overtones, the dominant flavor in these potatoes is definitely lemon.

I liked them a lot and had two helpings. Andrew ate his fair share, too, so I guess he's following in my footsteps instead of his father's and is embracing citrus for all it's worth. Good boy.

Greek-Style Potatoes
source: adapted from Allrecipes.com

1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
6 potatoes, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, chicken stock, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper.

3. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of a medium baking dish. Pour the olive oil mixture over the potatoes. Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, turning occasionally. Uncover and cook for another half hour, until potatoes are tender but firm.

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies

Believe it or not, I found this recipe on the back of the cardboard insert of a Wilton cookie sheet I was using for the first time. I was in the mood for some cookies, and I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I thought I'd give them a try. I'm a huge fan of anything lemon-flavored, and I was intrigued by the lemon-white chocolate combination, which I don't think I'd ever had before.

I couldn't believe how good these little cookies were! They tasted exactly like lemon cake, so they were right up my alley. Joe even liked these, and he's not a huge fan of lemon (he had a bad experience with a something called "lemonade pie" a few years ago) (and no, it wasn't made by me!). These cookies are light and flavorful and just all-around delicious. They taste like summertime. I'm so glad I noticed the recipe before I threw that cardboard insert away!

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies
Source: Wilton

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well.

3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture; mix well. Stir in white chocolate chips and lemon zest.

4. Drop by tablespoonfuls or cookie scoop onto ungreased (Wilton!) cookie pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are a light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes in pan; remove and cool completely on cooling rack.

Oh my stars, Baklava Bars!

I've discovered that the only time I'm really able to bake now that I have Andrew is after he's gone to bed in the evenings. He goes to sleep at 7:30, so I still have plenty of time, but baking at night has been an adjustment. I guess the plus side is that now I get to go to sleep with the smell of delicious baked goods permeating my senses!

Baklava is my favorite dessert EVER. When I was younger, my mom dated a man whose mother made baklava all the time, and she always sent some over with him. When he and my mom broke up, I was more upset about losing my baklava hookup than anything else!

When this recipe was sent to me in my weekly Betty Crocker e-mail, I knew I had to make these bars right away. And they did not disappoint. They have all the flavor of a piece of baklava, but they're not nearly as tedious to put together as the traditional dessert. They are very, very rich and super-sticky, just like good baklava should be. Joe and I both really enjoyed these; Joe's only complaint was that the fillo shells cut the roof of his mouth. I didn't have that problem, but that could be because I was too busy enjoying the flavor and stuffing my face!


Baklava Bars
Source: Betty Crocker

Cookie base:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 egg

Filling:
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 frozen mini fillo shells

Glaze:
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350°. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir walnuts, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the salt with fork until mixture is well mixed and crumbly.

4. Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over partially baked base. With hands, crumble frozen fillo shells evenly over nut mixture. Bake 18 to 20 minutes longer or until golden brown.

5. Meanwhile, in small microwavable bowl, microwave 1/3 cup honey, 2 tablespoons butter, the brown sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon uncovered on High 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir in vanilla.

6. Drizzle honey mixture evenly over fillo. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

7. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Before serving, drizzle 1/2 teaspoon honey over each bar. Store covered at room temperature.

Linguine with Lemon and Shrimp

I printed a bunch of recipes off of Williams-Sonoma's website last week, and this is the first of them we've tried. Joe and I both liked this dish, although I don't know if it's something I'll put in the regular rotation. The flavors are very simple; I even added some butter and Parmesan cheese directly to the linguine itself, and I still thought the outcome was a little bit bland. The dish could have used some something; I just can't put my finger on what that something is.

I loved the lemon flavor, which made the dish seem light despite of the heavy cream. Marinating shrimp was something I'd never done before, but I thought the marinade (a simple combination of lemon juice and chives) was very effective. This is definitely elegant enough to serve at a dinner party, yet simple enough to serve any night of the week! Now if only I could figure out what it was missing...


Linguine with Lemon and Shrimp
Source: Williams-Sonoma

2 lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
2 tablespoon salt, plus more, to taste
1 pound linguine or fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

2. Grate 1 tablespoon of zest from the lemons (I used 1/2 tablespoon of zest, and I thought that amount was perfect) and squeeze 3 tablespoons of juice. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cream and lemon zest and heat until hot. Remove from the heat if the mixture begins to boil. In a small bowl, combine the shrimp, lemon juice and chives; set aside.

3. Add the 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until al dente, according to the package instructions.

4. When the pasta is within about 3 minutes of being al dente, in a fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring, until they are opaque throughout, about 2 minutes. Add the warm cream to the pan and season the sauce with salt and white pepper.

5. Drain the pasta and add it to the fry pan. Toss the pasta to coat with the sauce and serve immediately.

Strawberry Lemonade

There are certain things that just scream summer to me: grilling, the smell of freshly-mown grass, lightning bugs, and lemonade. There is absolutely nothing I'd rather do on a summer evening than sit on my front porch watching the world go by and nursing a tall, ice-cold glass of freshly-squeezed lemonade. That's why, when I saw a recipe for strawberry lemonade on one of my favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats, my mouth immediately started watering. Strawberries and lemons are a match made in culinary heaven, and when you put them together in drinkable form, forget it: totally delicious.

I'm hosting a bachelorette party tomorrow evening, and I needed a special non-alcoholic beverage to serve in addition to the margaritas and champagne I have planned, since two of the attendees are pregnant. I thought this strawberry lemonade would be perfect. Luckily for me, the strawberries were absolutely beautiful at the grocery store: ruby red and plump and sweet and so, so juicy. I brewed a pitcher of the lemonade last night, and of course I had to have a glass for myself. The verdict: absolutely delicious, everything I was hoping for. It's sweeter than it is tart, and the strawberry flavor really shines through. I think this would be delicious with lime juice, too -- it would taste just like a strawberry margarita, minus the alcohol!

I hope the pregnant ladies enjoy this lemonade. I know when I was pregnant, I couldn't get enough of everything strawberry...so hopefully they're the same way.

(By the way, stay tuned for more recipes from the bachelorette party later in the week...including a very naughty take on Paula Deen's strawberry cake!)


Strawberry Lemonade
Source: Annie's Eats

For the lemonade:
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup very hot water
1 cup fresh lemon juice
4 1/2 cups cold water
1 recipe strawberry puree
sugar, lemon slices, fresh strawberries for garnish

For the strawberry puree:
1 dry pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon frsh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold water

1. For the strawberry puree, blend the berries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a food processor or blender until smooth. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and discard the seeds. Stir in additional sugar, if needed.

2. In a pitcher, combine the sugar and hot water and stir until the sugar has dissolved into a syrup. Stir in the lemon juice and cold water.

3. Add the strawberry puree and stir to combine.

4. Pour over ice into tall glasses rimmed with sugar. Garnish with fresh strawberries or lemon slices, if desired. Lemonade will keep at least three days in the refrigerator.