Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken and Pasta

The ricotta cheese in this dish added a nice creamy texture and I loved the wonderful lemony flavor.  My hubby devoured it and my kids (even the picky ones) ate it up and were asking for seconds.  I got the recipe for this deliciously creamy pasta dish from Michelle at Michelle's Recipe Box. This one's definitely going into our rotation! 

Click here for printable recipe.  

The ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 pounds)
salt and pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. grated lemon zest
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (I used 1-1/2 lemons to get enough juice and zest)
1 lb. spaghetti noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Pat chicken dry paper towel and season with salt and pepper. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Cook chicken until well browned and almost cooked through, about 4-5 minutes on each side.  Transfer to cutting board and cover with foil.  Let rest 5 minutes, then slice crosswise into chunks. 

Heat remaining oil in now empty skillet over medium heat until simmering.  Cook garlic and 3/4 teaspoon pepper until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add lemon juice and simmer, about 1 minute.  Add chicken  and any accumulated juices and cook an additional 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Drain the pasta in a colander over a bowl and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.  Return the drained pasta to the pot. 

In a separate small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest, and 1/4 tsp. salt.

Add to the drained noodles.  Stir together.  Add chicken mixture, parsley, and 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, adding more pasta water as needed for moisture.  ( I only used 1/2 cup total).

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 8.  Serve immediately with fresh, hot bread (like French Peasant Bread or the best Whole Wheat Bread).  Enjoy!

Grown Up Birthday Cake

Is your family like ours? We have a traditional birthday cake -- served every year for each one of our birthdays.

But, as we've aged, we've lost our "love" of frosting... and our taste buds have grown, more, shall we say -- sophisticated.

This year, for my sister's 23rd birthday {which just happens to be today}, I made her a grown up version of our traditional birthday cake!

White cake...
Lemon curd filling...
Vanilla whipped cream "frosting"... and,
Fresh raspberries!

It was a hit!  And... I believe, this will be our new traditional birthday cake!!

Grown Up Birthday Cake - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Yellow Cake Mix Recipe -- use 3 egg whites only, save the egg yolks for the lemon curd!

Lemon Curd

Vanilla Whipped Cream Frosting -- use 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1 tsp, vanilla and 3/4 C whipping cream and whip together.  

Happy Birthday, Little One!  Even though you have grown up... it's good to know you're never too old to be serious in a photo ;-)

This post is linked to:

• Tasty Tuesdays
• Lemon Round-Up

Layered Coconut-Lemon Cake

Ever since I started on my once-a-week sugar quest in February, dessert recipes have become pretty sparse here on the Recipe Shoebox.   This is a cake my teenage daughter created for us one Sunday, which just so happens to be my sugar day.  The way it all came together with the lemon filling, coconut, and fluffy frosting made it completely unforgettable in taste and presentation! 

 Click here for printable recipe.

LEMON FILLING: 

Juice and grated rind of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. butter, melted

Put all the ingredients in a double boiler ( a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water).  Stir over simmering water until thickened, about 15-20 minutes.  Chill.

CAKE:
6 Tbs. butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
2-1/4 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and beat until thick and lemon colored. With a fork, mix together dry ingredients and add them to the egg mixture alternately with the milk; stir in vanilla.  Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.  Divde batter between 3 well-greased 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool completely and remove from pans.  Before fosting cut off rough edges of cake with sharp scissors. 

FROSTING: 
1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
sweetened coconut

Stir the water, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt together in a small heavy-bottomed pan.  Hook a candy thermometer to the edge of the pan and boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240 degrees F. Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff.  Pour the 240 degree syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick and glossy.  Stir in vanilla.  Frost the cake and sprinkle coconut onto sides and over the top.

TO ASSEMBLE: 
Put the chilled lemon filling between the cooled cake layers--trying not to let too much of it get on the sides of the cake.

Frost the cake

then sprinkle on coconut thickly, gently pressing it into the sides.

During this process the cake may slip and slide a little, but just slide it back straight.  Garnish with raspberries, lemon slices, and/or mint leaves.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

In honor of our 3rd wedding anniversary, we celebrated by re-creating our wedding dinner -- including the wedding cake.

A dear friend of ours made our wedding cake, which was such a treat because I knew it would be safe for me to eat!

Inside that cake was a beautiful family tradition -- white cake with lemon filling.

Back then, we used a box of lemon pudding for the filling. But, over the last three years we've pretty much eliminated processed foods from our lives. So, this year, I needed to come up with another way to make our wedding cake!

I tried my hand at Lemon Curd for the filling...

And, it was amazing!

Nice and tart -- an excellent contrast to the sweet cake and yummy vanilla frosting.

Lemon Curd - Finding Joy in My Kitchen
{Print Recipe}

1 medium lemon
3 egg yolks
5 T sugar
2 T butter

Begin by zesting the entire lemon.

Then, combine the zest and the three egg yolks in a saucepan.

Add in the juice from 1 lemon, which should equate to 1/4 C lemon juice. And, then the 5 T sugar.

Mix well.

Heat the mixture over medium heat...stirring constantly. You don't want your eggs to cook, so be sure to heat gently and only until little bubbles form around the edges and the mixture thickens.


Remove from the heat and add your butter. Allow the heat from the curd to melt it.

Cover, and refrigerate until you're ready to use!!

Then, enjoy celebrating your anniversary!!

Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

With the end of the school year finally here in a couple of days my life has been filled with end-of-year parties, award ceremonies, and concerts that have put cooking on the back burner (hehe--I'm so punny tonight). Mostly we've been eating our old favorites, but last night I decided to try this new pasta dish a friend told me about. Quick and easy, this creamy pasta dish had a fresh lemony flavor that everyone loved. Next time I'll probably add in some garlic too for even more flavor.

Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
3 Tbs. butter, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1-pkg. (9-oz.) spinach pasta (in refrigerated section)
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
3 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: In a large skillet, saute the sliced chicken breasts in 2 tablespoons butter.

Saute on medium heat until lightly browned and tender (about 5-8 minutes). Remove from heat.

Cook noodles as directed on package. Drain and set aside.

Combine zest, 1 tablespoon butter, and juice in small sauce pan.

Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cream slowly and stir.
.

Remove from heat (sauce will be still be very liquidy).

In a large pan combine hot noodles, lemon sauce, and cooked chicken.

Immediately add Parmesan cheese and stir well until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened. Serve hot with an additional sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Serves 6. Enjoy!

Orange Slush

This "orange slush" is a summer must! My mom has been making it for as long as I can remember.

 One batch lasts all summer long (and then some) - so make it early, stick it in the freezer and enjoy!

Orange Slush - Mom                                                              {Print Recipe}

2 1/2 C water

2 1/2 C sugar

2 cans frozen orange juice

3 C pineapple juice

2 C real lemon juice

1 bottle of club soda

Boil the water and sugar together; cool. Then, add cans of OJ, pineapple juice, lemon juice and club soda. If you wish, you can toss in a little vodka too. Freeze the slush in a large ice cream pail.

To serve, thaw the slush about 30 minutes before serving. Fill a glass 3/4 of the way with slush. Then, add ginger ale to fill the glass up. Serve with a spoon, or a straw, and get ready to watch the smiles.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesday Tastes
• Delicious Dishes
• URS: Cool Foods

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce

I thought I was going to be able to cook all these new recipes during Spring Break, but I sort of forgot how crazy life suddenly gets with all 5 kids home from school.  Add to that, that the weather is stunningly gorgeous and we all want to spend every waking second outdoors and I'm decidedly not getting much cooking (or blogging) done this week.  I found the recipe for these pancakes in a new church cookbook I just got this past week.  I was intrigued by the ricotta cheese and the lemon and couldn't wait to cook them for my family.   These were light, subtly flavored, and very fine crumbed.  I felt like I was eating a gourmet version of pancakes.    Next time I make them I'll try them with fresh fruit and whipping cream. (Thanks to my friend Kylee for a yummy new recipe.)

Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:

PANCAKES: 
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup milk
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1-1/2 cups flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

SAUCE:
2-1/2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice until smooth.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt over the ricotta mixture and stir with  a wooden spoon until just combined.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Using rubber spatula, fold egg whites into ricotta mixture.

Cook pancakes on a lightly oiled griddle or skillet over medium heat until golden, 1-2 minutes per side.

For the sauce, combine raspberries and sugar in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Add up to 1/4 cup water to achieve desired consistency.  Serve pancakes warm with raspberry sauce or fresh fruit and whipped cream.  Makes 12 standard sized pancakes.  Enjoy!