Lovely Lemons- Baking Traditional Home's Cake and Gardening

It's been a while since I've done a cooking post, probably because I've not done much cooking of late! Over the weekend though, I used our cul-de-sac Easter Egg Hunt party as the perfect excuse to try out the Lemmon Poppy Seed Coconut cake featured in this month's Traditional Home Magazine. Truth be told, the recipe did not actually appear in the magazine and readers "lit up" TH's Facebook page. (I wonder if that means Traditional Home will no longer feature fabulous food photos or if they'll start offering recipes? Design and good food seem to go along so well together. Remember Met Home's fabulous recipes?)

It's a slightly complicated, yet not terribly difficult recipe. And the results are worth it. Here it is, interspersed with my pictures.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Layer Cake

Prepare Lemon Curd filling the day before you bake the cake. Chill overnight.

Note: Forgot to make ahead of time. Put in fridge for the initial stage of cooling and then the freezer for a bit. Worked fine.

Lemon Curd (see recipe)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel (from 3 large lemons)

4 large eggs

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon extract

3 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons poppy seeds

Coconut Buttercream Frosting (see recipe)

4 cups natural raw chip coconut (about 5 to 6 ounces), toasted*

Note: I used regular bagged coconut and it was fine!

Fresh strawberries

Prepare Lemon Curd. Cover; chill at least 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two (9x1-1/2 inch) round baking pans. Set aside. In very large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lemon peel on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon juice and lemon extract. (Mixture may look curdled.)
Note: it looked very curdled. Not to worry!

In another large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Fold in poppy seeds.

Yummy!

Divide cake batter evenly between prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; cool completely. When cakes are cool, trim tops of cakes if necessary to make them flat. Split cakes in half horizontally to create four cake rounds.

Note: Mr. Southern did a fabulous job. I am miserable at cutting in a straight line, be it a cake or wrapping paper.

To assemble, place one cake round on cake plate. Spread with 1 scant cup Lemon Curd. Top curd with another cake round and another scant cup of curd. Repeat with third cake round and the remaining curd. Top curd with last cake round.

Note: Use more than a "scant" on your first layer or you'll have lemon curd left over. Better yet, divide it into thirds so you know how much to use! I added a bit of the frosting in the middle layer as well.

Frost top and sides of cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting. Sprinkle toasted coconut on top of cake and press into sides of cake. Serve immediately with fresh strawberries, or store cake in refrigerator.

Let chilled cake stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

So while my cake is not quite as beautifully styled as the one featured in the magazine, it looked pretty good! (I think).

Lemon Curd:
In large saucepan stir together 1-1/3 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir in 1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon peel, 3/4 cup lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

In large bowl lightly beat 7 egg yolks. Slowly stir about half of hot lemon juice mixture into eggs. Return lemon-egg mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring continuously over medium heat until mixture comes to gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until melted and well combined. Cover surface of curd with waxed paper or plastic wrap. Chill curd at least 8 hours or until firm. Makes a scant 3 cups lemon curd.

Coconut Butter Cream Frosting:
In large mixing bowl beat 1 cup softened butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually beat in 2 cups powdered sugar. Beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon coconut extract. Gradually beat in 4 cups additional powdered sugar until smooth, with spreading consistency. If necessary, beat in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make spreading possible. Makes about 3-1/4 cups frosting.

*To toast coconut: Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut in shallow baking pan. Heat about 5 minutes or until coconut is fragrant and just barely toasted, stirring once. Cool completely.

For the Gardening portion.... let's take a look at my Improved Meyer Lemon tree, which we just moved outdoors. Ahhh, beautiful flowers (and they smell fabulous!)

Unfortunately, you can see that the leaves aren't as healthy as I'd like...

I believe we have an infestation of spider mites(??). So off to get Horticultural Oil and get rid of those nasty buggers. Oh how I long for a green thumb.

Oooh and I almost forgot- our little Easter Bunny! We have a big adoption weekend coming up, so I'm training her to look as cute as possible.

Have a Happy Week!

Emmie

READ MORE - Lovely Lemons- Baking Traditional Home's Cake and Gardening

Living it up at South Beach

Just returned from Miami, Florida for the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. This is one of my favorite festivals of the year and I'm fortunate enough to be able to attend several of the great events. On Thursday, we went to Rachael Ray's Burger Bash. You can see Rachael (sort of) below as she she thanks the sponsors of the event. That haze you see is not from my poor photo skills- the tent gets really smoky. With the chilly weather in Miami this year though, I was thankful for any heat source I could find!

Last year I got to meet Bobby Flay... and this year... !

Here we are! It was a fantastic event- each of the 27 restaurants had their own kitchen/booth and served their take on the best "burger." The place was PACKED and it was difficult to navigate the tent- especially being part of a 10-person group. via YumSugar

Chefs in attendance (and cooking) included Spike Mendelsohn, Morimoto, Michael Symon, and Rocco DiSpirito. I think my favorite was David Burke's Primehouse- a 40 Day Dry Aged Burger - With Cheddar, Cripsy Shrimp, Pickle Chipotle Mayo, Maple Pepper Bacon and Pickled Watermelon Skewer... but I LOVED Spike's cotton candy milkshake. Blackberry Farm attended this year (with a fabulous Bacon-Beef Burger with Chow Chow, Pimento Cheese, Ramp Mayonnaise and Pickled Okra on Potato Onion Bread and a side of baked peanuts). Admittedly, I voted for their burger as I just got so excited for the Southern representation. Get more details here at Burger Beast (they must have avoided the Amstel Light and the Columbia Crest reserve wines and brought a notebook or something... their notes are impressive!) or at Mango and Lime.

We ended the evening here...

Rose Bar at the Delano via CoolJunkie

Friday was lunch at Emeril's place at the Lowe's Hotel. Isn't this view fantastic?

The service here has always been fabulous, and this year was no exception. The gumbo was awesome and perfect for restoring some semblance of normalcy to my poor body after the evening prior. No sighting of Emeril... until later in the day!

We attended the for-the-trade tasting that afternoon. The line for our glass and gift bag- which you must get before entering the tent- was crazy long (you can see the tent in the distance)...

but with views like this, it is hard to complain!


The line wrapped around to the street, so we took in the scenes from Ocean Drive...


The intent of the Trade Tasting is that folks in the industry get a chance to try some of the Reserve wines and spirits available in the market. Over time, this event has turned into a free-for-all with people getting smashed. While this may look like a grown-up drinkfest, it was great to speak with some of the winemakers and other experts about the different types of wine they produce. And see a few "familiar" faces...

That evening was the BubbleQ, this year sponsored by Perrier Jouet and hosted by Emeril Lagasse. photo via SOBE Food and Wine

Same tent as the Rachael Ray event- only this time, it's Champagne and BBQ. I was smarter this night and broke away from the group with two other guys to try to make it through as much of the tent as possible. Tim Love, from Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Ft Worth had my favorite dish- lamb belly BLT.

Todd English was graciously taking photos (our group had grabbed a table in front of his booth)


but Emeril was a little harder to nab. But how cool to see him working!

Again, the evening was dominated by the who's who of FoodTV, but great to see some other familiar faces like Al Roker! Some of the Bravo Real Housewives of NYC were in town apparently- saw photos of Bethenny at the BubbleQ event, while Kelly attended the Best of the Best.photo via SOBE Food and Wine

Despite the $$ tickets (even more than the Burger Bash) the tent was packed with people overflowing outside both ends of the tent.

My hosts also got us VIP tickets to the Svedka event that evening so we went out like dancing queens...We had a fantastic wine educational seminar Saturday morning hosted by Wine Spectator at the Gansevoort South (yes, we began with sampling Pommery at 10 o'clock in the morning). Of all the events, this one is the most serious educational one and for any wine lover, just an unbelievable experience. (Sidenote, you MUST spit to get through the event with your senses in tact).

While I had an incredible time, by Saturday afternoon, I was missing Mr. Southern terribly and couldn't wait until Sunday evening to head home. After a tearful phone call, I booked a last-minute flight back to Atlanta and enjoyed Saturday evening on the couch with the fam. So much for being a rock star... that spot is where I'd much rather be!

READ MORE - Living it up at South Beach

Bring Georgia Home (supporting local farmers)

There's a lot of buzz about Buying Local or Buying Regional now... whether for environmental reasons (reducing one's carbon footprint- though there is some debate about the legitimacy of this), improved quality, or just to support local business. Whether it's Fresh from Florida, Georgia Grown, Make Mine Mississippi, or another catchy tagline, many states are putting funds through grants and marketing dollars toward supporting local farmers.

Personally, I like the idea of buying to support the farmers. Did you know that there are just a handful of peach farmers left in Georgia!? And this is the peach state! I had the opportunity to speak with a fourth-generation peach farmer a few weeks ago for work and it was incredibly interesting. I'd love to see more people understand where their food comes from. Oh, and by the way, most of the supermarkets in your city probably do carry Locally Grown produce items. Some just do a better job than others communicating it.

But enough lecture, let's celebrate just some of what Georgia offers. This post idea originated as I was making dinner Saturday and honestly it didn't even occur to me that much of these items came from Georgia.

Wild Georgia Shrimp and Vidalia Onion Grits

Note that the grits are from Georgia as well! And if I used Sweet Grass Dairy, the cheese could have been from Georgia.

* Marinate shrimp in 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, juice from 12 lime (or lemon), and splash of soy sauce.

* Turn grill onto medium-high heat.

* Meanwhile, prepare Caramelized Onion and Grits. I was captivated by Vintage Victual's Vidalia Contest and used the recipe here though I substituted smoked mozzarella for the goat cheese.

* Toss shrimp on grill till pink; turn. Cook for about one more minute.

* Serve shrimp on top of grits with side of veggie. (I should have used Georgia-grown zucchini, but the Georgia meal idea occurred to me after I started dinner).

Georgia Blackberries (with some California Raspberries) Cobbler, inspired by Martha Stewart

* Pour 20 oz-worth of berries into a 5x11 (roughly) baking dish.

* Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used half and half).
* Cut 1 stick cold butter into little cubes. Using a pastry blender, incorporate butter into 1 cup flour, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Drizzle 1 1/2 teaspoons ice cold water and form dough into a ball. (you may use less water if it's a particularly humid day). You can incorporate in a Cuisinart too, but I think it makes the pastry a little more tough.

* Roll out dough to cover the dish. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for 15 minutes.

* Preheat oven to 425.

* After the dough is sufficiently chilled, place on top of berries. My version looks pretty crappy, as I let it get too cold and it cracked, but hey, that adds to the homemade goodness, right? Plus, when it's baked, doesn't it look better?

* Bake for 25 minutes. Serve by iteself or with ice cream!

Enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of your state! (or if you're lucky, your own garden).

-Emmie

READ MORE - Bring Georgia Home (supporting local farmers)

Turning on the Heat

It's funny to read many of the posts from those of us who live in the South at this time of year as so many of them reference the heat. As we all know, many (if not all) homes had kitchens in separate buildings given the risk of fire and the heat. I'm sure Terry could tell us the entire history- I googled quickly and didn't find much. This concept is making a comeback with the Outdoor Living trend and I for one find it quite practical.

While our outdoor kitchen is not quite to the same level as the photo shown above, we do have a trusty stainless steel grill fueled by our gas line. In the summer, we grill almost every night of the week as it's (1) easy prep and cleanup (2) healthy (for the most part) and (3) yummy. Plus, it gives me an excuse to put my herbs to use. Sadly, I've allowed my cilantro to seed and "run" but still... look at the happy herbs!

I was particularly pleased with last night's dinner and thought I'd share- Grilled Corn and Shrimp with Mango Salsa. I totally made this up on the fly, so pardon the round measurements.

First, preheat the grill. Then toss shrimp in plastic ziploc bag with juice from 1 lime or lemon, diced garlic (a tablespoon worth), a healthy pinch of kosher salt, and a splash of olive oil. Keep in fridge.

Start preparing the corn- pull down the husk and remove the silk. It is not imperative that you remove all the silk- the grilling acdtion will make it much easier to remove. Spread margarine lightly on corn and sprinkle with Emeril's seasoning. Note that the corn below is bi-color corn- it looks like it has globs of butter on it but those are really the white kernels!

Pull the husk back over the corn and put on the grill at medium heat. I've tried grilling without the husk and find it much more challenging to manage the cooking time.

Prepare the mango salsa. This will give the flavors a chance to meld. Cut two mangos, add 2 slices worth of chopped red onion, 1/2 jalapeno pepper (remove seeds first), handful of cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, juice of 1/2 lime, and lime zest. Set aside. Run out to grill to turn corn 1/4 turn. If it takes you a while to chop everything, turn the corn in between!

Prepare flavored butter for corn. Mix chopped cilantro, lime zest, and pinch of salt in with butter.

Drink glass of wine with significant other.

Turn corn another quarter turn.

Move corn to cooler part of grill and turn heat up to high. Toss shrimp on grill. Turn corn if needed. Wait 1 minute and flip shrimp.

Corn should look like this. I always poke a few kernels to see how they are. The whole cooking process for the corn should be about 20-30 minutes. Leaving the husks on gives you a lot more flexibility on the cooking time, I think, and increases the likelihood of good moisture.

Plate up the corn and the shrimp. Toss Mango Salsa on top of shrimp. Serve with sliced avocados and a salad!

-Emmie

READ MORE - Turning on the Heat

Cabin in the Woods = My Kind of Camping

One of my girlfriends believes that a hotel without room service constitutes camping.  I can go a little farther than that, but why in the world go camping when you can have all the great things about camping (nature, fires, S'Mores) and a nice bed and running water?  

We had a lovely weekend at one of the Sliding Rock Cabins in Ellijay, Georgia (in the mountains, somewhere).  Huge "shout out" to SLR because they allow dogs- no pet fees- and we didn't have to exaggerate about the number of dogs we have We have 3, but when push comes to shove, we have 2 breeds- Golden Retriever(s) and a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix.  Yes, in my head, this somehow justifies breaking the rules.

We stayed in a lovely rustic cabin right on the river and went hiking during the day....side note: I really need to learn how to take pictures as this waterfall was just beautiful.

And had a "camp fire" and roasted S'Mores!  

My secret for super-fabulous S'Mores:

Graham Crackers cut into quarters (I considered the low-fat variety, but why bother?)

Marshmallows- roasted one at a time, preferably over embers rather than roaring flames

Lindt Chocolate- one rectangle

Now here's the key- insert the little rectangle of chocolate into the center of the marshmallow (where the skewer was) and the chocolate will melt inside the marshmallow.  Ooey gooey yumminess.  I also find that I prefer the roasted marshmallow-chocolate to graham cracker ratio best when broken into quarters rather than halves.  Yes, this is a ridiculous thing to obsess about, but whatever.

I'll end with a picture of one of the kids, Tilghman, waiting patiently to go on our walk.

READ MORE - Cabin in the Woods = My Kind of Camping

A Sip of Summer

The Mint Julip

One of the ladies at my church volunteer meeting the other day offhandedly made the comment, "Mint Julip season starts this weekend." Ahh. And I had to smile.

What makes this comment even better was that it was from a very proper, older Southern woman (80s???). While my life has certainly passed too quickly as it is, I must admit I look forward to my retirement days when I can sit on my porch in my rocking chair sipping Mint Julips.

So, in the spirit of Mint Julips and Southern Summer Porches, here are some pictures of great potential sipping spots- of course, with a recipe courtesy of Pittypat's Porch via Girly Drinks.

Tonic Home

Southern Accents

Southern Accents

Southern Accents

Southern Accents

Southern Accents

3 oz. of Bourbon Whiskey
1/2 oz. of Mint Juilip Mixture (simple syrup-melt sugar 1 cup sugar in 1/2 cup of water
Crush mint and mix with sugar mixture )

Serve over crushed ice

READ MORE - A Sip of Summer