Lemon Angel Food Cake

So the bad news is that several days ago, our freezer broke. When we discovered our broken freezer, several items had thawed, including my stash of egg whites. I knew I needed to use them up soon, but the broken freezer necessitated that I use them this weekend. The good news is that I was able to use them all in this delicious angel food cake recipe.

This angel food cake is as light as a feather—it’s like eating fluffy clouds! The lemon zest imparts a lovely flavor in this cake, which can be served plain, with fruit, or with the lemon glaze.

Source: Lemon Angel Food Cake, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients
2 cups sifted superfine sugar, divided
1 ⅓ cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 ½ cups egg whites, at room temperature (10 to 12 eggs)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

Lemon Glaze:
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine ½ cup of sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. Set aside.

Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs make medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 ½ cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. Whisk for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Whisk in the vanilla and lemon zest and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. Sift about ¼ of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour by fourths by sifting and folding until it's all incorporated.

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack until cool.

For lemon glaze, whisk together ingredients and drizzle on top of cake.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

You gotta love recipes that have only five total ingredients, especially when they are so full of flavor like this one! Even with a busy work week, this dish is easy enough to pull together. I made the marinade and let the chicken soak in the sauce overnight. Then I popped the baking pan in the oven when I came home from work—too easy! The chicken came out browned, moist, and delicious with the flavors of the ginger and honey permeating the meat.

I served this dish with basmati rice and roasted carrots to round out dinner. Thanks to Todd of A Cooking Dad for selecting this Barefoot Bloggers recipe.

Source: Indonesian Ginger Chicken, Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
1 cup honey
¾ cup soy sauce
¼ cup minced garlic (8 to 12 cloves)
½ cup peeled and grated fresh ginger root
2 (3 ½ pound) chickens, quartered, with backs removed

Directions
Cook the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger root in a small saucepan over low heat until the honey is melted. Arrange the chicken in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan, skin side down, and pour on the sauce. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan, turn the chicken skin side up, and raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Continue baking for 30 minutes or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh and the sauce is a rich, dark brown.

Basmati Rice

This basmati rice was a great side dish! The onions were a nice addition to offer texture and a buttery sweet flavor. The rice was fluffy and light and a perfect accompaniment with dinner.

Source: Basmati Rice, Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup long grain basmati rice
1 ¾ cups water
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Directions
Cook the butter and onions over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and toss until all of the grains are coated with the butter. Add the water and salt, cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the scallions and parsley, fluff with a fork, and serve.

Roasted Carrots

Roasting really brings out the flavor of vegetables, and it couldn’t be any easier to prepare! It’s a simple toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper before going into a hot oven. The trick is to keep the carrot pieces similar in size so that they cook evenly. A tasty and simple side dish!

Source: Roasted Carrots, Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
12 carrots
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

If the carrots are thick, cut them in half lengthwise; if not, leave whole. Slice the carrots diagonally in 1 ½-inch-thick slices. (The carrots will shrink while cooking so make the slices big.) Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer to a sheet pan in 1 layer and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until browned and tender.

Toss the carrots with minced dill or parsley, season to taste, and serve.

Easy Lemon Cake

McHubby had a bit of a sweet tooth today, scrounging around the kitchen for something to snack on. So, I whipped up this cake—it really was that easy, just a matter of throwing the ingredients in the stand mixer while preheating the oven and pouring the batter into a Bundt cake pan. Super easy and super tasty—it doesn’t get better than that! When served warm on a cold day, it melts in your mouth!

Source: Susan’s Lemon Cake, The Cake Mix Doctor

Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3 ounces) lemon gelatin
⅔ cup vegetable oil
⅔ cup hot water
4 large eggs

Glaze:
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

Directions
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, gelatin, oil, water, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula, and place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it is light brown and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a serving platter. Spoon the glaze evenly over the warm cake so that it drizzles down the sides and into the center. Slice and serve warm, or let it cool before slicing.

Smoked Sausage and Black-Eyed Peas

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity. This one-pot dish is super easy to prepare and so tasty—delicious Southern comfort food! Basically, it's just a matter of throwing everything in the pot and letting it simmer for 1 ½ hours, until the beans are tender. What a great meal on such a cold and lazy New Year's Day!

Source: Smoked Sausage and Black-Eyed Peas, Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients
1 pound smoked sausage
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
4 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
3 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
8 cups chicken stock
1 pound black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cornbread muffins
1 tablespoon chopped green onions

Directions
In a large pot, over medium heat, render the sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in the onions, salt, cayenne, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onions are wilted. Stir in the chicken stock, peas and garlic. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook for 1 ½ hours, or until the peas are tender. Spoon the peas and sausage in the center of a shallow bowl. Garnish with green onions. Serve with cornbread muffins.

New Year Waffles

Last year on New Year’s Day, McHubby went to our friend Kim’s house for waffles and monkey bread and the company of good friends. We had so much fun and wanted to carry on this new tradition—for today’s New Year breakfast, we had some neighbors over for a small waffle party. We used our new Belgian waffle iron to make these delicious waffles. For the waffle spread, we had blueberries, sliced strawberries, mini chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, powdered sugar, whipped cream, butter, and maple syrup. What a wonderful way to start the New Year! Happy New Year, everyone!

Source: Basic Waffles, Cuisinart recipe booklet

Ingredients
6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ cup baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 ½ cups reduced-fat milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions
Combine all ingredients, in order listed, in a large mixing bowl; whisk until well blended and smooth. Let batter rest 5 minutes before using.

Preheat the waffle maker to desired setting.

Pour a scant 2 cups of batter onto the center of the lower grid of the preheated waffle maker; spread batter evenly using a heafproof spatula. Close lid of waffle maker. When tone sounds, waffles are ready. Open lid and carefully remove baked waffles. Repeat with remaining batter. For best results, serve immediately.

Makes 16 waffles.