Lemongrass Bars with Coconut Shortbread Crust

My friend, Suzi, is crazy about lemon bars, so I'm always on the lookout for a good bar I can make for her. When I came across this recipe for lemongrass bars in the March issue of Bon Appetit (the same issue I found the recipe for Fish Wrapped in Savoy Cabbage) I knew I had to try them.

The hardest thing about making these bars was having to lug out my food processor so I could pulverize the lemongrass with the sugar.  But other than that, this recipe was a breeze to make and I'll definitely be making them again!  The lemongrass filling was tart and delicious and the crust had just the right amount of chewiness.  Too bad Suzi wasn't around to taste these wonderful treats, but that just means I'll be making them again soon.  My plan is to exchange a batch of these bars for an invitation to her lake cottage!

It seems every dessert recipe I share involves coconut.  What can I say?  I am without apology!!  Coconut is one of my favorite flavors; from the milky juice to the moist, flaky flesh it is so versatile! 

Ingredients:

crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 T unsalted butter, room temperature

filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers peeled away, bottom white part only, finely chopped
5 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
powdered sugar

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Butter 13 X 9 inch baking pan.  Mix flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and 1/2 t salt together in a large bowl.  Using an electric mixer, add in butter and beat until well blended.

2.  Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan.  Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

3.  While dough is baking, place sugar and lemongrass in food processor and pulse until lemongrass is pulverized and mixed well with sugar.

4.  Add lemon juice and blend for 30 seconds.  Add eggs and process to blend briefly.  Add flour and a pinch of salt and process until smooth.

5.  Reduce oven temperature to 325.  Pour filling over crust and return to oven until filling is firm, about 25 minutes.

6.  Let cool.  Cut into squares and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Fish Wrapped in Savoy Cabbage with Caper Butter Sauce

In an effort to eat cheaper and healthier, I've been trying to make two meals a week meatless, and two meals a week with fish.  This is a recipe I've made a couple of times now and it's always been moist and tasty.  I think it's even good enough to serve to company.  And as an added bonus, it qualifies as an Emmi!

The only things that might ruin this recipe are overcooking the fish (which I have not yet done) or under cooking the cabbage (which happened to me last night.)  The flavor and texture of the fish was perfect, but the cabbage was crunchy, somewhat spoiling what would have been a perfect dinner!  Next time, I will either cook the cabbage longer, or maybe, cut out the tough stem.

Here's my version of the recipe that I found in the March issue of Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

9 T butter, at room temperature
4 T capers
2 T minced Italian parsley
6 large Savoy cabbage leaves
6 4-oz fish fillets (Halibut, Cod, or other firm fish of your choosing)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Method:

1.  Mince or finely chop 2 T of the capers and then add them to a bowl along with 5 T of the butter, the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and set aside.

2.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in the cabbage leaves.  Let cook for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how tough the leaves are.  You want them to be pliable enough to wrap around the fish.  Remove leaves, drain, and pat dry.

3.  Take one leaf and trim the thick part of the stem so the leaf will lie flat (or cut out and remove the stem completely.)

4.  Lay the leaf flat, stem end towards you, and place a fish fillet about an inch and a half from the bottom.  Sprinkle the fish lightly with salt and pepper.  Spread 1/6th of the caper butter on top of the fish.  Fold the bottom up, then the sides, then continue rolling until you have a nice, tight packet.  (Use a toothpick, if needed, to hold the packet shut.)

5.  Place the fish packet on a large baking sheet, seam-side down, and continue with remaining fish, cabbage, and caper butter.  Sprinkle packets with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

6.  Melt 1 T butter in a large, non-stick skillet.  Place the packets, seam-side down, in the skillet and cook until lightly brown (2-3 minutes.)  Turn fish over and repeat.  Return fish to baking sheet.

7.  Bake fish at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

8.  Melt remaining butter in skillet used to brown the packets.  Add remaining capers.  Cook over medium-low heat until butter turns a nutty brown.

9.  To serve, place a packet on a plate and drizzle with brown-butter sauce. 

Caper Butter

Getting ready to roll up the packet

Packets browning in the skillet

YUM!!

Grilled Eggplant Pizza

I'm wondering why in the world it has taken me so long to try pizza on the grill?  I love to use my grill and I love pizza (if it's done right!)  Flipping through magazines yesterday morning, I came across a recipe for grilled eggplant pizza.  The recipe seemed pretty simple, calling for just pizza dough, sauce, grilled eggplant, and cheese.  I might have made things a bit more complicated by making my own dough and sauce and adding caramelized onions, but the results were amazing!  It got rave reviews from both my husband and son.  Now that I've seen how easy this is, I'll surely be making it more often!

Since my son doesn't like eggplant, I left it off the first pizza.  I used pre-sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese and found that the slices were a bit too thick to melt nicely by the time the crust was done.  So on the second pizza, I tore the mozzarella into smaller chunks and it worked out much better.  I'm thinking the next time I make this, I might try goat cheese.

A quick word about grilling the pizzas.  I found that it works best if you let the grill get very hot, but then turn the flame down under the pizza when you put it on.  My grill has four burners.  I turned all four up on high and closed the lid.  I let the grill heat up to about 300 degrees.  Then, I turned the left two burners all the way down to the lowest setting, leaving the right two burners on high, and grilled my pizza on the left side.  This method worked out great.  You will probably have to experiment with your own grill to see what works for you.

Here is my recipe for grilled eggplant pizza, with recipes for the dough and sauce given below.  Happy eating!!


Ingredients:

Pizza dough (recipe below, or use your own)
2 cups pizza sauce (recipe below, or use your own)
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup (more or less) of olive oil
kosher salt
1 cup caramelized onions
handful of fresh basil leaves
mozzarella cheese (fresh or grated)
olive oil (for brushing the dough)

Method:

1.  Wash the eggplant and then slice it into rounds, about 3/4 inch thick.  Toss with olive oil sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

2.  Grill eggplant on hot grill just until soft and buttery, turning once.

3.  Stretch or roll pizza dough into two large oval disks.  Place each disk on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled.

4.  Brush olive oil onto one side of the dough and place on grill (see above).  The dough will begin to puff almost immediately.  Close the lid and cook for a few minutes, until the underside begins to speckle with dark brown.

5.  Remove disk to baking sheet, uncooked side up.  Brush new side with olive oil.  Turn disk over and arrange sauce, caramelized onions, torn basil leaves, grilled eggplant, and cheese on pizza.

6.  Return pizza to grill.  Close lid and cook until cheese melts and underside is cooked and speckled with dark brown spots.

7.  Repeat with other disk.

Eggplant slices grilling (I also made a grilled salad - recipe another day!)

Pizza dough, ready for the grill

Pizza on the grill!

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package active dry years
1 cup warm water
pinch white sugar
2 t kosher salt
1 T olive oil
3 cups (or slightly more) all-purpose flour

Method:

1.  In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sprinkle in sugar.  Let proof for 10 -15 minutes, or until frothy.

2.  Mix in salt, olive oil and flour.  Mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.  Add more flour if too sticky.

3.  Remove dough and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)

4.  Return dough to well oiled bowl.  Cover with damp towel and let rise until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

5.  Punch dough down.  Cover and let rise again until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

Dough is now ready to be shaped!


Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds Roma tomatoes
olive oil (about 4 T total)
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T fresh oregano leaves
1 T tomato paste
splash of red wine (optional)

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cut tomatoes in half and toss with about 2 T olive oil.  Place, cut side up, on a large baking sheet (I lined my sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easy.)    Sprinkle with oregano and kosher salt.

3.  Roast tomatoes until wilted and browned in spots (about 50 minutes.)

4.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Then, puree in a food processor.

5.  Heat remaining 2 T olive oil in pan.  Add garlic and cook until beginning to color.  Add sauce and tomato paste.  Swirl a pour of wine around in the processor bowl to remove all the sauce and dump into the pan.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Adjust to taste with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar, if needed.