Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

When was the last time you actually went on a picnic?  I’m sure many of you still find the time to do it.  But it just occurred to me that it has been years since we have loaded up a picnic basket and headed out for a day in the countryside.  We used to love to take David’s TR 8 convertible for a ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway and stop at overlooks with a view of the mountains.  We would spread a blanket and pull out our picnic fare and just relax for a while.  But now that we live at the lake, it is just as easy to sit on the porch and eat at home.

After making this dessert with a shortbread crust, a lemony filling and the blueberry topping, it came to mind that it would be perfect picnic fare.  Because it is baked in a foil package it would be easy to transport.  So now I am thinking of going on a picnic.

This dessert from Gourmet magazine would be the perfect ending to the meal.  It is refreshing and simple.  You can almost pick it up and eat it with your hands except for a few errant blueberries rolling free.  I came up with a picnic menu that I think everyone would enjoy.

SUMMERTIME PICNIC IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

Sweet-Ham and Havarti Sandwiches with Orange Pecan Mustard
Broccoli, Apples and Red Onion Salad
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Lemon-Lime Blueberry Squares

The highlighted recipes can be found by clicking on them.  Here is the dessert recipe.

LEMON-LIME BLUEBERRY SQUARES (Gourmet Magazine)

For Crust:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
6 tablespoons confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For filling:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 cups blueberries (10 oz.)
3 tablespoons apricot jam, heated and strained

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a buttered 8-inch glass baking dish with 2 (18-by-6-inch) sheets of foil, overlapping them in opposigte directions so that there is overhang on all 4 sides.

Pulse together flour, cornmeal, confectioners sugar, salt and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Press onto bottom of baking dish and 1 inch up sides.  Bake in middle of oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and zests.  Whisk in juices, milk, and a pinch of salt.  Toss blueberries with jam in another bowl.

Whisk egg mixture and immediately pour into hot crust, then bake until just set, about 17 minutes.  Gently spoon berries evenly over top and bake 2 more minutes more.  Transfer baking dish to a rack and cool.

Chill, covered, overnight (8 hours).  Use foil to lift dessert out of dish, then cut into squares.

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If you love lemons this is the dish for you.  But it is more than about lemons.  It is about butter, garlic and shrimp in a melange of lemon infused linguine.  I knew that this would be a great dish because it is a Barefoot Contessa recipe. This is even a quick and easy dish if you buy peeled and deveined shrimp.  I think one of the tasks that I hate most is peeling and deveining shrimp.  I once had to peel and devein eight pounds of shrimp for a friend’s birthday party and I thought I would lose my mind long before I finished two hours later.  I’m not sure now how long it really took, but I hated every second of it.  I don’t mind buying peeled and deveined shrimp if I can find them and will gladly pay extra from someone else to do it for me.

I have made several versions of shrimp and pasta here.  This is my favorite one so far.  The fresh parsley came from some that I planted in the planters on my deck.  I get all of my herbs from a local store called The Hickory Nut.  Sherry, the owner, grows many of her own plants and flowers in a greenhouse close by.  She also has chickens and I get my eggs from her also.  I am lucky to have such quality resources in our small community.

Spring and summer flowers and herbs make my happy.  So does this recipe.  Enjoy.

LINGUINE WITH SHRIMP SCAMPI

Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus 1 1/2 teaspoons

3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

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There is a new angle to the Sun these days.  Even though spring is not quite here, I can feel the promise of an end to winter.  We will be returning to Lake Lure at the end of the month.  Normally we would find the dogwood trees and the forsythia getting ready to bloom.  I am not so sure this year.  It has been such a brutally cold winter.  One of the things I look forward to at Lake Lure is my hummingbird feeder outside my kitchen window.  I like to believe that the same hummingbird couple come back every year.  In honor of spring and the return of my sweet hummingbirds, I made this hummingbird bundt cake.

The cake recipe first appeared in Southern Living Magazine in 1978.  It is a banana, pineapple and spice cake with a luscious cream cheese frosting.  It is usually presented as a layer cake, but this is a much easier version.  This recipe for a hummingbird bundt cake was in a recent Southern Living magazine.  I found it in a magazine at my hair dresser’s and got her permission to tear it out.

I love this cake.  Since we have company coming, it was a good excuse to make it.  Now if spring would just get the message that winter is over, we would all be happy.  Bring on the robins, blue jays and hummingbirds.  I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday at the Comforts of Home.

HUMMINGBIRD BUNDT CAKE

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large)
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed and softened
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoon milk ( You may need more.  My glaze was too stiff )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 4 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Sprinkle 1 cup toasted pecans into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan.  Spoon batter over pecans.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours).

Process cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp. milk in a food processor until well blended.  Add remaining 1 Tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. at a time, processing until smooth.  Immediately pour glaze over cooled cake, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup toasted pecans.

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Just the name of this dish conjures memories of meals at my Mother’s home.  This was one of her favorite ways to prepare chicken.  I am really surprised that I have not shared the recipe with you before now.  When I pulled some chicken thighs from the freezer yesterday, I knew that I wanted to make this sticky and succulent dish.  Although curry is an important part of the ingredients, the chicken does not taste at all like curry.  It is mainly sweet and moist with a lovely glaze.

We enjoyed this tonight.  When Mom made it she used a whole cut-up chicken; or two, depending on how many she needed to serve.  She was an expert at having enough food to feed a crowd.  I have been feeding more than our usual two lately.  Good friends from Michigan spent last weekend with us and next weekend we have our motorcycle gang here for several days.

I received the above hostess gift from our Michigan friends.  Hopefully you can see the hand stamped engraving on the silver salad utensils.  They say “Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen”.  Sandy ordered them from an Etsy shop run by a talented gal named Tanya.  If you are ever in need of an unusual gift, you will find many options on her site.  Thank you Sandy.  I will treasure this thoughtful gift.

I am linking this post to Tasty Tuesday, a new recipe party sponsored by The Comforts of Home.  There are some great recipes over there.  Enjoy this tasty chicken.

HONEY CURRIED CHICKEN

1 whole chicken, cut up or 6 to 8 chicken thighs, (I removed the skin)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder

Wash and dry chicken and place in a roasting pan.  Mix remaining ingredients in a saucepan and cook until butter is melted and a slow boil is reaached.  Pour over chicken.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Baste frequently during the last 20 minutes.

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When the weather outside is frightful, nothing tastes better than a hearty soup or pot pie.  To make it even more attractive, this hearty recipe is easy and can be on the table in no time.  Chicken pot pie has always been a favorite dish for me.  My husband, on the other hand, has a slight aversion to it.  When he was a child his Mother often served the convenient Banquet frozen chicken pot pies.  Although she was a good cook, she worked full time as a nurse and it was the 50’s.  Women were encouraged to give up home cooked meals for the convenience of such things as TV dinners and pot pies.  David hated those pot pies, so by association, even a homemade one is suspect.

This recipe is called a pot pie soup because the sauce or gravy is a bit thinner than what is usually associated with pot pies.  But it is plenty thick enough.  It is chuck full of chicken breast pieces, celery, onions, potatoes and mixed vegetables.  The soup mixture goes together quickly.  But the star of this show is the crust topping.  It uses a disk of store bought refrigerated pie dough that is baked separately from the filling.  I love the presentation.  All you need to do is crumble the crust over the filling.

The recipe was featured in last year’s Christmas addition of  Food Network Magazine.  Although it uses some convenience items, it is nothing like the frozen version that David grew up with.  He told me that it was the best chicken pot pie he had ever eaten.  That is the best endorsement that it could ever receive. Give it a try.  It will keep you warm and happy.

CHICKEN POT PIE SOUP

1 disk refrigerated pie dough
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Kosher salt
2 to 3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups water
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen mixed peas and carrots or mixed vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Unroll the pie dough onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with pepper and  a pinch of poultry seasoning; cut into quarters. Bake until puffed and golden, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes, then cook, stirring, 1 or 2 more minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.

Add the celery, onion, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning to the pot and cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Stir in 2 cups water, the broth, half-and-half and potatoes; cover and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes.  Add the peas and carrots and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.  Return the chicken to the pot and simmer until cooked through.  Divide among bowls and top with the crusts.  Serves 4.

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