Lemon Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

I hardly read the newspaper.  Mostly because of lack of time.  Anyway, on vacation this past weekend there were newspapers delivered to our door, so of course I picked one up and thumbed through it.  I came across the food section, which of course I automatically take interest in, and found two perfect recipes to make for a fun Valentines dinner.  These potatoes were very tasty!  At first I was a little hesitant to put lemon juice and zest in my mashed potatoes, but then I discovered that these weren't any ordinary mashed potato.  Surprisingly they were a hit with the kids too!  The picture above does not do them justice but take my word for it...they're delicious!  Oh, and I served them with steak, but I think they'd be great alongside chicken or fish too.

Lemon Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes 
{adapted from a recipe in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday Feb.13, 2011 edition}


INGREDIENTS: {serves 4-6}

• 6-8 large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks.
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• sea salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  Cut potatoes into 2 inch chunks and place in large pot.  Cover potatoes with cold water, bring to boil, and reduce to a simmer.  Cook until a fork or knife goes through easily, about 15-20 minutes.  Drain; place back in warm pot, and mash with a potato masher.  Fold in the olive oil, mascarpone, butter, lemon juice and zest.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

Happy Valentines Day

We spent the last four days in one of my favorite places, Lake Tahoe.  It was absolutely beautiful there...apparently the calm before the storm!  They are supposed to get a major storm this week, so I'm thrilled that we beat the storm.  I'm one of those fair-weather skiers...not the type who enjoys hitting the slopes when it's snowing.  I may have been more hard-core back in the day, but now that my three kids are taking up snow-boarding and skiing, it makes for a super exhausting day, even before I get a chance to take a run down the hill.  I guess those days of care-free skiing with my husband have officially come to an end...at least for the next 10 years or so.
Well, with Valentines day upon us, I thought I'd include in this post a list of some possible dinner or treat ideas for your sweeties.

Grilled Salmon with Meyer Lemon Compound Butter

Mini Lasagnas with sweet corn and mascarpone

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus Bundles

Chocolate Espresso Cakes

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Glazed Lemon Cookies

There's a lot of citrus in our house right now and I'm trying my best to use what I can before they go bad.  I've been juicing a lot with my new juicer.  The kids LOVE when I make them fresh squeezed orange juice, but I don't want them to get too used to it!
I found this lemon cookie recipe on the Real Simple website...you can find it HERE.  Very simple recipe and I suppose if you wanted you could roll out the dough and cut into cute little hearts for your Valentine!

Glazed Lemon Cookies {slightly adapted recipe from Real Simple}


INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup {1 1/2 sticks} unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 3/4 to 2 cups all-purpose flour {I only used 1 3/4 cup flour}

For Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice, more if necessary 
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest

DIRECTIONS:

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.  Add the egg yolk, vanilla, salt, lemon zest, and beat to combine.  Scrape sides often.  Gradually add the 1 3/4 cup flour, then little by little add the extra 1/4 cup flour only if needed.  **You don't want the dough to be too crumbly**.  Shape the dough into a 2 inch diameter log and wrap in parchment paper, or plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until firm.  

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cut cookie log into about 1 inch slices and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.  Bake for 16-20 minutes.  They do not need to be golden brown.  Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.  

In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar, until it forms a thick but pourable glaze.  Add more lemon juice or powdered sugar if necessary to get desired consistency.  Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes.

I wasn't very picky about the dough being super round

The lemon glaze really makes these cookies!

Grilled Salmon with Herb and Meyer Lemon Compound Butter

Don't let the recipe title fool you...this is an easy peasy recipe!  The salmon takes little effort to grill and the compound butter is a super simple thing that can even be made up a couple of days before you use it.
So, how does that sound? For those of you who are salmon lovers like we are, you will LOVE this dish!  I made some orzo pasta to set under the salmon and served a tasty-but-simple arugula salad.
We are super lucky to live down the street from our local fresh fish market, so I try to go for that any day over the store bought fish.  If you have the opportunity, try to buy wild caught salmon...it's good for you and the taste is incredible!  Oh, and don't feel like you need to find a meyer lemon, a regular lemon will work just fine!  Meyer lemons just have a little darker skin, almost orangish skin, and have a slightly sweeter lemony flavor.

Grilled Salmon with Herb and Meyer Lemon Compound Butter {adapted from HERE}

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 meyer lemon, zested {regular lemon will do just fine too}
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 {6 oz.} Salmon fillets with skin on
• extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

  In a small bowl, combine butter, zest, thyme, and garlic.  Mix everything well and season to taste with salt.  if using right away, keep at room temperature.  If making ahead, store in refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving.  

preheat grill to medium.  Let salmon come to room temperature first, then season with salt, pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Place salmon skin side down on preheated grill.  After 2-3 minutes, rotate the salmon 90 degrees.  Cook the salmon for another 3-4 minutes.  Turn the salmon over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the grill and top with the lemon compound butter.  The butter will act as a sauce and melt over and coast the grilled salmon.  I had some orzo pasta under the salmon and it made a yummy sauce for the pasta too!

Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorgonzola

I'm seriously in love with these stuffed mushrooms!  They aren't just any ordinary stuffed mushroom...they are a main dish kind of mushroom.  The recipe comes from Giada at Home Cookbook (a birthday gift from my sis).  It makes six mushrooms, which is kind of a lot, so I bought four portobellos and piled a little extra filling into each one.  The kiddos didn't even want to try them, so I got to save two for lunch!  All you need is maybe a little salad to go on the side and your meal is complete!

Grilled and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Gorgonzola {serves 6}


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 12 ounces turkey sausage, casings removed {I use Italian Chicken Sausage}
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup {4 ounces} mascarpone cheese, at room temp.
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp. fresh oregano leaves
• 3/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs
• 1 cup {4 ounces} crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed

DIRECTIONS:

  In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the turkey sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the mascarpone cheese, thyme, oregano, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of Gorgonzola, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper.

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

Brush the mushrooms on both sides with the reaming 1/4 cup oil and season with salt and pepper.  Brill them stem side down, for 3 minutes.  Turn them over and grill the other sides for 2 minutes, or until tender.  

Fill the mushrooms with the sausage mixture and top with the remaining 1/2 cup Gorgonzola.  Grill them, stuffing side up, until the stuffing is warmed through, 5 to 7 minutes.  **I placed the stuffed mushrooms on a foil-lined baking dish and baked them in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 7 minutes because they were getting kind of messy on the grill.  Enjoy!

Fresh Bread Day 3-Oatmeal Molasses Bread

Well, it took me a few days to actually get going on another bread recipe.  The thing about bread making is that you kinda have to be around most of the day since there are a few steps to get to the end result.  In between the focaccia bread and this Oatmeal Molasses Bread I actually made some pizza dough.  It started out as a disaster, but ended up surviving, although I didn't get any pictures of it.  It was probably one of the biggest messes I've made in the kitchen...there was a lot of paper towels used and dough is still stuck to one side of my kitchen island.  So, I thought instead of re-creating that recipe for you, I'd give you one that I found to be pretty simple.  It does have a little kneading involved, but it was quite stress-relieving to knead the dough for a bit.  I slathered peanut butter and jelly on some slices today for my kids sandwiches.  I think they'll be happy!  

Oatmeal Molasses Bread {adapted from A Chow Life}

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 & 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for topping
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 5-6 cups all purpose flour {I used 3 1/2 cups white and 2 cups wheat flour}
• 2 tsp. sea salt

This is after the first rise

DIRECTIONS:

  In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Put the oats into a heatproof bowl and pour the water over the oats.  Add the butter and molasses.  Let the mixture cool to warm {105 degrees-115 degrees}

By hand, in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm oat mixture and let stand for 5 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in the 3 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing well.  Add the remaining 2-3 cups of flour as needed to make a soft dough.

Using a plastic pastry scraper {or a plastic spatula}, scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured work surface.  Knead until it is smooth and elastic, dusting the work surface wit flour to keep the dough from sticking, 5-7 minutes.  

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm draft free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 1 hour.  

Butter 2 {9 by 5 inch} loaf pans.  Punch down the dough and, using the scraper, scrape it onto a clean work surface.  Cut it in half with a sharp knife.  For each half, evenly flatten the dough with the heel of your hand.  Roll the top third down onto itself and seal it by pushing it gently with the hell of your hand. Continue rolling and sealing the dough until you have an oval log.  Place the logs, seam side down, in the prepared loaf pans.  Press on them to flatten them evenly into the pans.  Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm, draft free spot until they double in size, about 45-60 minutes.  

Position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mist the top of the loaves with water.  Sprinkle oats on top generously.  Bake until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on top, about 40-45 minutes.  Remove from oven and pans.  Let cool on rack.

Getting ready to shape the loaves

not perfectly shaped, but will do just fine for me!

ready for the oven...be sure to press down a little on the oats after sprinkling them on

fresh out of the oven...I can never resist cutting into it right away!!

Day 2: No-Fuss Focaccia

This recipe was fun to make!  It really was no-fuss and tasted really good!  My kids are dippers...they've always been dippers since I started giving them food.  When Jaden my oldest, was little, he would hold up whatever food he had in his hand and would say "dip".  It was pretty darn cute!  Maybe we got him used to french-fries and ketchup too soon!  Anyway, all of that to say, they love it when we go to restaurants where they serve olive oil and balsamic vinegar with bread.  So, tonight, along with the warm focaccia, I served little saucers of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little minced garlic, and salt.  If you had only seen Jaden trying to lick up the last of the sauce on his plate...it somehow doesn't seem so cute anymore!  Now, if you're going to try any of these bread recipes that I'm making this week, you HAVE to try this one.  It's ridiculously good and easy!

NO-FUSS FOCACCIA {adapted from King Arthur Flour}


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil {plus additional for drizzling}
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast {I used Perfect Rise yeast}

TOPPING:

• 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

  1.  Lightly grease a 9"by13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.  

  2.  Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

  3.  Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it becomes puffy.

  4.  While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

  5.  Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. 

  6.  Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and chopped herbs. **You can use 

      any fresh or dried italian herbs you'd like.  Just be sure to decrease amount of dried herbs.

  7.  Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35-40 minutes.  

  8.  Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack.  Move to cutting 

      board and cut into chunks or strips.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  To keep leftovers fresh, wrap in foil and reheat in the foil at 350 for 15 minutes.