Raspberry Lemonade

We had our friends, Melissa and Shawn over for dinner last week. Like usual, I pondered the menu and drinks and decided upon serving a simple lemon grilled salmon, with a side of pasta and salad for dinner. Easy. My go to cocktail is usually wine or champagne but I was feeling more festive. Luckily, I had whipped up a batch of raspberry lemonade the day before. I had served it to my girlfriends who were over for lunch that day and it got great reviews. Not too sweet or tart, with a great balance of lemon and fresh raspberry. The fact that it was the most gorgeous shade of pink didn't hurt either. I had just enough left over in the pitcher to serve as the base for our cocktails that night. Perfect! This lemonade was begging for some vodka to be added to it.

This turned out to be a remarkably refreshing drink. Jeremy, my husband, and Shawn loved it. More importantly, by the end of the glass, I think they forgot that they were drinking a pink, fruity cocktail. As for the girls, by the end of our drink, Melissa and I found ourselves upstairs trying on lip gloss and talking much too loudly. Come to think of it, I don't know why we were upstairs. Were we not supposed to be making dinner? A little vodka sure distracts you from the task at hand, I'll tell you that much. Don't say you weren't warned.

Me and Melissa before the lip gloss

I love drink concoctions during the summer months whether it be iced tea, lemonade or fruit spritzers of some sort. Doesn't really matter what it is. There is nothing better than sitting under the pergola with ice clinking in your glass, enjoying the sunshine.

This is a very simple drink to make that I have a feeling will be enjoyed at many parties and BBQ's this year. With and without that silly Mr. Grey Goose.

Raspberry Lemonade

adapted from Food network Magazine, June 2010

serves 6

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

4 1/2 cups water

lemon slices, for garnish

Make a simple syrup: Combine the sugar with 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Muddle the cup of raspberries with the simple syrup in a pitcher, crushing the berries with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the lemon juice and water; add ice and lemon slices to each glass and serve.

Taste your drink after you have mixed it up. You might like to add more water. I find this to be a great combination for me since I tend to add a hefty amount of ice to my glass that slowly melts and dilutes everything. This recipe is easy to double for more people. (2 cups raspberries, 2 cups lemon juice, 1 1/2 cups sugar with 1 1/2 cups water for the simple syrup, then add 9 cups of water to the finished product. Serves 12).

Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta

Confession time: I don't like fresh, raw tomatoes. I know, crazy right? I used to love them. I'd eat them like candy as a kid, sliced with a sprinkling of salt. It all changed one day as I was eating lunch in my bathing suit, wrapped in a towel, about 8 years old, in my grandparents back yard. It was hot and I had been swimming. I remember the tomatoes were cold and perfectly ripe, sliced just as I liked but this time with a little garlic salt on top. Later that day I came down with the stomach flu and I suppose you can guess why I don't like them anymore. Every time I try to eat a piece of a raw tomato, I gag a little. It makes me sad. Sometimes, if the tomato is perfectly ripe and sliced thin and not pithy at all, I can eat it on a sandwich. It happens maybe once a year.

Being a foodie and all (I hate the word "foodie"), this creates all sorts of problems for me. Caprese salad anyone? Bruschetta? Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich? Gazpacho? Pass. This particular food aversion taunts me because I really want to eat these things. It's not even like they aren't tempting because I don't like tomatoes. They are all too tempting and I hate the fact that tomatoes ruin it for me. It's only raw tomatoes though. If those babies are made into sauce, marinated or sauteed, I love them.

Enter this lovely tomato basil pasta. I longed to make it but that damn tomato annoyance was getting in my way. I wanted a simple pasta, bursting with fresh flavors of garlic, tomato and basil that was delicate in flavor but not bland. I decided to be brave. I chopped three beautiful red tomatoes fully prepared to add them to my hot skillet full of butter, oil, crushed red pepper and garlic. Fail. I had a freak out at the last second. I thought I wasn't going to be able to enjoy the pasta if I went through with it. The smell of the tomato was just a little to robust for me. I opened a can of organic diced tomatoes and used them instead. Listen, I know this pasta would be sensational if made with fresh tomato, but I just wasn't strong enough this time. However, now I can say for certain that if you buy a high quality canned tomato and drain most of the juice, it works just as well. This pasta was awesome, simple and light. It highlighted each of the flavors used perfectly without overpowering any of them. Try it, you'll like it.

Fresh Tomato and Basil Pasta

serves 4-6

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound angel hair pasta

7 fat garlic cloves, minced

20 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 tablespoons white wine

3 medium to large tomatoes, chopped or 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, juice mostly drained

Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter and melt together. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, salt and white wine and continue sautéing for about a minute, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add the basil to the tomatoes and when the pasta is done, add it to the sauce in the skillet and toss everything together. Serve with a dusting of Parmesan cheese on top.

To make my cooking time smoother, I mince my garlic and chop my basil before I start cooking the pasta and making my sauce. Always prep before hand. It saves a lot of stress during the actual cooking process.

Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops

Hello summer! Finally. We totally skipped spring up here in the mountains and are facing a horrible flooding of the rivers, but hooray, there is still reason to celebrate because warm weather is here! Finally. Since I have been home I have already gotten the chance to grill on our deck with friends, get to the park, make a run to Ciao Gelato with the kids, and make these peach popsicles. Sunny weather activities. FINALLY! I have been waiting for warm weather for months and months. There's no holding me back now.

These pops are in a word, ridiculous. Peaches and cream are a perfect combination already, but add vanilla bean sugar and a slight tang from some yogurt and dang. If you add the optional amaretto, which is not optional in my book (unless kids will be eating them) it creates the perfect deck dessert for a hot summer night. I'll be making these time and time again, that's for sure.

Peach-Vanilla Cream Pops

adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2011

makes 8 pops

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

4 cups sliced peeled ripe peaches (about 4-5 medium), or 16 oz. frozen sliced peaches, thawed

1/2 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup Greek-style yogurt

1 to 2 Tbsp. amaretto (optional)

Place sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from Vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Transfer syrup to a small bowl; chill. Discard vanilla bean.

Puree syrup and peaches in a food processor or blender until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium pitcher; strain, pressing on solids to extract the puree (If you use a powerful blender such as the Vita-mix, like I did, you can skip this step because everything will be blended thoroughly without lumps). Whisk in remaining ingredients. Divide among molds. Cover; insert ice-pop sticks. Freeze until firm. Dip bottoms of molds into hot water for 20-30 seconds to loosen pops. Remove pops from molds and serve.

*This blog post was featured on Bon Appetites web page.

Summertime and the livin's easy! Okay, so technically I know "summer" doesn't actually begin until June 21st. However, school is out and so is the sun, so it's all the same to me!

I'm Back!

I had to leave pretty abruptly last week in order to visit my Grandma Burgos in the hospital. I took off, leaving my kids and husband behind and spent a bit of every day with her. She's doing much better than when I first arrived so that's good. Anyway, I'm back and ready to start blogging. Now I just need to get to the grocery store and buy food!

Krysta

Pesto Lasagne

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After a trip I crave a nice meal at home. Going out is nice and one of my favorite thing to do, but making a hot delicious meal for my family at the end of the day gives me much more satisfaction. Dishes on the other hand, do not. This is a very light and thinner lasagna with gorgeous layers of fresh basil pesto, Parmesan cheese and bechamel sauce. It doesn't have globs of cheese but rather a dusting of Parmesan cheese on each layer. I figure it is the perfect reason to eat dessert afterwards! Note: I never said this was low fat. I just said it was light as in you don't feel heavy afterwards.

Pesto Lasagne

Adapted from Debi Mazar and Gabrielle Corcos

serves 9

Ingredients

• Pesto, recipe follows
• Besciamella, recipe follows
• Butter, for baking dish, plus more for topping
• 1 1/2 (9-ounce) boxes no boil lasagna noodles or regular pasta noodles, boiled.
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Fresh Pesto:
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, about 4 ounces
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Sardo or Romano
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Besciamella:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 1/2 cups whole milk
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 13 by 9 by 4 baking dish and add a thin layer of besciamella (bechamel sauce). Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, and then another thin layer of besciamella. Gently spread about 4 tablespoons pesto across the surface, and then top with about 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat until you finish layering the lasagne. Top with a final layer of noodles and spread a final very thin layer besciamella, pesto, Parmesan cheese and a little butter to help the cheese crisp-up when cooked in the oven.

Cook the lasagne for about 30 minutes. Serve dressed with some Parmesan and a drop of extra-virgin olive oil.

Fresh Pesto:

Combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil in a mortar and pestle and pound until paste forms. Add the Parmesan cheese, Pecorino cheese, salt and pepper and stir until smooth.

Keep the pesto in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Mix the pasta and the pesto...serve garnished with some grated Parmesan (just a touch), fresh ground pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil.

Besciamella:

Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Cook's Note: This is an important moment, as you have to slowly toast the flour without burning it. This will help you lose the flowery taste.

Warm up the milk and gradually ladle into the pot with the butter-flour mixture, whisking constantly while bringing the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Notes

This is a crucial moment for your pesto, as you need to season with salt and pepper. Keep in mind that Parmigiano and Pecorino are both dry and salty cheeses. You have to taste your sauce a few times in order not to go overboard when you are seasoning it.

If the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk, if too runny, return to the heat and add a pat of butter mixed with an equal amount of all-purpose flour. The most important thing though is: besciamella should not taste floury. If you think your sauce is ready, but you can spot a hint of "flouriness" when you taste it, think again, and keep on cooking it for a few minutes more.

Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake

The concert was awesome! U2 rocked the house. 76,000 people packed into Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Loud music, rowdy fans and the smell of beer and cigarettes in the air (and maybe another kind of smoke smell as well). Jeremy figured this one concert brought in around $34 million dollars. And this was the 89th show of the tour. Holy cow! U2 did not disappoint at all. They sang most of their all time hits including: Where The Streets Have No Name, With or Without You, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Beautiful Day, One (my favorite), Mysterious Ways, Elevation, Walk On, I Will Follow, Until The End Of The World, and All I Want Is You, among others.

concert pictures taken with the iphone so not the best quality

We also ate at really great restaurant while in Denver. I took Jeremy to The 9th Door which is a super cool Spanish tapas place with homemade sangria and divine food like pan fried artichoke hearts with lemon aioli drizzle and fried goat cheese in a spiced honey and prosciutto wrapped pears with Manchengo cheese. All in all an awesome place, with brick walls, candles, and live guitar Spanish music. The other highlight was this amazing breakfast place called Snooze. You have to get here early or there is always a very long wait. People do wait though, willingly because it is a unique restaurant. They serve organic coffee flown in fresh twice a week from Guatamala. Also their food is interesting and they encourage you to order half orders, customize the menu, and get a side of anything you want so you can sample to your hearts content. I got a half order of their version of eggs benedict. It was a smaller size sourdough toast topped with super creamy Taleggio cheese, prosciutto, a perfectly poached egg, Hollandaise and balsamic drizzle with fresh arugula on top. I might have also ordered a flight of their pancakes which flavors were: Pineapple upside down pancake with brown sugar, cinnamon syrup and chunks of fresh pineapple, then a red velvet pancake with a perfect cream cheese sauce followed by a lemon blueberry bar pancake. Heaven. Jeremy got a hash with arugula and basil and an egg on top accompanied by a side of cinnamon roll french toast.

our orders at Snooze:

We had many other delectable meals as well, like at Rioja which is located right on Larmier St. and serves an artichoke truffle tortellini to die for. Also a dinner at Ocean Prime which is basically an upscale steak house that focuses on fish but also serves steak. They have great sides a la carte like creamed spinach that tastes like straight up smoked bacon, and truffle mac and cheese. We had king crab legs to start. The waiter said they came form one of the "Deadliest Catch" boats. While there, I noticed the table next to us had a plaque on it that read "reserved for Bono" . I was really excited until the party showed up and Bono was not a part of it. It was three men with plans and paperwork and iphone and laptops. They knew Bono and were affiliated with the U2 concert somehow because they kept talking about it and him. I heard little snippets between conversation.

Amidst all this I got my mid-day mall tropical mojito I told you about. See? My trip was so fun!

Well, since I am just returning, I have a recipe to share that I made a few months back. I decided to wait and blog about it now because I thought it was more a spring food. I decided upon this particular recipe because it uses kirsch as the flavoring instead of vanilla. Kirsch is a cherry flavored liqueur and you can pick it up at any liquor store for a couple bucks. I find that the kirsch really adds to the fruitiness of the cake. This is a beautiful dessert and a fine breakfast the next day. You can even toast the leftover slices in the morning. Toasted pound cake with a bit of butter is insane.

Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake

adapted from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

2 cups plus 8 Tbsp. cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

2 Tbsp. kirsch

1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried well

1 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried well

Method:

1. Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Butter a standard-sized 9-cup bundt pan and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. (If your pan in nonstick, you can get away with a simple coating of cooking spray, no flour needed.)

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt.

4. In the bowl of a food processor, blend eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add butter and kirsch, and blend until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture looks curdled, don’t worry. Add dry ingredients and process just to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should be thick and very smooth.

5. In a large bowl, toss berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

6. Transfer cake to a rack, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the cake out of the pan onto the rack, and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Roast Chicken with Tangerines, Rosemary and Honey

I first published this recipe way back when I had no followers, so since I am on a little vacation I decided to re-publish it and put this very deserving recipe in the spotlight again. I'm ashamed to admit I cannot figure out how to remove the small pictures and process them through Flickr to make them larger, so be patient with me. As I mentioned below, this is the perfect method for roasting a chicken. If you have never attempted this before I really recommend you do it this way first to ensure success.

I love roasting whole chickens. I used to be afraid to attempt it. I have had visions of undercooked, raw bird and blood. Then having to deal with the dilemma of "do I stick it back in the oven and guess as to when it would be done?" Of course, I was always wrong with the guess resulting in a tough and dry bird. This trauma coupled with the fact that I once made a roast chicken for my Grandma Grillo that was a tad undercooked. I cannot even describe the level of freak out she had. I don't even know what happened exactly. I know she has always been concerned about salmonella but the next thing I knew my Grandpa was putting the dish of already carved chicken into the microwave to cook it longer. Gasp. This night resulted in making Jeremy a complete freak about salmonella. It was all too much chicken trauma for me, I suppose. I thought "chicken breasts for me!" But then, a couple years ago I stumbled upon the perfect method for roasting a chicken. So perfect, it's fittingly called "perfect roasted chicken". That recipe is in a word, fabulous and I normally don't deviate away from it, but instead, I will do variations of it. Once you have the method down, you can do anything you want with roast chicken. I love the versatility of it and there is nothing and I mean nothing better than the smell of roasting chicken and herbs when you are done with the day. I usually stuff mine with 1 halved whole garlic head, lemons and thyme and I scatter onions with a bit of olive oil on the bottom of the roasting pan and stick the chicken on top. Then, I'll rub it with a bit of melted butter and salt and pepper it. It smells like you died and went to heaven after the first 5 minutes. My Mom, who made the occasional roast chicken while I was growing up, would cover it in every spice she could find in her pantry. I'm not kidding, whatever she had, it seemed, went on this bird. Chili powder and lemon pepper for sure, accompanied by any combination of garlic salt, Lawry's salt, cayenne, and Mrs. dash, I imagine. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she unloaded a bottle of hot sauce on the poor thing too. I don't think my mom really gave much thought to which spices go best together as much as she thought, "the more spice (of any kind) the tastier". I think that is her motto overall. It will probably come as no surprise when I tell you that my Mom loves salt. She is known to over salt things, if only on her own plate. She absolutely loves lemon juice too. Actually, she probably squeezed lemon juice over the whole chicken before adding all those spices. She puts it in practically everything she can.

I decided last night to deviate from my favorite roast chicken and try something new. I still stuck to the same tried and true method though. I think the trick is to buy a chicken within the 5-6lbs range. If they are a little lighter, that's OK too, but don't stray too far from that range. At that weight, you can cook it at 425 for exactly 1 1/2 hours and it will be perfect. Just make sure you cover it in foil after it's done to let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This is essential, because all the juices redistribute back through the meat during the rest period, making it moist. If you cut into it right away and don't let it rest, it will surely be dry. Sometimes at our house, when we cut into the dark meat the juice will look a little pink, but it is always due to there being blood on the bone ( I know, it's gross, but it's a fact of life) This does not mean the meat is not cooked. To ensure the chicken is safe to eat, after letting it rest out of the oven for a couple minutes, pierce the skin between the leg and the thigh with a knife. If the juice that runs out is clear (not pink or bloody) then you are golden. If not, I don't know what to tell you because it has never happened to me using this method with the right size chicken. (although, we can probably all assume that you could just stick it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes or so)

This is a great springtime chicken, I think. Not that it wouldn't be great any season. The citrus and slight sweetness is a welcome change. Also, I have to admit, my Mom's "everything but the kitchen sink" philosophy on chicken, is pretty darn tasty too.


Roast Chicken with Tangerines, Rosemary and Honey
adapted from Eugenia Bone's Recipe, Food and Wine Magazine

1- 5-6lb whole roasting chicken
4 garlic cloves, peeled
6 fresh rosemary sprigs
3 tangerines, washed and halved
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup honey
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Set the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and stuff the cavity with the garlic cloves, rosemary, and 4 of the halved tangerines. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine (available at the supermarket) Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and rub with the olive oil. Squeeze the remaining two tangerine halves over the top, and then pour on the wine. Drizzle the chicken with the honey and season with salt and pepper. Add a cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the pan.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, but 30 minutes into roasting, cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil (so the honey won't burn) then, 30 minutes or so from the time the chicken will be done, add the remaining 3/4 to 1 cup chicken broth to the bottom of the pan (the first cup will have evaporated, and the pan will have black drippings)

Let the chicken rest at room temperature covered in aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it (you may however, pierce the skin between the leg and the thigh to check for done-ness) Pour the pan juices into a gravy separator and remove the oil/fat from the top. (alternately pour the drippings into a cup and spoon the fat from the top and discard)

Serve the chicken, carved with the pan juices poured on top.

I like to serve this dish with roasted sweet potatoes and an arugula salad with Parmesan cheese shavings and sunflower seeds mixed with a simple lemon and olive oil salt and pepper vinaigrette that I make myself. If you are using bottled dressing, I'd pick a red wine vinaigrette.