Lemon Risotto with Peas

Posted by: Maggie

I'm so sorry. I know you all must be sick of lemon after the lemon linguine and lemon cupcakes. Truth is, I had a giant bag of lemons in my fridge that I didn't want to waste. I just crave that flavor once warm weather hits, and I got a little overzealous when purchasing them at my grocery store.

I promise to give you a break from lemon after this recipe because...

Annie got me an ice cream maker for my birthday!  I am very excited about this gift, and plan to share a non-lemon ice cream recipe with you on Monday.

This risotto might be one of my favorite recipes on the blog. It requires standing over the stove the entire time it is cooking, but it still comes together quickly enough to qualify as a weeknight meal. The original recipe says it makes 8 servings, but I got 3 out of it. That's a salad size plate in the picture, and I had two more equally sized portions off to the side. The blog where I found this recipe suggested serving this with salmon, and I think that you could get a perfectly sized meal for 3 people out of this recipe if you did that.

P.S. People using Internet Explorer - is our logo showing up at the top of the page for you? It is displaying fine on Firefox and Safari on my home computer, but not showing on my work computer that only has IE.

Here's what you will need:

4 - 5 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used closer to 4 cups)
2 small shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups uncooked Arborio rice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup white wine
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

In a medium saucepan, heat the broth, and keep it warm.

In a large non-stick skillet, melt butter, and saute shallots for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add the uncooked rice, thyme, and pepper, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in wine and lemon juice, and stir until all liquid is absorbed.

Stir in the heated broth, 1/2 cup at a time, letting all liquid absorbe between additions. Cook until risotto is creamy and rice is almost tender - about 20-24 minutes.

Add the peas, parmesan, and lemon peel.  Allow to cook another 2 minutes until heated through. Serve immediately.

Source: Susi's Kochen und Backen Adventures

Lemon Cupcakes

Posted by:  Maggie

These cupcakes have officially surpassed my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes as the best cupcakes I've ever made. Everything about this recipe is seriously perfect - the cake is moist but sturdy, the frosting is lemony but not too tart - I really just love it.

I shared these with my coworkers yesterday, and am still getting compliments as of this morning!

You *must* make these sometime soon. The bright citrusy flavor makes them so perfect for spring, and I will definitely be making these again sometime soon so Jeff can try them too. I saw him last night but didn't bring him a cupcake. I'm such a bad girlfriend.

Here's what you'll need for the cake:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake tins with 24 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites in a separate medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl, and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is slightly moist and fragrant. Now take a break from cooking and click on the YouTube video that the word moist is linked to. When I typed that word, that scene immediately popped in my head. Moving on...

Add the butter into the large bowl, and cream together on medium speed for 3 minutes. Beat in the extracts, and then alternate adding in the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat for a minute to make sure everything is well combined, and scoop into your prepared cupcake tins.

Bake 18-22 minutes, or until cupcakes are well risen and spring back when touched. Cool on a wire rack.

Here's what you'll need for the frosting:

2 (8) ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2-3 lbs. confectioners’ sugar (I started with a 2 pound bag, and probably added an additional 2 cups to get it to piping consistency.)
juice of one lemon

I know cream cheese frosting typically has vanilla extract, but I skipped adding it to maintain the white color of the frosting. It had plenty of flavor from the lemon juice without it. This makes enough frosting to generously frost 24 cupcakes, with a bit left over.

Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined. Gradually add in confectioners sugar, and beat to combine. Finally, mix in lemon juice.

Source: My Baking Addiction

Roasted Chipotle Chicken Drumsticks

Posted by: Maggie


This recipe was a momentous cooking occasion for me. You see, I used to be afraid to cook chicken. I was so doubtful of my own cooking abilities that I was absolutely certain I would undercook my food and poison myself and others.

I partially got over this fear, but only when I could use boneless, skinless breasts. They seemed safer to me. They cook evenly, they don't have a bone, and it's fairly easy to tell when they're done.

Then one day I came across this recipe for Chipotle Chicken Drumsticks, and I decided that I wanted to get over my weirdo fear of cooking other chicken parts. I love, love, love canned chipotles in adobo. Their smoky, spicy flavor is just amazing. I couldn't let this recipe pass me by.

Guess what...I did it! Betcha' caught on to that from the picture just above. I cooked them, and as I type this 24 hours later, I am TOTALLY ALIVE and not suffering from salmonella, or E.coli, or chicken pox! (heheh)

I should probably stop talking about food borne illness (and skin viruses) if I want you keep reading.

Does anyone else get excited when they conquer a cooking fear? I'm also scared to make yeast bread.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime zest
4-8  canned chipotle chiles (depending on how spicy you like it...I didn't think these were very spicy, and I used a lot of chiles, however, this is coming from a person with a very high tolerance for spice)
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 chicken drumsticks, with skin
Lime wedges for serving


Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

In a food processor, puree the first 6 ingredients until no chunks of chipotle peppers remain. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve half the mixture. I pulled big pieces of the chicken off the bone when I was eating and dipped them in the extra sauce, and also dipped my sweet potato fries in it.

Spread the remaining half of the mixture evenly over the drumsticks. Place in the pan, and cook uncovered for 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear and the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

I highly recommend serving these with sweet potato fries. I just used store-bought, and they went extremely well with the chicken.