Decadent Desserts: Meyer Lemon Tart

Good Evening Friends!!!

WHEW! Time flies when you're having fun. In the last couple of weeks, I finished my finals (I got two more As than expected! OH YEAH!), and started a new job as an SEO marketing intern at a Dallas online marketing firm called RankHammer. I have been busily copywriting, editing and blogging away for them; and unfortunately I have been ignoring my first loves: cooking and you lovely people! For that I am truly sorry. Let's not fight anymore. I love ya and I promise to keep the recipes comin'.

Anyways, now that we're friends again, I am SO excited to share my favorite favorite FAVORITE recipe I have ever made. I wanted to tell you all about it ages ago...but I lost it. Because I am unorganized that way. Now back to the point: PIE!

I developed this recipe while abroad in Paris, where I stayed with the lovliest little family in all the land. The mother, painter Anne Ramaré, and her husband, retired economics teacher Jean-Charles Guillien, were always making the most delectable of dishes: homemade butter cookies, roasted rabbit with potatoes and leeks, and of course all the crepes and quiche I could eat. These two are such creative, free-spirits and they encouraged me to express myself through the arts of food and music. They are truly remarkable people and I will always love them like family.

It was while I was staying in their home that I came up with this most sinfully delicious dessert: Meyer Lemon Tart. This little pie embodies just about everything you could want out of a dessert. It is sweet, yet tart; creamy, but with a crunchy crust; buttery and crumbly. It is just downright HEAVENLY (Thank ya, Jesus. Amen.). And it would be just cruel not to share it with you.

Meyer Lemon Tart

 

Ingredients:

20 tea biscuits/butter cookies (I used Leibniz Butter Biscuits)

5 tablespoons melted butter

2 cold eggs

2 cold egg yolks

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice (a meyer lemon is a lemon and orange hybrid)

1/2 tablespoon of meyer lemon zest

6 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

Instructions:

Crust: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While your oven is warming up, put your cookies into a large bowl and crush them until fine but still crumbly (I used a meat cleaver). Next add 4 and 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter to your crushed cookies. Mix until all cookie crumbs are evenly coated. Use the remaining 1/2 tbsp of melted butter to grease a 10 inch round glass baking dish. Dump the butter/cookie crumb mixture into the dish and begin to pat it out, forming an even layer across the bottom and around the sides. Once the dish is completely and evenly covered, place in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool while cooking the filling.

Filling: Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar together in a small, metal, heat-safe bowl for 1 or 2 minutes, or until creamy. Fill a quart-size pot with 2 inches of water. Heat pot of water over high heat until boiling. Once boiling, place the bowl containing the egg mixture on top of the pan, creating a double boiler. Reduce heat slightly. Continue to whisk the egg mixture for 2 minutes (mixture will become frothy). Whisk in the meyer lemon juice in 3 parts. Continue whisking until mixture is thickened and a light yellow in color (8-10 minutes). Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and sprinkle the zest over the top. Place under the broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minute (just long enough for the top to get a little golden).

Serves 6-8. Best served cold or at room temperature.

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Voila. Magnifique. WOOHOO. Your taste buds are gonna be singing and your friends are gonna beg you for another slice. I made this pie for Memorial Day and, I kid you not, it was gone in about 5 minutes. Delish.

 

For comments, questions, ideas, critiques and concerns, give me a shout in the comments section below or at keencuisine@gmail.com

 

Bon Appetit,

 

KK



Decadent Desserts: Hot Fudge Cake

Happy Monday Friends!

I hope that you are all having a pleasant start to your week and that you are enjoying this fabulous weather!

I just love the start of Summer. Summer means no more classes, days spent on the lake, family trips to visit our relatives in Pennsylvania, and a new internship! I'd just like to take a moment to brag on myself; as a marketing student at Baylor University, I am very blessed to be working as an SEO Web Marketing Intern at a start-up company in Dallas called RankHammer.  If you don't know what SEO (search engine optimization) is, it's basically a fancy term meaning we help your company get more recognition on the internet. So if my posts start to get sparse this summer, I apologize!

But back to the goods. So as I mentioned before, my family takes a trip every summer to visit our relatives in Pennsylvania. In July we have a family reunion for which we all bring our favorite dishes to share. One of our favorite recipes to bring has become famous among our family: Hot Fudge Cake. It is made with super simple ingredients but tastes like a million bucks as it is super creamy, rich, and luscious. And because I love y'all, I'd like to share it with you! Yay!

Hot Fudge Cake

 

Ingredients:

2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding

3 cups of milk

1 tub of whipped topping

1 box of chocolate graham crackers

1 tub of chocolate frosting

 

Instructions:

This tastes best when made 24 hours ahead of time.

 

Mix the pudding and the milk until thickened (I used a hand mixer to speed up the process). Mix in the whipped topping. In a 13x9 inch pan layer the graham crackers with the pudding mixture, starting and ending with the graham cracker layers. Spread the frosting over the top layer of graham crackers. cover with foil and chill in the fridge over night. Serve cold.

 

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So thats all she wrote! I hope you guys love this as much as my family does. As always let me know if you liked it, hated it, or just have a general question/statement in the comments section below, or at keencuisine@gmail.com

 

Bon Appetit,

 

KK



Thai Marinated Tuna Steaks

Happy Tuesday Friends!

I hope everyone is having a splendid week. I know for me personally, it has been very hectic and stressful; and it's not even half over yet. I pray that the rest of you are having an enjoyable evening and a nice week full of friends, family and fun.

During stressful times like this, I am much more likely to hit the McDonald's drive thru (icky as it may be, I am a sucker for a double cheeseburger with fries). When I do this, it opens up a pandora's box of poor eating choices. In my quest to satsify my salty cravings while still putting nourishing food in my body, I created a tasty and simple marinade that is perfect for your favorite seafood dishes and is sure to satisfy your cravings for something naughty.

This recipe is the bomb because it combines two of my favorite things: soy sauce and PB2 by Bell Plantation. If you have never tried PB2, then you are in for a treat. It is a powdered peanut butter with almost no fat, no unhealthy oils and no sugar. It is also great to add to sandwiches, yogurt and milkshakes or whatever you would normally eat peanut butter with.

Ok so enough about that. Here's how you make it:

Thai Tuna Marinade

 

Ingredients:

1 lb of tuna steaks, filleted in half
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup water
5 tbsp PB2 powder
2 tsp dried ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil (olive oil will work if you don't have sesame oil)
black pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a quart size bag, mix combine soy sauce, water, PB2 and ginger. Close the bag and shake until well mixed. Add filleted tuna steaks (there should be 4 steaks, each 1/4 lb) to the bag and coat with mixture. Let marinate for 20 minutes. After tuna is finished marinating, heat oil and garlic in a medium skillet over medium heat. Season fish with black pepper. Add steaks to the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serve warm with a salad or your favorite side dish. Super easy. Super tasty. Aw yeah.

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I hope you enjoy it! Comment below with your questions and concerns, or send them to keencuisine@gmail.com.

Bon Appetit,

KK

Summer Staples: Six Minute Salsa

During the Summer time, there is nothing I love more than a bowl of fresh salsa, crispy tortilla chips, and a tangy frozen margarita. Unfortunately, these things come at a cost: waiting through traffic, paying too much at the restaurant; not to mention the guilt and regret associated with indulging in too much salt and sugar.

But have no fear; six-minute salsa is here! One of the sweet ladies at church shared this recipe with me a few years ago and now I am a converted soul. Not only is this salsa totally delicious, its also so fast and easy to make it's almost stupid. But that's not all, folks! It is super versatile; use it as a salad dressing or chicken marinade, spoon it over grilled corn or seafood(a personal favorite!), or just eat it as chips and dip. No matter which way you eat it, you're sure to enjoy it and your friends are sure to beg you for the recipe.

So now without further ado, I present to you Six Minute Salsa!

Six Minute Salsa

Ingredients:

28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1 small lime, juiced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 large jalapeno, seeds and membranes removed, chopped
2 tbsp garlic salt

Instructions:

Dump everything in a blender and pulse until desired consistency. Store up to two weeks in a 32-oz Mason Jar.

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Thats all she wrote folks! Seriously, its the simplest, tastiest and freshest salsa around. You'll feel like you're at a restaurant when you eat this stuff! Hooray! As always share your comments, critiques, contributions and concerns in the comments section below, or to keencuisine@gmail.com

 

Bon Appetit Y'all,

 

KK