Recipe: Lemon Cheesecake with a Raspberry Swirl

So, making a cheesecake was my way of dealing with the fact that I had a box of Girl Scout Trefoil cookies, which were pretty tasteless (at least in comparison to Walkers brand shortbread, which is far superior), that I refused to waste. The easiest way to use them, in my mind, was to make a crust with them, and I felt that cheesecake was the ideal filling for said crust (plus, I've never made cheesecake before, and I wanted to try something new). While out to dinner with a friend, I mentioned my plan for this cheesecake and we started brainstorming ideas for flavors for the dessert (because New York Style with gooey strawberry puree on top was not gonna cut it). We both mentioned lemon and raspberry in almost the same breath, and I was immediately hooked on the idea, so I found this great recipe from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen to work off of. Even though Pennsylvania still can't seem to decide if it wants winter or spring (and thus, we go from 70 degrees one day to 40 degrees the next), I felt the flavors of lemon and raspberry were bright and perfect for this transitional stage between the end of winter and beginning of spring. Lemon and cream cheese, each with their own tangy flavor, go perfectly together, while sweetened raspberries add another dimension to the flavor and help sweeten the cheesecake. Aside from the exceptional flavor, this cheesecake is thick, creamy, and decadent—so rich that even I, champion of eating ALL the dessert, only cut myself the slimmest slice so as to avoid overdoing it.

Yields: About 16 servings (depending on how large your slices are)
Prep. time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 min. for the crust, approx. 1-and-a-half hours for the cheesecake
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Special equipment: Springform pan, food processor, stand mixer, strainer

Ingredients
For the crust

• 1&1/2 sleeves Girl Scout Trefoil cookies (or approx. 1 box of your favorite shortbread cookies/approx. 20 cookies)
• 2 tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the raspberry puree swirl

• 10-12 oz. fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup water

For the cheesecake filling

• 4, 8 oz. blocks/packages of cream cheese (I used Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat), room temperature
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• Zest of 3 lemons (approx. 2 tbsp.)
• 1 cup sour cream (I used a low fat style), room temperature
• 4 large eggs, room temperature (you can bring them up to room temperature faster by placing them, still in the shells, in a cup or bowl with warm-to-hot water)
• Juice of 3 lemons (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Additional 1-2 tbsp. sugar (to help cut some of the acidity of the lemons)

Directions

For the crust

Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a food processor, pulse the cookies until they are broken down into a fine crumb, then add the sugar and melted butter and pulse to blend until the cookie mixture is wet and looks a bit like damp sand. Spray or butter your springform pan, then pour the cookie mixture into the pan and press evenly on the bottom and up onto the sides. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Set aside to cool.

For the raspberry puree swirl

Add the raspberries, sugar, and water to a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat for approx. 10 minutes, until the raspberries are completely broken down and the mixture is bubbling. Remove from heat and pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl or measuring cup (the strainer removes all of the unwanted lumps and seeds and gives you a nice, clear puree). If the puree is a little watery, boil for about a minute to slightly thicken in. Set aside to cool (I placed mine in the fridge to cool faster).

For the cheesecake filling

Lower the temperature of the oven to 325*F. Wrap the bottom and outside sides of the springform pan in aluminum foil, so no water will leak inside while cooking (the cheesecake will be cooked in a water bath). In the bowl of your stand mixer, on medium speed, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest until the mixture is smooth and airy (approx. 3-5 minutes). Add the sour cream and mix it in, then add the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. Add the lemon juice, salt, and extra sugar to the mixture and blend, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is well mixed. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan with crust and smooth the top of the batter with a spatula so it is even and smooth. Carefully drizzle part of the raspberry puree in a large circle around the edge of the batter, then another slightly smaller circle in the middle, and a smaller circle inside of that (3-4 rings of raspberry puree should be fine; you should have puree leftover). Take a skewer, chopstick, or other long and thin kitchen utensil/tool and make a zigzag motion across the batter from top to bottom, then side to side, creating a swirl pattern. Place the springform pan in a larger pan (make sure it's not too tight of a fit). Boil a pot of water and pour the boiling water carefully into the larger pan (do not splash any water into or onto the cheesecake) so that the water comes up about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for about an hour and 30 minutes, until the cheesecake no longer jiggles much in the middle (a little jiggling is fine, as the cheesecake will continue to cook a little even after being removed from the oven, and it will firm up after removal from the oven). Remove the cheesecake and let it cool in the pan for at least 2 hours, then remove the pan (leaving the bottom) and allow the cheesecake to cool for at least 5-6 hours in the fridge. Save the remaining raspberry puree in an airtight container in the fridge.

Serve the cheesecake with an extra drizzle of raspberry puree, if desired, and if you're feeling a little adventurous (as I was), add a dollop of homemade whipped cream (1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tbsp, sugar, and 2 tbsp. of the raspberry puree whips up to create a lovely raspberry whipped cream). Keep the cheesecake and puree in the fridge to keep them fresh. 

The cheesecake, fresh out of the oven. My puree was a little thin, which caused it to pool a bit when I drizzled it on and swirled it, but I still think it looks pretty good!

This cheesecake is phenomenal, with flavors that are perfect for the spring and summer months. Bright, tangy lemon tempered by the sweetness of the raspberries and creaminess of the cheesecake batter itself makes for a delicious cheesecake. It's both light and incredibly rich, with a smooth, thick creaminess that's oh-so-decadent. I think other flavorings could easily be subbed in for the lemon and raspberry, so this is definitely a recipe you can play around with, but this raspberry and lemon combo is pretty hard to beat.

Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Pasta with a Lemon Butter Sauce

First things first: If you don't like lemons, you will not like this dish, so turn away now. Now, for those of you still with me, I'll tell you why you will like it: it's creamy, buttery, and oh-so-lemony. Rich, roasted vegetables and pasta come together in a bright, summery sauce that's perfect for you lemon-lovers. Toss in some chicken or shrimp for protein or add a side salad with a lemony vinaigrette to add a little oomph to this dish.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 oz. pasta of your choice (farfalle, penne, or medium shells would be a good choice—I used farfalle)
• 2-3 cups cauliflower florets
• 2-3 cups broccoli florets
• Approx. 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the broccoli and cauliflower)
• Zest and juice from 1 lemon
• Approx. 1/2 stick butter
• 2 tbsp. chicken broth
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. garlic powder, or more to taste
• 1 tsp. thyme, or more to taste
• 1 tsp. white pepper, or more to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Spread the cauliflower and broccoli florets on an ungreased baking sheet, toss with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for at least 15 minutes. In the meantime, bring a medium pot of water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 8-11 minutes). While the pasta is cooking and the veggies are roasting, heat the butter and garlic in a small pot over medium heat. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, chicken broth, and seasonings to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Slowly add the heavy cream, whisking it in. Add more heavy cream, butter, or seasonings as desired and reduce to a simmer. If you'd like to thicken the sauce, add a mixture of 1 tsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup water to it. The sauce, as is, will taste very lemony, but once it's tossed with the pasta and veggies, it will get toned down. When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pot. Add the roasted veggies and toss with the lemon butter sauce. Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino-Romano cheese as desired.

This dish is very light, with a clean, bright flavor that's perfect combined with the rich taste of the roasted broccoli and cauliflower. This is the sort of meal that you should enjoy while sitting out on the porch on a warm summer evening.

Recipe: Lemon Chicken and Asparagus Pasta with a Creamy Goat Cheese Sauce

Yes, yes, I know...this sounds a whole lot like a recipe I shared just a little while ago, and really, it's kind of like that recipe, version 2.0. While that recipe was chicken-less and could be pulled together in less than 20 minutes, last night's meal had a little more going on: an actual sauce (as opposed to just straight, melted goat cheese with some seasoning), marinated chicken, and a little extra flavor.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15 minutes (plus at least 2 hours for the chicken to marinate)
Cooking time: 10-20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch wide, 2 inch long slices
• 8 oz. rotini, or other short pasta (penne, farfalle, or gemelli would work well)
• 1/2 or a whole bunch of asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup lemon-based marinade or dressing to use to marinate the chicken (I had a lemon-thyme dressing from a favorite restaurant in North Carolina, but you can use something from your local grocery store)* 
• Olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of a pan

For the sauce

• 3/4 cup chicken broth or stock
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp. white wine (cooking wine is fine)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. chives, finely chopped
• Dried sage, to taste
• Dried thyme, to taste
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4-6 oz. soft goat cheese (buy a log of cheese rather than crumbles, because the log, when pulled apart, will melt better and faster)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Cornstarch and water mixture to thicken, as needed

*If you don't have a marinade or dressing, whisk a teaspoon each of thyme, sage, salt, and pepper together with a few tablespoons each of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and white wine to create a quick marinade from scratch.


Directions
Place sliced chicken into a medium bowl with store bought or homemade marinade/dressing and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours (any less, and it just won't have a lot of flavor).
In a small pot over medium heat, whisk together the olive oil, chicken broth, and white wine and cook until reduced by about 1/2. Add in the garlic (if you want, you can lightly saute it first, then add it in), chives, lemon zest, and seasonings (thyme, sage, etc.). Crumble the goat cheese into the mixture and whisk it in until it's melted and combined. Slowly pour in the heavy cream, whisking constantly as you add it in. Season more as needed, then reduce heat to low. If the sauce seems thin, add a little cornstarch-and-water mixture to thicken it. In the meantime, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions. When the pasta has about 5 minutes left, add the asparagus to the pot and cook the two together until the timer runs down. While the pasta and asparagus are cooking, heat a little olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then add the chicken slices and cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Season as needed. When the pasta and asparagus are done, drain and return to the pot, then toss the mixture with the finished goat cheese sauce. Add in the chicken, and toss to combine. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh basil or chives if desired.

This dish is light, fresh, and flavorful—perfect for a warm day or a quick weeknight meal. Lemon and goat cheese are a match made in heaven, and the addition of herbs and white wine help accentuate the flavors. Tender chicken and crisp asparagus add texture and flavor to the dish and help round it out.

Recipe: Rotini and Asparagus Tossed with Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Herbs

I came across a recipe for pasta with asparagus, goat cheese, and lemon a few months ago and took a look at it again this weekend. It called for only a handful of ingredients and just a few minutes of my time and it sounded like a delicious mix: perfect for a night at home on my own. The rich, tangy goat cheese, blended with lemon zest and seasonings, melts perfectly to coat the pasta and crispy asparagus—it's the perfect dish for a cool spring day or warm summer evening.

Not gonna lie...I totally forgot to use my nice solid white pasta bowl for the picture. Oh well.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 lb. rotini (or other short pasta —farfalle, gemelli, or penne would work well)
• 1 bunch of asparagus spears, washed, trimmed, and cut into 1-2 inch long pieces
• Approx. 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• Approx. 5-8 oz. soft fresh goat cheese (by the log of cheese rather than crumbles for better melting)
• 1 tbsp. dried sage
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions

Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the box instructions (approx. 7-10 minutes). During the last few minutes that the pasta is cooking, toss in the asparagus pieces so they cook too. In the meantime, add the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, goat cheese (pull it into pieces as you add it), sage, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to a large bowl and stir to combine. Once the pasta and asparagus have cooked, drain them, reserving about 1/4 cup of the pasta water, and toss the mixture in the bowl with the goat cheese mixture, adding the pasta water too. Toss until the goat cheese has even coated the pasta and asparagus. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This dish is fresh, creamy, and very flavorful. The goat cheese and lemon offer tangy flavors, while the salt and sage cut through the tang and create a deeper, richer flavor. To make this meal a little more well-rounded, served with grilled or seared chicken that's been seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried lemon peel.

Recipe: Seared Chicken and Angel Hair Pasta in a Lemon-Pistachio Cream Sauce

My mom and I spent most of the morning and early afternoon in our pantry, sifting through piles of candies and granola bars, rearranging and fitting new appliances (like my pasta maker and her rice steamer) onto shelves, and organizing just about everything else. Being surrounded by food of course got me thinking about what to make for dinner...we have tons of cans of tomatoes, some nice marinades, and an assortment of pastas, but I was at a loss when it came to deciding what to make. My mom kept pushing lemon-flavored dishes at me—"How about chicken in a nice lemon sauce?...didn't you make something with lemon once? Some sort of sauce? Maybe we could have something like chicken piccata." I sat down at the counter, idly flipping through a Betty Crocker best chicken recipes cookbook while she searched for a dinner recipe she could make for an event she's hosting this Sunday, and I came across a recipe for chicken with pistachios and lemon wedges. I loved the idea of combining salty pistachios (we have two huge bags of them in the pantry) with tart lemon, and I knew I could create my own unique dish to utilize these ingredients. I blended together toasted pistachios, parsley, garlic, and some seasonings to create the flavoring for my cream sauce and used leftover half-and-half to create the sauce base, then tossed the finished sauce with angel hair pasta. Chicken seasoned with dried lemon peel, salt, and pepper, cooked in butter, olive oil, and lemon juice completed the dish. This dish is very easy to make and the ingredients work so well together.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to approx. 1/2 inch thickness, cut in half
• 8-12 oz. angel hair pasta, or other long, thin pasta
• Approx. 1 pint half-and-half or heavy cream (I only had about a 1/2 pint of half-and-half, which was not quite enough)
• Cornstarch-and-water mixture, as needed (to thicken the sauce, if necessary)
• 1/3 cup shelled pistachios, toasted*
• 1 garlic clove
• 2-4 tbsp. Italian flat-leaf parsley (I had about 1/4 of a bunch of parsley left and just threw in all the leaves from that)
• Approx. 1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest
• Approx. 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Dried lemon peel, to taste
• Butter, as needed
• Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a pan)

*To toast the pistachios, preheat the oven to 350*F. Make sure the shells are removed, then place them on a small baking sheet and heat in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly fragrant and lightly golden-brown.

Directions

In a medium pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil, then add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 4-7 minutes). Once done, drain the pasta and return it to the pot, then add a little butter to it to keep it from sticking. In the meantime, heat 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and a little olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried lemon peel (and lemon pepper if you happen to have it), to the pan, and cook until it's no longer pink in the middle (about 10-15 minutes). Once you get the chicken in the pan, combine the pistachios, garlic, parsley, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in the food processor and pulse to blend, doing so until the pistachios are broken into small pieces (don't pulverize them though!). In a large pan, add 1-2 tbsp. butter and melt over medium heat. Add the pistachio mixture to the pan and cook for a few minutes until lightly fragrant. Slowly pour in the half-and-half, stirring constantly as you add it to the pan. Stir around the mixture and add a little more butter if desired, allowing the ingredients to blend. Continue to cook over medium heat, reducing the heat when the chicken gets close to being done. If the sauce seems thin, add a little cornstarch-and-water mix to the sauce (to be honest, I added a little too much, which made the sauce a little too thick, so only add a little at a time and allow it a few minutes to work before you add more if needed). Toss the cooked pasta with the finished sauce and top with chicken and some coarsely chopped pistachios.

The salty, nutty pistachios blend perfectly with the lemon flavors from both zest and juice, and they add a beautiful pop of green to the dish. Simple seasoning, with a splash of lemon, boosts the flavor of the chicken and completes the dish. 

Recipe: Angel Hair Pasta with Steak, Basil, and Almonds

My cousin, Jess, got me a Barnes & Noble gift card for my birthday and gave me the great idea to get a new cookbook with it, and that's just what I did. As many of you could probably guess, I got a recently published Giada De Laurentiis cookbook, Giada at Home (I promise I looked at cookbooks by other chefs, but there were just too many good recipes in this one that I couldn't pass up). I've already marked a handful of recipes I want to try, and tonight was my first try at one of them, a pasta dish with a fresh salsa-style sauce, crunchy almonds, and perfectly-seasoned steak. Just a word of caution...be sure you get beef tenderloin steaks and not some other cut. I accidentally picked up the wrong cut, seeing "tenderloin" written on the package, but not noticing the "chuck" also written on it, a.k.a. I got a much less tender and much cheaper piece of meat that was not nearly as tender as the real deal would have been. The dish was still good, but to get it right, you really need the proper beef tenderloin steaks.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Food processor

Ingredients

• 1 lb. beef tender loin steaks
• Salt and pepper, for seasoning
• 2 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling on the steaks
• 8-16 oz. angel hair, spaghetti, or other long, thin pasta
• 1, 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes and their juice
• Approx. 2 cups (I used two, 2 oz. packs of prepackaged) basil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup smoked almonds (if you're like me and you can't find smoked almonds in your local grocery store, buy regular sliced or slivered almonds and toast them in the oven for just a few minutes at 350*F)
• Italian cheese, like Parmiggiano-Reggiano or Pecorino-Romano, to taste

Directions
Move an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450*F. Place the steaks on a rimmed baking sheet and season both sides with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 10-12 minutes to get steaks to medium doneness (less time for medium rare, more for medium well). Remove the steaks from the oven and let them rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. In the meantime, bring a medium to large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions (about 4-5 minutes). Drain and return to pot, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep it from sticking, then place the lid on the pot to keep the pasta warm. In a food processor, combine the dice tomatoes and their juice, garlic, lemon zest and juice, basil, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Blend until coarsely chopped. Pour the sauce over the warm pasta and toss to combine. Add the almonds (be sure they are either sliced, slivered, or crunched up into pieces) and toss to combine. Either serve the steaks whole, alongside the pasta, or slice the steaks into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with the pasta, then serve. Serve topped with Italian cheese if desired.

This dish is the sort of dish that can easily transition from a summer meal to a winter meal. The fresh, uncooked sauce (warmed through by the hot pasta), packed with crisp basil and bright tomatoes, adds a summery feel to the dish, but the smoked or toasted almonds add a warmth and nuttiness that makes it perfect for colder weather. The steak is the perfect compliment to this pasta, but chicken breasts, seasoned the same way, would work just as well in the dish.

Recipe: Lemon Bars

My dad and I are grilling tonight—marinated strip steaks, red potatoes seasoned with shallot-pepper (another great purchase from Penzeys Spices), and asparagus sprinkled with salt and pepper, served with Chimay Red (one of my all time favorite beers—a Belgian brew). Since my dad will be doing the grilling, I thought I'd whip us up some sort of light dessert to enjoy after our meal. My best friend and her family made these delicious homemade lemon bars (the recipe is actually from the Weight Watchers community) for the 4th of July weekend earlier this summer, so I thought I'd make those. Sure, I could have gotten a boxed mix—my dad and I have had it before and it's pretty good—but homemade lemon bars, with fresh lemon juice and zest, have so much more flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 tbsp. packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, because that's all we had, but I recommend getting the light if you can)
• 8 tbsp. (a little less than 1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 powdered sugar, divided into two equal portions (3/4 cup each)
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top of the completed bars

Directions
To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350*F. Put the flour and brown sugar in a food processor and mix to completely blend. Toss butter pieces into the food processor and pulse to blend, until the picture is slightly clumpy, with butter pieces that are about the size of peas. Evenly sprinkle crust mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch pan and press down on the mixture with your hand or a spatula to create a packed surface. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden brown.

To make the lemon filling/topping: Beat eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until well-blended. Add vanilla extract and 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar and mix well. Add the lemon juice and remaining (3/4 cup) powdered sugar and mix until the powdered sugar is completely dissolved, then add the zest.

As soon as the crust is finished baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 300*F. Put the mixture back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes (the edges will be slightly golden brown), remove, and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Put in the fridge to cool completely. When ready to serve, cut unto 24 bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store remaining bars in the fridge.

These bars are sweet, tangy, and refreshing on a warm summer day. Using fresh lemon juice and zest adds a punch of flavor and the warm yellow color is beautiful and bright. These are great served with a cup of tea, a glass of milk, or just by themselves. Don't skimp on the powdered sugar topping!—It helps balance the tartness of the lemon and sweeten the bars.