Lemon Chicken & Orzo Soup with Kale

So far our spring has consisted of snow, almost every day, with maybe a sunny day here and there. So for me, soup days are not over. This recipe I adapted slightly from Good Life Eats would still be great in warmer weather. It ends up being just slightly thickened, not too heavy, and has a nice light lemon flavor. If you've never tried it, orzo is my absolute favorite in soup, too. I thought this was an ultimate comfort food with the pasta, yummy vegetables and smooth broth.

This was the first time I have used kale and I have to say, I think I prefer it to spinach in a dish like this one. Have you ever felt like the flavor of spinach can overpower a dish? Kale is much more mild, one reason I think my boys ate it without complaining. It is super high in vitamins A & C and has endless other health benefits.

Tip: I never, never add my pasta to my soup. I always cook it separately and add it to our individual bowls. I do this because I always have leftovers and the pasta (or rice) soaks up all of the broth. This time I broke my rule and added the uncooked orzo to the cooking soup because I wanted to use the starch as a thickener. In two days when I wanted to use the leftovers, of course, there was no broth. So, all I did was recreate the broth part and it was no big deal. I made 6 more cups of chicken broth, added the 3 egg yolks {tempered}, the lemon juice, and added it back to the pasta and veggie mixture. It honestly tasted better the second time around.

Photo Used From Good Life Eats

*Printable Version*

What You Need:
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine {I used cooking wine}
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
6 cups chicken broth
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced or shredded {or I used one whole rotisserie chicken}
3/4 cup orzo
3 egg yolks
zest and juice of 2 large lemons
1.5 teaspoons fresh thyme
2-3 handfuls of kale, ribs removed, chopped or torn into pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Sautee onion in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes and add garlic. Cook garlic one minute and add white wine. Let simmer 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, thyme and carrot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow carrots to cook 10-15 minutes. Add cooked chicken.

In a separate bowl, combine 3 egg yolks and the juice of 2 large lemons. {I use this from Williams Sonoma to juice and love it}. Slowly whisk 1 cup of hot chicken broth into the egg and lemon mixture. Then, add this back into the soup mixture. This is how you temper your eggs and is the thickener for your soup.

Add the kale. It does not wilt as quickly as spinach so you'll need to give it a little extra time to wilt down.

Let simmer 5-10 more minutes or until your carrots are starting to become tender. Add uncooked orzo to the pot and cook until it is done and carrots and celery are cooked through. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Homemade Twix Bars

I have to say, this whole making- your -chocolate -candy- at -home thing is really growing on me. It started with these Peppermint Patties and then the Oreo Truffles, which turned into Nutter Butter Truffles and now Samoa Truffles are in the works...

I know. After this baby comes I am in serious trouble with the chocolate addiction. Its a wonder I didn't have insulin issues or gain ridiculous amounts of weight. {Not that I didn't gain plenty!} Too bad it didn't make me sick the entire time, like it did in the beginning.

And my husband is in crisis over the weight he has gained during this pregnancy-induced treat making spree.

I blame the internet. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't come across all these wonderful recipes and feel the need to try them, because I really do not come up with these ideas on my own. These homemade Twix bars come from Savory Sweet Life and I pretty much think she might be a food genius for this. 

The steps are going to sound like a lot of work, but I promise when you start it goes super quickly and is really easy. Plus, they are sooo good.

I have one tip about dipping chocolate. I really do not like the flavor of almond bark, which is what many people use to dip candies, pretzels, berries, etc. I also think its turns a funky color after it sets up. Spend the extra money and use baking chocolate or candy melts. It won't be worth the savings if the candy doesn't taste good!

I am sorry my pictures are terrible! It is so hard to cook & take pictures at the same time. I have so much respect for those food bloggers that document the entire process so beautifully with photos. If you want to see photos for this recipe done correctly, go visit the original post on Savory Sweet Life!


*Printable Version*

Yield: 12 Bars


What You Need:

{24} square caramel candies, cut in half

{24} 4 inch honey wheat pretzel sticks

1/3 cup Nutella {As an alternate idea, try peanut butter!}

2/3 cup baking chocolate or candy melts

Sea salt {optional}

Directions:

1. Spoon your Nutella into a plastic storage bag and cut the tip off of one corner.

2. Cut each caramel in half and lay them out in a single layer on a microwave safe dish. Soften them, starting with 8 seconds in the microwave, until they are pliable but do not melt.

3. Starting at one end, mold your caramel onto two pretzel sticks. Use 4 halves {2 full caramels per bar}, gently pressing the caramel inbetween,  using it to "glue" the pretzels together. If you are slow like me, you may have to re-warm your caramels during the process.

4. Now, flip your bars over and pipe the Nutella down the middle of the other side, between the two pretzel sticks. Use a knife or spreader to cover the sticks and push the Nutella down between the two.

Now you should have assembled bars.

Melt your baking chocolate or candy melts according to package directions. I start with one minute in the microwave, take them out to stir, and then add 30 second increments until fully melted.

Toss the bars into the melted chocolate, coating them, and lift out on a fork letting the excess chocolate drip off.

Place each on wax or parchment paper and sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Once each bar is dipped, place the sheet into the fridge for 15 minutes to set. Enjoy!

Cherry-Lemon Buttermilk Cake

This is a recipe I think would be perfect for a brunch, shower, or Easter get-together. It ends up light, not overly sweet but very fresh and fits the spring weather. The buttermilk and fruit create a super moist cake! The original recipe uses blueberries and I was planning on using only those until I saw whole cherries in the frozen fruit section. I prefer to use frozen berries for just about everything, so I purchase a lot of them. There is no race to finish them before they go bad and have to be wasted. They work beautifully in recipes like this because they "hold up". Anyway, I have been trying to find a way to include cherries in my son's diet. He won't try them, and I've been reading lately on their health benefits. Did you know that they work as an anti-inflammatory, more potent than aspirin? I didn't, but have read it several places lately. In the end, I decided to make two batches- one with cherries and one with blueberries.

I was skeptical about using tart cherries along with lemon. Usually blueberries go well with lemon because they are so overly sweet but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the cherries worked out. I ended up preferring the cherry one for taste, but not so much for appearance. So, here is the only catch with this recipe. If you use cherries, they are pretty large. I wanted to break mine up and so I threw them into the mixer and let them get completely incorporated. This results in a cake with kind of an odd purple color. If you fold them in whole (and gently) with a spoon, your cake won't discolor but you might have really big pieces of fruit. Finally, if you decide to use berries, it works to toss them with a bit of flour so they won't all sink to the bottom.  If anyone has a suggestion about how to improve this piece of the recipe, I'd love to hear from you!

*Printable Version*

What You Need:

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick butter, softened

2/3 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

5 oz. pitted cherries {fresh or frozen} OR you can use blueberries, raspberries, your preference!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch round or square cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches, mixing until just combined. Add cherries. You can either incorporate cherries with a mixer, which will break them up and make your batter a pink or purple color, OR you can add a bit of flour to your cherries and fold them in gently with a spoon to keep them whole and keep batter a cake color.  Pour batter into cake pan, spreading and smoothing the top. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar to create a crispy top. 

Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate and cut into 8 slices.

Serve plain or with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Kalua Pork

I am not sure why I have never tried this, as it seems pretty popular when I started researching recipes. This is NOT your boring, traditional pork roast. What got me started was the show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. I watched an episode where they first made the kalua pork, and then used it to make kalua pork egg rolls, which I ended up making with some of the leftovers. I will post that recipe soon!

Traditionally, kalua pork is made at luaus, using a whole pig, roasted in a ground pit. It is also generally wrapped in banana leaves to prevent it from drying out. I read that you can buy banana leaves at specialty markets but chose not to this time.

I have to tell you, I guarantee this is the most tender pork you will ever, ever have. I actually gave up doing pork roasts in the crock pot a while ago because they were just never turning out as tender as beef roasts. When I went to shred this pork, I barely had to touch it and it fell right apart. The flavor is great and you can use the leftovers for anything. Mexican dishes, bbq sandwiches, egg rolls, etc. Besides the fact that its delicious, my house smelled amazing while it was cooking and it was very inexpensive. It uses only a couple of ingredients and takes less than five minutes to prepare. It makes a TON if you are feeding a crowd. If not, you will have great freezable leftovers. If all of that isn't enough to convince you, nothing will!

I found a lot of variations out there and just sort of combined them.

*Printable Version*

What You Need:
4-5 pound pork butt roast {don't substitute a leaner cut- you need the fat}
2-3 tablespoons coarse salt {I used sea salt, you can also use Hawaiian salt}
2 tablespoons liquid smoke {Found at any grocery store near the condiments}
Water, Roasting pan with rack, and foil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I used a deep roasting pan with a rack and put about 2 inches of water in the bottom. Prepare the roast by cutting slits all over and then rubbing the salt into the meat. Rub the liquid smoke over the roast and place on the rack. Tent the roasting pan with two layers of foil, very tightly. Place into the 350 degree oven for one hour, then reduce the heat to 325 for 4 more hours. I didn't peek at all during that time! Remove from oven about ten minutes before serving and let the roast rest. Shred and serve with rice, potatoes or whatever you like! Enjoy!