12 Days of Meyers - Meyer Ricotta Cheese Skillet Cake

I first met Elizabeth a couple years ago at the Tech Munch Conference here in Austin. We were sitting next to each other and I originally thought she was a model. Tall, gorgeous and owner of an amazing smile, I wanted to break the ice and introduce myself so I went to the complimentary snack table and loaded up on several pieces of Miles of Chocolate Brownies. When I sat back down, I offered her some and we have been friends ever since. It’s no surprise to me that Local Savour's following reaches far beyond just Austin. She has a passion and desire to take local, in-season ingredients and create easy and tasty dishes with them. Her success and reputation grows with each award she wins, e-books or videos she produces, or story she posts. To me, this recipe sums her up completely. It’s fresh, light, easy and beautiful. Enjoy!

When we first bought our current house, one of our good friends (that happens to have studied horticulture) gave us some great advice. "Plant fruit trees," she said, "It's the one regret that I have from when we bought our own house." Our friend eventually planted fruit trees in her yard but not until after they had lived there for over 10 years. "We could have been enjoying fresh fruit from our yard all of that time," she continued, "They are just now producing fruit." SO ... one of the first things we did was plant fruit trees in our new yard. We have only seen a few fruits develop over the last couple of years and I am eagerly waiting to see if this is THE year for our trees but for now we are lucky to know a few folks that are already enjoying the fruits of their labor (ha!) and are willing to share their delicious produce with us. One such friend is Kristina from Girl Gone Grits. Her backyard Meyer Lemon trees have been bearing a healthy amount of fruit for a few years and she has graciously shared a large basket of the sweet and tart yellow spheres along with her sinfully delicious Limoncello recipe.

What's a girl to do with copious amounts of lemons? Host a 12 Days of Meyer Lemon Recipe Event of course. Visit Girl Gone Grits for more amazing recipes with Meyer Lemons.

And in the meantime, I really can not think of a better way to ring in the new year than with a good slice of an easy-to-bake cake. Not everyone enjoys tasting lemon in their desserts but I have always adored a little zest in mine. The combination of tangy lemon blended with creamy ricotta cheese has long been one of my favorite blends when it comes to the classics and this warm Meyer Lemon and Ricotta Cheese Skillet Cake doesn't disappoint  –– it's going to be a great year.

Meyer Lemon and Ricotta Cheese Skillet Cake

Ingredients

• 2 medium Meyer lemons - zest and juice
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (I used 2%)
• For the glaze:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 medium Meyer lemon zest & juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use one Tablespoon of butter to coat a heavy duty or cast-iron 10-12" pan and set aside.
3. In a large bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and stir together well. Next, add milk, egg, ricotta cheese, lemon zest and juice, and remaining melted butter and continue to stir together well until the batter is formed.
4. Pour batter into the buttered pan and then sprinkle with remaining Tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until outer edges are slightly golden and center is cooked through.
5. Remove from the oven and make glaze.
6. Add powdered sugar, lemon zest and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and stir well until it becomes honey like in texture adding a touch more lemon juice if needed, 1/4 teaspoon at a time. Drizzle glaze over cake and serve

Oh the Joy of Spring

Living in California my whole life spoiled me when it came to the weather. I had absolutely no idea what to expect 11 years ago when I moved to Texas. Since then I have learned much about the seasons in Texas. Like the hotter than Hades heat that kicks up in June and stretches it's sultry (I say sultry because I am trying to behave like a Southern Lady) hand deep into the fall at which time the chance of ice and sleet always seems to only be a few hours away. Don't believe me? Just ask any Texan about our crazy weather and they will most likely tell you, “Texas has four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas.” Therefore, when Spring rolls around for it's brief annual visit, we like to get out of the house and soak up as much as we can. Getting outside is not hard to do as the wildflowers blanket the highways and roads all over this big beautiful state. Taking a drive through the Texas Hill Country will make you quickly forget about the merciless heat that is around the corner. Yes, the cool breezes, the colors, and the smells - it is all so breathtaking that even the morning commute is quickly forgotten. The summers can be pretty tough if your not used to the heat, which is why Spring is so cherished in these parts. I consider it a blessing to have been born in a beautiful state like California but I must say it's been an absolute pleasure to be raising our family in this gorgeous big state of Texas, too. Yes, there are many ways to survive the weather in Texas, but I prefer to look at it as a fun amusement park ride where I learned years ago to keep my arms and legs in until the ride comes to a complete stop - stopping to smell the flowers, that is. I'm jus' sayin!



I am fortunate enough to live within walking distance of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Lady Bird had a very special gift when it came to beautifying our lovely town. It would have been an honor to have met this Southern gem and in her honor, I am sharing her famous Lemon Cake. This recipe is all over the internet and it appeared to be one of the specialties the First Lady served in the White House.

3/4 cup butter or margarine (at room temperature)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Lemon Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine (at room temperature)
1 lemon, grated rind only
1 lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons cream (or more, until spreading consistency)
yellow food coloring, if desired

DIRECTIONS:
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks until light and lemon-colored; blend into creamed mixture. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; resift 3 times. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with milk. Beat the batter thoroughly after each addition.

Add vanilla extract, lemon rind and lemon juice; beat 2 minutes. Bake in greased 10-inch bundt pan in preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 1 hour or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. You can also can use three 9-inch round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Double the frosting recipe for a layer cake.

Lemon Icing: Combine ingredients and beat, adding cream until desired consistency.

"The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances."
~ Robert Flatt

On this Easter Sunday… Forgive someone. Tell someone you love them. Let your light shine.
~ Author Unknown

Leaving Your Print.....

I’m not sure about you but I love jams and jellies. When I used to go to my Aunt’s house every summer in Bremerton, Washington, I would always look forward to breakfast. She had a lazy susan on her breakfast table and it always had at least five or six jars of jams, jellies, conserves and preserves on it. It was hard to choose just one so I would gracefully try and take a tiny spoonful of each so that I ended up with more of those flavors of sweet golden deliciousness on my dry, whole wheat toast. Though my family now is not nearly the jam eaters I was raised to be, I continue to purchase and make my own regularly. Living in California it was always apricot for me (still my favorite flavor), however, in the ten years that I've called Texas home I have uncovered some wonderful spicy citrus creations that have peaked both my interest as well as my palate. A trip to my local farmer's market will reveal award-wining creations from Confituras. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I attend the local food swap because of all the canned goodness created and brought by some of these local bloggers: From Maggie’s Farm, Texas Twist, Stetted, and Kate Payne. But with that said, I was recently doing the dreaded chore of cleaning out my refrigerator when I realized that I had a bunch of jars with little bits of jam left in each. Pondering how I could reuse these beautiful bits, I thought back to what I had recently learned from the remarkable Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking - that I could just fill the jars with yogurt and create my own personal jar of "fruit on the bottom" yogurt. Another idea is to add those bits to salad dressings or to a favorite BBQ sauce. Or, as in my case, create some yummy little thumbprint cookies. After all, the kid in me is still there and the only difference now is that I am no longer forced to enjoy my jams and jellies with just dry toast. I’m jus sayin!


Jammy Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup butter, or margarine softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped nuts or Sweedish pearl sugar
1 cup any flavor fruit jam (for ease place in zip lock bag snipped)
*For added garnish melted chocolate drizzled over top.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cream butter or margarine, sugar, and egg yolk. Add vanilla, flour and salt, mixing well. Shape dough into balls. Roll in nuts. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. With thumb, dent each cookie. Squeeze jelly or preserves in each thumbprint. Bake for another 8-9 minutes. Should be golden brown on edges. Cool. For added garnish, drizzle melted white or dark chocolate over the tops.

When Life Gives You Citrus!

About 9 years ago, we moved from sunny California to the big state of Texas. This was a huge shock to our systems and not for the obvious reasons you may think. Take our backyard garden - when we were in California, we were spoiled by the soil and the weather. We could virtually throw seeds into the earth and up would spring a glorious garden or plentiful fruit trees. Of course, the first time we started our garden here in Austin, we had the same expectations. Unfortunately, the results were very different. My dear husband hit that hard Texas clay earth with the shovel and we started to realize maybe we don't have the magic green thumb after all. Still, we persevered and over the years we have managed to start a few gardens and harvest crops not nearly as abundant as we had grown accustomed too (humbling, absolutely!). A few pumpkins (grown from old jack-o'lanterns thrown in the compost pile), lots of peppers (naturally) and a surprising herb garden have been the highlights. Over the years, we have learned what we can and can't grow and what veggies we still need to learn more about as far as growing in this environment.

With all that said, we may not have the fresh and plentiful veggies growing in the backyard garden (there's always the local farmer's market!) but what we do have are 2 of the most prolific citrus trees around. Granted, they are transplants like us and we didn't listen to locals that said citrus wouldn't grow here. We have one Meyer Lemon that we brought in our moving truck from California and my Mom brought us our Moro Blood-Orange tree in her moving van when she moved from California to Austin a few years later. Both are now firmly rooted in our Texas backyard, just like us. Every year, the Meyer produces the most amazing lemons - which I will be writing about soon. This blog, however, is about our beautiful blood-orange tree. If you have never had the pleasure of drinking fresh blood-orange juice, then I suggest you put that on your must-do "foodie list". Having a tree with an abundant supply allows us to try many different recipes and still have plenty left over to bless friends and family.

We started our holidays off with blood-orange mimosas on Christmas morning, a glorious and sweet ruby-colored drink that makes regular mimosas blush in comparison. I have made blood-orange vinaigrette's for salads as well as candied orange peel. My daughter and I baked rich, golden loaves of cranberry-orange bread as gifts for neighbors. We infuse the zest into vodka and make lovely martini's. And this year, I attempted to make blood-orange marmalade. Tonight, we had blood-orange sorbet for dessert and Wow! so yummy! So with all the recipes and new ideas out there, one would think that if life gives you all this beautiful citrus, why just make juice? I'm jus' sayin'!

Blood Orange Marmalade - I found an orange marmalade recipe online from "The Barefoot Contessa" as a base and revised it to make blood-orange marmalade. If you would like to try her recipe with plain oranges you can find it here. I suggest you start the the night before, right before you get ready to go to bed.

In a large stainless steel pot, slice 8 medium size blood-oranges in half and take out seeds. Take each half and slice paper thin half-moons from them. (Ina Garten suggests using a mandolin for the slicing to make this chore quicker - good luck! I tried mine and ended up with a mess and the thought that bloody fingers instead of blood-oranges was enough for me to use just my knife) Transfer all the slices as well as any juice to the pot. Fill the pot with 8 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn of heat and add 8 1/2 cups of sugar to the pot. Stir until dissolved. Put the lid on the pot and let this sit on the counter overnight. The next morning, bring the pot with all the oranges, sugar and water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Bring the heat back up and boil gently for about 30 minutes. Skim any foam off the top. At this point, use a candy thermometer and watch for the marmalade to come to 220 degrees F. It should be a thick consistency with a dark, golden-red color. Pour the marmalade into clean mason jars and place in a hot water bath to seal the lids. After they have been canned, they should last in a cool pantry for up to a year - that is, if you have not opened it and put it on a toasted English muffin, in which case I promise that jar will go fast. Enjoy!

Blood Orange Sorbet - Absolutely simple! I followed David Lebovitz's recipe which was very precise and you can too! I find David's work to be clean and clear and it's always a joy to read his blog.