 It's hard to believe April is here in a blink of an eye. Anyone else gets the feeling that time is flying by this year, and the whole winter went by while waiting for it to arrive?! Easter is just around the corner and with that in mind, I wanted to share with you a lovely cake recipe from Italia. I do not have any claims to this recipe. I have had this written down with a pencil in my recipe box for years, and I am not certain of the origin of the recipe. But the story goes that it is a traditional recipe from Capri, an island in Italy’s Bay of Naples, that is famous for its limoncello, amongst other things. And since this is a lemon cake with almonds in it, I have faith that the story is correct. The flavors of the tart citrus with the sweetness of the cake and the hint of the almonds giving depth to the taste is perfect for an Easter brunch, dessert with little cream and berries on the side, or just a slice with a cup of coffee while watching the kids hunt eggs around the yard. Or you can have it as a snack and serve it with iced tea while sitting in the spring sun and enjoying the time together with loved ones or a good book in the shade. The cake is very moist with rich flavors and I could imagine using this recipe also for lemon cupcakes with cream cheese icing on them. Whatever way you choose to use it, I hope you enjoy it! Till next time ~ Cheers!
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 The most often asked question from me regarding the Spoons is 'how do you get inspiration to what you make, what makes you decide what is going to be on the blog and when'. And this is relatively easy to answer because all the food made for the posts is consumed in my household. The food prepared for the blog is something that stands in the guidelines of what ingredients are available right now, what is in the pantry and/or the fridge right now, and what would be tasty to make, and it evolves from there. Like today's post - I had some feta cheese I wanted to use, my basil was overgrowing and the oranges I had needed to be used as well. Then I just started to play with different ideas, and it ended up being a meal that was so tasty, it was easy to prepare with just a few ingredients, and did I mentioned so delicious, the chicken was so moist and tender to eat! Here the key was the good, quality Greek feta cheese that I used. With this dish I wouldn't use one of those imitation feta cheeses that are sold in oil but get the real thing instead. If you don't like basil, you can use oregano, but then I would maybe change the citrus to lemon. I marinated the chicken breasts in olive oil with finely chopped garlic and onion in it, for about 3 hours before I started cooking. You could set the chicken in the marinade in the morning before leaving the house, and then prepare the dish when you come home. Also, if you have a Greek oil based salad dressing, you could use that instead. The pieces of chicken breasts that I used were on the large side, there is liquid in the pan at the end, if you don't like that you can set the chicken on a roasting pan, and then you don't have to worry about the drippings from the chicken, but it could turn out to be a bit dry that way. So be careful with the baking time, your oven temperature and the size of the chicken breasts if you do use a roasting pan for this dish. I used a slotted spoon to carefully remove the chicken from the pan without the drippings and with the feta topping. I served just a simple cherry tomato salad with the chicken and couscous on the side to keep with the Mediterranean theme. I hope you enjoy this flavorful dish! Till next time ~ Cheers!
Here is a recipe, and a meal idea, that the side dish took the center stage and ended up being the main event that everything else just was complimenting.
This idea came to me on the grocery meat aisle, while shopping and seeing what they had and what would inspire me. I was walking with a friend and talking out loud what I could do with the fresh turkey breast that they had for a good price. To use chicken breasts or boneless pork loin instead of turkey would go great as well. Any white meat will work with the slow roasted curried coconut milk cauliflower, apples, and onions. The idea is rather simple and didn't take a long time to get the dish into an oven, mix a salad and then just relax until the hour was up and the food was ready. And it was a great end result, I have to admit. If you have a mandoline and are comfortable using it, it can help to cut down the prep time in case you are in a hurry. The coconut milk mellowed out the curry type taste and just left the slow burn into the dish. If you heat up leftovers the day after all the flavors have intensified, and the burn and spiciness will be higher. I didn't consider it too high, but just so you know. Without further ado, here is the recipe. I wish you all a great weekend! Till next time ~ Cheers!
 How do you plan your weekly meals? Or do you plan at all, just fix what you are craving for or what is on the sale at the grocery store? Do you shop once a week or something every day? I try to go grocery shopping twice a week, the other time just getting fresh bread, fruit, and veggies etc. for the weekend. But I also tend to find the best sales when it comes to protein and has a good selection in the freezer where I can choose what I want and need at any given time. Then I plan my meals according to the availability of the fresh veggies in the markets, that I admit, up here in the north, can be limited during the winter months. This dish is something I made when I had to rely only on what I had in the house, but sometimes those meals are the best, with a lot of flavor, and like this one, with a lot of slow burning heat... This is a pretty simple recipe, like most of the meals that I share. I like to think that you can get an idea and inspiration of the meals I share even if you are not a fan of working in the kitchen. I made a big pot of the pork ginger stew because I knew the next day the flavors would be even more intensified and the burn from the ginger and chili would intense. The amount of chili and ginger used is up to you, of course. What I used was nice with just a little fire in the mouth afterward. I love to cook economically, and using leftovers the day after just saves time and money in a long run. The sauce can be served with noodles, pasta, rice or just as with an artisan bread. It can also be made with chicken or turkey, or a vegetarian version with red lentils and kidney beans. I hope you enjoy the ginger stew and your weekend. Till next time ~ Cheers!
 We have made it to March, and I'll admit, I am really looking forward to warmer, sunny days, the wildflowers to start to bloom in the city parks, the bikes on the streets, people enjoying life in cafe terraces... If you follow the website Instagram account, you might have noticed that all my food pictures have lately been in spring colors as well. I laughed when someone pointed out to me that even the zucchini picture looks like grass... Must be some super-grass, huh?! But you know the more color on your plate, the more good stuff, vitamins and minerals your body needs, is in the food you eat. So go forth and be colorful!
I served corn and salmon with the noodles. The salmon you can bake in an oven or sear in the pan like I did. The salmon doesn't take long, so if you want a quick meal use the pan to prepare the salmon, if you want a little less stress right before serving time, bake the salmon in the oven.
I hope these ideas inspired you to use color on your plate. Til we meet again
~ Cheers! |
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