Garden Week: Lemony Green Beans

We had a very successful green bean plant this year. It is probably my favorite thing we planted. Whenever I harvested, we ate them up right away. Other then eating the raw dipped in ranch, my other favorite was to cook them with lemon! It is so light and fresh, it tastes like summer!

Lemony Green Beans

about 1/2 pound of fresh green beans, trimmed
zest of one lemon
tsp of fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Trim the green beans by cutting the ends off (and removing strings if needed). Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When rapidly boiling, throw in the trimmed greens beans for 5 minutes. Meanwhile prepare an ice water bath =(fill a large bowl with cold water and ice). A soon as the 5 minutes are up, drain the green beans and toss into the ice bath. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil of medium heat. Throw in green beans, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon pepper. Saute until beans begin to brown just a little. Remove from heat and season with salt to taste.

Valentine's Treats: M&M Cookies

I told you I made these for every holiday (and in between).

Click here for recipe

Valentines Treats: Cookie Dough Truffles

This is a fun recipe to try, and to share. These were a hit at my dad's 60th birthday party (along with the cake balls). This time I made them for a church activity we had tonight, but I am not sure if they were a hit or not. To make it festive for Valentines Day, I put red food coloring in the dough, and drizzled pink chocolate over the top!

Cookie Dough Truffles

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1-1/2 pounds dark chocolate candy coating (I used Almond Bark), coarsely chopped

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour, alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Shape into 1-in. balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip balls in coating, allowing excess to drip off; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, remelt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 5-1/2 dozen.

* As a request from a faithful friend and blog reader, I will give a few tips on dipping things in chocolate, although I feel very inadequete. My plan of attack is to melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. First for 1 min, and then in 15 min increments (stirring in between) until fully melted. I then tip the bowl a little, so all the chocolate pools together. I drop in whatever item is being dipped and swirl it around with a fork. I then lift the item out of the chocolate with the fork, and let excess chocoalte drip down. I then place the titem on a piece of wax paper.

I have also heard of people using tooth picks or plastic forks with two of the progs broken off. In that case you would actually poke the item to be dipped, and then dip it and place it on waxed paper.

As far as the drizzling goes, my husband and I learned how to do it tonight. First of all, your chocolate needs to be runny, so if it is not runny (and not burnt) you can add a little bit of hot water to it, stirring constantly until water is completely incorporated. Then to drizzle use a knife, it works the best!

Valentines Treats: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

I found this recipe in the March edition of Food Network Magazine. They are a little involved, but fun to make, and very worth it!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• 1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 ounce milk chocolate, chopped
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped

Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the semisweet and milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth.

Whisk the melted butter, sour cream, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring in a bowl until combined. In another bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in four equal batches, whisking each batch completely before adding the next. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and smooth the tops with a damp finger. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla seeds. Sandwich a heaping tablespoonful of filling between 2 cookies; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.