Breakfast was leftover french toast, a decadent recipe I received from a local chef who hosts cooking classes in her house. I would share the recipe, but it's not mine to share -- you have to take one of her classes. If my schedule permitted I would go to each and every one of them. You can check it out at her website.
Lunch was from a recipe I found in the March 2010 issue of Sunset in an article about meatballs (which by the way are not my most fond way of eating meat). I made Shrimp and Pork Meatball Wraps with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce and Daikon Radish. Here is the recipe, with my improvisations.....
Shrimp and Pork Meatball Wraps with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
For the sauce, stir together:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp lime juice and fish sauce and Sriracha chili sauce
For the meatballs, combine:1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 green onions, minced
2 Tbs cilantro, minced1 Tbs ginger paste
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup red cabbage, finely chopped
Stir into it 1/2 cup panko. Add 1/2 lb shrimp, finely chopped and 1/4 lb ground pork, mixing well with your hands. Chill until firm enough to mold into 1 inch meatballs with your hands.
Pictured are the raw meatballs, very colorful with the red cabbage.
Fry the meatballs in 1/4 cup vegetable oil over medium-high heat until browned all over.
Then transfer to a paper towel until ready to serve.
I served them on top of romaine lettuce leaves and a bed of freshly shredded daikon radish, drizzled with the dipping sauce.
Even my girls ate it, and Syd liked the dipping sauce (not a surprise since she also loves mint chutney)!In the evening my good friend Brandy came over to try out some new recipes with me. We had success with two of the three recipes. I tried making avgolemono (another meatball recipe from Sunset) but it just did not satisfy me. But kudos to her for bravely trying the lamb meatballs! And yes, Sydney did actually enjoy it.
But the redeeming recipes were Pizza with Caramelized Fennel and Onion, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe online, and Toasted Pound Cake with Citrus Cream from Giada de Laurentiis.
I have never used or seen fennel before in my life. I have looked for it on occassion at the grocery store and a couple days ago I saw it, so I was urged to buy it. I still need to explore more recipes with it, including eating it in its raw state, but it was fantastic in its caramelized state, as shown in the picture.
Oh my heavens, the dessert was so incredible. And to think that all the time we were preparing it we were discussing what type of truffles to make for Easter. After we tasted the pound cake dessert, there was that silence when you can almost hear your tastebuds explode with delight. And then we enjoyed a little more when Maleah seemed not interested in joining us for dessert... and I don't think either of us felt guilty! Here is the recipe... and we could only imagine so many variations to come...
Toasted Pound Cake with Citrus Cream
Slice pound cake to 1 inch slices. Brush with melted butter and honey mixture. Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable oil. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes and then cool for 10 minutes.
For the citrus cream, combine:
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs orange juice, 1/2 orange zested
1 lemon and lime, zested and juiced
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whip with a stand mixer on high until soft peaks form (this was the first time I used my Valentine's Day present from my husband... my Cuisinart 6 qt stand mixer and I loved it!).
Then simply spoon the citrus cream mixture on top of a slice of pound cake and top with fresh orange bite-sized pieces.
I'm not sure if I could ever get sick of this dessert! I'm not sure I can even fall asleep tonight without dreaming about it!
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