Lemon Meringue Crunch Pie

Guys I'm not even going to lie and say this recipe is easy, it is very involved. It's three, really four, different layers of flavor, which means four layers of preparation. It is truly an intermediate baking attempt.

Lemon/Shortbread cookie crust:

10 Lemon snap cookies, crushed
10 Shortbread cookies, crushed
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine all the ingredients, mix well and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Make sure to press into the bottom and sides of the pan as best you can.

Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.


Lemon Cheesecake Layer:

1- 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, separated
1 large lemon
3 tbs. flour
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup sugar

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and the remainder of the ingredients except for the egg whites and other 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat mixture until smooth.

In a separate clean mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar to egg whites and whip until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the lemon cheese cake batter.

Pour 2 cups of the batter on top of the cookie crust, bake for 35-40 minutes until the cheese cake layer is golder brown and set.

Remove from oven and cool slightly.


Lemon Filling:

1- 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
3 egg yolks, (do not discard the whites yet)
Dash of salt
2 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
3 tbsp. of cornstarch
1/4 cup of cold water

Combine the canned milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt, mix well. Whisk in egg yolks one at a time. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently. Combine cornstarch and water together is a small bowl, mix well and add to the lemon mixture. Keep stirring constantly. Once the mixture begins a slow boil remove from heat and add the butter, stir until butter melts. Carefully, pour mixture on top of the cheesecake layer.


Meringue:

3 egg whites (I told you not to discard them)
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 tbsp. confectioners sugar or 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread, spoon or decoratively apply the meringue on top of the lemon filling.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes, transfer to refrigerator and cool pie until completely set.

Whew!!! Even typing this recipe is hard work. But let me tell you it is worth the effort, I really liked the results.


-DIVA

Broccoli Soup

I initially created this recipe for my sister's boyfriend. I had my sister and her boyfriend over for dinner this past weekend, she had already given me the "run down" on him because the dude is a really, really, really picky eater. My original menu plan was Diva's Baked Ziti, Caesar Salad and Diva's Lemon Meringue Crunch pie. Well the menu had to be altered slightly because her dude does not eat salad because he does not like salad dressing. So I decided to get a vegetable in another way. I designed this soup only to find out the night of the dinner that he doesn't eat broccoli either, who doesn't eat broccoli? I love him anyway and my sister and I enjoyed the soup. Well, here's the recipe:

2 Tbsp. of Olive oil
1 Medium onion, chopped
3 Cloves of garlic, chopped
3 Stalks of celery, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 lbs. of fresh broccoli, cut into florets
4 cups of vegetable stock
4 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 oz. of heavy cream


In a large deep pot heat your olive oil once the oil in hot add your onion, garlic and celery. Add a dash of salt and pepper, saute ingredients until the onion becomes translucent. Add the broccoli and toss ingredients together. Add the Stock to the broccoli and cook until the broccoli becomes tender, approximately 10 minutes. Once the broccoli is tender remove the mixture from the heat and blend until smooth. Return the blended mixture to the pot over medium heat add the heavy cream and the sharp cheddar cheese, stir until the cheese is melted and the soup is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

(I will add the pictures shortly, I had to get the posting up because people have to comment.) Later, Love y'all!

-DIVA

Sunturday Dinner

Smokey Corn and Sausage Chowder

OMG!!! Before I start I have to let you know that this recipe is dyn-o-mite!!! I have prepared several different variations of this chowder with my taster kitty, but this flavor combination hit a HOME RUN! It's also so easy to prepare and all the ingredients are very economical. Alright let's get down to the nitty gritty!

1 stick of butter
1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, shredded

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 tblsp. of flour

16 oz. of smoked sausage, cut in bite size pieces

5-6 baby yukon gold or baby red bliss potatoes, cubed in bite size pieces

3 cups of sweet corn kernels, fresh, frozen or canned (if canned squeeze out the liquid)

3 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of half and half

Pinch of fresh nutmeg, fresh

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Start boiling your potatoes in just enough water to cover them, salt the water, boil them just until fork-tender. Melt the butter in a separate, pretty deep pot over meduim heat. Add to the butter, onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Saute butter/veggie mixture for approximately 3-4 minutes or until onions appear translucent. Add the flour to the butter mixure and stir, this will form a roux. Continuously stir for 5-6 minutes and keep the roux moving, you do not want this to burn (yuck!). Once the roux has turned slightly brown (a little lighter than the color of peanut butter) remove it from the heat and let it cool a little.

Combine the corn, sausage and chicken stock in another saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Return the roux to the heat (medium-low), slowly add the boiling stock with corn and sausage into the roux a little at a time. Constantly stir the roux while pouring the stock to avoid lumps. Add the potatoes to the mixture turn the heat up to medium and allow the flavors to meld together, the mixture will be pretty thick.

In another saucepan heat the half and half over medium-low heat (do not boil, just heat it up). Stir the half and half into the thick corn mixture. Add the nutmeg. Add the salt and pepper, to taste.

Sit back with a piece of buttered corn bread and enjoy yourself, because I definately enjoyed myself!!! Oh, and it is even better the next day, don't worry you will have plenty for the next day and also to share.

Trust me this is a wintertime keeper! Try it and let me know how it turned out for you.

-DIVA

First attempt @ Chicken Catch-a-Tory LOL

Okay I'm not even going to put the actual cacciatore recipe in here, because I am not satisfied with it yet. I have to perfect the recipe, it was just something missing. I'm a flavor gurl, I have to have intense flavor!!! If you haven't noticed by now I love garlic, just about everything tastes better with garlic and of course garlic's cohort onion.

I really enjoyed the sauce the night I made it, IT ROCKED! However the night after, when leftovers are usually even better, it was sooooo NOT (at least I didn't think so). But of course my taster will give her comments as well, she always gives her absolute honest opinion, she does not pull any punches.

Speaking of my taster that's her at the top of this post alongside me (I'm on the right). She is such a fabulous person, honest, talented, smart and just my Pookie! I love her! Don't worry I will upload more pictures, this is just to get something up there.

-Diva

Tyler Florence's Sticky Honey- Soy Chicken Wings/ Guy Fieri's Dang Cold Asian Noodle Salad

I have been a little sick for the past couple days (poor me) hence why I have not been logging properly, but I’m back with recipes that I have tried from the foodnetwork.com website.

As for Tyler Florence’s Sticky Honey- Soy Chicken Wings, I have to admit that I didn’t go true to the recipe because I didn’t think my stomach could handle fried foods at that time. So I baked the chicken instead of frying it. I didn’t really care for it, I like Asian flavors, however I did not care for this flavor combination. I think the frying process adds a crispy sticky crust due to the sugar content in the ingredients. I will try the recipe again later and fry the chicken as the recipe calls for and record my results. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27279,00.html

However, I also tried Guy Fieri’s Dang Cold Asian Noodle Salad and it was a HIT!!! It was the perfect combination of sour, sweet and tangy. The “pucker” quality of this salad was on point, meaning the tartness or tanginess of the acidity was perfect. I love a tangy, crunchy and fresh pasta salad anyway and this exceeded my expectations. You can also play with the veggie combination until you find one that suits you. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_67219,00.html

Undecided for the sticky chicken.

Thumbs way up for the Asian Noodle Salad :-)

-Diva

Zesty Crunchy Honeycrisp Apple Salad

Who Knew?!?!

It’s time to show the realness of the blog, I still have ziti left in the fridge so take a wild guess as to what’s for dinner? That’s right, LEFTOVERS :-)

Real person, real life and real leftovers, plus the ziti was extremely tasty so no problems with repeating it. However, I needed something else to add some sort of freshness to the meal. I decided to make a salad, but I didn’t want it to be just a basic humdrum tossed or chopped salad, so of course I had to add my own special flare.

Little did I know my creation would totally steal the show! After starting in on the salad I didn’t even want the ziti I was so full and satisfied from the salad. I thought the salad had a well-rounded flavor; it also had several components of salty, sweet and sour.

Enough talk, on to the recipe:

Zesty Fresh Tangy Salad

1 head of Romaine Lettuce, hand ripped in bite-sized pieces
1 medium ***Honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced in half moon pieces
1 Navel or Valencia orange, sectioned to remove tough membrane
1 small red or yellow onion, thinly sliced in half moon pieces
2 handfuls of Grape Tomatoes, sliced in half

Combine all ingredients; toss well.

Dressing:

3 Tblsp. of Red Wine Vinegar
¼ cup of a good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. of honey
1 Tblsp. of Dijon Mustard
Pinch of Salt and Fresh Black Pepper

Whisk all ingredients; make sure the oil is incorporated well.
Pour dressing over salad and toss well.

I had leftover taco filling from "Taco Night" so I added the chicken brest filling on top of the salad for protein. Very good decision on my part, in my opinion I might add.


***If any of you are unfamiliar with Honeycrisp apples, please begin to make yourself more familiar. In my opinion they are the best tasting apples out there. I have even converted several Granny Smith and Gala lovers to the Honeycrisp bandwagon.

The apple’s flesh is always crisp, sweet and juicy. I have not run into a mealy Honeycrisp yet. They are an all around great apple. They should be available to most local supermarkets, although the supermarkets tend to only keep a few on hand due the lack of consumer knowledge. I believe the more they catch on, the more available they will be.

But don’t take my word for it; take your own BITE. Enjoy!

FYI- check it out http://www.honeycrisp.org/

-Diva

Succulent Roast Pork with Collard Greens and Creamy Risotto

Sunturday's Dinner

(This is not a typo, the reason I call it Sunturday is because I prepare it on Saturday but is it totally suitable for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Most of my Saturday-Sunday posts will be labeled as Sunturday's Dinner)

Succulent Roast Pork with Collard Greens and Creamy Risotto

The Pork Roast is rubbed, injected and placed in an oven bag for optimum fragrance, flavor and juiciness.

RUB

2tbs. paprika
2tbs. kosher salt
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning
1 tsp. of rosemary leaves.
Bacon renderings from 6-8 strips of bacon (if you do not desire to use bacon renderings you can simply use 2 tblsp. of olive oil.)

When combined it should have the consistency of red wet sand.

BRINE INJECTION

3 tbs. Balsamic vinegar
1tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. of Honey
2 two dashes Garlic powder
6 turns of fresh black pepper


Seasoning the Pork Roast

4 large cloves of fresh garlic cut in half. Make large inserts with a very sharp knife in to the pork roast and insert garlic haves deep into the meat. Insert brine into the meat with injector needle. (If you do not have an injector needle you can soak it in a brine overnight)

Rub the roast with rub seasoning and place in an oven bag (you can purchase these at any grocery store, they can usually to found in the napkin and plastic isle.)

¼ cup of orange juice
¼ cup of water
Pour over roast prior to closing the bag and placing in the oven.

Place it into a cold oven allowing the heat to rise slowly, the oven temperature should be then set on 300 degrees and the roast will cook for 6 hours.

COLLARD, MUSTARD AND KALE GREENS

1/2 pound of collard greens
1/2 pound of mustard greens
1/2 pound of kale greens
1 smoked hamhock or any smoked meat
2 tblsp. of kosher salt
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp. of onion powder
1 tsp. of crushed red pepper
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup of sugar
water
Place smoked hamhock in a large stockpot, fill with enough water to cover the hamhock. Cook on high heat until boiling, once the water comes to a boil add the kosher salt. Triple wash all the greens (they tend to have a lot of sand between the leaves).

Remove the stems from the greens (my mother taught me an easy way to remove the stem from the collard green leaf. You hold the stem with one hand and slide my fingers up the stem toward the leaf with the other hand. The leaf remains pretty much intact and the stem is removed. The kale and mustard stems can be cut off. Once all the stems are removed stack the collard greens one on top of the other and roll them up like a cigar and cut 1/2 inch ribbons of collard greens. Because the kale and mustard greens are so curly you can just give them a rough chop.

Add all the greens to the boiling water with the hamhock. Also, add the remainder of the ingredients except for the sugar. Cook the greens until they are tender, it usually takes 40-50 minutes. Once greens are tender add the sugar, this will take some of the bitterness away. Allow for the sugar to incorporate for approx. 10 minutes, still boiling on stove top. Use a spider or some type of mesh device to fish the greens from the liquid, but do not discard all of the liquid. You will strain most of the liquid off but you want to serve with some liquid in the serving dish.

RISOTTO
2 cups of Arborio rice (short grain)
2 large cans or boxes of chicken stock
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tblsp. of olive oil
3 Tblsp. of butter
small box of frozen peas

Allow the peas to sit out during the cooking process in order to thaw slightly. In a medium saucepan on medium heat add the olive oil and butter, heat together until the butter melts. Add the onion and garlic, saute until the onion is translucent (be careful not to burn the onion or the garlic, keep it moving).

Add the Arborio rice and stir until each grain is coated with oil. Slowly add the chicken stock about a cup at a time. Add the first cup and stir, wait until all the liquid is absorbed. Add the next cup (repeat until the rice does not absorb any more liquid or rice is tender [the texture and tenderness is totally up to you]. Once you have the proper tenderness add the peas and remove from the heat. Serve Immediately.


I loved preparing this meal as well as eating it. It is very difficult for me to pick a favorite player from the meal.
The risotto was creamy and delicious (BTW- you can add any vegetable you would like, please do not hold the recipe to just peas. Just about anything is possible.)

The pork was tender and juicy and full of soooooooo much flavor.

The greens were tangy, smokey and very tasty. But greens are a main staple in my household, so it was no big deal for me. But they were still very good.

But do not take my word for it please see the comments of my tasters.

-Diva

Mario Batali's Baked Pasta with Ricotta: Pasticcio di Maccheroni con la Ricotta

Just to kick this comment off the correct way and not have any discrepancies, I absolutely loved, loved, loved this recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14263,00.html

In my opinion you just cannot go wrong with pasta, sauce and ooey gooey wonderful cheese. I loved that he used caciotta in his recipe, it added another level of flavor to the sauce. The red wine added a depth of that I love and will constantly use in my own ziti recipe as often as I can.

My only suggestion is that I really enjoy Italian sausage in my ziti, but other than that, perfecto.

This recipe is one for the recipe box.

-Diva

Taco Night!!!

That's right folks tonight was a taco night, Ms. Diva came in from work greeted by hungry people and did not have much time for preparation. Well at the very least I gave them a variety of either chicken or beef and crunchy or soft shells and as an added bonus plenty of toppings.

But do not fret, tomorrow will be a Food Network recipe night. As promised I will give my honest opinion concerning the recipe.

-Diva