Lemon-Yogurt Muffins

This is from the Williams Sonoma Baking Book that my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas. I adapted it slightly, of course, but I highly recommend either version!

Lemon-Yogurt Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp pure lemon extract or lemon oil* (optional)

For the Topping

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans*
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground mace*

* I used sliced almonds instead because I love lemon and almond together. I also added just a hint of almond extract to my muffins instead of the lemon extract. Further, you can opt for cinnamon instead of mace if it is all you have on hand.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with baking cups.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt, eggs, melted butter, lemon juice, and lemon/almond extract. Fold together just until combined. The batter should be fluffy and lumpy. Spoon the batter in to the muffin cups.

For the topping, mix together the nuts, sugar, and mace/cinammon. Sprinkle each muffin with an equal amount of the topping.

Bake the muffins until golden around the edges and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Around 15-20 mins. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes then remove the muffins from the pan and let cool again on the wire rack. You can eat these while they are still warm though too:)

Convenience Breakfast

This morning I decided to use up the french toast sticks and sausages someone had given me, but I didn't have enough maple syrup to go around. So, I improvised with something else I had in my freezer -- frozen strawberries. I put them in the microwave for a few minutes to soften them and then blitzed them in my blender with a few normal tablespoons (not my measuring spoons) of powdered sugar.

For myself, I put a dollop of whole milk ricotta on the bottom of a shallow bowl, layered a few french toast sticks on top and drizzled it all with my strawberry sauce and added a side of sausage. It was so perfect!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

I thought I would share a few of my favorite websites from which I like to purchase things. One is a bakery in Paris that will ship overnight (sort of, barring any discussion of time and such) to the USA. I surprised my husband with this once for his birthday (he is of French heritage) and sent some to my father-in-law once for his birthday and again for a holiday (my father's father, which is where the French heritage comes from).

Yes, it is a little bit of an expense to order from Poilane, but consider how much you might spend on flowers for someone as a birthday gift and then consider that this is fresh bread from Paris. Further, it is a huge loaf of bread, so what I do is cut it into pieces and wrap with foil and saran wrap, then freeze. It has lasted me well over a month and believe me we eat a LOT of bread in this house.

The other place I love to order from is Martin Rossol's in New Britain, CT. The kielbasa is the absolute best, as is everything else the offer. Order some kabanosy and you will eat it all within the first ten minutes of arrival! And don't forget the horseradish -- it is by far the best as well.

Bad, Bad Blogger

Ok, so I know I have been absent for a while, and there is lots of food I've missed out on sharing. I've been doing some cooking, but haven't had the time to do any writing:/

This, however, is for my friend who asked about making stroganoff. This can be made with beef or mushrooms, as we discussed!

Beef/Mushroom Stroganoff (or both!)

1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of chopped garlic
Around 1 lb. beef - cut into bite sized pieces*
*Alternatively, a few cups of assorted mushrooms or whatever you can find
Red wine (sub water or beef stock if you prefer)
Some vegetable oil
Salt & pepper, to taste
Paprika (a sprinkle or around 1tsp)
Dried dill (around 1tsp)
Fresh chopped dill or parsley
A dollop of sour cream

Rice or noodles for serving

Season and brown the meat (or mushrooms) in a hot pan with some oil - whatever you need for the pan you are using. Remove the meat (or mushrooms) to a warmed plate -- it is OK if the meat is not cooked all the way through yet! -- then add the chopped onion and garlic (add a few mushrooms here if you like to go with the beef) with a little salt (this helps the onions sweat and not get brown too quickly). Lower the heat a little, if necessary so your onions and garlic do not burn. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula and pick up as much of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as possible.

When your onion mixture is soft and lightly golden, return your meat to the pan (with the accompany-ing juices) and deglaze with the liquid of your choice. Stir some more with your wooden spoon/spatula to get the remaining goodness that might still be stuck to the pan and lower the heat to low. Let the liquid reduce to about half then stir in a dollop or so of sour cream. I'm not identifying here how much liquid or sour cream to use because it is really going to depend upon you how much you need/want especially depending upon the type of pan you are using. I tend to not add much liquid so I end up with a thicker gravy though not as much of it.

As you are stirring in the sour cream, sprinkle in your dill and paprika as well as salt and pepper - as always, to taste. Serve over egg noodles or rice - I love wild rice here but basmati us gorgeously scented as well -- and sprinkle some fresh chopped dill or parsley. A little red wine is perfect here. Make a little green salad to go alongside, or better yet, serve some radishes and green onions with a bowl of salt:) Perfectly comforting and elegant enough for dinner guests.