Braised baby carrots and leeks

I was inspired by the baby leeks and amazing baby carrots in our market this spring. No need to peel the tiny carrots, I use new clean scrubby pad to remove the hairy exterior. This past week farmer Becky Terry brought in colorful varieties of French baby carrots, (mais oui, elles sonts rouge et jaune), in shades of orange, yellow and even red! They were all sweet and petite! If possible use small and tender leeks, all about the same size in this dish because they will cook more evenly along with the baby carrots. If you aren't able to find small leeks, cut the large ones into quarters. This was delicious served with clay pot baked lemon roasted chicken, which I will post soon.

INGREDIENTS:
12 small leeks

6-8 small (or more baby carrots), with green tops, about ½ lb

3 cups chicken broth

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trim the leeks of all of the dark green stem; trim the root end, and remove and discard the outer leaves with a sharp knife, Split the light green part lengthwise and rinse well under running cold water.
   
2. Trim the carrots and peel if using larger ones; or scrub the smallest baby carrots. Trim the tops leaving about 1"
   
3. In a large skillet add the broth and leeks and carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook partial covered for 10-20 minutes or until tender. Remove the vegetable to a side dish, cove and keep warm.
   
4. With the remaining braising liquid in the pan, bring heat up high and reduce to about 1 cup. Whisk in the butter and taste adding salt and pepper as need.
   
5. Cut the larger carrots and the leeks in half lengthwise. Serve, spooning some of the butter braising sauce on each serving.
   

Lemon Upside-Down Cake

My spring seasonal table class made the upside down lemon cake pictured here. We used a cast iron pan and the last of this season's Meyer Lemons which are sweeter than other varieties of lemons. You can use any oven proof 10-12" pan with a metal handle. This cake is going to be a favorite because its not too sweet, doesn't require frosting and its lemon, one of my favorite flavors! Make one 10" cake, to serves 8+

Ingredients:

2 lemons

¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel

2 large eggs, separated

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup milk

¼ tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

Place the oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 350°F

Trim the ends off the lemons and cut the fruit into 1/8" to ¼" slices with a very sharp knife or mandoline. Discard the seeds.

Melt ¼ cup of the butter with the brown sugar in an ovenproof non-stick 10in skillet (or well seasoned cast iron pan) over medium heat.

Add the lemon slices, increase the heat to high and boil stirring for 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and arrange the slice in an orderly pattern in the bottom of the skillet.

Sift the flour baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

Beat the remaining ½ cup butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and zest, beat scrapping down the sides of the bowl until the batter is light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks and vanilla; beat just until blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition and beat just until blended.

Beat the egg whites with clean beaters on medium speed in a large clean bowl until just foamy. Increase the speed to medium high, add the cream of tartar and beat just until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

Add one quarter 1/4^th, of the whites to the batter and fold in using a rubber spatula. Continue to gently fold in the whites, 1/4^th at a time. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter over the lemon slices and gently smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Loosen the edges of the cake with a rubber spatula all around, invert onto a heat proof serving platter and leave the pan over the cake for 5 minutes. Remove the pan, cut into wedges and serve the cake warm.

Easter cookies with a twist

Use a basic sugar cookie recipe, see Alton Brown's recipe below. (Or in a pinch use a refrigerator package of sugar cookie dough, like the one by Tollhouse.)
Using your un-Christmas cookie cutters like a bunny, chicken, etc cut out the shaped dough. You can make an egg shape out of cardboard and using a paring knife cut out egg shapes to decorate. Use powdered sugar instead of flour as you roll out the dough to keep them from sticking and to keep the flavor crisp.

Healthy trick: Instead of using frosting after the cookies are baked and cooked, try an egg white wash on the unbaked cookies and decorating with colored sugar and sprinkles, then baking. This makes the cookies less of a sugar bomb but you will still have fun decorating and they look pretty too.
The busy bee cookies were decorated with this frosting less technique and they were yummy and cute too!

Happy Easter gardening, cooking and baking!

Sugar Cookies
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Makes about 3 dozen-2 1/2 inch
Ingredients
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.
Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar.
Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill.
Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or decorated as described above.
Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.