Confession time: This was not our first time fixing this wonderful dinner but we broke our own rule (of fixing new-to-us food) for a special reason and occasion: Meg’s birthday! This was her request and she didn’t have to twist Sue’s arm. We are pushovers for good food!
We originally made this recipe about a year ago. A year is a long time in the world of recipe stockpiling and Sue couldn’t find her copy of the recipe. Last minute (would you believe Thursday night and Friday morning), frantic e-mails and phone calls were made to Customer Service at Cuisine at Home. Sue begged, was willing to pay for the recipe and generally fell all over herself to get another copy. A big “Thank you” to April at the magazine for saving Sue’s “you know what” and the birthday dinner.
We both agree that this is in our top 10 of all-time favorite dinners. We hope it becomes one of yours, too!
This being a birthday we gilded the lily of the Lemon Tea Cake and made a version of blackberry lemon “shortcake”. The blackberries with the Limoncello are wonderful with the cake and would be equally wonderful on their own. We further gilded by adding some fresh whipped cream. (When gilding, we find it helpful to repeat to ourselves several times: birthday, special occasion, birthday, special occasion . . .).
Our biased and unsolicited opinions:
This dinner always gets rave reviews. It is some of the best of the food world: pasta, Caesar salad and succulent shrimp all together! The grilled croutons with the lemon are to die for. Watch out --people sneak them. If you have the grill space, make more. We are sure the leftover croutons would be delicious and sometime we may actually have some leftover.
Note: Due to inclement weather, (April in northern Nevada is always dicey), we used an indoor grill and did not use the skewers. Both the croutons and shrimp turned out great. While it would have been nice to artfully display the skewers on top of the pasta for our presentation photo, trust us, this did not affect the taste one little bit.
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Caesar Salad Pasta with Grilled Shrimp and
Crouton Skewers
Recipe courtesy Cuisine
at Home magazine, August 2011
Prep Time:
Inactive Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
·
8 ounces
dry linguine
·
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
·
¼ cup diced shallots
·
¾ cup olive divided
·
1 - 2 ounce can anchovy fillets in oil, minced
·
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
·
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided
·
3 Tbsp. lemon zest, divided
·
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
·
½-1 tsp. red pepper flakes
·
½ tsp. each kosher salt and black pepper
·
8 cups, chopped romaine lettuce
·
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
·
Salt and Pepper
·
24 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails left on
·
24 cubes Italian baguette, 1 inch thick
Directions
Preheat grill to medium. Brush grill grate with oil.
Whisk together ½ cup of the olive oil, 1 Tbsp. each, lemon
zest and lemon juice with the salt and pepper. Set aside.
Thread shrimp and croutons alternately on skewers. Brush
with reserved lemon oil.
Boil linguine in a large pot of salted water according to
package directions; drain and set aside.
Melt butter with the remaining ¼ cup olive oil in a sauté
pan over medium heat. Add shallots and anchovies and cook until shallots are
soft and anchovies melt, about 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, 1
minute. Stir in in remaining 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. lemon zest,
Worchestershire, and pepper flakes. Toss linguine with sauce to coat.
Grill skewers, covered, 2-3 minutes per side.
Off heat, toss romaine and Parmesan with past and season
with salt and black pepper. Serve pasta with grilled shrimp and crouton
skewers.
Weight Watchers: 22 points per serving (and worth every one of them)
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Lemon Tea Cake
Recipe courtesy Melissa
d'Arabian, 2012
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Directions
For
the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch-square pan. Cream
the butter and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, using a hand
mixer (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time while mixing, and then add
the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
Add half the flour to the butter mixture and combine. Add the lemon juice and
zest, mix, and add the remaining flour, mixing again to combine. Pour into the
prepared pan. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 20
minutes.
For
the glaze: Combine the confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix
well. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Pour over the cake.
Weight Watchers: 8 points per serving for 6 servings
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Blackberries with Limoncello
Recipe developed by Sue
Prep Time: 10 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
· 2 – 6 ounce packages of fresh blackberries
· 1 tsp. Lemon zest
· 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
· 6 tsp. Limoncello
Directions
In a bowl large enough to hold the blackberries, whisk the Limoncello and powdered sugar until well incorporated. Take one blackberry and dip into mixture. Taste for sweetness. Add more powdered sugar or Limoncello if necessary. Whisk again.
Add lemon zest and whisk to blend. Add blackberries and gently turn in sugar-Limoncello mixture. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.
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WINE
Torrontes, 2011, Phebus,Mendoza, Argentina / $9.99 at Total Wine
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