In the Kitchen
I had a backlog of Cooking Light magazines to go through, so I perused them last week for some new recipes. The first, Strawberry Shortcake, was a huge success (gee, how can one go wrong with strawberries and whipped cream?) . The second, however, was definitely a "Dinner Disaster" (although Steve was kind enough to say that the dish had potential and he really liked the filling). So here they are, for your viewing pleasure:
Strawberry Shortcake
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
Shortcake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
1. To prepare strawberries, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; cover and chill 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. To prepare shortcake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through baking soda) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine buttermilk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).
4.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into an 8-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. (I made individual shortcakes instead).
5. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully split shortcake in half horizontally using a serrated knife; cool layers separately on wire racks.
6. Place bottom half of shortcake, cut side up, on a serving plate. Drain strawberries, reserving juice; drizzle juice over bottom half of shortcake. Spread 2 cups whipped cream (make your own, its worth it!) over shortcake layer; arrange strawberries over whipped topping. Top with remaining shortcake layer, cut side down. Garnish with whipped topping and whole strawberry, if desired. Enjoy!
As for the dinner disaster... I won't post the whole recipe, but will provide a link to it here: Almond Stuffed Chicken. It sounds good, the picture made it look delicious, but I just couldn't get it to turn out. Even though I tenderized the chicken pieces, it still took too long to cook leaving it a little dry and I found the stuffing to be rather bland in the end. Looking at the reviews online about half of the recipe testers found success and the other half ran into the same troubles that I did.
Strawberry Shortcake
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
Shortcake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
1. To prepare strawberries, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; cover and chill 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. To prepare shortcake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (flour through baking soda) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine buttermilk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).
4.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into an 8-inch circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. (I made individual shortcakes instead).
5. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully split shortcake in half horizontally using a serrated knife; cool layers separately on wire racks.
6. Place bottom half of shortcake, cut side up, on a serving plate. Drain strawberries, reserving juice; drizzle juice over bottom half of shortcake. Spread 2 cups whipped cream (make your own, its worth it!) over shortcake layer; arrange strawberries over whipped topping. Top with remaining shortcake layer, cut side down. Garnish with whipped topping and whole strawberry, if desired. Enjoy!
As for the dinner disaster... I won't post the whole recipe, but will provide a link to it here: Almond Stuffed Chicken. It sounds good, the picture made it look delicious, but I just couldn't get it to turn out. Even though I tenderized the chicken pieces, it still took too long to cook leaving it a little dry and I found the stuffing to be rather bland in the end. Looking at the reviews online about half of the recipe testers found success and the other half ran into the same troubles that I did.
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