lemon bars

To begin, I would like to extend my apologies to everyone reading this blog. I have noticed that my first few posts are generally yellow. Someone told me about this about my other blog, unfortunately, this is a coincidence and I now think that I have a very high affinity to yellow food. I don't know if it's just me but the color just evokes airiness and richness at the same time, an oxymoron but it's true. So just in case yellow is a little too much for you, get your shades, it'll be a bright post ;)
I love lemons. I feel like that if you squeeze it on anything it'll immediately taste a lot better and fresher. Shawn sometimes think that I make dishes that are a little too lemony, and I'm like, whaaaaaaaat?!?!?! I don't believe such a concept exists, okay, I just won't accept such concept. What do you think? Okay maybe I'm going a little to crazy on my description of my love of lemons but it really is kinda true, so when I discovered this dessert, I was set. I'm gonna get my butter fix from the crust and my craving for lemons will be somewhat satisfied.
There were a few recipes I tested out when I first made this a couple if years ago, some better than others. There's was this one recipe whose crust got so hard after the second baking that biting into it really caused some serious dental pain. I was not a happy camper. I had to throw the whole thing away. ridiculous, i know! good thing the lemons i used were free and the eggs were cheap.
ever since i've made this recipe to meet all of my expectations, quite a few people have asked me to make this for them, one even paid for it and also paid for a batch of caramel pecan bars. i guess, they liked it. so since it's summer, i feel like it's the right time to share this recipe. this bar's shortbread crust is just thick enough to give you that buttery, rich flavor and creamy mouth feel that is just perfect with the tart and sweet and lemony filling, have it with lemonade or sweet tea for a fully refreshing afternoon.
how's your summer going by the way? are you having lots of fun? i sure hope so, because i am even if the weather is a little too crazy.

lemon bars

shortbread crust

ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

instructions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. cream butter, sugar and salt until fluffy.

3. when it get's paler that the butter's original color, add flour and mix just until it's combined.

4. press the dough in a 9 x 13 inch parchment-lined or buttered and floured baking pan. make sure you cover the whole baking dish with the dough. bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. let it cool and set aside. do not turn off the oven, you'll be returning that pan back into it with the lemon filling.

lemon filling

ingredients:

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
3 tbsp flour

instructions:

1. whisk sugar and eggs until pale and thick.

2. stir in lemon juice and zest, and add flour until combined.

3. pour this mixture over the cooled shortbread crust. bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the lemon filling is set.

4. let it cool and cut in squares. just a note when cutting, make sure you wipe the knife clean with a damp towel everytime you slice the bars so that you'll have clean cuts.

eggs benedict

fried eggs with crispy edges. fried bright red hotdogs. fried rice with a ton of green onions and garlic. these are the things i am used to eating for breakfast. when i moved to the states, i saw that pancakes are a staple, together with bacon, potatoes and eggs that doesn't have crispy edges. this was unfamiliar territory. i was scared and thought of ways on how i'm going to survive this sudden change.
after a few times of eating out, i found out that adjusting to the breakfast options here in the states is not going to be a problem at all. I actually did not have any issues, neither with the food being served nor the humongous portions they come in. I think I should've taken more issue with it because if I did, I wouldn't have gained all this extra weight that I am pretty sure my body doesn't need.During one of the times my mom and I went out to eat, I saw a picture of this gorgeous egg on an English muffin slathered with some thick yellow sauce and it was labeled eggs Benedict. I guess my curiosity with that item wasn't that intense that time because I decided not to order it. In hindsight, I believe that initial decision was a bad idea because when I ordered it the next time we went to the same place, I felt like something was taken from me. Yes, I'm being a little too dramatic but eggs Benedict are really awesome!

When I tried making eggs Benedict the very first time, I did not have any issues making the poached egg and toasting the English muffin was a a little hard but I managed to do it without looking up a how to video. Anyway, the hollandaise sauce was the one that really got me that first time. I saw this recipe somewhere that just used a blender and not a double broiler. Apparently the blades of the blender would generate enough heat to start cooking the egg a little bit. I thought okay, let's do that since it'll make everything easier and I'll have less pots and dishes to wash and who doesn't want that. Whoever claims to be successful after doing that, call me. I need to know what blender you're using.
When i was doing it the first time, I thought that it was working because after I put the eggs and the lemon juice into the blender and ran it, it was getting thick. I was like awesome it working the eggs are thickening up. Then I added the melted butter, lo and behold, it was emulsifying. I was excited. Whoever said that making hollandaise was scary and hard didn't know how to do this shortcut, and why do that French keep doing it the hard way? Ahhhh, the French. When I turned off the blender, I noticed that the butter was separating from the eggs. I thought, oh maybe I have to run it again after I add the cayenne and salt, so I did. It was emulsifying once again, but after I turned the blender off the same thing happened. I was separating. My hollandaise broke! That recipe was full of you-know-what and my first attempt is a failure. I guess I should've done what the French had been doing since time immemorial, obviously there was a reason for that.
Last week I had a craving for eggs Benedict and going to a restaurant just for that seemed ridiculous because there's no particular place I want to have eggs Benedict and paying 8 bucks or more for a mediocre one just wasn't justifiable. Besides, I had most of the ingredients on stock at home so why not give hollandaise sauce another shot, and this time a proper recipe was needed.

So off to the internet I go and went crazy opening every classic hollandaise recipe in a new tab. Before I knew it my tab bar was too full that I had to start over again. After an hour of scouring the web for a reliable recipe, I settled for Tyler Florence's take on the classic. I did a few changes because I like my hollandaise a little bit more lemony.
Since my choice for the hollandaise sauce recipe was set, I had to think of other stuff to put on my breakfast and since I just went grocery shopping the day before and picked up asparagus and prosciutto, I felt that adding them into my meal would really make a world of a difference. When eating eggs Benedict, I normally just focus on the hollandaise and the poached egg and if it is cooked properly, firm egg white and the yolk should be thick and runny. if all those are met, i am set.

without anymore delay here's the recipe i used for the eggs benedict i made.

eggs benedict

ingredients:

eggs, poached (click the link to open a new tab on how to do this)
bread (english muffin or whatever soft bread you have lying around)
asparagus
prosciutto
deli meat (roast beef or turkey) /canadian ham
salt, pepper and oil

hollandaise (adapted from tyler florence)

4 egg yolks
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp. lemon juice
a pinch of salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

instructions:

hollandaise

1. in a large metal or glass bowl, whisk yolks and lemon juice together until pale, thick and doubled in volume. i used an electric hand mixer just because i don't have that much upper body strength.

2. place bowl over pot with enough simmering water but not touching the bottom of the bowl. continue whisking until it's warm to the touch, not too hot because it will scramble the eggs.

3. drizzle melted butter over the warm eggs. whisk until combined, thick and doubled in volume.

4. take it out of the heat and add salt and pepper. set it aside and make the rest of the recipe. if it becomes too thick when you're about to use it, add a few drops of warm water and lemon juice.

eggs benedict

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees F. line a sheet pan with parchment or spray a thin layer of oil on it.

2. cut the bottom hard parts on your asparagus and wrap about 5 stalks in prosciutto. lay it on the pan, sprinkle salt and pepper then drizzle oil over it and roast for 20 minutes.

3. in the last five minutes of the asparagus roasting, place the bread in the oven to be toasted.

4. assemble the eggs benedict in this order: bread, deli meat/ham, poached eggs, hollandaise and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. you can even top it with hollandaise again... and again and again. :)

caramel* pecan bars

when i realized how easy it is to make caramel and that it contained butter and cream, i went a little crazy looking for recipes with caramel. i got real obsessed and went on a caramel bender. caramel on ice cream, in coffee, in chocolate drinks, with bananas and over rice - okay, i'm kidding with the rice. obviously i did not go THAT crazy.
until my recent success in making my own caramel, i was never a big fan of it. maybe because of the plastic-y taste i get in the ones i have tasted and most of them were also too sweet. after a few disappointing tries, i was damaged. i developed hatred toward those things they pass up as caramel.after the new year rolled in, i have noticed a lot of blogs posting recipes on caramel with different kinds of salt. it caught my attention and the idea of salt and caramel together was something i am very excited to try out. i did not care too much about the different french salts because they were kind of expensive. well not kind of, relative to the the big boxes of diamond crystal salt i buy on a regular basis, those small tins of designer salts are a bitch on the wallet. it could be because my taste buds are super underdeveloped that i don't appreciate those kinds of salt or it could also be because i grew up in the philippines where most things are salt laden, thus making my taste buds immune to it's taste.
after trying a lot caramel recipes, i decided that the method i loved the most was the one using condensed milk and brown sugar because of the flavor it gives to the finished product. also, i don't have to stand in front of the stove to wait for the sugar to change color and the risk of the sugar burning my hand or bubbling over into the stove is quite low. any method that will make my life easier is the one i'll take, any-freaking-time.
let's talk about what i love about the flavor of this particular caramel recipe. it does not have that bitter aftertaste that you get in some recipes. it's also not too sweet after you add a few pinches of salt. i also love the smooth and creamy of it. then there's the shortbread crust that is underneath all the caramel-y goodness which is crumbly and sweet with a hint of subtle saltiness. let's get to it!

caramel pecan bars

instructions:

crust
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups + 1 tbsp flour
1 1/4 tsp salt

caramel topping

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
16 oz brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

tools and equipment needed

9 x 13 in metal baking pan
parchment paper or foil to line baking pan
candy themometer

instructions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment or foil buttered/oiled well. if you're using raw pecans for this recipe, you might want to toast them placing the nuts in single layer on a baking sheet and place it in a 350 degree F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until it's fragrant.

2. in a large bowl or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream 1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar together until fluffy.

3. add salt and flour and continue mixing gently or on low speed until it resembles coarse crumbs and some of it is starting to pull away from the bowl.

4. transfer this mixture into the prepared baking pan and press firmly until it's in one even layer.

5. bake this for 30 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. set aside and let it cool.

6. for the filling, melt the other 2 sticks of butter in a non-stick saucepan. once melted add brown sugar and whisk until the oil from the butter is incorporated well with the melting brown sugar.

7. once the butter and sugar mixtures is incorporated well, add condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. whisk until mixed well and place the candy thermometer into the saucepan.

8. make sure that you stir this frequently to avoid burning your caramel. when the candy thermometer reads 235 degrees F or 112 degrees C, take it out of the heat and pour it over the cooled crust and sprinkle the chopped pecans over the caramel topping.

9. let this set at room temperature for about 4 hours or until the caramel is firm but not hard. cut in 2 inch squares, wrap in parchment or just eat it out of the pan. don't worry i won't tell.

*about the ingredients. a lot people would say that this is technically butterscotch since it's using brown sugar and butter, but a lot of other people call this combination caramel, so i'll go with that bandwagon. and besides it's my blog. kthxbye.