1

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

|

This muffin recipe is super easy, literally anyone can make it…it is moist, crumby, and burst with lemon flavor.

Yes, after almost two years of break, I am coming back to share more recipes…during this time, I got to spend enormous amounts of quality time with Mochie, our little fur baby.

Now, going back to this super simple and yet delicious lemony muffin recipe…if you are like me that get crazy with anything lemon you will enjoy this recipe.

As always, my recipes when possible are lower in sugar and salt without jeopardizing the taste and this one is not different.

– Why do you need to try this lemony muffin recipe?

Because it is loaded with lemon zest, lemon juice…calling summer from the first bite to the last.

– How hard is to make these muffins?

Super, super easy, no need of any complicated technique.  If you can mix flour into an egg mixture you are good to go.

– How many muffins can I make with this recipe?

This recipe you will be able to make 8 standard size muffins, therefore feel free to double the recipe.

– Are you ready to give this recipe a try?

Ingredients:

Streusel for topping

  • 7 g butter
  • 15 g sugar
  • 15 g all-purpose flour

Lemon batter

  • 190 g all-purpose flour
  • 70 g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • Fresh lemon zest
  • 1 large egg
  • Milk, approximately 80- 100 ml
  • 70 g neutral vegetable oil such as canola, corn, sunflower
  • 60 g fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375oF.

Streusel topping

In a small bowl place, the butter, sugar, and flour.  Mix by cutting the butter into small pieces.

Set aside.

Lemon batter

In a bowl mix all flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, lemon zest and poppy seed.

In a measuring cup add egg, oil, lemon juice. Complete with milk until 250 ml plus 2 tablespoons.

Place all the liquid ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. If using lemon extract, now it is time to add to it.

Pour the flour mix into the egg mix and mix gently until there is not dry flour. Do not over mix.

Scoop into pre-prepared muffin pans.

Cover the top of the batter with streusel topping.

If there are empty cavities in the muffin pan, fill ⅓ – ½ with water, this way the baking process will be more even.

Bake for 15 – 17 minutes or until an inserted wood toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the pan and let them cool in a wire rack.

– If you enjoy this lemony muffin recipe, you might want to take a look at these…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Lemon Cake Roll with Lemon Curd

|

Love Lemons? This is a perfect and simple cake roll loaded with lemon…in the cake batter and filled with homemade lemon curd…indeed perfect for lemon lovers.

All my lemon trees are packed with lemons…I already sent buckets and buckets of lemons to family and friend…besides adding slices of lemon to water and making drinks…lemon curds is another my favorite way to use up the lemons.

– What cake recipe is in this cake roll?

This cake roll is super light as I used a very similar recipe to the chiffon cake recipe and added fresh lemon zest to the cake batter.

– Why is this cake roll so delicious?

Well, filling the roll with freshly homemade lemon curd is the answer…super tangy and lemony…and bursting with lemon…so refreshing!

– Homemade Lemon Curd?

Yes and yes, it is so easy to make and so versatile…I love adding to yogurt, cakes, tarts and eat by spoon…check the recipe here.

– Are you ready to try this recipe?

This recipe can make two cake rolls.

Ingredients:

  • 5 eggs
  • 60 g vegetable oil (I used sunflower)
  • 60 g milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 100 g cake flour
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • 8 g white vinegar
  • 100 g sugar

Method:

Preheat oven at 350oF.  Line a 12 x 17 inch (31 cm x 43 cm) jelly pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix cake flour with salt, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together egg yolks, milk, oil, vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Add the sifted mix of cake flour and salt to the egg yolk mixture. Mix well until smooth and all the flour is well incorporated, resembling a pancake mix batter.

In a large bowl of a hand-held mixer or stand mixer whisk the egg white with the vinegar until large bubbles form. Add the sugar slowly into thirds. Whisk until medium/firm peaks form. Do not over beat, the meringue should be shiny and form soft but firm peaks.

Add about ⅓ of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture and mix gently until all the egg white is incorporated to the batter.

Pour the egg yolk mix to the remaining meringue and fold gently until all the egg white is combined to the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Gently tap the pan against the counter to remove excess of air bubbles. Lower the temperature to 285oC and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from the oven and transfer it with its parchment paper onto a wire rack and let it cool.

Flip the cake to another piece of parchment paper of silicone mat.

Peel the parchment paper from the cake and flip it back to the parchment paper. Cut the cake into half and then the parchment paper underneath the cake.

Roll the cake gently, then unroll it spread a layer of lemon curd and roll it back. Wrap tightly with a plastic wrap. Repeat the same procedure with the other half piece of cake.

Place the cake roll in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

– If you like this Swiss cake roll, you might want to look at these dessert recipes…

Did you know that adding lemon to your drinking water is much healthier than juices and sodas? Lemon contains a lot of vitamin C which will enhance your immune system, lower your risk of stroke, lower your blood pressure, and even increase the absorption of iron from your diet. Moreover, deficiency in vitamin C although not common in US it can cause scurvy.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Lemon Curd with Blueberries

|

Homemade lemon curd is the best…tangy and yet sweet…creamy and silky…and together with fresh blueberries is just heaven on earth.

After eating lemon curd by the spoons and mixed with homemade yogurt I decided to add some fresh fruit with it…and what is the match in heaven with lemon curd? Fresh blueberries…I made them into small serving portions, but if you like you can make it into large portion…

There is really no recipe…just crumbled a few biscuits, such as almond biscotti or graham crackers and place on the bottom of the little glass, fill with a mix of lemon curd and add as much blueberries you can fit in it…

Oh! Before I go on…talking about lemon and curd, you might want to check these awesome recipes, Blueberry-Lemon Parfait from Kitchen Riffs and Blueberry Mango Curd Tart from Angie’s Recipes.

Ingredients:

  • Lemon curd, preferably homemade
  • Fresh blueberries
  • Graham crackers
  • Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Method:

Crumble the biscuits or graham crackers and place in the bottom of the cups.

Add a spoonful of lemon curd on top of the crumbled crackers and gently place the blueberries in it by gently pressing it down.  Be gently as you do not want them smashed.

Fill the cup as desire and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Serve cold.

If you enjoy this very simple recipe, you might want to take a look at Thai Red Rubies in Coconut Pandan recipe.

Did you know that blueberries are packed with anthocyanins? Anthocyanins are flavonoids, which are found in wines as well. Anthocyanins are very distinct due to its pigmentation. Moreover, it is believed that the cardiovascular benefits of the anthocyanins is due to the oxidative stress protection.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful weekend!



Homemade Lemon Curd

|

Homemade lemon curd is much tastier than the store bought ones, it is so easy to make and only requires a few ingredients.  The color and flavor is pure summer…blasting with flavor, rich, creamy and so flavorful…

I love everything that has lemon in it…from bars to ice cream and our Meyer lemon tree was loaded with lemons, after picking them up and freezing some of them for making smoothie I still find myself with a lot of it…not to mention that we still have other kind of lemons tree in our backyard.

Since I had made pavlova recently I found myself with leftover egg yolks and I absolutely dislike throwing food away, I thought that the best way to use the egg yolks up and the extra lemons was to make lemon curd.

Ingredients:

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 egg
  • ½ to ¾ cup sugar depending on your taste, I used ½ cup
  • 200 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice form Meyer lemons
  • Lemon zest, approximately 1-2  teaspoons
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

Method:

Mix the egg yolks with the egg and pass it through a fine sieve directly to a small pot. I find that removing the egg membrane the curd does not taste eggy.

Add the lemon zest and the sugar, mix well and then add the lemon juice, combine well and finally add the butter.

Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until all the butter melts and the lemon mixture thickens. The lemon curd will be a bit liquid but it will thicken as it cools.

Remove the lemon curd from the pan and pour into a glass jar. Place a plastic wrap directly to the lemon curd to avoid a film to form. Once it cool completely, place the jar in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

And my favorite way to eat lemon curd…by the spoon…

or with homemade yogurt…

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for Homemade Lemon Curd, for more desserts recipe you might want to check HERE.

Did you know that lemon contain lots of vitamin C which boost your immune system? Moreover lemon peels contain as much as 10 times more vitamin than the lemon juice itself.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Lemon Thyme Chicken, Sous-Vide

|

Healthy chicken breast cooked to perfection…tender, moist and packed with flavor. How? Cooking using sous vide method.

Yes, I am still playing with the sous vide method…so far this method has not disappointed me…

This week, I am sharing with you a very simple recipe for a juicy, flavorful chicken breast. The good thing about this method is that you never overcook, even if you leave the chicken breasts in the water-bath longer than the set time. As your chicken is cooking (sous-vide) you have all the time to do whatever you need to do and not to worry that the chicken breasts will be over cooked, therefore, dry and rubbery.

The sous vide cylinder, that I use is from Anova and you can find it HERE.

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1½ tablespoons olive oil
  • 6-7 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
  • 2.3 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lemon thinly sliced

Method:

Rinse the chicken breast and pat it dry. In a medium bowl add the olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat water oven to 60.5°C.

Place the chicken breasts into a 1 gallon freezer quality plastic bag. Gently place the sliced lemon on top of the chicken breasts.

To create a vacuum in the bag, carefully place the bag with chicken breast into the water-bath, make sure to immerse the bag until near the seal, this will create a vacuum, then seal the bag. I usually seal the bag leaving approximately 1 inch open and then immerse the bag until near the seal and finish by sealing the remaining 1 inch.

Cook for 2 to 3 hours. Once the cooking time is off, remove the chicken breasts and sear both sides in a cast iron pan, just enough to produce a golden color.

Garnish with fresh thyme and lemon. Serve hot.

If you enjoy this sous vide recipe, you might want to check Steak recipe and Butter Lemon Swai recipes, both using sous vide method.

Did you know that “sous vide” is “under vacuum” in French? This method cooks food in a sealed plastic bag under vacuum in a controlled temperature.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Butter Lemon Swai, Sous Vide

|

Looking for a perfect cooked fish? This lemon butter swai is cooked to perfection using sous vide method. The fish is moist and tender, loaded with flavors.

Have you ever heard of “SWAI fish”? Swai fish is a catfish from Vietnam, which has a delicate texture and much milder taste than catfish which sometimes can have a “muddy” flavor.

Swai are moist, soft, flaky, and delicate and its flesh turns from lightly beige to whitish color once cooked. I have baked, steamed and now sous vide. You mainly can cook it anyway you like, because of its delicate texture grilling might be a bit challenging, as the fish might fall apart easily.

Apparently there was a “catfish wars” between US catfish farmers and Vietnamese farmers, many accusations were made about the swai fish being raised in polluted waters therefore being poisonous.
With all this said, I personally do not believe that US will allow untested products into the Country…therefore I believe that swai fish if safe for human consumption. I have bought swai fish at Costco and Trader Joe’s, and cook them occasionally. In my opinion, everything should be eaten in moderation, regardless of its beneficial claims as throughout time we have seen many products which were considered bad to good and vice-versa.

Okay, now that I told you a little about swai fish, let’s go to the recipe…again, the main cooking was done by using sous vide method, therefore very simple and straightforward. My sous vide cylinder, which I love it is from Anova and you can find it HERE.

Ingredients:

  • 2 swai fish fillets
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • Parsley for garnish

Method:

Preheat water oven to 56°C.

Rinse the swai fillets and pat them dry with paper towels, cut into half. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the fish. Place the swai into a 1 gallon freezer quality plastic bag.

To create a vacuum in the bag, carefully place the bag with fish fillets into the water-bath, make sure to immerse the bag until near the seal, this will create a vacuum, then seal the bag. I usually seal the bag leaving approximately 1 inch open and then immerse the bag until near the seal and finish by sealing the remaining 1 inch.

Cook for 30 minutes. Once the cooking time is off, remove the fish filet carefully as they break easily and place them in a plate.

In a small pan add the butter, lemon juice and lemon zest. Heat under medium heat until the butter is melted and starts to brown a little. Remove from the heat and pour over the swai fish. Garnish with parsley before serving. Serve hot.

Did you know that swai fish in spite of being from the catfish family is also called iridescent shark due to its resemblance to shark? Moreover, they are fresh water fish found naturally in Mekong River and Chao Phraya River, Vietnam.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Lemon Cilantro

|

Do you find yourself with lots of cilantro? Here is what you can do with it…Lemon or lime cilantro dressing…it is so easy and so good.

This dressing in one of the easiest and tasty dressing…and it is delicious with fish, meat, chicken and even Brussels sprouts.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice or lime
½ cup olive oil
1 bunch cilantro (including the stem)
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place all the ingredients in the food processor and mix for 30 to 40 seconds, until a smooth and even color.

Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Use in within one week.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!



Shaved Frozen Lemon or Lime

|

I love lemons and limes, everything that has any lemon or lime…but what to do when you have too many o them? Freeze them!

Wash well the lemons, and place them in the freezer. Once the lemons are completely frozen, just use your microplane grater/zester to grate the whole lemon and sprinkle it on top of your food. You can add the shaved lemon (whole) in your tea, as shown here, on your salad, juice, baking good, desserts, soups, marinades…use everywhere where you would use lemon or lime.

Apparently the lemon peels contain more vitamins than the lemon juice and by grating the whole lemon you will not be wasting any of the good thing.

I hope you enjoy this simple idea of using whole frozen lemons or limes.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!



Lemon/Lime Juice Cubes

|

Do you find yourself with lots of lemons or limes? Here…you can do the following:

1. Squeeze juice out of the lemons or limes
2. Pour in the ice cube mold
3. Freeze until the juice is solid
4. Remove and store in an air tight container in the freezer
5. When in need of lemon or lime juice, just pop one, two or as many as you want.

I love to use this iced lemon juice in my tea, lemonade, sauces.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!