Flourless Lemon Zucchini Cake

 

I looked forward to making this recipe I had saved for several months. (There are many places you'll find this cake on the Internet and this seems to be from Cooking with Sabrina on Facebook.) The ingredients intrigued me (cottage cheese, almond and coconut flour) and I thought it might be a good low-carb, low-sugar and protein-based cake. And I love everything lemon.

It was simple to make without a mixer (I used a whisk). I made this in a loaf pan which was a bit of a mistake (see below) and will make it in a shallower pan next time. I served it with homemade lemon ice cream and did not glaze it. But I would glaze a shallower cake and garnish with lemon peel.

To make this delicious Flourless Lemon Zucchini Cake, you'll need the following ingredients:

• 2 cups zucchini, finely grated (excess moisture squeezed out, which I did not do!)
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup cottage cheese
• ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup (I used honey and lemon paste)
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil or butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups almond flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a shallow cake pan* and set it aside.

In a large bowl, combine grated zucchini, eggs, cottage cheese, honey or maple syrup, and melted coconut oil or butter. Mix well.

Add lemon zest and juice to the mixture and stir.

In another bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let it cool before serving.

You can top it with a light glaze, if desired. 

*The loaf cake cooked for at least 35 minutes but I was afraid to cook it longer. I possibly made it a bit too wet with the lemon paste and wet zucchini. In the end, I sliced two pieces from the ends and cooked them on ceramic plates for about a minute to set the dough. The guys LOVED it with the ice cream. It had the consistency of a warmed, moist banana bread.

The next day, I sliced the very moist cake into thick slices (one inch or more) and placed them separately on a cookie sheet lined with parchment in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes and then turned them over for another ten minutes. They are delicious and good for breakfast warm or cold - perhaps with yogurt. 

Shrimp with Asparagus and Tomatoes and Fettuccini

 

I bought some lovely very thin (maybe even baby) asparagus this week so looked for a recipe in  The Tucci Cookbook and there it was! Fettuccini with Asparagus and Shrimp. We always have frozen shrimp on hand and this was the 16 or 20 large size in the shell from Costco that I freeze separately for a dinner for two or three.

I decided to make fresh fettuccini, freezing the rest or gifting it. It's just so easy to make several batches at once, making several pounds of fresh pasta.

While I made the pasta, I got the ingredients together - things we always have on hand (shallots, garlic, fresh parsley and basil, tomatoes, red pepper flakes and white wine.) Gerry came into the kitchen and chopped the herbs and got the pasta water and skillet ready to cook. This comes together fast.

1 pound fettuccini

1 pound of shelled shrimp either whole or slices in half lengthwise.

Salt and fresh pepper to taste

1/2 cup white wine (dry or cooking wine)

12 medium asparagus or 8-16 oz. of the baby ones

5 T. olive oil plus more to drizzle on top of the pasta

2 T. finely diced shallots

2-3 cloves or garlic, finely sliced

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 T. chopped fresh basil leaves

1 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped - we used the tiny Roma-shaped tomatoes that come packed on vines and Gerry cut them into sixths

Cook pasta in generously salted and gently boiling water (four minutes for homemade fettuccini. Drain and use just as the dish has come together after tossing with olive oil.

While pasta cooks, cut off the tough bottoms of the asparagus and take any tough layers of skin off with a peeler (this wasn't necessary with the baby asparagus.) Cut the asparagus into 2-inch long pieces. 

Warm 3 T of the olive oil in a skillet or large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley and basil and cook, stirring frequently to flavor the oil with the aromatics, for one minute. Stir in the asparagus and shrimp. Cook for about three minutes until the shrimp are pink. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, about a minute. Add the tomatoes and gently boil for another minute. Toss in the pasta to coat with all.

Plate and serve. No cheese, please!

*From OliviaOven.com: In traditional Italian cuisine, it is generally discouraged to put cheese on seafood dishes, including shrimp pasta. This is because cheese can overpower the delicate flavors of the seafood. However, some people enjoy the combination of shrimp and cheese, finding that certain cheeses, like feta, can complement shrimp well. Ultimately, if you enjoy the rich, creamy flavors of cheese, feel free to incorporate it into your shrimp pasta. If you prefer to let the seafood shine, it might be best to skip the cheese.

From HardCoreItalians.blog: Good old formaggio, it is flavorful and can make so many Italian dishes come to life. However, there is an exception. In Italy, cheese never goes on fish pasta, for several reasons. If you go to Italy and ask for cheese on a fish dish, don’t expect a typical response as you will likely be looked at like you’re pazzo. The rule that cheese does not go on fish originates in Italy, especially since many dishes from other countries combine fish and pasta. Take, for example, arides saganaki, a Grecian dish that combines feta, tomatoes, and broiled shrimp.

White Bean Antipasto (Tucci's Cookbook)

After spending our three weeks in Italy and then reading What I Ate in One Year, I'm tempted to start a Charlotte & Stanley blog. Every one of the recipes in the Tucci Cookbook sound delicious. 

This morning, I made the White Bean Antipasto. The flavors blended nicely by dinnertime (and I ate a spoonful each hour to test this!) I used more balsamic vinegar because Gerry loves the flavor, and I used the bottle we brought home from Rome. I served it on the side of some pasta with sausage and sauce that I made last week. I actually used two cans of beans and adjusted accordingly. 

• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans, rinsed and drained.
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• Two sprigs rosemary (I chopped the leaves)
• 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar (I used twice as much)
• Salt and pepper, freshly ground to taste
• 1 T. chopped fresh basil leaves

In a serving bowl, mix the beans and oil with red onion. Add the rosemary. Toss and add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss again and add the basil. Let it set at room temperature for awhile before serving.

I think I will try this as a dip, blended and eaten on toasted bread.

One Pot Lasagne in the Instant Pot

I've made this a bunch of times in the past ten years, but never posted it. It's so easy and yummy and quick. Four minutes at pressure and it's ready for the final cheeses and a melt.

The recipe I use is one from therecipewell dot com. It's the easiest. Some want you to use a cheesecake pan or other instant pot pan covered with foil. The trick to this one is not using a formed pan for the lasagna and making a pot of creamy lasagna noodles - but not getting a burn notice. If that happens, the lasagna is nearly cooked - it takes getting up to pressure and counting down only four minutes. Voila - it's done. If you get a BURN warning, simply release the pressure, open up the IP cover, scrape the bottom of the cooking lasagna and restart for four minutes. 

To make the lasagne - Use a bit of olive oil in the IP pan and saute 1 pound of beef and 1/2 to 1 pound of Italian sausage removed from the casings. 

When the meat is nearly done, add one chopped onion and a few chopped or minced garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes.  Scrape the bottom of the pan by adding one 15 ounce can of beef broth and deglaze. Then add one 15 or 22 ounce jar of marinara, Mix well. Snap about 1 lb of malfadine pasta into 4-6 inch lengths and place in the pot. Cover with another 15-oz of beef broth.  Add a can of chopped tomatoes and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of fresh basil. Make sure the pasta is covered with liquid.

Cover the pressure cooker and add 4 minutes to the Pressure Cook.  It will take about ten minutes to come up to pressure. After four minutes of pressure, release. Take off cover SAFELY at the end of the pressure release; add 1 cup of ricotta cheese and 2 cups of shredded fresh mozzarella.  Stir in the cheese and cover. Take off cover and add parmesan or Italian cheese.  Melt and serve with more fresh basil. 

Easy-peasey dinner for a crowd or when you have so little time but have the ingredients on hand. And it's great leftover!

Watermelon, Grape, Lime, Mint and Feta Salad

 

I have been craving watermelon-feta salad this week so made myself one for my lunch today. 

The ingredients here are for one nice, large, single salad.

1 cup watermelon chunks
1/2 cup red grapes (they were small so I left the whole)
1 cup shredded lettuce (I used butter)
1/2 cup pieces of feta cheese cut from a large chunk
1/2 lime juiced and zested
6 mint leaves, sliced
salt and pepper
1-2 T Briana's Blush Wine Vinaigrette or other fruity dressings

Mix, dress and eat. 

Next time, I might add some chicken, small grape tomatoes, strawberries, or sliced spring peas and sliced shallots and green onions with poppy seed dressing.

Abruzzo Fava Beans on Toast

In Montone, a tiny comune in Mosciano Sant’Angelo, Abruzzo, Italy our host gave us fresh “broad” or fava beans. We looked up how to prepare them. Enio suggested just with salt and olive oil and fresh bread. We had toasted bread from our restaurant dinner the night before (we took it home). A YouTube video suggested mashing them with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, olive oil, and chopped mint. 

We didn’t have a masher here, so we dressed them as they were with those ingredients  we served them on toasted bread and packaged toasts  - yum!

To prepare the beans, remove the beans from the long pods. Cook the beans in their outer pods for five minutes in boiling salted water. Drain the beans quickly and plunge into very cold water. Shell them - they will be bright green and split into two. Rinse and drain and dry on a paper towel. Dress. So good for you!

Country-Style Ribs BBQ Sauce

I always loved this sauce for country-style ribs. I made it per the recipe below, and marinated the parboiled country-style ribs overnight in a Ziploc bag. We then grilled them on the outside grill - often for a large crowd.

On Saturday, I used the sauce on several racks of pork ribs I cooked in the Instant Pot (with one can of beer) for 30 minutes with an instant release. I prefer the Costco pre-rubbed/seasoned ribs (bought in packs of two 14-18-inch racks). 

I curled the ribs (no sauce yet) into the pot on a silicone sling. I was afraid there were too many ribs, but they cooked beautifully in 30 minutes. They didn't fall off the bone easily, but I planned to finish cooking them under the broiler. I generously doused them with sauce and broiled them until the sauce was deeply colored - maybe 5 minutes. Watch closely, as you don't want it to burn.

SAUCE:

Saute:

• 1 cup (2 cups) chopped onion and 1 clove (2-4 cloves) minced garlic in about 1/4 c. oil until soft and golden.:

Add:

• 1-8 oz can tomato sauce (or 1-15 oz can)
• 1/2 cup water (or 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (or 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or 1/2 cup)
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce (or 4 T)
• 2 T prepared mustard (or 4 T)
• 1 tsp. celery seed and table salt (or 2 tsp. each)
• 1/4 tsp .pepper (or 1/2 tsp.)

Simmer for 15 minutes or longer but do not burn!

You can multiply the ingredients by 2 (as above) or 4 or more and can this hot sauce in pint jars for 15 minutes. It's great to have on hand.