instant pot lemon rice

Ingredients

• 1 Lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 1/2 cups Long Grain White Rice, well rinsed
• 1 Tbsp Butter, unsalted
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder 
• 1 1/2 cups Water

Instructions:

Wash the lemon. Then zest it before you juice it. Add to the inner liner of the pressure cooker.

Add the rice, butter, salt, turmeric, and water to the pot. Stir.

Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.

Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 11 minutes. Low Pressure. You can also use the Rice Button (If your pot doesn't have Low Pressure, set to High Pressure for 3 minutes and do a 9 minute natural release).

When the cook cycle has finished, turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to Quick Release the steam/pressure.

Fluff the rice with a fork.

Lemon bundt cake

I have made this a couple of times now to rave reviews so I thought I better get it up here while I was thinking about it.  It is a crowd pleaser especially for summer.

Cake:
1 lemon cake mix
1 c. water, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 c. greek yogurt or sour cream
1 small box lemon instant pudding
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. flour (Utah's altitude adjustment)

Sift dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients and mix for 3 minutes.  Do NOT over mix.  Bake as the package directs for a bundt cake.

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing:
2 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 Tbsp butter (softened)
2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp cream
Yellow food coloring (optional)

Mix together and drizzle over cooled cake.  I do not use coloring.  The easiest way to drizzle in my opinion is to put it into a baggie, cut off the end and away you go.

Final touch:
Melt white chocolate into a baggie and cut off corner.  Drizzle over the icing.  I'm not telling you how much to use but I end up using about a half of a bag of the chips.  More or less would be fine.  To melt I just microwave for 1 minute then squish and check every 30 second until it's smooth.

Sour cream lemon pie

I had never tied a cooked cream pie prior to this and was so happy with how this turned out.  Yummy!  I will say it goes quickly on the stove so it's best to have everything measured out and ready to go...

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 c. milk
1/2 c. sour cream
3 egg yolks
1/4 c. butter
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest or more to taste
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 baked pie crust (9 inch)

Combine sugar, flour, and salt.  Gradually add milk.  Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat, cook and stir 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.

Beat yolks slightly.  Gradually add 1 cup of mix into yolks.  Return yolk mixture to saucepan, and bring to boil.  Cook and stir 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, peel and juice.  Fold in sour cream and pour into baked shell.  Cool.  Top with homemade whip cream.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

Crust:
1 2/3 c. gram cracker crumbs, finely crushed
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. butter, softened

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. flour
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 Tbsp grated lemon peel (optional)

Lemon Topping:
1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
1 c. water
1 Tbsp butter
1c. sugar
1 lemon (juice and peel)

Crust:
In plastic bad, finely roll 10 -12 graham crackers, or use food processor.  Combine crumbs, sugar and butter.  Blend well with fork or pastry blender.  Using back of a large spoon, press crumb mixture inside 9 inch pie plate to coat bottom and sides evenly.

Filling:
In large bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter.  Add sugar and egg yolk.  Mix well.  Add flour, milk, lemon juice and peel.  Pour into graham cracker crust; bake 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Chill

Lemon topping:
Mix the corn starch in a 1/3 c. of the cold water.  Bring the rest of the water to the boiling point.  Add the moistened corn starch and cook until transparent.  Add the butter, sugar, lemon juice and grated rind and set aside to coo.
Beat the lemon mixture well until smooth and place on the of the baked pie.

Refrigerate and serve when cold.

Lemon Bars

1 lemon cake mix
1 egg
1/2 c. butter, melted
3 3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 eggs, eaten
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together cake mix, egg, and butter.  Spread into greased 9 x 13 inch pan

In a separate bowl, mix together powdered sugar, beaten eggs, softened cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth.  Spread mixture over bottom layer

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until top layer turns a light golden brown

Sprinkle with powdered sugar once cooled

Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Risotto

If you love lemon you will LOVE this recipe!

Marinade:
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Risotto:
3 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large shallot peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 c. arborio rice
2/3 c. dry white wine
zest from 2 lemons
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 C. shredded Fontina cheese
Salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1/2 c. fresh basil

1 1/2 lbs extra large shrimp, shelled and deveined

Marinade:
Add oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper into a large resealable bag with the shrimp.

Risotto:
Place broth and water in a medium size sauce pan and bring to a simmer. In a large sauce pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until shallots are translucent stirring occasionally. Add rice and stir until rice is coated with oil. Cook 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until liquid is absorbed.

Add 1/2 c. simmering broth to rice over medium low heat, stirring until absorbed. Repeat with broth 1/2 c. at a time until all broth has been incorporated. Aprox 25 - 30 minutes.

Stir in zest, juice, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in the basil just before serving.

While risotto is cooking, heat grill. Cook grill 2 - 3 minutes per side until pink.

Trouble

I know you are wondering why I have been such a slacker and truth is that I haven't been!! I have been baking, it just hasn't been pretty. My slaved upon baked goods would be over done outside and not done on the inside which did not leave much to blog about. First I adjusted for using a dark metal pan and thought that was the cause, but nope, that didn't work. It then occurred to me that just maybe my oven was not cooking at the temperate I was setting the dial at. Out I went to find a thermometer to test my oven. After I set my oven to 350 degrees with the new thermometer in place and then waiting for the light to go off, guess what? 25 degrees off! Ouch! No wonder! Thankfully I am blessed in this house and have 2 ovens. One gas and one electric. So I am now armed with what I need to be a better blogger! Knowledge that either I have to set my oven 25 degrees lower OR being the spoiled brat that I am, use the electric oven.

In other news.... A few weeks ago I discovered the Lemon Pound Cake at Starbucks. Stay away from it!! Seriously! It will be your diet down fall! I looked up recipes so I could make it at home since it is like buying gold so below you will find the first one I tried. It was sooooo much work but worth it. Well it would have been if my oven had been working. It still received good reviews even though it looked like a train wreck! I am trying another version I came across that was less work and will post that recipe in the next few days. I actually made it once but to say it didn't turn out is a terrible understatement (see above).

I am going to link you to the site I got the recipe from because there are a lot of complicated steps and this site gives great instruction! Here

This is NOT what mine looked like but I just know since your oven is working properly, yours will look like this.

Lemon Bundt Cake

INGREDIENTS:

Cake
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1⁄4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
2 3⁄4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

Lemon Syrup
1⁄2 cup each lemon juice and sugar
1⁄4 cup water

Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 to 5 tsp milk

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. You’ll need a 10-in. bundt pan coated with nonstick spray and flour.

2. Cake: Whisk yogurt, lemon zest, juice and vanilla in small bowl.

3. Beat butter, sugar, baking powder and soda in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed 3 minutes or until creamy. in eggs, one at a time, until blended. On low speed, beat in yogurt, then flour just until blended. Spread into prepared pan.

4. Bake 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 12 minutes before inverting on rack.

5. Syrup: While cake is cooling, bring syrup ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, uncovered, 12 minutes or until syrupy. Brush over warm cake; let cool.

6. Glaze: Mix confectioners’ sugar and just enough milk until smooth; spoon over cooled cake. Let stand until glaze sets.

Fresh Lemonade

This was a total hit with the kiddo's! It is a Pampered Chef Recipe and calls for the Quick Stir Pitcher. It worked like a charm!

Ingredients:
6 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
3-4 medium lemons

Directions:
1. Place water and sugar in Quick-Stir(R) Pitcher. Mix well with plunger until sugar is dissolved. Zest lemons to measure 1 tablespoon zest. Juice lemons using Juicer to measure 1/2 cup juice. Add zest and juice to Pitcher. Mix well with plunger.

2. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint and slice of lemon.

Yield: 7 (1-cup) servings

I tried this last night with Limes and it was YUMMY!!!

Moist Lemon Cake

I made this for family dinner this week and it was delicious. In fact, I didn't even offer the leftover's to Tina for the kids, I took them with me!

Ingredients
Cake:
1 lemon
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 container (6 ounces) lemon yogurt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Frosting
3/4 cup ((1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (from Cake)
Yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions
1. Cake: Heat oven to 350°. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line pans with waxed paper (step A, below); spray paper.


2. Zest lemon peel (about 2 teaspoons;). Juice lemon (step B).

3. In medium-size bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, yogurt and vanilla. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

4. On low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture in three additions, alternating with milk mixture. Beat well after each addition. Fold in zest. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

5. Bake layers at 350° for 35 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed lightly. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully invert cake layers directly onto racks, remove and discard waxed paper and let layers cool completely.

6. Frosting: Once layers are cool, beat butter, 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the reserved lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons) and 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining confectioners' sugar until good spreading consistency. Tint with a few drops of food coloring, if desired. To frost cake, place one layer on a plate or stand. Spread top of layer with 1 cup frosting. Stack second cake layer on first and begin frosting side of cake (step C). Continue around side of cake, then finish top, swirling decoratively. Serve immediately or refrigerate before slicing and serving.

A. Trace cake pan on waxed paper. Cut out circle; repeat for second pan. Fit waxed paper circles into bottoms of greased pans, then spray paper.

B. After grating the peel, slice lemon in half and juice it. Set juice aside for frosting.

C. Spread a generous amount of frosting on side of stacked layers—an offset (angled) spatula works well.

Lemon Drop's

I guessed this recipe off of a bartender in North Carolina (long story!) and she made the best Lemon Drops I have EVER had. Thanks to Laura @ Chicago Pizzaria in Raleigh.

1 shot citron vodka
1 shot sour mix*
1 Tbsp sugar
splash 7-up
Shake with ice and serve cold with sugared rim glass.

*Citrus simple syrup
3 part sugar
2 part water
1 part lemon and lime juices