jetset1

Okay gang~ assuming we're all fit and trim since the holidays(or prior, in some cases).. it's again time for a new batch of good recipes. I'm talking Easter Brunch, dinner, desserts, bring it on!
What are some of your favorite Easter specialities? And for the winos, feel free to recommend anything apropo! J.

jetset1

gee Bonnie, sorry. Don't suppose you happen to actually have a braid, or do you,lol!
Maybe I should use the preview feature before getting so impulsive next time..

starrsville

For years, the Easter menu in our family has been a Honey Baked ham, potato salad, something green, pickles, deviled eggs and rolls. And, of course, lots of sweet iced tea!

Desserts can vary. Banana pudding is a standby. If I'm asked to bring dessert this year I'm going to try the recipe for Tres Leches cake in the April BHG.

PamSF

So very California: Easter dinner is
to start: a selection of goat cheeses and champagne. Grilled Wild King Salmon and a green herb and flower salad with meyer lemon vinagrette all washed down with a Broadley Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Dessert is either a meyer lemon upside down cake (see the latest Food&Wine) or the Chez Panisse Dessert Cookbook Almond Cake (a marzipan lover's dream) with meyer lemon curd. If anyone wants any of the recipes, sound off!

dcespedes

PamSF--dinner sounds lovely; what time should we be there?!? ;-) I would love the recipes to every item you mentioned. Do you ever shop at the Ferry Building Marketplace? That place is a dream to me. Thank you!

gail

Lots of marshmallow chickens - raw. We tried toasting them like regular marshmallows last year and they turn into glop.

bonniebroad

GAIL!!! Haven't you heard what can happen if you eat raw chicken??? Of any kind??? (I'll be back later with a great chicken recipe.... we always have it, along with an Easter ham.........)

placeu2

Gail...please during the season those chickens must be referred to by their proper name: Peeps!

As in "pass the purple peeps please, all I have left in my basket are the pink ones"....

Not to be confused with: "Call my peeps and make an appointment to do lunch"

Dreamer2

Oh but Peeps are great microwaved (slightly! ) They grow into the massive marshmallow ghost from the climax of Ghostbusters!

Easter is always ham or lamb. My pre-Greek days it was ham with pineapple, roasted potatoes, cole slaw, asparagus, and rolls. Since I've been married it's lamb and spinach pie!

I have THE BEST spanokopita recipe if anyone is interested. But fair warning, it's quite expensive and time consuming - although not hard.

I'd love a couple nice lemon-y dessert recipes. Pam, would you post the two you referenced?

gail

Message to placeu2 - the only good PEEP is a yellow one - the others are not regulation. (nor are the illegal marshmallow things they drag out for other holidays - only yellow and only on Easter) I like them best if you poke a little hole in the wrapper and let them get just a little crunchy.

jetset1

don't forget gourmet jelly beans! How many of you forgo cooking at all and opt for bruch/dinner out instead?
My family will be returning from a trip late the 25th, so I'm not sure how much energy I'll have the next day.. an afternoon brunch sounds tempting.

PamSF

I will return with the recipes as requested. But..for you peep lovers, try putting those bamboo kebab skewers or tootpicks in them then place them in the microwave. You can watch jousting peeps before your very eyes.

PS:we like the yellow ones and the staler the better at our house.

PamSF

Lemon Upside Down Cake
Makes 1 9 inch cake

1 1/2 sticks butter softened
3/4 C plus 2 tbs light brown suggar
2 thin skinned lemons(Meyers) sliced paperthin crosswise and seeds removed
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs separated
3/4 C whole milk
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Sweetened whipped cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350. Set a 9 inch nonstick cake pan over moderate heat. Add 4 tbs of the butter and when it is melted stir in the brown sugar until dissolved about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Arrange the lemon slices in the melted brown sugar.

In a medium bowl whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the remaining 8 tbs of butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the egg yolks,one at a time. At low speed beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with milk.

In a stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed with the cream of tartar until firm peaks appear. Fold in one third of the beaten whites into the batter, then fold in the rest. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for thirty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a plate. serve warm or at room temp with whipped cream.


Almond cake with lemon curd recipe to follow. I have a day off and need to hit the errands before the streets fill up too much.

dcespedes:yes I have shopped at Ferry Plaza. We have a much smaller organic
market in Berkeley on Saturdays. I usually go there. When we lived in SF we often shopped at the old Ferry Plaza market across the street. As it grew, you needed to be there by 8:30 am.
When we moved to the East Bay we showed up at the Berkeley market at our usual 8:30 and no one had even set up yet.

Budman

Boiled Egg Recipe:

Lay eggs on bottom of the pot

Try not to stack your eggs (it's better to do it in batches than overfill your pot)

Fill with water so it's an inch over the eggs

Put on high heat and bring to a rapid boil

Let boil for 12 minutes

Remove from heat

Remove the eggs immediately from the pot (I use a slotted spoon) and plunge them into cold water until you can pick them out of the water without burning your hands (a bit under a minute).

Works great for me.

gail

Anyone still blow out the inside of eggs? Take raw eggs, poke a small hole at each end with a big needle, and blow out the egg. Then the remaining shell can be colored, without having to deal with a million hard boiled eggs for a week.

If you want to get creative, plug up one of the holes, fill with concentrated jello (like for jigglers) and let set. Then you can peel them just like eggs. (The filling also bounces if you get bored entertaining the relatives)

jetset1

gail~ what a fun idea. My ten yr. old would love doing that!
I guess the funnest part of the day is springing the baskets on the kids. Even my teen likes his, since there are suitable goodies tucked amongst the chocolate. I customize them, and my husband will like his too, since "everything" seems to be in pastel colors this year!

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Doesn't Betty Crocker have a place for trading recipes?

PamSF

Almond Tote with Meyer Lemon Curd

12 servings


1 1/4 C sugar
7/8 C about 8 oz soft almond paste
1 C softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
1 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Beat the sugar with the almond paste until the almond paste is in fine pieces. Or, better pulverize it in a food processor. Beat in the butter and the vanilla, then cream the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the whole eggs one at a time(they should be at room temp)beating well after each so the eggs are thoroughly mixed in. Mix the flour,baking powder and salt and beat in until just thoroughly blended.

Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan and turn the batter into it smoothing the top evenly. Bake in a pre heated oven 325 for 1-11/4 hours or until a tootpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the center feels springy when you push it gently.

Let cool. Remove from springform pan and dust with powdered sugar.


I have had this cake at Chez Panisse and it is divine. My friend Lisa who worked there a hundred years ago as a pastry chef says it's great with Meyer Lemon Curd.

Meyer Lemon Curd(with thanks to Gourmet)

Makes 1 1/3 C so I would double it for 12

1/2 C fresh meyer lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated meyer lemon zest
1/2 C sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 stick (6 tb) sweet butter cut into bits.

Whisk together juice,zest and eggs in 2 Qt heavy saucepan; stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat whisking frequently until curd is thick enough to hold marks of the whisk and first bubble appears on the surface(about 6 minutes)

Strain and chill at least 1 hour or more. Surface should be covered with plastic wrap.

Can be chilled up to 1 week.


Meyer Lemon CHampagne Vinagrette:

I just zest meyer lemons and make a champagne vinegar and olive oil basic dressing.
I am buying mixed baby lettuces at the Farmers' Market adding chervil and Italian parsley and some viola petals.

We grill the salmon (we do whole filets) on foil and the charcoal grill. We usually put it skin side down on foil with salt and pepper and maybe a tiny bit of olive oil.

Wild Salmon season does not open in the SF Bay area until late Paril or May. We just cannot bring ourselves to eat farmed salmon.

We travel to Seattle at least once a year to see my sister and her family. For years we have gotten fresh fish at Pure Foods in the Pike Place Market. We are having a wild king salmon sent overnite from them. I actually prefer the salmon from the Pacific NW. The water is colder and it's great fish. Pure Foods does have a website but you can only order in 5 # or larger amounts. I called the store directly and they can sent smaller amounts. It actually ended up being less$ to buy a whole salmon and have them filet it. (They filet or make steaks for free).

We also always get their alder smoked(hot fire) salmon when we visit. My sister sends us two lbs every winter holiday season. We are having a small brunch on Easter for 2 friends passing through the Bay Area on their way back from Guatemala. We'll be serving some of Pure Foods smoked salmon with bagels, cream cheese, capers and red onions.

Do yourselves a favor and try this stuff!!!!!!!!! It's $19.95 a lb ordered direct from the store(not the website).




Now for a note about the children: two tenn agers who every Spring family dinner have had small nests at their placesettings filled with candy. Last year I asked them when they thought they'd be too old to want the nests. In unison, they said "Maybe when we are in college". Warmed my heart and guaranteed them nests until at least then. They may rolls their eyes at the adults in their lives and hardly speak from time to time but they still want those nests

dcespedes

A couple of years ago I made a dirt cake to take to a friends house for Easter. You assemble the cake in a glazed flower pot--the top soil is crushed Oreo cookies. I added artificial flowers to the "dirt" and used a small (new and clean!) garden shovel to serve the cake with

PamSF

Why rb, Betty Crocker probably does. You can lurk at her site if you are so inclined but I can guarantee you, the recipes are better at Fodor's.