Saturday, 4/2/2011

We had our friends Shellie, Adam and Hannah over for brunch this morning. They brought a beautiful plate of strawberries and orange slices to go with the new recipes we tried out.  I really thought I was going to find the perfect recipes on the Food Network, but nothing stood out to me.  Thankfully, Martha Stewart came through with flying colors!  I found both of the following recipes on her website.  I am providing links to the recipes below, since they are very long. 

ITALIAN SAVORY PIE: http://www.marthastewart.com/314356/italian-savory-pie

I think this was my first time making a pie crust from scratch.  It was definitely my first time making a lattice top crust.  I think that I let the pie dough mix too long in the food processor.  It didn't want to hold together.  Ben watched an instructional video on how to make a lattice top while I was in the process of doing it.  The instructions said to chill the dough for 15 minutes before working with it.  That probably would have helped.  My strips of dough kept falling apart and made for a stressful, not-so-pleasant kitchen environment for a short time.  Thankfully, the baking process made it look lovely and hid all of the imperfections.  The pie was delicious.  The only thing I might change is reducing the sugar in the crust.  The recipe called for 1/4 cup of sugar, and it seemed a bit on the sweet side.

MEYER LEMON COFFEE CAKE: http://www.marthastewart.com/281911/meyer-lemon-coffee-cake

Ben and I made this coffee cake last night, after putting Katie down to sleep.  Ben made the streusel topping, which ended up being about an inch thick on the top of the cake.  The recipe said to cut the meyer lemons into paper thin slices.  My mandolin worked perfectly for that task, but the lemons were filled with seeds.  The seeds made the lemon slices less than perfect.  Oh well, they still worked great in the cake.  The lemon slices were put into simmering water for a minute, drained, and then layered in the middle of the batter and on top, just under the streusel layer.  With zest in the batter and lemon slices layered in the cake, the lemon flavor was definitely present, but not overwhelming. 

The recipe called for a 9-inch angel food cake.  When I read through the very end of the recipe, after the cake was already in the oven, I noticed that the pan Martha used had a removable outer ring.  Mine did not.  Thankfully, Ben expertly buttered the pan and it came right out! 

Dinner was nothing special compared to this morning's brunch.  Katie ate yogurt, applesauce, a breakfast cereal bar, and a few bites of hamburger for her dinner while watching Disney's Peter Pan.  Ben and I shared a plate of chicken nachos around 8pm.  

Credit for the beautiful photos goes to Ben:)