Welcome back!  Today, we have another delicious dessert: French Lemon Tart. While this may seem similar to the Key Lime Pie (it's a citrus-y pie, it must be the same, right? No.), it actually uses a special technique that makes the tart unique. The filling, which consists of eggs and sugar, is a type of sabayon, or originally zabaglione  in Italian, is cooked in what's called a bain-marie (literally Marie's bath) that cooks the egg yolks so it's safe while retaining the smooth creamy texture.  French Lemon Tart Makes a 9" tart pan Ingredients: Crust: Check out the crust from our Crust recipe. Use one of those for this recipe. Filling (Sabayon): 3 egg yolks 3 whole eggs 1/2 cup sugar (you can do up to 3/4 cup if you don't want it to be so sour) 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons) 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 2 lemons) 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and chopped into small pieces Directions: Prepare the crust: Follow the instructions from the recipe bef...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a recipe for just pie crusts. We wouldn't recommend eating it by itself, but when you put some filling in it, it makes for a great pie or tart! The almond flour in conjunction with the normal flour gives the crust a nice nutty flavor while not being entirely almond, like in the Blueberry Bars from before.  Pie Crust with Almond Flour Makes 3 pie crusts Ingredients: 2 cups (about 180 grams) almond flour  3 cups cake flour 1/3 cup sugar 2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, softened  1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions: Use a whisk to cream the butter. Add the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add the almond flour, cake flour, and sugar into the mixture and mix evenly. Split this into three parts. Each part should be about 290 to 300 grams. Put this in the fridge for at least one hour before use. For the extra crusts, you can freeze them for later use but thaw them in the fridge before. As you can see from "Makes 3 pie crusts", this recipe...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a dish whose roots are all Italian but was popularized in America: Chicken Marsala. This type of chicken is known as " scallopina ", the Italian word for "scalloped". This term is most often used with potatoes, but it really can apply to anything that is cut into thin slices. Thus, this chicken is cut into thin-ish slices. Another example of this type of dish can be found in our Chicken Piccata recipe. The preparation is pretty similar, but the flavors are totally different. Chicken Marsala Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts 1/2 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 8 ounces mushroom 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup dry Marsala 1/2 cup cream Thyme and parsley for taste Directions: Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally so that it becomes two thinner slices. Coat the chicken slices in flour. Sear the chicken for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Prepare the sauce: In an oiled pan, saute the onion and garlic. Add the mushroo...

Welcome back!  Today, we have another creamy rice dish: Risotto! This northern Italian specialty (though it's rather common in Italy), made from a unique rice that have an interesting chewy/creamy texture that makes risotto what it is. There are a countless amount of ways that you can prepare this, though mushrooms (and thus truffles) are one of the most common ingredients used with risotto. Black Truffle Risotto Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 1 cup Arborio rice 4 cups broth (hot) 1/2 cup wine 2 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese 1 ounce black truffle, chopped (but save some for garnish) 1/4 small onion, chopped 1 garlic, minced Directions: In an oiled pan, saute the onion and garlic. Add the rice into the pan and stir it around. Add the wine and cook until most of it has been absorbed. Add the truffle and mix. Add one cup of broth and cook until most of it has been absorbed. Repeat this for three more cups of broth. Add the butter, mascarpone...

Welcome back!  Today, we have one of my favorite desserts: Key Lime Pie! There's so many things that are great about this dish from the texture to the combination of flavors. Plus, I prefer the flavor of key limes as compared to normal limes, as key limes are tarter and more citrus-y. Now this is a sour dish, so if that's not your thing, then you can cut back on some of the key lime juice and it'll be better. Any way, it's a great dessert! Key Lime Pie Makes a 10" tart pan or 9" pie pan Ingredients: Crust: 2 1/2 cups almond flour 6 tablespoons butter, diced 1/4 cup sugar Pinch of salt If you want to use graham crackers for the crust, use about 1 1/2 cups (150 grams) of crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 10 sheets) along with 5 tablespoons melted butter and mix. Filling: 4 egg yolks* 1 14-ounce can of condensed milk 2/3 cup key lime juice (about 1 pound of key limes should be enough for decorations too) 1 tablespoon key lime zest *If you don't want to use...

Welcome back!  Today, we have another blueberry dessert. I know, there's already been one that seems like this, but they're actually quite different! This one uses blueberry jam and you can use frozen blueberries too, and it's much more cheesecake: it has a crust, and it's not cake-y at all unlike the other one. You could probably make this with some other things, like strawberries or maybe cherries; they'll probably all be great! Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Almond Crust Makes an 8" by 12" pan Ingredients: Crust 2 cups almond flour 1/4 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons cold butter, diced Filling 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature preferably 1/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 8 ounces blueberry jam/preserves Blueberries (frozen or fresh) Directions: Prepare the crust. Try to be fast so the butter doesn't melt: In another bowl, put the almond flour and butter in. Use a pastry blender to get the butt...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a great tex-mex dish: Nachos! And they're really loaded! This is about as great as you can get for nachos, and with all homemade ingredients, it tastes super fresh and is pretty healthy. Traditionally, nachos are supposed to be like a snack; the original, made in 1940, was just chips with cheese and jalapenos. Obviously, this is a lot more than that, as it's a whole meal! Loaded Nachos Makes one large plate - about 3 to 4 servings Ingredients: Nacho Meat (taco meat): 1/2 pound ground beef 2 teaspoons chili powder 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) Salt and pepper to taste Rest of the stuff: Chips (about 8 to 12 ounces) Shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, 4 cheese blend, whatever you want!) Refried beans Pico de gallo Guacamole Sour cream Jalapenos Olives Cilantro For refried beans, pico de gallo, and guacamole, refer to the Tex...

Welcome back!  Today, we have another lamb recipe, this time for a different cut. It has the similar lamb flavor and also features the key ingredient of rosemary, but this recipe works nicely as a stew, so it's rather different from the other two. Fun fact, Greece is the top consumer of sheep meet per capita in the world, which makes sense as lamb is a common Mediterranean meat. Rosemary also originates from the Mediterranean, so it's a perfect combination!  Instant Pot Leg of Lamb Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 4-5 pounds lamb leg (boneless) 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 sprigs of rosemary and thyme, chopped Salt and pepper to taste 1 1/2 cup total of chicken stock and/or water (we used 1 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup dry white wine) Other vegetables: potatoes, carrots, zucchini 2 tablespoons cornstarch A little water Directions: Dry the lamb with a paper towel. Then, tie it with some twine to keep everything together Season the lamb by rub...