Citrus Squares

This is my "bring something to a pot-luck" dessert. It's rich yet light, sweet but tangy, creamy and crumbly...in other words, one bite of this is a whole range of sensations and tastes that just go together so amazingly and make you go "Oh My" at every bite. And it's so unbelievably easy to make, it requires very few ingredients, and it's also adaptable. Like if you don't have limes just use lemons, or vice versa, if you don't have lemons use orangs, tangerines, clementines, etc. Any citrus works here so there's really no excuse!! I usually do these with lime only because I really love limes but this week I happenned to have also lemons AND oranges, so I did a mix of all three. CRA-ZY good! But, I also have to admit, the graham cracker crust is what makes this thing. There's just something about these crackers...Anyway, I'm gonna stop rambling and give you the recipe so you can try them too! I got it from "Healthy Oven" by Sarah Philips(yes, her again...)



First, make the crust:
(well, actually, first turn on the oven at 325F and set the rack in the middle...)

1 1/4 cup graham cracker crubs
1/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted.

-Stir all 3 ingredients together until combined.
-Press the mixture firmly and evenly in the bottom of a 8-inch square pan (that you previously sprayed with oil lightly), and set aside.

Then for the top part:

3 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP cornstartch
One can LOW-FAT sweetwened condensed milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 TBSP grated zest of whatever citrus you'll be using...
1/2 cup juice of those same citrus fruits...

*this time I used the zest of 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 an orange and one full lime. for the juice I used the whole lime, 1/2 an orange and 1/2 a lemon (see how I did this reverse...? clever, I know...)

-Mix the sugar and cornstarch and add the condensed milk slowly while stirring. Then add the egg, zest and juice and mix until just combined.
-Pour over the crust.
-Bake for about 25 minutes, until the edges look firm but the middle is still giggly a bit. It will firm up when cooled, I promise!!
-Let it cool at room temperature and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before slicing.



Bring this to a diner party and people will think you're a genius!
...or, keep it all to yourself, 'cause it's that good!

Baked-in-Foil Cod with Lemon and Thyme.

This is the first fish post on this blog. Surprising considering I really love fish and seafood and I eat a lot of it. But I usually have salmon or trout, and I always cook it the same way. It will be on here eventually...
I was going to get salmon for diner, actually, but I noticed at the store there was right next to it some fresh cod. Nice and thick filets, not too expensive. Oh Joy! Cod is my favorite white fish. It's so light and flaky, and easy to cook, like I did tonight wrapped in foil. Only 4 ingredients went into that. Well, 5 if you count the fish. And it cooks in no more than 10 minutes...
Here's how it went down:
First I cut a piece of foil big enough for that particular piece. I cut 6 lemon slices, lay down 3 on the bottom, along with some fresh thyme, sliced green onions and a few knobs of unsalted butter, salt and pepper. Then I lay the fish on top, and salted it again and pepper, a few more SMALL knobs of butter, the 3 lemon slices(on top of the butter), fresh thyme and green onions.

Before:


Wrap it snuggly in the foil, leaving a few small openings at both ends. In the oven at 400F for about 10 minutes, and it's done. If you're not sure how to tell the doneness, the fish will no longer be transparent, and will flake easily at the touch of a fork.

After: see how it opaque now...


This time I sliced the onions a little too big, they were not totally cooked but they're good raw so it wasn't a big deal.
Also the juice and melted butter at the bottom makes a nice little drizzle,
and since it was all done in foil, there's no mess, and the pan used won't be dirty=no washing...well, just a quick rincing!



Fish is awesome!

p.s. the orange vegetable on the first picture was sweet potato. cut up, steamed and dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Lemon Bars with Blueberries and Coconut.

I've been wanting to make lemon bars for a while now. I've seen many recipes online and in books for them and they always look sooooooo good! I love lemons, anything lemons really so...And it just so happens I bought fresh lemons at the grocery store earlier. Perfect timing. So I looked in my "healthy oven" book for a healthy version, but there was none in there, so I turned to a "regular" recipe (from a book called "basic baking"), with lots of sugar and real butter... but hey, a girl deserves a treat once in a while!
I tweaked the recipe a bit from the original by adding blueberries and coconut. I actually got THAT idea from the coffee house I used to work at in Whistler, we were making lemon bars similar to these with cranberries. But since I didn't have cranberries I settled for blueberries. Turned out great! And they're very easy to make. And even more easy to eat...



Ingredients:

for the bottom layer::
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP dark brown sugar
Grated zest of one lemon
1/2 cup unsalted butter

for the top layer::
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP flour
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut(plus 1-2 TBSP for the top)

Directions:

-Preheat the oven at 350F and set the rack in the middle.
-Make the bottom layer: mix flour, salt, both kinds of sugar and lemon zest. Cut the butter in small pieces and add to the flour mix. With a pastry cutter or two kinves, or in the food processor if you have one(i do, but I like to do it by hand...my grandma never had a food processor...), blend until the butter is about the size of little peas. Transfer to an UNGREASED non-stick 8inch square pan and press with a spatula and get everything even. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
-Make the bottom layer: beat the 3 eggs, add sugar, salt, lemon juice and mix well. Add the blueberries and coconut and mix in( the color will change, obviously...). Incorporate the flour (here because I used frozen fruit I added 1 1/2 TBSP of flour...).
-Pour the lemon mixture in the pan over the bottom layer, sprinkle a bit more coconut on top and bake for 45-50 minutes. When it's done, the top will be golden brown and the middle will be firm when you jiggle the pan.
This picture is not the clearset but here's what it looks like when just out of the oven:



-Let it cool on a rack and wait until completely cooled before cutting into bars.

*If you make these for a special occasion, or if you feel fancy, sift some powdered sugar on the top. This always masks the imperfections. I didn't bother with this because...well I just couldn't be bothered really.
These are SO GOOD! It's very lemony; sweet and tangy perfect for spring!



Enjoy!!