Luscious Lemon Bars

I’ve been craving lemon bars and once I read this description of a perfect lemon bar, I knew I would have to give this recipe a try. But this recipe did more than satisfy a craving – these are the best lemon bars I’ve ever tasted!

I followed the recipe exactly. The recipe worked perfectly and for once, I wouldn’t change a thing!

I do have one little trick I’d like to share with you. When I lined the pan with parchment paper I left two long sides to hang over the edge of the pan. This made it simple to pull out the whole thing once it was cooled, which in turn made for easier slicing.

Although I did sprinkle them with powdered sugar for decoration, I found that the bars were best with only a light dusting. They are pretty much perfect on their own.

If you’ve been looking for a fantastic lemon bar recipe, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try!

Lemon Bars

(makes one 8-inch square pan)

Crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/8 tsp salt

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Filling:

2 large eggs

1 cup superfine or bakers' sugar

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.

To make crust:

Combine flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is pebbly. Press evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake until lightly golden, about 18-20 minutes. Set aside crust.

To make filling:

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in lemon zest and juice until well combined. Pour over crust (it's okay if crust is still hot). Bake until filling is just set, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Brown Beans with Ham and Cornbread

I love great comfort food and nothing says comfort more than a pot of ham and beans.   I always use a ham shank from the meat case at Harter House.   It’s so simple, and you can leave the house all day (or work in the gardens) and come home to a nice crock pot of beans and ham!

I soak my beans overnight in a bowl of water, then rinse, throw them in the crock pot and cover with lots of water (or broth), ham shank, some chiles, onion and carrots.  Simply turn on the crock to high and off I go.  When I return, I bake a round of cornbread. 

Pinto Beans and Ham Shank

1 lb. / 16 oz. bag Pinto beans, sorted, rinsed., and soaked overnight.

1 Whole Harter House Ham Hock

1/2 pound of Harter House Sweet Italian Sausage (my addition)

1 Table Cavender's NO Salt Greek Seasoning

Garlic

Large Onion

Carrots, sliced or diced (optional)

1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Soak beans overnight.
In the morning, drain and rinse the beans in a colander.
Put your drained and rinsed beans into the stock pot or crockpot and cover with fresh water, about two inches above the bean level, approximately 3-4 quarts. 

Add 2 smashed garlic cloves to the beans and water.
Add 1/2 to 1 tsp dried crushed red peppers  or cayenne pepper (optional)
Add Chopped Onions and Cavender's Greek Seasoning or about a teaspoon of Kosher salt.
Add one whole Ham Shank from Harter House.

Place lid on crock pot and cook on low for a total of 6-8 hours.  Do not open lid to check or stir for at least three hours.

Check at 6 hours to see if they need more salt or water.

In a skillet, cook the sweet Italian Sausage and add it to the ham and beans.

NOTE Use quick soak method to prepare beans.  Place cleaned and sorted beans in a dutch oven, cover them with 6-8 cups HOT water (I use a tea kettle), boil the beans for two minutes, place the lid to the dutch oven on the pot, remove from heat and let stand at least 1 hour.
After one hour, drain and rinse the beans in a colander. continue as above.

I choose Cavender's NO salt Greek Seasoning because it does not contain monosodium glutamate.

The regular does.

Serve with Cornbread.

Boneless Chicken Wings

You may be wondering how to make boneless chicken wings. 

Boneless chicken wings are simply breaded pieces of chicken breast. They are far less messy and very easy to eat with a fork and you don’t have to worry about bones.

Let's make some crispy chicken bites and some delicious savory sauces.

The first thing you are going to want to do is bread the chicken pieces and fry them. This is a universal breading that will work perfectly for all of the sauces in this post. The sauces can be prepared in advance or while the chicken tenders are frying.

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)

Peanut Oil (for deep frying)

1 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder. In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then roll in the flour mixture. Repeat so that each piece of chicken is double coated.

Step 2: Fry chicken in the hot oil in batches until the outside is nicely browned and the juices run clear (about 5 minutes per batch). Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all of the chicken is gone.
Step 3: Mix fried chicken bits with your favorite wing sauce.

Now, here are the sauces. The sauces can be prepared in advance or while the chicken bits are frying. I have recipes for 5 different types of delicious wing sauces. Most of these sauces will make a lot, so they will be able to cover large batches of boneless wings.

Buffalo Wing Sauce-

Ingredients:

¼ cup hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon butter

Step 1: Combine hot sauce and butter in a small bowl. Microwave on high until the butter has melted (about 20 to 30 seconds). Mix well. This recipe can easily be double if you are making a large amount of wings.

Honey BBQ Wing Sauce-

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon chili powder

Step 1: In a small saucepan over medium heat combine all of the ingredients. Stir until well combined and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes.

Parmesan Garlic Wing Sauce-

Ingredients:

4 garlic cloves (peeled)

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

5 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon dried marjoram

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss garlic cloves with olive oil in a small oven safe dish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the garlic cloves began to turn light brown. Remove from the oven, cool garlic, and finely mince with a sharp knife.

Step 2: Combine garlic and the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well, cover and chill for several hours before using.

Asian Wing Sauce-

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

½ cup corn syrup

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup chili-garlic sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic (minced)

Step 1: In a small bowl mix cornstarch with rice vinegar. Set aside. In a small sauce pan combine remaining ingredients. Add the cornstarch and rice vinegar mixture and mix well.

Step 2: Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat the simmer until it becomes thick. Remove from heat, allow it to cool then cover and chill it until ready to use (you can also use it right away if the chicken is ready).

Caribbean Jerk Wing Sauce-

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons green onion (minced)

1 cup water

¾ cup ketchup

½ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons hot sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoons nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon sage

1/8 teaspoon thyme

Step 1: In a small saucepan sauté onion in butter over medium heat. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these sauces!

~Shelly

Meatballs and Gravy

This recipe is tried and true!

I’m not going to pretend that I am Italian, because of every nationality that is mixed through my veins – Italian is about the single one that I am not. However, I love Italian food & tend to make some pretty great meals when I cook Italian food. This is something I am confident I can make well…enter Meatballs and Gravy. Now, since I am not Italian by birth (only by choice) I would not have known that the sauce is actually called gravy, when you put it on meatballs. Also, I found everything I need to make this wonderful recipe at Harter House and Harter House World Flavors.

Meatballs and Gravy

Ingredients:
For Meatballs:

1.5 lb. of mild Italian sausage

1.5 lb. lean ground beef

2 eggs

2 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning

3/4 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (reduced fat)

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

pinch brown sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

For “Gravy”

2 large cans Cento crushed tomatoes

2 cloves fresh minced garlic

1 small yellow or white onion

olive oil

1/2 diced roasted Italian red pepper

fresh basil – minced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

pinch sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

couple dashes hot sauce

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp of lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Open a bottle of your favorite wine and consume while cooking.

3. Combine all ingredients for the meatballs into a bowl. Once all the ingredients are blended together, you are going to form your balls. These are meant to be bigger than the kind you find in your spaghetti – since they are the main course. So you want them to fill up a good handful (why is this starting to sound dirty)…

Once you have all your meatballs formed, line them up on a cookie tray. Its really important not to crowd the tray so the meat cooks evenly. Once you have this step completed, put your meatballs in the oven – reduce the heat to 375 and cook for exactly 45 minutes. Reducing the heat allows for the outside to form a slight crunch, while the inside cooks perfectly.

4. Now we start on the sauce! Slice the onions & chop garlic & add to saucepan over medium heat with about 2 swirls of olive oil in the pan.

Once the onions have cooked and are translucent, add in the remaining ingredients for the sauce, starting with the crushed tomatos. After you have all the ingredients added & well incorporated, turn the heat to low & cover. The flavors will all blend together on a low simmer while the meatballs finish cooking.

5. When the meatballs are done you are going to take each one and add to your sauce, excuse me, gravy…. and roll around to make sure they are completely covered. Optional step is to place a slice of mozerella on each meatball (after its been rolled in the gravy) and cover again for just a minute to melt the cheese.

6. For the salad, I cheated and bought a bag of Ultimate Caesar Salad mix, but I am not kidding when I say, it was the BEST bag of salad I have ever bought. BECAUSE it has the shaved Parmesan cheese, the creamy dressing & this little spice mix to sprinkle on top that I had never seen before….

(PS, I always cut out the lettuce "ribs")

I topped my meatballs with some grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.