Weekly Menu - Week of April 8, 2012

Another week, another menu to plan. I'm not feeling particularly witty this morning so I'll just jump right in.

Sunday - Easter dinner at my mom's house. Here's last year's post about our lunch, which reminded me that we had Asparagus with Tomato and Feta. I'd completely forgotten!

Monday - Grilled steak with Potato Bundles and grilled zucchini - This is a carryover from last week.

Tuesday - Hoagies

Wednesday - Billy's Favorite Pasta: Pine nuts, fresh spinach & garlic, cooked in a light Gorgonzola cheese cream sauce with marinated tomatoes on fussili pasta with grilled chicken, a pasta dish my friend Heather made for her husband based on a dish at a restaurant he loves. Sadly, she doesn't have a food blog.

Thursday - Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches, chips

Friday - OUT!

Recipe Swap - Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies

Want to see what other Fruit recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the Fruit Recipe Swap Roundup

Now that spring is here and we're starting to see more fruit in the supermarket I thought fruit would be a great theme for the recipe swap. I submitted a savory recipe (my favorite Thai Pineapple Rice) but many of the participants chose sweet recipes, like this one for Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies from my friend Jessica over at The Jey of Cooking.


Jey couldn't stop raving about these cookies when she sent me the link for the swap and when I read her blog post I got even more excited about making them. I loved the idea of the basil mixed with the lemon and blueberry. And muffin tops are my favorite part of the muffin so I knew these would be a hit. I had some basil leftover from my Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs, so I decided to make these immediately.


I let Baby Girl have half a cookie as she watched me take these photos and she absolutely loved them. She rarely has cookies (this kid does NOT handle sugar well), but I was impressed that she enjoyed all the complex flavors. These are certainly not your traditional cookies. I also brought about half the batch to church on Sunday since we had signed up to bring food for fellowship after the service. They were a big hit and someone even asked me for the recipe. Yay!


I'll definitely be making these again over the summer when my basil plant gets out of control. Jey's original recipe listed 3 large basil leaves but that alone only yielded 1 tablespoon when chopped, so I used the rest of the plant (about 1/4 cup total) and that was perfect.

Make these soon and you won't be sorry!

Lemon-Basil Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies
The Jey of Cooking

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 2 lemons, 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon reserved
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk*
1 cup blueberries
Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
Juice from about 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add sugar, lemon zest and basil to a small food processor and pulse to combine.

Beat the butter, in a stand mixer or a regular bowl using a hand mixer, until creamy. Add the sugar mixture and beat again until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, then turn the mixer down to low. Slowly add in the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating in batches beginning with 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour, the other half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in blueberries.

Using a cookie scoop or a leveled tablespoon, drop dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies.

Bake each sheet for 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cookie rack.

Whisk together confectioner’s sugar (about 1/2 cup), lemon juice and reserved lemon zest and basil until you reach your desired consistency and flavor. Drizzle on top of the cookies. Allow to cool completely and the glaze to harden before serving.

* To make you own buttermilk, put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to equal 1 cup. Stir and allow to sit for about 5 minutes, until the milk begins to curdle. Stir before using in a recipe. For this recipe I did 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and enough milk to make 1/3 of a cup.

Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp

I love shrimp and I love pasta, so as soon as I saw Josie post this recipe for Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp I knew I had to make it. I had it on the menu for a recent Friday but it got bumped because I'd had a hellish week and needed to get out of the house. I finally made it for Sunday dinner and boy, was it good.

The original recipe calls for cooking the shrimp in the pan but SP wanted to grill and I figured the added flavor would be great. Unfortunately the shrimp aren't on the grill long enough to get any of that delicious charcoal flavor, so it was an unnecessary step. I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers (plus I splurged and bought the real-deal mascarpone and it came in an 8-oz container). I should have taken my own advice and left out the red pepper flakes, but I was just blindly following the recipe and forgot to omit them, so this was spicy when all I wanted was creamy goodness. That didn't stop me from inhaling my portion.


I'm still trying to get Baby Girl to try shrimp. I know she'd love them but so far all I've gotten her to do is stick a piece in her mouth and then spit it out. We're working on it.

Lemon-Garlic Linguine with Mascarpone and Shrimp
Pink Parsley

Kosher salt
8 oz dried linguine
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Lemon slices, for serving

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Add the linguine and cook until just al dente, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, pat the shrimp dry and toss with half the lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, melt the butter until the foaming subsides. Add the shallot, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring continuously, until the garlic is just turning brown, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook about 90 seconds on one side. Turn the shrimp, reduce the heat to medium, and add the white wine and half the lemon juice.

Bring to a boil and cook about 1 minute. Add the mascarpone, reserved pasta water, and linguine, and toss to coat. Cook an addtional 1-2 minutes, or until the pasta is well coated and the sauce has thickened. Mix in the remaining lemon zest and juice, and the chives. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary, and serve immediately with lemon slices.

Panera's Stove Top Mac and Cheese

I love mac and cheese. I'm trying to eat less of it these days because it isn't exactly healthy, but that doesn't mean I've stopped loving it's cheesy goodness. I have a favorite baked version, but I've yet to find a stove top recipe that tastes as good. Then I saw Tara rave about this recipe for Panera's Stove Top Mac and Cheese and I figured I'd give it a whirl.


Disclaimer - I've never had Panera's mac and cheese (I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten at Panera), but this was creamy, cheesy and delicious, with a nice tang from the Dijon. I might cut back on the mustard the next time simply because I felt it was bordering on overwhelming the other flavors. Otherwise this was fantastic and easy. I served it with pan-grilled ham steaks and roasted asparagus, which is unusual for me because generally I like to keep the mac and cheese the star of the show. This time I really wanted it to be a side dish.

Panera’s Stove Top Mac and Cheese
Smells Like Home

16 oz pipette pasta or other small pasta shapes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk, heavy cream, or half-and-half
4 oz white American cheese, chopped or torn into pieces
8 oz extra sharp white Vermont cheddar, shredded
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (like Frank’s)

In a large stockpot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a 4-quart sauce pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and has started to bubble, whisk in the flour; cook for 1 1/2 minutes whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk until no lumps remain. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook milk mixture, whisking frequently, until it thickens and bubbles, about 8 minutes.

Remove sauce pan from the heat and by the handful, stir in the cheeses allowing all of the cheese to melt into the sauce before adding more. Stir in the mustard, salt, and hot sauce. Return the sauce pan to the heat and stir in the pasta. Be sure to stir up the sauce from the bottom of the sauce pan and thoroughly coat all of the pasta with sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve hot.

Weekly Menu - Week of April 1, 2012

And just like that, it's April. April is a big month in my family - just in the first few days my mom turns 60, my grandpa turns 90 and my stepmom celebrates her birthday. I love all the celebrating, especially when it involves sushi. Even though we had some warmer temps recently we're back to 50s and 60s now. That's fine by me because it allows me to make some recipes that are really better in the cooler weather.

Sunday - Lemon-Garlic Spaghetti with Mascarpone and Shrimp: I wasn't able to make this last week so I'm carrying it over.

Monday - BBQ Chicken Ranch Salads - Another carryover from last week.

Tuesday - Hoagies

Wednesday - Shells with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone - I wanted to revisit this one before the weather turns. This time I'm making sure to use shell pasta to hold all the sauce.

Thursday - Skillet Beef Stroganoff - I've got one more pound of ground beef in the freezer and SP loves this meal.

Friday - Grilled steak with Potato Bundles and grilled zucchini - We got a two-pack of steak last weekend and hopefully the weather will cooperate.