Lemonade Mother Fluffer

It's RICH!  

It's TART!  

It's LIGHT!

It's SWEET! 

It's FLUFFY!  

It's CREAMY! 

It's SMOOTH!

It's LUSCIOUS!

What else could you POSSIBLY call it besides Lemonade Mother Fluffer?!?

Ingredients

5 oz heavy cream

1/2 cup Splenda Granular
1 3.4 oz box of sugar free instant lemon pudding mix
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese (at room temperature)
3 single serve packets sugar free lemonade drink mix (or to taste)

4 oz water

Instructions

• In a small mixing bowl, combine cream and pudding mix.
• Beat on low speed for 2 minutes (mixture will be thick).
• In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with Splenda until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Stir lemonade mix into water
• Gradually beat lemonade mixture into cream cheese.
• Combine pudding mixture.
• Spoon into serving container(s)
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Cook's Notes:

I recommend serving in ramekins, martini or champagne glasses with a dollop of whipped cream, a sprig of fresh mint or a curled lemon slice

You can bring your cream cheese to room temperature by running each 8 oz block individually through a microwave for 30 seconds. DO NOT do them both for one minute!!!

Of course you COULD serve it as a pie with a ground nut crust - but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

When you tell your guests what this creation is named, speak clearly and carefully...

Shrimp and Zoodle Ramen

It only took one serving for me to become a Zoodles (zucchini noodles) fan.  I'll never go back to Spaghetti squash or, God help me, those awful "Miracle Noodles" - of course, if you are a fan of either of those they work perfectly well as a replacement for the Zoodles in this recipe.  

If you want to try zoodles I strongly recommend the "Spiralizer" brand available at Amazon and other retail outlets.  I'm not compensated in any way by Spiralizer - just a fan..  

1 medium zucchini
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 clove garlic peeled
1/2 tsp ginger grated
8 sliced mushrooms
8 medium shrimp cooked, peeled and deveined
1 egg hard boiled
2 Tbsp green onion chopped
1 chili pepper sliced (optional - usually Serrano or Jalapeno)
Servings: bowls (depending on your eating capacity)


Make your zoodles on the thinnest setting, set aside

In a small pot, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth, garlic and ginger. Bring to a hard boil, then reduce to simmer. If shrimp are frozen, add them and the mushrooms to the mixture then cover and wait 5 minutes for them to thaw and cook in the hot broth.  Otherwise add thawed shrimp with 2 minutes remaining.

Meanwhile, prepare a hardboiled egg by adding an egg cold water, bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat for 10 minutes. Transfer to cold water immediately and let sit for 2-3 minutes, then peel and slice in half.

Assemble your ramen bowl by placing the desired amount of zoodles in a bowl, followed by hot broth, shrimp, mushrooms and half of a hardboiled egg. Garnish with green onions and, if desired, sliced red hot chili peppers.

Cook's Notes:

• For the mushrooms I used baby bellas  (Cremini) but you can use shiitake to be more authentic - or just plain old white buttons!
• The heat of the broth will cook the zoodles and impart a delicious flavor in them.

Greek Chicken and Parsley in an Egg-Lemon Sauce

I am extremely fond of egg-lemon sauce - or the soup. Here it is paired with chicken and parsley in this unusual dish in which the parsley is treated like a vegetable rather than as a garnish. The Greeks call it Kotopoulo me Maidano Avgolemono .  You will need a parsley garden of your own to do this, as the recipe calls for 3 POUNDS of parsley!

1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 lbs chicken pieces
1 cup dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup chicken stock or water
3 lbs fresh flat-leaf parsley plus additional for garnish
10-12 scallions (spring onions), green and white parts, chopped 

Avgolemono sauce (see below) 

Heat half the oil in a skillet over moderate heat and brown the chicken pieces on all sides.
Add the wine and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the salt, pepper, and chicken stock and simmer covered over low heat for 30 minutes.
Cut off and discard most of the stems of the parsley.
Heat the remaining oil in a separate skillet over moderate heat and saute the parsley and scallions until wilted, about 3 minutes.
Add to the chicken mixture and cook 10 to 15 minutes more.
Place the chicken pieces on a serving platter and arrange the parsley mixture around the chicken. Spoon the avgolemono sauce over the chicken and garnish with chopped fresh parsley. 

Serves 4 to 6 

Avgolemono Sauce 

2 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with
2 Tbs cold water
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

Whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, and cornstarch mixture.
Combine with the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is hot and slightly thickened.
Do not boil. 

Makes about 2 cups

Sugar Free Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

Sugar Free Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

There are delicious recipes and there are dead simple recipes, but you know you've scored a huge hit when you find a dead simple delicious recipe.  Such a recipe resides below.  Dessert that makes you look like a kitchen goddess that can be whipped together in 10 minutes!

• 8 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/4 cup lemon juice or juice of 2 fresh lemons
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2-1 tablespoon Splenda Granular (or equivalent sweetener of choice)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Add cream cheese and lemon juice to a stand mixer and blend until smooth.
Add heavy cream and the rest of the ingredients and blend until whipped.
Taste and adjust sweetener if needed.
Pipe into serving glasses and sprinkle on lemon zest if desired.
Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cook's Notes:

• If you decide on this at the last minute and have no time to bring the cream cheese to room temperature, unwrap it, put it on a plate and microwave for NO MORE than 30 seconds - it's perfect!
• Fresh lemons are easier to squeeze and give more juice if you microwave them for 10 seconds.
• Zest your lemons BEFORE you squeeze them!  Fresh blueberries also make a beautiful garnish in season - add them at service.
• Put mixture in a zip-top bag, snip the corner and use it as an economical piping bag.
• That minuscule pinch of salt points up the sweetness AND the lemon - but go lightly with it.  A little is perfect - a lot is ruinous.

Is It Spoiled?

I am a man who truly *LOVES* food. I hold it and marvel at it's beauty, I bite it and exult in it's texture. I chew it and savor the components of it's taste.

I also cook. I'm a cook, not a chef. A chef is just a cook who can swear in French.  But I know that a LOT of my readers AREN'T cooks and you sometimes encounter items that MAY be a bit past their prime.  below is a sure-fire way to answer the age old question: "Is It Spoiled?"

Eggs  When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably past its prime.

Dairy Products  Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt.
Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese.
Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese.
Regular cheese is spoiled when you think it is blue cheese but you realize you've never purchased that kind.

Bread  Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds are the only officially acceptable "spots" that should be seen on the surface of any loaf of bread. Fuzzy and hairy looking white or green growth areas are a good indication that your bread has turned into a pharmaceutical laboratory experiment.

Flour  Flour is spoiled if it wiggles.

Canned Goods  Any canned goods that have become the size or shape of a softball should be disposed of carefully.

Carrots  A carrot in which you can tie a clove hitch is not fresh.

Raisins  Raisins should not be harder than your teeth.

Potatoes  Fresh potatoes do not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.

Chip Dip  If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has gone bad.

Unmarked Items  Generally speaking, plastic containers should not burp when you open them.  You know it is well beyond it’s prime when you're tempted to discard the plastic container along with the food.