And She Can Bake Too! A Slice of Lemon-Anise Cake?

I realized the other day that I have yet to post a "dessert-baking" recipe.  This was something I needed to remedy pronto, especially considering my general love for cooking really started with a specific love for baking desserts.  My mom taught me; I helped by stirring, measuring, and licking the bowl. And I still have a penchant for cookie dough (I recently found away to safely - no raw eggs- satisfy my cravings; chocolate cookie dough balls by Joy the Baker).  By 4th or 5th grade I had free range of the kitchen; I whipped out batch after batch of cookies, all on my own.  I started with your basic chocolate chip cookie, then moved onto biscotti, cakes, and eventually yeast breads.  I loved, and still love, the magic of baking; edibles go into the oven one way and come out completely transformed.


This is a very simple recipe.  A quick bread that involves a little stirring, and that is about it. To top it all of this recipe is also relatively low in fat; only ¼ cup of canola oil.  It goes great with tea, or maybe toasted with a little bit of homemade raspberry preserves?  Yum.


Lemon-Anise Cake
1½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Zest of two lemons
2 teaspoons anise, chrushed with a mortal and pestal
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350°C and grease a 8½ by 4½ by 2½ inch loaf pan. 


In a large bow combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, zest, and anise.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and ingredients and stir just till combined (lumps will remain).  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter to create a smooth top.  The pan will be around half full.  

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.  Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turnout onto the rack and let cool completely.  

HONEY TAR-ragon CHICKEN

Doesn't that look TASTY!

I love cooking and eating whole chickens.  I don't mean that I eat the whole bird, I just enjoy chicken cooked in its most unadulterated form.  Naturally, the cavity of the chicken becomes a place to stuff all sorts of yummy goodness, allowing flavors to permeate through the meat.  Usually I stuff a chicken with some type of citrus like lemon or orange (not lime, in my opinion lime overpowers chicken's delicate flavor), onion, garlic, and herbs. Easy as pie, and it is a great way to experiment with different flavor combinations.

For this recipe, the chicken is cooked on the grill, but could certainly be roasted in the oven.  However, if you have never grilled a chicken whole, try it out!  It  keeps your kitchen from over-heating in the middle of summer and produces a golden brown bird with crispy skin and juicy meat.  Here I use a honey based sauce which caramelizes while the chicken cooks, producing extra crispy skin.

Below I've provided instructions for cooking either on a gas grill or a charcoal grill (I use charcoal).

Honey Tarragon Chicken

1 roasting chicken, 4-6 lbs.
2 lemons
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 sprigs of tarragon
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry.  Cut one lemon and the onion into wedges.  Stuff the chicken cavity with the wedges, two sprigs of tarragon, and the garlic cloves.  Position the chicken on its "shoulders" and carefully drizzle 1 tablespoon of honey into the cavity.  Keep the chicken upright for a few minutes to allow the honey to drip down and around the lemon and onions.  You should be able to balance the chicken.  Next place the chicken breast side up.  Using your fingers and starting at the tail cavity, loosen the skin of the chicken.  Carefully insert the remaining tarragon sprigs under the skin, one over each breast, and truss the chicken.  If you need more instructions on how to truss a chicken, check out the Reluctant Gourmet, here.  Insert a digital thermometer, with a long cord, into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful not to touch the bone.  The thermometer cord needs to be long enough to reach outside the grill, other wise don't use it.

All trussed up

In a small bowl whisk together the remaining honey, the oil, the mustard, and juice from half a lemon.  This will be brushed over the chicken as it cooks.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill (see below) for indirect grilling over medium heat.

Charcoal Grill
Ignite the coals.  When they turn ashen white arrange the coals on either side of the fire bed, leaving a vacancy in the center, and place a drip pan in that vacancy.  This pan collects the dripping juices and fats, preventing flare ups.  Make sure to position the handles of the grill grate over the coals.  This allows you to easily add more coals if need be, to maintain temperature.  Place the chicken, breast side up, on the grill rack, over the drip pan.  Cover the grill and cook, adding more coals about halfway through grilling, until the chicken has reached a temperature of 170°F.  For those without a thermometer, this should take 1½-1¾ hours.  The chicken is done when the juices of the thigh run clear.  Brush the sauce over the chicken a couple of times during the last 15 minutes of cook time.



Gas Grill
Preheat the grill using all of the burners.  Then turn off the burner directly below where the food will sit.  Place the chicken breast side up over the no heat zone.  If using a three burner grill, adjust the burners on either side of the chicken, so as to provide even heat.  If using a two burner grill, the chicken will need to be rotated throughout cooking to ensure even cooking.  Cover the grill and cook until the chicken has reached a temperature of 170°F, or the juices of the thigh run clear, about an1½-1¾ hours.  Brush the sauce over the chicken a couple of times during the last 15 minutes of cook time.  Grilling instructions for the gas grill preparation were adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Grilling.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before carving.  The temperature will rise another 5°-10°F while resting.