Well everyone, I'm back! We've officially moved in to our new place (and for the most part we're settled though we still have a lot of things to finish up,) J's studying for his boards (he takes them later this month) and slowly but surely we're learning the city. I'm still amazed that we live here and feel so lucky to be able to call Denver home!

All of that said, sorry for the delay in May's "kim and courtney cook." Both Kim and I were swamped last week and just couldn't get it all together. That said though, this month's was worth the wait! We decided on lemons and the recipes are awesome. I haven't tried Kim's (yet) but I'll go ahead and warn you that the cookie's I choose for my recipe are incredibly addictive. Hope you enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies (via here)

Side note-if you have limes as opposed to lemons, that works really well too.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick softened, unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
15 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese
3 Tbs of fresh lemon juice
The zest of one lemon (zest first, then juice. It will save you a lot of headache!)

The Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
The zest of one lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and put to the side.

3. In another bowl (or a stand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Takes about 3 minutes. Add one egg at a time, allowing each one to incorporate before you add the next one. Next, beat in the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest until it's all combined.

4. Finally, stir in the dry ingredients.

5. Spoon the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets (roughly 2 Tbs per cookie) and bake for 15 minutes. (You can start making the glaze while they bake.) You'll know they are finished when they are slightly golden at the edges.

6. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool down for about 20 minutes

Glaze Directions:

1. Combine the confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl and stir until it's smooth and creamy. Spoon about 1/2 tsp of the glaze per cookie and smooth with the back of the spoon. After sitting for approximately 2 hours, the glaze will be nice and hardened and you can package them up. Or you can do like me and eat a few as soon as the glaze hits and then put the rest in the frig until they set.

And now for Kim's recipe:

Lemon Mousse (courtesy Ina Garten)

Ingredients

3 extra-large whole eggs
3 extra-large eggs, separated
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
Kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup good bottled lemon curd, at room temperature
Sweetened Whipped Cream, recipe follows
Sliced lemon, for garnish

Directions:

In a large heat-proof bowl, whisk together the 3 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 10 to 12 minutes until the mixture is thick like pudding. (I change to a whisk when the mixture starts to get thick.) Take off the heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until completely chilled.

Place half the egg whites and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to beat until the whites are stiff and shiny. Carefully fold the beaten whites into the cold lemon mixture with a rubber spatula. Place the cream in the same bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (no need to clean the bowl) and beat on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the lemon mixture. Fold in the lemon curd, and pour into a 7-inch-diameter, 3-inch-deep souffle dish. Decorate with sweetened whipped cream and lemon slices that have been cut into quarters. Chill and serve cold.

Sweetened Whipped Cream:

1 cup cold heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium and then high speed until the cream just forms still peaks. Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

See? I told you these were worth the wait. Make sure to pop on over to Kim's blog to see more of her photos as well as her take.

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kim and courtney cook: lemons