Bring on colored eggs and fancy dresses! Nothing says Easter like festive food! Try This Lemon Cake with White Cooking Wine!

* This post is sponsored by Holland House Cooking Wines. Holland House Cooking Wines are a great way to transform your favorite, familiar recipes into something extraordinary.

Growing up, my memories of Easter were always happy and bright, just like the colors of spring and the Easter eggs we used to decorate. Every year, we would start Easter morning by dashing into the living room and begging our mom to let us begin egg hunting. After we finished pushing each other over to find every egg, we would head to church. It sounds like an easy task, but to me that meant my sister had to pin me down to brush my hair and put a dress on me. Once church was over, we would head to my aunt Gerry’s house. She always hosted a big family Easter brunch and another egg hunt of course. 

As a little kid the food always looked picture perfect at Easter. My aunt Gerry was known for her stunning and most delicious layered cakes. They were always under a glass dome, protected from us wild kids. To this day, I have her to thank for making Easter such a beautiful memory for me. These days are obviously different, since I am a grown-up now. (Insert thumbs down) Unfortunately, I have to put my own dress on, HIDE the Easter eggs, AND do the cooking. Thank goodness I still have my sister to help me! 

As a chef, the food is what excites me the most at Easter. Spring makes me think of bright colors and fresh flavors. So when it comes to creating new recipes for Easter, I like to use my nostalgic childhood memories to inspire my creativity in the kitchen by tying bright fresh flavors and bold flavors that I already have on hand.

So with no further ado…is this stunning Lemon Cake with White Cooking Wine. This cake is delicious and has a great balance of flavor. This dessert reminds me of my aunt Gerry. Every year she made a beautiful carrot cake with piped carrots and whole pecans as decoration. Since a homemade carrot cake can be quite the task, I wanted to create a recipe that is a little less daunting. I chose Holland House White Cooking Wine with Lemon to enhance the flavor of my cake. With a bright, fresh lemon aroma and touch of tang, Holland House White with Lemon brings you a classic white-wine flavor with a citrus twist The vibrant citrus notes and tartness from the grapes play perfectly with the lemon flavors. The acidity and slight saltiness in the cooking wine balances the sugar and gives the cake a much more complex flavor.

We like to serve this lemon wine cake with fresh strawberries and lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream (see photos below J). The fresh strawberries bring a sweet tartness and spring color to the cake. Just as Easter egg hunts stretch the imagination of kids, I have my fun now by trying to open the minds and bellies of something unexpected but comforting around the Easter dinner table.

Holland House Cooking Wines are available in five flavor-boosting and versatile varieties: Marsala, Sherry, White, Red and White with Lemon. Be sure to follow Holland House on Facebook and Pinterest for more delicious recipes and tips!

Happy Easter!!

Chef Cate

Lemon Cake with White Cooking Wine Recipe

Servings: 10–12

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 45–50 min

Ingredients:
•    ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, room temperature
•    ¼ cup of granulated sugar
•    Zest of two lemons
•    1, 8oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
•    3 large eggs, room temperature
•    ½ cup Holland House® White with Lemon Cooking Wine
•    ½ cup whole milk
•    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
•    1 box white cake mix

Cooking Wine Glaze

Ingredients:
•    Zest of one lemon
•    2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
•    1 tablespoon corn syrup, optional
•    3–4 tablespoons Holland House® White with Lemon Cooking Wine

For the Glaze:
In a mixing bowl, combine sifted powder sugar, lemon zest, corn syrup, and 3 tablespoons of Holland House White with Lemon Cooking Wine. Whisk until smooth. If glaze seems too thick, add an extra tablespoon of wine. The glaze should run smoothly off the whisk.

Cake Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

1. Add butter, sugar and lemon zest to a mixing bowl (preferably electric) fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high for approximately 3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl in a downward motion. Add the cream cheese to the mixture. Beat for another 3 minutes on high, until light and fluffy.

2. Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time.

3. Combine milk, cooking wine and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup and add slowly to the mixer.

4. With the mixer on low speed, add the white cake mix. Mix until cake mix just starts to disappear into the mixture, avoid over mixing. Remove the mixing bowl and finish whisking gently by hand.

5. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, evenly distributing the batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45–50 minutes, until a toothpick can be removed cleanly

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Carefully invert the cake on to a cooling rack and allow cake to cool completely.

7. Spoon glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

Bonus Tip: We like to serve our Lemon White Cooking Wine Cake with fresh whipped cream and strawberries.

M.E.A.T Tacos

M.E.A.T Tacos. You would think these have some meat, right!?

Wrong! But what they do have is great flavor! A flavor so good that your day could not possibly go wrong after eating these tacos for breakfast.

Chicago is a city that certainly has no shortage of tacos. They can be found anywhere from street corners, to restaurants, to my home. Personally, I think tacos are the best thing since sliced bread and with half the calories, carbohydrates and no added sugar or gluten it makes for a healthier choice. And you can make them with organic sprouted corn for an extra healthy taco or even go as far as making them with coconut flour.

Now I am sure some of you may be questioning if a nutritionist is really justifying eating tacos made out of corn.  Well…yes, I am and I enjoy the hell out of them! I love to make them from scratch too! I wouldn’t recommend eating tacos everyday but you can make these as healthy as you want. For example, when I am craving tacos and want to keep them on the lighter side, I use a romaine or bib lettuce as my shell, I won’t use crema in my eggs, and I don’t garnish with cheese. Boom! Now the taco is almost vegan and corn free.

On the other hand, if my father is over and I try to make him a vegetarian taco he would rather starve. In those instances I will grill up some arrachera (skirt steak) and leave dad with a smile on his face while eating a steak and egg taco.

As you can already see, there are many options and ways to attack this. Every day we are faced with different options and choices in terms of what we will put in our bodies and eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I always have client’s state that they don’t know where to start and that it is hard to be “good” all the time.  And that leads them to ask the popular question “how do you do it?”  

It really is a great question. I used to (and still do if I am being honest) face the same cravings like pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc. I slowly started making better choices.  Not always the perfect or best choice…just the BETTER one. Years ago I would a cheat meal from time to time. Today I just remake that “cheat meal” into a meal that is better for me and still tastes delicious. It is the only math equation I am good at, subtracting the bad ingredients and adding in the good ones!  If you are like me and have food cravings you may not always want to have, I hope these tips can help you make healthier choices in your lifestyle. Now let’s apply this philosophy to our taco example.

Good, better, and best. It is an easy system I use to hold myself accountable with the choices I make. I constantly use this in a variety of scenarios:  

Weekend Breakfast Options:
Breakfast option #1
“Bad choice” Burrito with chorizo, potato, egg, cheese, and sour cream
Breakfast option #2
“Good choice” Taco with turkey sausage, egg, and cheese on a corn tortilla
Breakfast option #3
“Better choice” my M.E.A.T Taco on a corn tortilla
Breakfast option #4
“Best choice” LACO (lettuce wrap taco) Scrambled eggs in coconut oil with mushrooms, avocado, and fresh salsa on a lettuce taco shell

You always have the option to make better food choices. Just making one “better” choice to start is a great step forward to avoiding more cravings for “bad” food in the future. The more you cut the cheat foods out, the less cravings you will have. Over time you’ll find the cheat foods don’t even make you feel as good and it becomes easier to naturally avoid them altogether.

Now let’s get into this recipe!!!

Corn Tortillas (makes about 20 tortillas)

Ingredients:
•    2 cups organic masa harina
•    1½ cups hot water
•    1 teaspoon sea salt
•    1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
Mix salt into the masa harina corn flour. Then pour the oil into your water. Slowly pour the water and oil into the dough to get a good consistency. The dough should be soft, but not sticky, like a smooth butter cookie dough. If dough is still dry add a tablespoon more of hot water until you reach the right texture. Let rest for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.

Preheat a griddle or flat surface. Divide the dough into 2 inch sized golf balls. Press dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or you can use a large zip lock bag and cut a circle larger than the tortilla press so that you have two plastic circles. Preheat you griddle so that the front burner is high heat and the back burner is medium high heat. Press the dough using the tortilla press and place flattened dough on the medium high heat griddle. Cook for 30-45 seconds then flip the tortilla onto the hot side of the griddle and cook for an additional minute. Flip the tortilla one last time until your tortilla puffs up. This shouldn’t take more than 20 seconds at which point your tortilla is done. Be sure to keep your tortillas in a tortilla warmer with a dish towel until ready to serve.  

Scrambled Eggs Ingredients:
•    8 organic large eggs
•    3 tablespoons cold grass fed ghee
•    2 tablespoons organic sour cream or Mexican crema
•    Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place eggs and half the ghee in a pot with a heavy bottom (to evenly control heat). Place burner on medium heat and using a spatula whisk the eggs until fully combined. Once fully combined add remaining ghee and continue to cook the eggs by periodically taking your pot on and off the heat for about a total cooking time of 5 minutes. It is important to constantly be stirring your eggs to ensure they never get brown on the bottom of the pan. Once you see the eggs are almost completely cooked remove pot from heat and add the sour cream to slow down the cooking process and make your eggs extra creamy and delicious. Sprinkle with a touch of sea salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust to your preference.

Sautéed Mushrooms Ingredients:
•    10 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced (or any kind of mushroom you like)
•    2 tablespoons coconut oil
•    1 teaspoon Aleppo chili flakes (or ancho or any chili flake you can find)
•    Pinch of sea salt
•    Cracked black pepper

Directions:
Place sauté pan on medium high heat to heat oil. Once hot, add mushrooms and sauté until lightly brown and tender. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.

Tomatillo Salsa Ingredients:
•    6 tomatillos, peeled
•    2 poblano peppers
•    1 jalapeno (optional)
•    1 large red onion, quartered
•    Zest of 1 lime
•    Juice of 2 limes
•    2 garlic cloves
•    1 bunch of cilantro
•    ¼ cup water
•    ¼ cup Olive oil, plus more for roasted
•    1 avocado
•    Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Toss tomatillos, peppers, and onion in olive oil and season sea salt. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until slightly chard and soft, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and repeat for another 5 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer vegetables and their juices to a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth or desired texture is reached.

Assembling your Taco:
Tortilla, Scrambled Eggs, Sautéed Mushroom, Sliced Avocado, Tomatillo Salsa

Additional Toppings:
Cheese
Cilantro
Sliced
Scallions
Crispy potato strips
Crema
Toasted Pepitas

Autumn is in the Air!

Let’s forget for a moment that autumn in Chicago means the inevitable snow storms, shoveling, and creative ways to claim “dibs” on parking spots are just around the corner. Ahhhhhh! Plenty of time to worry about that later! I’d rather focus on the positives here and fall is one of my favorite seasons in terms of flavors, foods, and festivities.  Who’s with me? Pumpkin patch hayride anybody?!
 
All Orange everything! Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Acorn Squash, Spaghetti Squash and Pumpkin are all staples of mine this time of year.  Not only are they loaded with magnesium, vitamin A, and vitamin C but they also have tons of fiber and, if they are prepared correctly, are just delicious! Autumn is the one time of the year where everywhere you look there is something pumpkin flavored to buy. And yes, basic as it might sound, I’ve put a dash or two of pumpkin spice in my almond milk iced coffee over the past week. Let me tell you it is a game changer, a sweet little punch of flavor to rev up my mornings. I like to find creative ways to sneak fall flavors into classic fall dishes and iced coffees!
 
I recently shared a super quick and simple recipe for Pumpkin Bread on my Instagram (@cateskitchenfit).  My pumpkin bread is gluten free, no sugar added, loaded with omega-3 and fiber and is a delicious and healthy way to start the morning along with your favorite artificial free pumpkin spice beverage.
 
You’ll notice the various fall favorite spices included in the bread, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.  Not only do they add terrific taste value, but they have tremendous benefits to your health as well.  For example, spices like cinnamon and ginger wake up and boost your metabolism and also have anti-inflammatory properties. 
 
In the coming weeks, I will continue to share some of my seasonal recipes.  And trust me when I say they are SCARY good!

Fall in Love Pumpkin Bread
Gluten Free, Artificial Free, Paleo

Ingredients

3 organic eggs
1 can organic pumpkin purée * 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
12 packets of organic stevia or 1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons organic coconut oil, melted
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons organic coconut flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup chia and hemp seeds for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350⁰F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper, and grease with coconut oil. 
2. In a mixing bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, vanilla, stevia, and coconut oil. Add to the eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually mix dry into the wet mixture until fully incorporated.
4. Spread batter evenly into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with healthy omega-3 seeds of choice. Bake for 55 minutes in preheated oven; a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf should come out clean.
5. Enjoy your amazing pumpkin bread, and do your best to not devour in one sitting

A Better Life Begins in the Kitchen

Everyone has to start his or her journey to great health somewhere. We believe the best place to kick-off your new life is in the kitchen.

Exercise goals depend on a healthy diet. Poor eating habits sap life from the body. If the majority of your meals are vitamin-infused and energy-boosting, the motivation to exercise will take care of itself. You can’t out-train an unhealthy diet. Instead, we encourage an eat clean, train dirty mentality. Watch and feel the results take hold.

Food is universal—it brings people together. We love to cook—as a stress reliever and positive foundation. However, many people are terrified of the kitchen. Don’t stress! We will work together to organize, create, and sustain kitchen habits that pay dividends! Through cooking, find a creative and rewarding outlet to share with loved ones. Not only can you feel better about yourself, but as you share meals with others, contribute to their health as well! A transformed life needs to be shared!

Let’s work together to find recipes that can fit easily into your life. Good meal preparation provides healthy, delicious, and sustainable meals for each day. With these habits in place—the desperate urge to order-in or drive-through a fast food factory is limited with delicious meals already in place! One day of meal preparation can literally transform your entire week.

When you create healthy and successful habits in the kitchen, they spread throughout your entire life. Before you know it, you will be back in those jeans and rambling to your friends about what changes you made and how much better you feel now that you have healthier habits.

Changes for Life!

Do you often feel tired or lethargic? Do you feel imbalanced? Do you struggle with self-confidence? Are those skinny jeans locked in the closet?

We inspire clients to fashion healthy habits for life.

We believe everyone is capable of sustaining a balanced diet and exercise regimen that works for their lifestyle. We want you to make changes that make sense for your life—your needs.

The first step is a commitment to change. There is no silver-bullet—no special pill. If you want to feel better, stronger, more confident, more capable—you must acknowledge that change is necessary, good, and possible.

Step two is to acknowledge that a better, healthier life is a process. Every client is different and we understand that what works for us may not work for you. Together we will fashion a course of action that scales to your needs. During the first week, we might try switching sugary sodas and highly caffeinated beverages for sparkling water and tea. Once the behaviors related to soda drinking are modified, we may cut caffeine all together! Many people believe they can’t live without their morning coffee; however, when a balanced diet and workout routine is in place, you’ll have so much energy that you’ll look back and laugh at those caffeine-fueled Mondays. Maybe week two modifies carb intake and week three slashes added and processed sugars. You are not dependent on the foods that are sapping your energy! You deserve a healthier life!

When negative habits begin to lose their hold—it’s time to schedule a “meal prep” day. We work with you to create a balanced and delicious meal plan that will feel great, taste great, and boost confidence to support positive self-esteem.