April is finally upon us and with it, you may experience springtime weather, egg hunting, and maybe even some delectable dishes! Everything from cheesy pizzas to savory hard-boiled eggs, these dishes are nothing short of egg-cellent. These award-winning Creative Arts recipes can add on to the Springtime festivities with your event and any culinary ideas you may run into this month.
STUFFED EGG CHICKS
Susan Petty
Terrell, TX
1st Place – Chicken or the Egg
Ingredients:
16 hard-boiled eggs
2 tsp. dill pickle juice
6 T. (¼ c. + 2 T.) mayonnaise
½ tsp. Nature’s Seasonings
1 T. yellow mustard
Several pitted black olives
Fresh carrot
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Peel and Cut Eggs:
For each egg: Peel the egg and slice a sliver off bottom of egg to help the egg stand vertically. Use a straight cut to remove at least ⅓ of the top of the egg. Carefully remove yolk, striving to keep whites from tearing. Keep egg tops paired with their bottoms and collect all yolk pieces in a bowl for the filling.
Prepare Filling:
While preparing filling, store whites covered with a moist paper towel in the refrigerator. In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise together with both mustards, pickle juice and Nature’s Seasonings. In another bowl, mash yolks to remove lumps. For a smoother texture, press yolks through a metal strainer with a rubber spatula. Mix yolks together with mayonnaise mixture to complete the filling. Put yolk mixture into a piping bag or a ziploc-style bag and put in refrigerator to cool and firm up a bit while making the face bits.
Face Bits:
For the eyes, use a plastic straw to poke through an olive several times. Use a chopstick from the other end to gently poke the eyes out of the straw. For beaks, slice a piece of peeled carrot into thin round slices and cut each slice into 6 wedge-shaped pieces. Fill and finish the eggs, select the 12 best whites to use, and reserve the remaining 4 whites until completion in case of an unexpected tragedy during finishing steps. Extra yolks were used in the filling to ensure there was enough to allow a generous portion in the finishing of the eggs.
For each egg:
Generously overfill the bottom of the egg. Press the top of egg to the filling with a little tilt to make room for the face bits. Sometimes, an extra dab of filling may help keep it in place. Gently press two olive eyes and two carrot beak parts into the face. Clean sterile tweezers are helpful here.
CARROT COCONUT SOUP
Karen Hamelwright
North Richland Hills, TX
3rd Place — Soup or Salad
Ingredients:
3 lbs. carrots, peeled
1 sweet onion, diced
2 T. olive oil
Kosher salt & pepper
1 T. coconut oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. fresh ginger, chopped
2 tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. cumin
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
¼ c. cilantro, for garnish
Preheat oven to 375°. Peel and chop carrots into two or three pieces. Peel onion and quarter then brush carrots and onion with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on roasting pan in oven for 20 minutes or until carrots and onions are tender and caramelized. In soup pan, add coconut oil, turn on medium-high heat and add garlic, ginger, turmeric and cumin. Cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally. Add vegetable broth, carrots and onions and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and purée soup in blender. Place soup back in pot and stir in coconut milk and lime juice; bring back to a simmer. Adjust seasoning, and when ready to serve, garnish with cilantro.
GOAT CHEESE, PESTO, SEARED PEPPERS, EGGPLANT AND CARAMELIZED SHALLOT PIZZA
Sam Finn
Dallas, TX
3rd Place – Pizza Cook Off
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 ½ c. strong bread type/pizza flour (all-purpose also works)
1 ½ tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 c. warm water
1-2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
Combine flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl or in your mixer bowl. Dissolve salt in water and add the water and olive oil to dry ingredients. Stir to combine then knead for about six minutes until dough ball is very smooth. If it is sticky add only enough flour to handle. Coat dough with a little olive oil, and place in a covered bowl and allow to rise until doubled. Remove from bowl and handle to remove the gas. Wrap and refrigerate overnight in refrigerator. When ready to use, allow two hours to come to room temperature.
Sauce:
2 T. olive oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. dried thyme
1 (28-oz.) can Italian plum tomatoes
1 tsp. dried basil
Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Grate in garlic and cook until golden, for one to two minutes. Add thyme, basil, oregano and sugar and cook on low heat for one minute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and crush by hand, or with a food mill or potato masher. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer open for 20 to 30 minutes until it has thickened.
Toppings:
3 lg. shallots, quartered & caramelized very slowly in 2 T. olive oil
1 c. diced eggplant, seared until golden in 2 T. olive oil
6 yellow & red mini peppers, quartered, seeded & seared until a little browned in 2 T. olive oil (careful not to make the oil smoke)
¾ c. shredded mozzarella
2-3 T. sauce
½ c. fresh goat cheese in sm. pieces
Basil pesto (homemade is best)
Heat oven to 550° with a pizza stone on the bottom shelf if you have one.
Assembly:
Stretch dough onto a 14-inch pizza pan/disc; very thin with a thicker rim. Make sure it’s well floured. Allow to rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Cover with about 4 tablespoons of sauce and distribute mozzarella and vegetables. Distribute vegetables. Drizzle with two to four tablespoons of mozzarella making sure to include goat cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Once oven has reached 550°, place pizza on pizza stone and cook six minutes. Inspect and cook for another 1 to 3 minutes if toppings are not bubbling and crust has not browned. Remove carefully with heatproof gloves from the oven. Allow to cool then serve.
RASPBERRY-LEMON TRIFLE
Donna Wyse Hill
Plano, TX
3rd Place – Farm to Fork
Ingredients:
Cake:
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
12 tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 c. sugar
2 lg. eggs, beaten
⅔ c. oil
¼ tsp. vanilla paste
1 c. sour cream
2 T. lemon zest
2 T. lemon juice
1 c. raspberries, gently torn
¼ c. chopped, toasted & sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, vanilla paste, sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice. Incorporate wet ingredients into dry ingredients in three steps, scraping sides and bottom of bowl after each addition. Gently fold in raspberries and add toasted almond pieces. Transfer cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes, until cooked through and a toothpick comes out dry. Set aside.
Raspberry Whipped Cream:
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. powdered sugar
1 tsp. Chambord or raspberry extract
In a medium bowl combine heavy cream and Chambord or extract. Beat until smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Sprinkle in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Divide into two bowls.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Mousse:
1 (14-oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 T. powdered sugar
2 T. raspberry liqueur or extract
In a bowl combine cream cheese, sugar and liqueur and beat until smooth and creamy. Fold in half of the raspberry whipped cream. Reserve remainder for assembly and keep some for the top.
Raspberry Sauce:
1 pint raspberries
¼ c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 T. Chambord raspberry liqueur or raspberry extract
2 T. powdered pectin
In a saucepan combine raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat crushing berries and releasing their essence. Add a little water if needed. Cook for five minutes. Put through a fine sieve then place in a clean pan and cook over medium, adding the Chambord or extract and pectin, whisking and stirring for 5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl and let cool.
Lemon Curd:
½ c. sugar
3 T. lemon zest
½ c. lemon juice
2 lg. eggs & 2 yolks
⅛ tsp. salt
¼ c. unsalted butter, softened
In a bowl combine sugar and lemon zest and rub between your fingers and remove and rub to release the oils. Place lemon zest and sugar in a medium pan, pour in lemon juice and stir until smooth. In another bowl crack eggs, add sugar and salt and beat well. Pour eggs into mixture and whisk well. Stir the pot over low heat. Cook stirring constantly until curd thickens. Slice butter and set in a bowl. Place a sieve over it and pour curd through the sieve to remove any egg bits and zest. Stir until butter melts and curd is creamy. Cover curd with Cling wrap to avoid a skin and refrigerate.
Garnish:
1 pint of fresh raspberries
¼ c. chopped, toasted & sliced almonds
In a bowl combine cream cheese, sugar and liqueur and beat until smooth and creamy. Fold in half of raspberry whipped cream. Reserve remainder for assembly and keep some for the top.
Assembly:
Into 4 wine glasses layer the various components to the trifle to your liking. If you love lemon curd, go heavy on it. Top with whipped cream, fresh raspberries and sliced almonds.
HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
Hope Rovner
Dallas, TX
3rd Place – Cake Contest
Ingredients:
Hummingbird Cake:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 ½ c. vegetable oil
1 c. granulated white sugar
¾ c. light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. mashed ripe bananas
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple
1 c. chopped pecans, toasted
Heat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined. Stir in bananas and pineapple. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Fold in pecans and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. brown sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ c. butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla extract
In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar and brown sugar. Add cream cheese and butter. On low speed, mix with a handheld mixer until combined. Increase speed to high and beat for five minutes. Add vanilla and beat for one additional minute. Spread frosting on top of cake.