Blueberry Lemon Bars for Dinner Club: Stadium Rock
I need to keep this short, but knew if I didn’t report on tonight’s dinner it would get lost in the bowels of my computer, amid uploaded photos that quickly became outdated. We were in Banff all weekend (almost straight from Vancouver, with enough of a layover to do some laundry and repack) and got home at around 5, just in time to make it to our dinner club. The theme this time? Stadium anthem rock. I’m still not sure what that is – although it seemed to make sense once we heard the songs each person chose. Our instructions were to choose a song, then an appetizer that tied into that song somehow. Dinner music was thus taken care of. It was in the basement, in the rec room. (Not ours.)
The backyard looked, satisfyingly, like this:
I hate to do this in point form, but that’s what I’ve got tonight. A weak battery in my laptop meant I didn’t get as much done on the train last week as I should have, and Monday morning is technically here in ten minutes. Here’s what everyone came up with:
Rump roast sliders for Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen)
Blood orange and ginger scallops for Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2)
Chicken wings for Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Super natural salad for Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas)
Fresh focaccia with crab and shrimp dip for I Want You to Want Me (Cheap Trick)
Fusilli salad for Frampton (the hair – see the similarity above?)
Boston cream pie for More Than a Feeling (Boston)
Chocolate dipped brie for Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)
Yes, I said chocolate dipped brie. Which came from here – don’t they look just like their pictures? Completely adorable. Great idea. I should confess that we found them slightly underwhelming – not bad, but not as stupendous as they sound like they should be. Perhaps it was the brie? Just thought I should warn before you rush out and drop a bundle on ingredients to make it. Not that you shouldn’t. We all liked it, but I’m not sure anyone fell head over heels in love with it. There was a lot of hm-ing – more so than mmmm-ing. Worth another try, I think.
I made blueberry lemon bars – great to make ahead and freeze (they cut more cleanly when they’re frozen, anyway). My song? Lemon, by U2. Why? Because we saw it in a big stadium howevermany years ago, when they wheeled in the ginormous lemon, which opened up to allow the band to make their entrance from. Now that’s stadium rock.
Blueberry, Lemon & Coconut Squares
These are perfect to make ahead and stash in the freezer; slicing them frozen will ensure a clean cut.
Base:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 scant cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
pinch saltTopping:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
icing sugar for sprinkling (optional)Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour and salt and stir until well combined and crumbly.
Press into the bottom of an 8” x 8” pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just barely golden around the edges.
In the same bowl (no need to wash it), stir together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and lemon juice and stir until well blended and smooth.
Sprinkle the berries and coconut evenly over the base, and pour the lemon filling over top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden and set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting or freezing. If you like, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. Makes 16 squares.
Per square: 130 calories, 3.3 g fat (1.9 g saturated fat, 1 g monounsaturated fat, 0.2 g polyunsaturated fat), 24 g carbohydrates, 21 mg cholesterol, 1.6 g protein, 0.7 g fiber. 23% calories from fat
May 15 2011 | cookies & squares | 16 Comments »
