Cherry Cardamom Pavlova

There are a few things in life that take your breath away - coming upon a waterfall in the jungle, the first time you hold your child (or so I'm told), a majestic towering pavlova....

Ok, maybe it's just me on the last one. 

But seriously people:

Tell me that isn't strikingly gorgeous. 

And it gets even better - pavlovas are ridiculously simple to make. The only tool necessary is an electric mixer. 

First off, the egg whites and salt go in a bowl. Turn on the mixer and beat until shiny, soft peaks form. Gently add in the sugar, in 3 to 4 additions, beating as you go.

Sprinkle in the corn starch, ground cardamom, and vanilla. You could dust it in through a sieve if you'd like. Or sprinkle gently. From a great height.

Beat until shiny and incorporated. 

Spread out the meringue into 2 equally huge discs on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. 

Bake for an hour at 300 degrees. Then turn off the oven and wait another 20 minutes (at least) before you take them out.

About halfway through the meringue cooking time, start the cherry sauce. Put pitted halved cherries in a small saucepan. Add sugar. 

Cook on medium low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, or until it resembles a loose preserves. Then add in the vanilla and cardamom. 

Moving right along to the whipped cream, pour the cream into a large bowl. Beat it until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat as you go. Toss in the vanilla, and you're done. Try not to eat it all before you use it...

Now - the breathtaking part. Assembly!

Peel the meringue off the parchment paper. Don't worry if it breaks. Just gather up the pieces and arrange them on the serving plate/cake stand. Plop on a good half of the delicious whipped cream you just made.  Drizzle on half of the cherry sauce, and top with half of the fresh cherries.

Repeat.

Enjoy watching your guests gasp as you present your amazingly easy dessert!

And then proceed to demolish it.

Cherry Cardamom Pavlova

Serves 6-8

Adapted from Adventures in Cooking

For Meringues:

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

1  1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp corn starch

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp vanilla

For cherry sauce:

1 1/2 pitted cherries

1/3 c. sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp cardamom

For whipped cream:

1 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 c. Fresh cherries, pitted and halved, for topping

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl (or KitchenAid mixer), beat the egg whites and salt together until shiny, soft peaks form. Add the sugar in 3 to 4 additions, beating as you add. Sprinkle in the corn starch, cardamom, and vanilla. Beat until shiny and thoroughly incorporated. 

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Make two giant round discs, about 2 to 3 inches high. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and let sit for at least 20 minutes (or longer if you have the time). 

While the meringue is baking, put the 1 1/2 c. pitted cherries, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the water cooks out of the cherries, and then the pectin starts to jell the cherry water together again. It should look like very loose preserves. Add the vanilla and cardamom. 

Next, start the whipped cream. Put the heavy cream in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar in three parts, beating between each. Add in the vanilla and beat until incorporated.

To assemble the pavlova, place a disc of meringue on your pretty plate (it's totally ok if it breaks, you're covering it with whipped cream), top with whipped cream, drizzle on the cherry sauce, and top with fresh cherries. Repeat.

Ok - one more eye-candy picture....

Enough!! Start your mixers!

Asparagus & Pesto Tart

Summer is a time for eating outside. Enjoying the long days. Soaking up all the Vitamin D possible.

It's also a time when the plants go nutters.

My basil plant recently decided that life was so good that it wanted to take over the entire patio. I wasn't about to give up my sunny spot, so I had to make pesto. Take that basil plant.

I made a pesto with 2 cups of basil leaves, 1/4 c. of chopped pistachios, and some olive oil. You can buy your pesto to make this recipe, if you don't have a massive basil plant. 

And the best place for pesto? A summer tart!

Start off with the puff pastry you find in the freezer section. Thaw it. 

Then take a rolling pin and roll it out a bit. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1 inch border around the edges. Go almost all the way through the pastry, but leave it still attached. Take a fork and poke lots of holes in the middle area. Go all the way to the corners. 

Spread the middle section with pesto and sprinkle with just a wee bit of shredded mozzarella. You could use gruyere or any other fancy cheese if you want.

Take your asparagus and slice them into thirds - long ways. Layer the slices onto the tart.

Add a few roasted red pepper slices. 

Put the tart in the oven at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until it's golden brown around the edges.

Use a pizza cutter to slice into pieces.

 Serve to your adoring fans!

Asparagus & Pesto Tart

Serves 4

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1/3 c. pesto (or more/less depending on how you like it)

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

5 stalks of asparagus

Roasted red peppers

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While the oven is preheating, leave your puff pastry to thaw on the counter.

Unfold the pastry and roll it out with a rolling pin until it's a bit larger and thinner. Place on a ungreased cookie sheet.

Using a very sharp knife, make a 1 inch border all the way around the pastry sheet, but don't cut all the way through. Go down as far as you can, leaving the border still connected to the middle. 

Take a fork and poke all the way through  the middle part, all over the middle part. Be sure you get the corners. 

Spread a thin layer of pesto all over the pastry. Top with a thin layer of cheese.

Take your asparagus and slice, long-ways, into 3 pieces. The should look like thin asparagus ribbons or noodles.

Place your asparagus ribbons/noodles on the tart and add a few roasted red pepper strips as you like.

Put in your 425 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

Basic Skills: How to Roast a Chicken

This past week I spent my time hanging out with little old ladies. These women were eager to share stories of their past, their thoughts on the changes that come with the present, and their opinion on what the future should hold.

They also shared their recipes. 

Which got me thinking.... What should everyone know how to cook? What foods stand the test of time?

I know that "sugar cakes" sure aren't one of them. I tried this old recipe from Grandma Rose (my husband's great grandma). It failed miserably. Mind you I doubled the amount of orange juice - by accident - and used fat-free sour cream - on purpose. They turned out more like sweet biscuits, not at all like the giant sugar cookies my mother-in-law remembered....

So. 

Roast a chicken. It's something that everyone can do. And should do. 

Martha's got her take on it. And Thomas Keller even made a video to show you his way.

But really people. It's ridiculously simple.

You need a chicken,

An a oven-safe pan with sides (cast iron skillet, dutch oven, glass 9x13). A lemon, an onion, and a few cloves of garlic.

Clean out the inside of the chicken. There's usually giblets, liver, heart, or other odd internal organs loosely packed in there. Occasionally some plastic bag. Get rid of that. If you see any feathers still left, pick those off too.

Take the lemon and poke it with a fork. All over. Cut the onion in half (or quarters if your chicken is small and your onion is big).

Put the lemon, half of the onion, and a few cloves of garlic inside the chicken.

Place the chicken, breast side up, into the pan. The back is flat and the breast goes up like a little hill. The chicken should be flat on it's back. If you can rock the chicken, flip it over.

Tuck the wing tips under the bird's back.

Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper all over the bird. 

Chunk up the other onion half, add some carrots, toss them all in olive oil too. Place them around the chicken. 

Tie the chicken's legs together with twine.

Put in a 400 degree oven for about an hour and a half. Use a thermometer to make sure the breast temperature is 175 and the thigh temperature is 185. Allow the bird to rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. 

Roast Chicken

Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken (5-6 pounds)

1 lemon

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

olive oil

Salt & pepper

Carrots

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. While the oven is preheating, set the chicken on the counter and allow to come to room temperature. 

Open the chicken and remove all the internal organs and other things from the bird's cavity. 

Poke the lemon all over with a fork. Chop the onion in half. Shove the lemon, half (or a quarter, whatever fits) of the onion, and the garlic cloves inside the bird.

Rub the skin of the bird with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tuck the wings under the back of the bird. Tie the legs together with oven-safe twine (you can skip this step if you want - not necessary).

Toss the left over onion chunks with the carrots in a couple tbsps of olive oil. Place around the chicken. 

Cook the bird, uncovered, for an hour and a half. The breast should reach 175 degrees and the thigh should reach 185. Buy a thermometer if you don't have one. It's a useful tool to have.

Let the bird rest for 10-15 minutes once it's out of the oven. This lets all the juices cool a bit so they stay in the meat. 

Slice and serve!

Leftovers can be used for chicken salad, sandwiches, soup, etc.

Update from South Jersey

I found my new favorite house. It happens to belong to a lovely woman named Helen who was born and raised there. She was introduced to me by my Mother-In-Law (Helen's her cousin), and then we managed to get ourselves invited over after lunch. I hear tell that there's a spiral staircase somewhere in the house. Perhaps I'll get myself invited back over to find it. 

Helen was thrilled that I was interested in her old family recipes. She let me photograph some. The ones she thought were oldest. I'll be making them soon, and I'll let you all know how they turn out. For now, I give you Delaware Cry Babies and Butter Balls. I'm going to hold on to the Boiled Cookies one for a bit. I want to bake them first and be sure it's not a joke.

Make at your own peril...

Miss (or Mrs) Piggy

This past Saturday we went to Cape May, New Jersey. It's a really quaint old town that loves its gingerbread houses. 

Like this one:

Or this one (my personal favorite):

Cape May also has a ridiculously great restaurant called the Blue Pig Tavern. It's super classy, and belongs more (I think) in the South than in Jersey, but I'm definitely not complaining.

Even the napkins have classy pigs on them.

They give you good-looking placemats, which soon become covered with plates laden with delicious egg salad sandwiches and french fries.

The beverage menu is amazing. I chose a drink called the Miss Piggy, under the "Little Piggies" header. It's strawberries, muddled with mint, added to lime juice and ginger ale. It's very refreshing, but it just wasn't pink enough to suit me. The pink-ness factor needed a boost. 

Enter - my version. 

I subbed the strawberries for raspberries! So much pinker. So much better.

Muddle a handful of berries in a glass with 2-3 leaves of mint.

I used a plastic ice cream scooper for a muddler. It worked remarkably well.

Then add the juice of 1/2 a lime.

Next up, ice and ginger ale. And a few unsmooshed berries for effect.

Serve with a bouquet of bright yellow flowers. BRIGHT YELLOW. Sorry for the over exposure...

And if you get a little more mature (Sadie Sadie, Married Lady!!), toss in a shot of rum.

The Mrs. Piggy tastes twice as nice!

Miss (or Mrs) Piggy

Adapted from The Blue Pig Tavern

1 handful fresh raspberries (plus 3-4 for garnish)

2-3 leaves fresh mint

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 can ginger ale

Ice

Rum - to make it a Mrs. Piggy!

Put the raspberries in the bottom of a pint glass with the mint. Muddle together until smooshed completely.

Add in the lime juice, (rum), ice, and ginger ale until nearly full. Garnish with uncrushed fresh berries. 

Enjoy!

Bonus: Mango Empanadas

I didn't make a whole batch of chicken filling. But I made a whole batch of pastry wrappers. So I made dessert. 

And you might want to too!

Mango Empanadas

Makes 2 empanadas

2 balls leftover empanada dough
1 mango, diced

1/4 c. sweetened flaked coconut

1/3 tsp vanilla

sprinkle of cinnamon

1/2 tbsp flour

In a small bowl, combine mango, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, and flour.

Take your leftover empanada dough and press out into circles. Put half of the mango mixture on each circle.

In your large skillet, heat 1" of oil until shimmering. Carefully place empanadas in the oil and cook till browned on both sides.

Once empanadas are done, place on a paper towel on an oven-safe plate and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Serve with vanilla ice cream. And maybe some chocolate sauce if it hadn't been eaten up the night before...