It's My Party...Kinda

I'm a medical assistant in a single-doctor dermatology clinic. There are 6 of us (the doctor, the office manager, a receptionist, and 3 medical assistants.) We like jump at the opportunity to celebrate things, and tomorrow is the last day we'll all be in the office before my birthday.

Instead of the usual cookies or cake that get ordered for other birthdays- you know, those delicious bakery items chock full of butter and love- I decided to take matters into my own hands and make something that I love, I can eat, and is easy enough that I didn't punk out half way through the recipe because today was a crazy busy and long day at the office. I made coconut meringues and macerated mixed berries for Pavlovas.

What is a Pavlova? I'm so glad you asked! This is where I get my nerd on!! This dessert originates in New Zealand, and was created to honor the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. It's pretty simple: a meringue base and fruit topping. You can make it with or without whipped cream. Obviously, I go without :)

You'll need:
6 egg whites
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp coconut infused white balsamic vinegar*

2 pints fresh or frozen berries**
2 Tbsp dark chocolate infused balsamic vinegar**
2 Tbsp sugar**


Start by preheating your oven to 275 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trust me, use the parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then slowly add the sugar, incorporating well with each addition. Mix the corn starch and white balsamic vinegar together and pour slowly into the eggs. Your finished egg mixture should be fluffy, stiff and glossy. It reminds me a lot of marshmallow fluff.

Spoon the egg mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet. You should get 8-10 large meringues out of this recipe.

Place the baking sheet in the oven, set a timer for 55 minutes and reduce the heat to 250 degrees.

*If you don't have coconut infused balsamic vinegar, do not fear! Any white vinegar will do. You can even use plain white vinegar and a splash of vanilla. That's the traditional way to do things.

Now make your berry topping. This is where all those **s come in. I chose to use mixed berries and toss them with the chocolate balsamic and sugar. At the last minute I'm going to spoon those onto my meringues and then serve them to the office.

You can use any kind of fruit you want. For a friend's wedding shower I made one giant meringue and topped it with whipped cream, pomegranate seeds and dark chocolate shavings. I've had it with kiwi, pineapple, mango and cherries. Pick what you like, just make sure you have around 2 pints all together.

When the meringues come out they should be crisp and slightly golden on the outside and soft and spongy inside. Place them on a wire rack to cool completely before serving. They're not big, it shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes for them to cool.

Top them with your fruit right before serving and watch everyone ooh and aah over your fancy dessert!

Chicken Spring Roll Appetizers

I was invited to a New Year's Eve party with some good friends. When I asked if I could bring anything, their response was, "Something you can eat." I have a new bottle of coconut white balsamic vinegar from Prima Oliva, which is a great little shop just down the street from the wine shop where I work. I wanted to try it out, so I decided to make some chicken spring roll-inspired appetizers. Here's what I used:

For the dressing:

2 T brown sugar
1 clove garlic,  minced
1 cup chicken broth
3 T coconut balsamic vinegar
2 T sesame oil
1 T chili oil
a dash or two of soy sauce

Combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid reduces by about half. Allow to cool.


For the filling:

2 cups diced, cooked chicken (or tofu, pork, shrimp, mushrooms, etc)
2 cups prepared coleslaw. You can make your own, but I used a bag from the store. It seemed like the right thing to do.
3 T toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste.

Toss everything well. When the dressing is cool, toss dressing and filling together until you've got a well coated and damp, but not soggy mixture. Set this someplace cool until you're ready to fill your holders.



For the holders:

Here you have 2 options. You can either make wonton cups (spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Press in wonton wrappers and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove cups and place upside down on a cookie sheet. Bake an additional 5 minutes to toast the bottoms.) Or you can go the easy route and use premade fillo cups from the freezer section of the grocery store. Again, this seemed like the right thing to do. It had been a long day and I was exhausted.


Either way, fill the holders with as much mixture as you can stuff in there. Sprinkle them with some more sesame seeds if the spirit moves you (or cilantro, coconut flakes, red cabbage, crushed pineapple, crushed peanuts, etc.)

Serve these cool-room temperature. I'm taking along a bottle of Segura Viudas Prosecco to serve with these little munchkins. This recipe makes enough filling for 60 little fillo cups, or about 50 slightly larger wonton cups. I have no idea what happened to my finished picture, so unfortunately I can't show you what they look like done. They sure taste good, though!!