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!

Curried Lentil Soup

It's gray and cold outside, so I wanted to make something for lunch that was both hearty and inspired without taking too much effort. I saw the jar of red lentils on the counter and knew I'd be making this soup. Forgive me, but this is one of those infuriatingly imprecise recipes that less than enthusiastic cooks hate. All I can say is you make it your own by adding what you have and what you want. It's so simple to begin with, that I'm confident anyone can make this good. 

Start by slicing some bacon strips into small pieces. I generally use 1 slice per serving.  Start that rendering and dice 1 medium onion. That can get tossed in as soon as you're ready. Now cube some potatoes, again I generally use 1 small red skin potato per serving. Toss them in and give everything a good stir. Let them brown and add your lentils. I use red for this dish, but yellow would work, too. About 1/4 cup per serving. Stir them in along with about 1.5 cups veggie stock per serving. Add a good dash of sweet yellow curry and pop the lid on. Let everything simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the pot and give everything a good stir. Add salt and pepper to taste and finish with a handful of chopped fresh cilantro. Ladle some onto a sunny, happy bowl and enjoy hot or cold. 

YOU'LL NEED:

1 strip bacon per serving

1 medium onion

1 small potato per serving

1/4 cup lentils per serving, red or yellow

1.5 cups vegetable stock/broth per serving

Sweet yellow curry powder

Fresh cilantro

A fresh lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Call Me Julia...

Well ok, you probably shouldn't. But I did teach a friend how to roast a chicken yesterday. It's an easy meal, in terms of ingredients to gather, but it was fun to make and share.

We started by preheating the oven to 400 and washing some red skin potatoes. Those were tossed with a good splash of olive oil, some sea salt, and a few sprigs of fresh savory.

I think cleaning the chicken was the hardest part for my friend. I showed her how to trim the fat and remove the giblets. Unfortunately the organs weren't in a bag, so I may or may not have dropped the liver and made a squish noise...

We rubbed the chicken with olive oil and salt, and stuffed it with onions and fresh savory, thyme and sage. Then both chicken and potatoes went into the oven for 90 minutes.

We served dinner with green beans lightly sauteed in olive oil and lemon infused white balsamic. There was a salad with a homemade dressing of olive oil, lemon infused white balsamic and fresh herbs. All in all it was a great dinner. The chicken was juicy, the potatoes soft on the inside with crispy skins, and the beans were just tart enough to add an extra bit of depth to the meal. Paired with a crisp sauvignon blanc, it was a great first effort.

I think this dinner together and cooking lesson will become a weekly thing. Stay tuned for updates!

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!!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white. Love, Cait

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

It's cold, it's wet, and my kitchen is jam-packed with people. It's soup weather in Western New York. We have a couple of vegetarians in the family, so when I make the soup I err on the side of vegan. Family and friends are in town and dropping by throughout the day pretty much every day as we head towards Christmas, so it's always necessary to have something on hand that can either be heated up quickly or simmer for a long while in order to accommodate visitors. Potato Leek Soup is a great way to start. It's easy to make, and it's one of those soups you can make vegan without many people noticing. For the meat-eaters at your table, you can offer crumbled bacon as a topping. I usually put some out as well as a bowl of chopped green onions, one of grated cheese (for those who can have it), and some homemade croutons.

Here's what you'll need to make enough soup for 4-6 people:

2 lbs of potatoes - peel them,cut them into chunks, and put them in a bowl of cold water.
3 large leeks - remove the dark green tops, wash well, and chop
2 Tbsp "butter"
2 cups coconut culinary milk
3 cups gluten free vegetable broth (I love this base)
2 tsp chopped fresh marjoram
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Tennessee Sunshine (or any other hot sauce you have on hand)
salt and pepper to taste

1) In a soup pot, melt your butter alternative and stir in the leeks. Cook them for about 10 minutes until they are soft, but not brown.

2) Add the broth and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

3) Scoop roughly half of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Return it to the pot and stir in the coconut milk, herbs, and salt and pepper. Add a dash or 5 of hot sauce to give it a happy little kick.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...WINNER ANNOUNCED

It's been too cold and snowy to do much of anything the past couple of days. Yesterday shops all up and down Main Street closed around 3 so that employees could make it home safely. The normal 20 minute trip into work took me 45 minutes this morning and double that this evening.

Needless to say, I haven't made it out to the grocery store in a while and so I've been eating a whole bunch of spaghetti. Not too much fun recipe-wise.

To supplement my carb-fest and make me feel ever-so-slightly healthier, I've been eating clementines like they're going out of style. They're the perfect snack, because they come in their own packaging and don't squish as easily as bananas. (Although trust me when I say you don't want to forget there's one in your jacket pocket until after you've sat upon said jacket...)

Of course everyone knows that clementines are as healthy as they are tasty, but I was surprised to find out just how good they are. Did you know that 2 whole clementines have fewer calories than 1 cup of pineapple, and less sugar and more than twice as much potassium. They're also fat free, which means you can snack with a clear conscience. Of course dipping them in melted chocolate makes absolutely no difference.*

How would you like to win a box of clementines? Just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite snack is, and I'll pick a random winner on Friday, December 20.



*I'm lying.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4 

KatherineDecember 16, 2013 at 6:54 PM

I like pretty much any fruits, although we don't have clementines very often.



Congratulations, Katherine! Send me an EMAILwith your contact info and I'll get your prize out to you!