Berry Pavlova Parfaits

* Winner of St. Louis' "West Newsmagazine's Summer Recipes" Contest 2013

I have lots of strawberries and wanted/needed to do something with them. I thought about a jelly roll kind of cake and then decided on Pavlova, but I just want small portions. I used Greek yogurt as the base for a creamy filling rather than whipped cream, but you could sure use whipped cream if you want. You could even use frozen berries—I won’t tell a soul. I want to say that I’ve heard this kind of parfait called Eton Mess before, but I could be mistaken.

This is really very, very easy and pretty and sweet and it’s low fat. What’s not to love?

Ingredients:

For meringue:
3 egg whites brought to room temperature (be sure to not have any egg yolk at all in the whites)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon raspberry flavored liquor (such as Chambord), orange liqueur (like Grand Marnier) or vanilla

For the Fruit:

3 cups sliced strawberries
1 1/2 cups blackberries
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon raspberry flavored liqueur (or orange liquor if you used that before. If you used vanilla, just skip this part)

For the creamy filling:
1 ½ cups plain or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt
1/3  cup light cream cheese
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Get a mixing bowl very clean to beat your egg whites in. Me, I usually take my clean stand mixer bowl and rub a little kosher salt and white vinegar in it to make sure it is free of grease. Then I rinse it in clean water and it’s good to go. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the 1 cup sugar and cornstarch together. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Now that all that is done, you are ready to rock!

The meringue: Start beating your egg whites until you just get some volume going (a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment is great here, but you can also use a regular mixer or whisk the egg whites by hand). Then start adding the sugar mixture a little at a time, beat again, add more sugar….you get the picture. You want to end up with peaks that are glossy and hold up, but aren’t too dry. Add in your 1 teaspoon of liquor and whisk once more. Spoon our your meringue onto the baking sheet and smooth out so that it is about 1 inch thick all over. Don’t worry about the shape, because you will be breaking it into pieces later. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. When the hour is up, turn off the oven and crack the oven door, leaving the meringue in the oven another hour to dry.

The berries: While the meringue is baking, mix the berries, the 2 TB of sugar and the tablespoon of liquor. Let stand until needed.

Make the creamy filling by beating together the Greek yogurt, light cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 TB of sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use. Note: this will not be as thick as whipped cream, but you can reduce the amount of Greek yogurt to get a thicker consistency if you want. If you do, you might want to cut back on the sugar, too.

When the meringue is cool, break it into bite size pieces.

Make individual parfaits by layering berries, meringue, filling, and repeating until you reach the top of the dish you are using. Don’t make them too far in advance, though, or the meringue will get sticky.

Yield: Depends on how you layer your parfaits. I think that you can easily make 8 parfaits in stemless wineglasses if you go light on the berries.

English Muffin Toasting Bread

This is a lovely, hearty and dense loaf of bread. It is definitely not light and fluffy, but I think it’s all the better because the center stays nice and chewy when toasted. I have an old recipe that called for just plain milk, but I wanted to see if buttermilk would add a deeper flavor. It did, but it does separate when heating.

Ingredients:

Cornmeal to sprinkle inside the loaf pan (a tablespoon or so ought to do you)
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ to 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ cup buttermilk (or regular milk, your choice)
½ cup 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

Grease a 8.5 by 3.5 loaf pan and sprinkle cornmeal in to lightly coat all sides. Discard extra cornmeal.
                                            
In a small saucepan, heat the milks and water over medium low heat until just warm, about 120 degrees F. The mixture may start to separate over 80 degrees, but don’t let that bother you. Just stir it.

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda. Add the warm milk/water mixture and beat on low until well combined (about 2 minutes), scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in another half cup of flour (more if needed) to make a very stiff dough. Shape the dough into a loaf with your hands, trying not to knead or over handle it. Place it into the prepared loaf pan and pat it into shape. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes. Dot the butter across the top of the loaf and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until golden and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped (ok, I just wanted an excuse to use the word ‘thumped’). Turn out onto a baking rack and let cool before slicing with a serrated knife. Toast as you like and slather with butter or whipped cream and jam.

Serving suggestion: Toast two slices of this bread and spread some light mayo and Dijon mustard on one of the slices. Put one slice of aged white cheddar cheese, some lettuce (I scored buttercrunch at the farmer's market today), one fried egg, one crumbled slice of bacon, and one or two slices of vine ripe tomato. Gobble.

 

Welsh Rarebit Bread

A dense and hearty loaf of bread. I remember having something like this back in the day and since today seems like a bread making day, it sounds like a good thing to do. I really think about using this bread with a simple lunch of pickles, cheese, grapes, and olives. That would be so good, but the bread is great on its own. Another possibility is to think about this as the basis for a great BLT.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
12 ounces of beer (1 bottle) at room temperature (a medium bodied beer works great)
1 or 2  teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (depends on your taste—I like 2 teaspoons)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Use cooking spray to coat the bottom and sides of a 8.5 by 4.5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and dry mustard. Add the beer and Worcestershire and mix until the dough just comes together. Add the cheddar cheese and stir to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smooth the top out with your clean fingers and bake for 60 minutes or until golden brown on top and you get a hollow sound when you thump the loaf.

Turn out onto a wire rack and let cool before slicing.

Get creative on me: What about folding in some cooked and crumbled bacon or maybe some sautéed onions?

Light Tres Leches Cake

I wanted to make a Tres Leches Cake for a Mexican themed potluck. I know that all the people who will eat it want lighter fare, so I made this adaptation.

Ingredients:

1 (15.25 ounce) yellow cake mix with pudding in the mix
2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
2 cups 1% or 2% milk
1 (14 ounce) can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can fat free evaporated milk
1 (8 ounce) container of fat free or low fat whipped topping (or fat free or light whipped cream)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Directions: Prepare cake in a 13 by 9 pan according to package directions, but adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the mix. Put the milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a saucepan and heat over medium while stirring until the milk sauce is completely mixed together and warm. Drop to low heat and add the remaining teaspoon of vanilla.

While the cake is warm, poke holes in it with a skewer or chopstick. Pour the warm sauce slowly and evenly over the cake, allowing it to seep into the holes. Let sit at room temperature for one hour and then spread the topping over. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the top (if using) and refrigerate. Remove the cake from the refrigerator 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, unless you like a really cold cake.

Asparagus Omelet Squares

Here’s a very nice breakfast, brunch or light supper dish. You can get a head start by prepping the veggies the night before. These squares are great warm or at room temperature. They also make a great grab-and-go breakfast—just re-heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and wrap in a piece of wax paper or parchment.  

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 cups water
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 Tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs
5 eggs
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce (trust me)
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Tablespoon chives, finely chopped
¾ cup grated Gouda, gruyere or Swiss cheese (I used Gouda)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9 baking pan with cooking spray. Add the bread crumbs and tilt the pan so that the bread crumbs coat all sides. Toss remaining bread crumbs.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil and add the salt. Add the asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes or until bright green. Drain in a colander and run cold water over the asparagus until cool to the touch.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, flour, and salt and pepper together. Add the milk slowly and whisk until combined. Stir in the soy sauce, asparagus, green onion, mushrooms, peas, and chives. Toss the two cheeses together and add ¾ cup of the cheese mixture to the veggie and egg mixture. Pour into the baking pan and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the sides and top are just golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes and then cut into squares.

Get creative on me: Some chopped ham or bacon would make this a complete meal. If you don’t like peas, leave them out. Maybe even use egg substitute or change the cheese to cheddar. The world is your omelet!

Roasted Garlicky Tomatoes with Whipped Goat Cheese and Toast

My favorite type of meal is one where there is a lot of simple, rustic food on a platter so everyone can choose what they want to eat. Maybe they want just the tomatoes on toast. Maybe they want to smear the toasted bread with the cheese and leave off the tomatoes. Just make sure you have extra toasted bread to dip in the tomato juices at the bottom of the bowl. Even better, all these components can be served at room temperature.

Pairing this with some good wine, some grapes or fresh berries, and maybe some nuts makes for a very relaxing meal.

Ingredients:

For the tomatoes:

1 cup olive oil
2-3 fat cloves of garlic, minced or run through a press
Coarse salt to taste
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 pound cherry tomatoes

For the whipped goat cheese:

4 ounces of goat cheese at room temperature
1/3 to 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
2 Tablespoons whole milk Greek yogurt
2 Tablespoons freshly chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

For the toasts:
6 (1/2 inch thick) slices Italian bread (or any bread you like)
Remaining garlic oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix the garlic and olive oil together. Let stand for 30 minutes. Strain the garlic pieces out (so they won’t burn when you are roasting and toasting). Reserve the garlic pieces. Add the salt and pepper to the olive oil.

Place the whole cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with ¼ to ½ cup of your garlic oil.

Brush each side of the bread with more of the garlic oil and place on a separate baking sheet.  Put both the tomatoes and the bread into the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and flip the bread and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.  Check the bread--if it is golden on both sides, remove it. If not, continue toasting it a few more minutes. The tomatoes should pop open and the bread should be lightly golden on each side.

While the tomatoes are roasting and the bread is toasting, whip the goat cheese, cream cheese and yogurt together with an electric mixer or whisk. Stir in the chives, salt and pepper. Spoon into a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

Add your reserved garlic and any extra garlic oil to the tomatoes and pour the tomatoes into a serving bowl. Put the toast and whipped goat cheese on the same platter and dig in!

Bacon Cheddar Baked Grits with Mushroom Sauce

Just wait until you get a bite of the creamy, cheesy grits and the mushroom sauce together. It is a beautiful combination. Note: you can leave the bacon out to make it vegetarian!

Ingredients:

For the grits:
4 cups water
1 cup quick grits
1 ½  teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup (fat free or regular) half and half
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 large green onions, chopped (about ½ cup)
5 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

For the mushroom sauce: (note: if you are in a pinch, a can of undiluted cream of mushroom soup along with the sour cream and cheddar will work).

2 Tablespoons butter (light is fine)

2 cups mushrooms
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions: In a large saucepan, bring the water for the grits to a boil. Slowly stir in the grits, salt and garlic powder (a whisk is great for this). Stir until the grits start to become thick and then reduce the heat to medium low. Add in the half and half and the milk. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Taste the grits for seasoning and add more salt and/or garlic powder if you wish.

While the grits are cooking, melt the butter for the mushroom sauce in a different saucepan. Add the mushrooms and cook over low heat until the mushrooms are brown. Stir in the flour and cook for about 2 minutes over medium low heat. Add the salt and then the milk. Bring to a boil and stir until thick. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before stirring in the sour cream and ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Check for seasoning and add more salt if you wish.

Spray a 1.5 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Stir the 1 ½ cups of shredded cheddar into the grits until melted. Remove the grits from heat and stir in the green onions and bacon.

Pour the grits into your prepared casserole and spread the mushroom sauce over the top. Bake for 40 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Spicy Vegetable Soup

This is not a super-hot and spicy soup. It simply has a mild warmth. If you want it hotter, please feel free to add more (and hotter) peppers or some good hot sauce.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil
½ cup chopped yellow onion
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup shredded cabbage (I just used bagged cole slaw)
2 (14. 5 ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 (12 ounce) jar salsa Verde
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen, canned or fresh corn
1 (15.5 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can Spanish rice, with liquid
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles

Garnishes (optional):

Sour cream
Cheddar cheese
Crushed tortilla strips

Directions: Add oil to a large saucepan. Throw in the onion, bell pepper, and cabbage. Cook over medium heat about 8 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not brown. Add in the tomatoes, salsa verde, broth, corn, beans, rice and green chiles. Heat to boiling and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Stir well, cover and cook for 90 minutes on medium low, stirring occasionally. Garnish at will!

Banana, Macadamia and Butterscotch Cookies

I first made these about 5 years ago and left them in a conference room at work for a meeting. Someone came out from the meeting wanting to be introduced to the person who made the cookies. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I made the recipe up to use up overripe bananas and butterscotch chips I didn’t know what to do with.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

2 ripe bananas

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butterscotch morsels

1 cup macadamia nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter, bananas and sugars together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and baking soda and mix again. Stir in the butterscotch morsels and macadamia nuts. Place heaping teaspoons of the dough about 2 inches apart on your baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the edges are a darker gold.. Remove to a rack and let cool.

Bacon, Onion, and Mushroom Pizza with a Crispy Thin Crust

When I worked at a mom and pop pizza place, my favorite was a thin crust bacon and onion. Today, I just wanted that.

Isn’t life funny? When I first thought about making a pizza earlier today, I was all about a very thin and crispy crust. Got that, but I was more thrilled with the sauce. I gotta save this recipe for later. Oh, wait, I’m doing that now! You can also see that I am not into nice geometric shapes with my pizza-freeform is great for me.

This makes 2 medium pizzas or one extra-large. If making two, just divide the dough into two pieces and put half the sauce and toppings on each.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 package (1/4 oz.) rapid rise yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ cup warm water (around 105 degrees F)
1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl
1 ½ to 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the rolling surface
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce:

4 heaping Tablespoons tomato paste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon garlic salt

Cheeses:
1 cup shredded provel, provolone or mozzarella (me, I’m using a combo of all three, of course)
½ cup fresh mozzarella or burrata, thinly sliced

Toppings:
4 strips of ready to microwave bacon, torn into bite size pieces
½ cup yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
½ cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water. Stir to combine. Let sit for five minutes to let yeast proof (look for bubbles!). Mix in the oil and then the flour and salt. Form into a ball and place on a clean surface. Rub a little olive oil around the bowl and roll the ball of dough around in it to coat. Cover with a clean towel and let rest for 45 minutes.

While the dough is resting, put a pizza stone or baking sheet into the oven and preheat it to 450 degrees F*.

Make the sauce by combining all ingredients. Set aside.

Toss the onions and mushrooms in 1 teaspoon of olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Roll out dough on a well-floured surface until it is thin. You may have to patch any holes. .Remove the stone/sheet from the oven using oven mitts. Place the dough on the stone/sheet and return to the oven, again using oven mitts! Bake for five minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and flip it with a spatula. Add a thin coating of sauce (save the extra sauce for another day), the cheeses (shredded first and then fresh) and then the toppings. Pop it back in the oven (again with the mitts!) for 16 minutes.

*Note: Higher heat will get you a crispier crust, so go for what you want to do and just shorten the cooking time. Me, I’m chicken. I only go to 450 degrees so my oven doesn’t burn up.

Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies

I want a butter cookie. No, I want an oatmeal cookie. No, I want a chocolate chip. Ok, I’ll have all three, thanks!

Ingredients:
¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oatmeal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture ½ at a time to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir in the oatmeal and chocolate chips and drop by teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets, two inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Remove to cooling racks.