Personal Pavlovas

She vowed to eat lighter and exercise more as the new year began, but she just had to finish up those leftover Christmas cookies, chocolates and torrone, didn't she? I mean, why waste perfectly good food? But then came January and there was that luncheon, that week out of town, that dinner party, that invitation to an opening reception, and all those good intentions to lose weight somehow never got realized. Moreover, Valentine's Day was looming and shops were laden with more indulgent desserts than magazines have weight-loss ads. What's a gal to do if she wants a little sweetness in her life?

Take a cue from a Russian ballerina and make a pavlova, that's what. If you omit the cream filling and serve only with berries, it's truly low-cal. But even with this filling, made with non-fat yogurt and creme fraiche, a little goes a long way. Or you could use it even more sparingly, plopping a dollop on top of the berries, rather than nestling the fruit on top of the creamy mixture. If calories don't matter, take a different tack and use lemon curd or a custard cream for the filling.

First you've got to make the pavlovas. Whip the egg whites and sugar until they form stiff peaks, then put the mixture into either a pastry bag or a baggie with one end snipped off.

Form eight small "nests" about 3 1/2 inches wide. Use a spoon to shape a hollow in the center.

After baking, they'll turn a little bit beige, but that's ok. They need to be fully cooked and dry on the inside; otherwise, they'll be gummy and sticky to eat. You want to be able to break into them easily with a fork or spoon, and not have to saw your way through with a serrated knife.

OK, now if this is dieting, I'm all for deprivation.

The dessert is named after Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian ballerina from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There seems to be some disagreement whether it was created by a chef in New Zealand or in Australia, with each country claiming ownership. She must have been an exceptional dancer to have an exquisite dessert created in her name.

I've certainly not seen Pavlova dance, but I did see a beautiful ballet in Paris during my visit a couple of months ago - La Source. With costumes by Cristian LaCroix, it ranked as one of the most spectacularly costumed ballets I've ever seen. This photo is only a small sampling of his lavish creations.

The ballet was performed in the Palais Garnier, the place where operas were always heard until the construction of a new opera house in 1989 called Opera Bastille. Sadly, the Opera Bastille is a drab monolith has nothing of the grace and elegance of the Palais Garnier, the opulent beaux-arts gem that was built in the late 19th century. 

Palais Garnier

Opera Bastille

If you've ever seen or read  "Phantom of the Opera" -- the movie, the musical or the book -- you know it's set at the Paris Opera House - the Palais Garnier. In one scene the grand chandelier falls from the ceiling, wreaking havoc on the audience. The story has its roots in a real event that happened in 1896, after a counterweight from the chandelier fell, killing a member of the audience. Here are a couple of photos of the interior of the Palais Garnier, including a ceiling painted by Marc Chagall above the infamous chandelier. Nowadays, the building is used mainly for ballet performances, but you can also go at different hours just to tour the architectural masterpiece.

Pavlova
Printable recipe here
serves eight

4 large egg whites
1/4 t. cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees. If it goes down to 180 degrees, so much the better.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Using a pastry bag, or a spoon, make circles about 3 1/2 inches in diameter on the parchment paper. Use a spoon to create a small depression in the center.
3. Bake for two hours then turn the oven off and leave them alone inside the oven - at least two hours. If you have time to leave them in the oven longer, so much the better. They must be completely dry on the interior, or else you could be biting into a chewy, gummy meringue. Carelly remove them from the parchment paper.

Filling

16 ounces Greek-style yogurt, drained (I put the yogurt in a coffee filter and let it sit overnight)

8 ounces creme fraiche

1 cup sugar

1/2 of a vanilla bean

(I preserve vanilla beans in a covered jar filled with sugar. I have found that eventually the vanilla bean will dry out, in which case I chop it up and put it in the blender along with the sugar. The result is a sugar speckled with vanilla bean - great for desserts or for a special cup of coffee.)

1. Drain the yogurt overnight, then with a wooden spoon, combine with the creme fraiche, sugar and vanilla bean.
2. Spoon into the meringue shell and top with berries that have been mixed with a little sugar, freshly squeezed lemon and orange juice.

Winter Veggies

I'll be the first to tell you that I adore spring and all that comes with it - robins, hyacinths, strawberries and so much more. Summer is also a delight since I love to garden, swim and visit the seashore. The Fall is a stunner here too with glorious foliage, pumpkin stands and apple festivals. But winter calls to me as well, even with the cold weather and barren trees in the Northeast U.S.  Aside from transportation problems (like being stuck in Chicago during a snowstorm last weekend), winter presents opportunities for skiing, for hunkering down by the fire with a good book, and for cooking soups, stews and vegetables associated with cold weather, like the three I'm presenting in this post.

This broccoli romanesco is one of them. I admit, it's not easy to find where I live, so when I saw it last week at the local health food store, I all but clapped my hands in jubilation. It's something that omnipresent in Italian food markets, but for some reason, it's not as well known here. I hope that's about to change. I've told you about it before when my blog was fairly new, on a post you can find here, featuring pasta and broccoli romanesco. But this time I wanted to cook it whole and drizzle it with olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Nestled into polenta, it made a satisfying vegetarian lunch. 

Here's what it looks like inside. Even though its name is broccoli romanesco, the taste is closer to cauliflower than broccoli.

Beets are another one of my favorites - whether cold in a salad - or warm in a sauce with orange segments. Be warned that the orange segments will turn pink once the beet sauce hits them.

See.....I told ya'. But they're kind of pretty that way too.

OK, now here's the morning quiz for you. What's this vegetable? Trick question. 

They look like parsnips, right? Well that would have been a good guess, but they're not. They're parsley root - something I had never heard of much less cooked. So naturally I had to try them. The taste is vaguely reminiscent of parsley - but more like a carrot crossed with celery. Apparently, parsley root has lots of salubrious properties. (That means it's good for you.) It's a blood purifier, a diuretic, useful in liver and gall bladder problems and helps prevent flatulence (you can look that up yourself.) 

I sliced them up like French fries, tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and roasted them at a high heat.

Maybe I left them in a bit too long on one side, but they were delicious nonetheless. Who says that French fries have to be made just with potatoes?

Printable recipes here

Broccoli Romanesco


Trim the bottom leaves off, then cut a little bit into the core from the bottom, to help it cook more evenly. Place a little water in a saucepan - enough so that it comes up about 1/2 inch. Then place the entire head of the broccoli romanesco into the water. Cover and cook for about five to ten minutes, testing to pierce with a fork. It should not be crunchy, but soft enough to pierce easily. In a separate saucepan, heat 2 T. olive oil with a clove of garlic, a dash of red pepper flakes. Add some salt and pepper, then pour over the head of broccoli romano that you serve over polenta, noodles, or just by itself. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Beets and Orange Sauce


Boil or roast one large beet or two small beets until tender. (To roast, rub with oil and put in a small oven-proof dish at 350 degrees, checking after 45 minutes to see if it's cooked.) Peel the outer skin off the beet (I do this on a dish, not on my cutting board, since it's so hard to get the stain off wood, but easy to clean a plate.) Slice the beet. In a small saucepan, place 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/2 tsp. butter, 2 T. red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar or white vinegar). Add the sliced beets and heat them together with the liquids. In a small cup, mix 1 t. cornstarch with a 2 T. water. Add to the beets and heat until the sauce thickens. If it's too thick, add more water or some more orange juice. Section one large orange and just before serving, stir them into the warm beets. Warning: If you do this more than a minute or two before serving, the oranges will disintegrate into the sauce.

Parsley Root Fries


Trim the parsley root and peel the outer layer. Slice into matchsticks and place on a cookie sheet. Dribble a little olive oil over them, give them a good shake of salt and pepper, then sprinkle some chopped rosemary over them. Roast at 425 degrees, checking after 5 minutes. Turn them over and roast another 5 minutes, or until browned.

Mushroom Lasagna

 You won't find tomato sauce or ricotta or mozzarella in this lasagna. What you will find are fontina cheese, bechamel, porcini and baby bella mushrooms. Don't get me wrong -- I love the traditional Italian-American classic as much as anyone, but I also love different versions too like butternut squash lasagna or mushroom lasagna. 

Start with soaking the dried porcini in water and slicing the baby bellas. 

Use fresh thyme if you can get it at the grocery store, or if you've got it growing in your garden. Here in the Northeast, I can usually harvest mine all winter long, even after the recent snowstorm.

Home-made pasta is always the best, but these pasta sheets found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket - made by the Italian company Rana - are a great substitute. Use the boxed lasagna noodles if you have no other choice. The package directions for these noodles say you don't have to boil them, but I soaked them in hot water for five minutes to soften them since there would not be as much liquid with this recipe as there would be with tomato-sauce lasagna.

Spread some bechamel sauce on the bottom of the casserole, then add a sheet of pasta, and mushrooms.

Add some grated fontina cheese next.

Sprinkle some grated parmesan over the fontina.

Then dab some bechamel over that. (It will thicken as you're working with it.)

Repeat a couple of times, ending with a layer of pasta. Spread with bechamel and sprinkle with parmesan. 

Bake at 350 degrees, covered, then increase the temperature to 425 degrees and bake another 15 minutes until browned on top.

Let the lasagna rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Mushroom Lasagna


printable recipe here


6 portions, depending on appetites


1 large shallot (or two smaller ones)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in water for 1/2 hour, then drained
16 oz. baby bella mushrooms (small portabella mushrooms), sliced
2. T. butter for sauteeing the mushrooms
salt, pepper
a few sprigs of fresh thyme (about 3 T. minced)
1 cup grated fontina cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 package of fresh lasagna sheets (like an 8.8 oz. package of Rana brand), soaked in hot water for about 5 minutes (or use fresh, home-made lasagna if you're ambitious.)

@ 2 cups bechamel sauce

bechamel sauce
4 T. butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
salt, pepper
a few grindings of fresh nutmeg

Place the olive oil and butter in a pan and add the minced shallot. Let it soften then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes then remove from pan. Place the 2 T. butter into a large pan and add the baby bella mushrooms. Cook on high heat. A lot of water will be released. Keep cooking until the water is evaporated, then lower the heat, and add the porcini mushrooms. Season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme.

Make the bechamel sauce in a separate pot by melting the butter, then adding the flour and letting it cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time, adding more if necessary, or stopping when it's thick enough. It should be no thicker than the consistency of a very loose pudding, since it thickens more when it cools. Add 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, which will also thicken it more.

Meanwhile, soak the packaged fresh lasagna noodles in hot water for five minutes. Drain and pat dry.

Assemble the lasagna by spreading a bit of the bechamel on the bottom of the casserole. Place a sheet of pasta over the sauce, then cover with cooked mushrooms, some of the fontina and some of the parmesan. Dab some bechamel over this, then cover with another sheet of pasta. Do this two more times and finish with a layer of pasta. You should have four layers of pasta when you're done. There will be two sheets leftover in the package - use them for another recipe.  Then spread the final layer of pasta with bechamel sauce and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 1/2 hour. At the end of 1/2 hour, remove the foil, then increase the temperature to 425 and bake another 15 minutes.

Apple Sharlotka and Apple Muffins

 When you leave for a trip, are you like me -- down to the wire trying to finish it all? Wash clothes and pack suitcase ... check. Water plants ... check. Halt mail and newspaper ... check. Pay bills ... check. Send itinerary to family ... check. Type out instructions for neighbor ... check. Empty out fridge of perishables ... um, okay, but wait, I can't just throw out that cheese, that bulb of fennel, those apples, etc. And they won't be edible when I get back either, so I find myself squeezing in some last minute baking and cooking that adds to my whirlwind of chores. I really hate to waste food, and my friends would much rather have baked offerings rather than raw apples on the precipice of rottendom.

This apple sharlotka from Smitten Kitchen was a great way to get rid of a lot of apples that otherwise would have met their demise in the fridge while I traveled from Princeton, N.J. to warmer climes last week. (Note to self: When returning to snowy New Jersey, stay longer in warm Scottsdale, Arizona if you're likely to be stranded overnight in snowy Chicago.)

The recipe called for six apples, but I used eight, since I wanted to bring them all the way to the top of the pan, as Smitten Kitchen had in her photo. 

The batter is supposed to be beaten until very thick, then poured over the apples and baked. I followed the directions, but the batter was so thick, it had trouble oozing its way to the bottom of the pan. I figured it would drizzle down, but even before placing the pan in the oven, there was no way all that batter was going to fit inside. Of course, I had increased the amounts of batter ingredients since I had also increased the number of apples too. I should have known better than to tamper with a new recipe the first time out.

Here's what the pan looked like when it came out of the oven. The top had developed into a lightly browned crunchy disk that was difficult to cut without making a mess. A serrated knife kept the mess to a minimum. But the top was supposed to look more like a lunar landscape, with bumps of apples peeking through, rather than a flat plane of beige.

Before placing the large pan in the oven, I had scooped out some of the apples and mixed them in the bowl with the leftover batter. I poured this leftover batter and apples into two small buttered ramekins. These little beauties turned out much better in texture than the sharlotka in the larger pan, since the batter was distributed much more evenly. (Is this making any sense to you?)

I was also able to flip the small cakes out onto a plate, reverse them, and serve them neatly without any problem, something that Smitten Kitchen suggests with the larger sharlotka. But had I tried this with the larger sharlotka, mine wouldn't have held together since there wasn't enough batter dispersed with the apples to help it retain its shape. 

Here's a photo of a slice from the large sharlotka. It's got a good "cake-like" consistency at the edges but not in the center, where it's nearly all apples and no cake. It was good, but not as good as the small sharlotkas, whose apples were mixed in the bowl with the batter.

Have a look for yourself at the interior of the small sharlotkas. The apples and cake are distributed evenly throughout. Next time I make this (and I will because it's a delicious dessert that uses no butter, no milk or cream - i.e. almost dietetic!) I'll make it in the large pan, but will fold the apple slices into the batter.

 I still had a couple of hours (and two apples) left before leaving for the airport, so I made these apple muffins at the last minute, using a recipe I found on the blog of my good friend, Stacey Snacks. She made it as a cake, but I've baked them as muffins a few times and they always turn out great.

They were still warm when I wrapped them and left for the airport.  The smell kept tempting me throughout the flight, during which no snacks or food was served. I'd like to report that I had strong enough will power to resist, and delivered the box intact to my friend in Scottsdale. I said I'd like to, but alas no... During a wait for a connecting flight in Dallas, the symmetrical box of nine muffins was reduced by one as I gave in to temptation. Sure wish I'd had one with me when I got stuck in Chicago on the way back home.

Apple Sharlotka
From Smitten Kitchen

My changes are in red.

Printable Recipe Here

Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing pan
6 large, tart apples, such as Granny Smiths (I used 8 winesap apples)

3 large eggs (4 eggs)
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar (1 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (1 1/4 tsp)
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour (1 1/4 cup)
Ground cinnamon, to finish
Powdered sugar, also to finish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. (I would say forget the parchment paper. It makes it messy when it comes time to slice, since the apples are moist and you don't really need it.) Butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Peel, halve and core your apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks. (I cut each half into four “strips” then sliced them fairly thinly — about 1/4-inch — in the other direction.) Pile the cut apples directly in the prepared pan. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then stir in flour with a spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Pour over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed apples. (I had leftover batter and mixed in some remaining apple slices into the batter, then placed in two small ramekins. This technique works better in getting the batter distributed than just pouring it over the apples, as I did with the larger pan. Next time I make this recipe, I will fold the apples into the batter with the large pan rather than placing the apples in the pan and pouring the batter over the apples.) Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out free of batter. (The large pan needed about 1 1/4 hours in the oven. The small pans only about 50 minutes.) Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter. (Good luck with the flipping part. It worked great for the little ones but the large one was just too juicy on the bottom to try without courting disaster.) Dust lightly with ground cinnamon.

Serve warm or cooled, dusted with powdered sugar. Eat it plain, or with a dollop of barely sweetened whipped or sour cream.


Apple Cake (or Muffins)
From Stacey Snacks
My Favorite Easy Apple Cake:

Printable Recipe Here

1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp whole milk or heavy cream
1 tsp bourbon vanilla (or 1/2 tsp of bourbon + 1/2 tsp vanilla)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 small apples, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Icing:
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cold water

Mix the egg, oil, milk and bourbon vanilla in a bowl and gradually add the rest of the ingredients, adding the apples and nuts last. Mix with a wooden spoon.

In an 8" springform pan, cut a piece of round parchment paper for the bottom of the pan, and butter the sides of the pan. (I used a muffin pan and got 10.)

Spread the batter into the pan and bake 45 minutes at 350F.
While the cake is in the oven, make the icing. Mix with a fork in a bowl until it reaches the consistency you like.

Drizzle the icing with a fork while the cake is still warm. (The icing is delicious but they're also good just with a dusting of powdered sugar.)
Let rest in the pan 20 minutes before removing sides.

This cake is delicious warm out of the oven, and also excellent the next day.

Baked Apples

Who isn't a bit sated after the excesses of the holidays? Every year I resolve to be healthier in January but my resolve weakens quicker than a snowflake in the morning sun. Yesterday I finished off a bag of caramel corn laced with chocolate chunks and sugar-glazed nuts before 11:30 a.m. There is still torrone in the cupboard; extra-creamy cheeses in the fridge; and Christmas cookies in the freezer. What's a gal to do?

I've given some of the goodies to friends, but they too, are trying to eat healthier as the calendar turns a page. Even away from the house, everywhere I turn, I can't escape the temptations. Food seems to be the common denominator that brings friends and family together, whether it's lunch with friends, espresso and cakes with my Italian chit-chat group or dinner with family. Only those with the the strongest will-power can avoid succumbing to the temptations.

If you want to steer clear of temptations, but still want a little sweetness at the end of your meal, forget about those leftover goodies for a while and try some baked fruit, like this apple. It's gussied up enough to feel special, yet there's little sugar and lots of flavor to satisfy your sweet tooth. The cinnamon stick idea was borrowed from my good friend Stacey of Stacey Snacks, who took it from Stephane at Zen Can Cook. Whenever I make baked apples, I like to add some dried prunes to the stewing liquid. For those of you turning your noses at the idea, give it a try. Once the prunes have cooked in the marsala wine for an hour, the flavor is intensely redolent of marsala and sweet plums.
I could suggest gilding the lily with some super-rich ice cream on the side, but that's only for those of you who have behaved in the last month.
So what will I do with all that ice cream? .....

I wonder if my neighbor's cat Ahso, who visits me occasionally (and stalks my bird-feeder), likes Haagen Daz vanilla?

Baked Apples

printable recipe here

For each apple:
Peel the top 1/3 of the apple and cut into the center from the top, excavating the core and leaving a space for the other ingredients.
Mix a few chopped walnuts and raisins with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Place a small pat of butter into the apple center, then stuff with the walnut/raisin mixture. Place a cinnamon stick in the center. Place the apple into an oven proof container and strew some prunes around it. Pour 1/2 cup marsala wine over the apple and prunes. Cover loosely with an aluminum foil "tent." Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the apple can be easily pierced with a fork. If you remember, go back into the oven and occasionally baste with the wine.

I like to use winesap apples, but other baking apples, including Granny Smith, are good too.

Little Bitty Peppers

Why is it that we're drawn to all things diminutive? Well, at least I am, whether it's puppies, people or peppers, like these multi-color capsicum cuties I've been enjoying lately.

One of my favorite bloggers, Marie of Proud Italian Cook, posted a piece about them a while back and since then, I've cooked with them a few times. They're really too small to eat as a main course, unless you eat lots of them, but they're delicious and lovely as a side dish. 

You might be able to stuff them raw, but I roasted them first for about 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Then I cut off the tops and scraped out the seeds.

Beforehand, I made a batch of brown rice (leftover risotto would be great here too), let it cool, then mixed it with salt, pepper, chopped parsley and a heaping amount of grated fontina cheese. I stuffed the peppers, using a demitasse spoon, then baked them again in the oven at 350 degrees, just until the rice was warmed through and the cheese melted - about 15 minutes or so.

Drizzle with a little reduced balsamic vinegar glaze and they're irresistible morsels all by themselves.

Or try topping with a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese before baking.

Another way to serve them is to mix them with ricotta and goat cheese, plus a lot of herbs. Again, after stuffing, put them back into the oven to warm up - about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Drizzle with olive oil and grated herbs and enjoy. It's enough to make Peter's Pipers pass on the porridge.

Little Bitty Stuffed Peppers

printable recipe here

1 package small red and yellow peppers

1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled

1 cup fontina cheese

1 egg

salt, pepper

1/4 cup minced parsley

On a cookie sheet or baking pan, drizzle the peppers with some olive oil, then roast them at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Cook 1 cup of brown rice (or any kind you like) and let it cool.

Mix with 1 egg, 1 cup fontina cheese, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup minced parsley. Stuff the peppers with a demitasse spoon and bake at 350 degrees until heated through and the cheese is melted - about 15 minutes.

Drizzle with a reduced balsamic glaze if desired (Take about 1/2 cup supermarket balsamic vinegar, 2 T. honey and bring to a boil. Cook until thick, then let it cool.)

or:

Mix 1/2 cup goat's cheese with 1 cup ricotta cheese, one egg, salt, pepper and a big handful of minced fresh thyme and minced parsley. Stuff the peppers, then bake at 350 degrees until the filling is hot.