I'm how old and missed this trick?

 

Why am I now just seeing this trick to make ground meats into a browned crumble!?  Using a potato mashed makes crumbling browned meats possible with minimal effort.  I saw it a few weeks ago on Food Network and thought it was ingenuous and thought I'd give it a try.  

I tried on bulk Italian sausage for an Italian dish I was making.  It was stupid easy and made for a quick almost uniform crumble with one of the most difficult ground meats out there.

Give it a try yourself.  I wouldn't do it in a non-stick pan as my mashed is the classic metal kind.  I used in a stainless steel lined copper pot and it worked perfectly without damaging the pot.

Pavlova

So whatta you do with 6 egg whites after making Bearnaise that needs only the yolks.  Save them.  Bring to room temp and make Pavlova.  What that heck is that?  Its a totally retro desert made from layers of meringue, whipped cream, berries and a fresh berry sauce.  The meringue is crunchy on the outside and marshmallowy creamy chewy inside, the whipped cream is cool and the berry's have the right bite of acid to cut through the cream making it oh so yummy with contrasting tastes and textures.  Quite delightful.

You can use pretty much any berry you want, just make sure they are what is good at the market that day.  In my case the berry's that looked the best were strawberry and raspberry.  They had no wild blueberry which I would have loved for the color and flavor pop, only those nasty cultivated ones that are gritty and yucky.  If they had decent wild blueberry I would have used them too.  Alas...in sunny SoCal good fresh wild blueberry are hard to find.

Tips...I got a few for you:

• For the meringue as I've said it before, find a copper bowl, egg whites reach maximum volume in a copper bowl.  Do not attempt on a humid day as the eggs won't whip.  Do use clean bowl and beater as the slightest bit of oil will prevent them from whipping.
• Whipped cream...chill the bowl and beaters and use the whipping cream straight from the fridge for best results.  Use care not to over beat as you wind up with sweetened butter which is kinda gross.
• Strawberry sauce...stir often to keep it from scorching which can happen very quickly as it reduces.

Pavlova
makes 6-8 servings

Meringue

• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 t cream of tartar
• 3/4 c sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.  Take quarter sheet pan and cut off a piece of parchment paper, not wax paper that will fit the pan.  Using a dinner plate trace around the plate with a dark pen.  Turn paper over and place the ink side down on the baking sheet. 

Using a clean copper bowl and beaters add room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar.  Beat on low speed a minute or two until frothy and the egg whites are starting to foam with the cream of tartar dissolved.  Add a pinch of salt.  Increase speed to high and beat until doubled in volume. Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold in vanilla.  

Take the prepared baking sheet and parchment paper and plop the meringue mixtures onto the center of the circle.  Spread to edges with a spatula.  Make the meringue as even as possible so it bakes evenly.  Place in preheated oven and bake 20 minutes.  At end of baking turn off the oven and crack open the door for 20 minutes.  Close the oven and let it sit over night until cool.

Sweetened whipped cream

• 1 c cold cream
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

Take chilled bowl and beaters out of the fridge.  Add whipping cream and beat on high until frothy.  Slowly add sugar in a steady stream and beat until thickened.  Fold in Vanilla.  Refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Strawberry sauce

• 1 pints strawberry - sliced
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 c water

Place berries in a sauce pot.  Add sugar and water.  Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Once at a boil reduce heat to simmer and cook berries about 30 minutes until they are nearly disintegrated and reduced about 1/3 in volume.  Stir often so they don't scorch.  Cool to room temperature.  Whiz in blender or with hand blender to make a smooth sauce.

Fruit for assembly

• 1/2 pint raspberry - whole
• 1 pints strawberry - sliced
• 1/2 pint wild blueberry (if you can find them)

Place meringue on a platter.  Layer the whipped cream evenly over the top of the cooled meringue.  Add berries in even layer over the whipped cream.  Cut Pavlova into wedges and put each wedge on a plate.  Pour 2-3 tablespoons of the strawberry sauce over the Pavlova.  

Leeks float and dirt doesn't

It dawned on me the other day that I didn't explain one simple fact about leeks.  They need special cleaning as the way they grow they trap dirt in-between the layers of leaves.  The best way to clean them I picked up on foodTV, don't ask me from which chef as I don't remember, is to put them in a large bowl of water.  Agitate them lightly with your hand to losen the rings and let the dirt fall down.  After agitating them let them rest for just a few seconds for the dirt to fall to the bottom of the bowl and voila you have clean leeks to saute and use for your dish.

Call this a lesson in cooking 101.

Cherry Preserves

Its that time of year. Fresh fruit galore is in season and I have once again bought more than we can eat...but who can resist all of the goodies rolling in? I bought cherries the other day and haven't touched them as there were other things too good to pass up for snacking. Fortunately they didn't "go bad" so I decided to turn them into preserves this morning.

Thank gawd I paid attention to my Mom and grandmothers making preserves over the years. I tend to go with the high sugar and no pectin way whenever I can. Not that pectin is bad for you, its just that its just not a pantry item I stock and don't feel like running out to the store for just that one item...so its pectic free for me when I impulsively decide to make some preserves. Yes, you do cook a bit longer to get a gel but its still just as flavorful with the right consistency in the end.

Of course it means I got to use a new toy today. I picked up, on sale no less, a cherry pitter at Sur La Table the other day and this was the perfect excuse to break it out. Love cooking with cherries, just hated the old knife pitting method. This little "gun" makes it so easy just load, squeeze the trigger and out comes the pit! Worth the few bucks it cost.

Cherry Preserves

• 2 lbs pitted fresh cherries
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 c water
• juice of 1 lemon

In large, heavy (Thick bottom and side) pot add sugar and water. Bring to boil and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add cherries. With potato masher carefully mash down the fruit to release juice and break up fruit. Be careful not to over mash the fruit as you still want big chunks. Bring back to boil then reduce heat to low boil. Simmer at low boil 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice. Put into hot sterile canning jar(s). Makes about 2 cups preserves.

What a low boil looks like...more than a simmer but not much.

Candied Lemon Cake

So what do you do when you lack an ingredient for one recipe you really want to do? Short of running to the store for something I won't have much use for with the excess I improvise. Not entirely by the seat of my pants, but with a little research for similar recipes with ingredients I have on hand.

Such is what happened with the Candied Lemon Cake. The idea came from a recipe Martha Stewart's everyday food. I lacked buttermilk and wasn't about to run off to the store for a quart when all I needed was a cup. I had sour cream, but how much to substitute and how was the question. I found a few other recipes with sour cream based cakes and subbed in the amount of sour cream and juice I needed. Voila problem solved and I could use the rest of the recipe as guidance for assembly for the final product.

The cake itself has a nice crumb and a density more like a pound cake than your usual boxed cake. A good thing in my book as it packs more flavor in each bite. The frosting is actually more of a Swiss Meringue as it starts over warm water to dissolved the sugar into the egg whites. That too is a good thing as it is a very light and fluffy frosting and the perfect counterpoint to the dense richly flavored cake. Of course the candied lemons on top are just the perfect pissy touch to make it all edible with your eyes. Presentation is everything.

The one trick I have for you applies to the application of the syrup to the warm cakes. Put the cakes on their cooling rack over a baking sheet to catch the drips and prevent the cakes from sticking to the counter. On the rack lets the syrup run all over as you brush it on without fear of making a bigger mess on the counters, or worse the cake sticking to the counter.

Candied Lemon Cake

• 1 C (2 sticks) room temperature butter plus more for pans
• 2 ½ C flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for pans
• ½ t baking powder
• ½ t baking soda
• 1 ½ c sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks (reserve whites for frosting)
• 1 T Lemon Zest
• 3/4 C sour cream
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• Whipped Frosting

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 2 8X2 inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper round.

In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks one at a time. Mix together lemon juice and sour cream. Alternately beat in flour mixture and sour cream , beginning and ending with flour mixture, mix just until combined.

Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32-25 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

While cake bakes bring ½ c sugar and ½ water to boil in a sauce pan. Add one thinly sliced lemon and simmer 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer lemon slices to a wax paper lined plate. Stir in ¼ c fresh lemon juice into the syrup. Using a toothpick, poke holes in warm cakes on rack. Brush with lemon syrup.

Place cake, bottom side up on a cake stand. Tuck strips of parchment paper underneath. Using offset spatula spread top with whipped frosting. Top with remaining cake. Frost top, then sides. Add candied lemon slices to the top of the cake as edible garnish.

Whipped Frosting:

In heat proof bowl over simmering water (not touching) combine 3 large egg whites, ¾ c sugar, pinch of salt and 1/3 c water. Cover over medium, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture registers 150F on instant read thermometer. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium high until glossy, stiff peaks form. Do not over beat, about 3 minutes: reduce speed to low and add 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice and beat until just combined.