I made a Pavlova for dessert last nite. Had never tried making a baked meringue before. We both really liked it. I liked it because it wasn't overly sweet (sweet things don't do a thing for me, don't have a sweet tooth).

I didn't put sugar in the whipped cream, just vanilla, so that helped as well. I also cut the recipe in half, for the 2 of us.

PAVLOVA WITH BERRIES

4 egg whites
1 C sugar (or granulated Splenda)
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tso vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
Whipped cream - Berries macerated in a little sugar

Preheat oven to 300 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use an 8 1/2" or 9" cake pan and pencil to trace a simple round outline as a guide for pouring the meringue.

In a large (and very clean) mixing bowl, whip egg whites until you have firm peaks. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Now mix in the cornstarch, vanilla, and vinegar.

Pour mixture into the center of the circle and gently spread with a spatula until 2 or 3" short of reaching the line (it will spread out more while baking).

Bake for 1 hour in a preheated oven then turn off the heat and leave in the oven until it has cooled. Top individual slices with whipped cream and macerated strawberries and blueberries.

I found this recipe on the cooking section of Freecycle and it is the best cake I have ever made.

Apple Cider Pound Cake

* 3 cups sugar
* 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
* 6 eggs
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 cup apple cider
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* ICING:
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup butter, cubed
* 1/4 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon baking sodaDirections
* In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs,
one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together all dry
ingredients; set aside. Combine cider and vanilla. Add dry ingredients
alternately with cider mixture to batter. Mix until well blended. Spoon into a
greased 10-in. angel food cake pan or fluted tube pan.

* Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the
center comes out clean.

* Meanwhile, combine icing ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce
heat and simmer for 10 minutes. While cake is warm, drizzle half of icing over
cake. Serve remaining icing over individual cake servings if desired.

Thank you, jasdip. I should try that with all the local fruits coming into season now.

Carol, I saved your recipe for the upcoming cider season, although I don't think I can wait that long to try the buttermilk glaze on something.

I was intrigued by this recipe's relatively low calorie count compared to the usual mousse made with whipped heavy cream and melted chocolate (although I guess the cookies I served with it kind of negated that factor, didn't they?)

When I tasted it, it was good but not really rich enough for my definition of a mousse so I told DH it was a Chocolate Falestra and he thought it was great. I would probably make it again sometime when I see ricotta on sale.

CHOCOLATE RICOTTA MOUSSE/CHOCOLATE FALESTRA - 6 servings

2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting (optional)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

In a food processor or blender, pulse ricotta and cocoa powder until completely smooth. Blend in vanilla.

Place egg whites, sugar and salt in a medium heatproof mixing bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and, using an electric mixer, beat mixture on high until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold egg-white mixture into ricotta mixture until combined. Divide mouse amoung six serving bowls and refrigerate until set, 3 hours or up to 1 day. To serve, lightly dust with cocoa powder if desired.

(per serving: 166 calories, 7 g fat (4 g sat fat))

Made this Monday night. DH declared "on a scale of 1 to 10 - it's a 100!"

My changes are included.

Joycers Strawberry Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch salt
red food coloring-- a few drops (didn't have - and it really didn't need it)
1 pkg 3 oz strawberry Jello
fresh strawberries
baked pie shell
whipped cream for top

Combine sugar, water, cornstach and salt. Cook over medium heat until it turns clear and thick. Remove from heat, add food coloring and then Jello. Stir well. Cool. Pour berries into baked pie shell, pour sauce over and chill. Top with whipped cream. (I only used about 1/3 of the sauce, just enough to 'set' the berries - I'll use even less next time I make it)

I made these over 4th of July weekend along with Ann T's Decadent Brownies. They were a huge success! My nephews found them. They never even made it to a serving plate.

The recipe is from www.cookiemadness.net

Basic Blonde Brownies with Roasted Pecans

1 cup whole pecans plus 1 T. butter
1 1/2 sticks (180 grams) butter
1 pound light brown sugar (440 grams) 2 1/4 cups
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (360 grams)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 inch pan with foil and spray bottom with cooking spray.

Lay the pecans flat in a rimmed pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and toss with the 1 T. butter. Let pecans cool, then chop.

Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl for about a minute. Add the brown sugar and heat for another 30 -60 seconds; stir well. Let cool for 5 minutes, then with a spoon or whisk, beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, salt, and baking powder and add to sugar mixture, stirring until almost blended. Stir in the nuts and chips (if using) and stir until all flour has disappeared

Pour into pan and spread flat. Bake for 25 minutes or until brownies appear set. Let cool, then lift from pan and cut into squares. Makes 32.

Note: Surprisingly, these do taste better if you let them fully cool before eating.

I bought some Pork Tenderloin specifically to make Lakeguy's dijon cream sauce recipe. It was delicious!!! In my keeper binder immediately! Thanks David!

Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Cream

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 2" slices
flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter, divided
2 tsp canola or olive oil
2 green onions, thinly sliced--white and green parts separated
1/3 cup white wine or dry vermouth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to low, about 170 degrees, to keep meat warm.

Lightly pound medallions to 1" thick. Melt 1 tbsp butter and 2 tsp oil over medium-high heat.

Dredge pork in seasoned flour. Add slices all at once to pan and brown 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and hold in the oven while finishing the sauce. The pork will finish cooking in the oven if it's a little underdone.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp butter to pan. Add white parts of onion; saute 1 minute. Add vermouth, simmer until syrupy and reduced to about 3 tbsp. Add cream, simmer 2-3 minutes until thickened. If sauce ends up too thick, add a little water or milk.

Stir in Dijon and add salt and pepper to taste. Top with green onions.

I've been using that Pork Tenderloin with Dijon recipe since 2003 when Weed posted it. Really good! (And, where did Weed run off too?)

I've a hankering for chilled beet soup, so am making this for dinner this evening...will serve it as the first course, and then dinner will be Portobello Mushroom & Red Potato Pizza Provencal....from the Artisan Bread in 5 Mintues a Day cookbook. I've not made that pizza before, but it sounds yummy.....And I've not yet had a failure from the cookbook, so my expectations are high.

Chilled Beet Soup -- serves 4-6

3 red beets
1 1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Tbs. sugar
Creme fraiche (for garnish)
Sprig of dill or tarragon (fresh) for garnish

Boil beets covered in water over medium heat until they're fork tender. Drain and shock beets in an ice bath. When cool enough to handle, peel and slice beets. Working in batches, puree all together in a blender until smooth. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprig of dill or tarragon.

I plan to chill peweter cups from my Jefferson style punch bowl set, until they're frosty....I'll probably put them in the freezer for a bit before I use them. Then I'll serve the beet soup in these pewter Jefferson cups. I think they'll look pretty, and the condensation on the pewter should be nice. This will be a deck dinner, so it just sounds like a wonderful evening meal starter.

I'm going to serve a Pinot Gris with the chilled beet soup, and a Cab Franc with the pizza.

Cheers!

I just made the chilled beet soup and have a couple of suggestions. I'm leaving the recipe as I originally typed it...BUT, I made the following changes:

Because I think beets are naturally sweet, I reduced the sugar to 1 Tbs, and still think it was too sweet. Next time I make this, I'll either eliminate the sugar or reduce it to 1 tsp of sugar. The Balsamic vinegar is sweet, and I think it's just too sweet with the amount of sugar specified in the recipe.

I corrected for the sweetness by adding more lemon juice. I just kept squirtng Real Lemon into the mix until I got the desired taste. I DID use 1/2 real lemon plus the zest as I was making the recipe...but I think the soup needed more lemon -- to offset the sugar and the Balsamic vinegar.

With those adjustments, I've put it in the fridge to chill, meld flavors, and I think it's going to be very good.

Also, I forgot to post the recipe for the pizza.

Rustic Wild Mushroom and Potato Pizza Provencal

2 small red new potatoes, skin on and thinly sliced
6 large wild mushrooms such as porcini, portobellos, oyster mushrooms...or white mushrooms if wild are not available
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp herbes de provence
salt and pepper to taste
5 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 oz. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Saute potatoes and mushrooms in the olive oil until the potatoes are soft. Season with herbes de Provence, salt and pepper.

Prepare the pizza dough of your choosing, and place on pizza peel. Distribute the potatoes, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes over the surface of the dough. Do not cover the dough thickly...there should be some dough surface exposed. Sprinkle the cheese over the surface of the dough.

Bake in well pre-heated 550 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, turn pizza in oven, if one side is browning more quickly than the other. It may need 5 or more minutes till done.

Here's another new one for me. I got it from Allrecipes.com. It is Mom & DH approved! My homegrown strawberries disintegrated into the bread although you can still taste them. It's not the prettiest, but it tastes good.

Strawberry Bread
by Ellen Rainey

Ingredients

2 cups fresh strawberries
3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.

Yumm - lots of great ideas here. I can't eat raw berries so the baked strawberry bread sounds wonderful.

I have to report on the results of a Penzy's spice mix I bought when I was in Columbus, Ohio visiting my mom this spring. It's the Greek Seasoning. I followed the directions that called for a tablespoon each of the spice mix, water, olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I used it to marinate a pound of thickly cut chicken breasts for skewers. I marinated them for about an hour and a half, put them on 2 skewers and then on the grill. I cooked some fresh veggies on skewers with just olive oil, salt and pepper (used zuchs and yellow squash from the garden with some onions and red bell peppers). Made a rice pilaf.

It was great. Next time, I'll double the marinade and put it on the veggies as well.

seagrass

Interesting notes on the Greek seasoning Seagrass. BF and I cook Greek so often I have been contemplating buying some. We love the Turkish seasoning. They sell a Greek version at my local farm market.

I made strawberry bannana bread over the weekend. It has been in my "to try" folder for quite some time. BF eats a banana every day so we almost always have some dark ones. I am always looking for new banana bread or muffin variations. This one calls for a chopped banana and strawberries. It tasted good, but I realized I am not a huge fan of strawberries in baked goods. I just don't think the flavor holds up. Definately not the texture either. Still, it is good. But if I want the strawberry banana taste, I think I'd rather put strawberry jam on my banana bread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strawberry Yogurt Banana Bread

Ohhh, goody! New recipes! I do enjoy a good Pavlova, and the apple cider pound cake sounds so yummy!

Ruthana, that Chocolate Ricotta Mousse is something I'm going to try--such a lovely photo! I can practically taste it!

Booberry's recipe for Blondies with Roasted Pecans got my attention! Add some vanilla bean ice cream and you have decadence!

I'll be sharing the strawberry bread recipes & the pie recipe with some friends who love strawberries fixed in all ways possible.

I'm glad to see the pork tenderloin with Dijon Cream is getting some press. Beet soup is just not my cup of tea, but the pizza sounds wonderful!

Thanks for the report about Penzy's Greek Seasoning, seagrass! I just got some of their adobo seasoning and used it on some chicken. Happy taste buds!

I finally made some ice cream that uses sweetened condensed milk in its base. YUM!

Blackberry Ice Cream
1 C cream
1 C whole milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp LorAnn blackberry extract
1/2 pint blackberries, gently washed, pureed and strained
1 scant T amaretto

Gently whisk everything together in a large bowl and chill overnight.

Process as directed in your ice cream maker.

I have made the Pork w/Dijon recipe tooo. I totally agree it's a keeper!

I mada a parmesan garlic butter based on something that was served at one of the restaurants in a hotel I worked at years ago in St Paul. I have their recip, but it makes 25lbs of butter so I winged it and it came out really good!
Served it with ciabatta bread, but it would be equally good on steak or chicken, I think.

Parmesan Garlic Butter
Inspired by the St Paul Grille & Caf�

1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp minced red pepper
1 lg clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/3 c finely grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar
Dash seasoned salt
Dash tobasco

Combine all ingredients. Spoon into small serving dish, or roll in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill.

I made this salad tonight for dinner. My neighbor used to work at Hudson's Department Store in their resturanant. This is from their cookbook. It is very good.

Morocco Salad

2 tbls. butter
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 tsp. curry powder
1 sm. carrot, cut into think strips
1/2 red bell pepper, cut inot think strips
1/2 small red onion, cut into strips
4 artichoke hearts, quartered
2 cups cooked Couscous
1/4 cup dark raisins
2 tbls. chopped fresh parsley

Dressing -
2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbls. honey

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Add curry, carrot, red pepper, onion and artichoke hearts. Cook, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and fold in Couscous, raisins, and parsley. Chill well.

Mix dressing and serve with salad, passing separately.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I used seasoned chicken that I had grilled last night. I thought the salad was really good even without the dressing. I also served it on a bed of greens. I would make again.

Karen

I tried this one from King Arthur Flour the other night. It's a keeper!

Potato Crust Quiche
Potato Crust

1/2 cup grated onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled

Filling

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups (1 large) leek, sliced, washed, and drained
4 cups sliced mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated fontina or Swiss cheese
5 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Set up a strainer over a bowl.

1. Grate the onions into the strainer, and drain for 10 minutes, pressing out the extra liquid.

2.When the onions are drained, transfer them to a bowl and combine them with the salt, thyme and flour.

3. Grate the potatoes into the strainer. Press out any extra liquid, then combine with the onion mixture, mixing to combine.

4. Pat the mixture into pie pan and up the sides. Bake for 25 minutes to let the steam escape.

5. After 25 minutes, brush the potatoes with oil, then bake for 15 minutes more, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

6. While the crust is baking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and mushrooms and cook until the leeks are wilted, and the mushrooms give up their liquid and it cooks away (you don't want the vegetables to be juicy). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Transfer the vegetables to the baked crust, and sprinkle the cheese evenly on top.

8. Whisk the eggs, milk and Worcestershire together, and pour slowly over the vegetables. Return the quiche to the oven and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the center is set. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.