Peachy Summer Chicken Salad

Who likes thrift store shopping? This girl does, that's who. I love spending a leisurely day strolling through the aisles and seeing all the fun things for sale. Many of the items bring back memories. I see lots of vintage dishes and Tupperware pieces that my mom or friends' moms had in their kitchen when I was young. Many times I will find souvenir glasses from different places, restaurants, breweries, festivals, and I always wonder about the person who first bought this item, and how it ended up at the Goodwill. I primarily look through the dishes and cookware, and books, sometimes I'll find a cool piece of framed art or something like that. I'm mostly on the lookout for unique dishes, serving pieces, cast iron, and cookbooks. Some of the really old utensils and dishes spark my imagination about the original owner of these things. Who was she? Did she have a large family? What was her favorite thing to cook? 

Check out these little thrift shop gems!

Sometimes I will get little hints and peeks at the original owners, especially when I'm flipping through cookbooks. I get super excited when I see handwritten notes on the pages, or a news clipping of a recipe tucked between the pages. Sometimes I've found carefully pressed and preserved labels from long gone canned foods with a recipe using whatever was in the can. Those are always fun. Some of those vintage recipes are a little cringe-worthy by today's standards, with lots of weird canned meat products and more gelatin than I can even imagine. Seems like everything was jellied and molded back in the fifties and sixties. I'm actually thankful that trend died off!

Antique stores are another goldmine for vintage and unique kitchen things, although they can get a little spendy at times. Small towns in rural Iowa are fantastic for finding reasonably priced vintage pieces. During the years The Chef and I lived at the lake I often popped in to a couple different antique shops in nearby towns and picked up some beautiful old canning jars and cool glassware pieces, and a number of great local church and community cookbooks. Those are also always fun. I love those cookbooks because you get a name to associate with the recipe, and more than a couple of those names in those old books were familiar. They might be my neighbors' grandmother or mother in law or aunt. I loved finding those connections because then I really could ask about the person and what they were like.

My friend Jessica and I have long been thrift store shopping buddies. A handful of years ago, when we were throwing around the ideas and dreams of owning a tearoom/bistro/gourmet shop together, we often scoured the thrift shops in search of beautiful china pieces and tea services. My garage became the storage facility for things we bought in anticipation of starting this dream business. As it sometimes does, our lives took different paths for a couple years, with real life becoming more urgent than our dream business. That dream is not gone, it's just moved on the ladder of priorities right now. Anyway. we still love thrift shopping, and a couple recent trips yielded some jackpot purchases. I've been able to score some pretty cool cast iron pieces- a pair of matching red enameled cast iron mini Coquettes and a pair of individual cast iron gratin dishes, some very awesome cookbooks, some even signed by the author, and some cool framed art for my dining area.

One of the cookbooks Jessica nabbed was written by Clotilde Dusoulier, and her cookbook, Chocolate and Zucchini, is amazing. Amazon says: "Clotilde Dusoulier is a twenty-seven-year-old Parisian who adores sharing her love of all things food-related—recipes, inspirations, restaurant experiences, and above all the pleasure of cooking with the fresh ingredients found in her local Montmartre shops. But her infatuation with food was born not in her mother’s Parisian kitchen, but in San Francisco, where she moved after college and discovered a new world of tastes. When she returned to her beloved France, her culinary exploits inspired her popular and critically acclaimed blog, ChocolateandZucchini.com.

In her first book, Dusoulier provides a glimpse into the life of a young Parisian as she savors all that the city has to offer and shares her cooking philosophy in the form of more than 75 recipes that call for healthy ingredients (such as zucchini) and more indulgent tastes (such as chocolate). The Los Angeles Times calls her recipes "simple, charming, and fun."

Appetizers such as Cumin Cheese Puffs, sandwiches and tarts like Tomato Tatin, soups like Chestnut and Mushroom, main dishes including Mustard Chicken Stew, and desserts like Chocolate and Caramel Tart can all be found alongside menus for entertaining, as well as tips for throwing cocktail or dinner parties with French flair. Chocolate & Zucchini is the book for anyone who has journeyed to Paris and can still recall the delicious flavors and aromas—or for those of us who only dream about them."

As I flipped through the book I found loads of recipes I knew I would love. including this salad. This is my version of the recipe, with very little change from the original. I prefer to leave my peaches' peel intact, since we like the peel, and I have made both with regular balsamic and white balsamic and it's equally delicious with both. Her original recipe used hazelnuts which, sadly, I was not able to find, so I substituted broken English walnuts.

Peachy Summer Chicken Salad

3 ripe peaches or nectarines

3 tablespoons hazelnut oil or olive oil 

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cut in cubes (about 3 cups)

2/3 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

8 cups (1/2 pound) half baby spinach and half arugula

salt and pepper

Peel the peaches, if desired, and cut into bite sized chunks. Place in a large salad bowl with the chicken, hazelnuts, and baby spinach.

In a small bowl whisk together the oil and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over the salad. Season with salt and pepper, toss to coat with dressing. 

Serve this salad with a cold and crisp white wine such as a German Riesling or a good California Pinot Grigio. I served mine with an iced green tea lemonade and it was the perfect summer dinner. I kinda knew I'd like this salad, but holy smokes, it was so good, so much better than I expected. Perfect mix of sweet and savory, with plenty of protein from the chicken and the walnuts, I didn't even feel like I needed bread to go along with it, and the juicy summer peaches fed that craving for something sweet. You simply must try this recipe!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Three Meals with Blue Apron- Part 3

Sadly it's the third installment and final meal in our Blue Apron box. I have been so impressed by the quality of the food in these pre-planned meal boxes, and the step by step directions are so precise and easy to follow literally anyone can turn out a chef-quality meal at home. Not one of these meals took more than 30 minutes to prepare. I didn't spend a single minute grocery shopping or planning. They did it all for me! With these meal packages, there is absolutely no reason to visit a drive thru ever again.

Today's recipe is very French-inspired and features two things I truly love- chicken and lentils. This recipe is unique in that is features two salads- the lentils are tossed with vinaigrette and served as a warm salad, along with a fresh salad of arugula and radish. So French! Lentils are so good for you, protein packed and with the chicken breast you've got a healthy and filling meal. The box came with three fresh radishes for the salad, but I still had a couple watermelon radishes in the fridge that needed to be used soon, so I used one of those in place of two of the radishes in the box and snacked on the extras while cooking.  Let's get started.

The ingredients are:

2 boneless skin-on chicken breasts

1/2 cup French green lentils

3 cloves garlic

1 scallion

3 radishes

2 oz arugula

1 lemon

2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons verjus blanc*

1 teaspoon lentil spice blend**

*Verjus blanc is a unique form of grape juice used for cooking. It's similar to an alcohol-free wine. Blanc is a white grape juice.

**Lentil spice blend contains ground thyme, ground bay leaf, mustard powder, ground white pepper

Cook the lentils- Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling on high. Using your fingers, inspect the lentils for any pebbles; discard the pebbles. Rinse the lentils and drain thoroughly. Once boiling, add the lentils to the pot of water and cook, uncovered, 24 to 26 minutes, until tender. Drain thoroughly and return to pot. Set aside in a warm place.

Prepare the ingredients- While the lentils cook, wash and dry the fresh produce. Cut off and discard the root end of the scallion; thinly slice, separating the white bottom and green top. Quarter and deseed the lemon. Peel and roughly chop the garlic, cut off and discard the ends of the radishes; thinly slice into rounds.

Make the vinaigrette- While the lentils continue to cook, in a bowl combine the mustard, half the white bottom of the scallion and the juice of all four lemon wedges. Slowly whisk in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until well combined; season with salt and pepper.

Cook the aromatics- While the lentils continue to cook, in a medium nonstick pan heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium high heat until hot. Add the garlic, spice blend and remaining white bottom of the scallion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, 30 seonds to 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the verjus blanc and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds to one minute or until the verjus has cooked off. Transfer to a bowl, wipe out the pan.

Cook the chicken- while the lentils continue to cook, pat the chicken dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. In the skillet, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium high heat until hot. Add the seasoned chicken, skin sides down, and cook 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat.

Finish and plate your dish- To the pot of cooked lentils, add the cooked aromatics and half the vinaigrette; stir to combine thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the salad, in a large bowl combine the radishes, arugula and cheese; season with salt and pepper. Add enough of the remaining vinaigrette (you may have extra vinaigrette) to coat the salad. Gently toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the finished lentils and salad between two dishes. Top the lentils with the cooked chicken. Garnish the chicken with the green top of the scallion.

Doesn't that look fantastic? The watermelon radish slices added pretty color and I served the chicken sliced rather than a whole uncut piece of meat. I made this one evening that The Chef was working so the second plate I combined everything and tossed to make a protein packed salad for lunch the next day. It was perfect at room temperature. 

If you hate shopping but LOOOOVE eating healthy and beautiful food, I highly recommend you check out Blue Apron. It's exceptional quality and huge time savings make it a great option for busy people. I hope you check it out.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free with no expectation that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe are of good quality and safe. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Eat The World- Classic French Clafouti

I feel like cooking. Something really good, something rich and hearty, something wonderful for a cold day. Something that braises all day and is filled with beautiful vegetables and red wine and mushrooms and rich beef. As long as I have the oven on all day, I might as well make dessert too, right? Of course!

A while back I was invited to attend a cooking class given by my friend Wini, the author of Chez Bonne Femme Cookbook and a well-known local food writer and reviewer. Sadly I was late for class (such is my luck- a day late and a dollar short) but I was just in time for dessert. Wini taught the group how to master the classic French dessert- clafouti. If you have never had a clafouti you are truly missing out. Wini made her clafouti that night with stone fruit, including big fat juicy cherries. I however, was totally in love with the creamy, eggy custard that surrounded the fruit. Eggy is the perfect way to describe the custard. It has more body than a baked custard and really, you can use any fruit you like. I have a freezer full of fruit, so I'm going to poke around in there and decide what my fruit will be.

When you think of the typical French home cook, you might think of a cook who is busy creating multi-course feasts with encroyable dishes from appetizers to cheese plates to fabulous pastry creations. Not so. The French home cook is much like the American home cook- they just want to get dinner on the table without a lot of fanfare. The French do enjoy their sweets however, but instead of spending hours fussing with pastry and creme Anglaise and meringues and pate choux, they are more likely to pop into a bakery or make a simple, delicious dessert like a clafouti. You will love this recipe. It's easy to make, no outrageous ingredients, and you can use whatever fruit you have on hand. Stone fruits, such as cherries or peaches are super delicious. Wini's recipe uses cherries, I used chunks of juicy peaches and blueberries.

Wini's Cherry Clafouti

• 12 ounces pitted fresh or frozen sweet cherries, thawed and drained well
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter and sugar a 9 inch round nonmetal baking dish with 2 inch sides. I didn't have a round ceramic dish so I used an oval casserole- it works just as well.

Spread the fruit in the baking dish. In a bowl combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, kirsch and salt. Beat with electric mixer until combined. Add the flour, milk and cream until combined. Pour the batter over the fruit.

Bake until a thin knife inserted near the center of the clafouti comes out clean and the top is a deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. If the top browns too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of foil. Cool slightly on wire rack. Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

A little bit of spiked whipped cream goes beautifully with this dessert but it's just as delicious without. Like Wini said at the class, leftovers are amazing for breakfast the next day. A nice cup of coffee or cappuccino alongside- perfect! Now you MUST own this cookbook. Wini has graciously given me permission to share a recipe or two, but you truly must own this book- the recipes are amazing and easy for us to make at home. Click HERE to get your copy!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Reinventing a Classic- Pork a L'Orange

Well I don't think I have to clarify to anyone that I absolutely love pork. After all, I am a long-time Iowa girl and I often choose pork as my preferred protein when creating new recipes. What's not to love about pork- it's lean, delicious and juicy, and right now one of the most affordable meats on the market. A far cry from the days of pork chops fried to the point of old shoe leather, today's pork is nearly foolproof. It's no wonder I've taken such an interest in adapting classic vintage recipes to a new pork twist. Take this classic French dish, A L'Orange, the timeless roasted duck with orange sauce. Citrus goes so perfect with pork, I'm sure you will love this dish as much as I do.

Widely known as a classic French dish, Duck a L'Orange has a foggy history. Many Italians claim it was stolen from them. Asian cooks all have their own interpretation of the dish as well, with warm spices. Food historians claim the dish may date back thousands of years to regions of the Middle East, where pairing citrus fruits with fatty meats like duck was quite common. Regardless of where and when it was first created, it enjoyed a huge surge in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s in Europe and the United States. I can remember my dad, the original seventies-era foodie, roasting duck on Christmas Day, slowly rendering out all that lovely fat, crisping the skin, and then lovingly basting on the orange juice mixture until the duck was a deep golden brown and more fragrant than any other dish I ever remember him cooking. Growing up in a family of Minnesota hunters and anglers, wild duck and pheasant were more often than not part of the holiday menu and duck was without a doubt my favorite.

As an adult I've grown quite attached to traditional French recipes. Of course, that does not mean that I am going to prepare them "by the book"- I am way too much of a rebel for that! So I set about perfecting the orange sauce so that it accompanies pork in just as a delicious a fashion as the original duck, and comes together quickly with readily available ingredients and I think I've hit it with this recipe. I pored over numerous recipes before coming up with what I think is the best adaptation, and because I used so many recipes for reference, I honestly can't claim this as "mine" except for the super simple sauce. After all, roast pork is a kitchen standard every cook should master.

Make this recipe on a heavy baking sheet with a rim. If you use a large sheet you can make a one-pan dinner, which is a pretty popular trend right now- sheet pan suppers.

Pork A L'Orange

1 boneless pork tenderloin roast, 2-3 lb
salt, pepper, meat seasoning of choice
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
cooking oil
baby potatoes, scrubbed
1 lb haricots vert, or fresh green beans, trimmed

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Use a heavy rimmed baking sheet. Spread a couple tablespoons of oil in the baking sheet. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper or your favorite meat seasoning or rub. I used both Montreal Steak Seasoning and Feiny's Everything Rub. Place the roast on the baking sheet. Combine the marmalade, lemon juice and mustard. Spoon over the roast.

Add the baby potatoes to the baking sheet, rolling around in the oil to coat the potatoes. Sprinkle with additional seasoning. Roast for 30 minutes.

On a second baking sheet, spread another tablespoon or so of oil. Add the haricots vert and toss in the oil. Sprinkle liberally with the seasoning. Place in the oven with the potatoes and pork. Roast until the meat registers 145 degrees. This should be 15-30 minutes more. Check the temp of the meat at 15 minutes. Remove from oven, place the meat on a board and tent with foil. Allow the meat to rest ten minutes. Slice the meat on the diagonal and serve with roasted potatoes and beans, drizzle with pan juices if desired. Sprinkle with freshly chopped herbs, such as thyme or parsley, if you like. 

Rest your roast! You'll keep the juice in the meat and off
your board

Right now pork is such an affordable option and this recipe really dresses up what can sometimes be a boring cut of meat. It's elegant enough for dinner guests or date night, and quick enough for a weeknight dinner. No need for a fancy sauce either- this roast makes its own with the pan juices and the orange marmalade. The juices melt the kinda-burned spots of the marmalade on the pan and create a rich caramelly drizzle that's really really good stuff.

Even the leftovers look delicious. Drizzle any leftovers
with a little of those caramelly pan juices.

The best time for making a roast is when it's cold and nasty outside. If I described the forecast for Des Moines right now you would be just as disgusted as me- snow and lots of it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE winter, just not two feet of it. I might as well crank up the oven and throw in a pork roast, whip up some orange sauce, roast some baby potatoes and haricots vert and daydream about having lunch on a sunny day in a Parisian cafe. Sure beats the view out my window- swirling piles of snow.

Dinner, French style

I knew this would happen. I just knew after seeing The Hundred Foot Journey a while back that I'd not only want to live in France but I'd be dragging out the French cookbooks and reading the recipes, cooking the food, dreaming my dreams. As predicted, the first thing I wanted to do was bake crusty, artisan bread like those you might find in a boulangerie. Then I wanted to drag out all the herbs, smell them, taste them, crush them between my fingers and release the aromas. I want to chop up vegetables, saute the mirepoix and roast something fabulous.

A baker at heart, I also wanted to bake. Dessert, that is. Tarts and gateaux, profiteroles and eclairs, palmiers and macarons. Meringues filled with creme anglais and beautiful fruits. I have so many cookbooks with beautiful pastries and cakes and tarts, inspiring pictures, amazing techniques and ingredients, some complex, some very simple and homey. Of course, the typical French cook wouldn't bother with making such things. They would buy dessert and put their focus on the rest of the meal. 

I might be tempted to host a dinner party, French style. We would start out with a nice glass of wine and some light nibbles- olives, some nuts, maybe a dip and some crostini for dipping. Dinner would be spectacular, of course. Like the French, we would follow dinner with a salad course, and then that amazing dessert from the patisserie. Just because I'm not throwing a party right now doesn't mean I won't still make the perfect French dinner. We will just have leftovers. Lots of them.

Tonight's French dinner is utilizing a BIG shortcut- canned beans. While you certainly CAN soak, simmer and use dried beans, canned beans are a super quick way to get that long, slow cooked flavor and appeal with a minimum of fuss. I would normally choose cannellini beans for this dish but I grabbed the wrong cans so small white beans it is. I also highly recommend fresh herbs for this dish. I do use dried in a pinch but really, fresh rosemary that's just cut moments ago from the garden just cannot be beat with a beautiful piece of pork and those rich and hearty beans.

French-style Herbed Roast Pork

• 1 2-3 lb boneless pork loin roast
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 bottle dry white wine
• 6 cloves of garlic
• one yellow onion, cut into chunks
• 1/2 lb carrots, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• good sized sprig of thyme
• small hand full parsley
• a couple stems of rosemary
• 2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat a large dutch oven. Rub the roast all over with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sear the meat on all sides over high heat. Remove to a plate.
Add the onions and carrots to the pot. 

Cook, stirring every once in a while, until onions begin to sweat. Add the garlic; stir and cook one minute. Add the herbs and give them a good stir until they are fragrant. 

Add the entire bottle of wine to pot, scraping up the crusty browned bits on the bottom. Return the meat. Cover and roast at 300 degrees for about 3 hours, adding the beans for the last hour, and roasting uncovered.

If you don't want to use wine, just use some chicken broth or stock instead- it's just as delicious, about 3 cups is what you need.

To put this all together, carefully remove the roast from the pot and place on a deep platter. Cover with foil to keep warm. Scoop out the beans and vegetable with a slotted spoon, discarding the bay leaves, thyme and rosemary. Place the pot over high heat and cook down the pan drippings until reduced and flavorful; stir in a bit of butter if you like. 

Surround the roast with the beans and spoon a little sauce over the meat, pass the rest at the table. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the sauce. The roast will be tender and juicy, the beans flavorful and substantial. Great food for chilly autumn days, or semi-chilly rainy gloomy summer days like today, and daydreaming......about a quaint village with cobblestone streets, shutter-clad windows and window boxes filled with flowers and herbs.....and me.

A French Classic Gets An Iowa Makeover

I love French food. In this day and age fussy classic French dishes have fallen out of favor for most people but there is something about the classic techniques, traditional flavor combinations and history that keeps me coming back. There have been so many masterful French chefs just in my lifetime that have influenced not only me as a cook, but untold numbers of professional chefs.

It's no secret, if you have been following my blog for any length of time you know I love Julia Child. I love to read about her, read her recipes, would love to visit her kitchen at the Smithsonian (is it weird that I think of that as a honeymoon destination?). Thomas Keller is another chef I admire greatly. He is well known for his amazing French dishes. I could go on and on but who needs a list- you get the idea.

My interest in French food goes all the way back to high school. As a French student we often had food days and I always made pate choux for cream puffs and eclairs, or crepes with sweet and savory fillings. I mastered quiche by the time I was 15, including pastry. Souffles and mousses came next and by the time I was 18 I was making French dinners for my parents all the time. As a new wife in Texas I made many fancy dinners for friends and even won a recipe contest with a savory application for pate choux.

Poring over many different cookbooks for inspiration I found some vast differences in how chefs make coq au vin. Some use only thighs, others use breasts, some whole cut up chickens. Some recipes called for cognac and I even found one calling for bourbon! Most called for pearl or cipollini onions, which I was unable to find in my little store, so I used a large onion cut into chunks. I knew I wanted something along those lines, but it didn't need to be a clone of the classic- after all, I am using pork instead of chicken. So here is what I came up with, and I hope you will like it.

Porc Au Vin

6 slices bacon
8 oz package cremini or baby bella mushrooms
2 lbs boneless pork loin
flour, salt, pepper
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dry red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried savory leaves
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
cornstarch for thickening

Cut the pork into rectangular pieces, similar to a stick of butter but half the size. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

I liked this rectangular but cubes will work too- just
cut large cubes

Cut the bacon into lardons. 

Lardons. Fancy French word for little strips.

Place bacon in a dutch oven and cook over medium heat until browned and crispy. 

Remove with a slotted spoon, reserving the fat. I used a spoon to remove most of the fat to a small bowl and reserved it to use with the pork. Trim the ends of the mushrooms and place in skillet, tops down, and cook for several minutes until browned. Remove to a bowl and reserve for later.

My mushrooms were pretty big so I halved them and
decided to brown the cut side.

Place a small amount of flour onto a plate. Dredge the pork in the flour and add to the hot pan. Add some of the reserved bacon fat as needed. Brown the meat on all four sides and remove to a plate.

Don't crowd the meat or it will steam instead of brown.

I just use the upturned lid of my Dutch oven. One less
dish to wash later. Add juices to the pot also.

When the meat is done add the onion and carrots. Cook and stir until the onion is translucent and not browned. Add the garlic, and cook for a minute or two. Add the thyme, bay leaf, and tomato paste. Stir well.

Give the herbs a good stir to bring out the fragrance, then
add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or two. You
want to cook out that tinny taste of canned tomato paste.

Add the wine to the pot, stirring to loosen the browned bits on the bottom. Return the meat to the pot, and the mushrooms, the chicken stock, and cover.

Smells so good already!!

Cook over medium low heat for about 45 minutes, until the meat is tender. I leave the lid just barely askew to allow some evaporation and the sauce will thicken. If you like, you can thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry. Sprinkle with the chopped fresh parsley before serving.

What do you serve with this French classic with an Iowa twist? The French influence hints at some steamed haricots verts with herb butter. Green beans, for us everyday people. A bed of buttered noodles rounds out the dish. Of course I had to get a lovely crusty baguette to go with it- can't have French food without a baguette!

Let's talk a little bit about the ingredients I used. Of course, fresh Iowa pork is a must have. At our house we like to buy whole pork loins and do our own butchering so we get exactly the cuts and sizes we want. I cut a nice size hunk of roast off a loin and cut that into my rectangular chunks of meat.

I chose an Iowa dry red wine to make this recipe, from Penoach Winery near Adel in Dallas County. Made from locally grown grapes Rustic Red is a very smooth and easy drinking red. It's dry but not wildly so, not as dry as a Cabernet, but not sweet at all- it's a great wine for a sweet wine fan to try as they expand their palate. Great with food, this wine is also lovely to have a glass in the evening, and with cheese or chocolate. Try it!

My pasta choice is another Iowa-made product. Zaza's Artisan Pasta comes from their Italian market in Iowa City and homemade pasta is their specialty. I don't live near their shop but luckily I am able to get it at the nearby aquaponics farm, which also carries Iowa-made products in their tiny shop. They have several different flavors of pasta, I had beet pappardelle and it was so delicious. The texture after cooking was firm and just perfectly tender. The edges had that "rough" look that only handmade pasta has. Very delicious. I can't wait to try more varieties.

This recipe is great for entertaining, and serves 6 to 8 people. Since only two of us live here, I have plenty for leftovers!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Pavlova- Heaven on a plate

Hasn't been a whole lot of baking going on around here. Not lately. Not many desserts have been coming out of the kitchen at The Little Lake House and I need to change that. Last night I was watching my way through my stockpile of DVRd cooking shows- things I save and watch when The Chef isn't watching tv, like Nigella Lawson and Laura Calder. He just doesn't "get" foreign women. 

Anyway, Nigella was cooking with things she had in the pantry and freezer- using up things basically. She is quite a thrifty gal actually, I was surprised at some of the things she had tucked in the freezer. Chicken bones, because she obviously makes her own stocks, odds and ends of vegetables for casseroles and egg whites- frozen in zip top bags in twos. She had thawed egg whites to make a pavlova and I just HAD TO make one.

If you have never heard of it, a pavlova is a classic dessert created in the early 1900s in honor of the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. It's quite simply, meringue baked until crisp and dry on the outside and tender and marshmallow-like on the inside, topped with whipped cream and passion fruit or berries. I am going to make mine just slightly different, using what I have on hand, so it will be a pastry cream instead of whipped cream, topped with mango chunks and blueberries, with a teeny hint of booziness for fun.

There are just two of us here, so I usually make miniature versions of things, when I can, and that's also the case this time. I just need 2 egg whites for a smaller meringue, so if you make this for guests or your family, be sure and double the ingredients. Of course, you can use the traditional whipped cream instead of pastry cream also. Plan on one cup icy cold heavy whipping cream to make enough fluffy cream to cover the top.

Making meringue is not difficult. Most importantly, you have to be sure the bowl you are using is absolutely grease-free, so use glass or metal rather than plastic. Adding a touch of cornstarch adds some stability to the structure of the meringue and so does the teensiest bit of vinegar I add. Another important step is adding the sugar. You don't want to add it too soon or the egg whites may not reach their fullest volume, but you also want to be sure you have plenty of time for the sugar to dissolve as you finish beating, so you don't have crunchy bits in the meringue. Rubbing a dab between your finger and thumb to check for smoothness is a great way to tell if the sugar is dissolved. You will feel it if it isn't. 

Make sure to spread the meringue mixture out onto parchment or waxed paper. If you spread it onto a sheet pan you may not be able to get it off after it's baked, and if you grease the pan, the meringue will shrink up and not be attractive at all. Spread it out as evenly as possible and use the back of the spoon to create a swirly "rim" so the filling will not run all over. 

Classic Pavlova

2 egg whites, room temperature (reserve the yolks)
tiny pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Prepare the pan by lining with a sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper. Using a plate or small pan as a guide, draw a circle on the paper, about 5-6 inches in diameter for a two egg meringue, or about 9-10 inches for  full size 4 egg meringue. Turn the paper upside down so you can still see the circle but won't be spreading the meringue on the pencil marking.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. With the mixer still on high, slowly add the sugar and continue beating until sugar is dissolved and meringue forms stiff, shiny peaks. This takes about 2 minutes.

Sift the cornstarch over the egg whites and add the vinegar and vanilla; fold in lightly. Pile the meringue onto the paper and using a spoon, spread and shape the meringue into a circular shell. Remember to build up a slight rim.

Bake for about 90 minutes. Turn off the oven and DO NOT REMOVE meringue! Let it cool completely in the oven, at least an hour. Peel off the paper and place on serving plate. Top with cream and fruit.

Pastry Cream

1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon butter

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. 

Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, stirring to milk in completely. Pour into bowl, cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface. Chill completely before using.

Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. Pastry chefs the world over will cringe at this idea but hey, it works perfectly so here goes- use a whisk to combine all the ingredients in a large microwave safe container. Cook on high one minute, whisk; and repeat until mixture is thick and smooth, checking every 30 seconds after 2 minutes. It took 2 1/2 minutes and came out perfect- no lumps!

Boozy Fruit

1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup mango or peach chunks
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon Chambord liqueur
lemon zest
sugar, if needed

Combine the fruits, liqueur, zest. Add a touch of sugar if needed. I used frozen fruits and let them thaw so they would be a bit softer and juicer than fresh. Pile the fruit on top of the pavlova and cream. Serve immediately.

Oh my goodness..... this dessert..... is heavenly. The meringue is so delicate and ethereal. As you break that crisp crust the interior is tender like a marshmallow. The cream and fruit kind of become part of the meringue after a short while, and it's just sooooo delicious. You can use almost any fruit you like. I had these in the freezer and they were a great combination.

A few final notes:  I had a little trouble with the waxed paper this time. Might have been crummy quality paper, but it stuck to the baking pan and the meringue more than I expected. A silicone liner might be a better option if you have one. I need to get one!