Mini Nutella Pavlovas with Whipped Cream and Berries

Have you ever had a meringue cookie? They are a strange, delicious wonder of the dessert world. Light and airy, crispy but chewy, full of flavor and utterly delightful. An extra large version of a meringue cookie is a pavlova – essentially just a baked meringue cake, usually topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fruit of some variety. A pavlova maintains a chewy, marshmallowy interior – which is a wonderful contrast to the ultra crispy exterior. Whether you decide to go small (cookies), or large (pavlova), this light and airy dessert is absolutely perfect for a hot summer night!

Mini Nutella Pavlovas with Whipped Cream and Berries
makes 10, 5-inch mini pavlovas

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup nutella
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
berries of your choice, washed and cut into bite-size pieces

1.) Preheat your oven to 300°. Start by placing your nutella into a microwave-safe bowl, and microwaving it in 20 second intervals (stirring after each interval) to smooth it out and loosen it up. This should take 2 or 3 intervals at most – set the nutella aside to cool.

2.) Place your (room temp! This is important!) egg whites into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, turn the mixer on to medium low, and beat the egg whites until they become nice and frothy, about a minute. Add the salt and cream of tartar, and continue beating.

3.) Turn the speed up to medium, and keep beating the egg white mixture until soft peaks form. Once you’ve reached that point, begin adding the sugar a couple tablespoons at a time (until you’ve added 2/3 cup), continuing to beat on medium speed.

4.) Once all the sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high, and continue beating until the egg whites are super glossy and thick, and hold stiff peaks when you remove the whisk.

5.) Make sure your nutella has cooled to the point of being barely warm. Drizzle it over the top of the meringue in the mixing bowl, and use a rubber spatula to fold it into the egg whites – only fold it a couple times, so you don’t deflate the meringue, and your meringues maintain a swirled look (I over-mixed a bit, so mine are just… pale brown. Not as beautiful as I was hoping).

6.) Load your meringue into a large pastry bag fitted with an extra large closed star tip (you can absolutely skip this step and either use a large ziploc with a corner snipped off, or just spoon mounds of the meringue on to your baking sheet). Pipe 4-5″ rounds onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.

7.) Bake for 10 minutes at 300°. After ten minutes, rotate your baking sheets in the oven, and turn the temp down to 200°. Continue to bake for another 45 minutes, and then turn the oven off. Leave the meringues in the oven and allow them to cool in there for about an hour.

8.) Remove the meringues from the oven, and allow them to continue cooling, if needed. If you serve them the day they’re made, they’ll be super crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. If you serve them the next day (stored in an airtight container overnight), they will lose a lot of the crispiness in their outer shell, but they’ll still be chewy and delicious.

9.) Top with whipped cream (3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1/3 cup sugar, until firm peaks form), and fresh berries. Enjoy!

These mini pavlovas are a little quirky, and really tasty! The combination of crispy and chewy and light-as-air is a nice break from a lot of heavier, richer desserts that you usually see, and absolutely perfect as a light, refreshing summer dessert. (And it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re EASY to make!)

I swear, Nutella was sent straight from heaven,
Tina

Bacon, Corn and Tomato Chicken Salad

Normally, I am not a chicken salad fan. First of all, it usually includes celery, and celery is an abomination. Second, it’s usually quite heavy on the mayonnaise, and I am only a fan of mayonnaise in very, very limited quantities. Third… I just don’t like it, okay?? Okay.

A few days ago, Crist emailed me a chicken salad recipe that actually looked APPETIZING, wonder of wonders! (First things first: there is no celery, and almost no mayo. SCORE!) Of course, I made a half dozen changes to the original recipe, but it turned out fantastically – to the point that I basically had to physically remove the bowl from my husband’s hands, lest he eat the entire thing in one sitting. I feel confident that this will make frequent appearances in our house – it’s perfect for lunch, a light dinner, or as an appetizer for a party!

Bacon, Corn and Tomato Chicken Salad
makes about 6 sandwiches

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast
6 slices bacon
8 oz corn, drained well
1 T finely chopped chives
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 T whole grain mustard
1 cup 2% plain greek yogurt
2 T mayo*
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Crackers, bread, english muffins – whatever you want to eat the chicken salad with!

*Crist, don’t hit me… but I think next time I would try leaving the mayo out. I’m just not sure it needs it!

1.) Start by cooking your chicken. I typically season it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then bake it in a covered dish at 350° for about 25-30 minutes. When it’s cooked through, shred it finely (use your stand mixer to shred it, don’t be scared).

2.) While your chicken bakes, fry up your bacon until crisp. Drain it on some paper towels, and then crumble it.

3.) Add all the ingredients, aside from the tomatoes, to a large mixing bowl, and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until everything is well combined.

That’s it! You can spread it on some toasted bread and make a sandwich, spoon it on to some crackers, or just eat it by the spoonful, whatever floats your boat. We chose to eat it on some pita crackers – topping each one with a tomato half! I didn’t want the tomatoes to make the salad watery, or muddy looking, so that’s why I chose to just pile them on top of the chicken salad as we ate.

I think this particular chicken salad has SO MUCH more flavor and texture than a typical chicken salad – and using greek yogurt in place of the mayo keeps it pretty light and healthy, too!

I can’t wait to make this with some fresh summer corn,
Tina

Honey Mustard Glazed Pork Chops with Sauteed Apple Slaw

For years and years, my husband has insisted that he doesn’t really like pork chops. Not that he HATES them, but that he doesn’t enjoy them – and so, I have avoided buying them for our dinners. But, due to the fact that he suffers from a raging case of Plate Envy (you know – we go to a restaurant, he spends 20 minutes deliberating the pros and cons of 4 items, finally picks one… and then spends half our meal drooling over whatever I ordered?), he has ended up trying quite a few delicious pork chops that I’ve ordered at various places. Since I am not a huge red meat eater, pork tends to be a go-to dinner choice for me, especially at steakhouses and the like; and after a few years of him stealing bites of my pork chop over dinner, I finally decided to take the plunge and make some pork chops at home!

(Spoiler alert: he loved them.)

Honey Mustard Glazed Pork Chops with Sauteed Apple Slaw
serves 2-4

4 boneless pork chops, about 1″ thick, and 6oz each
4 T honey, divided
3 T apple cider vinegar, divided
3 T whole grain mustard, divided
2 T dijon mustard, divided
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
one small, crisp apple (I like Honeycrisp, Jazz, or Pink Lady), cut into matchsticks

1.) About 45 minutes before you want to start cooking, mix up your marinade: add 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and the salt and pepper to a gallon-size ziploc bag. Mix it all up until well-combined, and then add your pork chops to the bag; squeeze all the air out of the bag, and seal. Allow the pork chops to marinate at room temp for about 45 minutes, flipping them around a few times.

2.) While the chops marinate, go ahead and julienne your apple, and make your glaze. For the glaze, whisk together 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Set aside.

3.) When you’re ready to cook the chops, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil or olive oil to the pan, and let that heat up. Add the pork chops to the pan, and let them cook for about 4 minutes on the first side before flipping.

4.) Once you’ve flipped the chops, brush the glaze over the top of them, and allow them to cook for another 4 minutes on the second side. After those 4 minutes, I like to flip them again, glaze them, let them sit for about 30 seconds, and then flip and glaze again. Remove the chops to a plate to rest for about 5 minutes.

5.) Turn the heat on the pan down to medium-low, and let it cool for a minute. Add the apples to the pan, and pour the remaining glaze over the top of them. Let them cook (tossing them often) for just a minute or two, until they’re slightly softened, but still have a bite to them (the cooking time will vary, depending on how finely you julienned them). Plate the pork chops, and top with the apples, and a spoonful of the glaze/juices from the pan.

These pork chops were absolutely delicious! The glaze and marinade have a bite from the apple cider vinegar, balanced by the sweetness of the honey, and sort of rounded out by the mustard. They stay nice and moist and juicy, too. (Side note: PLEASE do not overcook your pork! It is perfectly fine to eat pork medium or medium well, so there is no need to cook it until it’s stark white and dry as a bone; the inside should stay a bit pink, and that will help keep it moist.)

Served with some roasted tiny potatoes and some parmesan roasted green beans, this was a perfectly easy and delicious meal. Definitely worth a try, especially if you’re looking for an alternative to your usual weeknight chicken!

Pork chops are related to bacon, so they HAVE to be good,
Tina

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Now that summer is FINALLY here (I don’t know about wherever you live, but winter hung around FAR TOO LONG here in the Mitten), berries are back in season! There are few things in this world more delicious than a perfectly ripe berry… except for possibly buttercream frosting made from those perfect berries!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
cupcake recipe from here
makes about 2 dozen

For the cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 T baking powder
3/4 t salt
2 sticks butter, room temp, cut into cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (2% or whole)
1 tsp vanilla

For the buttercream:
3 sticks salted butter
3 – 4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup strawberry puree

1.) Preheat your oven to 325°. In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2.) Add the cubed, softened butter, and continue to mix until the butter is completely coated in the flour mixture and broken up into smaller pieces.

3.) In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla together. Add the liquids to the flour/butter mixture in 3 additions, mixing until just combined after each addition (and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary). Be careful not to overmix!

4.) Line a muffin tin with paper liners, and fill each cup 2/3 of the way with batter.

5.) Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. These cupcakes really don’t brown, and the tops stay a bit shiny and wet-looking, so go ahead and start testing with a toothpick at 18 minutes, even if they really don’t look done.

6.) While the cupcakes bake, you can work on your frosting! Start by making your strawberry puree; clean, hull, and halve about 8 medium strawberries. Add them to a food processor (or blender), and process until you have a relatively smooth liquid.

7.) Press the puree through a fine mesh sieve and into a small bowl, to get rid of any lumps and the strawberry seeds.

8.) Use a stand mixer (or hand mixer) to cream together the butter, powdered sugar (start with 3 cups, and add more if needed), and 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree. Scrape down the bowl and continue mixing until everything is well-combined.

9.) When the cupcakes have fully cooled, pipe or spread the frosting on to them. These cupcakes are best served the same day they’re made.

I served these cupcakes at a baby shower for a dear friend of mine, and aside from being tasty (the cupcakes have just enough vanilla flavor, and the strawberries add a wonderful freshness to the buttercream), the frosting is a perfectly beautiful shade of pink – just right for celebrating the impending arrival of a baby girl!

So glad to put my boots away for a few months,
Tina