Pamper Yourself

My last few weeks have been engulfed by a new endeavor. After hosting a Pampered Chef party and seeing how much fun the parties are, I took the leap and became a consultant. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks testing out various recipes from the cookbooks and all the fabulous products I got for free as a host! My husband walks into the kitchen and asks, “You got that for free too???” I try not to be one who brags, but I can’t help but share all the items that I earned for free being a host! And all it cost me was the $20 worth of ingredients for the recipe the consultant prepared and some other snacks that I already had in my pantry. It’s hard to believe!

So – back to the cooking – I’ve cooked several dishes in my deep covered baker, and I hate to break the news to my husband, but I’ve fallen in love. I prepared a very hearty Rosemary and Chicken Soup as well as an All-American Pot Roast. Now I already have a pot roast recipe. My mom gave it to me, and it’s her interpretation of the recipe that my grandmother gave to her. It’s mouth-watering. The only problem is that it bakes for about 4 hours, so there is no way that this can be a weeknight dish. The Pampered Chef’s All-American Pot Roast only bakes for a couple of hours and has such a different flavor – incorporating wine and tomato paste in the sauce – that I have added it to my repertoire… by no means replacing my all-time favorite and now to be saved for weekends family recipe.

I used my rectangle bar stone 4 times this weekend… almost with every dish I made! The best part was how easy it was to wash off with just water and a washcloth. I used it to make some toasted baguette slices to use as dippers for a pizza dip on Saturday. On Sunday I used it to make a jelly roll, I used it for a cheesy artichoke appetizer, and I used it to baked some breaded chicken.

When I saw the jelly roll recipe, I tensed up. I like to bake… love it, even… but I have not had the best luck actually manipulating the cakes. I once volunteered to make two cakes for a surprise 30th birthday party for a family member. What was I thinking?? To add the icing on the cake (pun absolutely intended… I couldn’t help myself), it was in New Orleans – an hour from where I live. My mother had already warned me: cakes don’t travel well. They crack. But I thought I’d give it a go anyway.

What happened?? I mean, do I even have to say it? The cake starting cracking on the way, the icing slowly falling away from the cake, tears falling down my cheeks. (I know. I cry… Ask my husband about the time I tried to learn to drive a standard... Or ask my mother about the time I tried to paint. I like to succeed. What can I say?) So when I came upon the Cherry Almond Angel Roll recipe… the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach were even growling. I had no choice. Much to my surprise – and relief – the directions were perfectly written, and the products yielded perfect results. No cracking or crumbling to be seen.

Not only was it easy to do, but it looks very impressive to dinner guests when it’s complete. So, to all my stone owners, try it out! And if you don’t have one yet, this recipe is a fabulous reason to get one! If you want to impress your dinner guests or learn more about all the remarkable products by The Pampered Chef and how to get them FOR FREE (no really... did you not see the picture at the top of this post??) just let me know (eliseleboeufTPC@gmail.com).

Cherry-Almond Angel Roll

[From All the Best by The Pampered Chef]
Ingredients:

1 pkg (16 oz or 430-450 g) angel food cake mix
1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced almonds, chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) powdered or icing sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) cherry preserves
1 cup (250 mL) sour cream
4 cups (1 L) thawed, frozen whipped topping
1/2 tsp (2 mL) almond extract
2-4 drops red food coloring (optional)
1 pkg (3.3 oz or 102 g) white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding and pie filling


Directions:
 
1.Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line Large Bar Pan with an 18-in. (45-cm) piece of Parchment Paper. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter over parchment, spreading evenly. Sprinkle almonds evenly over batter. Bake 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with fingertip. Remove pan from oven.
 
2.Sprinkle sugar over cake. Place an additional piece of parchment over cake. Invert Stackable Cooling Rack over parchment. Carefully invert cake; remove pan and parchment from bottom of cake. Starting at short side, roll up cake in parchment, jelly-roll style. Cool completely.
 
3.Unroll cake and spread with preserves. In large bowl, combine sour cream, whipped topping, almond extract and food coloring, if desired; mix well. Add pudding mix; whisk until thickened. Spread filling over cake to within 1 in. (2.5 cm) of edge; roll up cake. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Pavlova: "feel the promise of SQUIDGINESS beneath your fingers..."

To all my dieting friends, I am going to apologize ahead of time (but don’t worry I didn’t forget about you). This week’s post is about a yummy, cool dessert, perfect for the steadily warming weather.

It’s actually a very light dessert because in it’s simplest form it is just a meringue.  Because I enjoyed this Food Network Magazine dessert recipe so much, and because it showcased an important dessert cooking technique – making a meringue – I thought it would be a good one for the blog.

A couple of things that are important to remember about meringues… make sure that whatever bowls and mixing accessories you’re using are thoroughly washed and dried. Any leftover particles or bits of water may cause the meringue to not peak up. Also, most meringues require a bit of salt or of cream of tartar (in the seasoning section at the grocery store) to help keep it peaked. As for the egg whites, be careful that you don’t accidentally get any bits of yolk in them. I recommend separating one at a time into a separate bowl before pouring it into the mixing bowl so as to not accidentally ruin what you’ve already put in the mixing bowl if you drop a piece of shell or yolk into it.

Now don’t be afraid of leaving it to whip for too long because it will probably seem like too long if it’s the first time you’ve made a meringue, but you want to make sure that when you lift the beaters out the meringue stays up in the position the beaters were last in. This is what is called “stiff peaks forming”.

This particular recipe also calls for balsamic vinegar, which is naturally a sweet product.  [This note is for my dieting friends.] Balsamic vinegar actually makes a good sweetener for strawberries rather than sugar or an alternative sweetener. It adds a bit of sweetness with a little bit of a different flavor.

Now this particular dessert – called a pavlova – is impressive looking once it’s put together and basically comes out as a deliciously moist cake. It’s a must-try for any chocolate fan (You know who you are. You probably see me at the meetings. J), but it’s not too chocolately. It actually calls for dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder, which adds a little bit of healthiness to it compared to milk chocolate; however, the whipped up heavy cream goodness that goes on top kind of ruins and hopes of low fat or low calories. Just save it for your splurge day!

This dessert is what I Zumba for:

Chocolate Pavlova

[From Food Network Magazine]

Ingredients

For the Meringue Base:

6 large egg whites

2 cups superfine sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar

2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the Toppings:

2 cups heavy cream

4 cups raspberries (I used strawberries instead.)

1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate

Directions

Prepare the pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Draw a 9-inch-diameter circle on the paper with a pencil, tracing a round cake tin that size.

Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks - you'll still be able to see the circle.

Make the meringue: Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

Add the chocolate: Sprinkle the cocoa, vinegar and then the chopped chocolate over the egg whites. Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Shape the meringue: Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue under each corner. Mound the meringue onto the parchment within the circle, smoothing the sides and the top with a spatula.

Bake the meringue: Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. [Yes, the recipe actually said squidginess!]

Let it cool: Turn off the oven and open the door slightly; let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely in the oven. When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big flat-bottomed plate and peel off the parchment.

Decorate the Pavlova: Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter the raspberries on top. Coarsely grate the chocolate haphazardly over the top so that you get curls of chocolate rather than rubble, as you don't want the raspberries' luscious color and form to be obscured. You want the Pavlova to look like a frosted cake.

Trust your gut! And eat good risotto!

Today I was reminded twice of one very important cooking rule: the recipe is not always right!

Coincidentally, both of these pleasant reminders came as slightly undercooked ingredients.

The first was in my 15-minute prep meatloaf – a bacon-Gruyere meatloaf from Real Simple magazine that requires very little hands-on time. The most time I spent was on grating the Gruyere cheese, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite to cook with.

The issue here was when the oven called my name, saying, “Elise… time to take the meatloaf out,” the meatloaf was still clearly undercooked. I’m always very paranoid about undercooking meat (a seldom-occurring quality, as I’m generally calm as a toad in the sun… J), so when my instant-read thermometer read 140 instead of 160, I knew it needed to go back in. Twenty minutes later of checking on it every five minutes, I came to my very calm executive decision--- Screw it! If it’s not done now, we’re eating it row! Lucky for my dinner guests, it was done and delicious.

My second reminder that the times listed on recipes aren’t always correct occurred in dish number two: Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Basil. The recipe called to sauté the squash for 5 minutes or until starting to soften and brown. After 8 minutes, I used the tried and true fork test and thought it wasn’t quite done but that the rest of the cooking process would soften it up a little. When it was all done and time to serve and the squash was the same texture, I wished I had listened to my gut. While my kind dinner guests said that the squash were good, there were some pieces that were a little crispier than I’d like. Because I didn’t cut them all the exact same size, the larger pieces were a little underdone. So, as you all should when you find something about a recipe you’d like to change, I made a note on the recipe.

So today let’s raise our glasses to one of the most important cooking rules:

Go with your gut!

Bacon-Gruyère Meatloaf

[from Real Simple magazine]

Ingredients

            1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck

            1/4 cup bread crumbs

            1/4 cup ketchup, plus more for serving

            1 small red onion, coarsely grated

            2 slices bacon, chopped

            2 cloves garlic, chopped

            1 large egg

            3/4 cup grated Gruyère or Cheddar (3 ounces)

            kosher salt and black pepper

            2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, ketchup, grated onion, bacon, garlic, egg, ½ cup of the Gruyère, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Transfer the mixture to an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan and sprinkle with the

remaining ¼ cup of Gruyère.

Roast the meat loaf until cooked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Pour off any accumulated fat and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Slice the meat loaf and serve with additional ketchup.

Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Basil

[From Bon Appetit magazine]

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled butternut squash (from 2 1/4 pounds squash)

3 cups 1/2-inch-wide slices leeks (white and pale green parts only)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 cups arborio rice

4 14-ounce cans (or more) vegetable broth

1 cup chopped fresh basil

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add squash and sauté until beginning to soften and brown around edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer squash to medium bowl.

Reduce heat to medium; add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, leeks, and thyme to same pot and stir until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add rice and stir 1 minute. Add 1 cup broth and simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining broth by 1/2 cupfuls, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Return squash to pot. Continue to cook until rice is just tender but still very creamy, stirring gently and often, about 10 minutes longer (about 25 minutes total cooking time). Remove from heat. Stir in basil and 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl and serve with additional Parmesan cheese.