Sweetened Whipped Cream and Raspberry Sauce

These two recipes I use for so many things. Whipped Cream is good for so many things, such as on top of pudding, on ice cream sundaes, and so many different things, but for this it's going to be uses for the Pavlova. Raspberry sauce can be uses in plain yogurts, on top sundaes, and just about anytime you use raspberry. 

The raspberry sauce can be made with any fruit, just simply buy the same fruit and jam and do the same process. Blueberries require a little lemon zest, and juice as well as additional time. 

Sweetened Whipped Cream 

 - 1 cup of very cold heavy cream 

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

- 1 tablespoon of sugar (If like more add more) 

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment combine everything and beat on high until mixture is thick, about 3 minutes.

Raspberry Sauce

 - 1/2 pint of raspberries 

 - 1/2 cup of sugar 

 - 1/2 cup of water

 - 1 10 oz. of raspberry jam 

 

In a small sauce pan combine berries, sugar and water and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to medium and cook for four minutes. Off the heat combine the jam, and mash together. Place in gravy bowl or small bowl and refrigerate until cool. 

Mixed Berry Pavlova

This is one of my all time favorite desserts. Pavlova is an Australian dessert named for the famed ballerina Anna Pavlova. It's a meringue disk that's toped with whipped cream and fresh berries. The original version is made with passion fruit, but who wants to looks for passion fruit. I make it with fresh berries and a raspberry sauce. This is truly on of those deserts you would die for!

- 4 Extra large egg whites, at room temperature

- Pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon) 

- 1 cup of sugar

- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch 

- 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar 

- 1/2 pint of strawberries ( sliced and cut in half ), blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries 

- Sweetened whipped cream - Next Post

- Raspberry Sauce - Next Post 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper of sheet pan. 

Place egg whites into a mixture fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until firm, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed slowly add the sugar, and beat until it makes a firm, shiny peaks, bout 2 minutes. 

Remove from bowl and add the cornstarch and vinegar. ( The Cornstarch thickens it and the vinegar stabilizes it. ) Pile the meringue in a rough disk on top of the parchment paper and place inside the oven for 1.5 hours. Turn of the oven and let set for an additional 1 hour. 

Place the disk on a plate and spread the whipped cream on top. Combine the berries and 1/2 cup of the raspberries sauce. Spoon berries over the cream and meringue. Serve immediately with extra raspberries sauce. 

Oven-Fried Chicken

Everyone loves fried chicken. Who wants to mess with all that grease and then when your done the chicken is all grease yuk!  I've never made fried chicken for that reason, then I came along a recipe called oven-fried chicken (Ina Garten) that fries the chicken at first then you place in the oven, which makes in crisp on the outside and juice and tender on the inside. 

- 1 chicken ( 3 pounds or so ) cut into eight pieces 

- 1 quart of buttermilk 

- 2 cups of all-purpose flour 

- 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper

- 1 teaspoon of paprika 

- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes 

Place the chicken on large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes into a large bowl. Take the chicken out and coat each piece throughly with the flour mixture. Pour oil into the a large heavy-bottomed pot and heat to 360 degrees on a thermometer. ( If you don't have a thermometer timing is somewhere around 10-12 minutes) 

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for 3 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Don't over crowd the pieces! Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees before placing another round of chicken in. When chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot. 

Mashed Potatoes

Who does like mashed potatoes? They're the ultimate comfort food. I like traditional mashed potatoes as much as the next guy, but why not make them with more complexity, and flavor. I have two different ways to make them, and trust me these mashed potatoes are way better than any box potato mix. 

1. Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

- 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes

- Kosher Salt 

- 1 stick of unsalted butter

- 1/2 cup of whole milk

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of buttermilk (lightly shaken) 

- 1/2 teaspoon of black peeper

Peel, wash and cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water for 20 minutes until the potatoes are very tender.  

In a different pan, place whole milk and butter and cook on low heat, until the butter is melted.(Don't cook buttermilk it will curtal)  

When potatoes are done drain water and place potatoes in a mixer bowl. Mix on low speed and slowly began to add the milk and butter mixture.  Add buttermilk until potatoes are moist, but be careful not to add to much, you don't want potato soup! Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Taste! If it needs more salt, which is likely, add it in 1/4 increments you can always add more but never take out. 

Serve hot 

2. Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes  

- 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes

- 1 stick of unsalted butter 

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of whole milk 

- 1/2 cup of sour cream

- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper 

- Kosher Salt

Peel, wash and cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water for 20 minutes until the potatoes are very tender. 

In small pan cook butter and milk until the butter is melted. 

Drain the potatoes. Place the potatoes in the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low add the butter and milk mixture, sour cream, 1.5 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper. Mix until smooth and creamy. 

Serve hot 

Sticky Buns

We've all had them, whether we liked or not, but who wouldn't like stick buns? Anyways there are wonderful canned sticky buns but why make something that's canned when you can make something homemade, that's my motto. Here's the best part they're easy to make and every time I make these people go crazy for them.

8 tablespoons of butter ( 1 stick ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup of brown sugar ( I like light brown sugar, but either works. )
1/2 cup of pecans, chopped
1 package of frozen puff pastry, defrosted.

For the Filling

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, meted and cooled
2/3 cup of brown sugar
3 teaspoons of cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the 8 tablespoons of butter and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Mix until well incorporated, a couple of minutes. Place an even amount of the mixture in side the muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the butter sugar mixture. ( I buy the small bag of pecans that are already chopped ).

Lightly flour a counter top. Unfold one puff pastry onto the floured board. Make sure the folds are going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter, leaving a 1-inch border around the entire sheet. Sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon. Starting with the end nearest to you, roll the pastry up, snugly, finishing with the seam side down. Cut off about 1/2 inch off each end and discard. Slice the roll into 6 equal parts each about 1.5 inches wide. Place 6 into the butter sugar mixture inside the muffin tin. Repeat with second puff pastry until all 12 sticky buns are complete.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool for around 5 minutes ( don't wait to long because they will begin to stick to the pan ) and put onto the parchment paper that you baked them on. The pecans will likely stick to the bottom, ease them out with spoon and put on top of the stick buns.


Serve warm

Scrambled Eggs 3 different ways.

Most people love scrambled eggs and I've never quite had eggs turn out how I want them to. So one day I tried several different variations of them, and several different ways just to make them and I figured out the best ways. I found that using a wood spoon during the cooking process fluffs them up the most, and I read once that chemically the less milk you use the more moist the eggs will be in the end, and that's true.


- Ingredients
- 6 eggs ( I like extra-large eggs, I think that their a better value )
- 3 tablespoons of milk ( whole milk is best )
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/2 a teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
- Butter


- Egg recipe #1
- Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk together until combined. In a medium pan melt one tablespoon of butter, and add the egg mixture. Cook until desired doneness. Turn of heat and add another tablespoon of butter. ( this keeps them moist )
- Serve hot


- Egg recipe #2
- Ingredients above plus:
- 1/4 cup of sharp cheese ( you can use any cheese you want, but make sure it's really good )
- 3 thick cut slices of bacon ( I really like Hormel's Black Label )
- Combine eggs,milk, salt ( depedning on how salty your bacon is you may want to add less ), pepper, and half the cheese in a medium bowl and whisk together. Cook bacon until crispy, and set aside. In that same pan add the egg mixture and cook until desired doneness. Add the bacon that you've crumbled , and turn off the heat. Add the cheese on top of the eggs, and wait until the cheese is melted some and serve.
- Serve hot



- Egg recipe #3
- Ingredients above plus:
- 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoon of fresh dill
-Combine eggs, milk, salt, pepper and whisk together. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pan, and add egg mixture. Cook until desired doneness. Turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter, and the 2 tablespoons of parsley, and dill.
- Serve hot

Lemon Meringue Pie

Here's easy desert that's not only tasty, but also fairly low in calories. - Crust
- 1.5 cups Graham crackers crumbs ( 1 package, 9 crackers )
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 6 tablespoons of butter, melted ( 3/4 stick)
- Filling
- 1 can ( 14 oz. ) of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
- 1/2 cup of lemon juice ( fresh )
- 2 egg yokes
- Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt ( 1/8 teaspoon )
- Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine in a medium bowl, graham crackers, sugar and butter. Crush graham crackers and the sugar with your hands. When butter is melted pour that into the bowl and combine everything with a fork. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Making sure the sides and the bottom and covered. ( press firmly ). Bake for 8 minutes.
- Take out and allow to cool. Leave the oven on, but turn down to 325 degrees .
- In a medium bowl combine milk, zest, juice and egg yokes. Whisk together. Pour onto cooled crust.
- Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar and salt together, in a electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, until light an fluffy. Put on top on filling mixture making sure it's all covered.
- Put back into over for 12 -15 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.
- Allow to cool and serve.