This is a traditional English dessert that apparently was invented at Eaton, the famous prep school.  The recipe came from Nigella’s book, Nigella Express.  It sounds heavy, but it’s actually very light and refreshing.  The combination of the tart berries, soft cream, and crispy meringue is irresistible.  A perfect summer dessert using local strawberries.

• 4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced (local Oregon berries are in!)
• 2 t. pomegranate juice
• 2 t. sugar
• 2 C. whipped cream
• 10 vanilla meringue cookies (mine were Trader Joe’s, about two inches across.  If you use mini meringues I would double the number.)

Toss the strawberries in a bowl with the sugar and the pomegranate juice.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for a few hours to macerate.  Whip the cream until soft peaks form, cover and refrigerate.  Just before serving, take out and set aside about 1 C. of the strawberries.  Toss the rest of the berries with the cream and crumble in the meringues.  You want some bigger chunks and some pebble sized crumbs.  Crumble them right over the bowl, so the whipped cream catches all the meringue dust.  Fold it all together and divide among six bowls.  Top with a little more berries.  Eat right away- you want the meringue chunks to be a crispy foil to the soft cream.  I plan to make this dessert again and again using different seasonal berries as they come to the market.

For one Rhubarb Mojito

• ice
• 2 oz. white rum
• 1 oz. rhubarb simple syrup (recipe below)
• 4-5 fresh mint leaves
• 2 oz. club soda

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.  Pour in the rum and simple syrup.  Place the mint leaves and a couple of ice cubes into a glass and muddle – or crush until the mint is bruised and broken down into small pieces.  Combine the muddled mint with the ice, rum, and rhubarb syrup and shake vigorously.  Strain into a glass and top with the club soda.  Garnish with a fresh mint leaf.

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

• 1 C. sugar
• 1 C. water
• 1 stalk of rhubarb, sliced

Combine the sugar, water, and rhubarb in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil for one minute and set aside to steep for twenty to thirty minutes.  Strain through a sieve, pressing on the solids.  Discard the solids or eat them (they are yummy).

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know I love to make mini versions of things, especially desserts.  It’s my way of pretending that desserts aren’t that bad for me.  If they’re mini then they must be ok!  I made some rhubarb sauce (think applesauce) with fresh rhubarb from the farmer’s market and decided to put it to good use.  If you’re not a fan of rhubarb try my mini lemon cheesecakes instead! Makes 20.

Rhubarb Sauce:

• 4-5 stalks of rhubarb, sliced
• 1 C. sugar
• 1 C. water

Crust:

• 1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs
• 2 T. sugar
• 1/2 C. melted butter

Filling:

• 2– 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 C. sugar
• 2 t. lemon zest
• 1/2 C. sour cream
• 2 t. vanilla
• 4 egg yolks

First make the rhubarb sauce.  Stir together the sliced rhubarb, sugar, and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, or until the rhubarb is completely broken down and the liquid has evaporated.  It should be the consistency of chunky applesauce when it’s done.  Set aside and chill until cold.  This can be made ahead up to one week and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.  It can also be frozen and thawed when you want a little ruby-hued love in your life.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare the crust.  Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 2 T. sugar in a bowl.  Line two muffin tins with 20 cupcake papers.  Distribute the crumbs equally among the papers.  Use your fingers to press the crumbs into the bottom of the cups.  Bake the cups for about 7-9 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown.  Meanwhile make the filling.  Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, sour cream, and egg yolks until very smooth.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared cups.  Place a tablespoon of rhubarb sauce on top of each cheesecake and use a toothpick to swirl the sauce into the cheesecake batter.

This amount of filling filled twenty cups about 3/4 full.  It’s ok if the crusts are still hot, it’s all going right back into the oven.  Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake the cheesecakes for about 25-30 minutes, or until set.  If you gently touch your finger to the top and it’s no longer wet, then they are done.  When cool, remove from the pan and chill for at least an hour, until cold.  The cheesecakes will sink a bit and create a nice little cradle for the rhubarb topping.  Spoon a few tablespoons of rhubarb sauce onto each cooled cheesecake.  Chill and serve.

Easy Chili Colorado

Fresh Pineapple Salsa

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Mango Salsa

Flank Steak Tacos with Green Pico De Gallo

Taco Pie

Chicken Basil Tacos

Spicy Broccoli Slaw

Giant Pot Of Manly Chili

Crispy Baked Taquitos with Pinto Beans

¡Otra ronda de tequilas! 

Every year I buy several boxes of Thin Mints from the Girl Scouts and stash them in the freezer.  After the kids go to bed my husband and I will eat a few, ice-cold, out of the freezer.  By some miracle, I still had enough left to make this easy “cake”.  If you have any Thin Mints left in your freezer, this is a winner – no baking involved.

• I roll of Thin Mints (the box comes with two rolls.  That other one will be really lonely in the box all by itself, so you’d better go ahead and eat it while you’re making this.)
• 1 pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened to a spreadable consistency.

Line a 6 inch cake pan or ramekin with parchment paper.  Just go ahead and press the paper into the bottom and up the sides, it will be crinkly and uneven in places, no biggie.  Place the cookies in a freezer bag and crush them to a crumbly powder.  Sprinkle half the crumbs into the bottom of the pan.  Drop the softened ice cream on top of the crumbs and use a spatula to spread it evenly.  Sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top.  Pop the whole thing into the freezer for at least 1-2 hours.  Before serving, use the parchment to lift the cake out of the pan.  Peel it away from the cake and place it on a serving plate.  Cut it into wedges with a knife dipped in warm water.

These happened by accident.  Some accidents are happy.  I wanted to make homemade cinnamon rolls for brunch the next morning.  I started to proof the yeast in warm water….no foam.  When you add yeast to warm water and a pinch of sugar, the yeast wakes up and comes to life, creating a beer-like foam. I had no foam.  I looked at the jar of yeast and discovered that it had expired.  It was too late to go to the store and I wasn’t sure if I could change the menu, so I started rooting around in the freezer and found a bag of Rhodes frozen dinner rolls.  I usually use them to make Cabbage Rolls (recipe to come soon) but I thought, maybe these will work.  They did!  Hooray, delicious homemade cinnamon rolls – almost as much work as making them from scratch so you can still feel like you are a bad-ass brunch maker.  If I ever decide to become a super hero that might be my title. B.A.B.M.? Plan on starting these the night before.

• 1 package of Rhodes frozen dinner rolls- they come in a bag of about thirty.
• 2 sticks of salted butter, softened and divided.
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 3 T. cinnamon
• flour for dusting
• 1 1/4 C. powdered sugar
• 3 T. heavy cream
• 1 t. vanilla

In the evening before you want to serve these, take the rolls out of the freezer and place them into a large, greased bowl.  Just pile them in.  Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and cover the frozen rolls loosely.  Let the bowl sit on the counter.  It takes about 6-8 hours for the rolls to thaw and rise.  In the morning, punch the dough down and form it into one big ball.  Knead it a few times to get most of the air out.  The dough will be very elastic.  Butter a 9 x 13 baking pan or dish.  Dust a cutting board with a bit of flour and roll the dough out into a big rectangle.  This dough will keep springing back at you, don’t give up.  Keep rolling till you get to about 11 x 17 inches.  Spread 1 1/2 C. of the softened butter onto the dough.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle it all over the rectangle of dough.

Roll the dough into a 17 inch log, lengthwise and place the seam-side down on the board.  Use a sharp knife to cut the log into round slices about 2 inches thick.  Place each roll into the buttered pan.  It’s ok, even preferable if they touch a bit.  You should be able to get about 12-14 rolls from this recipe.  The rolls need to rise again.  I found the fastest way to do this is in the oven with just the light turned on.  Cover them loosely with plastic and set them into the oven to rise for about an hour.  Take them out of the oven.  Preheat it to 350 and bake the cinnamon rolls for about 20-25 minutes.  They should be just golden and if you check the center, the dough will be cooked through, but still soft.  Let the pan sit on the counter for a few minutes to cool a bit.  Meanwhile make the glaze.  Melt the remaining 4 T. of butter in a bowl.  Add the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.  Pour the glaze over the warm rolls.

These are light and elegant and perfect for a Mother’s Day tea party or luncheon.  I wanted to make egg salad sandwiches that tasted like a deviled egg- if you don’t want to puree, feel free to just mash with a fork. The wrap and chill step is important because it helps hold everything together and gives you those picture-perfect Martha slices. Makes 24.

• Seven eggs, hard-boiled and peeled.
• 1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard
• 2 t. lemon juice
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper, finely ground
• 1/4 C. mayonnaise
• 1/4 C. champagne or dry sparkling white wine
• 1/8 C. parsley or chives, optional
• 6 slices of good quality white sandwich bread

Chop the eggs into fourths and toss them into the food processor with all the other ingredients except the bread.  Process until smooth.  Taste for seasoning.  If it’s too thick for spreading, add a touch more champagne.  To assemble, place three slices of bread on a cutting board and divide the egg mixture evenly among the three slices.  Smooth it out and top it with the other three pieces of bread so you have three large sandwiches.  Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour or more.  Just before serving, use a serrated bread knife to trim the crusts from all sides and discard.  Use a sawing motion so the filling doesn’t get squeezed out.  Cut each sandwich into four equal rectangles.  Cut each 4th into triangles.  This will give you 24 dainty, two-bite finger sandwiches.  Cutting them just before serving keeps them nice and fresh without allowing the bread to get crusty.

This is a welcome departure from your every day greens and dressing. I was inspired by a fava bean/asparagus salad recipe in Bon Appetit.  The salad is served cold, but be sure to save the frying of the shallots for the last minute- you want them to be extra crispy.  You know how chefs are always talking about peeling asparagus?  I never, ever peel my asparagus.  I snap off the woody end and get to cooking.  This time, I took the advice of Ina and Martha and peeled the ends of the asparagus with a peeler.  What a nice, elegant difference it made!   No stringy ends, and nothing stuck between the teeth either.

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 T. parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 1 bunch asparagus (trimmed and peeled:)
• 1 C. frozen, thawed peas
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced

Combine the olive oil, parmesan, and lemon juice with a whisk and season with salt and pepper, then set it aside.  Heat a saucepan of water to a boil and drop in the asparagus.  Cook for about three minutes, until just tender.  Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.  Toss the thawed peas and cooked, cooled asparagus into a bowl with the dressing. Cover and chill.  Just before serving, heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  Fry the shallots until golden brown and crispy, about two minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a paper towel.  Top the cold salad with the hot shallots and serve.  A little sprinkling of crunchy Maldon salt at the end would be totes delish!

I adapted this recipe from a book I read recently called The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz.  It’s one of the few recipes in the book that’s not a dessert(which all looked fabulous too).  The book is a funny collection of stories and recipes all about the charming author’s adventures moving to Paris from San Francisco.  I have made it twice in the last two weeks, both for company.  Everyone who has tried it has really enjoyed it.  It’s not difficult once you have all the ingredients on hand.  The best part is that you can make it ahead and reheat it if you’re serving it for a dinner party.   Also, there is about an hour of “hands-off” cooking time, which is great if you have other dishes to prepare or floors to vacuum before your guests arrive!  Serves 4-6

• 4 oz. dried apricots
• 8 chicken thighs
• 1 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. ground turmeric
• 2 t. paprika or 1 t. smoked paprika
• 1/4 t. saffron
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 t. Kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T. butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 C. chicken stock
• 1/3 C. fresh parsley (the original recipe called for cilantro, but my dad hates it, so I used parsley.  Do what  you want!)
• 1 T. honey
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 C. sliced blanched almonds, toasted

Heat a cup of water to boiling and pour it into a bowl with the apricots to plump them.  Let them sit in the water while you prepare the chicken. In a large bowl combine the ginger, turmeric,  paprika, saffron, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.  Add the chicken thighs and toss them around to coat them in the spices.  It’s easiest to do this with your hands, but if you don’t wear gloves your fingernails will be stained yellow by the turmeric for several days- which I learned the hard way.  Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Heat the butter in a large Dutch oven and add the onions. Cook until the onions begin to soften, about three minutes.  Add the chicken and cook for about three minutes, turning the pieces to brown them.  Pour in the stock and add the parsley.  Put the lid on and put the whole pot into the oven for 50 minutes.  Take the pot out of the oven and remove the chicken to a deep serving platter, cover with foil to keep warm.  Put the Dutch oven with the sauce in it back on the stove and bring it to a boil.  Add the honey, lemon juice and the drained apricots and simmer until it reduces by about one-third.  For me this took about ten minutes.  Taste for seasoning.  Pour the sauce and apricots over the chicken in the platter.  Top with a bit more parsley or cilantro and the toasted almonds.  Serve this with something that will help absorb some sauce, like rice, couscous, or polenta.

I recently read an article in Saveur about the best types of chocolate for making homemade chocolate pudding.  Surprisingly there were a few supermarket brands of chocolate that were clear winners in the experiment.  One of them being Hershey’s Special Dark.  Chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse are my favorite desserts so I had to give Special Dark a try in my own pudding recipe.  The results were terrific.  Rich, dark, smooth, not too bitter- no more fancy, expensive, hard-to-find chocolate necessary. This takes ten minutes to make- even better.  Makes 6 small ramekins or 4 large ones.

• a scant 1/2 C. sugar
• 2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 T. cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 C. milk, I used 1%
• 1/2 C. heavy cream
• 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate, such as Special Dark (the bar comes in a convenient 4.25 oz. package, leaving one little rectangle of chocolate left over which you will have no choice but to eat yourself while you are making this.  What else are you going to do with it?)
• 1 T. rum or other liqueur
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla

In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.  Slowly whisk in the milk and cream over medium-low heat.  Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and bubble, about four minutes.  Stir in the chopped chocolate until melted fully.  Remove from heat and stir in the rum and vanilla.  Divide into ramekins, cover, and chill.