Chocolate Meringue Pie

 Hello! Yes, I am still here. The past two months have been a bit crazy. No excuse I know, but  you will forgive me when you try this wonderful pie. 


Chocolate Meringue Pie (to be exact).


Bake your favorite pastry dough (or buy one).






For the Filling:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups milk
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 
  

1.In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, 1 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt. Mix well. Stir in the milk. 

2.Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

3.Beat the egg yolks. Add 1/2 cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolks and mix well. 

4.Add the mixture back to the saucepan and continue to cook for 2 minutes. 

5.Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell and cool completely. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until chilled.

I used my go to meringue recipe from Joy of cooking. 

Soft Meringue Topping

Preheat oven 350 F

1. Beat 4 large egg whites (room temperature) until foamy. 

2. Beat in 1/4 tp cream of tartar until soft peaks form. 

3. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup of sugar. 

4. Beat in 1/2 tp vanilla.

5. Spread over filling and be sure to seal the meringue by lightly pushing it to edge of the pie shell. 

6.  Bake in oven until the tips of the meringue are browned. 

Il était magnifique! 

Until next time, joyeux cuisson! 

Jamie's The Real Mushroom Soup

Monday evening Mr. Weinberger and I had Jamie Oliver's "The Real Mushroom Soup" out of jamie's dinners. It was really tasty, relatively easy, and perfect for a chilly evening in San Antonio. We only had the budget for two variations of mushrooms, but I'm sure lots of different types would make this all the more flavorful.

Serves 6

You need:

a small handful of dried porcini

olive oil

2 lb mixed fresh wild mushrooms (chanterelles, black trumpets, shiitake, oyster), cleaned and sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1 red onion

TB of butter

a handful of fresh thyme leaves

sea salt and pepper

4.5 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 lemon

1.Get a large casserole-type pan hot, then add a few lugs of olive oil and the fresh mushrooms.

2. Stir around, then add your garlic, onion, butter and thyme, and a small amount of seasoning. Cook for about 20 mins. until moist of the moisture disappears.

3. Season to taste, and add your stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for around 20 min.

4. Puree your soup. (We used our immersion blender)

5. Make sure you mix together a pinch of salt and pepper with the zest of one lemon and the juice of half of it, then spoon a little of this into the middle of the soup. When you eat it, stir it in and it will really brighten the flavor.

As you can see we also toasted slices of french bread, and garnished the soup with flat leaf parsley.

I hope to share our meal we enjoyed last night soon. We had a delightfully sinful fish fry. Nom Nom.

Joyeux Cuisson!

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes and Buttercream Icing

Well, this did not go as well as I hoped. I just wasn't happy with the icing, I'm sure it's me. I'm going to hunker down soon and perfect my buttercream. Here it goes, perhaps you will have more luck than me...

Cupcakes:

You need:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Icing:

You need:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

All and all these are fine. I did adjust the icing recipe a bit. Tonight we are having Jamie Oliver's perfect mushroom soup, and I can't wait to share it with you. Until then-

Joyeux Cuisson,

Better Late than Never

Mr. Weinberger and I are pretty much settled into our new home in San Antonio. This week we are making all new recipes, and I hope to be sharing them with you soon. For now I'm going to share some of the Christmas goodies we enjoyed at our house. Yes it is January 23rd, but Christmas lives in the heart of each of us all year round. Right? Right.

Who doesn't love, Oreo Balls

These are really simple and most of you probably already know how to make them.

You need:

1 package of double stuff Oreos

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1 package of white chocolate chips

1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Dump cookies into food processor and chop until they are pretty fine.

2. Put "cookies" into a large mixing bowl along with the cream cheese and mix all together by hand.

3. Using a cookie scoop form the mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet.

4. Cool for about 15 mins. if you can.

5. Meanwhile make a double broiler and melt desired chocolate chips.

6. Take your Oreo balls and swirl them around in the chocolate until coated. Do this until all the balls are covered.

Joy of Cooking, Meringues

Preheat oven to 225 F

You need:

4 large egg whites

1 tp of vanilla

1/2 tp cream of tartar

1 c superfine sugar

1. Bean in a large bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form: the egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar.

2. Gradually one TB at a time add the sugar.

3. Beat until the meringue holds stiff peaks. I like to pipe mine, but you could use a spoon and dollop them onto the baking sheet.

4. Bake in oven for about 1.5 hours until hard and not sticky.

I hope to be back very soon. Until then-

Joyeux Cuisson,

I'll Be Back

I swear. I really love the idea of this blog and plan to write more regularly once our move to San Antonio is complete. I will not be a student, and Joe tells me I will feel like I have more free time. I hope so. I received lots of baking tools for Christmas and can not wait to try them out! I've already checked out the baking section of the nearest San Antonio library on the online catalog. Eek, it's going to be fun. Until then...

Joyeux Cuisson-

Jamie's Good Old Steak and Guinness Pie

Well it only took me weeks, but finally here is the other Jamie Oliver recipe we did. It was really easy and so delicious!

Serves 6

• 1.5 lb stewing beef, diced
• 2 TB of flour
• olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 handful of fresh herbs
• 2.5 cups Guinness
• 2 14oz cans of tomatoes
• 1 1lb 2oz package of puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Season your beef with salt and pepper, sprinkle with flour and toss around until coated.

2. heat 2-3 glugs of olive oil in a large casserole type pan and fry your meat until golden brown.

3. Add the onion and fry for 1 more minute, then add the carrot, celery, parsnips and herbs. Fry for another 4 minutes then pour in your Guinness. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil.
4. Stir around, then simmer for around 2 hours or until the meat is really tender. The sauce should be think.

5. Fill your oven proof bowls or baking dish with your meat filling. Roll out your pastry until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out six 6 circles about 1/2 inch bigger than the tops of your bowls. Brush the rims of your bowls with beaten egg, then place the pastry circles on top, squashing the excess pastry down the outside. Lightly brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg.
6. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Thanks Jamie Oliver for this awesome recipe! Mr. Weinberger loved it, and I know we will make it over and over.

Until next time, Joyeux Cuisson!

Jamie Oliver Week: Day 1

Or three days really. This dish from Cook with Jamie is really simple, but completely satisfying.

White Fish wrapped in Smoked Bacon with *White Wine-Lemon Sauce and Asparagus

Serves 4:

4 white fish fillets, skinned and pinboned

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary leaves picked and chopped

zest and juice of two lemons

4 slices of Pancetta

2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Season fillets with rosemary, lemon zest, and pepper. Wrap the pancetta around the fillets.

2. Lightly heat a ovenproof frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and lay your fish, prettiest side facing up, n the pan. Fry for a minute, the flip and place your pan in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bacon is crisp.

3. This is where we changed it up a bit. Jamie has a lemon-mayonnaise listed with this dish; however, to make it more healthful we went with a simple white-wine, butter, and lemon juice sauce. Be sure to let the wine cook for a bit before adding the butter and lemon juice.

4. For the asparagus you can boil it, steam it, or like us saute it in a non-stick pan. Easy-peasy!

5. Plate the asparagus and place the fish on top and drizzle the sauce over both.

Tonight we are having Steak and Guinness Pie. I can hardly wait!

Until then, Joyeux Cuisson!