Fruit and Cream Pavlova

This Fruit and Cream Pavlova is officially my daughter's favorite dessert.  She has already asked this to be made for her birthday almost a year from now.   The best part is it's really simple to make and you can go crazy with the toppings.  You can add a lot of different fruit and berries to change the pavlova to your taste. 

I added strawberries and kiwi today since they are my daughter's favorite fruits.  If I let her, she would have asked not only for seconds (which I gave her), but thirds too.  The recipe makes a very large round pavlova, but I created two medium size meringues so I could top one immediately and then keep the other one for the next day and keep it from getting soggy.  I am picky and I wanted the meringue to be nice and crispy, but it does last 1-2 day in the fridge pretty well topped with the cream and fruit.

I can't wait to play around with more variations... so keep a look out for more of these very pretty desserts to come your way this year. 


 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites – room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar- fine white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

small pinch of salt

1 Pint heavy whipping cream (or Cool Whip)
Fresh Fruit(strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries etc..)

Directions: 

 
1. Preheat oven to 300 F or 150 C.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a large circle in the middle of it or two circles if you want different toppings on each.
3. Beat eggs with cream of tartar, salt until stiff peak, then add 1 Tablespoon of sugar at a time mixing well each time.
4. Finally mix in vanilla.
5.  Spoon the meringue inside the circle and then fill in that circle.   Leave a indentation in the middle of the meringue for the filling. 
6. Put the meringue in the oven for about 1 hour.
7. Take out and let it cool completely on a wire rack (on the parchment)
8.  Carefully put the meringue on a platter or cake stand.
9.  Fill the indention with  Cool Whip.
10. Top with sliced fruit of choice.
11.  Store in a covered container in the fridge.

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

It's Curry and Comfort's 4th Birthday!!

                     Happy 4th Birthday!!

Today I celebrate with a slice of cake and a heart full of gratitude.  It's been four fabulous years cooking and blogging here at Curry and Comfort.  I have met so many wonderful fellow bloggers, cooking fans and friends through the years.  It's like having a whole new family thanks to my blog.   Cooking has always been something fun for me to do, but it's truly taken over as one of my greatest passions in life.  I am so grateful for every day I get to share a little piece of love from my kitchen here on the blog.

My family

I am so thankful to my recipe tasters... my family!  They get to eat all the food I cook, but sometimes they have to wait a little while so I can photograph it first.  Every food blogger knows that the photo is the proof in the pudding... without those wonderful photos to drool over our recipes would not be the same.

So to my husband and kids....
Thank you for being so patient with me...I could not do this every day without your hungry belly's helping me eat all that food.

My Mother 

I am especially thankful to my mother who has not only shared her recipes with me to share with you, but also encourages me every step of the way.  She is the person that told me to stop dreaming and make this blog a reality.  So with her words of encouragement I started this blog....

So to Ammi(Mom)...
Thank your for everything... from the bottom of my heart. You are my first teacher and my inspiration in the kitchen.

Everyone that has taken a little time in their day to visit with me... 

Thank You!  You have made me have four fabulous years here at Curry and Comfort.  I hope for many, many more years of blogging, cooking and enjoying my little space here on the internet. 


~  Ramona

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Green Chili Burger

My grocery store had Hass avocados 2 for a $1 recently.  I can't resist a good deal so I bought about six of them.  Then I had to come up with a bunch of recipes to use them in!  That always happens to me when I buy on impulse because I see a good deal.  I once bought 24 pounds of sweet potatoes because it was 3 pounds for a dollar!  We ate sweet potatoes in everything that month.   I think I need help.  LOL! 

Okay... let me get back to this fun burger.  My husband loves a big juicy burger, so I thought this Green Chili Burger would be a perfect burger to top with some beautiful green slices of avocado. 

I set out to make the burger and lunch was ready in less than 20 minutes.   Of course, my husband had to wait patiently for me to photograph the burgers for the blog before he could get the green light to eat them.  Life is not so easy when you are married to a food blogger... Photos always come first!  When he finally got his hands around one of these burgers, he said the wait was worth it and had a big smile on his face.

 Ingredients:

Hamburger Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
4oz can diced green chilies
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and black pepper to taste
red chili flakes to taste (optional)

Toppings and Condiments
4oz Monterey Jack Cheese or as needed
Hamburger buns (as needed)
Lettuce 
Tomato slices
Sliced avocado (squeeze some lime juice to keep from browning)
prepared salsa (bottled or fresh)
Mayonnaise


Directions:

Mix all hamburger ingredients together.  Form into 4-6 equal size patties (depending on the size of burger you want).  Heat skillet and cook burger 4-5 minutes on each side to cook them well done.

Flip burger and place about one ounce of shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top of each burger.  Tent with foil and cook burger and melt cheese.   Toast hamburger buns, apply mayonnaise on each bun then layer with lettuce, tomato, avocado and salsa.  Enjoy. 

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Pizza

We had a lot of snow last week so the kids were home most of it due to snow days.  That meant the lunch boxes were put away and it was Mommy's cooking for lunch.  I asked them what they felt like eating for lunch and it was a unanimous request for pizza.  

I always keep my pantry pretty well stocked, so I was happy when I saw a prepared pizza crust on the shelf.  I also saw a can of crushed pineapple and inspiration struck.  I have always wanted to add pineapple to my pizza, but the kids see chunks of pineapple and say "no way!".    I knew the crushed pineapple would make a great addition to a bbq style pizza, but I just needed to hide the fact there was pineapple in the sauce from the kids until they actually tried it. I told the kids they could not help me make lunch since it was going to be a surprise.  They were happy to play while I cooked.

The sauce came together so quickly and it tasted great.  I topped the pizza simply with cheese, peppers and onions and then baked it.  I waited anxiously for the kids to try their first bites.  I was hoping they would not immediately shoot the pizza down because they tasted pineapple.  My son happily ate his first slice and he kept asking me what was the big surprise in the pizza. 

After he ate his 2nd slice, I told him it was crushed pineapple.  I thought he would say "ewwww"... but he actually said that he thought it made a way better bbq sauce than the bottled stuff some bbq chicken pizzas use.  I agree with him!  Sometimes the bottle sauce can be very overpowering flavor-wise and this sauce was sweet, tangy with a little kick.  It was not overpowering the rest of the pizza ingredients.    The pizza was a big hit and my kids learned a lesson that day:   Don't say you don't want to try something until you actually try it first.  Now we will have to stock up on crushed pineapple because we may have a new favorite pizza sauce. 

Ingredients:
2 Prepared pizza crust
Sliced red onion
Sliced green peppers
Diced red sweet peppers
1lb grated cheese (I liked a mix of Mexican cheese like colby, monterey jack and cheddar cheese or you can use all mozzarella). 

For BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Sauce: 
1lb boneless skinless chicken breast
8oz rushed pineapple
8oz can tomato sauce
1-2 cloves fresh grated garlic
red chili flakes (to taste)
salt and black pepper to taste
2 tsp soy sauce (or to taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 heaping tsp brown sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp rice vinegar  

 Directions:

Cut boneless chicken up into small bite size pieces.  Heat 2 Tbs of canola oil in pan and brown chicken.  Then add garlic, salt, black pepper and red chili flakes and saute for another minute.

Next add the crush pineapple (with liquid) and the can of canned tomato sauce.  Season with soy sauce, brown sugar and rice vinegar.

Cook for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through and sauce has sweet and tangy flavor.   Allow Sauce to cool down a little before proceeding.  Separate out the larger chicken pieces from the sauce to top pizza.


To Assemble the Pizza:

I used a prepared pizza crust and applied a small amount of olive oil over the base of the crust.  Then spoon and spread a little sauce and a few smaller pieces of the bbq chicken on the pizza crust.  Cover with cheese.
 

Top with larger pieces of bbq chicken, peppers and onion.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is crispy.  Slice and Serve.  Enjoy.

 




Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Mushroom Eggplant and Pepper Pasta

 I found some great deals at the grocery store yesterday.  I got mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes and a variety of peppers at rock bottom prices.  I brought my treasures home and this pasta was the creation.  I wanted to make a vegetarian style pasta since I wanted the vegetables to be the star of this dish.  I ate it just as is and was totally satisfied by the meaty texture and flavor the mushrooms gave the dish.  Of course my meat loving husband had to add some rotisserie chicken to his plate.  Either way you want to eat this dish, it's hearty and totally satisfying.

 
  
Ingredients:
1lb spaghetti or linguine pasta cooked
1 large eggplant diced small
3 large tomatoes chopped
1lb sliced button mushrooms sliced
3-5 sweet peppers sliced
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp granulated garlic
salt to taste
red chili flakes
1/2 cup starchy water
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2-3 Tbs fresh chopped parsley.
 
 Directions:
Boil pasta in well salted water until 80% cooked. Reserve 1 cup of starchy cooking water.  Drain pasta and set aside.


In a large pan heat 1 tablespoon canola oil and add diced eggplant.  Saute until eggplant until brown with some salt.   Remove from pan and add 1 Tbs of canola oil and add sliced mushrooms.  Saute until brown then add salt to season.

Next add sauteed eggplant back into the pan with them mushroom and add the chopped tomatoes, diced onions and sliced peppers to the pan. Saute all together.   Then add the chili flakes, granulated garlic, dried basil and oregano.





Saute all the ingredients  in pan then add 1/2 cup of starchy cooking water (more if necessary) and the drained pasta.  Toss with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Taste for salt and seasoning.  Serve hot with more Parmesan cheese and some parsley.
 

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Curry and Comfort's Weekly Sunday Summary 2/16/15 thru 2/22/15

 

 Happy Sunday Everyone!

Snow, Snow, Snow!  I know I should not complain with the folks up in Boston getting slammed this year (they have had over 100 inches of snow fall this winter),  but we have also had more than enough snow and freezing temperatures where I live for my tropical born body to go into hibernation mode.  I'm wishing and hopping for spring to hurry up and get here already. 

Yesterday we had about 10 inches of snow fall..... so I'm heading outside to shovel and dig out of this winter-not-so-wonderland!  Hope you have a warm and beautiful week where ever you are... we are probably getting more snow. Ahhhhhhhh! :) 

Here is my week in review...

 

• Spicy Shrimp Puttanesca
• Schezuan Beef with Broccoli (Throwback Thursday)
• Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken
• Bacon Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) with Egg
• Spicy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Spicy Shrimp Puttanesca

 It's freezing cold outside so I am in dire need of comfort food.  It's Lent and Friday so I also need to make it meat-free or seafood based.  This Spicy Shrimp Puttanesca fits the bill perfectly. 

I love the bold flavors of this pasta that starts with anchovies.  If you think you don't like anchovies... you have to give them a try.  When you fry them in the oil, they just melt and give the pasta a a nice salty  and nutty flavor punch.  My kids loved this pasta, and trust  me, they would not have wanted to eat anything that tasted "fishy". 

This dish is beautiful to look at as well as to eat.  So if you're looking for something that helps you get over your winter time blues, this dish is for you.

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (I prefer linguine) cooked al dente
1 lb shrimp (cleaned)
1 (2oz) can of anchovy fillets in olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic minced or grated
2 Tbs of olive oil
1 cup black olives (drained and pitted)
2-3 Tbs capers
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 onion diced
2-3 jalapenos sliced
1 cup starchy pasta water
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
red chili flakes (to taste)
salt (to taste)


Directions:
Boil pasta in well salted water just shy of al dente and set aside.  Before draining pasta remember to reserve one cup of pasta water.


In a large pan, heat 2 Tbs of canola oil then add all the anchovies with their oil as well.  

 

Allow anchovies to melt as they cook.  Then add onion, jalapenos, red chili flakes and garlic and saute for a minute. 

Next add the shrimp and tomatoes.  Smash tomatoes as they cook so they burst and release their juices.

Next add the pasta water, olives and capers. 

Taste sauce for salt and add as needed.  Add pasta and toss with sauce.  Allow pasta to cook to al dente in sauce.  Add Parmesan cheese and toss well.   Serve hot.  Enjoy.

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.