Meringue Christmas Tree Cookies

Well they're not really cookies as such, but you can pick them up with one hand and eat them so 'cookies' will do for me.

Start off by preheating the oven to 100C (80C for fan assisted) and beat four egg whites until stiff peaks form. I used a stand mixer but you could use an electric whisk or even do it by hand if you're feeling energetic.

Once the eggs are stiffly beaten, whisk in 250g caster sugar and beat until the meringue is glossy.

Next put the meringue mixture into a piping bag (it really is easier to do these in a piping bag rather than trying to spoon it onto the tray and make a tree shape).



Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat and pipe Christmas tree shapes by zigzagging back and forth.




You can pipe these really close together because meringues don't spread.

Now pop the tray in the oven and basically forget about them for two hours. It doesn't really matter what size you make the trees, it'll still take about two hours.




Once they're ready take the tray out of the oven and lift the trees straight off to cool down. They actually only take about ten minutes to cool so you can spend the time getting your decorations together.

Yes, there is a sneaky snowman up in the top left corner:)




We used blue and pink icing 'tinsel' on our trees, but you could use anything really. Dip them in chocolate (but wait til it cools a fair bit), cover in sprinkles add a shake of edible glitter or sandwich two together with fresh cream and strawberry jam in the middle, anything goes really with meringue.



And enjoy them.

With 20/20 hindsight, I should have been making these all year. You can freeze them undecorated, they keep for months and months in the freezer and they're a great way to use up any eggs that are close to their best before date because old eggs make better meringue than fresh.

I should plan ahead more next year.

Strawberry Pavlova

Because when you think about it you can always whip this up, pull the curtains, turn on the travel channel and pretend the sun is shining.

Pavlova is pretty easy to make. If you've tried before without success though chances are you need to up the amount of sugar in the recipe and always remember to leave the pavlova in the oven to cool, yes it takes ages, but it just isn't the same otherwise.

Start off by preheating your oven to 180C and lining a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a sheet of silpat, whichever you have handy. Foil, greaseproof paper or just greasing the tray don't work very well for pavlova. I use a large round pizza sheet for mine, but nobody ever said pavlova had to be round so if all you have is a regular square or rectangular sheet, go with that.

Next gather your ingredients together. You will need;

4 large egg whites
250g caster sugar (you can use unrefined caster which adds a slight caramel taste)
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a carton of double or whipping cream (I know that's a bit obscure but whatever happens to be available in roughly a half pint carton will do the trick)
fruit to top (in this case strawberry)

Now, I haven't taken photos of every step because it would just look like a load of photos of a bowl of white fluff...

Start off with just the egg white in a clean bowl. It really needs to be clean and free of any oil, to be sure pour a little lemon juice or white vinegar onto a clean cloth or paper towel and wipe the inside of the bowl.

Beat the egg white on high speed until they are stiff, you can test them by tipping the bowl upside down over your head if you like.

Next, with the egg whites still beating, add the sugar about a quarter at a time.

This is where it's handy to have a big mixer. Walk away. Yep, that's right walk away and leave it beating. Its quite easy to assume that once the sugar is incorporated into the egg white that it's finished, but you need to leave it beating until you can take a pinch of the mixture between your fingers, rub it and not feel any sugar. Trust me if you try to stand there and watch the machine, you'll get bored, impatient and end up moving on too quickly.

Once all the sugar has dissolved into the egg whites, add the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and beat it again for another minute.

Once you've done all that, the mixture will look soft and shiny.




Next take your lined tray and pile the pavlova mixture into the centre then spread it out into a rough circle. You don't have to be particularly delicate with pavlova in the way that you do with a souffle, just make sure to leave a couple of inches around the outside of the pavlova because these things can grow a fair bit in the oven.

Place the pavlova in the preheated oven and as soon as you close the door, turn the temperature down to 150C. Bake the pavlova at 150c for 1 hour 15 minutes. Once the pavlova is baked, turn the oven on, leave the door closed and walk away.




See what I mean about growing. After a couple of hours the pavlova should be cool (or very nearly at least) and you can remove it from the oven.




To serve invert the pavlova onto a plate. This way you have the light crispy shell on the bottom and outside edges, a bit like a pie shell, but the soft, chewy, mallow bit is in the middle. You can see from the photo below that once you have inverted the pavlova there is usually a crater in what is now the top.




Which is perfect for filling with whipped cream and strawberries.




I usually don't bother to sweeten the cream, but you can do so easily enough by adding a teaspoon or two of icing sugar when you're whipping the cream.



A couple of good variations for pavlova are;

Mashed bananas beaten into the whipped cream, pile it in the centre and top with chopped nuts and finally drizzle with melted dark chocolate. The good thing about this one is that it will cost you about the same amount of money to make all year round whereas a punnet of (crap, spongy, tasteless) strawberries in winter can set you back as much as £10.

You can also replace the caster sugar with golden caster and add 2 tbls of treacle to the pavlova mixture before baking. Once cooled, top the pavlova with hot chopped apples sauteed in a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon before drizzling with cold cream for another gorgeous winter dessert that tastes a little bit like the toffee apples your granny used to make, but you haven't quite managed the knack of yet.

Eggy Grilled Cheese

This recipe is great for a quick lunch or snack, it can get a little messy if your not quick.

You'll find this works best with supermarket bread because you can kind of mash the edges together to hold the filling inside. You can use your own homemade good bread however you may need to work a little harder to get the edges to hold together, I would definitely recommend removing the crusts if you're using good bread

Eggy Grilled Cheese

Two slices of white bread

Cheese, whichever takes your fancy or you happen to have on hand. Mozzarella works as does good cheddar or some good swiss cheese.

One egg beaten and seasoned.

Sliced cheese and arrange on one slice of bread leaving about a centimetre or two of uncovered bread around the edge (you can remove the crusts if you prefer. If I do this I toss them in a bag in the freezer until I have enough for something that needs breadcrumbs.

Place the second slice of bread on top of the first and squeeze and press the edges together until they hold. If it's supermarket (plastic) bread they will.

With the beaten egg poured onto a plate or wide bottomed bowl quickly dip each side of the bread into the egg and then place in a non stick pan or lightly oiled skillet over a medium heat.

Check after about two minutes to see if the egg has set on the bottom, for a deeper colour lift the bread and place a small knob of butter underneath and leave for a further minute to help brown the bread.

Turn the bread and repeat for other side.

WARNING... LEAVE TO COOL FOR AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES BEFORE EATING. IT'S DECEPTIVE, IT'LL FEEL MUCH COOLER ON THE OUTSIDE WHILE THE INSIDE IS STILL MOLTEN LAVA.

This is excellent on it's own or with some good tomato (marinara) sauce to dip into for that "pizza on the fly" taste.

For more great frugal recipes with eggs head over to Jenn at Frugal Upstate for the Frugal Food Series.

L.

Frittata

This month Jenn over at Frugal Upstate is hosting a Frugal Food Series.

With all living costs increasing on what seems like a weekly basis it's time to tighten our belts.

The most obvious and easiest way to do this is to cut back on food bills.

The first week of the series concentrates on eggs. Now I love eggs, can't get enough of them so I have a large collection of eggy recipes. However my favorite is a basic recipe for a Frittata. The reason I like this recipe so much and use it so often is that is great for helping to clear out the fridge.
The basic recipe is as follows;

tbls oil
4 eggs - beaten and seasoned to taste
approx 1 cup of cooked cubed potato (about 1cm cubes)
approx 1 cup of sliced onion

Heat oil in a non-stick shallow pan

Gently cook onion in oil for about ten minutes taking care not to allow only the slightest colour on the onions.

Add potatoes and cook for a further five minutes until heated through and just starting to colour at the edges.

Making sure the ingredients are evenly distributed in the pan, add beaten eggs to the pan and allow to cook on a low heat until the eggs set on the bottom and should start to set around the edges of the pan.

Place pan under a medium grill until the top of the frittata sets .

Don't let this recipe limit you. I have added all types of leftovers to this basic recipe with great results. Just always bear in mind that if you have a huge heaping pan of leftovers add enough egg to bind the ingredients together. You should be able to slice the frittata like a cake into wedges.

A frittata can be eaten at any time of the day. I have served fit or breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's also lovely cooked and left to cool and either eaten as a snack or with a salad and some good bread.

For more eggy ideas to feed your family head over to the Frugal Food Series at Frugal Upstate. Don't forget to check out some of Jenn's other invaluable posts while your there.

L.