As I’ve mentioned before, I cannot help myself from making a million desserts in December. There is something about the last month of the year that makes me want to bake my little heart out. Oxo has decided to help my cause by asking me to check out their new and improved Egg Beater. I am a huge fan of Oxo products (bowls, containers, apple corers; you name it, I have it). So I knew that their egg beater would find a happy home in my kitchen. Oxo also sent me an extra egg beater to give away to one of lucky reader. Details will be below!
The egg beater has a non-slip grip handle for ease of use. The beaters are removable and then entire base can be detached and is dishwasher-safe (a must in my kitchen. I’m way too lazy to clean dishes after cooking). The beater itself has managed to improve upon its predecessors by adding a steel bridge at the bottom that can rest on the bottom of the bowl. This allows the beaters to be slightly in the air without causing arm strain.Note: This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Jill J;you have won! Check your e-mail 🙂
Photo courtesy of oxo.com
Their website had a great video that shows all the features so I wanted to include that hereas well.
So I really wanted to test this bad boy. I decided to not only test it’s ease of use, but it’s ease of cleaning by making a recipe that uses the egg beater in more than one step of the process. How about a chocolate souffle topped with a warm fudge sauce and some freshly made whipped cream? (Not going to lie, the whipped cream was an afterthought because my souffle collapsed. Sigh. Still learning…)
Ingredients:
Souffle:
Cooking spray
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 large egg whites
Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powered sugar
This recipe requires a bit of oven preparation. Take out the top rack of your oven. Position the other rack as low as possible. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Spray six 8-ounce souffle dishes (or ramekins) with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons (or 1 teaspoon per ramekin) of sugar and set aside.
In a large saute pan, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, and the salt over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk or the Oxo egg beater. Add 1 1/4 cups milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add 3 ounces chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, add the egg whites (reserve one egg yolk!) and beat using your egg beater until stiff peaks form. This took a good 5 minutes for me.
Once the egg whites are beaten, the chocolate mixture should have cooled. Add the vanilla and egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and stir.Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture.
Once combined, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
Spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Sharply tap the dishes two or three times on counter to even out each mixture in the ramekin. You want them to be about 3/4 full so that they can puff over the top of the ramekin. If you are making these ahead of time, you can cover the ramekins at this stage and freeze until you’re ready to bake them.
When ready to bake, place them on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven (which is at 425) on the bottom rack. Immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees (keep the souffles in the oven and don’t open the door, the temperature will slowly lower over time). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the side comes out clean.
The sauce can also be made ahead of time if you so wish. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, and 1 tablespoon flour, stirring well with a whisk.
Gradually add 1/2 cup milk stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, continuing to stir. Remove from heat, add 1/2 ounce chocolate and stir until smooth. Spoon over warm souffles.
To make the whipped cream, add the heavy cream to a bowl. Using the egg beater, beat the cream until peaks are just about to form. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar and beat until peaks form. Add a dollop of the fresh whipped cream to the souffle and serve.
So my souffle came out puffy and happy and I was so excited!
But as I started adding the chocolate sauce, it began to deflate. Sigh.
So I topped it off with the fresh whipped cream and called it even.
Souffles are notoriously difficult to make, but I wanted to at least give it a shot. Who honestly cares if it deflated though? It still tasted wonderful! I think even a collapsed souffle still looks pretty darn nice as well, no?
So if you’re still with me, you can win your very own Oxo egg beater to beat and whip until your heart’s content.
Good luck, and feel free to leave me a comment below with any questions, comments, or complaints 🙂
Note: I received both a free egg beater for myself and for the giveaway through Oxo’s Blogger outreach program. All opinions and photos with the exception of the egg beater photo are mine.
Have you ever bought a bunch of ingredients just because they sounded good? I try to stick to a list, but this time I couldn’t help myself. I found fresh spinach spaghetti and it just sounded so wonderful, I had to buy it. I wanted to make a simple but flavorful dish so I was pretty happy to find salmon as well. I already had heavy cream and parsley in my fridge so this recipe for Spinach Spaghetti with Salmon Cream Sauce was the result!
One of my favorite shows on the Food Network is 5 Ingredient Fix. I love that all the recipes include 5 ingredients or fewer (plus salt and pepper, they are considered “freebies”) and I find the tips that host Claire Robinson shares to be so so useful.
I was watching an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix a few weekends ago, where she was making a Lobster Corn Creme Brulee. It looked so delicious (and easy!) that I promised myself I’d try it out the next time my CSA share came with corn. I didn’t have to wait long!
I made Sauteed Chicken with Fennel and Rosemary, and needed something starchy to soak up some of the sauce. The recipe suggested polenta or mashed potatoes, so I thought I’d make smashed potatoes and incorporated some of the same ingredients found in the main dish. I had a bag of red potatoes from my CSA share so I luckily had all ingredients on hand.
Ingredients:
1 bag of red potatoes (I had enough to fill up a medium sized bowl)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley
Wash your red potatoes thoroughly, making sure to remove all dirt.
Halve any red potatoes that are larger than the average size. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the red potatoes and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and add to a medium sized bowl. using a large spoon or a whisk, smash each of the potatoes. Don’t go overboard, you want them to be chunky.
In a saute pan, add a small amount of the butter, rosemary and the minced garlic over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute.
Lower the heat and add the chicken stock, stirring. Add the rest of the butter and the cream and stir to combine.
When the butter has melted, pour over the smashed potatoes and stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Top with parsley.
These were absolutely delicious. Creamy and flavorful, the rosemary and parsley worked so well with the potatoes. I prefer smashed potatoes to mashed potatoes solely because you get to keep the skins on the potatoes. Not only does it make the dish prettier, it also adds texture.
I am a huge Top Chef fan. So much that my parents bought me the Top Chef cookbook a few years back. However, when I moved, I stored it away and completely forgot about it. I recently found the cookbook again and came across Ilan’s dish: Fideos with Clams and Saffron. My CSA share this week came with broccoli, cauliflower and onion so I thought this would be a perfect way to use these ingredients. Note: I switched up the way this recipe was cooked, used less cream, and added onions and Parmesan. Otherwise, the recipe is pretty close to the original printed version.
I have no idea why the concept of a food swap stresses me out so much. But trying to find a recipe for this month was so difficult! I finally found this recipe from a blog called The Bad Girl’s Kitchen; she has a whole section of freezer-friendly meals.
Ingredients (I was making 10 servings):
Salt
2 pounds penne
8 tablespoons olive oil
6 cans of artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped
1 medium onion, minced
8 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 8 teaspoons)
Zest from 1 lemon
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream
2 pounds chicken thighs
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
16 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
that’s quite a few ingredients
To cook the pasta, boil water in a pasta pot over high heat. Add a tablespoon of salt and the pasta and cook for 5 minutes (it will be very al dente– they will cook fully in the oven later). Drain pasta in a colander and toss with two tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
Prep your artichokes, onion, and garlic.
In a large pot, heat 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the artichokes, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook until the artichokes are lightly browned (about 10 minutes).
Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth, wine, and cream.
Add the chicken and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 160 degrees.
Remove from heat and discard the bay leaves. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. When cooled, shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir the chicken back into the sauce, adding the pasta, peas, 2 cups cheese and lemon juice. Stir until combined and season with salt and pepper.
I transferred these into tupperware dishes. I included a freezer bag of cheese and put them in the freezer.
To cook, thaw the meal in the refrigerator (about 24 hours). Add to a casserole dish and top with the cheese.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover with aluminum foil sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with tarragon and serve.
Whew. I heated up a tiny portion of this, just to make sure it was edible. Well, it was more than edible, it was really quite good! I was impressed with how much flavor was in the dish. Thanks for such a great recipe Bad Girl’s Kitchen!
Tasting Table posted an adapted recipe of Marcie Turney’s Salted Caramel Budino. If you’ve never been to Barbuzzo in Philadelphia, your taste buds are missing out on one fantastic dessert. So, if my attempt at this adapted recipe is even half as good as the original salted caramel budino, I will consider this a win.
Barbuzzo’s version is described as “dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, sea salt.” The Salted Caramel Budino version below omits the crust, but maintains the vanilla bean salted caramel poured over a maple flavored custard.
