Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

My children have been drinking fresh squeezed lemonade all summer long and this is the recipe that everyone enjoys.

Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (approximately 5 large lemons or 6 small lemons)
1 cup of organic sugar with 1 cup of water
6 cups of water

Directions
Combine 1 cup of organic sugar with 1 cup of water in pot. Bring to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Cool simple sugar. Squeeze lemons. Mix lemons, 6 cups of water, cooled simple sugar and serve on ice on a hot summer day!

Pavlova

I made individual muffin cup pavlovas back in June without knowing that they would be impossible to remove from the tin. Fortunately, I only required 3 pavlovas to be in tact. It turned out lovely but sweet, too sweet. The recipe is Easy Pavlova from allrecipes.com

Ever since the Easy Pavlova, I've wanted to try its chocolate counterpart. Nigella Lawson has a fabulous recipe on the Food Network which I had the pleasure of whipping up this past weekend.

My mother in-law gave us a gorgeous tea set passed down from her mother (as seen above with the larger pavlova hearts), and my daughter was excited to have a tea party together. They are a doubly gorgeous combination - we enjoyed Arnold Palmer's and individual chocolate pavlova hearts for tea this afternoon. Chocolate pavlova is the way to go. Absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

Ingredients
For the Meringue Base:

• 6 large egg whites

• 2 cups superfine sugar

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

• 1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar

• 2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the Toppings:

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 4 cups raspberries

• 1 to 2 ounces dark chocolate

Directions 

Prepare the pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Draw a 9-inch-diameter circle on the paper with a pencil, tracing a round cake tin that size.

Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks - you'll still be able to see the circle.

Make the meringue: Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

Add the chocolate: Sprinkle the cocoa, vinegar and then the chopped chocolate over the egg whites. Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Shape the meringue: Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue under each corner. Mound the meringue onto the parchment within the circle, smoothing the sides and the top with a spatula.

Bake the meringue: Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.

Let it cool: Turn off the oven and open the door slightly; let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely in the oven. When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big flat bottomed plate and peel off the parchment.

Decorate the Pavlova: Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter the raspberries on top. Coarsely grate the chocolate haphazardly over the top so that you get curls of chocolate rather than rubble, as you don't want the raspberries' luscious color and form to be obscured. You want the Pavlova to look like a frosted cake.

* I managed to pipe out 3 large hearts, 2 individual hearts, 3 individual rounds and 2 blobs with this recipe. I plan on trying the Nigella's 9" round technique next time around.

Rosemary & Thyme Rack Of Lamb

I find myself order rack of lamb when dining out but three frenched bones can hardly be called a rack. Rack of lamb has made it on my dinner rotation and I found this fabulous recipe that I loosely follow from Saveur.

Rack of lam with rosemary and thyme

INGREDIENTS

1  1 3⁄4-lb. frenched rack of lamb
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh rosemary 
1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, plus 4 sprigs
10 cloves garlic, smashed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 450˚. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12" cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb fat side down and cook, using tongs to flip and sear the bottom and sides of the rack, until browned, about 10 minutes. Turn lamb fat side up in the skillet and scatter herbs over the top.

2. Add garlic to skillet and transfer to oven. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of the meat reads 130˚ for medium rare, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing into chops and serving.

* I use dry herbs, 5 cloves of garlic minced, add South African Smoke Seasoning from Trader Joe's and marinade the lamb with all of the listed the ingredients for up to 3 hours before cooking. I also roast the meat at a lower temperature, 400F for 20 minutes. Perfecto!

Honey Garlic Soy Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are a staple in our home. My usual style of cooking wings is simple - add chicken seasoning and Lawry's Seasoned Pepper, bake at 375F oven for 35 minutes.

For an Asian infused chicken wing, try this recipe:

2 dozen chicken wings

1/2 cup water

1/4 soy sauce

3 tablespoons honey

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Marinade all ingredients for 3+ hours for maximum flavoring.

This is the baked version at 375F for 30 minutes. Be careful with the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time as the marinade does tend to burn. I rotated the pan to prevent additional burning.

With the summer season upon us, I had my grill master barbecue the same marinaded chicken wings on the charcoal grill.

It took 25 minutes on the open fire but was heavily charred. There was still a tremendous amount of flavor but some of the skin was too burnt. I've read about 2 zone grilling and will have my grill master try that technique next time.