Fresh Strawberry Sabayon

This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten's fresh raspberry gratins. I was watching her show Barefoot Contessa and saw her make them and I just had to try them! But of course I tweaked it a bit, I used strawberries instead of raspberries and instead of using a sweet Marsala wine, I used a sweet white wine called Barefoot Riesling, but I'm sure you can use any type of sweet wine you have, it's gonna be good either way =] (I'll also include a recipe for strawberry lemonade because strawberries are best at this time of the season and it was very tasty!) 

Ingredients:

• 8 egg yolks 
• 2/3 cup sugar (Ina used superfine but I used regular and that worked out just fine)
• 1 cup sweet wine
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 lbs fresh strawberries, quartered
• granulated sugar 

Directions:

• If you're going to use the broiler preheat it about 15 minutes with the wire rack about 5 inches away from heat (I used a blow torch!)  
•  For the sabayon whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a heat proof bowl over simmering water until thick and creamy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk almost constantly, scraping the egg mixture from the bottom of the bowl. Slowly whisk in the wine and continue whisking over the simmering water for about 5 more minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth, like a soft whipped cream. (should be about 150 degrees F) Take off heat, whisk in vanilla and set aside.
• Place a snug layer of strawberries in a gratin dish (I used Pyrex glass bowl thingies because I did not have gratin dishes, so use whatever kind of HEAT PROOF small-ish dish you'd like) Spoon enough sabayon over strawberries to cover them, sprinkle each one lightly with sugar and if using broiler, arrange them on two sheet pans and one at a time place them under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes or until they get golden brown, if using a torch be verryy careful and and torch until golden brown! Serve warm!  

Now for that strawberry lemonade I promised you =]

  Ingredients:

•  Juice of 3 lemons
• 1 pint fresh chopped strawberries
• 2 or 3 sprigs of mint
• 1 liter of seltzer water
• 1/3 cup agave syrup or simple syrup (I made a lemon simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water and let that sit on medium low heat with a few lemon slices) 
• Ice

Directions: 

• Bruise the mint leaves along with the strawberries with a  mortar and pestle or just with the other end of a wooden spoon at the bottom of a pitcher, add lemon juice, seltzer water,syrup, and ice and enjoy!

More Bananas!

So how many of you have forgotten about your yellow ripe bananas you bought a few days ago? You see now that they're a bit over ripe and brown, and perhaps a bit squishy, but don't throw them away! Over ripe bananas are actually sweeter than your yellow ripe naners and, I believe, best for baking! So here I have for you Banana walnut chocolate chip muffins! Enjoy! =D

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed over ripe bananas (about three) 
• opt- 1/2 cup walnuts
• opt- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with baking cups or spray with cooking oil 
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts in the dry ingredients so they wont sink to the bottom of the muffin while baking.
• With an electric mixer, beat brown sugar, egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract until well combined, slowly mix in dry ingredients until just combined and fold in bananas at the end.
• Fill batter two-thirds of the way full in lined or greased muffin tins and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean, let cool on wire rack before serving and enjoy!