The Elegant Cook

For an elegant salad design, dress the lettuce first and then decorate with tomatoes and peppers (capsicums).

I make a tradional western ranch-style dressing with the following ingredients, and never from an over-priced packaged mix:

Mayonnaise

Buttermilk

Sour Cream

Parsley

Onion Powder

a dash or two of D.L. Jardine's Texas Five-Star Ranch Rub (or Lawry's Seasoning Salt)

A squeeze of lemon and a bit of freshly-ground green or white peppercorn

©M-J de Mesterton

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Fill a hollowed-out pound-cake with ice cream, preferably vanilla. Trim the top (see left) so that it is thin at its bottom, and place it on top of the ice cream. Prepare regular meringue with egg-whites and sugar. Frost the ice-cream-filled cake with it and bake the assembled dessert in a medium-hot oven until lightly browned.

Use an oven-proof platter, because transferring this delicate dessert to a serving-dish is likely to damage its careful construction. This plate is made in Japan by Noritake, in the Blue Adobe pattern.

Bring your Baked Alaska to table while the meringue is still hot. Place the platter on a heat-proof pad or trivet. Cut this elegant dessert into sections and serve it as soon as possible so that the ice-cream filling will be cold and the meringue coating remains warm. ©M-J de Mesterton

M-J's Elegant Cuisine

has frequent entries about elegant dessert recipes, slow-cooking, elegant main dishes, cooking instruction, and beautiful culinary photography.

M-J's Elegant Low-Carb Burger Canapés

Posted on May 21, 2010 at 9:39 AM

Toast rounds made with whole-grain bread, topped with malt vinegar mayonnaise and Worcestershire-flavoured hamburger patties make a low-carbohydrate, low glycemic-index canapé or luncheon dish. Flatten slices of whole-grain bread with a rolling pin. Cut out round pieces from their middles--I use a water chestnut can. Brush the rounds of bread with melted butter and bake until lightly toasted. Following my recipe for mayonnaise, use malt vinegar for the acid component. Mix ground beef with Worcestershire sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Flatten the meat mixture and cut out round pieces the same size as the toast rounds. Fry or grill the burgers until they do not emit pink juice (this is a neat cocktail burger that everyone can eat, not a recipe for steak tartare). Set the hamburger patties to drain on a plate. Spread  mayonnaise on the circular pieces of toast. Assemble the burgers just before serving them. Do not top the burgers with more toast. Classic canapés have toast as a base. These elegant, simple low-carb burgers are easy to eat by hand or with a knife and fork. Men love them!

Photo and Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2010

See "Elegant Vegetarian and Spa" for M-J's original  recipe, an easy-to-make,  delicious dessert for low-carbohydrate dieters.

See my recipe on the Salad page.