July 4, 2009 - Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July, stateside readers! I'm on vacation for the weekend, and although I'm doing a little cooking here and there (cobbler made from freshly picked cherries for dessert on the 4th; roasted cauliflower to accompany barbecued chicken), I'm mainly just enjoying some downtime (and fireworks) with my family, eating no-fuss food off the grill and going out for locally made ice cream.

Here in New England, it's ice-cream country. Locals, and repeat visitors, know to order a single (never a triple, unless its dinner and you skipped lunch), and to ask for a cup instead of a cone, unless you can lick really fast. There are some flavors that are totally unique to this area, which we just don't have back home in New York. Because of this, I justify my at-least-once-a-day indulgence as "fieldwork." For example, Grapenuts, Frozen Pudding, and Indian Pudding are, to the best of my knowledge, strictly New England dips. Which is not to say I've ever actually eaten any of these three classics. I haven't. That's mainly because I can't get over my profound attraction to the Maine Tracks (vanilla base, peanut butter cups, fudge ribbon) and Tornado (vanilla base, Oreos, M&M'S, chocolate chip cookies, Heath Bars) flavors. But I feel sort of obligated to get to know these traditional old standbys, especially since this is my 21st consecutive year vacationing here.

So, as my vacation draws to a close and I've managed to branch out only as far as the Caramel Turtle Cluster, it looks like I'll be trying to re-create these flavors at home for the present. The only problem is, I have no idea what they should taste like. Which is why I'm putting out the all-call for your suggestions. Got a great recipe for Frozen Pudding? Send me a link! I'd love to hear all about the Indian Pudding ice cream your aunt Peg used to make . . . or that you make as an adult in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine.

I'd love to make one of each of these flavors and post them here, the New England Ice Cream Trifecta.

Until then, maybe you'd like to try one of these to help satisfy your cravings for sweet, cold, and creamy: Fresh Strawberry Gelato, Pomegranate Punch Sorbet, Kiwifruit Sorbet, or Fresh Peach Sorbet.

Happy July, wherever you are!

Fresh Bay Leaf and Ginger Ice Cream

I’ve never made beef stew without a couple of bay leaves tossed in, and I’ve made scores of soups and sauces with them too. An element of the classic bouquet garni, bay leaves are a staple spice shelf item.

It wasn’t until recently, however, that I had the completely novel and utterly pleasurable experience of trying fresh bay leaves. If you, like me, think you are familiar with the flavor of bay but haven’t tried the fresh leaf, you are missing out on an entire dimension of this incredible spice.

Dried, the bay leaf is intense and full bodied. It can combine with assertive agents like juniper berries and garlic without losing its presence, and it holds its own against beef, lentils, tomatoes, and even game. Fresh, the bay leaf has a sweet, almost delicate flavor that I wouldn’t even think to pair with rich stewed meats. To me, the taste resembles most that of freshly ground nutmeg, with a hint of something slightly different ~ almost minty, but not quite.

I knew right away that cream and ginger were the flavor components I would use to showcase these beautiful green leaves. Cream to provide a broad, blank canvas and because the fat would really hold the flavor. Ginger, because it was just like enough to enhance, and unlike enough to be a foil for, the exotic quality of the bay.

I chose to make ice cream mainly because I really like ice cream. But I imagine this flavor combination would go over equally well as a crème brulee or a pastry cream to fill tarts or even as a custard or sabayon with fruit.

Try this out on your family and friends ~ but see if they can guess the flavors. Ginger is a given, especially with those succulent chunks of crystallized ginger studding the cream. But if anyone guesses correctly and names fresh bay, you’ll know you have a true connoisseur on your hands!

Fresh Bay Leaf and Ginger Ice Cream

~Ginger custard base recipe adapted from Bruce Weinstein's wonderful Ultimate Ice Cream Book.

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 piece fresh ginger, about 4 inches long
• 10 to 12 fresh bay leaves
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

1. Peel fresh ginger and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Using the back of a soup spoon or small ladle, apply gentle pressure to the center (or belly) of each bay leaf, just bruising it so that it releases more of its fragrant oils upon steeping. Place milk, cream, fresh ginger, and bay leaves in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 20 minutes.
2. In a nonreactive mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk until creamy and well combined.
3. When the cream mixture has finished steeping, remove ginger pieces and bay leaves with a slotted spoon and return the pan to the stove. Heat, stirring, over medium heat just until bubbles begin to form at the sides. Temper the eggs by slowly pouring the hot milk mixture in a thin stream into the beaten eggs while whisking continuously. Pour the entire mixture back into the pot and return to the stove.
4. Heat the milk-and-egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Don't whip it (you don't want it to get foamy), but gently move the whisk (or even a wooden spoon) steadily through the pan. Be sure to make contact with the bottom of the pan so the mixture doesn't scorch there.
5. When the custard mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove it from the heat and pass it through a strainer into a large heatproof container. Cool for 15 minutes, then add the cream and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate the ice cream base in a covered container at least 3 hours or overnight before churning.
6. Churn the custard base according to the directions that apply to your ice-cream machine. When the ice cream is nearly frozen but still somewhat soft, scatter bits of crystallized ginger over it while the machine is running. Alternatively, you can fold it in with a large rubber spatula after the ice cream is finished churning.
7. Freeze in a tightly sealed, airtight container for for 2 to 3 hours to firm up and allow flavors to ripen, then enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

• There are several varieties of laurel, but only the bay leaf, Laurus nobilis, is suitable for consumption. Don’t eat your hedges!
• Try this ice cream alongside warm apple crisp or pumpkin pie when autumn comes along. The nutmeg-like flavor is a perfect match.
• Do not allow your custard base to come to a boil or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs. If you do start to get clumps of congealed custard at the bottom of your pan, just remove it from the heat and whisk briskly. Strain through a fine sieve to remove any remaining lumps.
• You can buy dried bay leaves at the grocery store in little jars, but it’s far cheaper to get them at a health food store, if yours carries herbs in bulk. Look for fresh bay leaves at specialty markets, or better yet, consider getting a potted bay laurel plant for your home or garden (climate permitting).

Cherry Berry Granola

When I had a craving for some homemade granola but no handy recipes, my faithful foodie Twitter pals came to my rescue, showering me with wonderful suggestions and helpful links. Each recipe looked better than the previous one, and I was unable to choose one single version to try. So I printed out a handful, lined them up on my countertop, and chose the best elements from each one, adding a few of my own favorite touches here and there, to create a whole new recipe.

I love to combine honey and brown sugar, so both of those went in. I also like the way turbinado sugar adds a bit of crunch, so I threw some of that in there too. I used small proportions of each of these sweeteners, so the end result is not all that sweet. Crunchy almonds are great for providing body and substance, but they can actually be pretty subtle in flavor ~ a small boost from a tiny bit of almond extract brings them to the forefront.

I added sesame seeds for another layer of flavor, and a bit of vegetable oil to make the mix a bit more supple. You can omit it, but the oat mixture seemed a little dry to me without some oil, since it uses only 1/4 cup of honey as a liquid agent. The end result isn’t oily at all, so I was very pleased with the outcome.

The beauty of granola is that you can add (or omit) whatever you want, or whatever you happen to have on hand. Customize your mix to suit your moods, the seasons, your kids’ picky palates, whatever. Enjoy!

Cherry Berry Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts, brown sugar, honey, oil, sesame seeds, turbinado sugar, almond extract, cinnamon, and salt. Toss to coat all ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet with the tablespoon of butter. Pour oat mixture out onto baking sheet and use a spatula to smooth it down, covering the entire sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 250 degrees F, stirring the oat mixture every 15 minutes. The mixture will turn golden brown and dry out as it bakes. It will firm up as it cools.
3. Leave on baking sheet until completely cool, then pour into a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Add cherries and cranberries and stir to combine. Will keep for at least a week at room temperature ~ if it lasts that long.

Recipe Notes:

• You want a nice slow oven for this ~ gradually, the liquid in the honey will dry out, the sugars will melt, and the oil will be absorbed, binding the ingredients into delicious sweet, nutty nuggets.
  
• You can add whatever dried fruit you like to this. Try raisins, chopped dried apricots, apple or banana chips, dried raspberries or blueberries ~ whatever your heart (and palate) desires. Just be sure to add your fruit in after baking, once your mix has cooled. Otherwise, it will become leathery and tough.
  
• Got a sweet tooth? Add in M&M’S, chocolate chips, peanut butter or butterscotch baking chips, chocolate-covered peanuts, chocolate- or yogurt-covered raisins.
• Want to sneak in some more protein? Try adding sunflower seeds, chopped hazelnuts, pignoli nuts, chopped pecans, wheat germ, soy nuts, or roasted peanuts.

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti with Balsamic Browned Butter Sauce

Home cooks take note ~ this is one dish you’ll want to add to your permanent file. It’s deceptively delicious and incredibly fast. You can use the sauce (made from ingredients you probably have in your pantry, or can easily stock there) on other types of ravioli, and this is pretty much fail-proof. Plus, it’s good enough to serve to company.

Browning the butter makes magic on its own, but adding a little balsamic vinegar simply transports this dish. Don’t take my word for it, this is one you’ll have to try for yourself.

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti with Balsamic Browned Butter Sauce

• 1 package (9 ounces) Wild Mushroom Agnolotti by Buitoni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. While the ravioli are cooking, melt butter in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the ravioli, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the butter begins to turn golden brown, remove pan from heat and let sit for about 1 minute. Whisk in vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes.
3. Place ravioli in butter sauce in pan, turning gently to coat. Warm over low heat, then pour out onto serving platter. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

Recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentiis.

Recipe Notes

• I used Buitoni’s new Riserva-line mushroom Agnolotti, which were plump and delicious and I recommend seeking them out. If you’d prefer, you can use cheese, spinach, squash, or even chicken ravioli. Or try this simple sauce over ricotta or potato gnocchi!
• This sauce tastes much fancier than its ingredients suggest. Don’t substitute any other vinegar ~ balsamic has the perfect balance of sweetness and acid to make this work. You may be the only one who knows what “that incredible flavor in the sauce” is!
• Real butter for this one, please. You need to brown the butter for flavor, so do use the real deal.

Marshmallow Sauce

Let's say you have made a big, delicious batch of strawberry gelato. And although you've enjoyed it on its own, you've started to wonder how it would work in sundae form. You don't want to eclipse the brightness of the fresh strawberry flavor with something as assertive as hot fudge, so you think, Hmm, how about marshmallow sauce?

You pull out your favorite cookbook for ice cream toppings and read the recipe for marshmallow sauce. You see it includes gelatin, which is a no-go for a member of your family who is an enthusiastic fan of (a) marshmallow sauce, (b) strawberry gelato, and (c) eating food in most forms, but who is a vegetarian.

You decide to read up on marshmallow sauce and see if it's possible to adapt a recipe for vegetarian consumption. Good news ~ it is!

This recipe, which I adapted from this one from What's Cooking America, produces a marshmallow sauce that is so close to store-bought it's amazing. It's absurdly simple to make, and the result is light, fluffy, spreadable, and ooey-gooey. The recipe does, however, call for a raw egg white, so depending on your comfort level about such things, this may not be the recipe for you. I tend to be extremely cautious about such things (you can ask my husband ~ he'll tell you I tend to cook pork chops and chicken breasts to a state of doneness called "jerky"), but I am okay with the little bit of egg white in this recipe for reasons I describe in the recipe notes. If you're not, please skip this one ~ trust me, the gelato is very nice on its own.

Marshmallow Sauce

• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• Pinch salt
• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whip attachment affixed, combine egg white, corn syrup, and salt. Whip the corn-syrup mixture on high speed until it is light, fluffy, and roughly twice its original volume.
2. Turn your mixer off and spoon in the confectioner's sugar. Beat on low speed until sugar is blended into the corn syrup mixture. Add vanilla and beat in.

Spoon marshmallow sauce over ice cream; use it as a fondue for chocolate-covered graham crackers, fruit, and cookies; or top a peanut butter sandwich with it. Refrigerated, it will keep for about 2 weeks.

Makes about 2 cups of sauce.

Recipe Notes

• The USDA recommends that raw eggs not be consumed due to the risk of contracting salmonella poisoning. That said, if you are a daring and reckless sort who plays it fast and loose and you want to try this recipe, there are a few things you can do to minimize your risk (if you care to). Purchase Grade AA eggs from a reputable (i.e., "clean") source (ideally a local farm), do not use any eggs with cracked or damaged shells, refrigerate your eggs at a consistent temperature of about 38 degrees F, and wash your eggs with soapy water before cracking them. This will prevent bacteria present on the shell from contaminating the yolk and white.
  
• It is possible to purchase pasteurized eggs. They come in a variety of forms ~ in the shells, in cartons, as yolks or whites only. These have been treated with heat, but not cooked, to kill bacteria.
  
• Young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems are discouraged from eating raw eggs at all.
  

Fresh Strawberry Gelato

I was in Sorrento, Italy, the very first time I had gelato. It had been hot that day ~ beastly, brutally hot ~ and even now, at twilight, heat still radiated up from the sidewalk, which had baked in the Mediterranean sun all day. My husband and I were taking a walk down the sloping street leading away from our hotel. The faintest whisper of a cooling breeze was starting to come in off the water, and it was heavenly.

Farther along, down a street of shops and cafes, we spotted a line of people so long that it snaked around the corner and out of sight. The group was too diverse to be waiting outside a nightclub. Smartly dressed seniors mingled with jeans-clad teens; snuggling couples waited alongside jostling families.

Curious, we walked closer. Ah. It was a gelateria, and it was packed. This being the early 1990s, when gelato was just starting to make inroads into the American dessert scene, we took our places at the back of the line, expecting to find the Italian equivalent of hand-dipped ice cream.

We were right, and wrong. The gelato we ate that night was similar in many ways to the ice cream we were familiar with. As expected, it was sweet, creamy, and blessedly frozen. One big difference, however, was the portion size. In New York, or anywhere in Dairy Country, USA, you can order your hard ice cream in scoops that are designated "small," "medium," or "large." But everyone knows these are just the polite terms for the real sizes: "baseball," "softball," and "tetherball."

In Sorrento, the gelato scoops balanced delicately atop our improbably narrow cones were the size of golf balls. I would be lying if I said that the first thought that flung itself into my mind wasn't something akin to "The sample spoonfuls at Baskin Robbins are bigger than this!" But oh, the flavor! Amaretto, kiwi, pineapple, espresso. So intense! So true. This was more like sorbet than ice cream. I’m a big supporter of chunks in my ice cream, but this smooth, perfect gelato was so absolutely authentic in its essential flavor that I barely missed my peanut-butter cups and toffee bar crumbles. And no clunky chocolate chips, either ~ this gelato was flecked with rich dark-chocolate stracciatella. And it rocked.

I have never forgotten that gelato, and now that I make my own, I use it as the benchmark for what I want to achieve with my frozen desserts. Yes, I do love a chunky and complicated mix of nuts and candy and sweet heavy cream. But as my tastes become gradually more refined, I'm striving to combine my New York State sensibility with my appreciation for the finer nuances of the elegant Italian-style gelato. How? Bigger bowls.

Fresh Strawberry Gelato

~ Adapted from the May 2009 issue of Bon Appétit, p. 115

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 1/4 cups sliced ripe strawberries, cleaned and hulled
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice (I used Pom)

1. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large stainless-steel mixing bowl with halfway with ice and adding water. Place a clean, dry stainless steel bowl into the bowl filled with ice. Set aside.
2. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, stirring to combine. Whisk in milk, then cream. Place saucepan over medium heat and whisk continuously until the cream mixture bubbles and begins to thicken ~ about 5 to 8 minutes. Pour the gelato base into the bowl resting atop the ice bath; stir the mixture occasionally so that it cools evenly.
3. Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. If desired, pour through strainer into gelato base. (I didn't strain my mix; strawberry seeds are tiny and I don't object to them.) Add pomegranate juice and stir to combine. Remove from water bath, dry bottom of bowl, cover and chill until the gelato base is completely cold, about 3 hours.
4. When the base is thoroughly chilled, process in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a chilled container with a tightly fitting lid. Freeze, covered, for at least 3 hours prior to serving. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften slightly before scooping.

Makes about 1 quart.

Click here for printable view.

Pomegranate Punch Sorbet

As much as I love sorbet, and love to develop sorbet recipes, my thoughts don't tend to drift in that direction till the temperature crests at least 60 degrees and the snowflakes are a fond, not a distasteful, memory. As it is 30 degrees as I write this and we had snowflakes ~ in April ~ not two days ago, this sorbet is a bit of an exception.

Two events came together to inspire me to take the ice cream maker out of storage early and think prematurely summery thoughts. First, POM Wonderful sent me a case of their wonderful juice to play with. The second is that my father-in-law ~ one of the best people I know ~ has an April birthday, and he is a very big fan of pomegranate juice, so I wanted to develop something special just for him.

Gampy really enjoys dessert, but my mother-in-law, who is an equally lovely person (yes, I hit the in-law jackpot), works for the sugar police and is careful not to let him enjoy his dessert too much. (Just kidding, Gam!) To make everyone happy, I decided to go with something on the lighter side. Sorbet fit the bill. (There is a significant amount of sugar in the syrup, but since the juice has no added sugar, it works out.)

Gampy Baiting a Fly Hook with My Son ~ Fishing 2008

Besides being high in vitamin C and potassium, pomegranate juice is a great source of tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid ~ three types of polyphenol antioxidants, believed to play a role in preventing heart disease and some forms of cancer. That makes pomegranates something of an antioxidant Superfood.

Pomegranates, native to Iran, have been cultivated since ancient times. In fact, some scholars believe that it was a pomegranate, not an apple, that precipitated the Fall of Man, back in the Garden of Eden. Makes sense to me ~ an apple does seem a little prosaic to be at the root of such a momentous and cataclysmic bad choice.

Pomegranate Punch Sorbet ~ for Gampy

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 12-ounce bag frozen raspberries or 2 cups fresh raspberries
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 orange
• 2 cups very cold pure pomegranate juice (I used POM)

1. Prepare a simple syrup by combining the sugar and the water in a medium saucepan and bringing to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. When the syrup comes to a boil and all the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the raspberries.


2. Bring the syrup back to a boil, then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Process the raspberry syrup with an immersion blender ~ be carefully to avoid splatters, it will still be very hot at this point ~ and pour the puree through a strainer to remove seeds. Chill the puree in the refrigerator or in an ice-water bath until completely cold.

4. When the raspberry puree/syrup mixture is cold, stir in lemon, orange, and pomegranate juices.

5. Taste for sweetness. If the mixture is too tart, you can add a tablespoon or two of honey, agave, or light corn syrup. Do not add granulated sugar at this point, as it may not have a chance to dissolve completely and your sorbet may have a gritty texture.
6. Process the pomegranate mixture according to the directions on your ice-cream machine. It will be fairly soft when it's finished, so plan on freezing it for about 4 hours prior to serving if you like a firmer sorbet.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe.

Recipe Notes

• If you don't have an immersion blender, you can pour the mixture into a heatproof blender canister or use a food mill. If none of these options is available to you, just pour the syrup with the whole berries into the strainer and mash them against the seive with the back of a spoon.


• If you have access to a good source of pomegranates, you can certainly juice your own. But as pomegranates in New York tend to be pricey, I like POM juice. It's 100% pure pomegranate, and I like that they are proprietary over every step of the process from tree to bottle.
• If you have leftover pomegranate mixture that won't fit into your ice cream machine (like I did), lucky you! Keep it in a sealed container in your fridge and add a splash to ginger ale, seltzer, or lemon-lime soda. Or use it to make wine spritzers. Yu-um.