Best way to stay cool this Summer ?....Ice Cream !

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Looks familiar to you ?

So many bananas suffer the same fate in my home, something had to be done ! Here comes Cuisineart ICE-20 to the rescue, my faithful ice-cream maker sidekick. It comes with a chilling container (mine stays in the freeze all the time, ready to use) and conditions the cream in 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons Kahlua liquor
1.5 cup half and half
1.5 cup milk (used fat free milk here)
3 ripe bananas

Directions:

1. Beat the yolks and the sugar in a frothy mixture, then add the vanilla flavor.


2. Bring the mixture of milk and half and half to a boil while stirring, then take it off the stove


3. Add a few tablespoons of the hot milk to the egg/sugar, mix it, then add the rest of the milk slowly while stirring (you want to avoid a thermic shock or the yolks will curl, hence the few tablespoons as primer).


4. Cook the resulting cream on slow heat until a spoon dipped in it is left with an even coat, your cream is now ready.


5. Cool the cream


6. Mash the bananas (I use a fork, they are so ripe its very easy) and whip the puree into the cream


7. Add the Kahlua (how much is really up to you ! But remember that too much alcohol will lower the freezing point of the ice cream)


8. Place the banana cream into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions.

I prepared mine after dinner, it was ready the next day for lunch.


With 3 bananas, the flavor is quite intense. I found that the Kahlua blended nicely and reinforced the banana flavor. This recipe makes a very smooth texture thanks to the eggs, yet tiny pieces of banana break the surface here and there.

Choices, choices...the new Coca Cola Freestyle

Futuristic, 100-flavor Coke dispenser tested

Another little detour out of my kitchen (it's been pretty quiet lately). I saw it in the paper this morning, I couldn't resist. Coke is testing a new dispensing machine that will offer up to 104 flavor combinations by adding flavors to its regular fares (Cherry Coke anyone?). Orange Coke for example is a new flavor in the US. Apparently it was previously marketed in Russia. Was it a clinical trial ???
Of course technology is taking over. Dispensers are all linked to Coke, uploading consummers' preferences daily. Yes, Big Brother is watching and will likely respond to your pleasure senses in kind.
If you want to see it with your own eyes (and taste/test it), head out to Jack in the Box along Route 78 in North San Diego County.

What do I have to say about all this? 104 flavors are not going to help with ADD.

Longest total solar eclipse of the century

Over 6 minutes of muted darkness over Asia. Simply beautiful. All from the comfort of home :)
Enjoy the video.

The 5-minute potato "gratin"

How many times have you opened your fridge to find long-forgotten items ? No lying, plenty of times ! It's so easy to over shop at the grocery store, especially when you are hungry ! I am no exception, I pile up the cart with fruits and vegetables at the local market. Prices are good, especially in the summer when so many fruits/veggies are in season. Cheap and fresh, my favorites ! The ultimate consequence: veggies stuck in the back get forgotten. In the trash they go, followed by a mental whipping: no more compulsive shopping !

And sometimes I can rescue the veggies. That's what I did this evening for dinner. I had 4 ancient red-skinned tomatoes going soft on me. I hate to waste, so I gathered what I could to make a potato "gratin", a bastardized version of the famous "gratin dauphinois" de Lyon. Five minutes to prepare, an hour and a half to cook.

Ready to cook

Warm and ready to eat !

Directions:

1. Wash the potatoes and slice them thin (the thinner the faster they cook)
   
2. Lay down two layers, sprinkle a dry mix of garlic/salt/pepper (it comes in a ready mix)


3. Lay down a few slices of onions and several pieces of sliced cheese


4. Add two more layers of potatoes


5. Add milk (I used fat free, that's what in the fridge) to cover the first two layers, then half and half to cover the rest (half and half only is much tastier, but it really depends on your age...grin)


6. Sprinkle more of the garlic/salt/pepper mix


7. Grate some cheese on top for the "gratin" crust


8. Cook in oven (preheated at 400C) for 1.5 hour

This was served with ribeye steak. No diet at this table tonight !

Happy Bastille Day !

How could I resist ? :) It's only missing those sparkling sticks to be truly celebratory.

Blue, White, and Red are the three colors of the french flag, or "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge" as we say there. The colors are supposed to represent the three concepts of the French Revolution, Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood ("Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite"). As I am writing this, the Eiffel Tower has already been showered in fireworks and people are celebrating in streets and cafes.

This is a variation on the strawberry tart reported earlier. I covered only a third of the tart with strawberry halves dipped in honey. I used honey-dipped blueberries for Blue and a mixture of honey, almond powder, almond slices, and pine nuts for White. It's quite a sight !

***drool marks***

Baking ingredient of the month!

...Marsala wine !

In the last couple dessert recipes, I started using a dash of Marsala as flavoring. I don't know what took over me that day, maybe my inner Julia Child is trying to come out :) I tend to add alcohol as flavoring here and there, ususally rum or Grand Marnier (in crepes!). That time I grabbed the unopened Marsala bottle, I was craving for something new. And I loved it ! It adds a subtle nutty flavor to your dessert. It was striking in the cream I used for the strawberry tart. And it definitely brought a new dimension to my "clafouti".

Well, the bottle is 3/4 empty now :)

It got me curious though to learn more about the wine itself. It's commonly used as a wine sauce, e.g. the ubiquitous Chicken Marsala. I found a wiki page on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsala_wine
It's not a big wiki page, but it goes over the history and provides several references for the wine savvy. What I found interesting is the note about its uses in italian desserts, mainly for Tiramisu and zabaglione ! Which reminded me why I bought the bottle in the first place. For a Tiramisu ! Funny how the mind works :)

Fast and Simple "Taboule"

Don't you like a quick and easy recipe? Throwing everything in the blender? And make a big batch that's even better the next day?
I got this couscous recipe from my mom. It's a great summer cold dish that can be served as a main or a side. At home we called it "taboule", it's a distant cousin to the middle-eastern dish of the same name.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups couscous
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4.5 fl. oz (133 mL) lemon juice (comes as a pack where I shop)
• half to 1 yellow onion, depending on taste (I prefer half)
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 2 bellpeppers (1 red, 1 green)
• 5-8 sprigs of spearmint (use the leaves only!)
• salt to taste

Directions (prep time 10 mins):

1. Place the dry couscous in a big container, it will easily double in size
2. Clean and cut onion and tomatoes in a few pieces
3. Clean and cut the bellpeppers in smaller pieces (remove the seeds!)
4. In a blender, add olive oil, lemon juice, onion, tomatoes, bellpeppers, spearmint leaves, and salt to taste. Blend well to obtain a thick liquid.
5. Pour onto the couscous, mix with a fork, and place in the fridge for at least an hour. Afterwards, the couscous will have absorbed everything. Fluff it and it's ready to serve ! Note: it tastes even better the next day.

This recipe is easy to customize to your taste, so be adventurous ! Here a few ideas I have tried:

• add basil leaves with the mint, it will soften the taste a bit
• substitute a bellpepper with a yellow one, it will affect the overall juice color and it will give a sweeter taste
• substitute half of the onion with a shallot, personally too much onion makes me burp all day :)

Enjoy !

Pierre.

French summer dessert: "Clafouti"

Yummy dessert that can be eaten warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ("a la mode") or cold at picnics and BBQs.

Clafouti is a traditional dessert from the Provence region where cherry orchards abound. It makes use of cherries that are getting too ripe for direct consumption. The texture is close to bread pudding with fruits in it.

While clafouti is best made from fresh cherries, other fresh fruits can be used as well, like peaches, apples, pears, or bananas, making this dessert available year-round.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb pitless cherries



• 1/2 cup flour



• 1/2 cup sugar



• 3 eggs



• 1/2 cup half and half



• 2 tablespoon marsala

Directions (prep. time 30 mins, bake time 50 mins):

1. Preheat the oven to 370F



2. Grease the pan and add the pitless cherries, evenly distributed at the bottom.



3. In a bowl, mix flour and sugar, then create a hole in the center in which eggs, marsala and a little bit of half and half are added



4. Whisk everything together to make a thick paste, to which the remainder of the half and half is added.



5. The resulting mixture is added to the cherries.



6. Bake at 370F for 50 minutes.



7. Let the dessert cool down before transferring it out of the baking pan.

Enjoy !

Pierre.

Fourth of July dessert !

The 4th of July is the gateway to a summer filled with week-end BBQs and family gatherings. Colors are bright, smiles are broad, mouths are full of delicious BBQ fares. Here my salute to the 4th of July: a red and blue strawberry/blueberry tart.

Ingredients:

• tart crust (see previous blog)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoona marsala wine
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 5 lady fingers biscuits
• 1 quart of strawberries
• 1 pint blueberries
• fruit jam/jelly and honey

Directions (1 hr prep time, 30 min bake time):

1. Preheat the oven to 370F.
2. Prepare the crust as described in previous post and place it in the pie pan. You will cook it with the cream. (Note: I added a vanilla flavor to the crust)
3. Blend the eggs and the sugar to a frothy mixture.
4. Mix in the flour, followed by the marsala, the almond flour, and the half and half. In the end you should get a dense cream.
5. Break the lady fingers in small pieces and place them on the crust. Add the cream and let the biscuits soak for 5 minutes. They will absorb the cream and soften during baking.
6. Bake at 370F for 30 minutes. Cool the tart down to room temperature.
7. Brush a light coat of fruit jam/jelly on top (here I used cherry jam), it will keep the fresh fruits in place. (note: I use a small paint brush dedicated to the kitchen)
8. Place the strawberries cut in halves. This is your chance to be artistic!
9. Dilute some honey with a few drops of water and brush the strawberries with the sweet liquid. It will add sweetness and shine to the fruits, always appealing :)
10. Sprinkle blueberries on top.

Voila ! A magnificent dessert that will draw praise and encores. Give it a try !

Basics #1: the crust !

There are some basics I ought to cover to avoid repeating myself. I love making tarts and quiches. In my mind, quiches are vegetable tarts, or tarts are fruit quiches :) But there are so many variations in each category that I could devote an entire book chapter for each. So I'll keep it simple for now and start out with a common element: the crust !
I use the same basic recipe whenever I need to make a crust for a tart or quiche. Then I customize it to blend with the filling I am using for that extra edge. The basic recipe is good as it is though, and very dependable.

Ingredients for a 9-10.5" pan:

• 8 oz flour
• 4 oz butter
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Place the flour in a big bowl, add the salt and soft butter stick.
2. Mix the ingredients together until it's blended together (I use my hand, the fingers are the best).
3. Add the egg and continue mixing. It should get sticky on your hand. With the other hand I add flour little by little until the well blended mix does not stick anymore. You should be able to form a ball with both hands, leaving a greasy residue on your hands.
4. Use a rolling pin with some flour to flatten out the dough to the desired thickness. Personally, I don't use one, but place the ball directly in the center of the pan (no need to grease the pan, you used enough butter already!) and use my hand to distribute the dough evenly at the bottom and side of the pan. I've never been very good with a rolling pin :)
5. If you need to precook the crust before adding the filling, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork evenly (it will prevent trapped air to lift it while baking) and bake it at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool before adding the filling.

This is the basic recipe. Now I have some little tips you can use to wow your guests.
For sweet recipes:

• Add flavoring at step 3: vanilla extract, almond extract,...
• Add food colorants (getting crazy....).
• Substitute part of the flour (no more than 20%) with almond flour, coconut flour, or other flour substitute.
• Add sugar (about 2 oz). In that case it's easier to mix the sugar with the soft butter first, than add the flour, salt and egg.

For salty recipes:

• Add flavoring at step 3. My favorites are italian herbs (it smells wonderful in the oven!) and curry (it adds color too)

You don't often see an egg for a crust recipe. I feel like I need to explain myself here :) Initially I started using an egg whenever I was making a tart with juicy fruits. The egg keeps the crust together when the cooked fruits are squeezing out the water. But then I liked the taste of it and the egg became a required ingredient.

There now you know how to make a reliable crust for any occasion !

Peace out !
Pierre.