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

===========================================================

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.