That's a knife

Steve and I have been pining for a new slicing knife for ages.  We considered getting one after Christmas using our Macy's gift card.  But opted for new bath towels instead.  Then we almost got one using a CB2 gift card, but couldn't.  (Side note: did you know that you can use Crate & Barrel gc's at CB2, but you can't use a CB2 gc at Crate & Barrel.  What?!)

So now, here we are six months later, and we find ourselves with a bit of a shopping bug and no money to use to squelch said bug.  Aha!  Wait a second, what do I see in my envelope of gift cards?  A $50 Visa card.  Yay!  Let's go!

We headed to Crate & Barrel again because we wanted to browse their summer sale. I picked up our outdoor dinner ware at this sale last year, and since we could use a couple more plates and skewers, we went expecting to get those.  The universe had other ideas because when we got there and saw that the Wusthof 10-inch slicer was on sale at $50 we changed our minds. 

We got home and could hardly wait to try it out.  The only serrated knives we have are two high-quality steak knives (but since they are short, they aren't much use to slicing most things) and one 9-inch crappy, rusting, light-weight knife from Target that can really mangle up a delicate crumb or tear meat.  Sometimes it works okay. 

We had a round loaf of Italian bakery bread, so we tested the knife on this.  We cut thin, even slices with ease.  I can only imagine how great this knife will work when I have to split a cake layer in half or thirds.  Like buttah.

Here's Steve trying it out to much glee and satisfaction.

Did someone say grill?

As soon as the weather turns from snow and ice and wind chill to humidity, sun, and long days, we break the grill out.  Our grilling season started early this year, but it was a bit of a false start.  The weather warmed up only to cool off again.  But now, here at the start of July, the grilling season has been in full swing for at least a month.  We find ourselves grilling at least once a week up on our roof.  (Yes, we take the appropriate and legally called for fire precautions - no gas grilling, five gallons of water, fire extinguisher, and we never leave the grill unattended.) 

A week or so ago, we had people over to share in the grilling for the first time this summer.  We prepared grilled leg of lamb and then sliced it up for gyros with tzatziki, pitas, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes.  Sides included hummus, a baked potato potato salad (Reka brought this creation that was made with all the fixings of a baked potatoes including BACON!), chips, grilled asparagus, Persian cucumbers, carrots, watermelon, etc.  Steve did the grilling and the tzatziki and it was all very delicious.  Excellent job.

Here are the before pictures.  There are no after pictures.

Donna and Steve talking lamb.

The Spread.

Looking west and waiting for that lamb!

As you can see, we had plenty of food and room for all of it and us. And such a nice evening.  We followed this feast with a round of Shanghai, Popsicles, Riesen, and mini Twix.  We like our junk food while playing cards.

Hope to have everyone over again before the end of summer.

Sarah's Curried Chicken Salad

At Harcourt, we loved food.  The children's marketing department was often the epicenter for food at the company and we would use any excuse as a reason to bring in some tasty treats.  We all had skills in the kitchen from beginner to advanced, and our palates varied enough that we often had dishes that ran the gamut from sweet to savory.

Sampling each others culinary output led to the inevitable recipe sharing.  One of the publicists, Sarah, brought this salad to a picnic and I recently came across the recipe as I was flipping through my file looking for inspiration.  Steve thought it was high time I made this again (I have only made this one other time), so we had it for dinner last night.

The recipe can be adapted easily and stands up just fine without the pasta.

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad

2-3 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 lb medium shell (or orecchiette, or macaroni) pasta noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 cup golden or regular raisins
1/4 to 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green onion
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup mango chutney
2 tsp curry powder
1 cup mayo or Miracle Whip
1 tsp ground turmeric
salt & pepper to taste

Mix chicken and pasta shells, if using, in a large bowl.  Add raisins, almonds, celery, and green onion.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix dressing ingredients - chutney, curry, mayo, turmeric - in a separate bowl and spoon/pour over the other ingredients.  Toss well to coat.  Add apple and toss again.  Chill until ready to serve.  This recipe makes a big bowlful, so it's perfect for sharing.

If not using pasta, there will be too much dressing.  You could probably only make half the dressing and it would be enough, or just make it all and spoon on what you need to dress the salad and use the rest as a dip.  If the pasta isn't there to bulk it up, the salad goes well with pitas and crisp lettuce.

Chocolate Croissants

Yum, yum, yum!  After two days of work, these little beauties are finally ready for consumption.  Delish!

Food news bites

In the past couple of days, I have received emails or links about some interesting food news tidbits.  Thought some of you might be interested to know about these as well so I've rounded them all up here.  Click away my friends.

Not sure what to do with all those wine corks cluttering up nooks and crannies in the kitchen?  Or maybe you are wondering where all those corks come from and if they have an environmental impact?  Click here for answers and info on a cork recycling program.

The South has some of the best food in the country. Next time you are driving through the region, you can plan your meals as well as your sightseeing with the Southern Food Alliance's nifty food map.

Yum, yum, yum.  Gotta try this outlandish and rich sounding milkshake.

I tried posting my review of John Besh's cookbook, My New Orleans: The Cookbook here on Blogger but I kept getting error messages.  So here is a link to my review I wrote on Goodreads.


Happy weekend everyone.

The best Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone a few days early.  Wanted to share with you a delicious Irish Soda Bread recipe before the actual holiday in case you actually want to make it for yourself.  As I type this, I am taking breaks to eat some of this very bread.  I made mine yesterday.

A friend at Harcourt made this one St. Patrick's Day for our pot luck lunch in the office.  It was so delicious that I had to have the recipe, which turns out, she found on Epicurious. 

I have made very minimal adjustments to the recipe when I have made this because the recipe is just so dang good as it's written.  The only things I have done differently, or could do differently, is add a touch more buttermilk if the dough is just a little too dry to fully combine (as it was last night for some reason).  Not being a fan of raisins, I also reduce the amount that goes in to just a cup and a half.  If you love raisins, you would probably like to use the entire amount called for.  I haven't tried it, but I bet you could make several smaller loaves from one recipe by using round cake pans.  Every time I've made it, I've used the 12-inch All-Clad skillet.  This turns out one monster huge loaf that is easy to cut up into chunks to give away or freeze. 

Here it is in it's entirely as written on the Epicurious website.  This bread also has a September 11th connection (see below), so now when I make this, I remember 9/11 as well as all my buddies and good times at Harcourt.  It's good bread in every way.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Caraway
by Patrice Bedrosian, Brewster, New York
 

yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Patrice Bedrosian of Brewster, New York, writes: "In the days that followed September 11, 2001, I — like so many Americans — gravitated toward roast chicken, meat loaf, and anything that brought comfort and ease to my home. You see, my stepbrother, Jerry O'Leary, a 34-year-old chef working at Cantor Fitzgerald's corporate dining room in One World Trade Center, was among the many victims on that terrible day. "I feel quite certain that Jerry's love for cooking stemmed from his mother, Julie Lestrange. And as long as I can remember, she has always had something delicious waiting for my family whenever we visit.
"I would like to share a recipe that Julie has given to me. My hope is that you will, in turn, share it with my fellow readers, encouraging them to enjoy this delicious and comforting Irish bread, to smile, and to remember the love between a mother and a son."  Offer this easy-to-make bread with plenty of butter and your favorite jam.

• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups raisins
• 3 tablespoons caraway seeds
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter heavy ovenproof 10- to 12-inch-diameter skillet with 2- to 2 1/2-inch-high sides. Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Add butter; using fingertips, rub in until coarse crumbs form. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Whisk buttermilk and egg in medium bowl to blend. Add to dough; using wooden spoon, stir just until well incorporated (dough will be very sticky).

Transfer dough to prepared skillet; smooth top, mounding slightly in center. Using small sharp knife dipped into flour, cut 1-inch-deep X in top center of dough. Bake until bread is cooked through and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool bread in skillet 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in foil; store at room temperature.)

Cookbook review: Rose's Heavenly Cakes

(Published yesterday on Goodreads) 

Rose's Heavenly Cakes  

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

September 2009

Wiley, 978-0471781738

This book is gorgeous to look at. I've had my eye on it since Christmas.  It finally dawned on me that instead of pining for a $40 cake cookbook, I should just see if the library had it and give it a test run.  Tah-dah! They did! 

Several things I noticed about this book:
-The photography is excellent and while not every recipe has a photo, there are enough pics to make the mouth water. 


-all recipes have ingredient measurements by both volume AND weight. I love that the weights are included as that's the most accurate way to measure most ingredients.

-this is not a book for casual/beginner bakers. Most of the recipes contained are involved, time consuming, or intimidating in length. There is no way most home bakers will be able to get the same results as Rose. I think home bakers with cooking/baking experience and know-how should be able to turn out some of these recipes, but they will really have to commit themselves to the project. For example, the recipe for the cake on the cover of the book (a Bernachon Palet D'Or Gateau) is over four pages long.

-many of the recipes do not require unusual cake pans. Quite a number of them call for the standard 9x2 round cake pan or basic 9" springform. There are recipes where other pans are needed, but I think there are enough to choose from using the standard 9x2 to satisfy.

-Rose is picky; almost snobbishly so. It's her way or the highway. She's picky about what kind of flour, what size pan (and why not to use the size not listed for a particular recipe), high quality ingredients, the importance of weighing eggs rather than just cracking in an egg. The list goes on. I know baking has a reputation for being picky, but really, for an average home baker, such pickiness isn't really necessary to get a good, delicious cake. That being said, I do agree that the better quality of the ingredients, the better the result will taste and feel.

-there are some good, basic cake recipes as well as ganache and frosting recipes. All of the cake recipes in this book are for the complete cake - meaning cake, frosting/ganache/filling, and decorations. This is one reason why each recipe is so long. Many of the basic components could be broken out and used on it's own with another cake or frosting.

-a good list of sources for specialty ingredients and a long, informative, section defining and breaking down ingredients

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. Her tips and techniques are sound in their reasoning as she is a baker who makes an effort to understand the science behind everything.

I get to keep the book for three weeks thanks to the BPL and I will probably only get to try one of the cakes. I marked about two dozen of the recipes as ones I'd like to try. So what shall it be? Here are some of my picks:

-Karmel Cake
-Gateau Breton
-Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cake
-Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache
-Chocolate Layer Cake with Caramel Ganache
-Chocolate Genoise with Peanut Butter Whipped Ganache
-Lemon Meringue Cake
-Torta Las Tres Leches (one of my favorite cakes!)
-Lemon Cheesecake
-Mud Turtle Cupcakes
-True Orange Genoise

Bottom line:
-Not for beginners
-Almost text book in its approach to ingredients and technique; a great learning tool (but very few pictures illustrating those techniques; it's not a photo step-by-step book which is why the baker needs to have some know-how of baking basics before attempting)
-Gorgeous food photography
-A great variety of cakes is covered (including wedding cakes and how to construct them)
-Very thorough in recipe steps, ingredients, and technique explanations
-Only purchase for serious, experienced home bakers who love to make complicated and beautiful cakes (or for people who like to look at pretty pictures of food) 

Down in the Big Easy

During the first week of February, I found myself in New Orleans. How, you ask, can an unemployed gal afford a four day trip? Simple - most of it was paid for by Steve's company. Steve was getting shipped down to NOLA for some web-techie something rather conference. His company covered his flight, hotel, taxis, and up to $40 a day for food. Steve had never been to New Orleans and he downright insisted I go with him simply because he wanted to have fun and not sit in his hotel room every night. So we hired our cat sitter and set off.

I didn't have a sightseeing itinerary but a culinary one. Knowing we weren't renting a car and trying to do things as frugally as possible, I limited our dining options to the Quarter, CBD, and possibly the warehouse district. Steve was also limited as to what he could go do since his conference was Tuesday and Wednesday from 9-5(6ish). Here's where we went and what we ate.  We split almost everything.

Mother's - Ferdi Special - roast beef, baked ham, debris & gravy po'boy. Red beans and rice on the side

Cafe Du Monde - um, Steve loved these little fried pieces of heaven and we wound up there three times in four days. Yeah.

Central Grocery - picked up half a muffuletta, two bags of Zapp's, and two Barq's in glass bottles

Acme Oyster House - chicken & andouille gumbo, catfish & oyster po'boy, and half a dozen chargrilled oysters

Deanie's Seafood - Crab Quartet, which included crab gratin, fried crab claws, stuffed crab, and fried soft shell crab

Coop's Place - Cajun fried chicken with rabbit & sausage jambalaya on the side (Steve didn't eat here. I met a friend for lunch.)  The resident cat slept in the windowsill by my shoulder.

Bayona - cream of garlic soup, broccoli-asparagus soup, goat cheese crouton with mushrooms in Madeira cream, peppered lamb loin with goat cheese and Zinfandel sauce. Saw Chef Spicer a couple times accepting compliments in the dining room.

As you can see we ate well.  (For some reason Blogger pictures aren't working. I have pics of several things but can't get them added to this entry.)

We liked just about everything. Some things were better than others, but all were delicious.  Some of my favorites were the entire meal at Bayona, the crab gratin at Deanie's, and the chargrilled oysters at Acme.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Steve is a fan of Man v. Food, and likes to try the places Adam Richman, the host, goes to in various cities. The MvF New Orleans episode visited Deanie's, Mother's, and Acme.  We hit them all although we didn't necessarily eat everything that Adam did.  No  180 oyster challenge at Acme for us, thank you. 

For breakfast, he could get it at the conference, and I just got a simple croissant at nearby Community Coffee.  I did hit up Croissant D'Or Patisserie one afternoon and picked up a slice of French King Cake  - NOT at all like the familiar American King Cake - and a pain au chocolate for Steve.  Croissant D'Or is absolutely fabulous and I wish I had hiked across the Quarter every day for a pastry. 

Since I  had plenty of time on my hands during the day, I mostly walked around until my feet got tired.  One of my wanderings took me to the Kitchen Witch Cookbooks shop. I spent a good hour in there browsing through their well-loved collection of used (they have new books, too) and vintage cookbooks and social histories of New Orleans.  I would have loved to have picked up the copy of an etiquette book for ladies of New Orleans circa 1910, but it was over $100.  Oh well.  The proprietress, Debbie, chatted with me almost the entire time I was in there, and recommended two books, which of course, I bought.  Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen and The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima and Richard Collin.  If you want to talk about cookbooks, New Orleans, or food, go see Debbie.  I was in the Tabasco store after going to Kitchen Witch, and the woman working in there saw my KW bag (a homemade brown craft paper bag that had curling ribbon on the handle and Kitchen Witch scrawled in black magic marker on the side) and asked if Debbie had been there.  People in the Quarter know each other. 

As with almost every trip to New Orleans, it's really about the food.  We skipped the drunken frat boys on Bourbon, caught enough music just walking around the streets to satisfy, spent as little as possible, and thoroughly enjoyed New Orleans in the calm before Mardi Gras and Superbowl Sunday. 

NEXT time, I hope we have more money and can visit places outside the Quarter.  Next time . . .

Battle of the Greek Yogurt Titans

When I worked at my first publisher, there was a ritual of eating lunch in the lunchroom with other people from the books for young readers department. I was from marketing, and joined by several from editorial and design. Later, we had one from subrights join our little lunch group. All in all, we were at most, a group of six. Being a frugal group, usually we brought our lunch from home rather than going out and spending $10 on a sandwich.

We usually spent our lunch break talking about food. Things we liked, didn't like, new restaurants opening, bars, etc. However, the one food item that we kept returning to was yogurt. We debated the pros and cons of different brands, styles, fat content, flavors, and even which grocery stores were having sales on our favorites. Yeah, we were really keen on yogurt. Sorta weird, really.

After a while, we realized we were spending so much time talking about a yogurt and it became an inside joke. One particular lunch, the only male in our group and non-yogurt eater, suddenly interrupted yet another yogurt conversation with an, "OMG! Can't we talk about something other than yogurt?!" My boss at the time also claims that ever time she would come in the lunch room to get coffee, her own lunch, etc., that we were ALWAYS talking about yogurt. She would laugh at us.

So in honor of my yogurt loving-friends, and the people we annoyed, I'm talking about yogurt.

I recently found two new yogurts at my local grocery store. Perhaps these aren't new to other people, but they were new finds in the already well-stocked yogurt section. Greek yogurt has been the rage with yogurt aficionados for some time now. As a member of a group of people who kept up with yogurt trends, I have been aware and a fan of Greek yogurt for long before it went mainstream.

Evidence of how trendy Greek yogurt is now can be seen by two new options. Brown Cow, makers of the best full-fat yogurt out there, has released Brown Cow All Natural Greek Yogurt, 0% fat. And Stonyfield, a personal favorite brand, has Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt by Stonyfield Orangic. Also 0% fat.

I bought both brands last week and did a taste test. Unfortunately, I couldn't compare like flavor to like flavor since the flavors at my store were completely different for the two brands. So I picked the basic vanilla in the Brown Cow and Honey from Stonyfield.

First, the Brown Cow. My first thought was, NO WAY this is nonfat! It's unbelievably creamy, sweet, and rich. It does not in anyway resemble the other nonfat yogurts out there. How did they do that??? Despite the rich mouth feel and taste, it actually doesn't taste anything like Greek yogurt. You know that tang and slightly dry mouth feeling you get from Greek yogurt? Yeah, this doesn't have that at all. This is a Greek yogurt for people who don't like Greek yogurt.

Now the Stonyfield. WOW! The honey does not refer to a honey flavored Greek yogurt, but the honey is ON THE BOTTOM just like fruit on the bottom. Lovely! I mixed it all in and tasted. Mmmmm. Not as creamy and rich as the Brown Cow, but quite good and also doesn't really taste like it's a nonfat yogurt. Has more of the Greek yogurt tang and dry feeling, but not overwhelming so.

I next checked out the labels. Ah yes, the Stonyfield container does say, "Honey on the bottom." Nutritionally, the two yogurts are identical. There are teeny differences between the two, but really, they are close enough to be declared the same. Ingredients in the Brown Cow only number three - milk, cane juice, and vanilla. The Stonyfield has five ingredients, two of which are natural stabilizers. Both yogurts have the same five active cultures. Price was also just about the same, and the amount of yogurt in each single-serve cup is the same, 5.3 oz.

So what's my verdict? I say it's a tie. How anti-climactic, right? Really, they are both very good. I love the Brown Cow because it tastes like it has fat in it and you are getting away with something. Eating something you shouldn't be eating. But I also really like the Stonyfield because it kept that Greek yogurt tang I enjoy so much and honey with Greek yogurt is one of my favorite flavors. According to the websites for each brand, there are five flavors available from Stonyfield and only three from Brown Cow so far.

I will happily buy and eat both. And I probably will for variety's sake because neither brand has many flavors available at my store yet. Brown Cow only has three, and I only saw honey for the Stonyfield. I hope both companies roll out more flavors for these yogurts as they are all going to be good. I just know it.

Other products I have tried recently and really enjoyed are Haagen-Dazs coffee frozen yogurt (I know, more yogurt), and Trader Joe's Peach Mango Orange Juice.

Steve and I were coming home from a movie last Friday night (Crazy Heart. We agreed that the story was rather ordinary, but the acting, music, and Jeff Bridges were fantastic), and as we passed the grocery store on the corner after it had closed for the day, I said, "shoot, we're out of milk." I was going to let this go until Saturday and then go get milk when the grocery store was open. But Steve didn't like this as he was looking forward to a bowl of cereal on Saturday morning. He only eats his cereal on the weekends, so I guess it's a treat. There is a little grocery nearby, so we stopped in there for milk. I found that they carry the best kind of organic milk (Organic Valley, yay!), but I also was suddenly struck with the yen for ice cream. Seeing all those little pints lined up just sang to me. It has been so long since we've had ice cream I can't even remember when it was. Steve immediately picked out Haagen-Dazs banana split. Hm. Not one I would pick out. So I chose Haagen-Dazs dulce de leche frozen yogurt. Or at least, I thought I did. We pay, we leave, we go home, and crack into those pints. COFFEE?? Where did this come from?

Somehow, I picked up the one pint of coffee that was sitting right next to the two stacks of dulce de leche. Oh well, I'm not going back out to exchange it, so may as well eat it. Even though my taste buds were primed for the sweet, caramel-y flavor of dulce de leche, I found that they quite enjoyed the coffee as well. Yum, yum, yum. Tasted just like a Frappachino. Lower in fat and calories than a frapp, I imagine. Try it if you haven't already. It's good.

The other new-to-me product comes from Trader Joe's. As you probably know, I adore Trader Joe's and do most of my shopping there. When we were up in Boston a couple weekends ago, the people we stayed with had Trader Joe's Orange Peach Mango juice. I loved it. I didn't expect to, but I did. I'm usually a traditional fresh squeezed orange juice girl in the morning. I don't like anything else but oj. No apple or grape or cranberry for me in the morning. Just oj. Weeeeeeell, now add the OPM as a morning juice option. I also have enjoyed this juice in the afternoon mixed with some plain seltzer for an Orangina-like drink. Very refreshing and tropical.

Anything new you've tried that you love? Yogurt? Anyone?

Diet-Killer Issue of Bon Appetit

Yesterday, I received my February issue of Bon Appetit.



Oh boy. Are we in trouble.

In addition to this scrumptious-looking grilled cheese and short rib sandwich with caramelized onions, other recipes that caught my tastebuds's attention:

Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Potato "Risotto"
Potato Gnocci with Pork and Wild Mushroom Ragu
Bison and Red Wine Shepherd's Pie
Pork Stew with Hard Cider, Pearl Onions, and Potatoes
Ham, Artichoke, and Potato Gratin
Roasted Leg of Lamb with Yukon Gold Potatoes
'Best Ever' popcorn, buffalo wings, chips and other Superbowl snacks
Ribollita
Alaskan Black Cod with Hoisin and Ginger Sauces
Red Bean and Sausage Cakes with Poached Eggs and Cilantro Salsa
Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits
Madeleines with Lavender Honey
Cream Tart with Oranges, Honey, and Toasted-Almond Crust
Rustic Pear-Cranberry Tart
and an entire article using MILK CHOCOLATE! - Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream Fudge Frosting; Milk Chocolate Mousse with Port Ganache and Whipped Creme Fraiche; Milk Chocolate Souffles with Nougat Whip; Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso

Are they kidding me?! Trouble, trouble, trouble is headed this way.

There is also an entire article about tofu. I don't see myself getting much mileage out of that one. But I do appreciate the BA editors's humor of including tofu in an issue that boasts "Meat and Potatoes" as their cover headline. Oh those, foodies. So funny.

Also featured in this issue - where to eat in Austin, Texas. Only a handful of Austin's fantastic restaurants were mentioned, but they all sounded good. In a separate short column on biodynamic wines, one of my favorite wines was one of the six featured: Boony Doon 2008 Ca' del Solo Albarino. If you can find it, I highly recommend picking up a bottle or a case.

Eating out

Over the past couple of months, I have had the pleasure of dining out. In December, I met with the other members of the TNTE Club at Becco, a Lydia Bastianich establishment for our annual holiday dinner. If you recall, last year we went to Perilla. Six of us squeezed into our chairs around a tiny round table that should really have been set for no more than four, but the whole dining room was that way - packed to the gills with guests back-to-back. Not sure how the waiters managed to shimmy between everyone. We feasted on several of the menu specials and all-you-can eat daily pastas. Actually, only one person at our table ordered the pastas, but we all had tastes of hers. The Gorgonzola gnocci was fantastic. Noisy, warm, and teetering on chaotic, but very satisfying food in the theater district. One in our party ordered the osso bucco which came with the largest marrow bone we'd ever seen with that dish! The best thing I thought we ate all night though, was on the dessert sampler we ordered. The panna cotta was simply the best I've ever had. It was smooth, light, not at all gelatinous or thick, and tasted of the best vanilla. Divine.

Rewind some more to November. Before we arrived in Miami to board the Crystal Serenity for our Thanksgiving cruise, Steve and I flew to Atlanta to meet up with David & Allison. The four of us drove down from Atlanta to Miami together. But before we started our 13 hour drive at 2AM, we had dinner at Kennesaw pizza joint, Big Pie in the Sky Pizzeria. Perhaps you watch the food-porn and human spectacle on the Travel channel known as Man vs. Food? No? Oh well, you don't know what you're missing. Anyway, MVF's host and stomach-that-is-a-freak-of-nature, Adam Richman, visited Big Pie to take on their Carnivore Challenge - eating an ginormous 11-pound pizza. While the four of us weren't even tempted to try the Carnivore Challenge, the boys did settle for one slice each of a Carnivore. Basically, it's a pizza topped with just about all the standard meat pizza toppings. Allison and I opted for a slice each of the four-cheese. Here are some before and after shots. These are big freakin' slices of pie. And quite tasty, too.





Back home in Brooklyn, last week, Steve and I hosted our friends from Montana. We ate some usual and favorite NYC fare - pizza at Grimaldi's, hot dogs from a vendor, and brunch at Char No. 4. For our post-MoMA lunch, we took them to Ginger Man, a really good beer bar in east midtown that is extremely mellow on Sunday afternoon. The calm, quiet, warm surroundings were just what we needed after the noisy crowds at MoMA and swirling snow flurries and Arctic wind chill outside. We ordered two flights of beer tastes, soup, stew, sausages, sandwiches, and house-made soft pretzels. Hearty stuff to warm the gut. Yum.

We also took them to a place in Brooklyn for their last night in the city that Steve and I hadn't tried yet. I'm glad we got there when we did because Henry Public filled up fast after we snagged a booth. Henry Public is a relatively new place that is dressed up like a speakeasy. And old timey speakeasy. Even the staff wears a uniform that is really more of a costume - band-collar shirts, braces, flannel or non-denim pants, old fashioned shoes. The food menu is limited to burgers, a couple finger foods (house made pickles and roasted almonds were very good), and ice cream for dessert. The cocktail menu is from another era, too. We enjoyed our burgers and drinks, and it might be a place for Steve and I to visit again as long as we get there early enough to get a table.

I saved the best for last. While up in Maine for Christmas, Steve and I decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out at one of Portland's critically acclaimed restaurants. Portland is quite a mecca for chefs who are focused and committed to using local and seasonal ingredients and sources. We chose Fore Street for our dinner out. I'm so glad we did. I loved it. The menu was much larger than I expected for a place that does use local and regional sources for their seasonal ingredients. We ordered four smaller plates and one entree and one dessert. Here is what we had:

Marinated Hon Shimeji and Rocket Salad with roasted red onion, reggiano, apple bacon red wine vinaigrette
Three Selections from the Chilled Meats & Offal section served with cranberry jam, tarragon gherkins, spicy Allagash mustard: Salt Cured Foie Gras, Maine Farm Rabbit Galatine with Serrano and Lemon, Heritage Pork Cotechino
Wood Oven Roasted Maine Mussels with garlic almond butter
Wood Grilled Harlequin Quail with lentils, savory vegetables, smoked Heritage pork belly
Maine Farm Russian Boar Chop with celeriac puree, cranberry relish
Butter Braised Fingerling Potatoes, aged sherry vinegar
Two Citrus Desserts on one plate - lime steamed pudding, citrus cheesecake with pepper-basil sugar sauce and pomegranate seeds

Hello! Doesn't that all sound fabulous? It was. Several of you have asked how I remember what I ate at restaurants. Well, in most cases, I remember what I had and then I can go home and look up the restaurant's menu online for details. In the case of Fore Street, they don't post their menu online since it changes every day, so I asked our waitress if I could have a copy of the menu. She gladly handed over the dinner menu but I didn't get the dessert menu. Here is a scan of the menu. What would you have ordered? (Click on the image for a larger view.)




We loved everything we ate. We ate every little morsel, crumb, drip of sauce from our plates. Except for four fingerling potatoes. We had four potatoes too many.

Christmas recap and blogiversary

So, I've had a bit of a hiatus from the blog. Have you noticed? There's no good reason for the looooong break other than I was bored and uninspired. Since October.

But now that Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone, I figured that I couldn't ignore the wonderful food and cooking that has been going on around me. Food is a key player during the holidays. Almost as big as presents and the tree.

I will take you back to Thanksgiving. This holiday was spent aboard the Crystal Serenity, so I had to do zero cooking, zero cleaning up, and 100% eating. Lovely!

Meals on either of the Crystal ships is an event. The food is mostly prepared with a French influence and technique - sauces, meats, veggies - but there is always a wide variety of dishes from which to choose. In addition to the dining room, there are two restaurants on board. One, called Prego, is the Italian restaurant with menu choices created by Pierro Selvaggio, of the Valentino restaurants. The other is Asian called Silk Road and The Sushi Bar. The menu features dishes created by Nobu, and sushi chefs trained by him.

With all these choices, what in the world did I eat? Some of the dishes I had are:
-pumpkin ravioli
-iced Malossol Caviar
-Pate de Foie Gras
-Pan-Fried Fillet of Atlantic Halibut
-Whole-Roasted Tom Turkey with all the trimmings
-bisque of Fresh Sweet Corn
-Tortiglioni Pasta with fresh tomato sauce, cream, Fontina, and parsley
-a wide selection of sushi rolls, sashimi, and delectable Waygu beef sashimi style
-Nobu Udon

These are just some of the things I had for dinner. Breakfast was usually at the Lido to make selections from the large and diverse breakfast buffet. Lunch was a meal that I don't recall eating very much. I guess I did, but it seems like we were usually doing something or off the ship at lunch time. We did partake in tea on the days we were at sea. Tea consisted of finger sandwiches - cucumber, cheese, beef, ham, egg salad - and lots of mini-pastries. And scones with cream and berries, of course. Tea was a favorite activity.

Besides mealtime and tea, there are also seemingly unlimited supplies of fresh fruit, cookies, ice cream, breads, charcuterie, and drinks.

To work off all this food, the ships have a 360 degree promenade deck, a gym, paddle tennis courts, and swimming pools.

We also ate one meal while off the ship. That was lunch in Grand Turk. We were fed by a real local lady - although she was American - at a dive-y beach bar & restaurant. It was a strange mix of food she presented us with, but it tasted good. I had the grilled chicken, beans & rice, conch fritter, and key lime pie. We also ate just caught, maybe still alive conch on a boat in Grand Cayman. Our guide pulled this conch right out of the ocean, popped it from it's gigantic shell, and cut it up for us to taste right there. It didn't really taste like much except salt. But not overly salty. The texture was smooth, not slimy, and slightly firm. Later, the guide cut up the rest of it and made a ceviche on the boat using hot sauce, limes, cilantro, and who knows what else. We were all snorkeling while he made it.

Upon reaching Key West, we of course, also had to have key lime pie. We partook of some at the Blond Giraffe. Delish!

After Key West, we were home and the gravy train stopped. It was back to the real world which meant cooking and cleaning up. I was not thrilled about this as I loved my week off from kitchen duty.

Since we've been back, I don't feel like I've made very interesting food. Or at least, nothing interesting enough to tell you about. I've done the requisite holiday baking, but again, it's pretty standard fare.

I did make something new that I will tell you about. Steve's dad loves turtle candy but it's one of the items his mom does not make at Christmas or ever. So Steve thought it would be a nice gift idea to make turtles for his dad. I had concerns about making them and then having them set properly and also not have all the caramel ooze out the sides and basically result in a big mess. So I found a recipe for tipsy turtle bark. It was easy as pie to make and set beautifully. I let it set up overnight and then cut it. I did taste the melted caramels with the rum and it's divine. How can these not turn out delicious?

One other thing to mention, this blog is now over a year old. Whatever that means.

The mac and cheese testing continues

As you know, mac and cheese is one of my favorite foods. But it isn't something that can made and eaten everyday thanks to the butter, milk, and cheese usually required. And sometimes bacon.

I own exactly one "light" cookbook. It's from those good folks at America's Test Kitchen, so you know they are going to try to make the best possible light recipes they can possibly make and still call them light. Nothing will be tasteless or lacking. I've made a couple things from this cookbook, but for some reason, I hadn't tried the mac and cheese yet. Two nights ago, I did.

Everyday Macaroni and Cheese
from The Best Light Recipe
by America's Test Kitchen

Serves 5

salt
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
1 (12-oz) can reduced-fat (2%) evaporated milk
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder or celery salt (optional)
Pinch cayenne
2 tsp cornstarch
8 ounces 50% light cheddar cheese, grated (they like Cabot)

1. Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in 2 teaspoons salt and the macaroni; cook until the pasta is completely cooked and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave in the colander; set aside.

2. Add the evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of the 2% milk, mustard, garlic powder, cayenne, and 1/2 tsp salt to the now-empty saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Whisk the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup milk together, then whisk it into the simmering mixture. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened and is smooth, about 2 minutes.

3. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cheddar until melted and smooth. Stir in the macaroni, and let the macaroni and cheese sit off the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, 2 to 5 minutes before serving.

Notice anything about this recipe? No butter. The write up in the cookbook about their development of this recipe goes into detail about eliminating the traditional roux used to make the bechamel for the mac and cheese. They figured out that if they made a cornstarch slurry and instead of a butter based roux, that it worked just fine.

I was also wary of using the evaporated milk and reduced fat cheese. But I have great faith in ATK. The grocery store here had the Cabot 50% reduced fat cheddar, so I used that. Actually, according to ATK, they think that most of the time, using a 50% reduced fat cheese is okay. Just check the package to see if the fat content is about half of the regular product. I used this method to compare the reduced fat cheeses at the store. While hardly any are labeled as 50% less fat, most are in the right ball park. I was also surprised to see how the fat content varied between identically labeled reduced fat cheeses. As I grated the cheese, I tasted some straight up. It's really not too bad.

So how does this recipe really stack up according to the numbers? I'm glad you asked. The folks at ATK have a handy "makeover at a glance" box included for this recipe that pits the numbers of the traditional version against this light one. They based their original recipe on their own from Cook's Illustrated. (Incidentally, I've made another one of their mac & cheese recipes.)

Per serving
Classic: 650 calories
Light: 360 calories

Cholesterol
Classic: 200 mg
Light: 40 mg

Fat
Classic: 40 g
Calories 10 g

Saturated Fat
Classic: 27 g
Light: 6 g

The end result is a very yummy, creamy, cheesy, and flavorful mac and cheese. The sauce is saucy, similar in consistency to a fake cheese like Velveeta - but tastes so much better. It also tastes way better than Kraft mac & cheese, but really, only takes a teensy bit more effort and time to make than the Kraft version. It's worth that little extra effort.

This mac and cheese isn't baked. I would like to have the crunch of bread crumbs on top of this, so maybe next time I'll put a smidge more milk in and then top with bread crumbs and pop it in the oven for a few minutes to get that crunchy top. All in all, very good and very easy to make. One pot, no knife. Excellent.

Have a little puddin'

The holidays are coming. Besides the Halloween and Christmas decorations at Target, and pumpkins in the grocery store, the other indicator that the seasons are changing is when Trader Joe's starts to stock their fall/holiday items, expensive meats/appetizers, and expands the baking section. Some of my favorite TJ products are only available this time of the year and that makes them extra special. Favorites include peppermint Jo-Jo's (cookies) and pumpkin butter. I didn't see the cookies yet, but the pumpkin butter was sitting prettily on the shelf so I picked one up. I also noticed in the cookie section maple leaf cookies. These are maple cookies sandwiched around a maple vanilla filling. Oh. Yum. Alas, the nutrition information is quite terrible, so I didn't buy a box, but I will at some point for a get-together or other "special" event when they can be shared.

I did, however, buy a new product that I hope will be a year-round product and not a seasonal one. Whenever I do my shopping, I make sure to peruse "new product" end cap by the dairy section. I'm familiar enough with TJ products that I can usually spot new ones as I stroll the aisle, but I always check this end cap just to make sure I didn't miss anything interesting. This week, I spotted retro-designed boxes of instant pudding. I couldn't help myself. The decision was not to buy a box or not, but whether to get vanilla or chocolate. I opted for chocolate.

Instant pudding is one of those simple-stupid things to make. Really. Can't screw it up even if you tried. I whisked the pudding with the called for cold milk (nonfat in my case even though the box wanted 2%) in my brand new 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup with the non-slide bottom. This is exactly the sort of thing I wanted this cup for. I only got it a couple weekends ago and this was my first recipe putting it to work. The sticky silicon ring on the bottom of the cup held like glue to the counter while I whisked. The size was perfect for whisking, and the spout allowed me to easily pour the pudding into the cups.

Here is the box and measuring cup at work:


After dinner Monday night, we had pudding for dessert. I'm no connoisseur of instant puddings as the only time I eat it is when it's in a berry trifle, but I thought this TJ instant pudding was very good. The chocolate was almost the exact same chocolate flavor as a brownie batter which means it's very chocolate-y. We both thought the pudding was just a teensy bit grainy. I'm not sure if that's because I didn't whisk it enough or if that's just how instant pudding is. The little bit of grain didn't bother us in the slightest. The second day we had the pudding, a little skin had formed on the top but nothing too disgusting. The box says this pudding makes excellent pie filling, so I think Steve will get a chocolate pudding pie sometime in the months ahead. But before that, I want to give the vanilla a try, too.

All in all, I would highly recommend this instant pudding for it's very satisfying chocolate taste, creamy consistency (even if using nonfat milk), completely idiot-proof instructions, and friendly price.

"Salad" for dinner. No really, there was something green in it.

Usually, I think salad recipes are silly. Really, does anyone need a recipe to tell them how to make a salad? It's lettuce, dressing, and whatever other veggies and toppings you want, right? And dressing is oil and and acid of some kind, whether it's a vinegar or lemon juice. Salads are idiot proof dishes. All that being said, a salad recipe from my Sept. issue of Bon Appetit caught my eye. Perhaps it was all that bacon, goat cheese, and egg. Not much of a salad after that but rather a "salad." (PHOTO above from bonappetit.com)

Warm Escarole Salad with Goat Cheese, Hard-Boiled Eggs, and Bacon
from Bon Appetit, September 2009

6 servings (Actually, we ate all of this in one sitting. I guess it's six servings if you have it with something else but we didn't. Think it would be good with some grilled chicken or grilled shrimp if you like that sort of thing.)

1 head of escarole, torn into large bite-size pieces (about 8 cups)
2 bacon slices
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 5.5 ounce log soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Divide escarole among six plates. (*I just dumped all of into a large mixing bowl as I later combined ingredients, dressed, and tossed in the bowl and served from there.) Cook bacon in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain: reserve skillet with bacon drippings. Finely chop bacon; set aside.

Whisk olive oil and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Heat bacon drippings in skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; saute until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add olive oil mixture and whisk just until heated through, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over escarole. Sprinkle with eggs, goat cheese, and bacon.

Lobster cookies, the no guilt way to eat lobsters

In my weekend blog updates, I mentioned that we picked up a lobster shaped cookie cutter at Sur La Table.

With a little help from Steve on Sunday, the cookies got made. I have to say, rolled cookies are not my favorite things to make. I do like the novelty of them, decorating, and of course, eating them, but making them is sort of a pain. The dough for this kind of cookie usually has so much butter in it that it immediately starts to soften even after it's been in the fridge for a while. This dough has to be rolled to a certain thickness, which is usually so thin that it easily tears when you try to pick it up and move it to the baking sheet. I can't tell you how many lobster claws and tails we ripped off before I decided to just roll the dough directly on the baking sheet. Even though this only resulted in four or five lobsters in a batch, it was less stressful than trying to successfully move the cut lobsters to the sheet. (Michelle V. - if you read my blog, could you please leave a comment about your roll cookie method? I remember you told me your secret that involved cutting them out directly on the baking sheet but I can't remember if you did it after freezing the dough on the sheet or par baking? And anyone else who reads this, if you have tips for handling roll cookies, please let me know. I'm all ears!)

By the time I got to my last batch, I had morphed the roll-directly-on-the-sheet method with the roll-out-on-parchment-and-then-cut-the-paper-around-each-cookie-and-put-that-on-the-sheet method. This second method allowed me to get more cookies in each batch but it was a little tedious.

By the time these little buggers were all baked, I was done. They would have to wait until Monday to get their shells.

So this afternoon, I got out the required items for the frosting and went to work. I was trying to get a red color that is nothing like what I got. In person, the frosting is more of a dark salmon color rather than a deep red. Oh well.

I had read a hint about frosting cookies that said to use the back of a spoon rather than a spatula. Deciding to try it, I first used the tablespoon. Way too big. Switched down the the teaspoon. Better, but still a little sloppy. Finally, ding ding ding! Use my favorite spoon of all - the demitasse! The baby bear spoon was juuuuust right. I used the new one I got over the weekend and it worked like a charm. Before I had tested all the spoons, I also tried painting on the frosting. Eh, it was okay because there was no room for sloppiness, but I liked how the spoon coated cookies looked better. Here are my sad test cookies. These were casualties of broken claws and tails which resulted after baking. Delicate little things.

When I got them all frosted, I was not satisfied with the color. Salmon pink on lobster? No, that will not do. Sprinkles! Red sprinkles will help punch up that color a little bit. I was saved from having to make my own red sprinkles - which would probably turn out pink anyway - because I just happened to have a large container of them that I had bought on sale at Target from the post-Fourth of July discount bin. I believe that was Fourth of July 2008. I have no idea what compelled me to buy these at that time, but something in my subconscious must have been clairvoyant to know I would need them nearly fifteen months later.

Here are the finished cookies all jazzed up.


Those round ones are from the scraps and are cut using a ravioli cutter. I have yet to use it to make ravioli.

Nom nom nom

These videos have to be some of the strangest things I've ever seen a cat eat, or attempt to eat. What weird things to your cats eat? You should film it and put it on YouTube and then the world can see it and say, "what a weird cat."

Saturday around town

This morning, I used orange juice to wash down a cinnamon roll, some eggs, and bacon before heading to the big island of Manhattan today. We were hitting up Crate & Barrel and CB2 to look for lamps. Lamps aside, our trip today really revolved around food, or at least the things that go in a kitchen to make food.

We went into a few shops - Muji, CB2, and finally Sur La Table. It was at Sur La Table where I really oohed and ahhed over bake ware, Le Cruest dutch ovens, All-Clad saute pans, gadgets, knives, cutting boards, and dishtowels. I ended up buying these two Halloween yet food-related towels that I think are so cute.


Pretty cute, huh? I picked up a gift for someone, another small stocking stuffer (I bought my first present yesterday, so the shopping has begun. In fact, in Muji, I even heard Silent Night playing on some sort of Japanese new-agey CD over the store speakers. Weird. Sur La Table also had some ornaments out already. Has anyone been to Target lately? Two weeks ago, our Target had one side of an aisle hanging with Halloween costumes and the other side had over sized Christmas ornaments. Steve took a picture because it was so bizarre.) At Crate & Barrel, got myself a new corkscrew for $3, a tiny white and stainless demitasse spoon for $2 (they are the best spoons with which to eat ice cream), and a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup with a non-slip bottom. At Sur La Table, we also got a $1 lobster cookie cutter (Steve's idea. I told him he would have to help make them), and I found 9-inch parchment paper rounds for my cake pans. No more tracing my pans and cutting out and wasting paper.

Rewind to last night. We tried out a new Thai restaurant in the neighborhood. Or at least what we thought was a new place. We first went to Clover Club for a drink and snack, and then over to Court to this Thai place. As we left CC, I noticed that the Thai restaurant next door had the same name as the place we were going to on Court Street. Now, you have to understand, Court Street is only one block over from where we were. And the new restaurant was one block north on Court, so we are only talking about two blocks from where we were standing outside this same-named Thai restaurant. We get to the new place and double check the name. Yup, same name. Same sort of interior look, too. Sit down and eat our standard green curry. Our waitress asked Steve if we had eaten at the "other one" so we're pretty sure they are sister restaurants only two blocks apart. How weird is that? It got pretty busy as we ate, so maybe both places can do enough business to stay open. The new place has a nice windowed back wall and ceiling as well as a private outdoor deck. The food was fine but service was very slow, so I think they still need to work some things out at the new location, which has only been open about a week.

Trimmings

Just couple more things to tell you about.

Last week, in addition to the cinnamon rolls, I believe I mentioned that I was going to test a recipe sent to me by Cook's Country.

I did make the recipe - cat head biscuits - and answered their survey. It was really kinda fun to be a guinea pig for one of their in development recipes. In the magazine, the recipes usually get a write up about the recipe's history, research, development, ingredients, etc. As a tester, I only got the recipe with a one-line explanation about the name: the biscuits are about the size of a cat's head. Well, okay, that's straightforward enough. While I can't share the recipe, I will tell you that I thought it was darn near perfect. I loved those biscuits. The night before I made the biscuits, I had made chicken schnitzel. We had plenty left over so we put those in the biscuits for a breaded chicken biscuit sandwich with honey. Yum!

And just for fun, I held the largest biscuit (all were about 4 ounces) next to the cats's heads to see if, in fact, it was the size of a cat's head. These aren't great pictures because it's hard to get a cat to stay still when you are holding something next to his head and all he wants to do is sniff it. But I think you can get an idea from these. The biscuit is smaller than Kitty's head but larger than Cleo's.



















Last night, I made a white bean and sausage dish. It's in the October issue of Bon Appetit. This article used one base dish - white beans cooked with sage and garlic - to make four different dishes, some light and some heavier. The one I made was on the heavier ones. It called for tomatoes, sweet Italian sausage, the beans, more garlic & sage. That's it. Yes, there was some salt and pepper and water involved too, but the main ingredients and flavors are from that short list. It was delicious and well worth the wait. Since dried beans are used, they had to soak overnight. It is a bit of a time-consuming recipe as things have to simmer for quite a bit of time at various stages of preparation, but it's easy. Nothing is hard or complicated in the preparation of this dish. In fact, it's almost an knife-less recipe. I did use the knife to cut off the top of a garlic head and to crush cloves, but other than that, no knife required. Steve really liked it, too. This will certainly be a keeper recipe to make again this winter.



I actually have several more things to tell you about - a new book, a new taco place, a new Thai place (like we need another one of those in this neighborhood), a burger place - but I must go and get ready to leave when Steve gets home. We are doing dinner and movie tonight. Have a good weekend everyone!

Peaches, lovely peaches

I've wanted to make peach ice cream for a while and I finally did about a week ago. I bought some beautiful end-of-summer North Carolina peaches from the local produce stand and let them ripen. Letting them ripen was like torture. I wanted them to be ready NOW! About four agonizing days later, I determined they were ripe. (I even used that "trick" and put an apple in the paper bag with the peaches in order to ripen them faster.)

Mmmmmm.



The most tedious step in this ice cream recipe was peeling all those peaches, and even that was easy as the skins just peeled right off in big, smooth, sheets.

Half of the peaches were heated with honey and then pureed. Here is the puree although I think it looks more like slightly chunky egg yolks in this picture.



After that, it was ice cream as usual - heat the dairy, add sugar, vanilla, eggs, etc, chill, then churn. At the end of the churning, I added the rest of the peaches which were finely diced.

This was very good and I highly recommend it if you have four peaches around. I think when I make this again, I will amp up the peach flavor and use more for the puree. But I'll have to be careful if I do that since the added puree would contain more water and that might give the ice cream an icier texture. Steve said it would also be good with a little cinnamon. I also played with the dairy this time. If you have read my other blog entries about ice cream, you'll recall I use mainly heavy cream and half and half. I tried using half and half and whole milk once but it didn't get creamy enough. This time, I used light cream and whole milk. Voila! A winning combination that gave me the creaminess and texture I wanted while cutting out a bit of the fat.

I followed Dorie Greenspan's recipe to the letter except for the dairy. She wanted me to use heavy cream. Here is the recipe and my adaptation is noted:

Honey Peach Ice Cream
from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

4 large ripe peaches (about 2 pounds), peeled and pitted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk (*adaptation: 3/4 cup)
1 cup heavy cream (*adaptation: 1 1/4 cup light cream)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2 chunks and toss them into a small saucepan. Add the honey and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a blender or food processor and whir to puree. (Alternatively, use a hand blender. *This is what I did as it's easier to clean up but be careful of spatter when hand blending the hot mixture.) Set the peach puree aside while you make the custard.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard into a 2-quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. (*I poured it through a fine mesh strainer just in case there were milk or egg solids.) Stir in the vanilla and peach puree.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze.

Baking also included recipes & suggestions for several more flavors I'd like to try: chocolate ganache, chocolate peppermint sorbet, burnt sugar, and blueberry-sour cream. Maybe you'll read about one of those some day.

Happy ice cream!