crème brûlée ice cream w/ rum-soaked black cherries

Who doesn't love crème brûlée? That crunchy top, that perfect ratio of cream to vanilla to sugar? Perfect. I've always wanted to try Pierre Herme's recipe for crème brûlée ice cream. It truly is wonderful. I know my boring words sound like everyone else, but seriously it's that good, and it's that easy to make. Don't be intimidated because it's the famous Pierre Herme, no no, it's easy. Have you ever been to his little shop in Paris? Here is a couple fun photos to get you tickled about it here . There really is always a long line to get in there.
With this recipe I had to kick it up a notch by adding in my own touch, you don't have to. But I just thought the addition of fresh black cherries would be perfect, and it was. The sweet black cherries melded perfectly with the caramel, and I think it's because the texture of the cherries was just right. I don't know about you but I love a little texture in my ice cream. I had made this recipe back in August when the black cherries were nice and ripe. This past summer I ate a lot of ice cream and a lot of hot fudge sauce, bad I know. But looking back, it was worth it. There is this little hole-in-the-wall place on cape cod that sells the best hot fudge sauce, to be honest their ice cream isn't that great, but the hot fudge sauce, oh man does it satisfy. It's so thick, and so fudgey and always nice and warm. Alright that's enough...I'm getting hungry!
We have a winner in my giveaway. Kirsten of More Cheese More Chocolate was the lucky winner. Congrats to you Kirsten! Please email me your address and which cookbook you would like.

crème brûlée ice cream
by pierre herme
print recipe

custard
2 ¼ cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
5 plump/moist vanilla beans, split lengthwise & scraped (save pulps & pods)
10 large egg yolks
1 cup + 2 tb white sugar

(I added in about 1 cup of rum soaked black cherries to the ice cream mix: 1 cup chopped black cherries soaked overnight in about 3 TB of dark rum)

Bring the milk, cream and vanilla beans (pulp & pods) to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set the mixture aside for 1 hor.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 210 F or as close to the temp as possible – 200 F or 22 F will still be fine. Set aside 2 – 11 by 7 by 2-inch pans. (the pan size is not crucial – what’s important is to use a pan or pans in which, when you add the custard, the mixture will form a layer that’s only ¾ inch thick).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until the mixture thickens slightly. Slowly strain the vanilla-infused liquid over the yolks, whisking to blend the ingredients but taking care not to beat in lots of air. Discard the vanilla bean pods.
Pour the mixture into the pans and slide them into the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the custard is just set, at which point it will still shimmy when shifted but a knife inserted in it will come out clean. Transfer the pans to cooling racks and allow the custard to cool to room temp., then refrigerate the custard for 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled.

the caramel
1/3 cup + 1 ½ tb white sugar
4 ts salted butter, room temp
1/3 cup heavy cream

Working in a deep saucepan, caramelize the sugar: place the pan over medium heat. Sprinkle about 2 tb of the sugar over the center of the pan and when the sugar starts to melt and color, stir it with a wooden spoon. When all the sugar is caramel colored, add another 2 tb of sugar and cook and stir as before. Continue until all of the sugar is cooked and the caramel is a deep mahogany color – test the color by dropping a bit on a white plate. Careful with this next step! Standing away from the pan, stir in the butter. Then, still standing back, add the heavy cream. Don’t be alarmed if the caramel erupts in big bubbles – it’s normal. Stir the caramel until well blended and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the caramel into a heatproof container: a glass measuring cup with a spout is perfect. Set aside at room temp until needed.

finishing
1. Pour the chilled custard into the container of a blender (or use a food processor or immersion blender) and whir until the cream is smooth and once again liquid. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the ice cream from the machine, pack it into a freezer container, and place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour before proceeding. (You can freeze the ice cream longer, but it’s easier to mix with the caramel when it’s still in the soft-freeze stage).
2. To turn the crème into creme brulee, you can add the caramel in one of two ways. The most elegant way to combine the two elements and prepare the ice cream for serving is to layer the ice cream and caramel in a terrine. (see step 3. for the second way of adding the caramel to the ice cream). If you have a metal terrine made especially for ice cream, one with a lid, use it; if not, a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan will be fine. Line the bottom of the terrine with a layer of ice cream – don’t worry about getting a smooth layer – then drizzle a layer of caramel over the cream. Continue in this way until the terrine is filled; aim for about four layers ice cream and three of caramel. Cover the terrine tightly with its lid or a double layer of plastic wrap and store in the freezer until set. To serve, you can either scoop or slice. If you decide to scoop the ice cream out of the terrine, dig into the terrine so that each scoop has both ice cream & caramel. If you’re going to slice the terrine, it’s best to unmold it first. Dip the terrine briefly into a basin of hot water, then turn it out onto a serving plate and cut into slices.
3. Alternatively, you can swirl the caramel into the ice cream into a large mixing bowl. Spoon about a quarter of the ice cream into the bowl, drizzle over about a third of the caramel, add more ice cream, and then add more caramel; continue in this fashion until all the ingredients are used. Now using a large, sturdy rubber spatula or metal serving spoon, fold the caramel into the ice cream. Don’t be too thorough – you want the ice cream to be swirled with caramel. (If you end up incorporating the caramel evenly throughout the ice cream, you’ll produce the world’s best caramel ice cream). Pack the ice cream into a freezer container, seal tightly, and store in the freezer until set. Keeps in freezer for about 1 week. Makes 1 ½ quarts.
Note: I added in my chopped black cherries soaked in rum when I added in the caramel, about 3/4 cup.

mushroom bisque w/ crispy shallots

Baby it's cold outside! Too early in the season to say that? But hear me out. I'm freeeezing! I'm not one of those fall-winter type of gals. I'm a summer-babe, I love my sun and love my heat. Well, I don't really like humidity, but I love the dry heat. I don't think I've ever met someone who loves the humidity, have you?
Our summer on Cape Cod was a very very short one. We did not get a spring, instead we got rain--pure rain for a month. Seriously it was a record rainfall and record sun-less days on the history books jotted down somewhere with those weather-fanatics. Our summer was only about a month long, then bam, right into fall. So, I did not get enough sun to warm my bones up enough for winter. You know I'm so looking at the caribbean right now...
Last week I jokingly told my friends that summer was officially over-- I had eaten my first bowl of Ramen.
Another first for this already chilly season is my famous mushroom bisque. It has all the good stuff in it, like booze, mushrooms, cream, and those irrestible little gems I love: crispy shallots. This will warm your bones and your blood, well depending on how much sherry you put in it.
If you have a home in the caribbean and aren't using it I'm here to help. Yes I am. I'm available to go check on it and make sure it's safe & sound. Or if you are there I can easily cook for you. LOL

mushroom bisque
print recipe

2 tb of evoo
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 cup portobello mushrooms, chopped large chunks
½ cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped large chunks
¾ cup cremini mushroom, chopped large chunks
¾ stick of butter, unsalted, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
¼ cup of AP flour
½ +/- cup of good quality dry sherry
1 quart of half & half
1 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl take the ¼ cup of flour and mix about 3-4 tb of the beef broth; whisk to make a nice slurry; set aside.
In a large stockpot, heat up the evoo, and saute the onions till translucent. Add in a few pinches of salt. Add in all the mushrooms, add in the chopped butter, and a few dashes of ground black pepper—scattering it about.
Let the mushrooms cook down a bit, about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring mushrooms. Add in the dry sherry, let that cook down a bit, by bringing it to a boil. Add in the remaining beef broth, add in the half & half, the heavy cream, and then the slurry you previously made (of the flour & beef broth).
Turn up heat a bit and keep stirring. Ideally you want to bring this all to just a boil. Give it a taste and see if it needs any pepper. I doubt it will need salt.
Top with the crispy shallots.
Should make about 4 hearty bowlfulls. It freezes nicely too.

crispy shallots
semi-adapted from Barefoot Contessa

1 cup light olive oil
3 tb unsalted butter
5 to 6 shallots, sliced into medium-thin rings

Heat the oil and unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches about 250 degrees F. Reduce the heat a bit then add the shallots. I did this in two batches. You really do not want to crowd the pan at all. The shallots will brown perfectly if they have plenty of room in the hot oil to swim and get happy. Cook until nice and brown. Make sure to stir the shallots once in a while to get all sides brown. Once down remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, and drain, then place on paper towels. They should stay at room temp., don't put them in the fridge as they will go soft and lose all that nice crispiness.
Should make less than ½ cup.

it's about that time.....for a giveway!

You know it's about time for a giveaway--a good giveaway! I don't want to giveaway a tube of this or a bowl of that, no I want to giveaway a pretty good prize. So, since we're all foodies here, cookbooks -- good cookbooks are a pretty good giveaway.
This giveaway will be your choice of one of these fabulous books:

Tartine


Baked: New Frontiers in Baking


How to Cook Everything

All fabulous cookbooks with the best recipes around, to help inspire you to get your own creative cooking juices flowing. If you win, choose whichever one tickles your fancy.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at this post and tell me what recipe you have taken in the past or would like to take on, and how have you 'kicked it up a notch'. I want to hear about your creative cooking school skills and to possibly get you wanting to try something new with a kicked up flare.
On October 10, 2009, I will draw a random number and announce the winner. Sorry no anynomous comments allowed, for obvious reasons. Please make sure you have your email or website in your signature or name, so I can get a hold of you.

feta & raisin dip

That George Michael song: "Too Funky" is playing in my head as I write this. How ironic is that? OK, so this is a funky dish, but it's good-- I mean really good. The feta cheese melded great with the sweetness of the raisins and sun dried tomatoes. Kevin and Peter keep making these wonderful feta dips & salads, so naturally I had to follow with my own take. Plus I'm a huge fan of feta cheese, so salty and rich. Those chips you see in the photo are from Whole Foods, it's deep fried tortillas. You can make them at home if you want, I was lazy and picked up a bag. They go wonderfully with this dip. I think corn chips might work with this or even Ritz cracker, or nothing.
Thank you my sweet friends for all the birthday wishes. My b-day was good, I got spoiled, ate way too much cake(s) <---see the plural oh yeah.

feta & raisin dip
print recipe

6 ounces kalamata olives, pitted & diced
Sun dried tomatoes in oil; drained & diced (about 3 ounces +/-)
2 green onions (tops only), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Handful of raisins (golden is best)
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 TB +/-
Salt & pepper

Combine the olives, sun dried tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, raisin, black pepper, except feta. Check, taste, and see if you need more lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Then gently stir in the crumbled feta cheese.

Note: you can mold it into a ceramic dish, chill for a bit, then place onto dip plate. Serve with crackers (not too salty) or serve with fried tortilla chips.

bucatini all’amatriciana

One of my favorite pasta dishes of all. I've seen this made several ways in food blogger-land and in restaurants, and I even have my own take on it. I use a basic recipe from mario batali at babbo. Mario has some of the most perfect Italian dishes ever; yes I know he's Italian, but he truly has the perfect touch on Italian cuisine. Have you ever been to babbo in nyc? You must go, if you are an avid Italian-foodie. They have this dish called " sweet potato lune with sage and amaretti" that is, the oh, how do I describe it in words for you? Heaven, heavenly, perfect pairing of pasta, sweet potato and a touch of amaretti? And before I forget, this is important, mario batali has the best basic tomato sauce I've ever come across. I make it all the time when I want a fresh tasting tomato sauce. That same sauce is used in this recipe and is a perfect sauce for making large batches and freezing and/or canning; you can use it on almost all of your Italian red sauce recipes. Something about his tomato sauce is just right: the right balance in acidity with sweet. Try it sometime, I think you might grow to like it as I have done over the decade, plus it's very easy for anyone just starting out in cooking Italian cuisine.

What I do to this recipe, which can be found here, I add chopped roasted red peppers to this right after I sauteed the red onions. I've always like the extra taste of the roasted peppers. If you can find guanciale please use it; if not then pancetta will do. Please note my changes.

Bucatini all’amatriciana
From babbo

¾ pound guanciale, or pancetta, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
1 red onion medium size, halved & sliced ½-inch thick
1 roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 ½ teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups basic tomato sauce (I used 1 cup, see below for recipe)
1 pound bucatini
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
Pecorino Romano, for grating

Being 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt.
Place the guanciale slices in a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan in a single layer and cook over medium-low heat until most of the fat has been rendered from the meat, turning occasionally.
Remove the meat to a plate lined with paper towels and discard half the fat (I never discard the fat, only a 1/4 of it; you need some of the fat for flavor), leaving enough to coat the garlic, onion and red pepper flakes.
Return the guanciale to the pan with the vegetables, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions, garlic and guanciale are light golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, add the tomato sauce, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cook the bucatini in the boiling water according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the simmering sauce. Add the parsley leaves, increase the heat to high and toss to coat. Divide the pasta among four warmed pasta bowls. Top with freshly grated Pecorino cheese and serve immediately.

Basic Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot (I use one large carrot), finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand & juices reserved
Salt, to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Should make 4 cups.