Black Coffee Ice Cream

The temperature here tomorrow is supposed to hit about 90 degrees. This makes me think of ice cream... and my dad. I don't think a day went by that my dad did not have a bowl of ice cream (miss him!). I love ice cream too with a capital "L." If I were to assemble a list of my top 5 favorite foods, ice cream would be on it. Please don't ask me to narrow it down to a favorite flavor.

Then there's coffee. When the weather gets hot, wouldn't it be great to have a bowl of coffee ice cream for breakfast? It probably has less calories that the typical grande thingies that cost more than lunch, so why not?

Okay... I'm not necessarily advocating having ice cream for breakfast (although I did it when I was in college). I will assert that this ice cream is perfect for those who want a strong, freshly ground, freshly steeped coffee flavor in their ice cream. It definitely packs a caffeine punch. So maybe ice cream for breakfast isn't such a bad idea. Right? Right!

I topped mine with a little chocolate syrup. Coffee + chocolate = heaven.

Note: any ice cream maker is good to use. I used this one from Cuisinart.I keep the canister in the freezer so I can make ice cream whenever I'm in the mood.

Black Coffee Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.
Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients

2 1/2 C whole milk

1 T and 2 tsp cornstarch

3 T softened cream cheese

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 C heavy cream

3/4 C sugar

3 T light corn syrup

1/4 C roasted coffee beans, coarsely ground

Instructions

1. Whisk 2 T of the milk with the cornstarch to dissolve. 
2. Whisk the cream cheese with the salt in a medium sized bowl. 
3. Add ice cubes and water to a large bowl and set aside. 
4. In a 4 quart saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup and bring it to a boil. Let boil for four minutes. 
5. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the coffee. Let the mixture steep for five minutes.
6. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth lined strainer. Squeeze out as much coffee flavor as possible into the mixture. 
7. Add the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk in the milk/cornstarch mixture. Bring it to a boil again and cook for about a minute, stirring with a heat proof rubber spatula for about a minute, until slightly thickened. 
8. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture while whisking constantly until smooth. 
9. Add the whole mixture to a freezer bag, seal, and, submerge the bag into the ice water filled bowl. Let it sit for 30 minutes. If necessary, add ice to the water. 
10. Add the mixture to your ice cream maker and freeze for about 20 to 30 minutes, until thick. 
11. Move the ice cream to a container and top the mixture with plastic wrap against the surface. Seal the container and place it in your freezer for at least 4 hours.  

Scoop, top with chocolate if you like, and enjoy. Good morning!

Chinese Indian Vegetarian Fried Rice | Wok Wednesdays

This week, the Wok Wednesdays group is making Chinese Indian Vegetarian Fried Rice, a recipe from Grace Young's Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories.

As we cook along with Wok Wednesdays, we are under the watchful eye of Grace Young herself. That is both intimidating (in my head) and wonderful. Mostly wonderful. She is so supportive. At one point, when I was looking for a specific ingredient, she pretty much stuck with me all day guiding me to the correct aisle in the Asian market. I am not exaggerating.

This dish is inspired by Grace Young's visit to a Chinese Indian restaurant in New York City. The restaurant, Chinese Mirch, incorporates many of the Chinese ethnic cooking styles along with Indian cooking.

The recipe calls for freshly cooked basmati rice, oil, soy sauce, ketchup, chili garlic sauce, pepper, carrots, green beans, and scallions. That's pretty much it. Toss it all together, and you have amazing deliciousness.

Ketchup you say? Grace reports that the Chinese invented ketchup. According to the interwebs, this is true! Who knew? Yet the tomato is native to the Western Hemisphere. Just a history lesson for you all here. I give and I give.

Grace recommends a specific Chinese chili garlic sauce. I had a Vietnamese chili garlic sauce on hand and used that. I can report that the rice was amazing. While Grace allowed for some flexibility to control for heat, I used the full amount. Anyone who knows me knows I like heat.

To get the full recipe, buy the book. Part of the rules in participating in the group is not providing the full recipe. Buying the book is worth it. Every single recipe has been flawless.

By the way, Mr. Karen's Kitchen Stories, who does not like spicy food, loved this.

Chicken and Bell Pepper Chow Mein

This colorful dish is incredibly easy and amazingly delicious. Chicken, noodles, bell peppers, garlic, ginger, scallions, soy, honey, sesame oil, and lime juice..... aaaah, the lime juice.... more on that later...

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have been hooked on cooking with a wok. You may also know that my wok is relatively young, i.e., early in the seasoning stages.

First, I should have been tipped off when the recipe in the book used the phrase "deglaze." This usually means that by adding the additional liquid to the pan, all of the bits of cooked on flavor of the pan will be released once the liquid is added (it's a great way to clean a stainless steel pan by the way).

Second, I should have also been alerted by the fact that one of the deglazing liquids is lime juice. Acid! Not good for a newly seasoned wok, right?

Third, I should have noticed that the wok in the book's photograph was stainless steel, not carbon steel.

Nine Hour Crusty White Bread | The Saturday White Bread

After taking three days to make the pure levain bread and having so much success with it, I decided to try another recipe from the book. The result? This crusty 1 1/2 pound boule is amazing. The crust is super flakey with multiple layers of crispiness.

The crumb is super moist and airy, and on the first or second day, is best eaten buttered or plain to really appreciate it. So good.  After that, if you still have some left, it makes fabulous toast or grilled cheese.

This recipe makes 2 one and a half pound loaves. I haven't tried doing this, but I'm pretty sure you could cut the ingredients in half to make one loaf.

Hong Kong-Style Mango Ginger Chicken | Wok Wednesdays

I have been participating in Wok Wednesdays for about three months. Wok Wednesdays is a group of bloggers who are stir frying their way through James Beard award winning author Grace Young's book Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories.

So far, every dish has been completely amazing.

Second to my bread baking obsession, this has been a lot of fun.

First you buy a carbon steel or Chinese cast iron wok and give up the idea that stainless steel or nonstick woks are worthwhile. Then you season your wok to give it "wok hay." Next you start stir frying with your newly seasoned wok, staring at it after every use, taking photos of it to document its maturity..... oh wait, that's just me (Well, not just me. We had a "post a photo of your wok" event on the Wok Wednesdays Facebook page, so I'm not the only one).

What I LOVE about the group is that Grace Young also provides encouragement and support to all of us newbie wokkers.

This recipe involves "velveting" the chicken to keep it moist. This includes soaking the chicken in egg whites, corn starch, and rice wine, and then simmering it for about a minute prior to stir frying. While I normally avoid boneless skinless chicken breast, when you "velvet" it, the results are amazing.

For more about "velveting" chicken, check out this post.

This stir fry also includes ginger, garlic, soy sauce, chicken broth, red pepper flakes, bell peppers, red onions, and mango, added at the end. It's seriously good.

Want the recipe? Get the book. Join the Wok Wednesdays group. You won't regret it!

Orange Chicken

As I mentioned in this post about Asian take-out style spare ribs, orange chicken is my 9 year old grandson's third favorite food, and so, of course, I had to make it for him. I adore this boy.

One of the manifestations of my adoration is the ratio of apps on my iPad that are for him vs the number of apps for me. I think it's about 70:1. Nothing wrong with that, right?

One Christmas, his mom gave him $20 to spend at his school's PTA gift buying event. He spent $19 on a necklace for me...... Sigh..... I still wear that necklace as often as I can, and I get compliments every time!  And every time he sees me wearing it, I can tell it makes him so happy.

When he says he loves orange chicken, I need to make it for him.

Roasted Honey-Soy Pork Tenderloin

This honey-soy pork tenderloin takes only about 15 minutes of hands on time to prepare and it is really simple and good.

I made this as part of a multi-course Asian dinner for my kids and grandkids. We served this with Chinese take-out style spare ribs, stir fried vegetables, orange chicken, and steamed rice. All at the request of the kids.

Well... maybe the kids didn't request the vegetables....

Pure Levain Country Bread

While cooking and baking are serious hobbies for me, bread baking has become kind of an obsession. When I bake a bread like this one with success, I get a little over the top giddy. In this case, I kept going back into the kitchen just to admire these loaves. I will not admit to sticking my face into the bread and enjoying its fresh baked aroma with each visit to the kitchen.

The formula for this bread comes from Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza.The actual name Ken Forkish gave this bread is Overnight Country Blonde. For some reason, not sure why, that makes me laugh.

I love this book. It sat in my house for several months until I finally decided I better justify having purchased it by trying one of the formulas (Tartine is still taunting me from my bookshelf... ).

When I finally picked up the book, I jumped ahead to chapter 10 to make one of the pure levain loaves. What I love about this book is that Ken provides a timeline for baking that makes it really easy for the home baker to figure out how he/she will bake one of these loaves. The book is also full of photographs demonstrating the mixing and shaping techniques that he uses. I am still enjoying reading his story about how he quit a job he hated and how he got started in the world of bread.

The levain for this bread is 80 percent hydration with a mix of whole wheat and all purpose unbleached white flour. To create the levain/sourdough starter, I took 100 grams of my 100 per cent hydration white flour starter and fed it three times with 400 grams of white flour, 100 grams of whole wheat flour, and 400 grams of water with the final feeding on the morning of the day before baking day. With each new feeding, I started with 100 grams of starter. The book has instructions for creating your own levain if you don't already have a starter.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Almond Tarts

These little chocolate covered cherry almond tarts are comprised of a flaky crust and a creamy almond filling topped with fresh cherries that are coated with a chocolate ganache.

Flaky crust... Almond pastry cream... Fresh cherries...  Chocolate ganache.... All baked into two 4 1/2 inch tartelette pans.  The combination of flavors works beautifully and makes a wonderful summer dessert for two... or four if you don't mind sacrificing the style factor and serving them cut in half. You could always add a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Summer!

While the tart is inspired by chocolate covered cherries, in this tart, the cherries are fresh and not coated with a sugary syrup.

For the crust, I used some leftover dough I had in the freezer. The recipe for the dough is the same as the one from this apple tart. Any recipe for your favorite pie crust will do. Just make enough for a crust bottom. I love this one because it is amazingly tender and flaky. It's my favorite crust recipe.

Recommended tools/equipment for these tarts: 

1. Two 4 1/2 inch to 4 3/4 inch tartelette pans with removable bottoms. If you're good at geometry, you could substitute one or three different sized pans. 
2. A food processor, ideally a mini food processor.You'll need this to mix up the almond cream filling. 
3. A cherry pitter. You can make this dessert without one.. and who needs another single use kitchen gadget? In this case, me. I love my little cherry pitter, even if it's single use. It doesn't hurt that one of my grandkids is a cherry lover and helps me pit the cherries with this gadget. I can't seem to find the one that I use available on line, but I'm sure that the multiple ones that are available are all good. Just check the reviews. 

Mini Pancetta-Cheddar-Chive Scones | Avid Baker's Challenge

These mini pancetta, cheddar, and chive scones are addicting. I am usually pretty good at controlling myself with baked goods, but not today. When these things were cool enough to eat, I promptly ate four. FOUR!

Here's how I justify it. All I had for breakfast was a hard boiled egg and coffee, saving room for two scones. Then, I had two more scones and a salad for lunch. Yeah, yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(Now about those chocolate covered cherry almond tarts on the cooling rack....  )

The original recipe for these scones calls for bacon. I had some pancetta in the freezer, so I went with that, and fried it with a teaspoon of bacon fat to give it a smoky flavor. The things I will do to avoid going to the store.

These scones are made with a cream based biscuity dough and sort of remind me of twice-baked potatoes. I made mine in a mini-scone pan. Of course I had one.

There's a great step-by-step demo of how to make these scones by +Pj Hamel on the King Arthur Flour blog. I love how she found the chives in the elevator. Serendipity at its finest. It was meant to be.

Spaccatini | Little Cleft Rolls

According to The Italian Baker by Carol Fields, these Spaccatini rolls originate from Lugano, Italy. These rolls have  a little split down the middle that is formed by pressing down on the dough with the handle of a wooden spoon.

Spaccatini rolls require a little bit of advance planning but it's worth it. The dough begins with a biga, which is a starter dough made the day before. In fact, it can be made up to five days in advance. The use of a starter dough definitely adds more developed flavor to the bread and supposedly makes it stay fresh longer.

These rolls are crispy on the outside, and soft and airy on the inside. They make great dinner rolls and sandwich rolls. We used these for barbecued tri-tip sandwiches....

And barbecued hamburgers...

Doesn't this make you excited about summer barbecues? Are you hungry yet?