4th of July Ice-Cream Sandwiches

My apologies to those of you that follow my blog. I realize I've been neglecting both of my blogs a bit, no posts at all through June. Well June was quite a crazy busy month. I was offered a position in pastry at a lovely new french restaurant in Seattle. Everything has moved so fast...out with the old and in with the new. So I have been working at the restaurant and teaching on my days off so it's left little time for blogging. But I'm here, baking & cooking away. Below is a melting version of the ice cream sandwiches I made for the 4th. We had a BBQ with our family and this was the sweet I served before the Fireworks started. Finally the sun has peaked out here in the PNW, just in time for BBQ's and sticky, messy and gooey desserts!

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread That is Gluten Free!

A loaf of bread that looks as though it could pass for a French boule, albeit a bucolic boule. The Gluten-Free Girl & The Chef aka Shauna James Ahern & Daniel Ahern created a lovely collection of Gluten-Free recipes in their new cookbook.

Gluten-Free & Vegan Birthdays

August is a big month for birthdays in my family. We celebrated both Travis' birthday & his mom's birthday this weekend. The Babycakes cookbook has been a big hit since the banana bread, so I baked Babycakes' Chocolate Cupcakes for Travis' birthday dessert. For his mom's cake I went with Babycakes' Double-Chocolate Crumb Cake.

babycakes

BabyCakes NYC is definitely on our list of bakeries to visit when we travel to New York.....one of these days.

Erin McKenna bakes up a beautiful banana bread loaf. Not just any banana bread, a recipe that is completely vegan & gluten-free. I prefer pouring the batter into muffin tins to create adorable babycakes. The miniature cakes are moist and sweet all the way through. I'm used to my hearty gluten-free muffins, these are light and almost springy. A delicious alternative to my Bittersweet Banana Cupcakes.

Presidential Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A good fit for any 4th of July feast. This oatmeal raisin cookie is a favorite of former president Clinton's.

A fine recipe, although I think next time around I'll add a touch more butter, why not make it easy and toss in the full 2 sticks (8 ounces)? Also, cut a bit of the sweetness by 1/8-1/4 cup. Serve as an ice-cream sandwich layered with cinnamon, ginger or vanilla bean gelato.

Vegan Cupcakes

This afternoon I baked cupcakes without eggs and butter. Instead, I played around with Moskowitz & Romero's Vanilla Gluten Freedom Cupcakes from their Vegan cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Substituting oil & flax seeds for the traditional butter and eggs.

Midday Pick-Me-Up

I was flipping through Ann Gentry's The Real Food Daily Cookbook and came across her wheat-free, dairy-free Chocolate Chip Cookies. These pack a substantial dose of whole grains and a delicate sweetness. If you are anything like me and get a little sleepy in the afternoon (a couple of hours after lunch of course), skip the coffee and sugary treats and reach for one of Gentry's cookies for your midday pick-me-up! You'll still get a bit of caffeine from the chocolate chips, however you won't get the energy spike that soon plummets. They are just as delicious for dessert with a warm mug of steamed soy milk or topped with a touch of ice cream (sorbet, soy or rice based if you are aiming to keep it all dairy-free).

Sweet Endings

T. and I had a quiet Thanksgiving. Just the two of us this year. Therefore we decided on Salmon instead of Turkey. Neither of us are too keen on turkey as it is; and really why bother with such a large bird when it's just the two of us? The turkey was not at all missed and we think salmon will definitely turn up on our Thanksgiving table in the future.

Our Menu:
Harvest Apple Salad
Brown Sugar Baked Salmon
Gnocchi al Pomodoro
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Kale Bundles stuffed with Duxelle & Brie

For dessert we kept it very simple and baked Emily Luchetti's fun Nutella filled cookies and served them aside deliciously creamy whole raw milk. These Hazelnut Sandwich cookies have now become an irresistible fast favorite.

Buon Appetito & Happy Thanksgiving!

Bananas & Chocolate....Chocolate & Bananas

I grew up on Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. While other kids had slices of plain banana bread sometimes flecked with nuts, mine was studded with gooey pockets of melting chocolate and sweet tart bits of maraschino cherries.

The bananas in my kitchen are developing brown spots, this is Nature's reminder to get to baking. So I began thumbing through some of my cookbooks and landed upon Dorie Greenspan's Cocoa-Nana Bread from Baking From My Home to Yours.....WARNING...the batter is terribly tempting, luscious notes of dark chocolate mingle with sweet hints of banana....and better yet the scent perfumes the entire house!

Summer Soups

I love soup! During the Summer there's no shortage of fresh veggies and this is the time of year that eating your soup cold is welcome.

Veggie stocks are a simple 30 minute step, rather than the house warming 3 PLUS hours for meat stocks. In some cases like my Gazpacho, freshly juiced tomatoes and a drop or two of sherry vinegar with a splash of water creates the base, no need for even turning on the stove.

As I wrote about in a past posting, I've been testing recipes from Dana Slatkin's The Summertime Anytime Cookbook, this is where I found this creamy bite of summer on a spoon, Chilled Avocado-Corn Soup with Cilantro Oil. Another one of my favorite resources is (but of course!) bon appetit magazine, this August issue is brimming with Summer recipes. Dorie Greenspan shares a recipe for Summer Corn Soup from the kitchen of her summer house on Connecticut's shoreline, no stock here, simply whole milk.

So enjoy this trio of Summer Soups. Turn off the stove and get used to using that blender!

Preserving Summer

A two day process somehow makes preserving Summer's bounty a breeze. My good friend Whitney gave me this storybook of recipes, Preserving Memories: Growing Up in My Mother's Kitchen by Judy Glattstein, last Christmas along with a tin full of a delicately scented rose crabapple jelly (so divine) and a sweet and spicy apple butter.

Glattstein's book is like having a good friend in the kitchen with you. She shares her recipes with stories. Think of when you've received a recipe from a friend....It's typically sent along with a little tidbit, a memory or why it is a favorite. She adds a personal touch to everything from Peaches to Pectin.

Today I made a couple of her simple recipes, Fig Jam and Strawberry Jam. Somehow, my third time around preserving left me with no jitters. I didn't fear, chipping or breaking the jars when they tapped and danced their way around the bottom of my pot (my first time preserving I padded the inside of my pot with dish towels). I didn't worry about my missing canning vessel (Travis and I couldn't squeeze it in our car this past Christmas so it's sitting at his parents' house in Seattle). Nor did I fret about the consistency of the jam prior to canning.

I did sweat! Stirring and stirring over a bubbling vat of sugar and fruit will do that, especially when the weather is in the 90's. I must admit I'm happy to sweat for this treasure of sweet Summer.

While cleaning up, the pop pop pop of my properly sealed jars made me a believer in Glattstein's simple approach to preserving.

Summertime Anytime

The most recent addition to my cookbook collection is Dana Slatkin's cheery filled Summertime Anytime Cookbook. Slatkin is the co-owner of Shutters on the Beach located in Santa Monica. I've never been, but from the photos it looks like the perfect taste of the seashore.

She groups her recipes into charming categories, Sunny Days, Cloudy Days, Balmy Nights, Stormy Nights and Misty Mornings. I've tested out her Cucumber Gazpacho from Sunny Days and the brilliant Shutters Vegetarian Burger from Cloudy Days. (Mom I think even you will like your veggies this way!)

I still have yet to try her Pomegranate Mojito and Chilled Avocado-Corn Soup with Cilantro Oil, oh and Iced Nougat with Honey & Figs. She beautifully captures the ingredients of Summer in her stunning beach cookbook.

Curiously Delicious Khoresht-e Rivas

I must admit, I have a terrible time following recipes. I always have to sprinkle in something new, change a cooking technique, replace certain ingredients, the list goes on. I wonder what this is about? I guess I like to think of it as leaving my own mark, somewhat like an uncharted expedition, oh yes the dish has been done, BUT I must go one step further. Or perhaps, I simply like improvement, to leave taste buds utterly satiated.

Hmmmm, maybe it's a bit of both?

While reading over a recipe I envision the flavors and ask lots of questions; Are the spices toasted? Are the shallots left to bloom in vinegar before being whisked into olive oil? Are the herbs fresh or dried? What type of salt? Will tap water suffice? Earthenware or stainless steel?

So today, while making Claudia Roden's Khoresht-e Rivas, (Rhubarb Lamb Stew) my microplane tempted me to add a heaping teaspoon of fresh ginger to the sauteing onions. Rather than adding the spices to the water, I awakened the earthy scents by warming them with the browned cubes of lamb. In the place of allspice and cinnamon, I added Garam Masala. Although Roden doesn't specify which type of allspice, I'm under the assumption one should use Persian Allspice for this very Persian stew.

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey's Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake Pots

If you like milk chocolate, then this recipe is for you, better yet if you like cheesecake and milk chocolate then this recipe is most certainly for you. I myself am not a milk chocolate lover, however I do love a creamy slice of cheesecake.

When a dish has chocolate in the title then my taste buds anticipate the rich depths of bittersweet goodness. O'Connor's Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake Pots fall short and only hint at chocolate, however they make up for it with their smooth silky texture.

Whipping these pots up is a snap, the recipe is something like a glorified hot chocolate or a mascarpone filled ganache. Whisking sweetened mascarpone and eggs into a warm cream-chocolate base then they are gently baked till slightly jiggly in a steaming water-bath.

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

I just received O'Connor's Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey, the kind of cookbook that is too adorable, if it had lil' cheeks I'd give them sweet kisses. The cutesy pages are delicately covered with warm pastels, polka-dots and scrumptious sugary snap-shots.

So, I'm flipping through and start giggling; she has a recipe that comes with a warning sign..."Lock the door, close the curtains, and turn over any copies of Gourmet magazine you may have in the house." She goes onto explain how to make one, yes 1, "White Trash Panini," using a flaky croissant, 2T creamy or chunky peanut butter, 1/2 full-size Hershey's milk chocolate candy bar, 3T marshmallow fluff, melted butter for brushing and confectioner's sugar for sprinkling

Mmmmm, I'm convinced it would taste delicious! Something like an American pain au chocolat, I definitely draw the line at the choice of chocolate though. Forgoing the Hershey's bar for something a little more grown-up, say a chunk of El Rey or Michel Cluizel, although I am allergic to peanuts, moderately that is (which essentially means I can eat them every once in awhile, I guess)...and who can resist marshmallow fluff? Oh the days of holiday fudge-making as a little girl.

These "desserts for the serious sweet tooth," look delightfully playful with names like "Sticky Fingers Triple-Chocolate Ice-Cream Sandwiches, All Grown Up S'mores and Chocolate Malted Madness." O'Connor peppers her pages with culinary quotes, delicious descriptors and sweet stories.

The Warmth of Bread & Sunlight

I cannot resist Meyer Lemons. If I was given the choice of taking along only one ingredient to a remote island somewhere off the coast of Indonesia, then by gosh I'd have to take a Meyer lemon tree, yes the whole tree.

A few weeks ago I was at the market and they were still hanging around, I filled my basket with a few pounds. Now, they are nowhere to be found. They've disappeared with the cold days of winter.

I have a dwarf ml tree on my balcony, so sweet, I found it in a nursery last year and of course had to bring it home. Plump, perfect, teeny lemons were beginning to form and by this past winter I had used them all. The star of the table in risotto, flecked throughout pound cake, emulsified with oil, pounded into pesto, swirled as sorbetto, cooked into curd, dolloped into cream.......