Grapefruit-Champagne Sorbet

I’m not generally a fan of frozen treats. I have very sensitive teeth and the coldness of ice creams, sorbets, and popsicles is usually rather painful.

There are a few notable exceptions. For some reason frozen custard doesn’t bother me, nor did some of the most amazing pistachio gelato last year in Florence. Perhaps it’s the fat content or the method of churning – I’m unsure.

Then there are frozen treats that are so incredibly delicious that I don’t care if they hurt my teeth, I just eat them slowly and carefully. This sorbet is one of those treats.

It’s like a frozen mimosa exploding in your mouth. Which, to me, sounds like bliss. The recipe is from David Lebovitz’s Perfect Scoop, which is, in my opinion, the definitive recipe book on ice creams and frozen delights.

So far I’ve made a few different things from it. I was pretty “meh” about the Watermelon Sorbetto, but the husband loved it. I adapted the Lemon Sorbet recipe to suit some fresh grapefruits sent lovingly from an aunt in Florida for Christmas, but it was pretty underwhelming – but the husband loved it. In fact, I think he ate the entire batch in about 3 days.

I’ve got a bunch of other recipes on my to-do list: Mojito Granita, Olive Oil Ice Cream, Orange-Szechuan Peppercorn Ice Cream, Rice Ice Cream…

This Grapefruit-Champagne sorbet, however, has rocked my world. The flavor of the wine is prevalent, so be warned. This probably isn’t appropriate for children or non-drinkers. The husband doesn’t drink alcohol, but he found the strong champagne flavor to be “un-offensive,” as he put it. I, on the other hand, want to take the entire container of sorbet, back myself into a corner, and growl at anyone who comes near.

Make this. Then don’t share it with your friends.

Grapefruit-Champagne Sorbet

from The Perfect Scoop

1 1/3 cups Champagne or other sparkling white wine

1 cup sugar

2 ½ cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, heat about half the champagne with the sugar, stirring frequently until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in the remaining champagne and the grapefruit juice.

Chill the mixture thoroughly and freeze it according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

*Notes: I didn’t use a saucepan, I microwaved half the champagne and the sugar in a large glass measuring cup a minute at a time until the sugar dissolved, stirring every 30 seconds. Then I chilled the champagne-sugar mixture, as well as the rest of the wine and the grapefruit juice. I combined them all once chilled and then put it in my ice cream maker. This worked perfectly for me and it seemed a lot easier than using the stovetop. It’s up to you.

Farro and Lentils with Braised Greens and Bacon

In my quest to eat more consciously – both for myself and for the environment – I’ve attempted to relegate meat to a mere seasoning in most dishes, rather than a main component. Moving a bit down the food chain is both good for health and exerts less stress on the planet.

That does not, however, mean that food must be tasteless and bland. Just as many people recommend buying more expensive, flavorful cheeses and using them in moderation rather than using copious amounts of the near tasteless cheap stuff, such is the case with meals like this. Most people can agree that bacon is the wunderkind of meats – if it can turn hardcore veggies back to meat, it’s good in my book.

Here I’ve taken farro (or wheat berries, depending on where you live) and French green lentils and topped them with braised mustard and turnip greens, bacon, and mushrooms. It takes some nutritional powerhouses and gussies them up with the luscious fattiness we crave. I’m almost positive that my heart won’t take issue with the bacon fat once it realizes it’s coating super-healthy greens…right?

Even for those who aren’t fans of greens in general (which is a travesty, FYI), this dish is sure to please with the big chunks of bacon and flavorful mushrooms. If you’re not too keen on the toothsome farro (much like my husband is not) just boil it for about 5 minutes before you add the lentils to the pot of salted water.

Farro and Lentils with Braised Greens and Bacon

½ cup farro

½ cup French green lentils (Lentils du Puy)

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into chunks

16 oz chopped mustard and turnip greens, chopped into bite size pieces (in your produce section)

8 oz sliced mushrooms

Shaved Parmigiana Reggiano for garnish (optional)

Combine the farro, lentils, and garlic cloves in a pot and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes, depending on doneness desired.

Meanwhile, brown the bacon in a heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat until most of the fat is rendered. Add the greens and cook for a few minutes (you might have to add in batches to get them to fit). Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until done to taste.

Drain the farro and lentils, discarding the garlic cloves. Top with the greens and mushrooms and shave some cheese to garnish if desired.

 

Lamb Stew

There are few things more appealing when the weather is chilly than a hearty stew. It’s a bit fun making them, too. One feels a bit like an alchemist, taking a tough, sinewy piece of meat and slow-braising it until it’s fork tender and falling off the bone. All those tough pieces of cartilage and marrow melt into a velvety broth, coating the meat with luxurious flavor.

My big issue with stews though, is that all that slow cooking turns everything else in the pot in an unappealing mush. All the flavor’s been leached out of the vegetables and they’ve no texture left besides…well, mush.

The solution? Cook them separately. This way, the cooking vegetables in the pot braising with the lamb do their job by imparting lovely flavors to the meat and broth, but one isn’t forced to eat the finished product. Slow roasting the cubed veggies right next to the lamb allows their inherent sweetness to develop, without overcooking them. Throw them all together at the end and it’s a match made in culinary heaven.

There are three additional things worth mentioning:

Click to read more ...

irish soda bread

I admit I didn’t have too high of hopes for this bread. I’d had soda bread once before several years ago and I wasn’t impressed. It was tough and dense – and incredibly dry. With St. Paddy’s coming up though, I figured it was worth giving a homemade version a shot.

I started off with a recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which always bodes well, and then tinkered with a few of the ingredients. What resulted was addictingly delicious. A little dense, but tender and flaky - almost like a biscuit. It's obviously not a yeast bread, but it's so delicious you don't care.

I admit I wasn’t able to wait until it cooled to room temp – I sliced into it right after I got the photo I wanted. I slathered it with a bit of butter and just about died and went to heaven.

There’s no way this will be relegated to a once per year recipe. It’s so quick and easy to make it will likely become my go-to soup bread. 5 minutes to mix it all together and 40 minutes in the oven? That’s a pretty small price to pay for freshly baked bread with dinner.

Click to read more ...

salmon chowder

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where chowder is a diet staple. If you've managed to make it to 5 years old without trying some kind of chowder - clam, oyster, fish, etc. - then there's definitely something odd going on.

Because I had some unpredictable allergic reactions to seafood as a child I was a little more sheltered than most and usually stuck to clam chowder. It wasn't until I started spending more time on the East Coast that I finally tried salmon chowder. Since then it's become a family favorite. It's easy to whip up a pot on the weekends and take it to work for lunch throughout the week - especially because I think it tastes even better the next day after it's been chilled and all of the flavors have had a chance to really meld. I think it creates a much deeper, richer flavor.

The original recipe calls for fish stock, which can be difficult to find and I find obnoxious to make on my own. Kitchen Basics does make a boxed stock that I find delicious and you can usually find it at Whole Foods (their clam stock is fabulous for making clam chowder, also). If you can't find a seafood stock then use chicken stock, but remember to use stock - not broth.

This is a key part of soup making of which many people tend to miss out - stock and broth are two very different things. Stock is made using browned bones, meat and vegetables. It has a rich, hearty flavor with a great deal of depth. Broth is made using just meat and vegetables and tends to have a much more subtle flavor. Think of it as the difference between using a a carcass from a roasted chicken vs. pieces of chicken meat to flavor the liquid. Both have their purposes, but one must be aware that they are indeed different.

Click to read more ...