Novel Food ~ Beyond the Pasta

Simona at Briciole is hosting our Summer edition of Novel Food. You can see All of my Novel Food Posts since 2007. . . that's a lot of reading (and a lot of eating)

I have found the perfect book for my lazy summer reading this year. 'Beyond the Pasta' by Mark Leslie.
Mark Leslie is a self proclaimed foodie. Every year he travels to Italy and 'lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato'. He shares these experiences in his novel 'Beyond the Pasta'. He is from Alabama and even has a blog . . . (I think we might be soul sisters of a sort) Buonissima!

He does a beautiful job of filling this book with the flavors and scents of Italy . . . the Italy I love. The story of his time in Italy is told through trips to the market, adventures in the kitchen, meals and evenings with friends and limoncello. This a novel and a recipe book all rolled into one delicious read.

This Blog Post where Mark talks about gelato in Italy, is a perfect example of 'our' favorite gelateria in Rome. But ~ I think I loved it first! They have the most unique gelatos, I can remember going once 3 times in one day. This is SOO funny, because this gelateria is less than a block from 'my' hotel in Rome.

Which inspires my recipe for this edition of Novel Food. Basil Gelato
1/3 cup sugar (+1/3 cup divided)
3 tsp lemon juice
1cup fresh basil
2 cups milk
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
6 egg yolks
Place 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of water in saucepan, bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Set side to cool. When cool, pour into a blender, add the lemon juice and basil. Blend until smooth.
In a small saucepan heat milk, cream, and extra sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Cook for a few minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the milk is just about to boil.
Remove from heat.
Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl. Slowly incorporate the eggs into the warmed milk mixture, and stir constantly over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and pour through a colander. Stir the basil syrup into the custard. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze.
Serve with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of excellent Balsamic Vinegar.Mark's novel has gotten great reviews.
My favorite review of all . . . "Alabama and Italy- What a delightful and delicious combination ~Fannie Flagg"
You know Fannie has been a friend of the family for years! I couldn't agree more. If we never get the chance to meet in Alabama, maybe we will run into each other over a gelato in Rome.
Ciao y'all~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Sounds like Summer

Our Cooking Light theme for July ~ Sounds like summer. We are having an alfresco virtual supper. I just new I had to find something with these delicious Chilton County peaches. They were fresh and juicy on their own. I found this Cooking Light recipe . . . Yes ~ Cooking Light!
Peach Ice Cream
3 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the peaches in a blender or food processor; process until finely chopped. Combine peaches and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour peach mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.
I left my peaches just a little bit chunky. The flavors are fresh and summery! Now let's see what everyone else has brought for our summer Alfresco Supper ... Jerry is starting us off with a Grilled Pizza with Prosciutto, Arugula and Lemon
Jamie is bringing a Summer Peach and Tomato Salad
Val has our main dish of Poached Salmon with Creamy Herb Sauce
MaryAnn has made a Lemon Vegetable Risotto
Roz has the perfect compliment to my Peach Ice Cream~ she's made Chocolate Amaretti Peaches.
Don't forget, that y'all are welcome to join in our Cooking Light virtual supper with the blog hop!

Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

Florence ~ The Gelato Trail

While I am here in Florence, I have planned to be on the gelato trail. It's a tough job... but I think I am up to the challenge.

My first stop will be Grom on the Via del Campanile. This is a Piedmonte-based company, that uses only the best ingredients, with a monthly flavor list online. I hear they have the best cone in Florence.

I'll have to stop in Gelateria La Carraia located just off Santa Trinità Bridge. I've been told they have the creamiest gelato, best tangy yogurt. I will get the one euro cone heaped high... and have plenty of money for the leather market.
I have heard about the Gelateria Carapina on Via Lambertesca 118r. This seems to be a trendy place with young Florentine owner. Online they posts a calendar of ripe fruit and only makes those flavors when they are at their peak. I've have to try the Menta (mint), and Chocolate with ginger. Of course~ PercheNo! at the Piazza della Signoria~ I have to taste Crema, which is cooked in the old way with lemon rinds and vanilla and my favorite Pistachio with natural Sicilian pistachios. First... to recover from the jet lag.
Perchè No?
Ciao y'all~
Sandi

Pomodori e Vino ~ Prune Gelato

Marcella's gelato recipe is the perfect time to show off my Cuisinart hand mixer. After all~ I'm trying to save face after the 'no double boiler' incident.
Let me say though... Marcella commented that it was years before she had a proper double boiler :-) We know it didn't hurt her kitchen at all.
Of course... as promised I did get my double boiler for mother's day :-{). Thank you!
Now...back to my smart stick. This smart stick is a clever kitchen tool. It is a mini food processor, a hand-held immersion blender, and a whisk stick.
Which is all that is needed to make a batch of fresh gelato... well, that and an ice cream machine. As a good southerner~ of course I have one of those.
Prune gelato. Of all the gelatos in the' Essentials of Italian Cooking' to make... my luck to draw prune gelato. It is simply not my favorite. It's a good thing there is also a recipe for Banana Rum, Egg custard, Lemon and Strawberry. Those are all my favorites!
I bet I will be eating my share of gelato in Italy next week too.
Ciao y'all~
Sandi

Photohunt ~ Machine

The photohunt for this week is "Machine'.This is my favorite Machine!
and this is a recipe from my other favorite, David Lebovitz. His Cookbook 'The Perfect Scoop' is a must have with a machine like this.
Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
1 pound strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2/3 cup sugar
optional: 2 teaspoons vodka or kirsch
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Slice the strawberries into small pieces. Toss in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch (if using) until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring every so often.
Transfer the strawberries and their juice to a blender or food processor. Add the yogurt and fresh lemon juice. Pulse the machine until the mixture is smooth. If you wish, press mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds.
Chill for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Happy huntng y'all~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Fall Favorites

Our Virtual Supper this month is a fantastic festival of fall favorites. Y'all know that we all go to Cooking Light.com to find our recipes and then plan to sit down to supper on the first wednesday of the month.
I have a special treat this month. Although September in some parts of the country is Fall~ in Alabama we are still in Summer! It is hot enough that I didn't want to turn on the stove and heat up the kitchen. So instead of a pecan pie, I decided to bring some Pecan Pie Ice Cream. (click on the link for the recipe)

We have plenty of experience with my ice cream machine (Bill would say about 30pounds worth). I have posted more than 20 Ice Cream Recipes over the past several years. So in making this cooking light recipe, I did have to pull out my 'Perfect Scoops' cookbook to layer the pecan pie filling. This recipe wasn't very clear...
To have the perfect layers of pecan filling and ice cream, you will first make the filling and chill in the fridge. Then make the ice cream custard style and freeze that in an ice cream freezer.
Then you will layer the pie filling, and a layer of ice cream, repeating until the container is full. When you scoop out the perfect ball of ice cream, it will have ripples of pecan pie filling in it. The perfect garnish, of course, is a star cut from a pie crust (which I never got around to doing!).
The bowl says ice cream... the mouth says pecan pie a la mode!

Now let's see what everyone else has brought for our festival of fall favorites!
Shelby is bringing Butternut Squash Blue Cheese Gratin (I'm interested to try this one!)
Jamie has made Beef Daube Provencal
Val is bringing a salad of Frisée, Baby Spinach, and Golden Beets
Patsy is bringing Roasted Cauliflower with Browned Butter
Don't forget, that y'all are welcome to join in our virtual supper!


Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

Friday's Favorites Linky Party ~and a recipe!

I♥ Friday!
It is time to show off our Favorites.

This is the perfect favorite for a summer time linky party.
Guinness Ice Cream
Guinness (16 ounces)
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
1 tablespoon dark molasses
2 cups heavy cream
Bring Guinness to a boil in a small saucepan, then simmer until it reduces to 1/2 cup. Allow to cool. In a double boiler, combine whole milk, sugar. Heat to 165 then slowly incorporate the egg yolks and whisk together. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean halves and add both the seeds and the empty beans to the pan along with the molasses. Stir constantly until mixture thickens, then strain the bits of egg yold. Add cream and Guinness to the mixture and refrigerate until chilled. Process in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions, then transfer to a covered container and freeze solid.You will be amazed at the flavor.
With each refreshing bite, you taste chocolate... not beer!

Now, put your spoons down~
y'all join in the linky party and share your ♥'s

Sandi

Have you got some extra mint?

Do you have any extra mint growing in amongst the weeds? Y'all know that here in the south, once you plant a little mint, it goes crazy. You could easily pull up a couple of handfuls.

This is the perfect time to plan to make some mint ice cream for the 4th of July. This is from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop... the best source for ice cream recipes!

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

pinch of salt

2 cups fresh mint leaves

5 egg yolks

Warm the milk, sugar, half the cream, and salt in a small saucepan. Add the mint leaves and stir. Cover, remove from the heat and let sit for 1 hour.

Strain the cream, and discard the mint leaves.

Rewarm the mint-infused cream, slowly incorporate the egg yolks after mixing in another bowl. Constantly stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens and reaches 170°. Pour through a strainer into a bowl with the remainder of the cream. Cool thoroughly in the fridge. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the instructions.

I served mine with some fresh strawberries for a light and sweet dessert. Perfect for a hot summer's day!

Y'all enjoy~

Sandi

Sunday Slow Soupers

I have posted many times about the 'web' friends I have made through Slow Travel. We are folks from all over, with common interests and a zest for life. Apparently we also have a zest for food! We have posted ice cream recipes as the Sunday Slow Scoopers and baking recipes as the Sunday Slow Bakers.

Last November we decided to become the Sunday Slow Soupers (do you see the pattern here?) We each took a week and posted our favorite soup. All of the soups are listed on my side bar... under the title 'soups on!' It is like a handy cookbook to have all the recipes right there~ I rely on it myself.

Each soup was wonderful... Bill is admittedly not a soup eater and gave up months ago. I have enjoyed all of them. There was quite a variety~ from Gumbo to curry soup. If anything, I have realized that making a fresh homemade soup doesn't have to be that hard. The fresh ingredients really make a difference.

Now that we have worked our way around the world with soups, we are moving on... Drinks? Desserts?? Diets???

Y'all will have to come back next Sunday!

Sandi

Raisin Rum Scoops

Thank goodness we are coming to the end of the Sunday Slow Scoopers! My elastic waisted pants are ready for a break. On my sidebar I have listed all of the scoops we've tried. Not a bad one in the bunch!

Our next Slow Travel cooking adventures will be in Soups~ doesn't that sound like the perfect way to get through a cold and dreary winter? We will post a new soup recipe every Sunday. We will be known as the Sunday Slow Soupers!

Meanwhile, back at the freezer~ the ice cream of the week is Rum Raisin Ice Cream. The raisins are plumped with rum, or maybe you could say the rum is plumped with raisins. Either way it is yummy!

Rum Raisin Ice Cream

2/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup dark rum

1 inch strip of orange zest

3/4 cup whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt

4 egg yolks

Heat the raisins, rum and zest, simmer for 2 minutes then remove from the heat. Allow to sit for several hours. Warm the milk sugar and half the cream. Slowly incorporate the yolks into the heated milk. Stir over medium heat until the custard thickens. Pour through a strainer into the other half of the cream in a iced bowl. Allow to cool. When ready to freeze the ice cream pour the raisins through a strainer, using the rum. You should have a total of 3 Tbs of rum... if not, add more. During the last minute of freezing add the rum soaked raisins.

I served my rum raisin ice cream with an apple galette~ I'll post that recipe tomorrow.

Y'all enjoy,

Sandi

Scoops of Creamy Coconut

David Lebovitz is a very funny guy. His blog Living the sweet life in Paris is always cute. In 'The Perfect Scoop' he writes a witty story before each recipe (I love that in a cookbook) His story to introduce the Toasted Coconut Ice Cream was about being black balled by the Good Humor man. No wonder he grew to write his own cookbook.

The best part of this recipe, is that you can have creamy coconut ice cream whenever you want. Making ice cream is not as intimidating as it was several months ago!

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

big pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split

5 egg yolks

1 tsp rum

Toast the unsweetened coconut at 350° for 5-8 minutes

Warm the milk, 1 cup cream, sugar and salt. Add the coconut and the vanilla bean. Allow to sit for 1 hour to infuse the flavors.

Rewarm the coconut infused milk, strain out the coconut and vanilla bean then discard. Slowly incorporate the yolks into the warmed milk, cooking the custard until thickened. Pour the custard through a strainer into an iced bowl of cream. Mix in the rum. Chill the mixture then freeze in your ice cream freezer.

I served my creamy coconut ice cream over a grilled slice of pineapple. That makes a easy dessert~ that is oh so yummy.

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Salted Butter Caramel

Our Sunday slow scoopers have branched out this week; away from 'The Perfect Scoop'. This is a recipe that is found on David Lebovitz's recipe blog. He says that he had to take this recipe out of the book to make room for the photos. I know how those editors can be!

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream
For the caramel praline (mix-in)
½ cup sugar
¾ tsp sea salt

For the ice cream custard
2 cups whole milk, divided
1½ cups sugar
4 Tbs salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ tsp vanilla extract
To make the caramel praline, begin by melting the sugar over low heat. once the sugar liquefies and turns golden, add the salt. Immediately pour the caramel onto a baking sheet and tilt to create a thin layer. Set aside. To make the custard cook the sugar as before, heating until liquefied. Once the sugar is caramelized, remove from the heat. Stir in butter, and salt. Stir until smooth. Whip in the cream and then add the half the milk. Carefully incorporate the egg yolks and cook over low heat until the custard reaches a temperature of 160° -170° . Pour the other half of the milk in to a bowl over an ice bath. Pour the hot custard into the milk bowl through a strainer to catch the bits of egg that may have scrambled. Stir in the vanilla.
Freeze according to the directions. Add crumbled bits of praline into the ice cream, these will liquefy and form a caramel ribbon. I saved bits of the beautiful praline to decorate. This is one of our favorite ice creams by far (haven't I said that before?). I think next time I won't go to the trouble of making the caramel praline bits. They melt a bit in the ice cream and form a ribbon, I think it would be just as good without it.

This would be wonderful for thanksgiving with a piece of pumpkin pie~

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Scoops of Chocolate

Our challenge for this week of Sunday Slow Scoopers is 'Chocolate'... any chocolate! 'The Perfect Scoop' is full of chocolate ice creams, sorbets, and gelatos. We have had a time choosing the one perfect scoop for the week. Bill wanted the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream, I wanted to try the Chocolate Raspberry...
Guess who won.
Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 Tbs unsweetened dutched cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Whisk together the cream, cocoa, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture until it comes to a full boil. Remove from the heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Puree the mixture in a blender. You may press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Freeze in the ice cream maker.
.
I like the texture of the berries~ so I didn't dirty the blender and just squished my raspberries. I also skipped the strainer and froze my chocolate, berries and all. It was delish! The picture doesn't show the true color very well. It would be neat to paint a room this color~ raspberry brown.
I served my scoop of ice cream with a orange-raspberry tort. It was the perfect combination of chocolate, orange, and tart raspberries. I will post the recipe for the tort tomorrow.


Y'all enjoy!
Sandi

Sunday Slow Scoopers~ Sorbet

This week the Sunday Slow Scoopers are scooping a little sorbet, Green Apple Sorbet from 'The Perfect Scoop'. When I saw this I was excited. I envisioned a green apple gelato I had in Rome, bright green in color and tasting like a green apple martini.
I was a little disappointed. It is definitely appley, and very refreshing... but lacks that pretty green color. Next time I am adding a little food coloring! It couldn't be any easier to make, and is so light and refreshing.

Green Apple and Sparkling Cider Sorbet

4 Granny Smith apples

2 cups sparkling apple cider

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp lemon juice (to taste)

Quarter apples and remove seeds, cut into chunks. Combine apple cider, sugar, and water and bring to a boil. Add the apples and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to steep while it returns to room temperature.

Press the liquid and apples through a strainer to extract the pulp and liquid, discard the peels. Add lemon juice to taste (I didn't need any as my apples were really tart). Chill.

Freeze according to your ice cream makers directions.I missed the pretty green color, so used a shell of that crunchy green apple for my serving bowl. I think they turned out pretty!

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Crêpes and Strawberry Scoops

It was my turn to choose the challenge for the Sunday Slow Scoopers and I wanted to try crêpes. David Lebovitz has included this in his cookbook 'The Perfect Scoop' as a way to serve ice cream. I thought it would be fun to see what folks folded into their Crêpes.

If you have never made crêpes they are really easy, once you get the hang of it. Just use a non-stick pan, and the perfect amount of batter. You can see there were a few goofs before mine were perfect.

The batter mixes up quickly in the blender. Easy as pie (easier actually)

Crêpes

3/4 cup milk

2 Tbs butter, melted

3 eggs

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp course salt

3/4 cup flour
Pour the milk and melted butter into a blender. Add the eggs, sugar, and salt. Blend briefly. Add the flour and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You can make it in advance and refrigerate overnight.)
To make the crêpe, let the batter come to room temperature, then whisk it to thin it out a bit. Use a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When a few drops of water sprinkled on the pan sizzle, pour in 1/4 cup of batter and quickly tilt the pan so the batter covers the bottom. Cook the crêpe until the edges begin to darken. Use a flexible spatula to flip it over, then cook on the reverse side.

Crêpes can be stored in the freezer wrapped in plastic then foil. To reheat cover with foil and heat at 300 for 10-15 minutes.

I filled mine with the last of the fresh strawberries at the market and of course, a scoop of ice cream.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

1 pound fresh strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbs vodka

1 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Slice the berries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka. Stir and allow to sit for 1 hour. Pulse berries and their liquid with the other ingredients in a blender until smooth, but still with chunks of berries. Refrigerate for 1 hour then freeze in the ice cream maker.

This blend of sweet strawberries with the tart of the sour cream was perfect.

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Strangest Scoop of all

This is the most unusual scoop of ice cream I have ever seen~ Roquefort-Honey Ice Cream.

If it hadn't been PalmaBella's choice from 'The Perfect Scoop', I would have never tried it. I am a dedicated Sunday Slow Scooper, so here it is.

Roquefort-Honey Ice Cream
6-8 Tbs honey

4 ounces Roquefort or blue cheese

1 cup milk

4 egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

Warm the milk. Slowly incorporate the egg yolks. Cook the custard until thickened. Place the cheese in a bowl with a colander on top. Pour the custard through the colander to catch any bits of scrambled eggs. Stir until most of the cheese is melted. Stir in cream and honey and stir until cool over and ice bath. Chill according to directions.

Cheese and pears go together, so I served mine up with a scoop pear crisp. Made quickly with our WhistleStop Apple Crisp . This was the perfect blend. The combination of the blue cheese, pears, and sweet crisp worked well together.

Now, Bill is a southern meat and potatoes kind of guy... his idea of ice cream is a big bowl of vanilla or maybe moosetracks. This was not his favorite~ but I did notice that there was nothing left in the bowl when he was done. Trying something different every now and then is fun.

This is worth a try!

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Scoops of Cinnamon

The Sunday Slow Scoopers are at it again this week. We are making David Lebovitz's page 38 from 'The Perfect Scoop'. This recipe contains a delicate flavor of cinnamon, using cinnamon sticks to infuse the cream.

I have been using organic creams and milks in all of the ice cream I've made. I love the fresh flavors~ and feel a little bit better about this weekly scooping event. There is not much we can do about the calories, except another hour at the gym.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

10 cinnamon sticks

2 cups heavy cream

5 egg yolks

Warm the milk and spices with 1 cup of cream. Cover and allow to steep for 1 hour.

Rewarm and remove the cinnamon sticks. Slowly incorporate the egg yolks and cook, stirring the custard over low heat until it thickens. Pour the custard through a strainer into the cream. Chill the mixture and freeze according to directions.

I have served my scoop of cinnamon with a bite of warm black and white brownie. Imagine how yummy this would be with a piece of pie over the holidays. I know I say this every week... but this is my favorite (so far). I am making this cinnamon ice cream again!

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Panforte Scoops

Have you ever tasted an Tuscan panforte? It is sort of an Italian fruit cake~ a spicey cake with fruit and nuts. Panforte is the inspiration for this weeks Sunday Slow Scoopers.

I made my own candied orange and lime peels a few days earlier. They turned out so pretty! When it came time for ice cream, I got the 'veto' on adding them into the mix.

Panforte Ice Cream

1 cup half&half

2/3 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups heavy cream

4 egg yolks

3 Tbs honey

1/4 cup mixed candied citrus peels

1/2 cup almonds

Warm the half&half with sugar and cinnamon stick- broken in half, add cloves and nutmeg. Cover and set aside to all of flavors to infuse for 30 minutes. Rewarm, and slowly incorporate the egg yolks. Cook custard until thickened or temperature reaches 170°. Pour through a strainer into a bowl filled with cream in an ice bath. While it is cooling warm honey and stir into the custard. Chill before freezing.

During the last minutes of churning add orange peel and almonds.

I served my scoops on a bed of candied citrus peels. It tasted just as good!

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi