Rum Raisin Ice Cream

Before placing the regular ice cream base in the ice water bath, add 1/3 cup dark rum. Chill and add 3/4 cup raisins before placing all in ice cream freezer.  Freeze for at least one hour.

Binging on the Great British Baking Show and Russian Pastry

Gerry and I binge-watched at least four seasons of the Great British Baking Show this summer. It had been recommended and once I started binging, and proselytizing about my new-found crush, I realized that, as with most other hit series, I was years late to the party. Especially this British one.

During one particular B-A-A-A-A-K-E which happened to be pastries, I thought of the favorite savory pastry that had captured my fancy over 25 years ago. It was the kulebiaka (or coulibiac) - a time-consuming Russian first course. The kulebiaka boasts a flaky, buttery pastry that envelopes a filling of either cabbage and chopped hardboiled eggs or salmon, rice and dill. My finished kulebiaka’s crust is garnished with leaves and a rope closure and rises and bakes to golden perfection.

Once sliced, and served with sour cream, it is always met with ooohs and aaaahs across the room. Anton Chekhov wrote in his short story The Siren that “the kulebiaka must make your mouth water; it must lie there before you, a shameless temptation! You cut off a sizable slice and let your fingers play over it. When you bite into it, the butter drips from it like tears.”

I fantasized, recently of course, that Paul Hollywood would have swooned over one of my masterpiece, the kulebiaka. I might have had a handshake.

Long before I was awarded my master’s degree in library science (or MLS) from Boston’s Simmons College, I had returned to college in the late 1980s as an undergraduate. Years earlier I had left behind three years of academic work in History and Political Science at a California university to begin raising my family. A requirement for completing my degree with distinction from a Massachusetts state college was that I must complete more than half of the total required credits (120) at a Massachusetts school. Doing the easy math, I need to complete 150 total credits instead of the normal 120 for a bachelor’s degree. Lucky for me, I had more curiosity than 120 credits anyway.

My favorite courses that second time around were in Russian Studies, which of course fell right smack within my favorite academic areas of interest: history, literature and political science. For a minor in Russian Studies I was also required to take at least a year of Russian language and I memorized the Cyrillic alphabet forwards and backwards. My studies included a tour to the Soviet Union in 1990, a year before my hero USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika helped to dismantle the Soviet Union and communism.

My interest in Russia started many years before … as a very young child. Moving to Berkeley, California at the age of six, my family rented an apartment in a big house just three houses from my new elementary school. Our absent landlady was a large, hardy and hearty, block of a Russian woman who was missing most of her right arm. Her infrequent visits, her Russian accent, and her exotic right arm fascinated me. That curiosity led me to other things Russian in my youth, including a book I read my senior year in high school, We the Living by Ayn Rand. It is one I credit with many influences in my life. The young, female protagonist in the book is named Kira. It was years later, after naming my youngest daughter with the Irish version of that name (Ciara and pronounced exactly the same), when I realized just how influential the book had been.

Returning from the study tour in the Soviet Union in 1990, I took up Russian cooking with an energetic passion. My graduation party from college in 1991 was a huge affair with over a hundred friends and family feasting on Russian food and drink. I enlisted the help of some of those friends who cooked and baked with me all week. I rented tables for the backyard and placed centerpieces of pitchers of lilacs, all donated from another friend’s garden. I hired a young Russian man named Sasha who appeared dressed in traditional Slavic costume. He spent the afternoon roaming the yard with his balalaika and entertaining the crowd with lovely Russian folk music. In addition, I contracted a slick-suited pianist named Vladimir who played music by Russian composers on the piano in my living room. It was a tremendously wonderful party and I smile again remembering it nearly three decades later.

So, following that pastry episode on the GBBS, I searched for my recipe books and came across some of my old favorites on my bookshelves, A La Russe: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality by Darra Goldstein and the Art of Russian Cuisine by Anne Volokh. The copy of my favorite book, Russian Cooking, part of the Time-Life Cooking of the World Series I had collected in the 70s as a young wife, was missing. That book was the one from which I’d learned exactly how to assemble the kulebiaka, using the photographs over a two-page spread.  To my surprise, not one of the Minuteman Libraries had a copy. Thankfully, I found over a dozen copies of Russian Cooking listed in the Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Catalog (or ComCat.) Although I could have requested one through Massachusetts library delivery, I eventually unearthed my own copy.  I discovered the very worn and stained spiral-bound book of recipes and the accompanying hardcover in my basement, mixed in with a few other castaways.

Searching the library catalog, I found a more recent copy of Darra Goldstein’s book (published in 2013 as A Taste of Russia and I’ve added to our collection.) Her book is rich with recipes for Marinated Mushrooms, Baked Apple Charlotte, Baba au Rhum, and Siberian Dumplings. The recipe for Apricot Tart is one I memorized 25 years ago and use over and over again. Anne Volikh’s Art of Russian Cuisine is no longer in print, but several libraries have it on their shelves. She also includes a page of drawings illustrating assembly of the Kulebiaka and recipes from across the huge Russian and Soviet empires. Our library has a copy of Please to the Table by Anya von Kremen that includes recipes across the fifteen former republics of the Soviet Union.

Pistachio Ice Cream

Use the basic ice cream base ingredients but these are the differences:

Toast 1 c. pistachios. I used the salted kind and eliminated the salt from the cream cheese mixture. Reserve 1/3 c. pistachios for the end.

In food processor, process the pistachios until they are either a paste or very dry powder. Add the 2 T. cream cheese and process until you have a paste.

After cooking the milk/cream mixture and adding in the slurry of cornstarch and milk, take off the heat and add the pistachio/cream cheese mixture. Using an immersion blender, blend until mixed.

Cool one hour in a ice water bath.

Place in ice cream maker, add 1/2 t. pure almond extract  and I also added 1/2 t. cream cheese emulsion. Process 60 minutes.

Place in container and mix in 1/3 c. pistachios at the same time. Freeze. I served with Pistachio baklava I found at our Indian grocery. Yummy!

Cherry Tomato Sauce for Pasta

John, a cook on AllRecipes.com posted this recipe using pureed cherry tomatoes. Of course, he's right that the best ways to eat cherry tomatoes are plucked warm off the vine and eaten raw standing right in the garden. The next best is raw, in a salad, the "third best is with penne pasta."

Here's his recipe:

2 cups cherry tomatoes 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine cherry tomatoes, oil, garlic, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until garlic is just toasted, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour chicken broth into tomato mixture; bring to a simmer and cook until tomatoes start to collapse and burst, about 10 minutes. Stir oregano and red pepper flakes into tomato mixture.

Puree tomato mixture with an immersion blender until sauce is smooth. Cook down until it is the consistency of a tapenade.

Serve over pasta with 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Tomatillo Bruschetta

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 cup gold tomatoes
3 Roma tomatoes
2 tomatillos small
1/2 red onion
4 cloves garlic finely diced
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 leaves basil finely chopped

Romano cheese shavings, for garnish
1 tsp capers for garnish

1. Chop all the tomatoes into small bite size pieces
2. Chop the onion
3. Mix all ingredients well but gently because you don't want to crush the tomatoes
4. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate
5. In a plate, place a half loaf of toasted bread
6. Top the toast with tomato mixture
7. Top with Romano cheese shavings
8. Serve Immediately

Brussels Sprout Salad with Roasted Beets, Pecans, and Goat Cheese

I had about 3 cups of small, light green sprout "cabbages" (we use the outer leaves in our favorite Bolognese recipe). I searched for some recipes and found this article in Country Living with the title (16 Brussels Sprout Salad Recipes You'll Actually Want to Eat). Because we love brussels sprouts, I found this title a bit presumptious.  All the salad recipes sound wonderful (Avocado and Apple; Pear and Bacon; Cranberry and Quinoa; with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing; with Maple, Dijon Vinaigrette; Roasted Brussels Sprout and Couscous; Shaved Brussels Sprout with Butternut Squash; Bacon Dried Cranberries, Almonds and Parmesan)

We settled on this one that would use some beets and garlicky goat cheese I had sitting in the refrigerator. I've adapted it to my own recipe.

Brussels Sprouts Salad With Roasted Beets, Pecans and Goat Cheese

6 medium size beets

extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

2 - 3 cups chopped brussels sprouts

½ cup slow roasted pecans, roughly chopped plus 2 T. finely chopped pecans

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon grainy mustard (I used 1 T of honey mustard seed)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2T. maple Balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2-3 ounces spreadable goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the ends of the beets and wrap in aluminum foil in groups of three, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Seal the foil packets tightly and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until beets are fork tender. Remove from the foil and allow to cool, then rub and cut the skins off of the beets. Set aside or if making ahead, refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Slice the beets into bite size pieces and scatter on the chopped Brussels sprouts with the chopped pecans. Mix well.

Mix the olive oil, mustards, Balsamic, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Using immersion blender, mix all ingredients and pour over the salad and toss well to coat. Season with more salt and pepper if desired. Allow to sit 15-30 minutes before serving for flavors to marry. Spread goat cheese eover top of salad and sprinkle with golden Sultana raisins and finely chopped pecans. Refrigerate until serving.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Now that the freezer is full of summer ice creams, it's time to begin using up the ingredients in my frig left over from some overzealous grocery store trips and sumptuous dinners! I had 3 deep orange beets, a cup of chopped tomatillos, a 1/2 pound of Trader Joe's uncured smoked thick sliced-bacon, 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes, and a 1/2 loaf of my ricotta bread that was days old and crumbly. And, of course, all the herbs in left growing in my gardens (marjoram, savory, basil, chives, sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano and tarragon.) The tomatoes in the Trug are starting to ripen and I'll be using the herbs but the harvest is a few weeks away.

(If you want to find out what I did with the tomatillos and beets, check out the other recipes.)

 40 large red cherry tomatoes, shaped like small Romas

8 oz. whole or sliced fresh mushrooms

8 ounces cooked bacon

1⁄2 cup onion

½ cup mixture of herbs (savory, marjoram, basil, sage, Italian parsley, rosemary, thyme and oregano)

2 tablespoons butter and 2 T olive oil

3 large, fresh green onions

1/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Parmesan or Pecorino or Romano cheese to garnish before cooking.

Cut the top off each cherry tomato, scoop out the pulp and invert tomatoes on paper towels to drain.

Finely chop mushrooms and spring onion in a food processor. Finely chop the onion and the herbs.

Saute onion in butter till transparent and add the herbs and mushrooms and saute until fragrant.

In a separate pan, cook the bacon. I always prefer to precut or chop bacon before I cook it. In this case, I would suggest chopping it in the food processor.

Mix the mushroom, onion, herb mixture with the bacon and set aside.

Before cooking and serving, stir in breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and sour cream.  

Arrange tomatoes closely, side by side, on baking tray so that it won't tumble. Fill stuffing into tomatoes over the brim.

Bake uncovered for 5-10 mins until cheese melts.

Brownie Crisp Ice Cream

I'm putting the ice compressor away after today! We now have parts of quarts of Sweet Basil, Triple Ginger, Goat Cheese, Roasted Beet and now Brownie Crisp ice creams in the freezer.

Brownie Crisp was the addition of 1-2 T. Nielsen-Massey Pure Chocolate Extract and chopped Trader Joe's Brownie Crisps. The extract was added to the cream cheese/goat cheese mixture (about 2-1/2 ounces of each) before adding to the hot ice cream base. The chopped brownies were added before packing into the container.

Yum!


Ice Cream Base:
2-2/3 cups whole milk; 1-1/2 c. heavy cream; 1/4 c. light Karo; 3/4 c. sugar heated to a boil for 4 minutes. Add 2 T. milk mixed with 1 T. cornstarch off the heat and then boil 1 minute. Add cheese/salt/extract mixture to about 1 cup of hot ice cream and use immersion blender to fully blend. Add the rest of the hot ice cream and pour into Ziploc bag. Tightly close and immerse in ice water for 1 hour. Pour into ice cream maker and process about 45-60 min. until firm.

See hot ice cream base more directions.

Ginger Ice Cream

I love ginger. Anything ginger. It's my favorite flavor.

Prepare your regular ice cream base, adding 1/4 c of ginger puree. I used a jar of Australian Crystallized Ginger Puree I bought at some point at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet. I think you could add ground ginger instead. The Ginger People sell all kinds of ginger products on Amazon that you might try. Just Add has an unsweetened ginger puree in a tube.

Before putting the base over ice to cool, add 1 cup chopped crystallized ginger (I buy it online in a large bag to add to biscotti - that's how much I love ginger!) You could also add a touch of real ginger extract for added ginger flavor.

When the ice cream has frozen and you are packing it into a container, layer ground gingersnaps and ginger preserve between scoops. Freeze!

Update: I made my own ginger puree. I bought a jar of it in the Indian market near us (about 12 oz.) I mixed the puree with sugar to make it sweet. It works great!

When Life Gives You a Big Fish ...

Gerry caught a 20-lb striped bass last weekend. So I decided to make fish tacos and experiment a bit with the neighbors. I needed to figure out some inventive salsas.

First, at 7:50 am on Saturday morning I shopped for corn and flour tortillas, tomatillos, white (or yellow) peaches, cilantro, red and green cabbage, tomatoes, mangos, pineapple, avocados and fresh corn. I thought I might have to travel a bit for ripe avocados and tomatillos. Not so - our local Wareham Shaw's had everything I needed. I bought lots of fresh limes (five or six).  At home I already had strawberries, red and yellow and orange peppers, more from-my-garden cilantro and salt and pepper and garlic. Added to that were scallions, red and Vidalia onions. Sriracha sauce. Black beans and Spanish rice. And fish.

Grilled Fish
First, I cut the fresh Striped Bass into 1 x 2 inch chunks - chunks big enough to be skewered or put into a grilling basket. I zested the rind and squeezed the juice of a fresh lime, tossed in a handful of fresh, chopped cilantro, ground some salt and pepper and placed it all with the fish in a Ziploc bag to marinate for 8 hours. Gerry and Roxie grilled the fish right before dinner. It was during a wicked rainstorm (we needed the rain!) and they bonded with the grill ... and wine ... under one umbrella.







Earlier in the day I had chopped and diced tomatillos, peaches, cilantro, tomatoes, mangos, strawberries, pineapple, avocados, spring, red and Vidalia onions, and red and yellow and orange peppers

Fruit Salsa Citrus
I mixed one chopped mango with 8 chopped strawberries, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 large ripe tomato, 1/2 cup of chopped red onion, 1/2 lime juiced and 1/2 chopped onion with salt and pepper. I sprinkled a dried mixture of jalapeno and cilantro over that, and let it all marinate together for several hours.

Fruit Salsa - White Peach
Next I combined the diced white peaches, scallions, and a handful of cilantro. I added ground salt and tossed it all with a splash of Summer Peach balsamic (or use lime juice.)

Black Beans with Tomatillo and Corn
I roasted four chopped tomatillos with 1 cup of freshly-cut corn kernels and 1 cup of chopped Vidalia onion for about 1/2 hour until the mixture at the edges of the pan were starting to blacken. I added that to one large can of black beans, drained but not rinsed and tasted it for salt. I set it aside to warm before dinner.

Spanish Rice
I sauteed about 1/2 cup of red and orange peppers with 1/2 cup of chopped yellow onion in olive oil. I set it aside to add to the Goya Spanish rice that would cook in the rice cooker 1/2 hour before dinner.

Lime Crema
1/2 cup mayonnaise, a splash of Sriracha sauce, a pinch of sea salt, 2 T lime juice and an avocado. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.

Red and Green Cabbage
Thinly slice a chunk of each, toss with lime juice and salt and pepper and set aside to marinate.

Place all in dishes on the table with freshly grilled corn and flour tortillas.