Blue Apron? Plated? Peach Dish, Just Add Cooking or Hello Fresh? And How About That Marley Spoon? And the Latest on Green Chef and Purple Carrot

Updated December 5, 2018 - If you don't want to read through this whole post (what follows is a lengthy discussion of my own experimentation with these services), we recommend Purple Carrot and Blue Apron wholeheartedly with Marley Spoon, Green Chef, and Hello Fresh as close seconds. We have tried at leat eight of the services available for delivery in New England, including Blue Apron. NEWS** SunBasket was out and we tried it May 22, 2016.  Not impressed. Think we need to stay away from any service with the word "paleo" in the choices.

RECYCLING NEWS** Blue Apron has postage -free recycling - print your label and schedule a USPS (US Postal Service pickup).  SunBasket has UPS free pickup and return of recycled boxes and fillers IF you don't have recycling in your area. The both accept clean, full, defrosted ice packs by return. It looks like Hello Fresh, Green Chef. Others, like Purple Carrot have all begun recycling efforts in the ensuing years since I wrote this article. 

Here's a link to an interesting article with some comments that resonate with others about the carbon footprint that results from these food services. In defense, I wasted a lot more food, actual food, when we weren't using these services. Let's face it, most of us don't buy three stalks of asparagus, 1/4 of a red cabbage, two tablespoons of demi-glace. One comment claims that a cookbook and a farmer's market will do the same for you for 1/5 the price. Au contraire, I say. We use the boxes over and over for storage, for transport, etc. Yes, we do throw some of the cardboard in recycling, but we throw a ton more away at my place of work than I do at home. The ice packs are used over and over when I bring food elsewhere. I think if you live life wisely (and perhaps raising your own food, slaughtering your own animals, and canning and preserving every morsel is the wisest but totally impractical for my family), this service can actually reduce the carbon footprint that others are complaining about.

We've recently been addicted to Purple Carrot. Go figure! We are carnivores but we love the three nights of vegan meals. The taste? Amazing. The ingredients? Very varied and experimental for us. The health? Go, Purple Carrot! One of my colleagues is vegan and she was so excited to try this because she spent so much money and time planning her weekly menus. I figured I'd give it a try to include more legumes and other foods that we didn't include in our diet. So far, after a few months? We are exclusively Purple Carrot three days a week. It's a bit more expensive, but delicious and healthy. It does have an Asian focus, but many of the food services do. You can choose between Chef's Choice, Hi-Protein or Quick and Easy. We choose Chef's Choice. They are all $12 per meal ($72 a week.) You also have the Tom Brady TB12 meals for $13 per meal (high-performance.) We are stickin' to Chef's Choice and we love them.

These are older updates:
For quality, price, taste, and wholesomeness, we do still feel loyal to Blue Apron for carnivores and pescivores.  For awhile, we mixed it up and ordered in a four-week pattern from one or the other. (Blue Apron one week, Marley Spoon the next week, Green Chef the third week, and Hello Fresh the fourth).

Note that they all have their strengths: Peach Dish has a terrific southern style, Just Add Cooking is local to Boston, Marley Spoon has some great ingredients, Hello Fresh lists allergens and removes most of them from their recipes (gluten and nuts, for instance), and Green Chef used all organic ingredients. Sun Basket offers paleo options. However, Blue Apron is consistently good, especially for the price, recipe cards, and packing.

At first, I was reluctant to sign up for Blue Apron, a home-cooked meal delivery service that a half-dozen of my colleagues had subscribed to last summer, 2014. I dug in my heels and said, "What? Why?" Gerry likes to shop daily, after all. We both love to cook.  Why did we need a service to choose our meals and send us food?

Well, one night in the fall of 2014, Gerry (who up until now has planned meals during the week; I planned weekend meals) was especially uninspired. He brought home a small jar of ordinary pasta sauce and a box of store-brand spaghetti from the grocery story. For dinner. That's it. No fresh herbs. No unusual spices. No greens. And certainly no fresh vegetables.

Sous Vide Center-Cut Beef Shanks and Butter-Poached Baby Potatoes

I've had my Anova Sous Vide stick for at least a year and a half and have never had the courage to use it! It seemed so complicated with its plastic bin, rack and heat cover.

This weekend, while searching for recipes online for center-cut beef shanks (a cheaper cut that needs to roast or cook for a long time to be tender), I decided to rip off that bandaid and get out the sous vide and vacuum sealer. Now, why did I wait so long?

And here's what I did:

I took each beef shank (1 pound each) and sprinkled it on both sides with freshly-ground salt and pepper. I placed a sliced onion and sliced garlic clove on top and a sprig of fresh thyme and vacuumed sealed each in its own bag. When the water bath had reached 155 degrees, I placed the bags in the rack ... and waited for the 20 hour cook. They will be done at 3 pm ... tomorrow.

I sliced the baby potatoes and sprinkled with freshly-ground salt and pepper. I placed them in vacuum bags with 1 long slice of butter and some fresh parsley. They will cook in a 195 degree water bath for two hours.

I also sliced large red beets and placed them in a vacuum bag and sealed with salt and pepper and some balsamic vinegar. They will cook in the 195 degree water bath for 45 minutes to an hour.



When all is done, the beef will be seared in a very hot pan for a minute or two a side before serving. The potatoes will be browned quickly in a hot pan. The beets will be dried with a paper towel, sprinkled with oil, more salt and pepper, roasted walnuts and goat cheese. In addition, I will roast a combination of sliced fennel, carrots, garlic, onions and red, yellow and orange peppers and serve my mother's spinach salad.  Bon appetit and Happy Indigenous People's Day!

Chocolate-Ricotta-Zucchini Bread

Just want you want in the fall! Zucchini Bread. Found a recipe for a Lemon Zuccini Bread that looks yummy. But I settled on Chocolate. Yummy with homemade Roasted Cherry Ice Cream.

Makes two loaves or a sheet of formed cakes and two tiny loaves.

350 degrees until pick comes out clean (cooks fast if in smaller pans)

Grate or shred 3 cups zucchini and place in colander or sieve to drain, pressing down to remove extra liquid.

2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsps. baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix all these dry ingredients together and set aside. Take 1/2 cup of this mixture and add to 3/4 cup mini or not chocolate chips*.

In mixing bowl beat two minutes:
1/2 c. canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 eggs

Add in 2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (or sour cream or yogurt)
3 cups grated or shredded zucchini

Mix in dry ingredients well and add chocolate chips*

Place in greased baking pans and bake. Remove from pans while still warm but slightly cooled.

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.

Gerry Canelli's Meatballs and Sauce

Gerry was asked for his amazingly simple and delicious meatballs and sauce recipe this week. He sent me a copy in an email. Here it is in his own words!

• 1 lb+ hamburg

• 1 egg

• milk

• garlic

• oregano

• basil

• fennel seeds

• seasoned bread crumbs

• tomato sauce (15 oz)

• tomato paste (12 oz)

• diced tomatoes (16 oz)

• salt and pepper to taste

• Start by making the sauce … put the tomato sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes (drained) into a sauce pan … using the tomato paste can as a gauge, add 1.5 cans of water … add fresh garlic (I use 2 or 3 cloves – minced or through a garlic press), fennel seeds,  liberal amounts of oregano and basil … put on medium heat and stir occasionally

• Make the meatballs – start by breaking the egg, mix in some milk (about equal to the ¼ volume of the egg) … add pepper, and 2 cloves of pressed or minced garlic … whip together.

• Mix in bread crumbs until it pretty much absorbs all of the liquid … actually it becomes the consistency of a wet paste

• Add the hamburg … mix thoroughly with your hands …

• Form meatballs  by rolling them between your hands and drop into the sauce

• Cover the saucepan and allow it to come to a boil at medium heat … stir occasionally to avoid burning the bottom of the pan

• When the sauce really begins to boil … wait 5 min and then lower the heat to the low setting … cook for a minimum of 75 - 90 minutes.

• Remove meatballs to separate dish, use the sauce over the freshly cooked pasta

Basil Lemon Pesto

With the abundance of basil in my garden deck rail planter this summer (and a recent onslaught of teeny critters), I figured I'd better get some pesto made. We've used the basil in ice cream and on top of mozzarella and ripe tomatoes, but another delicious use will be on homemade angel hair pasta or vermiccelli.

I poured through a couple of my favorite cookbooks (Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman, In Season by Sarah Raven, the Silver Palate bibles by Julie Rosso, and Sheila Lukins and The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte).

      I settled on Sara Forte's recipe and even though I didn't have a Meyer lemon, I'll be sure to next time! The recipe is actually for Lentil Meatballs with Lemon Pesto. (The Silver Palate recipes always include walnuts instead of pine nuts.) My search brought me to some delicious ideas (cilantro pesto) and I think I've got some work cut out for me next weekend.

1 clove garlic (I used two minced)
1/4 c. pine nuts (I used 1/3 cup)
Zest and juice of one Meyer lemon (I used a regular lemon)
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves (I really packed them in)
1/3-1/2 c. olive oil
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used an Asiago mix)
2 T. water (my basil was still wet from the rinse so I didn't add water)

I used an immersion blender (my small processor was broken and it wasn't enough for the Cuisinart food processor) and blended the garlic, nuts, lemon zest and juice, salt together. Then I added the basil leaves a handful at a time.

I then added 1/3 c. olive oil and a bit more during processing with the cheese.

New Orleans Feast

When in New Orleans in June, childhood friends Karan and Betsy joined me for a 2-1/2 hour cooking extravaganza at the New Orleans School of Cooking. From the special aprons to the tablecloths, individual cooking stations, and personal attention, no wonder this place is the one of the two favorite travelers' food experiences in the country, according to Trip Advisor.

I worked hard to duplicate the experience for neighbors - even sending home seasonings, grits, pickled snap beans, and Fleur de Lis* glasses.

*a stylized lily composed of three petals bound together near their bases. It is especially known from the former royal arms of France, in which it appears in gold on a blue field.

We started with Bloody Marys topped off with pickled snap beans, olives, okra and sprinkled with celery seed. Others had champagne, red and white wine of a local craft brew. Then we moved to our cooking stations with induction cooktops and an array of ingredients.

I've doubled the recipes (except for the Bananas Foster).

Sweet Potato and Crabmeat Bisque
1 T Rex's Crab, Shrimp and Crawfish Boil
1 pound of crab meat
8 cups of diced sweet potatoes/yams
4 T. butter
4 T. diced onions
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 c. green pepper, diced
1 T dry sliced garlic
4 T flour
8 c. chicken stock
1 c heavy cream
1 cup diced green onions, sliced
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
Joe' Stuff to taste
Big Kevin's Creole Blend to taste
dash of nutmeg

Melt butter over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until a blonde roux is formed. Turn off heat and add onions, celery and pepper.

In another pot bring chicken stock and garlic to a boil, then whisk in roux, stirring constantly until soup consistency is achieved. Add Rex's boil. Stir in 6 cups of sweet potatoes, reserving the remaining cups. Bring to a rolling bowl, reduce to a simmer and cook approximately 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth.  Add heavy cream and return to a low heat. Saute remaining sweet potatoes in butter until tender. Season the potatoes with nutmeg and green onions. Once tender, add sweet potatoes to the soup. Finish with crab meat parsley and Joe's stuff to taste.

Beef Grillades and Stone-Ground Cheese Grits
3 pounds of round steak
2 T Joe's Stuff
1 cup flour
4 T vegetable oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 T sliced garlic
4 c. beef stock
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 T Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
2 C. tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
4 T sliced green onion
Garlic sauce to taste and Big Kevin's Creole Blend

Pound out round steak until 1/4 inch thick and then julienne the beef. Combine flour with Joe's Stuff and dust the pieces of meat in the flour, shaking off excess.

Heat oil in a skillet and brown the meat on each side. Lower heat and add onion, pepper and celery and cook until translucent. Stirring constantly, add remaining flour and cook on medium heat until flour starts to brown. Add garlic, bay, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato and beef stock. Bring to a boil and simmer and cook 30-40 minutes until beef is tender.

Add red wine vinegar and more seasonings to taste before serving. Serve over warm grits with a poached egg and green onions.

Stone Ground Cheese Grits
10 c. water or milk
2 c stone ground white corn grits
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp. salt
4 T buter
4 T cream cheese

Combine water/milk and salt. Bring to a boil and slowly whisk in the grits and reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally.

Remove grits from heat. Add butter, cheese and mix well. Keep warm.

Poached Eggs

Bananas Foster
2 sticks butter
2 c brown sugar
2 bananas
2 oz banana liqueur
4 oz dark rum
ground cinnamon
ice cream

Melt butter and add brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Stir in the liqueur, bananas and rum. Heat and ignite. Add magic dust (cinnamon) to the flame.

Serve over ice cream with crumbled pralines.

Roasted Sweet Cherry Ice Cream with Vanilla Bean

Cherries are everywhere in New England grocery stores right now. I used sweet red this weekend but have roasted a batch of sweet red and white cherries for the freezer.

Roasted Cherries
2 cups pitted cherries
2/3 c sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Mix the pitted ripe cherries and sugar and cornstarch well. Place on foil on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 min.  Remove from pan and place on a plate to cool. Place in freezer on a plate (if using soon) or in a Ziploc bag if saving for future use. Save thickened cherry juice along with cherries.

Make either Goat Cheese Ice Cream or use a Vanilla Ice Cream base. I added ground vanilla bean to the base in the Sweet Basil Ice Cream (leaving out the basil leaves.)

When the ice cream is done freezing, mix in the frozen roasted cherries and freeze four hours.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Pine Nut Pralines

Well, ice cream has become a habit in the Canelli house. Jeni's has become our bible.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Pine Nut Pralines

Ice cream

An hour or so before making ice cream base (and five hours before you will be serving) set aside:

2-2/3 c whole milk at room temperature
1-1/2 c heavy cream at room temperature
2 T cream cheese at room temperature

When ready to cook the base, fill a large bowl with ice and fill with water.

Take 2 T of the milk and mix it with 1 T plus 2 tsp cornstarch to make a slurry. Set aside.

Mix the cream cheese with 1/4 tsp sea salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the milk, cream, 3/4 c. sugar and 1/4 c light corn syrup in a large saucepan. Heat until it reaches a boil - stirring often. Boil in a rolling boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cornstarch slurry mixing well so that the milk/cream mixture thickens. Place over heat for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.

Tear a large handful of basil leaves into small pieces.

In the large bowl with cream cheese and salt, pour in the hot milk/cream mixture and mix vigorously. If it is lumpy, use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Pour ice cream mixture with the basil leaves into a Ziploc bag (double-bagged for protection). Seal and let stand in ice water for at least 30 minutes.

Remove basil by straining. Pour the ice cream in the ice cream maker/machine. Spin 60 min. Add pine nut pralines at the last minute or fold in when placing in a freezer container. Freeze four hours or more before serving. Add a small praline bunch and a sprig of fresh basil and serve in individual bowls (using about 1/2 cup ice cream!)

Pine Nut Pralines
1 cup pine cuts (or any other nut)
2 T light brown sugar
2 T honey
1 T butter
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
 Mix all together and spread on a buttered baking sheet OR parchment. (Not foil).  Bake for 8 min and stir. Bake 350 degrees for another 5-6 minutes, stirring twice. The nuts should look bubbly and dry. Remove from the oven, cool until pralines break off of parchment or baking sheet and use or store breaking into small bits.

Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone, Orange Zest and Poppy Seeds

Another from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. This one has a gorgeous flavor and is a favorite with granddaughters Phoebe Harper Rabbitt and Maeve Hunter Rabbitt. The lovely PINK screams delicious! Serve for adults with chunks of fresh orange or candied orange peel.

Remember that homemade ice cream takes about six hours before eating. 1/2 hour to prepare ingredients and 5-10 minutes to make the base. One hour to freeze and 4 in the freezer!

Roast 4 small or 2 medium large red beets in a 450 degree oven. Wrap the beets in a sheet of foil and bake until very soft, about one hour. Let them cool slightly before removing their skin. Cut into chunks and puree. Then force the puree through a sieve. Combine 2/3 cup of warm beet puree with 2 T sugar. Set aside to cool.

Measure out 1-1/2 cups heavy cream, 2-2/3 cups whole milk, and 1/3 mascarpone cheese. Set them out to sit at room temperature.

Measure out 1/4 tsp. sea salt. Measure 3/4 cup sugar. Measure 2 T plus 2 tsp. poppy seeds. Measure 1/4 cup light corn syrup. Set aside.

Fill a large bowl with ice and some water. Set aside.

Zest one orange with a peeler into long strips. Set aside.

Whisk the mascarpone cheese with the cooled beet puree. Set aside.

Make a slurry of 2T milk and 1 T plus 2 tsp. cornstarch. Set aside.

Now you are ready for some quick action making the ice cream base with the milk, cream, sugar, light corn syrup, and the orange zest. Bring to a rolling boil in a large saucepan (4-qt) and boil for 4 minutes. Take off the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Boil one more minute until slightly thickened and take off the heat.

Gradually mix in some of the hot ice cream base with the beet puree/mascarpone until smooth, adding more until you have a cup. Then add this mixture gradually to the rest of the ice cream base. Pour it all (with orange zest) into a 1 gallon freezer bag and then another, zipping up the interior one and leaving the other open to the air to release the heat. Place in the ice water bath, submerging the bottom of the bag. Let cool about 30 minutes. Take out the orange zest.

Pour into ice cream maker or compressor and freeze about one hour. If you have a slot in your ice cream maker to add ingredients, add the poppy seeds while ice cream is still creamy. Or stir in while you are spooning out.

Spoon out into a container and freeze for four more hours.

Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Honey-Thyme-Blackberry Sauce

I'm a big fan of podcasts and have been listening to How I Built This with Guy Raz. I loved the hour spent with Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

Of course, I was inspired and shelled out for the Cuisinart Ice Cream Compressor when Electrics went on sale and I had an additional coupon incentive.

We made ice cream as kids with lots of rock salt, water and the old fashioned crank machine. Later on, we had an electric ice maker that made small soft batches. I was never crazy about it because you had to wait to freeze it to enjoy it. I got both of Jeni's book at the library and decided to invest in Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream At Home. Goat Cheese Ice Cream, Cucumber, Honeydew & Cayenne Frozen Yogurt, Toasted Rice Ice Cream with a whiff of Coconut and Black Tea ... they all called out to me. I made my first batch using the Cuisinart Instruction and Recipe book. It was so-so vanilla. A bit icy and not as smooth and creamy as I'd hoped. I'm a die-hard Kimball Farm ice cream girl so I don't get that excited about ice cream very often. Kimball's makes ice cream that is absolutely buttery, creamy and rich.

Today I decided to bring ice cream to a small dinner get-together tonight and wanted to use some blackberries I found cheap at Aldi's. Most recipes for blackberry ice cream use the blackberry juice - cooking it the blackberries with sugar and lemon juice and then pushing them through a sieve and getting rid of the pulp. This makes a beautiful colored ice cream but I wanted something else.

In the end, I chose Jeni's recipe for Goat Cheese Ice Cream and I'm going to serve it with a Blackberry-Honey-Thyme sauce made from some preserves I canned a few years ago. I added more sugar, two pints of fresh blackberries and boiled it into a sauce.

The ice cream is delicious, While we could have eaten it right then and there, I put it in the freezer in a container to take tonight.

Goat Cheese Ice Cream

2-2/3 cups whole milk
1 T plus 2 tsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup (or about 5 oz goat cheese - I used a 4.5 oz tub of Trader Joe's Creamy Goat Cheese)
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 c. light corn syrup

Mix 2 T. of the milk with cornstarch in a small bowl and make a smooth slurry. Whisk the goat cheese, cream cheese and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth.

Prepare a large bowl by filling 3/4 full of ice and covering that with water. Leave a few inches at top of the bowl. Get out two 1-gallon Ziploc bags and put one inside the other.

Cook the remaining milk, the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling bowl over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium high heat and cook, stirring constantly until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth and pour it all into the inner Ziploc bag. Seal the bags and submerge into the ice bath. Let stand about 30 minutes adding more ice if necessary.

Pour the ice cream base into the canister of your ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy. I put the timer on 1 hour.

Bare Cupboard Chili for a Snow Day

The weather outside is frightful ... and the cupboards inside are not full! Nothing says snow day more than warm chili and fresh bread and sugary apple pie.

We are only in Norwood three nights a week these days (in Marion the other four) and we are either working late or making our Blue Apron or Marley Spoon dinners. We keep some staples in the cabinets and frig but are usually not very well stocked. So, what do to when there's a snow day in Norwood, a hungry teen home from college, and all of us looking for some warm comfort food? I had to improvise.( Luckily, I thought ahead and bought apples and ricotta and had the makings for fresh bread and an apple pie.)

In the freezer I found a pound of delicious Walden Meats ground beef and five links of Italian sausage. I had no tomatoes - either fresh or canned so I got out my stool and braved the depths of the cupboards.

In them I found a chili seasoning pack, several cans or packs of beans (including one Bush's Grillin' Beans with chipotle seasoning and vegetables), some tomato paste and a jar or salsa. There were several cans of Corona that I substituted for water or stock. I threw it all in the crockpot with some sugar (to counteract the beer bitterness) and some dried chopped onion. A few hours on high and a few on low and we had a luscious warm and spicy chili.