Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream

21 Sep

Living in New York City.

In the past 2 weeks a bird pooped on me exactly 2 times, once on my arm, the other time on…my EYE LID. GROSS. I was extremely mortified and disgusted. If you don’t see me in the next few weeks, it is probably because I contracted some awful disease carried by a New York pigeon.

When all of the uptown subways stop running except for the “1” train, beware. Moms holding their babies will start yelling at old men with talk of “snuffing” them. Young folk will start harassing other young folk about who needs to give up their seat on the train. People will push and shove you and yell and push you. You might not make it on your first train, so you wait 6 minutes for the next train, only to be pushed and shoved again.

Living in New York City.

Now I would like to introduce you to this Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream. I made it using Skippy Crunchy Peanut Butter. The crunch of the peanuts are divine in the ice cream. I put pretzels into a ziplock bag and smashed the heck out of them and then folded them into the ice cream. So with every bite of peanut butter ice cream, you get that salty crunch of peanut and pretzel. Gotta love some texture in all that silky smoothness.

P.S. Have you ever had those chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels from Trader Joe’s? They are so good I refuse to buy them because I can’t contain myself when they are around.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream

adapted from alanabread; Check out her homemade chocolate covered pretzels, too!

1 cup of milk (I used nonfat milk)

100 g of sugar (about 1/2 cup?)

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used Skippy)

1 1/2 cups half and half

3/4 cup crushed salted pretzels (I put my pretzels in a ziplock bag and then smashed them with the bottom of my balsamic vinegar bottle)

1. Have your half and half sitting in a bowl over an ice bath.

2. Heat the milk with half of the sugar until it starts to steam a little. Once steaming, whisk your egg yolks with the other half of the sugar in a bowl. Once warmed, slowly pour some of the hot milk over the yolk/sugar mixture whilst stirring constantly. This is to temper your eggs. Then pour everything back into the pot and continue stirring. Immediately put your peanut butter in and whisk until smooth. Continue to heat and whisk until the mixture becomes thick like custard.

3. Remove from heat and pour into the cold cream and stir. Once everything is cool, place in refrigerator to cool overnight, or at least for 6 hours.

4. Churn in the ice cream maker as per the manufacturer’s instructions. The last 30 seconds of  churning, add your crushed pretzels.

 

***WANT MORE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM RECIPES? Check out this HONEY SEA SALT PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM WITH CARAMEL SAUCE!!

Biking Adventures, NYC + Concord Grape Sorbet

19 Sep

Yesterday I went on a bike ride to the tip top of Manhattan along the West Side Highway bike path. With the Hudson River at my side and the beautiful greenery protecting me from the raging NYC traffic, everything should have been perfect…but alas, I am a first class WIMP.

Why is it that if I have not ridden a bike in just 2 months that I start getting the shakes and the shivers at the thought of going up and down a hill, switching gears, stopping. Oh, stopping on my bike. It should be so easy. I like to think that I am a graceful lady, but on a bicycle I seem to lose all my balance and dignity. And there I was, walking my bike down the tiniest hill because I am too afraid to take the plunge.

I only fell once, and for that I am proud, and I got right back up and continued biking after my minor fall. I did not even realize that I scratched my hand until I saw the blood marks on the handle bars. Eh, no big deal.

In the end, it was a nice ride and I became more confident as the ride continued. Eventually, I was even able to stop and slowly hop off the bike in a graceful way. My reward for making it up to the top of Manhattan was eating at the taco stand inside one of the parks there. Seriously good homemade flour tortillas.

Hopefully come next week, I’ll be a biking pro.

There was no better way to quench my thirst after that bike ride than to have a spoon of homemade concord grape sorbet, right out of the container.

Concord grapes are all over the place right now. I also love the variety called “Jupiter” because they have no seeds. These grapes taste like they were made for wine, for jam, for sodas, for SORBET.

I cooked my grapes down with a touch of water until they started to pop and release their juices.

The grapes got pureed in my blender. I added a little bit of homemade simple syrup to them. Chilled everything and then spun it in my ice cream maker.

I usually think of myself as an ice cream person rather than a sorbet person. But this summer I have realized how refreshing sorbet can be when you have really flavorful fruit. Plus sorbet is SO much easier to make than ice cream because it is literally fruit and simple syrup or sugar. And the colors that your sorbet can be–bright orange (mango, melon…), lipstick red (strawberry, cherry…), deep fuchsia (raspberry, blackberry, concord grape…)…oh so fabulous!

Concord Grape Sorbet

from The Kitchen Sink

1 1/2 pounds Concord grapes (about 1 quart container)
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup Simple Syrup

Prepare an ice bath; set aside. Combine grapes and the water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the liquid begins to bubble and grapes start releasing liquid, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat, and simmer until juices are dark purple and grapes begin to break apart, about 3 minutes.

Puree the mixture with a food mill, an immersion blender, a blender, or a food processor (I used a blender). Then pass it through a fine sieve into a large bowl set in the ice bath; stir frequently until completely cool. Stir in simple syrup.

Transfer mixture to an ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container, and store in the freezer until ready to serve.

Bengali 5-Spice Roasted Nuts

13 Sep

Roasted, toasted, salted, sugared, and spiced. Pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts. Ajowain, cumin, mustard seed, kalunji, and methy. A 5-spice blend of 5 different types of nuts. Oh heavens, what have I done?!

I walked into a specialty food store and spice shop in New York City called Kalustyan’s and I walked out with bags of special seeds that I toasted in the oven and ground up in my coffee grinder to create my very own Bengali 5-spice blend. Oh, and if you get confused like I did, “methy” is another name for fenugreek and “kalunji” is another name for caraway.

Buying all of these great spices and seeds inspired me to semi-organize my spices. Well, it really started with A Cozy Kitchen. She did a great job organizing her spices and took the time to be creative with her labeling. I decided to put my new seeds and spices into labeled air-tight containers. Then I decided to move all of my spices from the cupboard up high to a pull-out drawer in the kitchen. Ok, so everything is still kind of a mess, but an organized mess nonetheless. At least I can see everything now. Short little me was having a tough time getting on my tip toes trying to see which spice was behind the last in the high shelves.

I really like the little blurb on the ajowain seeds:

Oh gee…

To toast your spices, heat the oven to about 350 degrees F, throw your spices onto a baking sheet, and toast for about 3-5 minutes. It goes very quickly. Remove them from the oven and immediately put them into a room temperature bowl. They will continue to toast slightly once they come out of the oven just because of all the heat.

Bengali 5-Spice Blend

recipe from Print Restaurant, makes about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of spice blend

2/3 cup cumin seeds

1/3 cup ajowain

1/4 cup mustard seeds

3 tablespoons kalunji seeds (I used black caraway)

2 tablespoons methy seeds (aka fenugreek)

Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees F. Place all of you seeds onto a baking sheet. Toast in the hot oven for about 3-5 minutes. Immediately remove and pour the seeds into a room temperature bowl and let them cool.

Once cool, grind the seeds in your coffee grinder.

(To clean your coffee grinder, throw some plain rice into it, grind, dump out the rice, and wipe with a paper towel)

Bengali 5-Spice Roasted Nuts

also from Print Restaurant

1 or 2 egg whites

5 cups of mixed UNSALTED nuts

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika (I used smoked paprika)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon Bengali 5-spice

Preheat oven to about 350 degrees F.

Whisk your egg whites so they are just getting foamy but are still clear. Add the nuts and make sure they are coated.

Combine all of your spices, salt, and sugar. Add to the nuts and stir or use your  hands to make sure everything is coated.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, lay out your nuts in a single even layer. Bake for about 5-7 minutes, take the nuts out and stir/separate them with a spatula (the egg whites and sugar tend to make the nuts want to stick together). Put the nuts back in for another 5-7 minutes until toasty and fragrant. Stir again and then let cool. Once cool, the nuts will regain their hardness.

Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Rosemary Caramel Swirl

8 Sep

Greetings everyone.

I have ice cream for you. It has brown sugar in it, and rosemary infused caramel sauce. It is smooth and rich and keeps me coming back for more. The caramel sauce helps keep this ice cream nice and soft, which I LOVE.

Unfortunately I have trouble taking nice photos of ice cream. I just want to eat and lick up all of the dripping goodness. So sue me.

Alright. Now let’s get down to business and make some ice cream.

Rosemary Infused Caramel Sauce

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. water + 1/2 c. water

2 T. butter

1-2 large branches rosemary

1. Heat the sugar and 1/4 c. water in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. It will eventually bubble and turn amber in color. Try to do minimal or no stirring. Once the bubbling turns vigorous and there is some smoke starting to form, then you can take a whisk and stir.

2. Remove from heat and slowly pour in a little bit of your 1/2 c. of water and STAND BACK. Stir, add a little more water, stand back. Repeat until your entire 1/2 c. is used. Keep stirring to make sure your caramel is smooth.

3. Add the butter and rosemary. Let the caramel sit with the rosemary in it for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove your rosemary and let the caramel cool.

Brown Sugar Ice Cream + Rosemary Caramel Swirl

adapted from Food + Words

6 ounces egg yolks (4 yolks)
8 ounces (either light or dark) brown sugar (1 cup)
16 ounces whole or reduced fat milk (2 cups)
8 ounces heavy cream (1 cup)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fleur de sel (I used Maldon)

Set your heavy cream aside in a large bowl with a mesh strainer over it.

Whisk your yolks and brown sugar together in a medium bowl for about 2 minutes, until well combined and light-ish in color.

In small pot, heat your milk until scaled (just about to boil but does not boil). Slowly whisk a small amount of the scalded milk into the sugar and egg mixture. Keep whisking constantly. Pour that back into the rest of the milk and keep heating. Now start stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Keep stirring the egg, sugar, milk mixture over the stove until thickened slightly. This could take anywhere from 5-15 minutes, so just watch closely. You will know when your custard is thickened when it coats the back of a spoon completely.**You do not want scrambled eggs, though, so keep the heat to medium.

Pour your thickened custard through the strainer into the cream. Add the vanilla and fleur de sel and set the mixture over an ice bath until cool. Once cool, place in the fridge to chill completely (at least one hour or overnight).

Churn the ice cream in the ice cream maker. In the last 30 seconds of churning, add as much caramel sauce to the ice cream as you want. Or, alternatively, once your ice cream is churned, pour some of it into your container, then pour over it a layer of caramel sauce, then more ice cream, then more caramel, then more ice cream.

Freeze in the freezer and enjoy!

Summer Peach Pie

29 Aug

A double-crusted summer peach pie. Filled with slippery peaches and spiced with a cozy combination of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

There was no better way to spend my time stuck inside this rainy weekend than to bake a pie.

I baked this summer peach pie. I bought Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. I put the two together on a plate. I licked the plate clean.

Today is my dad’s birthday. Happy birthday, Pops! I love you. I wish you could eat this pie that I made. I am beginning to master the art of writing “Happy Birthday” in chocolate on a plate. This is what I do at work. I write on plates with chocolate. My hand is still a little shaky, so no plate-writing photos yet.

When it comes to pie, I am a big fan of the all-butter crust. Don’t bother with shortening or any other fats. Butter. I always have it on-hand. Butter. Use it. Cube it. Chill it. Love it.

For the filling, I used cornstarch to thicken the fruit mixture. In the past I have also used quick-cooking tapioca (see: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie). The cornstarch worked great for the peaches-they were still super juicy and had just the right amount of viscosity.

For the crust, a small amount of vinegar (or any strong acid) is added to help keep that crust nice and flaky, just the way it should be.

Summer Peach Pie

I heart JOY! she has beautiful descriptions and photos of the step-by-step process

For the Crust:

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

5 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ice cold water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Filling:

about 3 pounds ripe peaches (I used about 6 peaches)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

scant 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for topping crust before baking

To make the crust, the first thing I do is cube my butter and stick it in the freezer. I also drop a few ice cubes in a glass of water and set it aside. Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Take your cold, cubed butter out of the freezer and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture.  Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture, some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes, some will be the size of peas. Measure out the ice cold water and stir it together with the vinegar.   Create a well in the butter and flour mixture and pour in the water and vinegar mixture.  Use a fork to bring to dough together.  Try to moisten all of the flour bits.  On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the dough mixture.  It will be moist and shaggy.  That’s perfect.  Divide the dough in two and gently knead into two disks.  Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To make the filling, wash and slice peaches and put them in a medium bowl (I just used the same bowl that I made the crust in).  In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, spices, flour, and cornstarch.  Pour the sugar mixture over the fruit, and gently toss together with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the lemon juice.  Place bowl of fruit in the fridge to rest while you roll the crust out.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place a rack in the center of the oven, and place a baking sheet on the lower rack, just below where you’re going to place the pie.  This will catch any pie drippings without making a mess of your oven.

Remove one of the pie dough disks from the fridge.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into about a 13-inch round.  Roll the dough a few strokes, then use your fingers to move the emerging circle around the floured surface.  This ensures that the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface.  The circle won’t be perfect, that’s ok.  Try not to get any tears in the rolled out dough, but if you do, they can be patched together with extra dough.    When you roll the dough and you can see it start springing back, that means that the butter is warming and the crust shouldn’t be rolled out anymore.  Gently lift the 13-inch round from the floured surface and center in the 9-inch baking dish.  Place in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.

Roll out the top crust just as you did the bottom crust, moving the dough across the floured surface every once in a while, and creating a roughly 13-inch circle.  Remove the bottom crust and fruit filling from the fridge.  Gently pour the fruit filling into the pie dish.  Carefully remove the top crust from the work surface and drape over the fruit in the pie dish.  With a small knife, trim the crust, leaving about 3/4-inch overhang.  With your fingers press the top and bottom crusts together and fold under.  Use a fork or your fingers to crimp the edges of the dough.  Cut five small slits in the top of the crust so the juices and steam can vent.  Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place pie in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven heat to 375 and bake for 45 to 55 more minutes.  Remove from the oven when crust is browned and golden, and the juices are bubbling.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours before serving.  Place covered in the fridge to store.  Pie lasts up to 3 or 4 days.

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