ice cream tasting

[strawberry]

over a lot of trail and error, i have gotten to build up some pretty swell cooking and baking skills. many of the things i've become good at making were items i had an infatuation with...i'm looking at you, freshly made pasta, fried chicken, mac 'n cheese, cake, etc. but most of all, i love ice cream. so it only made sense for me to start learning how to make it myself. 

coincidentally, most of the ice cream recipes i've whipped up have thankfully worked out amazingly well. but, not all can be winners. and as much as social media, even this blog at times, may make it seem like everything comes out swimmingly, i feel it's only fair to share when it does not. case in point: mascarpone ice cream and ricotta ice cream. both seemed just crazy enough to be an amazing flavor you might see in a gelato shop. but, in real life? horrible! i mean, could not throw it out fast enough, horrible. thankfully, of the dozens of flavors i've made, only two have been a bust, but they were very memorable to say the least. 

here's to hoping my future ice cream trails are more on the delicious than memorable side!

[passion fruit with cacao nibs]

[blackberry cheesecake]

[blueberry basil]

beginning french cooking

for this year's birthday, my cousins very sweetly gifted me dorie greenspan's cookbook on french cuisine in the home. i've always been interested in testing my cooking skills with french foods, but i didn't think i was at the level of trying out julia child's book. truthfully, as much as i admire julia as well as everything she has done for making french cooking accessible for americans...i am so intimidated. dorie's book appealed to me because it made the recipes she selected seem so relaxed and easy-going where anyone could try them out. granted, julia's book has the same intention, but even julia loved dorie's way of narrating her recipes. aka a good sign for an intimidated cook like myself. one day julia, i will work through your book. 

[chicken diable with garlicky, crumb-coated broccoli]

both recipes were amazingly delicious and the scents created while making each dish was spectacular. i really wish there was a scratch and sniff function to these photos because the photos only tell a small part of the story. 

overall, the dishes weren't too complicated. however, they did require a good amount of time as the dynamite flavors from the dishes came from layering the seasonings over steps. it was well-worth the work and wait. 

[chicken in a pot: the garlic and lemon version]

so far, having only tackled two recipes, i cannot wait to see, smell, and taste more recipes from this cookbook!

edible trail and error

[heavenly layers]

it only seemed natural that my initial luck in pasta making would eventually be tested. quite often i get asked if i ever have a recipe that failed, or didn't go smoothly. and as much as i quickly confess, most assume i'm fibbing. so, i thought it'd be fun to post on a couple of our recent endeavors that didn't go according to plan. thankfully, both blunders did end up tasting phenomenally, but not without considerable effort. 

a couple of weekends back, T had been craving my braised beef stroganoff served over pappardelle noodles. so, i thought, why not make the noodles to go with it? how difficult could it be? overall, the recipe was very straightforward and easy to work through. however, i didn't have the faintest idea that a hot kitchen (the stroganoff has to slow cook in the oven for 3 hours) would cause problems in making pasta sheets. i'd heard about heat and humidity being a factor, but just assumed i wouldn't have to worry about it...silly, i know. 

several of our sheets started sticking to everything they touched before they could be cut, and we had to remake sheets a few times. this all occurring as i needed to pull the beef from the oven, and start on sauteing the veggies for the sauce. not to mention i was sweating something serious - pasta making it quite the workout. but, i did learn the importance of flouring my noodles as well as letting them rest prior to cooking. 

[beautiful noodles]

[savory and rich]

[just gorgeous, right?]

the finished product? velvety, thin noodles that paired beautifully with my stroganoff. several lessons learned, and a hopeful me that my next noodle 'venture would be that much improved.

then, last friday, we thought it would be fun to try out our skills on a few friends. a little homemade ravioli action with T's infamous meat sauce. sounded simple enough, right? remember my note earlier about how heat and humidity can effect pasta making? yeah...i completely forgot all about the humid part. that is, until it came to rolling our sheets out to make ravioli. it had been raining for the past couple of days with a huge storm coming through that day. sadly, our sheets stuck to everything including the depression trays to where we couldn't get the raviolis out! 

i'd be lying if i said i didn't panic several times as difficult as the pasta was being. it almost seemed comical that this was happening while our friends were over for dinner, after we'd talked about how we'd nailed it at pasta making. ...i guess the universe thought it was a good test in humility. we did finally get our ravioli semi-worked out and only lost 12 in the end. but, we did learn another boatload of lessons. one, pay attention to the weather; two, don't roll the sheets too thin on the bottom layer; three, stick with a dough recipe that you like and 'clicks'; and four, flour, flour, flour!

[cheese filling]

[the lucky 42 that made it-ish]

[T working away on his sauce]

the finished product? deliciously delicate parcels of cheese and pasta working in perfect harmony with T's sauce. our sweetly patient friends loved it, and honestly helped keep me pushing through when i was convinced it was never going to come together. and then, like some kind of magic, it did! 

sunday dinner

for several months now, T, my brother, and myself have been getting together every sunday for family dinner. it first started out as a little GoT watch party and has kept going ever since. after reading this post not too long ago, i thought i'd switch things up for our family dinner with a shrimp boil! 

honestly, it was so much easier, and even more delicious than i'd imagined. unfortunately, my brother couldn't make it but, m&j made for great guinea pigs. :)

[that little bundle = all the good flavors]

[mmm!]

[to add an extra kick]

[the aftermath]

and what shrimp boil would be complete without peach cobbler? my mom was sweet enough to bring me a 1/2 bushel of peaches on her last visit so, i of course had to include them. oh, and i made homemade mexican vanilla ice cream...the combination was divine. 

[not the prettiest cobbler but, so delicious]

[full, happy bellies and ready to start the week!]

the wooden spoon: parmesan and spinach risotto

 

this is bar-none one of my favorite side dishes to make especially when we need to make use of soon-to-be wilted spinach!

 

here's what you'll need:

extra virgin olive oil

1 cup of arborio rice

1 cup of parmesan cheese

3 cups of chicken broth (or if you're vegetarian, veggie broth work great too)

fresh spinach

first heat up a few dribbles (or 3 tablespoons) of evoo in a medium pot on medium-high heat. once warmed, add in your cup of arborio rice and toss about in the evoo until completely coated and rice is warmed. this doesn't take more than a minute or two so don't leave the kitchen to do things like watch girl tv (what T calls the shows i like to watch like the real housewives of new jersey)!

quickly add in a cup of chicken broth, stir the mixture and let sit until broth is completely absorbed into the rice.

 

like so (man, this would be a great time to know how to create an up arrow!). once absorbed, add in another cup, stir and let sit until absorbed. then repeat once more with your last cup of broth.

 

now that your rice - now risotto, has done the amazing growing trick, turn off your burner and add in the parmesan cheese. stir about until well mixed and deliciously cheesy looking.

 

then add in your spinach - this part is up to you as to how much you may love Popeye. T and i are big fans so we add in a pretty heaping handful (or handfuls).

serve up and enjoy! our favorite pairing with this side dish is usually salmon but, of course, you can get creative with what you'd like to serve it with!

adelaide

the wooden spoon: pastitsio

pastitsio. yum! ever heard of it though? until i had decided to crack open one of my old cookbooks (passed down from my mom), i hadn't either. it's basically a greek version of lasagna which crazy enough when finished, looks like hamburger helper - weird! so without further a-do...


here's what you'll need:
a cast-iron skillet or dutch oven
1 lb of ground beef or lamb (i used beef since it was cheaper than lamb)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
6 medium-sized cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1, 8oz package of elbow macaroni
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
1 cup of pecorino romano cheese (i used parmesan since i didn't have any pecorino on hand)

first heat your cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat until warmed up; then add in your ground meat and cook throughly until nice and brown.

once browned, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat and set aside for later use. do not discard the juice left behind! (preheat your oven to 475 degree)

now add in the onions, cinnamon, nutmeg and cook until well-mixed and tender, about 5-7 minutes.

once tender, add in the garlic, oregano and tomato paste until fragrant, about a minute.



quickly add in your chicken broth, 1/2 cup of cream, cooked meat, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the uncooked macaroni noodles and cook until simmering. pasta should be nice and tender at about the 10+ minutes...make sure at this step to stir constantly or you will have stuck/uncooked noodles!

stir together in a small measuring cup your 1/2 cup of cream remaining and cornstarch until completely mixed through. quickly add this to your mixture and stir throughly.

now take your skillet off heat...here comes the best part!

sprinkle the cheese on top of your skillet mixture so you get a yummy layer of deliciousness and place in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or until the top is light brown.

take out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, serve up and enjoy!