coconut milk ice cream

I own some kind of odd kitchen appliances, both because I sometimes splurge and buy things for special cooking projects, and because my dad, who also loves to cook, likes to buy me fun things like an ice cream maker. I recently tried some very tasty ice cream that was made with a coconut milk base, and I thought it would be interesting to try it out at home. I used the following recipe:

2 cans coconut milk
3/4 cup undutched cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar (to taste, I didn't want it too sweet and this turned out well)
1 tsp vanilla extract

I whisked the cocoa powder in with a little bit of coconut milk, then mixed in the remaining ingredients in no particular order. I poured it all into my ice cream maker and watched as it turned to delicious ice cream before my eyes. The texture, upon coming out of the mixer, was perfect, like frozen yogurt. After being re-frozen, however, it was more difficult to scoop and crumbled a bit--but was still absolutely lovely. I want to experiment with other flavors, and see about maybe adding a little soy milk next time, to see if that makes it less crumbly for scooping.

Molly Moon!

I went out for ice cream with Anna and Spidermike last night in Wallingford. After a lovely walk from the U-district and an equally lovely dinner at Sea-Thai, we decided that it was perfect ice cream weather.

Molly Moon should be around the corner from my house. Or maybe it shouldn't be, because I would go all the time. I had strawberry balsamic ice cream and vivace coffee ice cream, and was pretty much in ice cream heaven. It was so delicious. I have had strawberries with balsamic vinegar together before as a wine pairing, and loved it then, so I knew I had to try this ice cream and it was so good. I wanted to buy a pint to take home, but had self-control. Luckily.

In addition to the scoops of ice cream I had, I got to try my friends' ice cream--honey lavendar (so delicious and refreshing), salted black licorice (very salty! not sure if I liked it as much, but I don't love licorice), and maple walnut (what I call an "old man" ice cream flavor). I tasted two of their sorbets--pomegranate curry and chocolate mandarin. The pomegranate curry was so interesting and zesty, though I don't think it was a flavor I'd really want a whole scoop of. The chocolate mandarin, however, almost made me change my order... it was that good.

I just have a whole lot of love for Molly Moon, right now.

bread, bread, and more bread.

This is the massive pile of bread my roommate and I brought home from the Essential Bakery bread dumpster. Faced with such a daunting load of carbohydrates, we decided that there was only one thing we could do--make bread pudding. Not just any bread pudding, but whole wheat bread pudding! This is something I have never done. Technically, it is two things I have never done, both the bread pudding making and also with whole wheat bread. I kind of wished I had some rum in the house, but as it was too late to go to a liquor store, we stuck with milk, eggs, butter, raisins, brown sugar, and some tasty spices--cinnamon and nutmeg.

The resulting product, while not being especially beautiful to look at because it is, after all, bread pudding, but was delicious, warm, and a wintry treat that kind of made me wish I had a hot toddy to go with it. Again, next time.

We still had a lot of bread, which we continued to consume in a variety of ways, including a favorite... dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The morning after the bread pudding experiment, we made french press with a most amazing Stumptown coffee, and I made french toast with a sourdough fremont loaf. French toast is something I don't make often, but every time I do, I wonder why it has been so long. I want to experiment with another french toast recipe in the near future that I found that had anise in it. This time, however, I made rather traditional french toast with a little vanilla and nutmeg in it.

Another important thing I learned over the couple of days that followed is what a difference it truly makes to have a good bread knife.

alligator stomp

Yesterday was full of winning edibles.
Heather and I went to the store in search of milk for our coffee, and a cheese-bearing temptress persuaded us to buy some aged sheep's milk cheese ($12!) which Heather, Sarah, and I consumed with much gusto, accompanied by a sliced honeycrisp apple and a baguette.
Later in the evening, Heather and I went to a zydeco dance party where we found a large crock pot full of jambalaya. I think that parties should more often include crock pots full of jambalaya, because this one was a hit. I had a lengthy conversation about the various similarities between jambalaya and paella. I am still wondering if there is any real correlation between the two dishes.

La Dolce Vegan

Last night I cracked open one of my favorite cookbooks, "La Dolce Vegan", and decided to make cauliflower red lentil soup, described by the cookbook as "a gorgeous and hearty soup that is great on its own, or served over rice". Not particularly feeling like rice, I decided to just try it out as a stand-alone soup, and I was not disappointed. Recipe is as follows, though I stuck to the amounts rather loosely because I wanted more soup.

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin seeds (I only had ground, but the taste is great)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 medium tomatoes, chopped (I realized too late that I had no fresh tomatoes, used canned diced tomatoes and it worked fine)

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced (skipped this ingredient)

1/2 tsp salt 

In a medium soup pot on medium heat, cook onions in oil until translucent. Add ginger, garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, and turmeric and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Add stock, cauliflower, tomatoes, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until veggies and lentils are cooked. Stir in the cilantro and salt, remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes before serving. Makes 2 large or 4 small servings.

The resulting soup was hearty and flavorful, and the red pepper flakes gave it just the right amount of spiciness without it being too hot for me (I am notoriously bad at eating spicy things). My roommate and I ate it, smacking our lips and dipping crusty bread into the soup. He, a total omnivore, is pretty convinced now of the deliciousness of vegan cooking. This is a recipe that I can't wait to make again. 

oh, Anthony Bourdain....

Last night was an epic night for my kitchen. I didn't take any pictures--I couldn't tear myself away from the intense cooking experiment that was taking place.
Calder and I roasted a duck. We made duck a l'orange, actually. We used Calder's Anthony Bourdain cookbook and it turned out marvelously, though it was pretty time-intensive. I just want to say that Anthony Bourdain's style of cookbook writing is full of amazing and I really want this cookbook for myself, if only so I can read through it and chuckle at his instructions, notably on one page "fuck the health department! leave the steak out of the refridgertor until it is room temperature". This, and other colorful descriptions are peppered liberally throughout the cookbook, which provided plenty of amusement between chopping, pouring, stirring, etc.
Anyway, not only did we roast a duck, but we made duck stock which turned out quite well, and which I happily have leftovers of to cook something else with. It was suggested that I made risotto with this duck stock, which sounds like an excellent idea to me.
The orange sauce for the duck was perfect and delightful--not too sweet, but a pleasing, slightly tangy, rich without being overpowering, and again, delightful compliment to the roasted duck. As a side dish we had mashed turnips and yukon gold potatoes which were mashed with butter and a few tablespoons of duck fat, and served with roasted pear puree. It was very tasty, and I learned (from the internet!) that in France, turnips are traditionally paired with duck. I'm so authentic! Who knew?
Heather brought a tasty baguette and a bottle of pinot noir, which was excellent. My relationship with pinot noir is bordering on being a religious experience, and I take it kind of seriously. Heather knows this, and never fails to get tasty bottles of wine at our favorite wine shop at Pike Place Market--Pike & Western.
And then I spent the rest of the night in a food coma.

hot buttered pretzels

Last Sunday, my roommate and I decided to have a tiny soiree influenced by our study abroad trip last spring in Vienna. We made weiß Wein gespritzt (white wine spritzers) and I baked pretzels!
The pretzels were pretty quick and easy to make, and came out of the oven piping hot, soft, and beautifully brown. A quick brushing of butter on top of them, and they were ready to be gobbled up (and were, quickly). Not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening. I want to bake more breads, and experiment with different yeast doughs. It's always much easier than I imagine it will be, and turns out so well.