Vegetarian Red Posole with Jackfruit (Instant Pot)

 Jackfruit does a great job subbing for pork here.  This is a riff on this posole.

Ingredients: 

Group One:

3 guajillo chilis

4 cloves minced garlic

1 small white onion, diced

1 TB ground cumin

2 TB red chili powder

1 can tomato paste (I had to get creative and use 4 TB of harissa paste once instead, and it was great)

Group Two:

3 cans hominy

2 cans jackfruit (make sure you get young jackfruit canned in water, not ripe or canned in syrup)

2 bay leaves

3 cups broth, 4 cups water

To serve: 

Quartered limes, cilantro, sliced avocado, plain yogurt, greens dressed with lime and olive oil, etc. as you prefer

First, halve and de-seed the chilis, and toast them for a few minutes per side in a dry skillet, until they char a bit.  (You may need to open a window).  Put them aside.

Add olive oil to the skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until onion softens, then add the rest of Group One (cumin, chili powder, tomato paste) and cook together.  

Drain the hominy and jackfruit, then add all Group Two ingredients to the instant pot along with the contents of the skillet AND the charred peppers you set aside.  Cook on high pressure for 17 minutes, use quick release, remove the guajillos and bay leaves, and eat.

Hearty Fava and Kale Soup with Polenta Croutons (Instant Pot)

Ingredients

For Soup:

Group One:

1 small white onion, diced

4 cloves minced garlic

2 TB herbs de provence 

Pinch kosher salt 

Pinch crushed red pepper 

Group Two:

1 lb dried fava beans 

4 cups broth, 4 cups water

Group Three: 

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn

For Croutons:

1 polenta log (the firm kind)

Olive oil, salt

More garlic if you like 

To top:  

Hard white cheese and good olive oil

Arugula dressed with olive oil, salt and lemon juice

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil in a skillet.  (You can do this in the bottom of the instant pot on "saute," but I've had that cause a "burn" error often enough that I prefer to use a separate pan.)  After about 5 mins when the onion softens, add the herbs de provence, salt, and red pepper flakes.  

Put the Group Two ingredients in the instant pot, then add the contents of the skillet (Group One).  Set to cook at high pressure for 20 minutes.  

Meanwhile, make the croutons:  cut the polenta into cubes, coat skillet in olive oil, heat to medium, throw the cubes in, add salt and garlic or whatever other herbs you like, cook (tossing periodically) until browned.  

When the instant pot is done cooking, use the quick release method and stir in the kale immediately, then use an immersion blender or potato masher to get the consistency you prefer.  Top with the polenta croutons, dressed arugula, a swirl of olive oil, and grated hard white cheese.

Double Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

I asked a teacher I know what her favorite ice cream was, in order to make it as an offering of a coping mechanism for back to COVID-schooling. Her favorite was Swiss Almond Haagen Daaz, and I can't leave well enough alone so I wanted to add another layer of chocolate almond to it.  The result was a sea salt vanilla ice cream with chocolate almond butter swirl and chocolate covered almonds. I purchased chocolate almond butter for the swirl but found it lacking on the chocolate front. This meant I ended up melting dark chocolate into it to up the ante - meaning this can be made with plain almond butter if that's all you can find.  The extra chocolate helps it drizzle better!

 My roommate says this is her favorite ice cream so far (bless her letting me stack our freezer full of ice cream containers), but she has said that about most of them....no photos, because most of it was gifted away!

Vanilla Sea Salt base adapted from Love and Olive Oil.

For Ice Cream Base:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

4 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For Mix-Ins:
1 4oz dark chocolate bar (70% or higher is best)

Almond butter (Sprouts has chocolate almond butter if you can find, but I would still add chocolate)

Chocolate Covered Almonds (Trader's Joe's Sea Salt ones are the best, but any chocolate covered almonds will do)

Create an ice bath. Place lots of ice and cold water in a large bowl, then nest a slightly smaller (heat-proof bowl) inside. Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into the smaller bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over top. 

In a saucepan, cook remaining cream, milk, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Stir regularly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture just starts to steam. Remove from heat.

Temper the eggs by slowly whisking in a little of the hot milk mixture. Continue to add a little, whisking madly, until well incorporated and the color of the eggs has paled. Transfer yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture in saucepan, whisking to be safe. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (it should coat the back of a wooden spoon after about 2–3 minutes).

Pour mixture through sieve into cold cream. Add vanilla and let cool to room temperature. Stirring rapidly over the very cold ice bath will hasten this process. You can either stir over ice bath until completely cool or refrigerate, at least 3 hours or overnight.

While ice cream base cools, create choco almond swirl.  Break half of your chocolate bar into chunks and place in a mug. Microwave for 30 second intervals until melted.  Stir in 3-4 large spoonfuls of almond butter. Adjust to taste, by adding more melted chocolate or more almond butter until satisfied.

Once custard is cooled, process accorded to ice cream manufacturer's instructions.  Once ice cream is consistency of soft serve, add almonds. Turn off ice cream maker. Drizzle chocolate almond butter mixture on bottom and sides of your ice cream containers.  Alternate layers of ice cream and drizzle until complete.  Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Almond Joy Ice Cream

Make Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate Tahini, but instead of swirling in dark chocolate tahini, mix in chocolate covered almonds.  Or do both! Voila. 

Eggplant, Pasta, & Sundried Tomato Pesto

 This yumminess (which I failed to photograph) had three components: 

(1) obviously pasta.  A kind with ridges to hold the pasta.  I made 2 packages. 

(2) Eggplant and white beans: Peel two eggplants and slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds.  Cook on medium high heat in olive oil, minced garlic, salt and some red pepper flakes until the begin to char and soften.  Add a can of drained & rinsed white beans & keep cooking until those begin to fall apart.

(3) The pesto:  Quantities here are admitted guesstimates because I made it as I went along, but blend up the following: 

About 3 medium-large ripe tomatoes 

about 8-10 sundried tomatos and a glug of their oil 

about a cup of walnuts 

about a cup of grated hard white cheese 

about a tsp of minced garlic 

salt, pepper, juice of half a lemon

1/2 a cup or more of additional good olive oil or lemon oil oil

Blend, taste, adjust, then mix in as much chopped parsley and basil as you have around. 

Mix the 3 parts together in a bowl and serve warm.  Summer heaven.

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with Chocolate Tahini Swirl

This winter, K discovered the magic of chocolate tahini after picking some up on a whim at the grocery store. When I last visited we were drizzling it over bowls of vanilla ice cream even though it was deep New England winter. It was only fitting, then, that to celebrate her return to the desert, and thereby our living in the same city (for the third time in our adult lives!), that I came up with an ice cream combination involving the magic ingredient. 

The base coconut ice cream came from this recipe, although I did some tweaking -- dialing up the coconut and dialing down the heaviness by subbing half and half for cream.  I keep those adjustments here, because this is a rich ice cream. I loved that this recipe eliminated the need to cook & cool a custard, because it dramatically shortens the prep time. The dark edge of the tahini is a nice contrast to the creamy coconut, and it's pretty to boot!

Ingredients
2 cups coconut flakes
1 13 oz. can unsweetened coconut Milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate tahini (such as Tahini King or Pella brand) 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle the coconut flakes on a baking sheet; then place in the oven for 3-5 minutes until it turns light brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Alternately, toast coconut flakes until golden brown over medium low heat in a saucepan.  Watch closely in either case, as it it will turn quickly.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar and coconut milk in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer or KitchenAid until the sugar is dissolved.

Next, add the heavy cream, half and half, vanilla extract and the toasted coconut. Mix with a spoon until well blended; then pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn for 30 minutes. Once ice cream has firmed, similar to a soft serve consistency, prepare to swirl tahini into ice  cream container.  Drizzle tahini on the bottom and sides of the ice cream container.  Add a little ice cream, drizzle more tahini, and repeat until container is full.  Be careful not to stir tahini into ice cream too much, as it could melt in and lose the swirl effect. 

Place the ice cream into a container, cover tightly and freeze for 4 hours.

Olive Oil Ice Cream with Fig Jam Swirl

Figs start falling off trees mid summer in Phoenix, which means I'm always months too late when I ask my friend for figs off her parent's tree each fall.  This year, she texted me and I snagged some! Wanting to do something special, but still summery, I dreamed up this ice cream. My favorite way to eat figs has been on toast with cream cheese, olive oil, sea salt and honey...which led me to this ice cream...which is now my new favorite way to eat figs.

It's my vision, but a mashup of the two recipes linked below with some tweaks:

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/olive-oil-ice-cream

https://www.deliciouseveryday.com/honey-roasted-fig-ice-cream/

Ice Cream Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
4 large egg yolks
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (+ up to 2 tablespoons more to taste, if desired)

Fig Jam Ingredients
2 cups of fresh figs, quartered
1 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsp of honey

2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp of whiskey

Instructions

Don't forget to freeze your ice cream maker long enough in advance to make your ice cream! 

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a roasting pan with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Toss figs, honey, brown sugar and sea salt in a bowl until figs are well coated. Transfer to roasting pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until figs are caramelized. Let cool (this will go faster if you transfer to them
Once the figs have cooled place into a food processor, blender or a bowl for an immersion blender. Puree. Add more salt to taste and loosen the mixture with the whiskey. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, bring milk, cream, salt, and ½ cup of the sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved and remove from heat.

Whisk egg yolks and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a medium bowl until pale and thoroughly combined (about 2 minutes). Temper the eggs by slowly whisking in a little of the hot milk mixture. Continue to add a little, whisking madly, until well incoporated and the color of the eggs has paled.  Tranfer yolk mixture back into the remaining milk mixture in saucepan, whisking to be safe. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened  (it should coat the back of a wooden spoon after about 2–3 minutes). Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl set in a large bowl of ice water; whisk in oil. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Add more olive oil if desired. Process custard in an ice cream maker according to your maker's instructions. Once ice cream has thickened and firmed, get an airtight container and the fig jam.  Swirl some of the jam on the bottom of the container, top with ice cream, and dollop with more jam.  Continue until filled.  Don't stir or jam will melt into ice cream and no longer be a swirl! Cover and freeze until firm, at least four hours.

Mint Chip Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl

Looking at the prospect of a Phoenix summer without swimming pools, air conditioned restaurants, or air conditioned visits to other's homes, I decided there could be only one solution - I've officially declared it ICE CREAM SUMMER in our home.  I've obtained an ice cream maker and sworn off turning on the oven for at least three months.  Ice cream flavors, it turns out, are incredibly fun to play with, and quality ice cream takes considerable less effort than say, pie.  Why did I ever make pie?


I got simultaneously excited by the idea of blackberry and mint paired together, and by recreating a blackberry chip ice cream I had at an ice cream shop one during winter in Boston (searching for summer).  I pulled from the two recipes linked below and made some adjustments. The result is an incredibly fresh and light mint flavor, with just a hint of brightness from the blackberry.

Sources:

https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/fresh-mint-chip-ice-cream-recipe/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/06/12/recipe-blackberry-mint-ice-cream/
https://thetaste.ie/wp/blackberry-mint-ice-cream-recipe-from-handmade-gatherings-cookbook/

Ingredients: 
Ice Cream Base

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1½ tablespoons cornstarch (or arrowroot)
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups fresh mint leaves

OR 1/4 cup mint leaves, 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
4 oz dark chocolate, from a bar, chopped.

Blackberry Swirl

 6 oz fresh blackberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

Directions: 

Ice Cream Base: 

1. Whisk sugar and eggs together in a large bowl until mixture thickens. Add cornstarch and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
2. Warm 1/2 & 1/2 in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. When it just begins to simmer, turn off heat.  Temper the eggs by slowly & carefully whisking hot 1/2 & 1/2 into the egg and sugar mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring continually, until the mixture thickens enough to cling to the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Strain custard through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside to cool for at least an hour.
3. Stir in the heavy cream, fresh mint, and mint extract (if using). Cover bowl with a clean towel or plate and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight). Whisk the chilled mixture, then strain off the fresh mint and either discard or compost it. For additional mint flavor, finely chop another 1/4 cup of mint and add to custard mixture.

Blackberry Puree: 

4. Combine blackberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for five to ten minutes, stirring and mashing berries while cooking to help release their juices. Once they've broken down, add the cornstarch, stirring well to combine. Remove from heat. Strain mixture through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl, pressing the berries through strainer with wooden spoon. Discard the solid blackberry seeds that remain or keep for use as a rough jam. Cover the blackberry puree and chill in the refrigerator until cool alongside base.

Ice Cream:

4. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Freeze it according to your machine’s instructions, adding the chopped chocolate once it begins to firm up, 15 to 20 minutes into processing time. Once ice cream is thickened according to instructions, transfer to container.  As you transfer, drizzle puree into ice cream to create swirl.  Add ice cream to container, then puree, and continue until you've used all of both.  Refrain from stirring or puree will mix thoroughly into ice cream mixture. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours. 

Mum's Chicken Salad

K and I have often lamented that no matter how hard we try, we can never make chicken salad as perfect as our mom's.  While that may be true, it's still pretty darn delicious when I try! Here's a very loose "recipe" she recently emailed me so that we all may soldier on in our attempts:

there was a time when I only posted highly manicured food photos on this blog, but let's just celebrate an actual post eh? also my dog is cute

Shredded baked or rotisserie chicken
Red or green seedless grapes sliced in half
Sliced almonds
Sliced celery
Mayo
Black pepper
All amounts to taste

I like to serve on rye or multigrain toast with a leaf of romaine underneath.  I also at times sub some or all of the mayo with greek yogurt.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

This is an email I sent to my family:

"I just made the best cupcakes of my LIFE.  

I used this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/super-moist-chocolate-cupcakes/

Except I replaced oil with cinnamon applesauce and buttermilk with whole fat yogurt. 

And, I used this frosting, and sprinkled them very lightly with flaky salt over the frosting: https://www.twosisterscrafting.com/buttercream-frosting/ 

SO FREAKING GOOD.  Highly recommend."