Valentine’s week 2022
We had the Thai Salad that we had in 2014.
Roasted Carrot and Coconut Soup
1 1/2 pounds carrots, roughly chopped (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cups chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons red curry paste
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (15-oz.) can unsalted cannellini beans, drained
3 or 4 cups unsalted chicken stock
1 (15-oz.) can light coconut milk
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ripe avocado
bacon
1 cup cooked lentils
Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss together carrots, 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt on a large foil-lined baking sheet. Roast at 450°F until carrots are fork-tender, about 20 minutes, stirring once.
Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add onion; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
Add curry paste, grated ginger, and crushed red pepper to Dutch oven, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add cooked carrots, cannellini beans, vegetable stock, coconut milk, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 5 minutes.
Blend with hand stick mixer until smooth, about 1 minute or so.
Stir in bacon, lime juice. Serve with cilantro, avocado, and lentils.
adapted from Cooking Light
Microwave Potato Ham Dinner
2 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed fully cooked lean ham
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, celery and water. Cover and microwave on high for 5-1/2 minutes, stirring once. Add onion; cover and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring once. Pour into a 2-qt. microwave-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray; set aside.
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the margarine, covered, on high for 30-40 seconds or until melted. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk.
Cook, uncovered, on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring after each minute. Stir in the cheese until melted. Pour over the vegetables. Stir in ham. Cover and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.
Carrot Pecan Crunch Pie
Carrot custard filling topped by crunchy pecan streusel
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
4 cups carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Topping: In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and chopped pecans. Mix well and set aside.
Carrot Custard: Steam carrots until tender. Drain and cool. Place cooled carrots in a
bowl and mix with hand wand mixer, add
eggs, condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour carrot mixture into pie shell. Sprinkle with pecan topping.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Butterscotch-Pecan Ice Cream
For the ice cream:
¾ cup dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup whole milk
3.5 cups half-and-half
4 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon tapioca powder
For the buttered pecans, brown in a skillet or in the oven:
1½ tbsp. butter
1½ cups pecan halves
¼ tsp. coarse salt
In a large microwave-safe bowl (8 cups), beat eggs and sugar until mixture is thick. Add milk and beat well. Microwave mixture on medium (50 percent) until slightly thickened (8-12 minutes depending on your microwave power); stirring / whisking every 2-3 minutes. Add the tapioca powder dissolved in a little milk.
Chill. Add the half-and-half and vanilla. Cool in refrigerator and chill overnight if possible.
Freeze in an ice cream machine. Add the pecans at the end.
It made about a quart and a pint. It’s likely not enough fat for texture, but we’ll see after it hardens. (2 cups milk to 2 cups whipping cream usually works well. )
1/2/2022 Adapted from Beranbaum’s Ready for Dessert and Microwave Ice Cream recipe
Tangy frozen lemon yogurt
Total time: 10 minutes, plus chilling and freezing time
Servings: Makes 1 quart
3 cups plain whole-milk yogurt, preferably Greek-style
2 teaspoons chopped lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon glucose (or agave nectar or mild-flavored honey)
1/4 teaspoon citric acid, plus a sprinkle more, if desired – didn’t have any
Pinch of salt
1. Puree the yogurt, lemon zest and juice, sugar, nectar or honey, citric acid and salt in a blender until smooth. Taste, and add a sprinkle more citric acid if you want it extra tangy.
2. Chill for one hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Each one-half cup serving: 186 calories; 6 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 9 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 49 mg. sodium.
2/20/2021
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Used Fage Greek yogurt, whole milk, 5% milkfat.
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About 4 cups of slurry, but didn’t put it in the blender.
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4 cups, up to about the first rung.
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There was still another cup of yogurt in the container, so make the recipe just a 1/3 bigger?
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Aged overnight.
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Took about 15 minutes in 2 quart Cuisinart.
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Just like a great soft serve right out of the container.
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didn’t have any citric acid, which is supposed to make it tarter.
- Flavor / texture great right out of the ice cream make, but then it freezes hard as a rock.
ICE CREAM BORN IN A MICROWAVE
Microwave Vanilla Ice Cream
ICE CREAM BORN IN A MICROWAVE
Tried 7/10/2021 – Almost perfect
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (used paste)
In a large microwave-safe bowl, beat eggs and sugar until mixture is thick and lemon-colored. Add milk and beat well. Microwave mixture on medium (50 percent) until slightly thickened (8-12 minutes depending on your microwave power); stirring / whisking every 2-3 minutes. Chill in refrigerator until cool (about 30 minutes).
Stir in cream and vanilla. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 to 3 hours, preferably overnight. Freeze according to ice cream freezer manufacturer’s directions.
Notes:
Worked out great: No pot – just one Pyrex bowl. Didn’t heat up the kitchen. Took half the time.
Almost perfect texture. Could be a little less hard. Good flavor.
Made 4.25 cups. 4.50 is likely the limit in the 2 quart Cuisinart. Made 1 quart and a small 1.5 cup container.
Took about 20 minutes, though the machine didn’t shut off.
I forgot to put the microwave to 50%, so the milk may have gotten over-heated, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
Top 20 Ice Cream Flavors: Guess What We Made?
Top 20 Ice Cream Flavors
1) Vanilla (439,108 hashtags)
2) Matcha (315,714 hashtags)
3) Chocolate (301,979 hashtags)
4) Coconut (184,669 hashtags)
5) Strawberry (152,029 hashtags)
6) Banana (133,179 hashtags
7) Mango (97,809 hashtags)
8) Oreo (81,290 hashtags)
9) Coffee (59,736 hashtags)
10) Pistachio (52,118 hashtags)
11) Ube (35,414 hashtags) – reddish sweet potato
12) Cookie dough (27,859 hashtags)
13) Avocado (26,748 hashtags)
14) Mint (23,899 hashtags)
15) Pumpkin (21,405 hashtags)
16) Cotton candy (19,050 hashtags)
17) Salted caramel (18,827 hashtags)
18) Bubble gum (18,523 hashtags)
19) Peanut butter (18,229 hashtags)
20) Blueberry (18,147 hashtags)
Wisconsin Doesn’t Have a State Cheese, and Some Lawmakers Think That’s No Gouda
I didn’t write the headline, but I couldn’t help but share from Route Fifty: “Wisconsin produces more than 3 billion pounds of cheese per year, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation’s cheese production—more than any other state. It’s known as America’s Dairyland, and its official state dairy product is cheese, but despite its bonafide cheese chops, Wisconsin does not have an official state cheese.” Lawmakers are suggesting Colby.
Blooming Clover Camembert Style
From the Uptown Market in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington, DC. “Blooming Clover is a Camembert style cow milk cheese. The milk is sourced from Green Ridge Farm, which is located approximately 15 minutes from Clover Valley Creamery. The cows have a diet of grass and a minimal amount of GMO free corn. No fermented foods are fed to the cows. ” $10. July 2021. Nice and creamy, not too salty. Rind semi-edible.
Walnut Maple ice cream
2 Quart Cuisinart / made about 1.5 quarts.
4 cups half-and-half (1 quart)
2 cups whole milk
1.5 cups whipping cream
4 egg yolks
12.5 ounces of maple syrup, cooked down to about 1/2. (10 minutes on stove once it gets boiling.)
Cook the milks and temper the eggs; bring back up to 170 degrees.
Stir in the maple syrup.
Cool in dishpan with ice packs.
Add a dash of salt.
3 TBS of vanilla – too much?
Brown 1.5 cups of walnuts – a bit too much, but save for topping.
Put 4.5 cups of slurry, right to the top of the right dasher for about 22 minutes. A bit too much slurry and nuts.
Slurry aged for 48 hours. All the milks were store brand. Only the whole milk was organic.
Notes:
1st draft.
Consider splitting the maple syrup with sugar or glucose?
The texture was good, but using 3 types of milk makes the recipe more complicated.
Used large recipe, and then just churned 1/2 at a time. We split the full recipes into two churnings: The first churning, with pre-chopped walnuts, and a had texture than the version with hand chopped nuts — the size wasn’t as consistent.
Used $10, Grade A, store brand . Try Grade B next time: Grade B maple syrup has a more pronounced maple taste.
Brown Sugar Pecan Ice Cream 4/24/2021
Adopted from Rose’s Ice Cream Bliss; doubled for Country Cuisinart
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- Cook:
1 cup light brown sugar (recipe wants Muscovado)
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup egg yolks (6 large for us)
3 T glucose2:30 medium low / large burner
2:44 down at 177 degrees
Strain. There wasn’t much egg - After straining, add:
1 cup half and half – so the brown sugar won’t curdle it. - Cool mixture.
Add vanilla. 2 tsp - Store refrigerated overnight
- Cook:
- Near the end of churning, add:
2.5 cups chopped pecans- heated in the microwave, coated with butter (amount 2 cups is likely fine), and cooled (save some for the top).
Made 5 1/2 cups of slurry. Seemed 1/2 cup too much for the 2 quart machine
ATK says to churn to 21 degrees, but we could only get it to 23-24 degrees
Original only one quart: MAKES: ABOUT 1 QUART
The headnote says, “This fabulous ice cream is all the more so when made with light brown Muscovado sugar. The deliciously complex flavors of the sugar enhance, but do not overwhelm, the crunchy buttery pecans.”
MAKES: ABOUT 1 QUART
BUTTERED PECANS
1 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups pecan halves
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Makes: 145 grams/1¼ cups
*About 30 minutes ahead, set the butter on the counter at room temperature (65 to 75 degrees)
PREHEAT THE OVEN
*Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack at the middle level. Set the oven at 325 degrees
1. Break or chop the pecans into medium-coarse pieces. Spread the pecans in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, without browning, to enhance the flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even baking.
2. Empty the hot pecans into a medium bowl. Add the butter and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with the salt and toss again. Cool completely.
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar, preferable Muscavado
1 ½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons egg yolk
4 teaspoons glucose or reduced corn syrup
Pinch fine sea salt
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups butter pecans (recipe above)
*Have ready a fine-mesh strainer suspended over a medium bowl.
1. In a medium saucepan, place the sugar. With a silicone spatula, stir in the cream and then the egg yolks. Stir in the glucose and salt until well blended.
2. Heat the mixture on medium-low, stirring constantly, until slightly thicker than heavy cream. When a finger is run across the back of the spatula, it will leave a well-defined track. An instant-read thermometer should read 170° to 180°F/77° to 82°C.
3. Immediately pour the mixture into the strainer, scraping up the thickened mixture that has settled on the bottom of the pan. Press it through the strainer and scrape any mixture clinging to the underside into the bowl.
4. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours or until no warmer than 43°F/6°C. (Alternatively, cool in an ice water bath.) Set a covered storage container in the freezer.
5. Churn the brown sugar custard in a prechilled ice cream maker. Add the pecans during churning when the ice cream has reached the consistency of soft serve and begins to ball up around the dasher. Transfer the ice cream to the chilled container. Press a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream, cover the container, and allow the ice cream to firm in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.
STORE Covered storage container: frozen, 3 days
SCOOPS: *The brown sugar is added to the cream instead of to the milk because the milk proteins would curdle if the brown sugar were added directly to it.