I'm heading to the other side of the equator soon, where I'll be leaving the dog days of summer behind me. It'll be winter in Argentina, so here's a summer swan song: delicious and creamy peanut butter frozen yogurt.
I bought an ice cream maker awhile back, and I don't use it enough. However, I'm in love enough with frozen yogurt that I buy it on a very regular basis. In other words, I should use my ice cream maker more often. When you make your own desserts, the flavor combinations are nearly endless. I love peanut butter, and I knew it would make for a delicious chilled treat. And what's great about this recipe is that it doesn't even contain any sugar--all of the sweetness comes from the earthy agave syrup. Making your own ice cream or frozen yogurt is incredibly easy, and it's always worth it.
Do you know the Doors' beautiful and sad "Indian Summer"? It's stunning. It was an outtake, more stripped down than most other songs from the band, and appeared on Morrison Hotel in 1970.
Ingredients:
--3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
--3 c. plain Greek yogurt (you can substitute for a non-Greek variety if you like your fro-yo less tangy)
--1/2 c. sweetened vanilla almond milk (again, you can substitute whatever milk you'd like)
--1/4 c. agave syrup (if you like your fro-yo super sweet, add more)
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--chopped peanuts for topping
Melt the peanut butter down until it's easier to whisk (I just placed mine in the microwave for about 35 seconds). In a large bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together, except the peanuts, until creamy.
Pour the mixture into a prepared ice cream maker and turn it on. Allow the ice cream maker to churn for 20-25 minutes, or until the fro-yo reaches the desired consistency.
*To use an ice cream maker, you have to plan waaaay in advance. For most of them, you've gotta chill the churning bowl for 6-8 hours ahead of time. But if you don't have an ice cream maker, you can still make this dessert. Pour the whisked ingredients into a freezer-safe container and chill for about 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Serve with a dusting of chopped peanuts (or, if you have it, some delicious chocolate syrup).
Newly obsessed with mixing kalamata olives and fresh cucumber into everything imaginable, I thought about making some Mediterranean-inspired lamb chops with an olive, caper, and cucumber rice. This is a quick, easy, and delicious dinner. And since it's summer, you might want to grill the lamb on a warm night.
Don't know how to "french" a rack of lamb? Don't worry. It's actually pretty easy, and Alton Brown does a nice job explaining this technique.
Since the dish makes me think of the still waters of the glorious Mediterranean, it pairs nicely with Ferraby Lionheart's "Call Me the Sea."
Ingredients for the Rack of Lamb:
--1 tsp. ground cumin
--1/2 tsp. ground cloves
--1/2 tsp. salt
--1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped finely
--1/2 tsp. fresh English thyme, chopped finely
--1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
--1 small rack of lamb, frenched (mine had 6 lamb chops)
Ingredients for the Rice:
--2 c. cooked basmati rice (any rice will do, of course--your choice!)
--1/2 c. chopped kalamata olives
--1 medium-sized cucumber, coarsely chopped
--1/4 c. capers
--3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
--s&p to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the spices and herbs to create a rub for your lamb. Rub the olive oil over your lamb, and then press the rub in until the lamb is covered. Place the lamb in a baking dish, fat-side up, for 15 minutes, or until your lamb has reached an internal temperature of 135 degrees. If you have a larger rack of lamb, it'll need longer in the oven.
Remove from oven, cover with foil, and allow the meat to rest for about 15 minutes. Once it has rested, slice the rack into lamb chops.
For the rice, just mix the ingredients together! Serve a chop or two on top of the rice. Delicious.
A milk tart, or "melktert" in Afrikaans, is a sweet, sweet custard pie. Made with lots of eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar, what's not to like? This is the last of my South African desserts (at least for awhile), so eat it up!
This treat has all the glory of a delicious pie crust, and all the velvety sweetness of a custard. And it's delicious warm or cold. (I served it warm out of the oven, and then I continued to eat it chilled out of the fridge.) My recipe is adapted from an Epicurious version--a website for which I am ever grateful.
I'm shocked by my own oversight, but I don't think I've featured a Nirvana song on this blog. As a girl who once baked a birthday cake for Kurt Cobain (I confess!), I've done one of my oldest and best-loved bands a disservice. Here's Nirvana's "Milk It."
Ingredients:
--1 pie crust, rolled and trimmed (god, don't buy one! Use my pie crust recipe, found on my pecan pie post)
--2 c. whole milk
--1 cinnamon stick
--4 eggs, separated
--1/3 c. all-purpose flour
--1 tbsp. cornstarch
--1/3 c. granulated sugar
--1/2 tsp. baking powder
--pinch of salt
--2 tbsp. unsalted butter
--1 tbsp. vanilla
--1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
--1 tsp. ground cinnamon (for dusting)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a 10" tart pan, lay pie crust and press into edges. Poke a number of fork holes in the bottom and bake at 400 degrees F for 7-9 minutes, or until the crust starts to bubble just a little bit. Remove and allow to cool (but leave the oven on, reducing the heat to 350 degrees F).
In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 1/2 c. milk and the cinnamon stick over low heat until it just reaches a boil. Set it aside for 15 minutes and allow the cinnamon to infuse into the milk.
In a large bowl, beat together the 1/2 c. milk that remains, along with the 4 egg yolks (make sure you've separated the eggs!), the cornstarch, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk, and whisk in the egg yolk mixture. Return to the saucepan to a low-medium heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens (about 5-7 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and the butter.
In a separate bowl, beat the 4 egg whites with the cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks, just like this:
The cream of tartar adds volume to the egg whites, just fyi. Fold the egg whites into the custard, and pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the custard has set. Remove from heat and immediately dust with ground cinnamon. Serve!
Driving to Pittsburgh earlier this year, a GPS mishap led to the discovery of Delallo, one of the most glorious indoor markets I've ever encountered in America. In addition to a seemingly mile-long olive bar and to-die-for desserts, they also make fresh pasta. With all of the farmer's market veggies I've been buying, I decided to use Delallo fusilli to make a summer squash pasta with applewood-smoked bacon and sweet heirloom tomatoes. And what could make those ingredients better? Some fresh chèvre, of course!
This pasta is so delightfully summer. To accompany it, here's Durutti Column's "Sketch for Summer," live in Madrid (1983).
Ingredients:
--1 lb. fresh fusilli (or any other pasta you like!)
--8 strips extra crispy applewood-smoked bacon (Evan smoked ours on the grill, but any crispy bacon will do)
--2 yellow squashes, chopped
--2 ripe heirloom tomatoes, chopped
--2 tsp. fresh lemon thyme (I grow this in my garden, but you should be able to find it almost anywhere)
--1/2 cup crumbled chèvre (a.k.a. goat cheese)
--3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
--1/2 tsp. salt, + extra for cooking pasta
First thing's first: smoke the bacon. There's an art to smoking, and we're coming close to mastering it! Soak your wood chips (we used applewood), and light your charcoal. When the grill it hot, pour the wood chips over the charcoal. Lay your bacon across the cast iron grates and close your smoker. The bacon should smoke for approximately 15 minutes, but monitor it--when it's crispy, it's done. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
In a large saucepan, saute the yellow squash in extra virgin olive oil. Add the lemon thyme and salt. The lemon thyme adds a really nice, crisp citrus flavor. Saute for approximately 10 minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat and add heirloom tomatoes.
Boil water for pasta and add salt. Cook fusilli for 2-3 minutes (if fresh). Otherwise, follow pasta instructions (you know the drill-usually 7-9 minutes, depending on the pasta if you like it al dente). Strain the pasta once cooked and add to the veggies. Mix in the bacon, then add the chèvre and mix well. The chèvre will coat the pasta like a delicious, creamy sauce. Serve warm or chilled.
