crispy waffle

Oatmeal pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:04:00 +0000

When we're not having waffles on the weekend, we're usually having pancakes. With Mothers Day around the corner, I started thinking about one of my favorites: oatmeal pancakes. My mom really likes pancakes, and she really likes oatmeal for breakfast. I came across a recipe for oatmeal pancakes in Debra Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It turns out they are in fact two great things that taste great together. And you get fiber in your weekend breakfast to boot.

My kids are big fans of these. I serve them with a sweetened yogurt banana topping. (Bananas and oatmeal: another great combo.) They are really nice with basically any fruit topping, or just maple syrup. If you're feeling really saucy you can try a Nutella chocolate sauce-- it is really delish with the yogurt-banana topping. Don't make this on a weekday or you'll be in trouble (unless whipping up pancakes before work is your idea of fun!).

Oatmeal pancakes
adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
makes about a dozen small pancakes

Ingredients
1-1/2 cup oatmeal
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the oatmeal and buttermilk in a large bowl. Let stand for 20 minutes.
In a smaller bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add to the oatmeal mixture.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add to the oatmeal mixture and whisk until just combined.
Heat a lightly greased pan or griddle over medium heat. Drop batter in 1/4 cup portions and cook until bubbles form on the surface, then flip and cook on the other side for a bit longer. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 200 F (90 C) oven.

Yogurt banana topping
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
3 tablespoons brown sugar (more or less for sweetness)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, sliced

Combine the yogurt, sour cream, brown sugar and vanilla and stir until combined. Taste for sweetness, adding more brown sugar if necessary.
Add the banana and serve immediately.

Nutella topping
1/4 cup Nutella spread
3 tablespoons boiling water

In a medium bowl, combine the Nutella with the water. Whisk quickly until smooth-- the chocolate will seize and will initially look kind of lumpy, but it will smooth out with whisking.
Enjoy!

Some things you didn't know

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:46:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been really horrible about posting. One thing I feel especially bad about is that my fellow Netherlands-based blogger, Mari at Mevrouw Cupcake, tagged me for a meme weeks and weeks ago and I am just now responding. So apologies, Mari, and I hope this isn't too late. All other readers, you really should check out Mevrouw Cupcake-- Mari's recipes and photography is amazing, and I always love hearing about another American foodie living in NL.

What were you cooking five years ago?
Not a lot has changed: we still eat rice with almost everything. I finally had gotten a Kitchen Aid stand mixer (thanks Mom!), and my sister hooked me up with my first Krups ice cream maker for my birthday. So that is when the experimenting began.

What were you cooking 10 years ago?
Eleven years ago I went to Costco and bought my first copy of the Joy of Cooking (yup, it was on sale, of course). I was a new mom with a 1-year-old baby and figured that if anytime was a good time to start properly cooking, that was it. Until then I was cooking dishes that my mom had taught me, but not much else (but her recipes I still use all the time). Other than that, I was making the spag bol with jar sauce, so not too sophisticated. The one thing that I was already working on was perfecting leche flan (which you can read about on the previous post!)

Five snacks you enjoy:
I'm not much of a snacker, but here goes.

Edamame
Popcorn
Frites with sauce
Poffertjes
Sunflower seeds

Five recipes you know by heart:

Chickpea stew
Beef with coconut
Lumpia shanghai
Pancit bihon
Waffles (of course)

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:

I would figure out a way to have Kopp's frozen custard shipped out to me. And maybe even a turtle sundae. Or I would fly out there to eat some. Whenever I felt like it. I might need as much money as Oprah for that though.
Would anything else maybe be a pretentious use of money? (Although I will admit flying frozen desserts to oneself is pretty obscene!)

Five foods you love to cook:

Chicken katsu!
Spagbol (spaghetti bolognese). A kid favorite. Use lots of milk.
Chocolate chip cookies
Cuban black beans
Waffles! (duh)

Five things you cannot/will not eat:
I am proud of the fact that I am a bit like Anthony Bourdain (who I can't stand otherwise): there is basically nothing that I absolutely will not try. That said, there are some things that I have tried that I just will not eat.

Carabou intestines. I had the fortune (good or not is up to you) to try this when visiting my dad's barangay in Aparri, Philippines. A barangay is a specific minicipality consisting of a few blocks or houses (at least in rural areas); basically the equivalent to a barrio in Spanish. Anyway, the local specialty here was stewed carabou intestines. And we had to eat it for breakfast. Mind you, I am a bread/jam/coffee type breakfaster, so Filipino breakfasts were a bit hard on the stomach to begin with. (You get used to the sausage and garlic rice and fried fish after a while though while you are visiting there.) Also, when you are in someone's house (in this case, it was the neighbor's) and they put stewed carabou innards in front of you, you say thank you and eat it. Just ask Kyle. While we were in the Philippines, my family had a great time putting all sorts of stuff in front of him and basically daring him to eat it (crickets, blood stew, you name it) and he was a good sport and ate everything-- and even thought the crickets tasted good. The carabou intestines were a different story. We both just froze our smiles and swallowed as much as possible because, I gotta be honest here, I thought it tasted totally vile. My dad, on the other hand, had grown up eating it and was shoveling it down with a giant smile on his face. Hey, to each his own.
Balut (fertilized duck egg). I don't want to come off like a hater when it comes to Filipino grub, but this is another one of my homeland's "specialties" that I can get enough of. Look it up on Wikipedia. Basically it is a partially formed baby duck that you suck out through the shell and you eat it while drinking San Miguel. Yes, this is what Filipino beer food is like.
Chinese century eggs. The other day I was at dim sum with some colleagues and the waiter was kind enough to bring out a complimentary dish for us to try: century eggs with jellyfish and pickled ginger. The jellyfish and ginger weren't so bad; and in fact, the ginger was delicious as a palate cleanser. But the eggs. Imagine what rotten eggs would smell like. Now imagine eating said rotten eggs. The only good thing to say about them is that they didn't taste as bad as they smelled. But you know, you gotta try everything at least once.

I can't think of anything else off the bat, but I'll add it if I do.

Five favourite culinary toys:

My rice cooker. I can't make plain rice on the stove because of it. When I went to college, a new rice cooker is the only kitchen appliance that I brought with me.
My Global chef's knife. I use it every day. I've even brought it on vacation with me if I know I'll have access to a kitchen.
Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Don't knead bread without it!
Le Creuset French oven. A must have for anything worth braising.
Fackelmann vegetable peeler. I bought this at Blokker for two euros. I noticed that the NY Times ran a slide show with a similar object. It fulfills the trifecta of qualities for great gadget design: inexpensive, beautiful, functional.

Links
MevrouwCupcake.com
Crispywaffle: Poffertjes time
Crispywaffle: Chickpea stew
Crispywaffle: Beef ginitang
Crispywaffle: In which I come around on Frank Bruni
Crispywaffle: Chicken katsu
Crispywaffle: Classic chocolate chip cookies
Crispywaffle: best waffle recipe
Wikipedia: Balut
Wikipedia: Century eggs
Tiger Electronics: Rice cooker
KioskKiosk: Vegetable peeler

How to make Filipino leche flan

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:11:00 +0000

Yes, I know I've been terrible about posting (omg, has it really been almost a month??) But between starting a new job, being terribly sick and then having my kids terribly sick, I think it's understandable.

A few days ago one of my colleagues asked me if I've ever uploaded video for my blog. So I decided to make a Filipino style leche flan simply because on paper, it looks super easy because there are so few ingredients, but it is actually a bit difficult to make. I made at least a couple dozen of these babies before my mom (my food critic for all things Filipino) actually said, "Hey, this is good!"

So here is said video. Excuse the YouTube quality crappiness. I'll try to do something about that. Oh, and I'll post the recipe next. Enjoy!

Update: Man, YouTube turns videos into a GD crapfest. I updated the embed below to Google Video which has but a *slightly* higher image quality. But it still looks like I'm making leche flan in a flippin snowstorm. What gives?

Moffles!

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:38:00 +0000

I MUST have this to add to my collection of waffle irons / sandwich makers. This has got to be the cutest waffler ever.

Thanks to my buddy Justin for mentioning this intriguing trend. Moffles are waffles made with mochi, the addictive sweet rice dessert from Japan, and they are apparently taking Japan by storm.

Now, Nederlanders help me out here: where can I purchase mochi in Holland? I don't live in Seattle, where it is totally abundant. Must Make Moffles!

Link: Moffles: Mochi and Waffles together at last

Rice pudding

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:07:00 +0000

On my previous post, Crispy Waffle reader Kathleen asked about rice pudding. This was good timing because rice pudding is one of those things I've been craving a lot of lately. It is one of those foods that makes everyone as happy as a baby because it essentially resembles baby food. (But tastes better of course.)

This particular recipe is really easy because all it requires leftover rice; you can use already cooked rice. We always, always have leftover rice, usually sitting in the rice cooker from last night. (Go to any Asian's house. You'll probably find leftover rice from last night in the rice cooker.) One thing I noticed is that this recipe actually works best with room temperature rice. If the rice has been refrigerated overnight, it does not seem to absorb the milk as nicely, and the pudding becomes more soupy. So if you have leftover rice, make sure it is soft and at room temperature. Save the cold rice for fried rice.

If you don't have leftover rice, simply prepare 1 cup of uncooked rice for this recipe, as you would normally cook rice. You can make the below recipe immediately after the rice is cooked, and it'll come out fine.

One thing that makes this pudding extra yummy is that I use a vanilla pod rather than vanilla extract. You get those crunchy little bits of vanilla and a bigger hit of vanilla taste this way.

Rice pudding
makes about 6 servings

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 cups cooked rice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients.
Cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a simmer. Lower heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened.
Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold later.

Revisiting a classic: chocolate chip cookies

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 12:27:00 +0000

I can bet nine times out of ten when I ask my kids what they want for dessert (and I'm in the mood to make it, that is) that they will ask for the same thing: chocolate chip cookies. Somehow this isn't surprising, even though I make tons of their other favorites: rice pudding, brownies, various tarts, ice cream even. Is it a lack of creativity? Or is it true that Americans are always craving chocolate chip cookies? (Actually, when their friends are over, none of whom are American, this is the one thing besides popcorn that they can all agree on eating).

I earlier posted a recipe on chocolate chip cookies, but this is the version that I almost always go to. A couple of key things: make sure to toast the nuts first (if you are using them). This makes a huge difference in flavor. This recipe, which I've adapted and adjusted from The Best Recipe, creates not-too-sweet cookies that are chewy, rather than crispy. Do take them out of the oven earlier rather than later-- if you overbake them, they will end up crunchy later on. (They are still great later on, but I won't lie; they are definitely best a few minutes out of the oven.)

A few weeks ago I was watching the movie Stranger Than Fiction. (Aside: I found that movie, cliched title and all, to be really inventive, funny and touching. Totally underrated!) In a pivotal scene, Maggie Gyllenhaal, playing a baker, gives Will Ferrell's character chocolate chip cookies. (Another funny aside: in the movie she is a tax-evading lefty kook. The name of her bakery? The Uprising.) Here is where both Kyle and I got distracted: the cookie looked great, but it was so so tiny! We were like, "what kind of baker bakes choco chip cookies the size of a dime?" Anyway, with these, you won't have a problem. Just dole at least a tablespoonful for each cookie and they will be nice and big, and taste just as good as that Stranger Than Fiction cookie looked.

Classic chocolate chip cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2/3 cup (150 grams) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup (75 grams) granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (235 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (150 grams) chocolate chips
1/2 cup (50 grams) chopped walnuts (or pecans or almonds)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Combine the cooled melted butter with the white and brown sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand or hand mixer. Mix at low speed.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat at low speed until combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the flour mixture. Beat together at low speed only until just combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
Drop the dough in one-tablespoon portions onto the baking sheet, leaving a bit of space around each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove to a cooling rack and serve warm and gooey.

I love guac

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Last week I was in the grocery store grabbing stuff for making tacos (we do tacos stuffed with a chicken/chile/potato mixture courtesy of an old Rick Bayless recipe, sounds odd, yes but is totally delish) when I noticed green stuff next to the jars of salsa. It was jar guacamole, and it was something I hadn't noticed before. For whatever reason, I was fascinated: avocados can't possibly taste good out of a jar. I wasn't interested enough to invest in it just out of curiosity (something I often end up doing in the grocery store) and instead I grabbed the usual avocados instead.

The main reason that the jar-o-guac mystified me is because guacamole is so easy to make. I guess there are fancy lots-of-ingredients guac, but I prefer the simplest kind that you slam together right before eating. Mine has 4 ingredients: avocados, red onions, salt and vinegar. White wine vinegar works great, so does palm or rice vinegar. The onions don't even have to be red onions. If you have scallions on hand (and you probably will for the tacos anyway) use those, or even shallots, just not yellow onions. And kosher salt or sea salt is best because the texture is a bit crunchy. The only really important thing is that the avocados are ripe. If when you squeeze one at the store and it's the texture of a baseball, then it's not ripe yet-- don't use it that day. It should be a bit soft, but not too soft. And I don't care about the specific breed of avocado, a ripe one of any sort will taste good so don't spend a fortune on a Haas one or whatever, especially if it is out of season.

And maybe I'll try and post that chicken tacos recipe one of these days.

I love guac
makes about 3/4 cup guacamole

Ingredients
1 medium avocado, very ripe
1/2 small red onion, minced
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt to taste

Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl.
Put the minced onion in a small sieve and run it under cold water. (This keeps the onion from being too sharp.) Shake off the excess water and add it to the avocado.
Mash the mixture with a fork, adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar and a couple pinches of salt. Stir and taste, adding more vinegar if necessary.
Serve with tortilla chips, or tacos, burritos, whatever!

Raspberry almond clafoutis

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:13:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago, The Minimalist in the NYT had a recipe for clementine clafoutis. Clafoutis is a classic French dessert, basically fresh fruit baked in a batter, not unlike pancake batter. I thought that it was a great idea because now we have tons of mandarins in the house at any given time (it is the season, after all), and I always have the batter ingredients on hand (flour, sugar, eggs), so it's about the easiest dessert you can make in a pinch.

I had my doubts, however, about the oranges. I discovered, of course, that yes, there is a reason you don't usually hear of baked fruit desserts containing fresh oranges (I'm not talking about orange zest or juice). The batter was delish, but the mandarins were, well, basically just hot oranges. Which is exactly as appetizing as it sounds: ick.

The next night, I found a better use for that great easy batter recipe: berries and nuts. Now, it's not the season for raspberries at all, but frozen berries are, obviously, quite abundant. I used toasted sliced almonds because raspberries and almonds are so happy together.

You can totally pop this dessert in the oven as you are eating dinner, and it'll be ready when you're ready for dessert. And with creme fraiche and powdered sugar, it beats warm oranges any day.

Oh, by the way, eat this for breakfast or brunch sometime. I won't tell anyone.

Raspberry Almond Clafoutis
adapted from The Minimalist
makes 1 9-inch clafoutis

Ingredients
1 pint fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup flour
sweetened creme fraiche and powdered sugar for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch pie pan, and tap out the excess flour.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Add the sugar and whisk. Add the cream, milk and vanilla. Add the flour and whisk until combined.
Arrange the raspberries in the pie pan and pour the batter over it. Sprinkle the almonds over the batter.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until puffed. It'll be a little custardy inside, but it's good that way. Serve with creme fraich and powdered sugar.

Links:
NY Times: The Minimalist: Clementines in a Blanket

Roman holiday

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:55:00 +0000

The Pantheon, as shot by the little chica

It's been a while since my previous post, but hopefully some travel pics will make up for it. During the holidays, my mom and niece came to visit, and as a treat, we went to Rome for a few days. We'll definitely have to make a return trip because three of the five days were spent tending to a sick baby with an awful stomach virus, poor thing. Thankfully, we were staying in an apartment in Prati, where there was no shortage of good takeout pizza.

I had come to Rome with a list of recommendations from various articles and blogs. But after Day 1, I came away a bit disappointed and discovered that coming with a list is totally unnecessary in Rome; I didn't need to seek out the absolute best coffee, or ice cream or pizza because if you stay in a regular, not-too-touristic neighborhood, the great stuff will just be at the place closest to your neighborhood. Within a few blocks of where we stayed, we stumbled on a really good bakery, a restaurant that was happy to do takeout pizza for us and a shop dedicated to fresh pasta of every sort (which we unfortunately did not have time to try.) The standard of things like coffee and ice cream is high everywhere, so, like Paris, it's not necessary to go across town for the one that the Times or the foodies on eGullet claim is the absolute best. Ultimately, maybe my palate isn't so refined, but who cares? We still had some great eats!

I discovered that I found central Rome to be incredibly touristic (not a surprise, but still a surprise, like the crowds at the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, yikes!), and I also discovered that when given her own camera, my 10-year-old little chica takes some really nice pictures. In fact, while I was getting deja vu while snapping pictures of Piazza Navona and the like (you know how you feel like you've seen something 100 times before, but not in person?), she somehow captured some interesting shots of the photographed-for-the-millionth time Pantheon and Coliseum. There's something to be said for seeing something for the first time ever!

Here's Dolce Maniera, the bakery where we picked up fruit tarts and croissants. Kyle and I stopped in here because we saw a group of old ladies standing outside with bags, so we walked down this stairs to this bakery which seemed to always be this crowded. The cornetti were really nice: sweet but not too sweet, and they had an orange taste to it. We devoured a bag of them on the plane ride back to Holland. Oh and can I talk about queuing in Rome? I got the impression that there is none. You push your way to the front, that's the queue. What was funny is that on this night, there was a group of Filipinas there (no queuing over there either, believe me), so the crowd was twice as pushy. Go to a popular Filipino seafood market sometime and you'll know what I'm talking about!

Chestnut vendor in the Campo de' Fiori. We all loved the roasted chestnuts in the street. The smell alone was worth the trip. All the vendors used these drum grills and the same yellow paper cones.

Another treat in the Campo de' Fiori. Pizza from the Forno Campo de' Fiori. Not quite street food like panzerotti, but still awesome. The little guy likes.

Hot chocolate at Tazzo d'Oro, near the Pantheon. Hey, the coffee here wasn't too shabby either.

Sundried tomatoes at the market.

And of course, ice cream. Who cares that it's winter? I didn't have anything quite like Grom, but I didn't have anything bad either.

Little chica's shot of the Coliseum.

Madeleines, or if you prefer, teacakes

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:26:00 +0000

Several weeks ago, we took a short trip to Lorraine, France to check out some World War II historical sites, as well as to eat some quiche lorraine at the source. One thing I hadn't realized is that in the province of Lorraine is the town of Commercy, famous for madeleines. Madeleines are, of course, the famous little cakes that triggered the memories that triggered Proust's novel A la recherche de temps perdu, (Rememberance of Things Past). (And no, I'm not the preeminent Proust scholar in the country.)

I mentioned that we were going to the region where madeleines were invented to the 10-year-old. I told her they were the cute little shell-shaped cakes. She immediately recounted her Remembrance of Madeleines Past. "Oh yeah, madeleines. I remember we were in Starbucks once and you wouldn't buy one for me." Doh! So I let her know that, "Yeah, but now you get to have madeleines that are actually good."

Although we didn't get to Commercy, she was able to have one for dessert in the town of Verdun. While we were there, I went into a hardware store to buy a couple of madeleine tins. The ones that are tinned metal rather than non-stick are actually kind of hard to find here in Holland. Some of these local little hardware stores are really weird in rural France. Right next to vacuum cleaner bags, you might find a full array of Le Creuset cookware in all colors. Anyway, I found the tins (6 euros each!) and tried to find the checkout counter. First of all, let me say that this store clearly hadn't changed since 1964. And neither had its clientele. I was the only one there under the age of, oh, 60 or so. And did I mention the lighting was like it was a garage? And there was no heat on so the proprietors were wearing their winter coats? So after waiting in line for what seemed like forever, I had to ditch the pans and leave because 1) there didn't appear to be a cash register anywhere in site, and 2) Kyle was waiting outside for me with a screaming baby.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find those same pans here-- only non-stick and silicone. So in the meantime, tiny tin brioche pans have had to do. So maybe these technically aren't madeleines then, but teacakes. They are a bit on the dense and slightly dry side (as true madeleines are), but I've given them a bit of an orange flavor, and they are really nice for dunking in coffee or tea, if you want to go all Proust on it.

These are really easy to make -- it is basically a standard genoise batter spooned into smaller molds. Have all ingredients at room temperature, particularly the eggs, as this is an important factor. As there is no leavener, make sure to beat the eggs until they've tripled in volume. They will give the cakes their lift. As a result, it's important to use the batter right away.

Teacakes not Madeleines
Makes 24 teacakes

Ingredients
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
zest from one orange
pinch salt
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted then cooled to room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 F. (200 C). Butter and flour the molds, generously. This is really important if you are using standard tins, but do it anyway if you are using non-stick because it will still make removal easier.
Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on medium-high until it has tripled in volume and a ribbon forms, about 3 minutes. Beat in the orange zest and salt.
Sprinkle one third of the flour over the egg mixture. Gently fold it in until combined. Repeat twice more, with the rest of the flour, being sure to fold as gently as possible.
Place the butter in a medium bowl. Stir in one third of the egg/flour mixture. Pour the butter/egg/flour mixture back into the rest of the batter, making sure, once again to fold as gently as possible.
Pour immediately into the molds. Bake for 10 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the molds for 5 minutes then remove to a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Happy Gobble Gobble!

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:30:00 +0000

We're having a lazy Thanksgiving. We live in Holland, where it's not a holiday, so everyone went to work, school, etc. So what are we eating? Chinese takeout. That said, we are going to celebrate proper Thanksgiving over the weekend, so you can forgive me for eating chow fun today.

In the meantime, I was looking at previous posts on Crispy Waffle, and have some suggestions if you haven't made dessert yet. Thanksgiving is one of those days where you want one of those 'ooh, ahh' desserts to hit the table. So here are some kickass tarts you can wow your family with. (And going along with my laziness theme, I will just link to the Crispy Waffle posts where the recipes are located.)

This linzertorte is both impressive and fast-- you can make it in a couple of hours, thanks to the sneaky cheaty lattice.
Linzertorte with cheater's lattice

Mmmm, chocolate...
Chocolate walnut tart with dulce de leche

Coconut makes a yummy tropical touch for Thanksgiving-- forget that tired old pumpkin pie!
Coconut caramel tart

Enjoy!

Quark ice cream

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:04:00 +0000

I haven't been doing a whole lot of ice cream experimenting lately, mainly because autumn has set in with a vengeance. You know it's fall when everyone riding their bikes in Den Haag have simultaneously busted out the ubiquitous wool scarves. (It's one of those things that makes you feel like the expat that didn't get the memo for the Opening Day of Scarf Season.)

However, I had been having an interesting correspondence with Grant, a Crispy Waffle reader all about ice cream makers and textural improvements to ice cream. A topic I've alluded to before, one of my issues with homemade ice cream is that it never seems to have the 'chew' that I want, especially after being in the freezer overnight. I've been upping the sugar-- especially basterd sugar, which contains invert sugar. Invert sugar is sweeter but has the same role as corn syrup; it does increase chewiness in baked goods, and seems to have a similar impact on ice cream. The sugar helps lower the freezing point, keeping it from being too icy. However, the ice cream was getting too sweet for my taste. I mentioned this to Grant, and he suggested an increase in milk solids through the use of dried milk powder. This was a total "oh yeah" moment for me-- I remembered reading here that milk solids also play a role in lowering freezing point, but had only accidentally accomplished this through the use of sweetened condensed milk in some recipes. So thanks to my new ice cream buddy, the texture of my homemade ice cream has dramatically improved. One of the things I love about having a blog is that it connects me to like-minded people. I have bored the hell out of people when they ask, "Do you like your ice cream maker?" and I go on a rant and rave about textural quality and invert sugar. This is a pretty good way to get someone to start eyeing escape routes in the room. Not so when you have an email thread with someone willing to rhapsodize about the virtues of Philadelphia-style ice cream versus custard-style, the ratios of cream to milk, and the texture of super-premium ice creams.

I don't have access to very 'neutral' flavored powdered milk, which Grant mentioned is important to usage in this case (you won't get that nasty dried-milk flavor invading your ice cream). I tend to use instead sweetened condensed milk and/or evaporated milk to increase the milk solids percentage, both of which have double to milk solids of ordinary milk. In the process, I've noticed that using other dairy products such as creme fraiche also naturally increases the percentage of milk solids in the mixture. Going further with this, I experimented with quark, a type of cheese that resembles a cross between sour cream and cream cheese. In fact, it is often used here in the Netherlands for making cheesecake.

The results were really nice, and resulted in an ice cream that tasted kind of like cheesecake as well. You can go with this theme, adding mix-ins that are 'cheesecakey': lemon zest, or graham crackers or cherry jam swirled in. If you don't have access to quark, you can substitute with equal parts sour cream and cream cheese. I love this ice cream with just a classic shortbread, which is super easy to make and in a way, resembles a cheesecake crust.

Quark ice cream
makes about 1 quart

Ingredients
1 cup quark
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
pinch of salt
zest from one lemon (optional)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the egg yolks and the sugar. Beat with whisk attachment over medium speed for 3 minutes or so, until the mixture is lightened and doubled in volume.
Heat the milk, cream and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until just steaming. Add the milk mixture in a steady stream into the egg mixture, stirring with a hand whisk the entire time (so the eggs don't curdle).
Put the entire egg/milk mixture back into the saucepan and add the lemon zest, if using. Stirring constantly, heat over medium until the mixture reaches 175 degrees. (To use the old kitchen measure-- it'll be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon).
Pour through a strainer into a large bowl. Cool for just a couple minutes, then stir in the quark. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until very cold. (I like to leave it overnight or all day, when I can).
Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. Freeze to let it ripen for a couple of hours, then serve with cookies, such as the classic shortbread, below.

Classic shortbread
makes 1 8-inch pan of shortbread
The is super buttery, so make sure you use really nice tasting butter, as there's not much else to compete with it.

Ingredients
150 grams (about 10 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Preheat oven to 300 F (150 C). Combine the butter, powdered sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, and not grainy, about 2-3 minutes.
Sift the flour and cornstarch over the butter mixture and stir until blended. The dough should be rather dry, but should hold together. Press into an 8-inch baking pan. Using a fork, mark the outlines of your shortbread squares (to make it easier to cut later).
Bake for 45 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and cut into squares.

Test post

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:58:00 +0000

Ugh, Blogger is acting up again. It may *finally* be time for my lazy ass to switch to proper blogging software.

No cookie recipe for you!

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:41:00 +0000

Whenever it starts getting close to the holidays, I start thinking about cookies. Not that I don't think about cookies all the time, but I start thinking about specific cookies.

My favorite holiday cookies are butterhorns. They are crispy, sugary, and shaped like little baby croissants. Kind of like rugelach without the jam. My mom makes dozens and dozens of these every Christmas, to keep and give away as gifts, and they never lasted very long in our house.

I was just up on my Flickr account recently and saw some pictures I took many months ago of a batch of butterhorns I had baked with my mom's recipe. I had wanted to post te recipe here, but when I phoned my mom, she was like, "No, you are not posting my recipe."

I should have expected such a response. I've grown up with many Filipina cooks in my family, both on my dad's and mom's side, and every one is loathe to share recipes. When they do, you might as well throw the recipe away, because odds are they've left out 1) a crucial step, or 2) a crucial ingredient. As a result, your version of your Auntie's famed ensaimadas are too dry, or your pancit is just somehow a little bit off. I'm not sure what they're afraid of-- maybe that you will become the Pancit Queen of the family and their glory will be taken from them. They imagine you cackling and rubbing your hands together, "The pancit palabok fortune will be mine!"

My sister and mom have been begging my Auntie for her suman recipe for years. (Suman is a delicious sweet rice and coconut dessert, wrapped in banana leaves.) It's gotten to the point where, not only will she not give the recipe, but she's not about to let anyone watch her make it. Yes, it is clear we won't ever get our grubby hands on that recipe. Maybe she's doing the right thing; it has certainly elevated the suman to family fame status.

So no suman, ensaimada or butterhorns recipe will appear here these days, although here's a pic of said butterhorns to make you determined to get at it.

Just like I'm determined to publish my very own pancit recipe. hOh yes, I will be the Pancit Queen.

Wear Crispy Waffle gear

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:27:00 +0000

The littlest dumpling wearing a Crispy Waffle dumplings bib

So I've decided to go graphic with some shirt designs for Crispy Waffle! Even though I'm home with the littlest kiddo at the time, I've gotta keep my graphic designer skills sharp, right?

Originally I designed these shirts as some cute and funny concepts for my kids, but thought, "hey, why not put them up?" So here they are-- I have a shop on Cafe Press for now-- the print quality is really good and the gear is too.

Crispy Waffle Gear on Cafe Press: http://www.cafepress.com/crispywaffle

Wok season

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:57:00 +0000

One of my favorite pieces of cookware is my carbon-steel wok. You've seen these before: if you've ever walked into a Chinatown grocery store, they are in the aisle on the far wall, near the soup bowls and such, usually teetering haphazardly in stacks. They are really cheap-- usually unber 20 euros-- and come in loads of different sizes.

There are problems with these woks when you first bring them home. They have a nasty metallic smell. They rust instantly. They usually have cheap wooden handles that instantly turns black. But once properly seasoned, they are the most excellent cooking utensils for anything stir-fried.

You may ask, why go through the trouble? Why not buy a super nice non-stick wok made by All-Clad or Calphalon? I admit, I have a non-stick wok. But I use this almost exclusively for garlic fried rice (Filipino sinangang - yum) or making omelettes (yes, it sounds weird, but my non-stick wok is the easiest thing for cooking eggs-- they are really easy to flip!). However, the carbon steel wok is the hero of the stir fry-- you can use it over the highest heat you can get, and if it's well-seasoned, it will not only make the food taste better (all the little browned caramelized parts everywhere), but it'll be naturally non-stick as well. This applies as well to a well-seasoned cast iron pan: anyone who's used one knows that non-stick cookware is not a substitute.

I've actually combined two methods of seasoning: 1) rubbing oil into the wok surface, and 2) deep-frying chinese chives. I've never actually tried the deep frying of chives by itself, but I've heard that this is a good way, by itself, to cure a wok. I feel as though it gets rid of that weird metallic smell and taste. The thing to remember is to discard the chives rather than eating them.

Once you've seasoned the wok, whip up a batch of snow peas. This is one of the simplest things I know how to make, and the flavor is best in a wok. Plus it has the added value of continuing to season -- a seasoned wok only gets better with use.

How to season a carbon steel wok

Scrub the brand new wok inside and out with hot water, dish detergent and a scouring pad. Set on a burner over medium heat.
Using tongs, dip a wadded-up paper towel into peanut oil. Rub it around the inside of the wok until it 'drinks' up the oil.
Switch to a new wadded-up paper towel and rub the oil all around the inside of the wok. Once it seems like it's absorbed all the oil, repeat step 2.
Keep doing steps 2 and 3 until the paper towel no longer turns black when rubbing. This should take about 15-20 minutes, and will be about 3 or 4 repetitions of steps 2 and 3.
You should have a blackened area in the center of the wok - after lots of use, your wok will eventually look entirely like that.
Heat the wok again over medium heat. Add 1 cup peanut oil and a large handful of chinese chives. Fry for about 10 minutes. Discard.

To care for your wok, rinse it each time immediately after frying in it without using dish soap; just a soft sponge. Dry it on the burner rather than using towels or dish racks-- this will prevent rusting.

Stir-fried snow peas
Don't substitute snap peas. Those are delicious too, but they need to be cooked differently. They will become instantly mushy in a high-heat stir fry.

Ingredients
250 grams snow peas
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 1 teaspoon Maggi sauce

Rinse the snow peas and drain in a colander (it is good if they have a bit of water clinging to them.)
Heat the wok over high heat. When it is totally hot, add 3 tablespoons peanut oil and swirl around the entire wok.
Add the snow peas and stir fry for 2 minutes, or just until they turn bright green.
Add the garlic and Maggi sauce, fry for another 30 seconds or so, then turn out onto a plate and serve immediately.

The best (and easiest) yeasted waffle

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 07:44:00 +0000

I've realized by the comments on my Perfect Waffle post that my actual go-to waffle recipe is hidden away in another post. Both involve yeast (of course-- don't make waffles without it!), but my first recipe involves separating the eggs and whipping the egg whites right before making the waffles. Eventually, I found this tiresome on a weekend morning when I haven't even had my coffee yet. So the recipe I actually use all the time involves combining all the ingredients and raising the batter in the refrigerator overnight. The waffles are still super crispy in the morning and you don't have to bust out a hand mixer! Perfect for a pre-coffee bleary-eyed Saturday morning.

The Easiest Crispiest Yeasted Waffles

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup or 110 grams)
2 cups warm milk (heated to about 110 degrees)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The night before:

Combine and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
Combine the melted butter and milk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients.
Whisk eggs and vanilla together in a separate small bowl. Add the egg-vanilla mixture to the other mixture, and whisk until well-combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until tomorrow morning. (The batter can rise for 10 to 24 hours.)

The next morning:

Prepare waffle iron as usual. Stir the batter to deflate it (it should be puffy and frothy).
Add to waffle iron the same way you would other batter, keeping in mind that this batter will rise more than batters that use baking powder instead of yeast.

Comfort and katsu

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:44:00 +0000

The other day I was filling in some profile information on Chowhound, such as location, website, blah blah blah, but because it's a foodie message board, it had some interesting ones like "The best meal you ever had." I had to think for a second on the one labeled, "Favorite comfort food." What is my favorite comfort food? I guess for me, what it ultimately means is not just what gives me comfort to eat, but what dish am I happy to cook, and what does my family like to eat over and over again.

My friends Melinda and Mark just moved to Hawaii recently. After the envy subsided, I started--of course--thinking about lunch. Hawaiian plate lunch, specifically. Oh, you don't know what plate lunch is? Let me tell you-- it is basically the ultimate comfort food for an Asian. It's typically some sort of meat (you choose) served with heaps of rice and a huge scoop of mac salad. Double starching it-- oh yeah! (I love the double starch. At home whenever I make mashed potatoes, we end up eating it with rice.) The Filipino version of the ABC motto should be "Always Be Carb-loading".

I realized then that actually my favorite home-cooked comfort food is something that definitely falls into plate lunch world: Katsu chicken. This is totally my kids' favorite dish and about the easiest thing in the world to make. Basically it's chicken cutlet, but with panko breadcrumbs and served with rice and tonkatsu sauce. It's like, Asian chicken fingers or something. And it is delish. We eat so much katsu at home that when we moved to Holland, I was really worried about something that seems relatively minor to most anyone else: Where would I get tonkatsu sauce? My four-year-old basically needs to drown his rice in the sauce when we eat katsu, so you can't underestimate the importance of the sauce. (Otherwise, it's just fried chicken and rice, right?) I had an elaborate plan of asking all visitors from the States to bring us a bottle each time they visited, and then we would build up a stockpile. But no need, in the end I randomly found the famous Bulldog label glowering at me from the shelf at a Chinese grocery in the Hague. Yes, it was like 5 euros for a small bottle. But who cares at that point?

So pour on the Bulldog, and maybe even make some macaroni salad. Put on some Iz and at least you can pretend you're in the islands. And Mark and Melinda: eat some malasadas for me-- those donuts beat Crispy Creme any day!

Katsu Chicken
serves 4
Don't bother if you don't have panko breadcrumbs; it absolutely will not be the same. If you can, try honey panko. It has a very subtle sweetness to it (and smells lovely when you pour it into the bowl.)

Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs
2 cups canola oil (or any other light-colored oil, such as sunflower oil, which is what I prefer)

With a sharp chef's knife, split the chicken breasts lengthwise so you have two equal pieces. (this will make the chicken flatter so it cooks faster when you deep fry it.) Pound (but not too thin) to equal thickness all over. Pat dry with a paper towel.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper in one bowl. Beat the eggs lightly in a second bowl. Place the panko in a large, shallow bowl or pie plate.

Bread the chicken in the typical assembly line: flour first, then eggs, then panko. Shake off excess after each step. Place the breaded pieces on a plate.

Heat the oil in a heavy 3 or 4-quart saucepan to 325 degrees (I always use a candy thermometer.)

Fry the chicken in batches, 1-2 minutes on each side. Place the finished pieces on a cooling rack to stay crispy (I noticed that they get a bit soggier if you put them on paper towels, so a cooling rack does a better job.)

Serve with tonkatsu sauce and heaps and heaps of steaming white rice.

Don't forget the Bulldog!

Wacky ice cream 1: Sweet potato

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:16:00 +0000

So taking advantage of my new ice cream maker, I've decided to revisit some weirdo flavors I've been experimenting with over the years, back when I was using my plan-way-ahead-of-time Krups ice cream maker. I thought, "Why not a series?" so here's the first one.

I found a recipe for sweet potato ice cream in The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, but like all of Weinstein's recipes, I modified it. (I often find his recipes sickeningly sweet, and at times even cut the sugar to a quarter of what he calls for.) I liked his idea of roasting the sweet potatoes so that they caramelize, so this is how I started my recipe.

For whatever reason, the normal grocery stores in Holland don't seem to carry sweet potatoes, and when they do, it usually is the normal pale type rather than the sweeter bright orange varieties. Don't quiz me on the variety names-- I have no idea really, besides "orange" and "yellow". So anyway, they carry sweet potatoes / yams at the big open market, but being too lazy to go down there, I picked some up at the regular store for like, 3 euros a pound or something ridiculous. But given that it was going toward ice cream, I figured that perhaps it was worth the cost.

I started with what is developing into my standard custard base and mixed in the sweet potato puree that the four-year-old kitchen helper made with a strainer. (He was bored, I wasn't letting him watch TV or play Gameboy that afternoon, so what was a boy to do?) If you don't have a four-year-old kitchen helper, don't worry; you can use a food processor instead.

The result is a sweet ice cream that, for me, tastes like a cross between candied sweet potatoes and ube (purple yam). Those who eat it must be fans of sweet potatoes-- if they aren't, this recipe won't convert them. But if you love candied yams, this will taste heavenly.

Making sweet potato puree-- the old fashioned way

Sweet potato ice cream
makes about 1 quart

Ingredients
2 pounds (about 1 kilo) sweet potatoes, the kind with the orange flesh (not orange skin)
1 cup whole milk
1-1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub the sweet potatoes, arrange in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are tender enough to put a skewer through easily. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temp.
Combine the eggs and sugar in a standing mixer. Beat until lightened in color and a ribbon forms.
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to barely a simmer and slowly pour into the egg mixture, whisking the whole time to prevent the eggs from curdling. Transfer back into the saucepan.
Stirring constantly over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to 180 degrees. (It'll be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon). Remove from heat and add the vanilla
Peel the sweet potatoes. Add a pinch of salt, and using a sieve or a food processor, make a puree.
Strain the custard into the sweet potato puree and make sure it's well combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Freeze according to the instructions on your ice cream maker. This ice cream tastes excellent with salted pecans!

SHF: Chocolate malt, perfected

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:17:00 +0000

My retro craving: notice that the straw stands up straight.

I like the theme of this month's Sugar High Fridays: Cravings. There are desserts I make a lot (like brownies because they are ridiculously easy and you get your chocolate and sugar fix instantly), and then there are others that if a craving hits me, I will run out -- meaning, I will make a special trip -- and get the ingredients.

Once the weather hits the no-long-sleeves point every summer, the first thing I want is a chocolate malt. I grew up in Milwaukee, where the fave frozen confection is frozen custard, a softer version of ice cream, and fattier than gelato. Man, it is soooo good. I honestly don't know why they don't have this stuff all over the U.S. (I am partial to Kopps-- this is where I would get my turtle sundae fix as a kid.) Chocolate malts are alive and well in the Midwest, like, real chocolate malts where: 1) it is so thick the straw stands up, and 2) they always, always give you the tin with the extra malt in it that was used in the shake blender. You know, because it's not fattening enough just to have the malt that's in the glass, right?

So where I live now (Europe) chocolate malts are non-existent, so I make my own. This way, I can also take total charge of the ingredients, so I'll use ice cream and chocolate syrup I made. And, of course, Horlicks malt powder which thankfully I can get at the British expat store. Don't use that Carnation stuff, which is super sweet and has chocolate powder in it and whatnot. Horlicks can be found, oddly enough, in a lot of Asian grocery stores. This is the stuff that will make you an addict. Oh, speaking of, as a kid I ate a lot of the Horlicks malt tablets, which were a type of candy. I cannot find this stuff anywhere! I wonder if anyone else craves this-- I know I didn't imagine it because my sister remembers them too.

There are purists who believe that chocolate malts should be made with vanilla ice cream, obtaining their chocolate flavor from just the syrup. I don't care either way; but I personally prefer it with vanilla ice cream just because it seems to taste like just the right ratio of chocolate to malt. Plus there's something about the chocolate that comes from a syrup that gives it that kitschy, retro soda fountain taste. (I don't know how else to explain it. But anyway, a premium, super chocolate ice cream is not going to get you that same nostalgic taste I'm talking about!)

So make a classic chocolate malt -- you won't be disappointed, even if you make it with store-bought vanilla and Hershey's syrup. For the love of Mike, don't use ice cubes. But make sure to use the Horlicks.

My ideal chocolate malt
makes one large malt, or two short ones, if you want to share

Ingredients
3 scoops vanilla ice cream (my recipe for Philadelphia-style is here)
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (recipe below)
1/2 cup whole milk (very very cold-- keep it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so)
3 tablespoons Horlicks malt powder

Pour the ingredients into a blender and pulse for 20-30 seconds.
Top with whipped cream and if you want to go seriously classic, a maraschino cherry.

Chocolate syrup
I really like this chocolate syrup because it is not too sweet, but is still really chocolatey. I find commercial chocolate syrup too sugary. You can also use a tablespoon of this in a cup of hot milk to make quick hot chocolate.

Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and bring to a slight simmer.
Add the cocoa and salt and whisk until smooth. Simmer lightly for about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature. Keep in the refrigerator.

Links:
Domestic Goddess: Sugar High Friday
Wikipedia: Horlicks
Crispy Waffle: Vanilla bean ice cream
Crispy Waffle: Super chocolatey ice cream
Kopps Frozen Custard

EBBP #7: Loot update

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 09:08:00 +0000

So I got an updated package from The Passionate Cook and man, was it a loot box full of goodies! My kids almost fainted when they saw all the sweets, and I had to photograph it instantly because once they got their paws on it, it would have been impossible to list everything that was included. So here's what we got:

Manner neopolitan wafers
Kokos-Rollen coconut candy
Peppermint candies filled with chocolate-- weird, but good!
Hazelnut creme wafers (I love that she included so many waffle treats!)
Pez, that my kids attacked immediately. I had no idea that Pez came from Austria!
'Weiner gebak' sugar candies
Dragee Keksi chocolate candies
Maoam gummies
Manner caramels
Banana jellies covered in chocolate
Bonbons flavored in pina colada and coconut-rum (these were boozy and delish!)

Whew! I think that's all. It felt like Halloween at our house! My computer is acting freaky so I can't post the picture I took, but I will add the photo once I work out my techie problemas.

Super Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:25:00 +0000

After I wrecked the freezer bowl on my Krups ice cream maker, I decided to get serious and spring for an ice cream maker with a compressor. This basically translates into an ice cream maker with its own freezer, so you can make ice cream whenever you want. After some research, I ended up with a Nemox Gelatissimo, which looks like some sort of miniature toilet. Yes, not the most attractive thing to have hogging up precious space on the kitchen counter.

Nemox Gelatissimo. Does it flush?

Anyway, it ended up being 220 euros which is a pretty good deal as this seems to usually go for about 400 euros. It seems like I'll have to make more than a few ice cream cones to make up for the cost, but hey, I have kids that loooove ice cream. Plus I can make all my weirdo flavors like corn, avocado, etc. that you can't get at the ice cream joint around the corner.

So now I am totally obsessed and have been making ice cream nearly every day. So I'm learning a lot-- I'm trying to perfect the texture, which is a much harder thing to do than get the flavorings and sweetness right. Ice cream is all about texture. So some things I've learned so far:

Too much butterfat will taste like, well, butterfat. Some Italian machines, like Simac, Nemox, etc. will churn a super fatty mixture into basically, butter. So a good balance of milk and cream is necessary.
Custard ice cream bases are soooo much smoother. I do like Philadelphia-style (which basically means eggless ice cream) for a basic vanilla, but in most cases, I prefer a custard that starts with egg yolks. This makes the mixture really smooth, as it is an emulsion you are starting with.
Sugar does more than just make it sweet. Sugar also helps improve texture-- it prevents the mixture from getting too icy, and lowers the freezing point. If you are like me and are curious about food science, you can get your fill about ice cream science here. Because I live in Holland, I have access to this weird form of sugar called white basterd sugar (yes, it really is called basterd sugar, although spelled differently than, I don't know, Fat Bastard). I guess we can call this Sweet Basterd. So this Sweet Basterd is a sugar that is basically the texture of brown sugar, but white. Because it partially contains inverted sugar syrup, it makes for a 'chewier' ice cream, and this type of sweetener behaves a bit like corn syrup-- it depresses the freezing point even further. (Yes, food science again! I have to experiment with white basterd sugar for other goods that need 'chew', such as brownies. More on this later!)

White basterd sugar-- it looks a bit like shave ice, and it feels exactly like traditional brown sugar.

With these things to remember, I've been working on the perfect custard (for me, at least). I'm not there yet, but I have been able to develop my go-to chocolate ice cream recipe. This is way over the top on the chocolate, but without being too fatty; I use more milk than cream in this recipe. Try it if you want total chocolate flavor without it being too sweet.

I have been making ice cream and then letting it sit in the freezer for 2 hours before we eat it. I think it hardens up too much (our freezer is 15 degrees centigrade) past that point, but 2 hours in, the texture is that perfect chewy, a bit melty, gelato-y texture. (In the picture above, it had been in the freezer for 4-5 hours, so you can see that it has gotten more of that American style hard-scoop texture. But it was still good!)

Super Chocolatey Ice Cream
makes approximately 1 quart

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa, such as Droste
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup white basterd sugar (if you don't have access to this, substitute 1/3 cup white granulated sugar)
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vodka (optional)

Combine the eggs and the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is lightened in color, and thickened, about 3 minutes.
In a heavy saucepan, bring the milk and salt to a simmer, whisk in the cocoa and simmer until the cocoa is dissolved.
Add the milk mixture to the egg mixture slowly, in a steady stream, whisking the whole time -- this tempers the eggs and keeps them from curdling. Place the milk/egg mixture back in the saucepan.
Over low heat, stir the mixture constantly, until it reaches 180 degrees F. Pour through a strainer into a clean bowl.
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream just barely to a boil in a saucepan and pour it over the chocolate. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until the mixture is totally smooth, with no chocolate pieces.
Pour the ganache into the custard. Refrigerate until cold, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to instructions.

Links:
Slate: Which machines whip up the best ice cream?
Crispy Waffle: When life hands you vanilla, make ice cream
UG Dairy Science and Technology: Structure of Ice Cream

European Blogging By Post (EBBP#7)

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:36:00 +0000

I participated for the first time in European Blogging by Post, hosted by The Passionate Cook. The concept goes like this: you put together a box of goodies to send to another food blogger, and in return, you get a box of goodies from someone else. What an awesome idea! I loved the theme this time around too: childhood sweets. So my lucky recipient will get a bunch of Asian kid sweets from me. (Other Asian-Americans out there-- remember Botan Rice Candy? Pocky? I loved that stuff!)

My package came the other day, and it was from The Passionate Cook herself! She is travelling in Italy, so she explained in the note that this is just a preliminary package-- but it had some great stuff nonetheless!

She was in Austria as a kid, so Milka Zartherb was the childhood sweets theme
A nice chocolate lolly
A cute honey spoon that my kids went bonkers over
Tea and honey
Homemade spiced plum and orange preserves (this is totally delish!)

Links
The Passionate Cook: European Blogging by Post #7

Four ingredients = Tomato mozzarella tart

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Mon, 28 May 2007 14:15:00 +0000

My friend Deb brought over some really nice plum tomatoes from our excellent (and huge!) market right here in Den Haag. They were so sweet, and I also had some cherry tomatoes from our vegetable subscription, so I had to make something that featured them. Salad? Too boring. I ended up making something just as easy: a tomato mozzarella tart that, besides the tomatoes, uses only three other ingredients that anyone might have on hand: fresh mozzarella, basil and frozen puff pastry. (I'm not counting olive oil or salt and pepper as ingredients though!)

One rule though: you gotta have good tomatoes, so none of those icky pink winter hothouse tomatoes here-- only the real deal will do.

Tomato mozzarella tart
adapted from Cooks Illustrated
makes one 9 x 13 tart

Ingredients
1 pound box of frozen puff pastry, thawed in refrigerator overnight
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained and sliced
1 pound ripe tomatoes
a handful of basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set parchment paper on a 13 x 9 baking sheet. Lay out the puff pastry, pressing down to seal the seams between the sheets. Cut 1-inch strips of pastry to make a frame around the tart, brushing with egg or water between the layers. Bake for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
Remove tart shell from oven and cool on a cooling rack. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
Slice the tomatoes into rounds and set in a single layer over paper towels. Sprinkle liberally with salt and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Press down on the tomatoes with more paper towel, absorbing some of the moisture (this will prevent the tart from becoming too soggy).
Place the cheese in a single layer on the pastry crust. Place the tomatoes in a single layer on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the whole thing.
Bake for 15-17 minutes. Sprinkle the basil over the tart. Cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes, transfer to cutting board or serving dish and serve warm or at room temperature.

R to the izzo

noreply@blogger.com (sheryl) — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:35:00 +0000

Dried porcini mushrooms

While in Bergamo, Italy, I bought some local dried porcini mushrooms as recommended by our friend Donatella. (An aside: let me tell you-- it is soooo nice travelling with someone local to ask all the questions and tell you where to go! And she knows her food, so that's an added bonus.) I brought them home and what's the natural thing to do with them? Make risotto, of course.

Some notes: Risotto is usually stirred constantly while cooking. I've found that this doesn't necessarily have to be the case (although maybe some like the arm workout.) I add the first couple cups of stock straightaway, cover, and let it simmer away for eight minutes or so, until the stock is mostly absorbed. This way, it's off to a rockin start, and you just have to do the stir-and-add-stock for the last ten minutes of cooking or so. Plus, you can make a salad and slice up some bread in the meantime.

If you have a risotto method that you already like-- go for it. Just because I'm lazy doesn't mean you have to follow me!

Risotto with dried porcini mushrooms
4-5 servings

Ingredients
30 grams dried porcini mushrooms
5 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, minced
1/2 cup red wine
2 teaspoons sea salt
1-3/4 cups arborio rice
A small handful of fresh sage leaves, minced
Grana Padano, for grating

Soak the porcini mushrooms in 1 cup of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid. Add the soaking liquid to the chicken stock. Chop the mushrooms very fine.
Place the stock in a medium saucepan over low heat. Make sure it's on the burner next to the one you'll be using for the risotto. The stock will stay over the low heat as you cook the risotto.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the shallots, sauteing them until they are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and continue stirring and cooking for a minute or two.
Add the mushrooms and wine. Stir until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
Add 2 cups stock and the salt, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed, 8-10 minutes.
Uncover, add 1/2 cup stock and stir until, again, mostly absorbed. Continue adding the stock in 1/2 cup increments until its finished. The mixture should be quite creamy, but the rice will still have just a hint of chew. Taste for salt.
Sprinkle the sage over the rice and pass the cheese for grating.