Blackstrap Molasses Walnut Ice Cream

I think this molasses ice cream recipe by Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is my new favorite holiday ice cream. I was a little surprised that it could have such a rich taste, since it's not a flavor that at first I thought would stand out as much in comparison to peppermint or chocolate, but there's something about the simplicity but depth of this that makes it really stand out. It kind of tastes like a molasses cookie distilled into ice cream. So if you are looking for a Christmas recipe, consider whipping some of this up! There are so many interesting things I think you could accompany this with: a chocolate-orange sauce or cookie, a glass of egg nog, or a plum or apricot sauce. Or just eat while sitting by your tree.

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday and some delicious meals! :) See you in 2015!

Molasses Walnut Ice Cream
From Jeni Britton Bauer
Makes about one quart
(requires an ice cream maker)

Ice cream: 

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened 
1/4 t fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 c blackstrap molasses 

Blackstrap walnuts:

1 cup walnuts,  halved
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1. For the ice cream, mix about two tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. For later, fill a large bowl with ice and water. 

2. Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar and molasses in a four-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for four minutes (the mixture may appear curdled from the acidic molasses, but it will come back together in the finished ice cream). Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. 

3. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about one minute. Remove from heat. 

4. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a one-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile, for the blackstrap walnuts, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the nuts with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, tossing to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for about eight minutes. Stir, and then bake for another five to six minutes, stirring twice. The nuts should look bubbly and somewhat dry. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, stirring the nuts every couple of minutes to break them up (they'll harden togeter if left sitting for too long). 

6. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy. 

7. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, folding in the walnuts as you go. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, about four hours. 

Sugar Body Scrub

It's getting toward late November and thoroughly feels like winter here in DC. For me, that means my skin gets super dry! It kind of feels like someone squeezed all of the moisture out of my skin the moment the air starts to get dry. Beautiful image, I know.

I've made this sugar body scrub a couple of times before, but this winter it really sunk in how easy, cheap, and effective this is. Plus, it is all natural, so you don't have to worry about what chemicals might be in it, and there's less waste because you can reuse the canister. Earlier this winter, I bought a body scrub at the drug store, and I think paid almost $10, and it was just okay. This will cost you only the cost of sugar and olive oil (or another carrier oil), and, in my opinion, is much more effective than store-bought scrubs. The secret seems to be that sugar is a really effective exfoliant, and olive oil seems to coat your skin and keeps moisture in. 

I haven't used this as a facial scrub - that could be too oily for a lot of people, but it's great for arms and legs. Also, I think it's probably best to use in the shower so that you can wash off any extra oil so that your arms/legs aren't too greasy.

Sugar Body Scrub
2 C sugar
1 C carrier oil (this can be olive oil, grape seed oil, or coconut oil*)
optional: 6-8 drops of essential oil (I like peppermint or lavender)
canister (such as a plastic jar with a lid or a Mason jar)

Add sugar to canister first, and then add carrier oil while stirring. Add carrier oil until scrub reaches desired consistency. Add essential oil drops if you want the scrub to be scented.

*if using coconut oil, melt in the microwave for 30 seconds or until it becomes liquid

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Orange and Feta - end of winter Sunday night dinner, part 2

Although I write this with the windows open and after spending most of the weekend outside in the summer-like weather, I'm returning to my "end of winter" Sunday dinner theme, so that I can finally get to part II of the last post. This dish would actually work for almost any season, since it's so fresh tasting, so don't let the "winter" in the title scare you off.

To accompany the apple chicken curry, I roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar, orange juice and zest, and melted in feta cheese at the end. Delicious. This is an incredibly simple dish, and I really like the roasting method, because it creates crispy leaves on the Brussels sprouts.

I think I used the adjective "earthy" at least once in the last post, but really, it's the best word for the combination of this dish with the apple chicken curry (and yogurt sauce if you make it). The citrus flavors in this dish work really well with the savoriness of the curry, and the whole thing is faintly fruity.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Orange and Feta

2 lbs Brussels sprouts
4 T olive oil
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 T fresh orange zest
1 T plus 1 t balsamic vinegar
2 T orange juice
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese (could be omitted for vegan version)

1. Rinse Brussels sprouts and cut in half length-wise. Pre-heat over to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix Brussels sprouts with all other ingredients, except feta cheese, in medium bowl. Pour all into 9x13 baking pan.
3. Roast Brussels sprouts for 30-35 minutes, or until leaves of Brussels sprouts start to get brown and crispy.
4. Remove from oven and add feta cheese while still warm. Mix all together.

Apple Chicken Curry - end of winter Sunday night dinner, part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I had the craving for a big Sunday night dinner.  Something that took a little bit longer to cook and really comforting for the winter weather. My Swiss host Mom when I was studying abroad made roast chicken for Sunday dinner every single week, almost always with Brussels sprouts. Remembering this, I decided to make chicken and Brussels sprouts, but with curry and citrus flavors: apple chicken curry, and roasted Brussels sprouts with orange.

I'd been curious for a while about trying curry powder in a dish that isn't necessarily Indian by using it along with ingredients that could be used in a lot of other types of cooking, and in using it a less dominant way.

I ended up sauteing apples, ginger, and onions until they were almost caramelized, and then mashing them together with the curry powder (and a little chili powder) to make the sauce, and then adding the chicken to that.

I used a different method for the chicken than I usually would for a dish like this. Instead of sauteing sliced raw chicken to cook it, I boiled chicken breasts that still had the bone and skin on them until they were cooked through, sliced them after they were cooked, and then only briefly sauteed them in the sauce at the end to mix the chicken with the sauce (more below on this). I feel like chicken can easily get tough and chewy when it's sauteed, and so I was curious to try out a way to keep the chicken more tender.

And it ended up being really, really good. I think it's one of the best things that I've made in a while.

The curry flavor combined really well with the apple and ginger flavors, which left it really earthy tasting. I also think that the method I used with the chicken made a huge difference; it was much moister than usual.

I debated including this, because the dish is so good on its own, but I also ended up making a yogurt sauce to go with this the next night, partly out of curiosity. And out of having already bought the ingredients....

But it's a really simple sauce, and does go really well with the curry. It takes away from the apple flavor a little, but if you like yogurt sauce, it's really good mixed with the curry and rice. It's not necessary, though, so with or without yogurt sauce, the curry is still delicious!

I envisioned this as a winter mood dinner, and I think it turned out to be a farewell to winter one - see the blossoms on the tree in this picture I took walking home the other night (still in February)?

Apple Chicken Curry 
Makes 3-4 servings

About 1.5 pounds chicken breasts on bone with skin
1 onion, chopped
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1.5 - 2 T chopped ginger
1 T curry powder
1/2 t chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the chicken: put the chicken, still on the bone and with skin on, in a medium-sized sauce pan, and cover completely with water. Turn on medium-high heat, and bring water to boil. Once water is boiling, reduce to medium heat, and cook chicken for 10-15 minutes. Check chicken to see if it has cooked through, and remove from heat once it has. Remove chicken from water, and let cool on a plate.

2. While chicken is cooking, saute the onions and ginger on medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until onions are tender. Turn heat to low, add apples, and saute for 10 additional minutes.

3. Add the curry and chili powder, as well as salt and pepper, and mash all with a mallet or large spoon, continuing to saute over low heat. 

4. Once the chicken has cooled, take the meat off of the bone and remove the skin, and slice into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to the pan with the apple curry sauce, and saute only briefly, about three minutes, until all is blended and the chicken is slightly sauteed.

Remove from heat. Goes really well served with white or brown jasmine rice.

Optional accompaniment sauce:

Lemon-cilantro yogurt sauce

1/2 pint greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 t ground cayenne pepper
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in small bowl; serve.

Next: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Orange for part two of this post...

Slow-Cooked White Bean Gratin

[Belated] January Theme: Making Beans, an Efficient Energy Source, Taste Richer Than They Really Are



Upon ringing in 2011 I had lots of new thoughts about the blog; about new recipes to try, and about how to integrate the recipes better with the food policy ideas... and then somehow the whole month of January went by. Mostly somehow sucked up by work. But, moving on. What I want to try to do is have changing umbrella themes or topics that the recipes fall under, and change it month to month.

So even though January is actually over as of today, I DID actually make something to fit into the new plan this month, I'm just super late in posting it, and so am going to pretend it's not quite February yet.





My idea for January was to do some really simple recipes to go along with the clean-slate feeling of a new year, and also tie this back to a past post about the environmental effects of eating meat by showing some satisfying, interesting recipes with one of the most efficient forms of protein that you can use: beans. Plus, beans seem like a good ingredient to use at the start of a new year, when lots of people are resolving to spend less money, because they are so cheap, but can be really good when played-up.

But beans can seem kind of boring. I tried to get around that with this recipe, which requires slow-cooking the beans to make them tender and more flavorful than usual, and then putting them in a gratin, which makes the white beans taste surprisingly rich, and like a dish in and of themselves.





Slow-Cooked White Bean Gratin
Adapted from Gourmet

1 pound (2.5 C) dried white beans
4 cups onions, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled
2-3 sprigs rosemary
10 C water
1 bay leaf
1 T salt
2 carrots, diced
1 T olive oil
3 t white wine vinegar
1 T garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to season
1 C bread crumbs (I used whole wheat)
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 C Gruyere cheese, grated

1. Put beans, water, rosemary, bay leaf, and garlic in 5-quart heavy pot. Cover and slowly bring to a simmer over low heat, which will take about one hour. Then simmer beans until tender but not mushy, about 35-45 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool, covered, for about 15 minutes.
2. Drain almost all cooking liquid from beans but while reserving cooking liquid. Discard rosemary sprigs and bay leaf and mash any intact garlic cloves into beans. Add salt.
3. In a saute pan, use 1 T olive oil and saute chopped onions, garlic, and carrots for 10-15 minutes, until tender.
4. Combine 1 C of cooked beans, 1.5 C of left-over cooking liquid, 1 T olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt to taste in a blender or food processor and puree. In large bowl, stir puree into remaining whole beans, and then add in onions, garlic, and carrot mixture. Pour mixture into 3-quart baking dish or other shallow baking dish.
5. In small bowl, mix together bread crumbs, Gruyere, and Parmesan, and sprinkle over gratin. Bake gratin at 425 degrees F until top is browned, about 20 minutes.

Orange, Walnut & Feta Beet Salad

I've been moving over the past week, which has meant that my kitchen has been in upheaval, and I haven't been able to really cook. And after several nights of take-out or eating whatever is easy to find in the boxes, and feeling generally a little under-the-weather, I feel a little off. Which is how I knew: it was time for beets.



Because beets are what you need when you have that hard-to-put-your-finger-on-it feeling that you're not getting quite what you need food-wise. When fruits and vegetables start to seem even more delicious because you haven't had enough of them lately, or when you feel like you're losing touch with the more natural and earthy foods.

The fact that this salad mixes oranges in with the beets makes the salad taste even fresher, and the roasted walnuts add a great nutty flavor.

I'm also including the method I've been using to cook beets of late, which I think works really well. It involves cooking them with the skin on, and then removing it after you've roasted them, when it's much easier to remove.




Orange, Walnut & Feta Beet Salad

3 medium/large beets
2 T shallots, chopped
3 T olive oil
1.5 T apple cider vinegar
1 T fresh orange zest
1 orange, peeled and sections sliced
1/2 chopped walnuts
1/2 crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper

1. Roast beets according to the following method:

Cut stems off of beets, and slice each in half. Lay sliced side down in baking pan. Add about 1/4-inch of water to bottom of pan, and cover with tightly with tin foil. Cook at 400F for about 50 minutes, or until beets are tender. (Watch out for steam escaping from the foil when checking on beets.) Let beets cool, and then run under running water while peeling/pushing skin off. It should slide off fairly easily.

2. When beets are almost done, put walnuts in a small baking dish with a bit of olive oil. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400F, until toasted.

3. Make salad dressing: in small bowl, mix together chopped shallots, orange zest, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Once walnuts are done, let cool for a few minutes. Let beets cool, and then slice into medium-sized chunks. Mix beets, dressing, walnuts, and chopped orange in bowl. Before serving, add feta cheese.