Fresh ricotta and fig ice cream

One of my favorite gelato flavors beside Happy Hippo, is Alice. Alice (ah-lee-chey) is a mildly sweet, light and airy ricotta gelato that is refreshing and awesome. This is my take on the wonderful gelato. This recipe is delicious but be careful - I had trouble keeping myself from om-nom-noming it all up even BEFORE I put it in the ice cream maker. Seriously.

This recipe makes about one and a half quarts of ice cream.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta (ricotta recipe to follow this)

1 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

zest of one lemon

pinch of kosher salt

1 tablespoon Strega liqueur or vanilla vodka, to taste

2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped, dried mission figs

Place fresh ricotta, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add cream and blend. Taste for the important balance of salt. Add Strega or vodka to taste. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream machine. Add the chopped  figs. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer container, top with a piece of plastic wrap pressed into the surface and freeze until firm.

** If you can find Strega, I highly recommend using it rather than another kind of alcohol. I brought a bottle back from Italy to use as a sipping liqueur and in recipes. I'm sure it's a bit pricey here in the states but believe me, it's absolutely worth it.**

** Putting a few tablespoons of alcohol into ice cream not only adds a hint of flavor (if the alcohol is flavored) but, it also keeps the ice cream from becoming rock solid in the freezer.**

Fresh Ricotta

2 quarts whole milk
1 C heavy cream
1/2 t salt
3 T fresh lemon juice

cheesecloth

Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth and place it in your sink.

Over moderate heat in a large 6-quart pot, slowly bring milk, cream and salt to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. When it reaches a boil, add the lemon juice, then reduce heat to low. Stirring constantly, simmer until the mixture curdles, about 2 minutes.

Carefully and slowly pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined colander and let it drain for 1 hour. Discard the liquid. Cover and chill the ricotta. 

Eggplant Parmesan

If for some reason I were to ever become a vegetarian (highly unlikely), I could almost guarantee you that I would be eating eggplant like it was going out of style. This weird looking (reminiscent of Gonzo's nose, actually), difficult to properly cook/prepare, awesome-shade-for-an-accent-wall-colored vegetable is pretty delicious and not as nutritious as I once thought. Well, anything that's dredged in flour, egg, and bread crumbs and then fried automatically loses its nutritional value, but since it's a vegetable after all, it's gotta be the least bit healthy, right?! Of course right. Oh, I forgot to add smothered in cheese and sauce, too. Scratch that healthy part. Let's just call eggplant what it really is: a hearty meat-substitute that is often used as a vehicle for other tasty things like cheese.


Anyway, here is a delicious recipe that I got from the Food Network for Eggplant Parm! Boun Appetito!


2 medium eggplant (I used one), cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
Kosher salt, as needed
4 cups breadcrumbs (the recipe calls for fresh, but I found that the Italian-style Vigo brand bread crumbs are delicious, too)
Dried oregano
Dried thyme
Black pepper
Vegetable oil
All-purpose flour
6 large eggs, beaten (I used 4 eggs because that's all I had and I didn't feel like going back to the grocery)
5-6 cups marinara sauce (I would have used my homemade sauce but, I was lazy. I used Mama DiSalvo's instead!  You can use whatever your little heart desires.)
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (or more, if you're like me and you love cheese)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Arrange the eggplant slices on several baking sheets and sprinkle generously all over with kosher salt. Set aside to let the bitter juices weep from the eggplant, about 1 hour.

Transfer the eggplant to a colander in the sink, and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer eggplant to a work surface and blot very dry with paper towels.

In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, breadcrumbs, oregano, thyme, and season with pepper.

Place the flour in a medium lipped plate or bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

In a large straight-sided skillet, pour the oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium heat.

Working in small batches, fry the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly brush a 15 x 10- x 2-inch-baking dish with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 1/3 of the marinara sauce and arrange half of the eggplant over the sauce. Cover the eggplant with another 1/3 of the sauce. Scatter half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella over the sauced eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant, sauce, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Not so beautiful, but extremely yummy.

Local Props: The Ravenous Pig

Hello fellow foodies! Travis and I went to lunch today at this amazing little gastropub in Winter Park called The Ravenous Pig. The setting is modern and yuppy but without that overpowering feeling of distain and stuckup-edness toward all who enter.  Those of you who know Winter Park know what I'm talking about. Anyway, Travis had a salad because he's trying to watch his girlish figure but, I  had the most incredible sandwich - Crispy Pork Belly. Mmmmm. Said deliciousness was served on a French baguette with pecan pesto, bitter greens, and fresh peach and jalapeno chutney. Heaven. The flavor profiles were exquisite!

So, anyone who's in the area or who plans on being in the area (i.e. visiting me), must go to the Ravenous Pig! Check out their website here!

The Lamb Shank Redemption

So, this is kind of a heavy dish for the end of May, especially in Florida, but I can tell you right now - it's totally worth it. I had two lamb shanks in my freezer that I didn't roast for Passover, so I decided to cook them up now. I get into these weird purging and organizing moods with my things sometimes, and this includes food. I hate having cluttered space. I'm weird - I know. Anyway, this dish was delicious! Lamb shanks are pretty tough, so cooking them in a crockpot is one of the best ways to tenderize the meat. After 7.5-8ish hours of slow cooking, the meat was literally falling off the shank bone. 


Ingredients
1 sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings
2 lamb shanks
Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
10 whole garlic cloves, large ones cut in half
8 ounces of mushrooms, whole or sliced
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup strong beef broth
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
Dried oregano
Dried basil 
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Ground allspice
1 bay leaf, broken in half
(I hate using exact measurements on spices so, it's up to you to decide what you want.) 


Spread sliced and separated onion rings on bottom of crockpot. Rub lamb shanks with Worcestershire sauce, then sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.


Heat heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and brown the lamb shanks. Place the shanks, along with any drippings from the skillet, in the crockpot on top of the onions. 

Top with garlic and mushrooms. 


In a bowl, combine red wine, beef broth, oregano, basil, tomatoes, thyme, allspice, and bay leaf. Pour mixture over the lamb shanks.

Cook on low for 8 hours, or until tender. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. 

Mmmmmm. I wish you could smell the awesomeness.

Coconut Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

This is also known as the "I believe in Harvey Dent" cake, or the "Two-Face" cake. Why, you may ask? The particular cake I made is known as the Two-Face because I only covered half of it with toasted coconut (see picture). If and when you decide to make this cake, you may cover the whole cake with coconut, or just leave it off altogether. It's your choice, kids! 


This isn't your average cake... it's dense! I'm talking Miss-Teen-USA-2007-South Carolina-dense. If you don't get the reference, click here and have a good chuckle.

Cake

4 ¼ cups flour

2 ¼ cups sugar

1 Tbl. Plus 1 ½ tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 ¼ cups coconut milk

¼ cup water

2 tsp. vanilla extract

6 egg whites

Topping

2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

2 cups heavy cream

2 ½ Tbl. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with Pam.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in butter, coconut milk, water, and vanilla until combined. Beat at high speed until very smooth.
3. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold half of the egg whites into the batter until incorporated then fold in the rest. Bake for 45 minutes.
4. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes then invert them and let them cool completely about 2 hours.
5. Spread lemon curd on one cake top and place the other cake on top. You can also cut the cakes in half and layer curd that way, too.
6. Beat cream with sugar until medium-firm peaks form. Frost the cake and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. 

Green Tea Ice Cream

I know you're all chomping at the bit to read the rest of my camping saga, but I'm posting a delicious ice cream recipe first. Deal with it. 
I'm eating this ice cream as I post this... it is so smooth and creamy and refreshing. You're going to love it. If you don't, well, there's something wrong with you.


3/4 cup milk (I used Lactaid 2% because that's what I drink, but you can use whatever kind of milk you prefer.)
2 egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon green tea powder (this can be found at any Asian market. It's kind of expensive, but the powder keeps for a while, so it all works out.)
3 tablespoons hot water


Mix hot water and green tea powder in a bowl and set aside. Lightly whisk egg yolks in a pan. Add sugar and mix well. Gradually add milk and mix. Put the pan on low heat and stir constantly until the mixture is thick (coats the back of a spoon). Remove the pan from heat and soak the bottom of the pan in ice water to cool the mixture. Add the green tea to the custard mixture and mix well, cooling the mixture.  Add the cream and stir gently. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and freeze.


Serves 4 to 6 people.

Camping is in tents

**Names have not been changed to protect the innocent because frankly, there were no innocent people. Also, I just don't care that much.**

So, I went camping this weekend at the Sawmill campgrounds with my buddy, Laura. For those of you who've known me for a while, you know that my idea of "camping" is staying at a Holiday Inn. This real camping thing was a big deal. Laura and I got to the camp site on Friday and set up the tents (yeah, you heard me... tents). Laura had also invited (out of a mixture of pity and annoyance) a "club buddy" and the club buddy's friend, to join us. Now, Laura is a pretty rad girl, but this club friend, Rachel... I just don't think words could accurately describe her. Here's a little taste, though: a 26 year old who dropped out of school at 16, never even received her GED, has a serious problem with alcohol (and a DUI to prove it), with an unhealthy obsession with an over-sized Curious George stuffed animal ("he has his own Facebook page with 44 friends!"), and to top it off, has the mental capacity of a sidewalk brick. Actually, that's not right... that was an insult to the brick. Obviously, this girl was a genius.  Rachel and her friend, Amy, arrived at our site around midnight on Friday. They were both drunk and ridiculously loud. We were off to a great start. Laura and I were cordial, even though they woke us up but, we pushed through it. We had to endure their drunk, incoherent mumblings, like this gem from Rachel: "I'm not saying that crazy people are seductive, but..." Yeah, we're still not sure what word Rachel meant to use there...

Laura had told me that the two girls shared a brain cell between them and that I would need to dumb it down when I spoke to them. I took this as an opportunity to practice my trial skills when addressing jury members. After all, we're taught in school that the average jury is comprised of people who have the equivalent of an 8th grade education. Apparently though, I failed in this endeavor and Laura informed me the next morning that Rachel had commented that she "was not very fond of Bailey. She uses big words and isn't very mutual." Laura had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. MUTUAL?! WHAT?! I'm assuming Rachel meant something along the lines of "accommodating," but who knows?

Laura regretted inviting Rachel the minute she set foot on our camp site, and I had to agree with her feelings of regret. Amy wasn't so terrible, though. Stupid, but not nearly as annoying as Rachel. Amy and I started talking and Rachel went into defense mode. She scowled, pouted, and glared when Amy spoke to me and would always interrupt me when I spoke, and called Amy "babe" constantly. I felt like I was watching a Discovery Channel special on the practices of the insecure butch struggling to assert her dominance. Apparently I was in the middle of a power struggle, despite the fact that I was not an active participant. I'll never understand the ridiculous subtleties and nuances of the lesbian community. UGH.

After just one night with the two other girls, despite snickering at their stupidity, Laura and I had had enough. We decided to go canoeing, leaving the girls to sit by the pool and fry in a drunken stupor.  Laura and I were picked up by a toothless, but pleasant good ol' boy and taken to the canoe drop site for a 3 hour tour... a 3 hour touuuur... to be continued...