Sweet Talkin' Summer Essentials

I don’t know about you, but when the temperature rises above 90 degrees I don’t even want to look at the stove. Salad, cold soup, slaw, sorbet, and anything else that does not require additional heat are my summertime essentials. That is why yesterday I set out across Brooklyn to pay a visit to a little produce shop called, Atlantic Fruit and Veg. Japanese grocery.
There is nothing remarkable about this little market accept for the fact that it is always well stocked with handsomely ripe fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, and what seems like an endless supply of un-bruised Arugula.
The day was hot, but there was a misleading breeze that lulled me gently into an uninhibited state and with my i-pod blasting Leningrad, the Russian ska/punk/klezmer version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, I skipped down the street to the pounding beat, giving fellow pedestrians the impression that I had lost my mind. Once I arrived, having literally hopped across Brooklyn, my little Japanese fruit Market appeared like a colorful mirage, an edible rainbow composed of radiant fruits all of which were screaming out to be eaten.
The watermelon was particularly inviting and well, I don't know about you, but I have never been able to say no to a nice looking watermelon.
The cherries, having clearly been heavily picked through earlier that day, were expressly calling out for asylum. I picked out as many acceptable ones as I could find, I could put them in my morning yogurt.
Unlike their Florida counterpart, these Haitian mangoes were too busy suffering from culture shock to feel threatened by the legendary Alphonso Mango.
These rowdy Florida Mangoes on the other hand, accosted me as I entered the store. "Come on guys, did I not buy enough of you last week?" I tried reasoning with them, but their silent guilt-trip pulled just the right strings. I suppose I could make some sorbet. 'I better get out of here before I get sweet talked into buying anything else' I thought to myself as I ran for the register.
Here are a few of the concoctions I came up with.
Cabbage, Carrot, and Apple Slaw tossed in an
Unruly Mango Ginger Cilantro Dressing
garnished with crushed Spanish peanuts
Recipe:
1 cup - Mango puree
1 Tbsp- Sesame oil
1 Tbsp- shredded ginger
1 Tbsp - Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tsp - Pomegranate Molasses or Honey
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste


Chilled Cucumber and Watermelon Soup
Recipe:
1 seedless cucumber diced
1/4 of a med sized seedless watermelon diced
2 Tbsp - shredded ginger (alright, so I'm crazy about ginger)
1/2 cup - chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp - Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp of yogurt or cream
salt and pepper to taste

1.) in a food processor, puree the cucumber and melon, holding aside 1 cup of diced melon
2.) mix in all other ingredients minus the yogurt
3.) Chill for at least an hour
4.) Mix in yogurt or cream when ready to serve
Mango Sorbet
compliments of David Lebovitz's masterpiece, The Perfect Scoop

2 large, ripe Mangoes
2/3 cup - sugar
2/3 cup - water
4 tsp - freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon of dark rum (I used ginger infused vodka)
pinch of salt

1.) peel mangoes and cut out flesh and cut into chunks
2.) Puree in blender with sugar, water, lime juice, rum, and salt
3.) Chill mixture, them freeze according to your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions

Pros and Cons

When comparing two items, it is important that the comparer carefully consider the pros and cons of each item. Thankfully, in my case, I am comparing ice creams, and not something unappealing like canned beets or hostess fruit pies.
Let us start with Ben and Jerry's.

Pros:

1. Its free Cone Day.
2. Its already made.
3. It's only one serving (so I won't stuff myself later.)

Cons:

1. It's only one serving (so I won't have a chance to stuff myself later.)
2. You have to choose from a set list of flavors.
3. The waiting.


And what about making a fresh batch of the ice cream from The Perfect Scoop?

Pros:

1. You can read and pronounce all the ingredients.
2. You can choose from a list of adventurous flavors.
3. You can improvise - I added ginger to the Super Lemon Ice Cream, and melon to the
Ginger Ice Cream.

Cons:

1. The effort
2. The mess
3. The waiting




As it turns out, I can't compare Ben and Jerry's and David Lebovitz' ice creams because to be honest, I didn't have the patience to wait on that long-ass line. Sure everyone looked like they were having fun, but I had been dreaming of my free scoop all day long, I hadn't eaten all day, and just around the corner was an ice cream place I have been waiting to try.





There were no long lines at Sundaes and Cones, and within moments I was sampling flavors from their selection of classic and some more unusual flavors (wasabi/poppy seed.) I ordered a cone with one scoop of Mocha Chip, and one scoop of Creamy Ginger. Sorry Ben, sorry Jerry:(







Though I did spoiled the proposed contest, I still felt the need to draw some kind of conclusion about store scooped and homemade ice creams. So when I got home I whipped up a batch of Super Lemon Ice Cream, adding a bit of ginger for good measure.
After two ice cream shops and a batch of homemade - the life of a food blogger is not easy - what does this peasant have to say about the difference between store-bought and home churned ice cream? I must say that, as you don't have to wait on an insanely long line for them, they both have their charm.

David vs. Ben and Jerry

April 17th is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's. Participating ice cream shops in the NYC area include Ben and Jerry's Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, Ben and Jerry's Chelsea, and Ben and Jerry's Third Avenue. Log onto their site to find participating ice cream shops near you.

As for me and all the other Lebovitz disciples, I wonder if our ice cream endeavors will forever ruin our taste for anything other than homemade ice cream. Thankfully, I am willing to sabotage my pitiful attempt at a diet in order to find the answer to this urgent question. Check back tonight for results.

An Ice Cream Wish Fulfilled

Scrolling threw my blog entries over the last month or so, one might get the notion that I have become entirely consumed with the task of making ice cream. Do I deny it? With my culinary exploits broadcast on the web for anyone to see, how could I? Even David Lebovitz himself, the author of The Perfect Scoop and many other wonderful cookbooks, alludes to my heavenly immoderation with his link to my Gourmet Math – A losing battle post in which I attempt six of his recipes in one weekend. In accordance with 'gourmet math', and for the sake of looking sum-what presentable in my summer swimwear I was aiming at taking a break from ice cream making for a few weeks, but in light of Davids’s generous link, it seems that I must instead step it up a notch. Ah, La vida es dura – an ironic phrase that I have been uttering quite regularly as of late.

So how does an ice cream peasant step it up a notch? By making ice cream dreams come true of course! While showing my new ice cream maker to close friend and cooking companion Abraham, he opened up to me about his long and unfulfilled dream of making cilantro ice cream. “ Well do you have any plans this evening?” I asked him. He looked down at me with a tentative grin (he’s 6’4; I’m 5’4) and answered with hesitating inflection, “making cilantro ice cream…”



Unable to find a recipe for Cilantro Ice Cream, we decided on using David's recipe for Basil Ice cream as a guideline, and replaced the Basil with Cilantro.





Cilantro on its own seemed a bit boring so we decided to candy some lemon and lime zest to add a bit of kick.

With the custard churning away in the ice cream machine, and our candied lemon/lime zest cooling and crystallizing, we sat back and enjoyed some Roasted Carrot, Pear, and Beet Salad (we didn't want to eat anything too heavy with a quart of ice cream on the horizon.)



Five minutes before the ice cream was done, we tossed in the candied zest and watched as it was devoured by the rich and velvety frozen custard. "DING!!" went the timer and within moments we were crowded around the bucket and with fencing spoons tearing into the already melting concoction. It was a race against time, and we waisted none of it. " The cilantro is much more understated than I thought it would be," Abraham said before taking another bite. " But the flavor lingers," I interjected. And it did linger; Hours later I could still taste the earthy green essance of cilantro.

After our race against the melting pot, this was all that remained

So Abraham, how does it feel to have your long term ice cream wish fulfilled?









All in all the flavor came out great, though it will be subject to further experimentation and review. Perhaps we will 86 the zest and mix in a swirl of strawberry or even tomato jam instead... Any suggestions?

Gourmet Math- A Losing Battle

I jog an average of three miles, three to five times a week. I do this for cardiovascular health, and more importantly, to counteract my habitual cup cake, chocolate, and ice cream abuse. Think of it as gourmet math. I can pawn 40 minutes of jogging for eight bite-size pieces of dark chocolate - to be consumed at strategic moments throughout the day. I can also swap 40 minutes on the elliptical for a scoop or two of my favorite ice cream, a tri-berry scone from Two Little Red Hens in Brooklyn, or Salt Caramels from Lucky’s…Hell, throw in a bike ride to work and back and I can have all three. Gourmet math would be a wonderful system if it were not for it one critical flaw, my mother.

This week I visited my mother upstate and with her boyfriend Dave out of town, we were free to run wild in the kitchen, and run wild we did. Like two witches at the cauldron, we churned away at the stove making custard after custard too freeze into ice cream. The ice cream machine cranked and grunted as we watched with childish delight the creamy and swirling liquid thicken into a frosty marshmallow-like consistency. We made four flavors:
The vanilla was flawless,
the coffee aromatic,












the lemon light and puckery,












and the butterscotch almond a buttery dream.
The next morning I woke to the caramelized aroma of toasted sugar and butter and found my mother in the kitchen making ice cream cones. Later that day, with my niece, nephew, and brother, we devoured the cones and most of the ice cream. That night we returned to a nearly empty freezer; the only flavor left was a previously made container of Roasted Banana Ice Cream. We did the only thing we could do; we ate it.

For most people, this two day ice cream fest would have be enough to fulfill a month’s allocation but, for me and my mother we still had one day, three flavors, and an stack of ice cream sandwiches left to go. Why quite when you are on a roll?
After calculating the number of extra calories consumed in ice cream while at my mother’s house, Gourmet Math determined that, I would have to run three miles, at least three times a day in order to break even with this degree of calorie consumption. Who has the time for such measures? And, what is an ice cream eating peasant to do in such extreme circumstances? These question and others even mildly resembling them are clearly pushed to the back burner while visiting my mother. Lets just say, I have a lot of extra running to do in the coming weeks.

La Vida Es Dura

Just moments after my mother swooped me up from the train station, were we comparing our favorite new cookbooks and selecting the recipes we would tackle over the next few days. She had just received David Lebovitz’s new recipe book, The Perfect Scoop, and I had just purchased The Essence of Chocolate by John Sharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. As I ruffled through page after page reading them aloud, our stomachs began to protest loudly. There were just so many marvelous recipes, Olive Oil Ice Cream, Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate Shortbread with pink salt and chocolate nibs, Chili and Chocolate Marinated Flank Steak… how were we ever going to choose between them all? Overwhelmed, I leaned back and glanced out my window at the approaching mountains plump with the promise of spring, and releasing a tiny giggle I sighed, "La Vida es dura."