Friday, March 12, 2010

lemon rosemary biscotti


  • I love working with fresh seasonal ingredients. One of our close friends were trimming their Rosemary tree and gave us a huge Ziplock bag of fresh rosemary. Since they were going to be having out-of-town guests staying with them for a week, I thought what a great idea to bake biscotti in return, so they could serve fresh cookies to serve their guests?

I guess the biscotti was so yum that the guests never got to them.

This is a delicate combination of lemon flavors and fragrant rosemary, a balance that compliments each other very well.

Preparations:
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Next, add in eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, rosemary, salt, and baking powder. Add in flour one cup at a time.
Pat the dough into 2 loaves approximately 1-inch high and 2-inches wide. Bake at 325F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and slide off the baking pan onto a cutting board. Cut loaves into 1/2-inch thick slices and place them back onto the baking pan laying on their side. Return baking pan to the oven at 400 degrees, and bake another 10 minutes or until crisp.

Triple decadent chocolate ice cream

After getting an ice cream machine, we have been thinking of making homemade ice cream...using our favorite ingredients, chocolate + chocolate and more heaps of chocolate!

It was fate when the day we were going to shop for ice cream ingredients, Ina Garten made a Deeply Chocolate Gelato Recipe.
This is chocolate three ways in the ice cream - Cocoa powder, fine (artisan) chocolate bars, and baci chocolate!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup sugar, divided
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (recommended: Pernigotti)
  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 4 extra-large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons Mexican coffee flavor liqueur (recommended: Kahlua)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • Large pinch kosher salt
  • 8 chocolates, roughly chopped, optional (recommended: Baci)

Directions

Heat the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar in a 2-quart saucepan, until the sugar dissolves and the milk starts to simmer. Add the cocoa powder and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Pour into a heat-proof measuring cup.

Place the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and very thick. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the hot chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Pour the egg and chocolate mixture back into the 2-quart saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. A candy thermometer will register about 180 degrees F. Don't allow the mixture to boil!

Pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and stir in the coffee liqueur, vanilla, and salt. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard and chill completely.

Pour the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. Stir in the roughly chopped chocolate, if using, and freeze in covered containers. Allow the gelato to thaw slightly before serving.


Zucchini Fritters

Seeking for more ways to consume my favorite veggie, I made zucchini fritters that satisfied my taste buds for something lightly fried and a craving for zucchini....It was gently fried and the edges were crispy and delightful! To add more flavor, I added a slight twist to the batter - fresh herbs rosemary and thyme.

Zucchini Fritters


Ingredients:

1 lb of zucchini (about 2 medium sized), coarsely grated
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1 large egg
2 scallions, finely chopped

Chopped fresh rosemary, one tsp

Fresh thyme, one tsp

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grape seed oil or olive oil


Preparations:

1 Salt the zucchini with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Try to remove the excess moisture from the zucchini by squeezing the liquid out by squeezing with paper towels. (The original recipe calls for putting the zucchini in a colander set in the sink to let it drain for 10 minutes after salting it. I think it works much better to use a potato ricer.)

2 Whisk egg in a large bowl; add the zucchini, flour, fresh rosemary and thyme, scallions, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Mix to combine well.

3 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook fritters in two batches. Drop six mounds of batter (2 Tbsp each) into the skillet. Flatten slightly. Cook, turning once, until browned, 4-6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining batter.