I’m heading to Louisiana tomorrow for an extra-long (and warm-weathered) Christmas visit with my family! (Cue happy dance.) Gil has to work this week, so he’ll join us after spending a few days alone with the dogfaces. Since I won’t be around for the start of Hanukkah, I thought I’d make Gil a batch of chocolate-drizzled macaroons to remember me by.

I was still working on my drizzling technique with these first few, but they’re charming in a jolie laide sort of way, right?

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it! Next up: something savory to balance all of the sugar I’ve been posting…

recipe after the jump

Coconut-Almond Macaroons lightly adapted from Martha Stewart

I was out of slivered almonds, so I substituted an equal amount of almond meal this time around without a problem.

1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg white
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup slivered almonds, broken into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment. Whisk together sugar and egg white in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Form dough into eight 2-tablespoon mounds, and drop each onto sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake macaroons until golden-brown on bottoms and edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. Using a spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cooled macaroons.

Macaroons will keep, covered, for up to 1 week.

Not me, that’s for sure. Especially during a heatwave. Especially when that heatwave comes on the heels of a winter that lasted a record-breaking two years and four months. (Well, that’s what it felt like, but I’ll be honest and say I’ll take summer and all of its stankiness over winter’s misery any day and twice on Sunday.)

But we were discussing parfait, right? When a dessert’s based on a premise of perfection, it’s tough to mess up. You can get pretty creative with it — just do a quick Google search to see what I mean — but there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple, either. For these, I just layered dairy-free coconut ice cream with a rhubarb and strawberry topping I threw together in about 10 minutes, then topped it with toasted slivered almonds. And you know what? It really was perfect.

I don’t keep anything like a dairy-free diet, but there was no milk or cream in the house and I wanted needed to make ice cream. Since I usually have coconut milk in the pantry, I gave that a go with this recipe and loved the outcome — very coconutty/custardy with a rich, creamy texture. The fruit topping recipe came from here, and it’s very bare bones, but when you’ve got stunning strawberries and juicy rhubarb from the farmers’ market to work with, why gild the lily?

recipe after the jump

Coconut Milk Ice Cream adapted lightly from Whole Foods

4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 (13.5- ounce) can light coconut milk
1 (13.5- ounce) can regular coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract

In a medium pot, whisk yolks and sugar together until pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Add light and regular coconut milk and whisk again until well combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes. Be sure not to let the mixture boil. Remove pot from the heat and stir in vanilla and coconut extracts.

Transfer contents of pot to a bowl and chill until cold. Process mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions then transfer to a container with a lid and freeze until firm, about 2 hours more.

Gil tends to half-ass his way through Passover every year (since I showed up) and I’m more than happy to indulge that half-assery, as it makes things So Much Easier for me in the kitchen. He avoids the major grains, but still indulges in beans and spices and continues to be all honey badger about pork and shellfish. Yes!

Because I’m already gluten-free, I’ve taken this grain-free opportunity to go more fully Primal this week, using the 80/20 principle (if you’re doing the Primal thing 80% of the time, don’t worry so much about the other 20%). These macaroons were my entire 20% for the day and I wish I’d made more.

Despite lacking the baking gene, I resolved to make macaroons after eating one of those canned abominations so prevalent this time of year. It turned out to be quite easy, surprisingly enough, thanks to Martha.

The recipe didn’t include chocolate, but c’mon. How could I not?

Gil took one look and nearly leapt out of his skin. “They look real!”

I managed to save a few from his clutches, but they’re all gone now. Wait, when does Passover end? I think I have time to squeeze in another batch before then.

recipe after the jump

Coconut-Almond Macaroons lightly adapted from Martha Stewart

1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg white
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup slivered almonds, broken into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment. Whisk together sugar and egg white in a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Form dough into eight 2-tablespoon mounds, and drop each onto sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake macaroons until golden-brown on bottoms and edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. Using a spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cooled macaroons.

Macaroons will keep, covered, for up to 1 week.

My night: Sitting on the sofa, eating pudding, watching red carpet coverage.

I cook, then I chill.

Of course, it’s not just any pudding, but coconut chocolate pudding from 101 Cookbooks.

Yes, it’s just as good as it looks. Get the recipe here.

< cue swelling strings > OK, it’s not really special at all — just a garden-variety post — but if you’ve been here before, you’ll know I only update once a week at most. This is me trying to be better about that sort of thing.

Another change for the better? Instead of my annual satisfying-yet-ineffective tactic of resisting the return to fall, I’m embracing it with open arms this year. No, seriously: I didn’t whine even a little bit about the annual closet switchout, dutifully donned a hat and jacket when morning temperatures and the Hudson Hawk made my walk too brisk for bareness and have sucked it up about not seeing my house in daylight during the week. Just trying to Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive here, and the easiest way I know to do that is through cooking, focusing on seasonal goodness.

Gil can attest to my current pumpkin/winter squash obsession. (We’ll be attending castings for Jersey Shore if I don’t cut it out. Coming soon to a boardwalk near you: Amy “The Back End” and Gil “The Incident” Roth.) I’ve been roasting pumpkin like crazy for custards, puddings and mashes, but my favorite use so far has been for soup. What you see in the picture above isn’t revolutionary and won’t set the world on fire, but it’s thoroughly delicious and feels rich and indulgent even though it’s (gasp) vegan. It’s a lush pumpkin soup flavored with roasted garlic, coconut milk and Singapore curry — a lovely, light spice blend that doesn’t overwhelm any other components of the dish.

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I jumped feet-first into serious cold-weather cooking last weekend to satisfy a craving for chickpea soup (pasta e ceci, minus the pasta this time around). To make it gluten-free, I substituted ribbons of rainbow chard for the pasta, adding them to the soup just before serving so they wilted just enough to turn silky but still provided some texture with each bite. It’s a different animal than the original, to be sure, but the chard really added a nice dimension to the soup and I figure extra servings of greens are always a good thing.

When I was doing my grad school stint in St. Louis, one of the guys in my program announced to the office, “I can always tell who the Southerners are when it gets cold. You people bitch all winter long.” So yeah, I’m sure I’ll change my tune once we get deeper into the season, but for now, I’m happy enough not to fight Mother Nature. Wow, can roasted root vegetables be far behind?

recipes after the jump

Curried Pumpkin Soup

This is really just a base with which to play. Try any winter squash, or even already-cooked carrots or sweet potatoes instead of pumpkin. Make it a more savory, Moroccan-inspired dish by swapping in tomatoes, warm spices, preserved lemon and harissa for the coconut and curry. Maybe try some whole chickpeas tossed in at the end. Play, and enjoy.

1 medium sweet/sugar pumpkin
1 head garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 tablespoon mild curry powder (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 sage leaf, chopped (optional)
1 can coconut milk (I prefer full-fat, but feel free to swap in a lite version)
1/2 teaspoon salt
water to cover

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut pumpkin in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and membranes with a spoon. Place pumpkin cut side up on a baking sheet and brush the cut halves with 1/2 tablespoon oil or melted butter. Slice off the top part of the garlic head, place on a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and salt and wrap tightly. Place on baking sheet with the pumpkin. Roast both for an hour or until a knife can be inserted into the thickest part of the pumpkin with no resistance.

Carefully unwrap garlic and set aside until cool enough to handle, then squeeze cloves from the skins and reserve. Scoop out pumpkin flesh and discard skins.

Heat remaining olive oil or butter in heavy pot over medium heat. When hot, sautée onion until translucent, then add curry powder and turmeric and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, garlic and remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Blend with immersion blender until creamy or, working in batches, use blender. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Chickpea Soup with Chard from Rachel Eats’ Pasta e Ceci

Like I said, I left out the pasta and added swiss chard, but I’m including the original recipe here because it’s perfection in a bowl. If you want to go gluten-free as well, just stop before you get to the stage where you add pasta to the soup.

serves 4

250g dried chickpeas soaked overnight and then simmered for 2 hours until tender or 450g tinned chickpeas
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
medium carrot peeled and finely diced
stick of celery finely diced
mild onion peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp tomato concentrate
small sprig of rosemary
500ml vegetable or chicken stock or water the chickpeas were cooked in with more plain water added to make up the 500ml if necessary.
optional -  500ml extra water or stock for if you cook the pasta in the soup.
Parmesan rind
salt and freshly ground black pepper
225g small dried tubular pasta
your nicest oil for on top

Prepare your soffrito of finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, sauteing them gently and slowly in the oil in a large heavy based pan until soft and floppy and translucent.

Then you add the tomato concentrate and a sprig of rosemary, stir, and then add 2/3 of your cooked chickpeas.

Stir again and then cover everything with stock or water, throw in a Parmesan rind. Bring the pan to a happy boil, reduce to a simmer and then leave the pan to bubble away gently for about 20 minutes.

Now remove the rind and rosemary and pass everything through the mouli or give it a blast with the hand blender to create a smooth gloopy soup.

Now you add the rest of the cooked chickpeas and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now the two choices:

1. you can either add some more water or stock to the soup, bring it to the boil and cook your pasta directly in the soup

or

2. you can cook your pasta separately in some fast boiling salted water and then add it to the soup, then let things rest for about 5 minutes so the flavors mingle. Serve dribbled with more extra virgin olive oil and some freshly grated Parmesan..

I’ve lost count of the missing weeks by now, but couldn’t let the last vestiges of summer slip by without posting about the latest seasonal finds from our market in Ringwood.

I don’t know about you, but we’ve nearly eaten our weight in corn this summer. Grilled, smoked, raw, creamed, sautéed … it’s all been delicious and now that summer’s winding down, I’m truly savoring fresh corn while it’s still around. But a couple of dishes really stood out from the crowd and I want to make sure I tell you about them, and include links so I can re-create them next year.

This weekend I adapted Michael Ruhlman’s recipe for baked buttered corn (seen above), gilding the lily with burro di parma and wisps of freshly grated locatelli before baking, then finishing with a dab of truffle butter before serving. It sounds excessive, but the extra ingredients were used in moderation for just a touch of earthiness so really, corn was still the star. This dish is a great way to use late-season corn that maybe isn’t quite the revelation it was even a few weeks ago.

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For a couple of weeks in August, I was obsessed with cooking variations of Shrimp with Sweet Curry and Coconut Creamed Corn. We had it 3 times in the span of two weeks and I could still go for more, which will probably happen next weekend, now that I think about it. The only reason for adapting the recipe at all was because I didn’t have the specific spice blends called for, but after working around that problem, I’ve discovered that there isn’t a way to mess this up. The first time around, I left the curry out of the corn mixture and coated the shrimp with it instead (using Singapore curry from World Spice Merchants). The curry blend was light and paired perfectly with the shrimp; it accentuated the shrimp’s natural sweetness and, with a dash of cayenne pepper, added a touch of heat which cut through the richness of the coconut corn.

Nina found herself up to her ears in callaloo this summer, after deciding to grow it on a whim. Since I’m a sucker for any new (to me) ingredient, I made a beeline for the strange-looking vines when they appeared at her booth and managed to work it into a couple of other iterations of the shrimp and coconut corn recipe. If you’ve never had callaloo, it’s similar to water spinach or chard, but cooks down to something that seems much less virtuous, with a thick, silky, rich mouthfeel. I used madras curry in the corn base this time and simmered the shrimp along with it, so the dish was more of a stew than it was the first go-around. (No picture of what was an otherwise delicious dish because the callaloo turned the whole mixture a thoroughly unappealing-looking shade of bile green. And because I cobbled together a few recipes without writing down any of the steps/measurements, there’s no real recipe for you. But I’ll try to re-create it this weekend and let you know how it turns out.)

continued after the jump

But man can’t live by corn alone, so we’ve supplemented our diet with other seasonal goodies like tomatoes (duh), peaches, blueberry pie (Gil’s weakness) and summer squash. I’ve had Smitten Kitchen’s ratatouille bookmarked since the film that inspired it was in theaters and finally got around to trying it for the first time this month. That noise you hear is me thwacking my head against the wall as I think of all those weeks (years, really!) of ratatouille perfection I missed out on.

But no longer. It’s made an appearance on our table for the second time in as many weeks and I imagine it’ll show up again before the squash and eggplant bid us farewell.

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Sometimes we’ll make a summer meal of thinly shaved squash and zucchini layered with with shaved parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil and smoked salt. Other times I’ll put a little more effort into it, like I did over the weekend.

When I saw a post for squash, bacon and goat cheese pasta at The Kitchen, I knew I’d have to make it. To compensate for the lackluster gluten-free pasta I’d serve it with, I made a few adjustments to coax more flavor from the sauce. I added some olive oil to the bacon fat, threw in about 1/2 small eggplant and, most importantly, added the juice of 1/2 lemon plus zest at the very end. The lemon really sent this one over the top, so I’d recommend trying it, even if you don’t have any pasta sins to cover.

And since I mentioned tomatoes… Behold: Tomato pie from Leite’s Culinaria!

I realize you can’t see any tomatoes, but once cut into slices, this pie turned into a phenomenally delicious mess. I’d certainly recommend it if you’re still up to your ears in tomatoes, but you might not want to serve it to people who care about presentation. Just sayin’.

What? Like I’m not going to make truffles at Christmas? I adapted Alton Brown’s recipe by adding minced mission figs to the ganache, and while the truffles were delicious, they were truly a lot of work. I may just leave this one to the experts in the future.

For the 2007 Advent Calendar, click here.

recipe after the jump

Chocolate Truffles adapted from Alton Brown

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
4 dried mission figs, minced
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, and/or toasted coconut, for coating truffles
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Place the 10 ounces of chocolate and butter in a medium size glass mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, and repeat this process 1 more time. Set aside.

Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the melted chocolate mixture; let stand for 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir gently, starting in the middle of bowl and working in concentric circles until all chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and creamy. Gently stir in the brandy. Pour half of the mixture into a medium glass bowl and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Pour the other half of the mixture into a medium glass bowl, stir in minced figs and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Using a melon baller, scoop chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place the cocoa powder, nuts, and/or toasted coconut each in its own pie pan and set aside.

In the meantime, place the 8 ounces of chocolate into a medium mixing bowl which is sitting on top of a heating pad lined bowl, with the heating pad set to medium. Depending on the heating pad, you may need to adjust the heat up or down. Stirring the chocolate occasionally, test the temperature of the chocolate and continue heating until it reaches 90 to 92 degrees F; do not allow the chocolate to go above 94 degrees F. If you do, the coating will not have a nice snap to it when you bite into the chocolate. Once you have reached the optimal temperature, adjust the heat to maintain it. (I melted the chocolate in an electric fondue pot on the lowest setting. The chocolate didn’t get too warm, and it seemed to be less trouble than adjusting a heating pad would’ve been.)

Remove the truffles from the refrigerator and shape into balls by rolling between the palms of your hands. Use powder-free vinyl or latex gloves, if desired.

Dip an ice cream scoop into the chocolate and turn upside down to remove excess chocolate. Place truffles 1 at time into the scoop and roll around until coated. (Instead of using an ice cream scoop, I speared each truffle with a skewer, dipped it into the melted chocolate, then let the excess drip off.) Then place the truffle into the dish with either the cocoa powder, nuts or coconut. (I only coated the figgy truffles with cocoa powder. Experiment with other flavors if you wish.) Move the truffle around to coat; leave truffle in the coating for 10 to 15 seconds before removing. In the meantime, continue placing the chocolate-coated truffles in the cocoa or other secondary coating. After 10 to 15 seconds, remove the truffle to a parchment lined sheet pan. Repeat until all truffles are coated. Allow to set in a cool dry place for at least 1 hour; or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Truffles are best when served at room temperature.

Usually when I buy beets, both root and green are destined for a salad inspired by an episode of Lidia’s Family Table — roasted beets, boiled greens, and sliced green apple are tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, topped with hard goat cheese, and seasoned only with salt & pepper. It’s simple and delicious, especially when the produce is at its freshest and most vibrant.

But wanting something different last weekend and thinking (incorrectly) I was prepared to deal with a certain amount of frustration, I decided on a beet tart adapted from this one. The process involved me buying my first tart pan from a store that fascinates and repels me in equal measure — New York Cake & Baking Distribution, conveniently located across the street from my office. I’m attracted to its bare bones design and singularity of purpose; this isn’t a place you go for a comfortable shopping experience with easily navigable aisles or readily located merchandise. No, you go here for baking supplies (pretty much anything at all) at a good price. Period. I’m repelled only because I’m woefully ignorant about baking and expect to be given the bum’s rush when I walk in. Insecure much?

And, you know, there’s a reason for my insecurity — I’ve never once made a pie crust that hasn’t frustrated me to the point of tears. Part of the problem is a lack of counter space, but mostly it’s simple inexperience. Is the dough too dry? Is it too wet? I DON’T KNOW! I think the problem you see above was a too-dry crust, but couldn’t say. My quick fix was to jam bits of dough into the areas where it broke apart, figuring the filling would hide my mistakes from sight, if not taste.

But what a filling it was! While the beets were roasting, I threw in a whole head of garlic, too, which I later sautéed with a chopped onion and copious amounts of thyme. Just meditate on that for a minute.

And then I topped that layer with an egg, crème fraiche, and goat cheese cheese mixture before the roasted beets and even more cheese found their way to the tippy top of the tart.

It was a lot of work, I won’t lie, and I don’t really know if I’ll be preparing the crust again since I’m such a numskull with the pastry-making, but that filling definitely will be featured again in future meals, the layers alone or in some combination. For you see, it was DELICIOUS.

OK, it looks a little pizza-like, but warm from the oven with the sweet caramelized onions, garlic and beets sandwiching that creamy filling, mmmm…

We polished off about half of the tart on the spot, calling it dinner, and put the other half away for quick lunches later in the week.

The other (and probably the more surprising) ingredient I planned a meal around was … coconut juice. I picked it up on a whim at the grocery one day and couldn’t quite figure out what to do with it, so it languished in the pantry for a few weeks. Then I thought — hey, Thai! So I broke out my new rice cooker and set about making coconut rice with brown basmati and a mixture of coconut milk and strained coconut juice. I was on a roll!

To top the rice, I defrosted about a cup of sofrito from my stash, thinking the cilantro and culantro would be right at home with the coconut, and made a thick stew with the addition of lime-marinated shrimp, shrimp stock, hot pepper paste, and the rest of the coconut milk/juice. I topped it all with thinly sliced green onions and toasted sweetened coconut to balance the tartness from the lime and have to say I was pretty pleased with the outcome:

But I think it could’ve used more heat and possibly a little funky fish sauce to bring the whole thing together. I’ll try that variation next time and report back to you.

And it doesn’t have anything to do with this post, really, but because ’tis the season, I have to show you what I did with my garlic scapes last weekend instead of grilling them.

I made a chickpea dip inspired by Mark Bittman’s white bean dip with lemon zest. I could eat this everyday. I just whirled together some canned chickpeas (drained of squack), the zest of one lemon, the juice of the same, quite a few chopped garlic scapes and harissa. While the machine was running, I drizzled in some good-quality olive oil until the mixture turned creamy; I topped it with more lemon juice, olive oil, and another sprinkling of harissa before we dove in. Yum.

recipe after the jump

Roasted Beet and Garlic Tart adapted from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small chunks
3 – 5 Tbsp. ice water

Filling:
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. dried thyme, crushed, plus 1/4 tsp. for sprinkling on tart
1 head roasted garlic
2 eggs
1/2 cup crème fraiche, or 1/4 cup each heavy cream and sour cream
1/2 cup firm goat’s milk cheese, shredded, plus 1 Tbsp. for sprinkling on top
2 Tbsp. minced basil
3 – 4 roasted and sliced beets (see NOTE below)

Make the crust: In a food processor, mix the flour, salt, and olive oil until the olive oil is thoroughly incorporated into the flour. Add the butter and pulse three or four times to break up and distribute the butter; when you are done, the butter pieces should be the size of small lentils. Add 3 Tbsp. ice water and pulse to mix. Pinch together some of the dough to see if it holds together. If it does not, add small amounts of water, pulsing to mix, until the dough holds together when pinched. Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and knead lightly until the dough holds together. Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Roll out the dough on a piece of well-floured parchment paper until it forms a 10-1/2 inch circle. Use the rolling pin to lift the dough and place it over a 9” tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough firmly into the sides and bottom of the tart pan. Trim the dough’s edges so there is just enough to fold under and cover the sides of the pan with a double layer of dough. Prick tiny holes all over the bottom crust with a fork.

Press a double layer of aluminum foil into the dough (this will prevent it from bubbling up when it bakes) and top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights/beans and bake for 5 minutes longer or until the crust is set and lightly golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Reduce the oven heat to 350°F.

Make the filling: Sauté the onion, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, in olive oil until the onion softens and turns golden. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook for 1 minute, mashing the garlic into the onion as it cooks. Spread the onion, garlic, and thyme mixture over the bottom of the baked tart crust.

Stir together the eggs, crème fraiche, cheese, basil, and freshly ground black pepper until they are thoroughly mixed. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cooked onions. Arrange the sliced, roasted beets on top of the egg mixture. Sprinkle tart with 1 Tbsp. shredded cheese and 1/4 tsp. of crushed dried thyme.

Bake the tart at 350°F for 30 – 35 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

Remove the tart from the pan and serve hot or at room temperature.