Showing posts with label creme fraiche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creme fraiche. Show all posts

When Coriander Made It Into Our Ice Cream



    It is hot. In the 100s hot.

    I am counting down the days when we will be traveling to Vermont and later to the Basque Country. Meanwhile, we continue to eat cherries and all sorts of berries by the handful.

    And then, there are ice creams and sorbets.



    "Can you help me pick these green seeds from this cilantro plant?" I asked Jon a few weeks ago. "See the flowers? That means there will be no more cilantro leaves". "Is the cilantro dead?" he asked with a concerned look on his face. "No, not dead, but we will not be cooking with the leaves now. Instead we will use the seeds".

    I love a beautiful flowering cilantro plant. So delicate and dainty.

    We collected the green coriander seeds and laid them out to dry. I add them to anything these days.



    Last week, I received a new book in the mail. A book dedicated to all things ice cream. Just what I crave at the moment.

    Written by Jeni Britton Bauer, who owns Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, the book is photographed by Stacy Newgent whose work I have admired for a long time. I sat down with it over the weekend and bookmarked nearly every page.

    Then I came across the coriander and raspberry ice cream.

    Instant swoon.



    Inspired by this flavor combination, I quickly began making my own version. Coriander-scented cheesecake ice cream with chunky raspberry sauce swirled all throughout.

    I toasted the coriander seeds that Jon had helped me pick weeks before and steeped them in the milk. Subtle, but enough to make the cheesecake ice cream pop.

    I couldn't stop licking the spatula.

    Could you?



    On Sunday, after we went swimming and while everyone relaxed, I cooked a batch of fruit en papillote (remember this one?) with vanilla bean, a touch of grated ginger, and lemon thyme.

    Red and golden raspberries, frozen red currants, red velvet apricots, and rainier cherries. So light and fragrant.

    Served the fruit with the coriander and raspberry swirl cheesecake ice cream.

    A dollop of cream. Extra raspberry sauce on top.



    And the leftovers? The leftovers were turned into milkshakes.

    Miren approved.


    Coriander and Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream

    Raspberry Sauce

    2 cups (260 g) raspberries
    3/4 cups (150 g) natural cane sugar


    Place raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat until thick, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Chill for at least 1 hour.

    Coriander Cheesecake Ice Cream

    2 tablespoons coriander seeds
    3/4 cup (185 ml) whole milk
    8 oz (225 g) cream cheese, room temperature
    8 oz (225 g) crème frâiche
    1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs (125 g) caster sugar


    In a small skillet, toast the coriander seeds over medium high heat until fragrant. Coarsely crush them (do not turn them into a fine powder).

    Combine the coriander and milk in a small sauce pan. Bring to a light simmer, turn off the heat, and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes. Strain and discard the seeds.

    In the food processor, pulse the cream cheese, crème frâiche, sugar, and milk together until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and chill for at least 1 hour.

    Churn the ice cream in your machine according to manufacturers instructions. When it is finished, swirl in half of the raspberry sauce and reserve the rest as a topping. Freeze until solid.

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When Coriander Made It Into Our Ice Cream


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https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-coriander-made-it-into-our-ice.html


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Lady Apple, Grapefruit and Creme Fraiche Salad for a Light Afternoon Snack



    This might not sound very exciting to many, but my mom and I love food shopping. We get giddy when we have to take trips to the market together, we write extensive lists and always look forward to whatever exciting things we will find. We even did this back home taking bi-weekly trips to Bilbao's "Mercado de la Ribera". We love talking to the produce guys at Whole Foods to find out what is coming that week and dig through their crates to find the best pieces. The apples with the leaves, the strawberries with the stems... whatever it might be.

    This past week was particularly thrilling as we found a small shipment of lady apples that we instantly cleaned out. They were beautiful, crispy, very sweet and slightly tart. I couldn't decide what to make with them and as time passed by, we just kept eating them raw. One by one they started to disappear and soon I was left with a third of the original box.



    We have been spending a lot of time at home and walking around our neighborhood. Every morning and every afternoon, we take M. out for a stroll, which she seems to really enjoy. She naps while my mom and I just talk about everything and anything. Food is always on our minds and planning daily meals is one of our favorite subjects.

    It has been warm and humid the last few days and a fruit salad is what we were all craving for a snack in the afternoon. We came home, sliced some apples, segmented some Florida grapefruit, cut some fresh ginger, whipped some creme fraiche and picked some mint and stevia from my herb planters. This must be the easiest recipe I have ever posted here, but so fresh and delicious.



    We still had some lady apples, so we decided to surprise J. with some candied apples when he came home from school that afternoon. "For me?", he said with a big smile. He was more excited about the idea of holding the stick than anything else and as I suspected, he ended with sticky hands and a messy face, but the apple was left untouched.



    Candied Lady Apples

    adapted from Martha Stewart

    2 cups sugar
    1 cup water
    3/4 cup corn syrup
    10 lady apples


    Remove the stems from the apples and insert a wooden skewer in each one.

    Mix the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook to a very light caramel (barely any color) to about 315F.

    Lady Apple, Grapefruit and Creme Fraiche Salad

    2 lady apples, thinly sliced
    1 medium red grapefruit, peeled and segmented
    Fresh ginger, thinly sliced
    Pistachios, chopped
    Vanilla simple syrup
    Creme fraiche, whipped
    Fresh mint
    Fresh stevia leaves


    Make the vanilla simple syrup with equal parts water and sugar. I used 1/2 cup sugar and 12 cup of water with half a vanilla bean. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves and let it cool. Set aside.

    Arrange the sliced apples, grapefruit segments and ginger on a plate. Drizzle with the vanilla simple syrup, sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and herbs and arrange some creme fraiche quenelles on top.

Post Title

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Lady Apple, Grapefruit and Creme Fraiche Salad for a Light Afternoon Snack


Post URL

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https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2009/12/lady-apple-grapefruit-and-creme-fraiche.html


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