Posted by Lucy Baker, July 17, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Ever since I got my Cuisinart ICE-20 at the beginning of the summer, I've been churning out flavor after delectable flavor of cool, smooth, luxurious ice cream. And while there's certainly nothing wrong with indulging every now and again (and again and again), last week I began to feel like maybe I should try to make something if not exactly healthy, then at least marginally less sinful.
I've sampled many homemade frozen yogurts, and have never been impressed. Most commercial brands replace the fat with chemicals and stabilizers that help the yogurt to achieve the right mouth feel. Without the additives, do-it-yourself versions may be more nutritious, but they lack the velvety texture and rich taste of commercial brands. Instead they are often slushy or, worse, frozen rock-hard. What I needed was a frozen yogurt recipe that had enough fat in it to still feel decadent.
This version of chocolate frozen yogurt from The Book of Yogurt turned out to be just what I was looking for. The ingredient list calls for two cups of whole milk, two cups of full-fat plain yogurt, and four egg yolks, not to mention four ounces of melted chocolate. Basically, it's a simple ice cream recipe with one minor change: yogurt is used in place of heavy cream. The results aren't as low-calorie as Yolato, but they're certainly not as over-the-top as many frozen desserts.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, June 13, 2008 at 5:15 PM
- makes about 15 large cookies -
Adapted from Maida Heatter's Cookies by Maida Heatter.
Ingredients
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 cup walnut halves, broken into large pieces (or use all pecans; I do because I’m not a walnut fan)
Procedure
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir until gently until just melted.
3. Whisk the flour in a small bowl with salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs, sugar, espresso and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
4. Mix in the chocolate mixture until just blended. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
5. Use a 1/3-cup measure to form the dough and drop onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake 17 minutes on the upper and middle racks, or until the tops are dry and shiny, shifting the sheets halfway through baking. Slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks to cool completely.
Posted by Lucy Baker, May 27, 2008 at 4:15 PM
My parents' birthdays are four days apart, so usually I just make one cake for them both. Every year it poses a bit of a challenge. My mom is fond of carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, and chocolate, while my dad is more of a plain butter cake or upside-down fruit kind of guy. The one flavor they both love? Lemon.
For their joint party—and for this week's Magazine Recipe Review—I prepared Nathan's Lemon Cake, created by San Diego-based chef Nathan Coulon, from the May issue of Cooking Light. The recipe appealed to me in large part because of the frosting, a simple combination of powdered sugar, lemon juice, and melted butter. Only the tops of the cake layers are frosted (not the sides) so the icing dribbles down in a homey and comforting manner.
The cake turned out moist, tart, and dense with just enough creamy icing to hold the layers together. I omitted the lemon rind strips and studded the cake with fresh raspberries, which is a move I highly recommend. Not only do the bright red berries look stunning atop the pale yellow cake, they also add a burst of sunny sweetness.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, May 23, 2008 at 3:00 PM
- serves 6 to 8 -
Adapted from Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill
Try this recipe as part of a Memorial Day grillfest.
Ingredients
8 ripe peaches, halved and pitted
Mild vegetable oil, such as canola
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
1/4 cup molasses, light or dark (not blackstrap)
Procedure
1. Heat your grill to high.
2. Brush the cut sides of the peaches with oil. Grill cut side down until caramelized and browned, about 2 minutes. Turn the peaches over and grill for 1 to 2 minutes more, until the flesh is almost soft.
3. Place the peaches cut side up on a plate. Drop a tablespoon of crème fraîche in the cavity of each half. Using the tines of a fork or a squeeze bottle, drizzle lightly with molasses. Serve immediately.
Posted by Sarah Wolf, May 22, 2008 at 2:45 PM
- serves 12 -
Adapted from Taming the Flame by Elizabeth Karmel.
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 lemon, zested
Lemon filling:
4 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 lemon, zested
Confectioners' sugar
Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Make the crust: Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor or using a handheld pastry cutter, process all the shortbread ingredients until the mixture begins to form small pea-shaped lumps.
3. Sprinkle the dough into a rectangualr 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. (The bars can also be made in a square 8- or 9-inch baking pan&em;they will be thicker and take about 15 more minutes to bake.) Using your fingers or a metal spatula, press the dough firmly and evenly onto the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan to form a 1/2-inch layer of shortbread. Prick all over with a fork.
4. Bake the shortbread in the middle of the oven until golden, about 25 minutes. Remove it to a cooling rack. (Cover with foil to keep warm if necessary.)
5. While the curst is baking, make the filling: In a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until well combined and a light yellow color. Stir in the lemon juice, flour, and zest.
6. When the shortbread crust is ready and still hot, pour the lemon mixture evenly over it. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F. When it has reached the lower temperature, bake the bars in the middle of the oven until set, about 30 minutes. The top should be light brown and look a little bubbly and crusty.
7. Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, then cut them into 3-inch squares with a nonserrated knife.
8. Lightly sift confectioners' sugar over the cool bars before serving. If making these the night before a party, refrigerate them and reapply the confectioners' sugar just before serving. The sugar is absorbed as the lemon bars sit.
Posted by Jenn Smith, November 12, 2007 at 3:32 PM
Can a Thanksgiving dessert be made entirely from scratch, but also be easy? I find making pie crusts to be a real challenge, and while there are some good store-bought options, another solution is to avoid pies altogether. This year I'm planning to make something that requires broad gestures rather than precise measurement and timing.
I've been working on a pumpkin pandowdy and once I perfect it I'll share the recipe, but until then, consider this recipe for Apple Cranberry Crisp with Pecan Topping from Fine Cooking's guide to Thanksgiving, How to Cook a Turkey. The topping can be made 3 days and the apple filling up to six hours in advance of baking and it is easy to assemble at the last minute.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 19, 2007 at 1:15 PM
And so we've come to the final featured recipe from John T. Edge's Apple Pie: An American Story
. This one gets its name because it's made with a dough similar to that used for those curiously addictive bread-basket inhabitants. The savoriness of the cheese in the crust is the perfect foil for the apple filling.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 18, 2007 at 2:00 PM
In John T. Edge's Apple Pie: An American Story, one chapter has the author deep in the heartland of fried pies—the South. Edge visits two Tennessee women who excel at the art—Ivon King (in Union City) and Margo Hayes (in Darden). The pies are little pockets of fruit fried up in a cast-iron skillet.
Edge's version of the fried pie is made with Coca-Cola as the dough liquid—a variant he observed at several fried-pie stands during his research. Using Coke in cooking is common in the South, he says, and here it gives the dough just the "slightest bit of sweet."
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 17, 2007 at 2:15 PM
In John T. Edge's Apple Pie: An American Story the author travels the country eating the best pies and highlighting them for us. (Tough job, eh?)
Hypocrite Pie is so named because its creator, Beth Tartan, creates a false impression with the custard topping—it disguises a hefty layer of apples hiding beneath. Here, Edge substitutes buttermilk custard for Tartan's more traditional milk version.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 16, 2007 at 1:45 PM
In John T. Edge's Apple Pie: An American Story the author introduces us to a number of pie bakers, among them Dora Leung, whose piecrust recipe is kind of a "drop crust" and which "does not rely upon chilled ingredients or exacting measurements." Perfect for inexact bakers.
In one of the book's chapters, Leung's pie represents for one man, Paul Myers, a sort of platonic ideal of apple pies. Edge deftly tells Myers and Leung's story while extracting a recipe that readers can test at home against their own ideal pie.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 15, 2007 at 3:15 PM
And our first recipe out of the gate this week is for Pecan Apple Rye Pie. You thought we were going to throw you a more classic version, eh? That'll make its appearance later this week. Edge says he adapted this pie from The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. Enjoy!
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