Home made Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Roasted Pears with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Two weeks ago, my friend Katie dropped by and joined us to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I had been talking about trying an ice cream maker, and since she had one, she brought it by so that I could have a go at making my own ice cream. Perfect timing since Jamie had talked about how beaver anal gland is used in the cheaper ice creams, which completely disgusted everyone in our family.

Ice cream has a bit of a finicky relationship with the guys in my house. John can't have sugary items, so he rarely ever touches the stuff. Kevin LOVES ice cream, but because he has some issues with dairy products, he can never eat very much of it. Cheap ice cream never seems to like his stomach that much, and the expensive ice cream is...well...expensive! I can't bring myself to pay $7 for a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

So basically we don't eat a lot of ice cream, except in the summer when I break down and buy it.

One batch of home made ice cream later, and now I covet that ice cream maker so much that when we go to the USA this summer I am going to scope one out. There is nothing like home made ice cream, and I don't think I could ever go back to the store bought stuff again. The best part is, Kevin can eat it with no issues-which has made me wonder if it really is an issue with dairy products that he has, or rather an issue with food additives and preservatives.

Don't let the idea of home made ice cream scare you into thinking that it's a long, drawn out, scary process. Basically all you do is make a custard and chill it. Then you pop it in the maker, turn it on, and presto! Ice cream! If you can stir, you can make this. The only problem is you need an ice cream maker. Do I recommend you go out and buy one? If you eat a lot of ice cream or don't want to have food with weird additives, then I say yes.

Now, a bit of advice before you start. I believe that in this case, you want to use the very best ingredients possible. Don't use the cheap fake vanilla extract or cheap milk, but rather the very best you can afford. It makes a huge difference in your end product. I used Madagascar vanilla beans from The Vanilla Food Company, along with a bottle of their real vanilla extract, and the flavor was just incredible.

Also, home made things are way more satisfying. One small scoop of this stuff was enough-it's so rich and creamy, it doesn't need toppings or anything. Maybe just a little fresh fruit.

Adapted from Cuisinart

2 1/3 cups whole milk
2 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Stir the milk and cream together in a medium sized pot. Cut your vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape out all the seeds in the middle, and add them to the pot along with the pod. Give it a stir. Don't worry if the seeds are a bit clumped together, they will separate on their own.

Turn the heat to medium and stirring, bring the mixture to a slow boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 1/2 hour. Stir it occasionally so nothing burns, and keep an eye on it.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs and egg yolks. Mix them on low to medium until they become thick and pale yellow, almost like mayonnaise, or a pudding. It takes about 2 minutes or so.

When your milk is finished, remove from the heat, fish out the vanilla pod and discard. Pour 1 cup of the hot milk/cream into a measuring cup. With the motor of the electric mixer running, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. This is called tempering the eggs, which means it slowly warms them up so that when you add them to the hot milk/cream mixture they don't scramble on you.

Once you have added the 1 cup of milk, stop the mixer and take the bowl to the stove. Pour the egg mixture into the pot with the remaining milk, mixing as you go. Turn the heat to medium low and, stirring constantly with a heat proof spatula, cook until the mixture will coat the back of a spoon.

Well, I reasoned, how the hell am I supposed to figure THAT out?

Basically I stirred and stirred, and stopped when I could dip in a spoon, turn it over, run my finger through the mixture on the back, and it left a good line. Does that make sense? If not I'll post a picture.

Take your custard off the heat and pour into a a bowl. Cover with cling film that is directly touching the custard (so no skin, right?) Set the bowl in the fridge to chill.

Now at this point, you need to churn it according to your personal ice cream machine's instructions. With the one I was using, I had to set the freezer bowl in my freezer for a few hours and then pour in the custard, and churn it for about 30 minutes.

Put the finished ice cream into an airtight container and into the freezer for about 2 hours for it to firm up a little more before you serve.

Yum!

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Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls

We were there every Sunday without fail. The little farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere, where we gathered eggs from the chickens, watched the cows, and occasionally helped Grandma harvest things from the garden. My uncles would sit in the living room with the TV blaring, arguing about politics. I usually did my homework and devoid of child-friendly entertainment, contented myself with wandering around the barnyard.

Grandma's table would be laden with simple, wholesome, farm food-barely anything from the store but rather all made, grown, butchered, or harvested by her and my uncle's hands. She'd sit in her chair by the wood stove, resting after doing all that work, and watch us eat.

Grandma always wanted us to eat. It was her way of showing how much she loved us. There was never a time we went to her house that we didn't leave stuffed, and one of the things I remember most was her home made buns and jam.

I hadn't thought of grandma, or her homemade buns, for years. Even when I decided to make this recipe, I didn't remember ever seeing them before. I kneaded and baked, puttering along and not thinking much about anything, until I removed the pan from the oven. These look familiar, I thought as I poked at them. Where have I seen these before? A few minutes later one was cool enough to eat and as I reached for one, slathered it with butter, and then took a bite, I was 8 years old again and in my Grandma's kitchen. I can't be sure, but I'm positive she made buns just like these.

Buttery and easy to pull apart to slather with your choice of topping, these are a favorite in our house. I'm sure they will be something I'll be serving to Kevin, and maybe my own grandchildren, in years to come.



Adapted from Fine Cooking

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm milk
3 oz/6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg, room temperature, gently beaten
1 tsp salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Warm the milk and butter on the stove until it's about 100-110 F, then set it aside until it's tepid, or rather, warm but not hot.

With the mixer on low, stir in the milk/butter mixture, egg, and oil. The dough will be quite soft compared to regular bread dough. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, let the mixer do the kneading for you-but if you don't, knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Slather the inside of a bowl with some oil, then take your dough and turn it over in the bowl, coating the outside of it. Cover with some cling wrap and set in a warm, draft free place for about an hour. I like putting my bread dough inside a cold oven with the light on, because then the light gives enough warmth to make the dough rise.

After an hour, gently punch the dough down and divide it into 36 pieces. Brush the inside of a muffin tin with melted butter.

Roll each piece of dough in your fingers to form a small ball, then fit 3 of the balls inside each muffin cup. Brush them lightly with a little extra melted butter when you are finished, and set aside again in a warm, draft free area for about an hour so that they rise.

When they are finished rising, pre-heat your oven to 375 F.

In a small bowl, whisk an egg yolk, pinch of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of milk together. Brush over the rolls. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12-15 minutes, until they are golden and sound hollow on the bottom when tapped.

Makes 1 dozen

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Curried Turkey Calzones

I'm always looking for something fun and delicious to put in Kevin's lunches that can be eaten quickly without a knife and fork. These calzones can be made up on a Saturday when you have time and then cooled, wrapped, and stashed in the freezer for lunches later in the week-which makes lunch packing a breeze on an easy morning. They are equally good cold as they are warm, and you can tuck in a little soup or side salad to round out the lunch as well. If the kids have access to a microwave, make sure they heat them up very gently so the outside doesn't go rubbery. In the ones in the photo I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, but you can also use all white flour if you wish.

Adapted from Canadian Living

1 tsp yeast
1 2/3 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup buttermilk (+ 2 tbsp, divided)

1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced potato
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp mango chutney
salt and pepper to taste

Stir the yeast with about 1 tbsp of warm water and allow to stand for 10 minutes until it's frothy.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in the butter until you have what resembles fine crumbs. Pour in the yeast and the buttermilk, stirring gently with a fork until you have a ragged dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead briefly to make the mixture come together. Cut into 8 pieces, cover with a tea towel, and set aside.

Over medium heat in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, brown your turkey until it's no longer pink and cooked through. Add the onions and continue to cook until they are soft, about 3 minutes or so. Stir in the potato, water, curry powder, and peas. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes or when the veggies are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat, stir in the chutney, and set aside.

On a lightly floured counter, roll out each of your balls of dough into a 6 inch circle. Spoon about 2 heaping tbsp in the center of each rolled out bit of dough, then moisten the edges and fold the dough over, sealing the edges.

Arrange the calzones on a baking sheet, brushing the tops with buttermilk. Bake at 350 F for about 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown.

These can be made ahead and frozen, then pulled out to pop into a lunchbox. We quite enjoyed them cold as well as re-heated on low briefly in a microwave.

Makes 8

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Roasted Tomato and Avocado Sandwiches

Last weekend when I was at Windermere Secondary, Chef John Bishop talked about slow roasting tomatoes, and how wonderful they are on toast or in sandwiches. Over the course of the week I kept finding articles about this very thing-in a Jamie Oliver magazine, on various food blogs, and that was it-I just HAD to make my own. These open faced sandwiches are really delicious, and as spring turns into summer and you get the chance to pick up some produce at the farmer's market, I highly recommend that you try them.

My teenager loved the roasted tomatoes-the flavor becomes very concentrated, but is also balanced out nicely with the creamy avocado and salty cheese. We splurged and went with a high quality goat's feta, which made things extra delicious.

Adapted from Jamie's Recipe Yearbook 2010

4 plum or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
olive oil
bunch of basil leaves
1 lemon, halved
3 ripe avocados
4 slices of sourdough bread
150 grams of feta cheese
4 handfuls of arugula (rocket)

To roast the tomatoes (which can be done earlier in the day or the night before)

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper to make your clean up easier. Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a bowl, then drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Place in your prepared pan, cut side up, and roast in the oven for about an hour and a half for the cherry tomatoes, more for the plum. I used plum tomatoes and roasted them closer to two hours, until they were almost browned a bit on top, sticky, and dried out.

Allow to cool to room temperature and put in the fridge if you are using them later.

When you want to make your sandwiches, pound up the basil and a pinch of salt with a morter and pestle until it forms a paste, then add some olive oil and squeeze 1/2 a lemon over top to loosen the mixture up a bit. I don't have a morter and pestle, so I gave it all a whiz in my food processor. The result was a little more chunky than I'm sure the original recipe intends, but it worked okay. Set aside.

Halve, peel, and scoop out the avocados into a bowl, then mash them gently. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, then squeeze the juice from the other half of the lemon over top and mix together.

Toast the bread until it's just golden. Mine went a bit too hard-but you want it toasted enough so it can stand up to the toppings and not go completely soggy.

Spread the avocado paste over the toasted bread. Top with the roasted tomatoes-because I used plum tomatoes, I cut them in half and fit 4 pieces on each slice of bread. Then I put a small handful of arugula on top of the tomatoes, drizzled it all with a bit of the basil pesto, and topped with some feta.

This is a knife and fork sandwich, because as you eat it can become a little messy! Kevin and John both continually exclaimed as they ate how much they LOVED them. Now-my husband rarely ever raves about food, but he loved these, so that tells you how yummy and fresh they are.

Makes 4 sandwiches

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Chicken Carrot Stew

It's funny how recipes without pictures just seem unappetizing. I had noticed this one in my Bon Appetit magazine, but without a picture, there was no sense of urgency to make it, as there sometimes is with other things. When I came home from work today tired, hungry, and in a hurry, I began chopping and stirring seemingly on autopilot; but at some point I stopped.

Inhaled deeply.

Slowly licked every morsel from a spoon.

Smiled.

This stew is creamy, chock full of sweet carrots, tender chicken, and so full of flavor. I dare say it's my favorite chicken stew . My guys wolfed it down and Kevin quickly laid claim to the tiny bit of leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, which brings me to the one thing WRONG with this recipe.

It doesn't make enough. At four servings, you might want to increase this a bit if you want leftovers like I do, but like a good Mom I'm sending with Kevin to school tomorrow.

*sigh* I'll be eating a sandwich and dreaming of this stew.

Adapted from Bon Appetit April 2011

2 cups 1/4 inch thick carrot pieces-peeled and cut into rounds (about 3-4 carrots)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and light green part only-about 2 medium), rinsed well
1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 tbsp flour
sea salt
pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low salt chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Get a good sized pot of water boiling on the stove, and then add your carrots to it. Let them cook about 3 minutes, then add your sliced and rinsed leeks. Continue to cook another 3 minutes, then drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, stir the flour, paprika, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme together in a small bowl. Toss with your pieces of chicken until the chicken is well coated.

Over medium heat in a skillet, heat up some olive oil and add the chicken to the pan. You might have to do this in batches so that your chicken gets nicely browned, setting the browned bits aside on a plate as you go. Once your chicken is all browned, pour in the wine and allow it to reduce by half. Then add the chicken broth and sprinkle over your cooked carrots and leeks. Top with a lid, turn the heat down to low, and simmer it for about 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the cream and Dijon, heating gently through. Garnish with chopped parsley, then taste and correct for seasoning.

Makes 4 servings

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Hot Cross Buns

A few years ago, I found this recipe over at Canadian Living, in my quest to make hot cross buns that were just as good as those at our local bakery, but a whole lot cheaper.

These ones?

Better. Spiced lightly with cinnamon and nutmeg and topped with sweet icing, these are melt in your mouth goodness that is truly hard to beat.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast (or 1 tbsp)

3 1/2 cups flour (Cookie Jar Tip: I think it's best to keep about 1/2 c to 3/4 c of the flour aside, just adding it in as you stir/knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. The second time I made these I either killed the yeast or had too much flour, and they were terrible.)

2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup dried currants (or raisins)
1/4 cup chopped mixed candied peel ( I don't like peel, so I sometimes throw in a bit of extra raisins instead)

Glaze:
2 tbsp sugar mixed with 2 tbsp water

Icing
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tsp water

Dissolve 1 Tbsp of the sugar in warm water and add the yeast. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, giving the yeast enough time to foam and bubble. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the remaining sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl whisk together the warm milk, melted butter, and eggs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the milk mixture in. Add the yeast mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

If you don't have active dry yeast, but instead have instant yeast, add the dry yeast to the flour mixture, and the warm water to the milk mixture. Just blend wet and dry ingredients as above and proceed as usual.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Rub butter all over the inside of a large, clean bowl and put the dough inside, turning to grease all over. Cover it with plastic wrap and set inside the oven with the light turned on for 1 hour. This will keep it nice and warm. The dough should double in size.

Take the dough out and on a lightly floured counter, punch it down and knead in the raisins/currants/peel. Shape into a log and pinch off about 12-15 pieces, shaping and stretching until each one is shaped like a ball. Place in a greased 9x13 inch metal cake pan. Cover with a clean tea towel and return to the cold oven, with the light turned on to keep the dough warm.

Let rise for 35 minutes.



**Remove them from the oven** and turn it ON to pre-heat to 400 F. When ready, bake the buns for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

After you remove the buns from the oven, prepare the glaze by dissolving the sugar in water over medium heat. Brush over hot buns. Allow the buns to cool completely.

When the buns are cool, mix the icing sugar and water together in a bowl. Spoon into a ziplock baggie, snip one end, and pipe icing in an x shape on top of each bun.

Makes 12-15 buns

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Vanilla Bean Pudding

My trip to the Kraft kitchens really got me thinking about what it means to cook from scratch. Is it really that time consuming? Does the food laden with chemical stuff really taste better? Or are we conditioned to think it does? The only pudding that I have ever had usually has come from a box that you add milk to. The difference is that the boxed version of vanilla pudding has high amounts of sugar and salt, there's artificial colors and flavors, along with things I can't pronounce. If you add milk, is that considered scratch?

I don't think so. This vanilla pudding, adapted from a recipe over at Smitten Kitchen, doesn't take that long to make and is really delicious. I really love the little black specks of vanilla and if you don't have real vanilla pods, that's ok-just use a good quality vanilla extract. Is it hard? No way. If you can stir, you can make this. Time consuming? I had it from saucepan to cooling in the fridge in less than 10 minutes.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
1 large egg

Pour 2 cups of the milk into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large, heatproof bowl whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean seeds.

Tip: You can either submerge the leftover pod in the milk heating on the stove to give it extra vanilla flavor, or put it in a jar and fill with white sugar. Put a lid on, leave it overnight, and the next day you will have vanilla sugar! It's delicious in whipping cream.

Once the milk has come to a simmer, remove from the heat. Now stir the reserved 2/3 cup of milk into the cornstarch and sugar a little at a time so you don't end up with lumps, and add the egg. Continue to whisk it well.

The next step is called tempering. You want to heat up and effectively cook the egg, but not so that you have chunky bits of egg floating around in your pudding. Dumping in the hot milk will cause the egg to cook in clumps, but adding it gradually and whisking as you go will prevent this.

Add the hot milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly. It may seem like a lot of work but if you do this correctly, you'll have a smooth pudding. Eventually you'll have added all the hot milk. Pour the whole thing back into a saucepan and continue to heat until it starts to bubble, all the while stirring with a silicon spatula. In that time your pudding with thicken up dramatically, but don't panic-once it bubbles, let it cook for about a minute longer and then remove from the heat. Don't stop stirring or it will burn!

Spoon into small dishes and cover with plastic film.

Makes about 6 half cup servings.

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