It’s ok if you think I’m a bit crazy. Everyone else around me does too, because I’ve been excited– even to the point of giddy– about making up a batch of ice cream inspired by a recent trip to Il Laboratorio del Gelato. No one would begrudge me the ice cream part, certainly. It’s the kind of ice cream. Beet ice cream. See, there’s that look. Why would I go and ruin perfectly good cream and sugar with something as well, dirty-tasting, as beet? Maybe I am a bit nuts.

But then again, consider. Beet sugar is a highly used sugar in all kinds of sweets. And, even unrefined, I think it’s hard to go wrong with a salad of roasted sliced beets and juicy sweet mandarin oranges. I’ve also done wacky things to great effect with beets before. Is it that much of a stretch to go to ice cream?

Anyway, let’s back up a bit. Il Laboratorio del Gelato is in New York. Not Seattle. So how did that happen? Last weekend, we wrapped up the last vestiges of my birthday (which was back in April) with a trip to NYC for some eating, shopping, and well, more eating. We stayed in the lower eastside, at the Hotel on Rivington, which shoots up through blocks of vintage walk-ups and shops like bolted arugala. The entry way is a sculpted birth canal, which leads to a sleek, modern interior to match the shiny steely blue exterior. Rooms are minimalistic with crazy views if you get one of the upper rooms. Our room had a peak-a-boo view of the Manhattan bridge and a not-so peak-a-boo view of apartments, including from our shower.

The hotel is right across from a place called Economy Candy. It’s like candyland meets one of those old hardware stores. Shelves floor to ceiling with candy piled everywhere. Old classics like pop rocks and candy cigarettes. Fancy new chocolates. 3 feet long Twizzlers. Mints and gum and candy coated ants. I may be joking about that last one, but I’m really not sure. The smell from all the candy was pretty overwhelming, and the line was pretty long… so we moved on.

Since we arrived on Friday early evening, we kept it pretty simple. Dinner at Lupa, one of our favorites, with hand-made pasta followed by a couple of fantastic desserts… the tartufo (a huge chocolate covered ice cream ball with espresso poured over the top) for him and a black pepper panna cotta with rhubarb for me. It’s not the panna cotta everyone would want, but it was fantastic… strong black pepper with perfect creamy finish.

We spent the better part of Saturday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn wandering our way down Bedford after a fantastic brunch at Bonita of huevos (with bacon!) for me and chiliquiles for Cam. We were on vacation, so sangria at 11 seemed like a good idea.

Then it was wandering the streets and people watching and enjoying the spring weather, until beer-o-clock.

Saturday night, after a trip back to the Lower East Side wtih beers and yummy herby popcorn down the block from the hotel at Spitzer’s Corner, we hopped back over the bridge to dinner in Williamsburg where we really loved the casual vibe. We were supposed to eat at Sweetwater that night, but based on a last minute recommendation, we stopped into Aurora, a packed Italian bistro tucked a few blocks away, and ate at the bar. I had one of the best raviolios I’ve ever had… fresh buffalo mozzerella, fava beans covered with razor thin slices of summer truffles. Cam’s wild boar ragu was good, but not quite as appealing to him as the Amatraciana at Lupa the night before.

The next day, after a bit of a lie-in, we got up and walked down the street to Katz’s deli, another of our regular stops when we visit NYC. It’s touristy and completely chaotic, but you can’t argue that their sandwiches are amazing. After lunch, there was more shopping in Soho. It was a gorgeous day of a holiday weekend, so the crowds were insane, but we managed to find a few side streets to wander that were a bit less crazy with some fascinating shops like Shoe which sells beautiful handmade shoes by Cydwoq (sidewalk) and relaxed and had an espresso at Gimme coffee on Mott St.

For dinner, we decided to just wander around to see what we saw. We thought about trying to get a table at WD-50 which was right around the corner from the hotel, but ended up popping into Tapeo 29 for some yummy tapas. I highly recommend the boquerones. The bistec was wonderfully flavorful, but a bit tough. After noshing there for a bit, Cam decided he was still hungry… so of all things, we headed back to Lupa for a little pasta and salad dessert.

The real dessert had come earlier in the day with the stop at Il Laboratorio del Gelato. I’ve written about this place before, but it’s still as good as ever. And, this time, I got a bit more adveturesome in my flavors. I couldn’t resist a taster spoon of the beet gelato. I wasn’t sure what to expect, whether the beet would be subtle almost unidentifiable or not. Turns out, it’s not. It’s fresh and vibrant and packed with earthy beet flavor. I was intrigued, but not ready for a whole bowlful, so I got the olive oil gelato instead. But I almost immediately told Cam that I’d be making some beet ice cream when I got home. I wanted to play with this flavor… the cold beet was good, but I thought it really could use more flavors to fill it out. I started throwing out flavor combinations as we walked around… beet and chocolate chip, beet and cardamom, Meyer lemon beet. I would not be daunted by eye-rolls.

I was a bit daunted though at figuring out how to start. There were sadly no beet ice cream recipes in David’s Perfect Scoop. I thought for sure he’d have done it already. And the only reference I found online was to an article about Il Laboratorio del Gelato. I’d be winging it.

I headed to the market to get my beets, picking up a bunch of golden and a bunch of red. The golden beet flavor I had already figured out… I wanted it to be bright and fresh with orange and honey. For the red beets, I knew I’d be playing with flavors. I dotted a plate with little blobs of beet puree like a painters palette and started tasting. Most of the flavors worked… beet and vanilla was lovely, as was beet and cardamom and beet and cinnamon. Beet and anise, however, was terrible. Finally, I decided on cinnamon with a hint of citrus.

As my beets roasted, I searched through Perfect Scoop to find the closest thing I could… a sweet potato ice cream that I’m also dying to try. The recipe is simple… basically adding the cream to the puree and seasoning, and then freezing. No eggs to bother with, and a bit more control of adding ingredients a bit at a time to find the right balance of sweet to bright to creamy and trying to keep the beet flavor intact, but not quite so aggressive.

One thing to know is that as flavors get cold, they change. Sweet isn’t quite so sweet when frozen. My golden beets started out less sweet than their red cousins, and the beet flavor really shines through kicking the orange and honey out the door. It starts great and has a certain charm, but it is definitely not for everyone.

The crimson beet ice cream with cinnamon and lemon zest is almost otherworldly. The cinnamon jumps up and bites you in the nose as you open the tub. The color is startlingly fuscia. As the cream starts to melt in your mouth, the beet perks up and announces a big hello and how do you do. The earthy flavor lingers (maybe asking for a bit more sugar and lemon zest), but in a pleasant, “well, how about that” kind of way. Even still, it’s not for every palate and even adventuresome mouths may only want small portions.

Beet Ice Cream
(a very rough recipe… you’ll need to adjust based on the flavors of your beets. Just consider this a rough guideline).

Peel and chop the beets, and roast at 375F with a splash of olive oil for an hour or two until the beets are nice and soft. Puree the beets in a blender with a bit of liquid (orange juice works well… but red wine or port would be a nice touch with the red beets too) until very smooth, and then push through a fine sieve. You should end up with quite smooth puree that either looks a lot like ketchup or mustard, depending on your beet color. I was very tempted to forgo the whole ice cream project and just turn them into beet ketchups and mustards!

You’ll end up with a lot of left over pulp. I saved mine and plan on making some beet-stuffed raviolis with it. Three large beets yielded about 1 cup of beet puree for me, with about the same amount of leftover pulp. That turned into enough ice cream for small servings for 4 people.

Let the beet puree cool to room temperature. Add your spices (cinnamon and zest from 1 lemon in my case for the red, the zest of two oranges and a splash of vanilla for my golden) and a healthy pinch of salt. Mix in honey or simple syrup until it seems a bit sweeter than you think it should be. Then, add your cream, a little at a time, stirring to incorporate. Taste it as you go along and adjust your sweetener accordingly. I used about 2 to 1 cream to sweetner ratio, and my ice cream was not too sweet. Then load the mixture up into your ice cream maker. Freeze overnight.

Let the ice cream sit at room temp for about 10 minutes or so before trying to serve it. I don’t know if I got lucky or it has something to do with the texture of the beets, but not only the color of the ice cream was gorgeous, it also scooped like a dream.

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A few weeks ago, I picked up a little book that I have come to adore, A Handful Of Herbs. It’s tiny and really only has a handful of recipes and gardening tips… but the recipes are good, the tips are fun, and the photos, of course, are gorgeous. I have come to love to leaf through its mere 120 some-odd pages. The first recipe that caught my eye was one for something called zhatar. It is a Persian spice mixture that I had never heard of that mixes thyme with sesame seeds and salt to make a dry rub that is often sprinkled on hard boiled eggs. It sounded intriguing, and I made a little note to myself to come back an try it. Imagine my surprise when a project that I am working on for a client (the thing that has kept me so busy, I haven’t had a chance to blog) included a recipe that included zhatar!

The recipe for zhatar (sometimes zaatar, sometimes za’atar) seems to vary by region, but usually includes the combination of thyme and sesame with ground sumac. The dish that I was preparing for my client also introduced ground pistachios into the mix. Yum! It may not be traditional, but I highly recommend it. I also like throwing some red chile flakes into the mix for a little kick.

You can use the zhatar on eggs, like I did with these poached eggs over hashed fingerling potatoes. But, it’s also fantastic on yogurt with a little lemon and olive oil mixed in, or sprinkled on top of hummus.

By the way, I received a fantastic treat in the mail today! The first issue of Edible Seattle. This is a magazine that I’d be excited about regardless, but it is all the more fun because it is packed with my photos (including the cover shot!) and an article I wrote last fall on Maria Hines of Tilth. The magazine should start showing up on shelves soon!

These are muffins that don’t want to be blogged about. I’ve made them now six or seven times, each batch very much destined for the blog. But this or that got in the way… I’d run out of time before scooping them up into a bag and heading out of town, or they’d simply all disappear by the time I got around to snapping a few shots. Finally, I managed to get some nice photos of the last batch I made a few weeks ago… only to draw a blank when I sat down to write about them. I was quite tempted to simply post the recipe and the photos and say nothing, I was getting so frustrated, but then I ate one of the little fruity buggers and got my revenge.

The thing is, it’s hardly fair to call these mixed berry muffins “muffins“. They are really more fruit than crumb, which is just the glue to hold all the juicy berry goodness together. I think they really should be called muffin mixed berries. And they were the first recipe I made from Seasonal Kitchen by Michele Cranston, a book I’ve really grown to adore. The beauty is that they are even seasonal in winter (in fact, that’s the section they appear in the book) because they use frozen berries. I’ve started keeping a huge bag of mixed frozen berries in the freezer, and whenever I need a quick idea for breakfast or a road trip, these muffins have become the answer. The only thing I don’t love about the recipe is the oil… it calls for vegetable oil and I think that’s just missing an opportunity for adding flavor. Instead, I’ve started using coconut oil which adds just the teaniest tiniest hint of coconut… not enough that coconut-haters will notice, but enough to give them a little something-something.

Now, quickly, before something comes up again and I don’t finish this post, here is the recipe:

One of the best parts of my job is that I tend to get a lot of free food. Even food that I winds up on the set is still edible when I’m done. Oh, I wouldn’t go feeding it to guests or anything… afterall, it is usually cold and always has been poked and prodded by my fingers. But, it’s also made from the highest quality of ingredients I can find, and is (almost) always, delicious.

Most of the time, this free food is simply left over from a shoot that I’m doing. Sometimes, it’s sent to me by companies that are looking for feedback, really excited about sharing their product with someone who thinks a lot about food, or someone who is simply looking for extra press. I certainly understand that there are some bloggers out there who prefer not to accept free stuff… but I’m not one of them. When I get free stuff, I never promise to write about it on this blog. It takes something pretty special, in fact, to make it on here. And, sometimes, I still don’t even get around to it. But, sometimes, like today, I do.

Today, I want to share with you a fish that I am really excited about. When I got mail from Hannah asking if I’d be interested in trying some Kona Kampachi from Kona Blue, I was intrigued. I’m a huge fan of sushi, and will always have a hard time turning away from sashimi-grade yellowtail. But, what really struck me is that Kona Blue is a company trying new methods of fish farming that attempt to solve some of the problems of related to traditional “aquaculture.” In-shore fish farm can create serious pollution problems, releasing waste and excess nutrients into water at rates that can’t be cleaned up by natural processes. Those farmed fish also tend to suffer from mercury poisoning. Kona Blue is fishing in large sea-cages sunk into deep water far off shore, so the fish can basically school as they would in the wild and the pollution problems can be avoided. And, at the same time, the natural fish population is not being depleted. The fish also boast a 30 percent fat content, high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and no detectable mercury.

I think it’s really early to tell whether these new fish farming practices are a good thing or if they introduce problems of their own. But, I applaud companies for trying to solve some of these problems in a responsible way. Plus, I can tell you this, the fish is beautiful.

My package arrived well packed in ice, but not frozen, so the two, large fillets were immediately ready to use. The fillets are thick and fatty… perfect for a nice lunch of sashimi, with a ton still left over.

In fact I’ve been playing with a variety of preparations… the fish is so fresh, it’s almost a crime to cook it… but in addition to a sashimi miso salad, some simple nigiri sushi, I also lightly seared a good chunk and served it with a butternut squash mash and a fresh lemon dressing. Yum. I still have a whole fillet left that will have to be put to use quite soon. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few shots and recipes with you.

If you want to try to find some of this fish on your own, you can order it from their website… but shipping is quite expensive. If you are in Seattle, Uwajimaya sometimes has it in stock and several area restaurants, like Canlis and Oceanaire have it on their menu. Or you can check out Kona Blue’s extensive “where to find” list.

PS: Thanks to Matt for correcting my initial mis-statement that Yellowtail is Tuna. In fact, it is its very own fish. All these years of ordering hamachi, and I always thought I was eating tuna!!!

It was supposed to be a good day today. April is looking to be jam packed, but here at the edge of winter, today was supposed to be a quiet one. I had nothing to do but whatever I wanted. How often does that happen?

Then, I got some really crap news and everything went all topsy turvy. Stuff that I’m hoping, like the weather that has just rolled in after a lovely blue sky morning, will simply blow over after a good night sleep. Stuff I’m hoping that I’ll never really be at a point that I’ll have to tell you about it. Stuff that I’ve at least for a little while pushed aside and to bake these lovely little raspberry upside down tea-cakes that I saw in my latest Donna Hay acquisition, Off The Shelf: Cooking From the Pantry. I really kind of bought the book for this recipe. It’s one of those things you look at and say, now, why didn’t I think of that?!? This book is simply full of recipes like that… quick, delicious things you can make from stuff you probably have on hand in the pantry or in the freezer.

Anyway, so I made these cakes to take my mind off the crap news. And, then, I got to eat the yummy tea cakes to take my mind off the crap news. And then, I had to go and spin for 2 hours to work off the crazy crap news cakes. So, here I am. Still pretty topsy turvy. But, at least I still have some upside down cakes to keep me company.

Recently, I was flipping through the The Northwest Best Places Cookbook, and one of the first recipes that caught my eye was for Gingerbread Crepes. I’m not really sure why it got me so excited… I’m not a big gingerbread fan… but the idea stuck in my head, and I knew with a little tweaking, these crepes would be something I would love. To me, these crepes are like a warm blanket on a cool spring morning… comforting, but light and fresh. If you’ve been intimidated by crepes before, give these a try… they are much easier than you think.

To begin with, I made added Amaranth Flour to the mix. Amaranth flour has a great nutty flavor that you might associate with graham crackers and tends to add crispness to whatever you bake with it, meaning that your crepes are less likely to get soggy while you cook up the whole batch. Amaranth is also much more nutritious than all purpose flour containing a nearly complete protein. Because Amaranth doesn’t contain gluten, you will need to mix it with other flours to achieve the desired texture. I’m not gluten free, so I chose regular all purpose flour… but there are other flours you could mix with that could yield beautiful results.

The sweetener for this recipe is malt syrup which is something like a cross between honey and molasses. It’s lush and golden and pairs beautifully with the spice combination of ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. A little grated citrus peel (preferably fresh, but dry is okay too) brightens up the whole batter.

For the filling, you can use fresh apple slices but applesauce is delicious and much easier. A bit of Meyer lemon adds a lovely sweet tartness and keeps the apples from being cloying. I love these served with a dusting of powdered sugar and a bit of lemon served on the side which also helps bring out the citrus in both the crepes and the filling.

Technorati Tags: cookbook, recipe

I don’t really do cookbook reviews on this site. But, when I received a very personal email from the publisher of My Sweet Vegan asking me if I’d take a look, I found I couldn’t refuse. While I am nothing close to being a vegan– I even rendered 10 lbs of pork back fat into lard yesterday –I was still intrigued by the story of the author. At 18, and just a senior in high school, blogger Hannah Kaminsky wrote and photographed the cookbook and managed to get herself published. At 20 years her senior, I certainly haven’t even come close to such an accomplishment! I definitely wanted to check out the book, so I said send it along.

My first impression of the book, with its cheerful bright cover with colors reminiscent of gummy bears was that this is a book I’m going to like. Two big, chocolate rich dessert photos grace the cover and struck me with their honesty. This is real food made to be eaten, not merely to be looked at. It’s not all polish and gloss, but it is plenty welcoming… like the friendly, personal nature of food blogs in book form. The same feel is captured throughout the book with photos that may not be perfect, but look enticing all the same, and little personal tidbits about each recipe.

Flipping through the recipes, I see several I’d like to try… a dried fruit focaccia for one and party mix bars, a clever twist of rice crispy treats and Chex® mix. I skip over the recipes with substitute ingredients like vegan “cream cheese” or soy creamer. I’m sure the recipes are good, but just like the idea of lard creeps some people out, faux dairy is not my thing.

I finally settle on trying the coconut fudge, which smartly substitutes coconut milk for the cream. I made one more substitution, and replaced the margarine with coconut oil… keeping to the vegan intent of the recipe but also avoiding margarine which I’m not much of a fan of. The resulting fudge was exceptionally rich, super sweet, and with just a subtle hint of coconut… if it weren’t for the generous topping of flaked coconut on top, it would be hard to put your finger on the flavor.

Two of these dense little squares was about all I could handle over the span of a day, so I recommend making a batch and making up some little packages as gifts for your coconut and chocolate loving friends.

Technorati Tags: chocolate, cookbook, dessert, My Sweet Vegan, recipe

It’s not like you really need another dip recipe. Not only are there old standbys, but there are some really gorgeous looking alternatives out there this week. So these two recipes, variations on a couple of heavenly looking dips in Marie Claire Seasonal Kitchen, are really overkill. But, they are so good, I hope you try them anyway.

First off, I give you carrot dip. Now, I was lucky enough to make mine from carrots that were pulled from the ground yesterday. Can you imagine? In January, you can still harvest carrots. And these were true beauties. Big, thick brilliantly orange sticks that smelled like earth and sunshine. Just washing off the caked mud was enough to make me swoon. And, when I saw the beet dip recipe, with its deep scarlet color, I knew that I could get gorgeous results with carrots instead. A bit of reduced blood orange juice (you can use any oranges or even meyer lemons if you want) makes the dip all the more vibrant, both in flavor and color.

I smeared my dip on little polenta-garbanzo bean flour blinis, which I adapted from a recipe that I shot for this Epicurious article last fall (the panna cotta recipe is lovely by the way). But, this dip would work equally well with pita, crackers, celery or a nice crusty french loaf.

I hadn’t actually meant to make two dips, but sitting right next to Seasonal Kitchen’s beet dip recipe was an Italian white bean dip that I couldn’t resist. My version replaces the white beans with black eyed peas, adds a bit of meyer lemon and leaves out the tuna for a veg friendly dip. A drizzle of truffle oil or a good salad-quality oil and a sprinkle of basil easily pushes this dip into the favorite category and a nice change from the usual. Again, crackers or crusty Italian bread would be lovely, but I just made some little toast triangles from bread I had at home.

I’m not sure what this says about us, but we received large packages of bacon this year from not one, but two different people. I mean big packages of bacon. Our freezer is brimming with bacon. Thick cut, apple wood smoked; peppered; Canadian-style. Come on over, and have some bacon… we have plenty to share!

Not that I’m complaining. I mean, what doesn’t go better with a bit of bacon in it? We quickly nibbled up two packages crisply grilled. Yum.

Yesterday, I pulled out the Macrina Bakery sweet scone recipe and made a couple of changes to make a savory version of cheesy bacon scones. These scones, with their generous heaping of whipped cream, bake up extremely light. But don’t let their innocent looks fool you… they are energy (ie, calorie) power houses. Bacon, cream and cheese all in one. They are little triangles of indulgence and a perfect way to work on that beer gut or heart attack you’ve been looking for. Or maybe a good reason to go shopping for some new, less constrictive clothing. Oh, the joys of eternal optimism.

Before the holidays, I was browsing in the bookstore that is attached to Uwajamiya, one of Seattle’s large Asian food grocery stores. I was there to find some manga as a present for my daughter, but of course, immediately got sucked into the cookbook section, completely tempted by book after book that I had never seen before. Never mind that they were written in kanji, so I had no hope of reading any of them…. the photos were enough to keep me mesmerized until realizing the time, I had to rush on over to get the books I was supposed to be buying.

Afterward, one set of books stuck with me… those by Harumi Kurihara. The Japanese versions of these books are graphically gorgeous, light, airy and elegant. I knew I’d have to find the English version. Luckily, there are two… not quite in the same light style, but still beautifully published. Last week, I picked up Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking and flipping through I knew I had a winner of a book. Many of my favorite Japanese dishes… tonkatsu, gyoza, tomago are beautifully illustrated. Finding the recipe for homemade udon noodles, however, was the real kicker.

Even better, these noodles are about the most fun thing to make (not to mention incredibly simple). I thought I’d be able to use my new toy… the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid…but as it turns out, these slippery, thick noodles really don’t require anything other than a bit of arm strength and some time. In fact, I highly recommend against using the dough hook attachment on the Kitchen Aid for the initial kneading… I gave it a try, and found that it couldn’t get the dough to form into a ball well enough when my hands could. Once the dough was in a ball, it was far too heavy and stiff for the mixer to knead it properly. That said, it’s also too hard to knead it with your hands at that point… so Harumi has a wonderful solution. Use your whole body… by wrapping the dough in a plastic and then a towel, you walk all over it to help work the gluten in the dough. Brilliant! It’s so much fun. If you have kids, you must give this a try. Or, even if you don’t.

I found the noodles this recipe makes to be more on the rustic side… more like handshaven noodles than packaged udon. That’s part of what makes them good… but if you prefer a more even, refined noodle, and you have a pasta maker, try using the roller to press out the dough before hand cutting the noodles.