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Saturday, January 27, 2007

Yee Haw - Japan Goes Western - Taste TV

Fresh Banana Nut Ice Cream

Puree 2 ripe bananas
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
¾ C Sugar
2 ½ C Cream
2 eggs
2 oz sour cream or crème fraiche
½ cup of chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts

1. Add bananas, lemon juice and brown sugar to a blender or food processor. Puree/Process bananas and set aside.

2. Combine sugar, cream and crème fraiche and heat (on low) until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs. Temper the eggs by slowly adding some of the hot cream mixture to the eggs while whisking continuously. Once the egg mixture is thoroughly combined and the bowl is warm to the touch, whisk eggs back into the hot cream. Add banana puree.

4. Stir continuously until thickened. Mixture should coat the back of a metal spoon. This should take about 10 – 12 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely. At this point you can start the ice cream maker; however, I prefer to age the mixture first. This is done by putting the liquid in an airtight container and placing it in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. This aging process allows the different ingredients to marry up and increases the depth of flavor. After aging, chill in ice cream maker. Incorporate toasted nuts to the chilled ice cream before freezing.

Recipe yields a little less than a quart.

Recipe courtesy of Demetria Dixon ©2004

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Lazy Flat Bread

Below is my Lazy Flat Bread recipe. I created it one evening when I refused to leave the house to go to the store to pick up a loaf of bread. Since then it has become a family favorite. It’s great with soups, stews, dips or even for sandwiches. Enjoy

2 C Flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 C sugar
2 Tbsp granulated garlic
2 Tbsp oil
¼ C milk - If the dough is too wet, add more flour.
½ C butter or margarine - melted
½ tsp sea salt

In a bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Add oil and stir together with a fork until the flour has the appearance of coarse meal. Add milk and incorporate until a loose dough forms. If dough is sticky, add more flour. Roll out to about 1/8 of an inch on a floured cookie sheet or silicon baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and edges are crisp.

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter or margarine and sprinkle with salt. The butter and salt are both optional. Sprinkle with grated cheese for a great snack or add fresh chopped herbs for a great accompaniment to a variety of dishes.

Whole wheat flour works great in this recipe.

Recipe courtesy of Demetria Dixon ©2007

Friday, January 12, 2007

Ginger Peach Tea Ice Cream

I owned a small ice cream business for a while and this was one of my most popular flavors. Try it out and let me know what you think.

¾ C Sugar
1 T Flour
1 C ½ & ½
½ t Fresh Ginger (chopped)
____________________________
Tea Infusion
1 T – loose Ginger Peach Tea –
½ T Fresh Sliced Ginger
¼ C Sugar
½ C Peach Nectar
½ tsp Lemon Zest
½ C Water

3 eggs

In a double boiler add sugar and ½ & ½ make a slurry out of the flour and small amount of the ½ & ½. Stir the mixture until it thickens. Remove from heat.

Next create the Tea Infusion. Combine the water, peach nectar, sliced ginger, lemon zest, sugar. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Turn off heat and add the tea. I prefer to add the tea loose and strain but a tea ball or tea bag works just as well. Steep for 10 to 15 minutes and strain. Add the ½ & ½ mixture to the tea infusion and return to medium-low heat.

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs. temper the eggs by slowly adding some of the hot liquid to the eggs while whisking continuously. Once the egg mixture is thoroughly combined and the bowl is warm to the touch, whisk the eggs and ½ & ½ mixture back into the hot liquid. Stir continuously until the temperature of the mixture reaches 141º.

Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool completely. At this point you can start the ice cream maker or you can age the mixture first. This is done by putting the liquid in an airtight container and placing it in the refrigerator or at least 24 hours. This aging process allows the different ingredients to marry up and increases the depth of flavor. After aging, add to your ice cream maker. This recipe yields slightly les than a quart.

Slurry – A slurry is created when you mix flour or any other binding agent with a small amount of liquid (usually water) before adding it to the recipe. This acts as a thickener.

Temper – Tempering is done to moderate the difference between two ingredients. In this case, to temper the eggs is to add some of the hot liquid to the eggs and stir in order to bring the eggs up to the temperature of the liquid. This keeps the eggs from scrambling when they are introduced into the hot liquid.

Recipe courtesy of Demetria Dixon ©2004

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Green Bean Saute

This my favorite recipe for a quick delicious recipe because it offers opportunities for infinite creativity. Forget about green beans swimming in flavorless liquid of unknown origin. This recipe creates a delicious side dish or if I'm feeling incredibly lazy, a tasty entree. For the purist using the term saute here is slightly misleading but what the hey. It's more like a saute/steam. It's a staute.

Ingredient list:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 C slivered almonds (toasted or raw)--optional
3 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
1/2 yellow onion sliced fine
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp seasoned salt
2 C frozen or fresh green beans. (Under no circumstances are you to use canned green beans.)
If using fresh green beans use a 1/4 C water or chicken broth.

Place a skillet or saute pan on low to medium heat. Add oil. To the oil add the almonds, garlic and onions. Please be careful to avoid burning the garlic. cook until onions start to become translucent. I like using frozen long green beans, preferably Birds Eye, because as they thaw in the heated pan they steam very nicely.

Add the green beans and stir to ensure that they are coated thoroughly with the almond and seasoning mixture. Add a lid and allow the beans to steam. Stir occasionally to ensure all beans are seasoned thoroughly. When done, the beans should be tender but not mushy.

I like this recipe because you can use any fat you want. I prefer Olive Oil but if you've got butter or margarine in the fridge that works just as well. Be careful not to burn your butter. Also if you are not a fan of almonds, you can add whatever nut you like. I've only tried almonds but my friend doesn't like almonds( I know, blasphemy!!!!) so she tried pecans and she assures me that it was "the bomb" in a good way.

Prep Time: 5 min
Cooking time:10 to 15 min

Recipe courtesy of Demetria Dixon ©2006

January's Featured Cook Book

From the first time I saw Alton Brown, I have been fascinated with his humorus and incredibly appealing approach to the science and fun of cooking. His latest dish doesn't disappoint.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Recipe Exchange

Recipe-a-Go-Go to the Rescue

Got a bunch of ingredients but can't figure out what to do with them. Well you've arrived at the right place. Say you're standing in front of your refrigerator looking at items that in no way seem as if they will work but you know you've got to eat to survive. Before you crank up the car and hot foot it down to the nearest fast food joint. Tell me what you've got and I'll create a custom dish for you using the ingredients you give me.

Recipes are Coming
Check in periodically, I'll be adding new recipes or if you have a great recipe that you want to share feel free to post it here.

Idea Central
Creativity and Adventure in the kitchen are what I live for. Need a little culinary jumpstart or just want to share some ideas of your own then this is the place.

Good Bread, Good Meat, Good God, Lets Eat