Happy Twenty Thirteen! Celebratory Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream

From Dish Danielle:

I know it’s freezing out, but I am an ice cream maniac who finds any excuse to whip up a homemade batch. My latest ice cream intention was for a New Years Eve party I co-hosted for some dear friends who recently got engaged, (Congrats DZF & VMF!)… A party at the Whisk & Ladle ain’t no party without ice cream cones served around midnight, so I got to work.

Ingredients:
2 c buttermilk (try to get full fat if you can find it)
2 c heavy cream
5 egg yolks
¾-1 c sugar, give or take
pinch of salt
zest & juice of 1 lemon

*you’ll also need some sort of ice cream churning apparatus

Gently bring buttermilk & heavy cream to just under a boil in a medium stockpot. While it’s warming, crack your eggs and toss yolks into a med sized bowl. Whisk sugar (start with ¾ c) into yolks once liquid is up to temp.

Now you’ll need to temper your yolks, which is the one delicate part of this recipe: If you’re doing this alone place yolk bowl atop a pot holder/dish towel so it doesn’t slide around your counter. Using a liquid measuring cup with a spout, scoop up 1c of the warm mixture. Begin whisking yolks with one hand. Don’t stop. Use other to pour the hot mixture into yolks in a very slow, steady stream. Don’t stop whisking. Once it’s all in there you can dump the tempered yolks back into the stockpot. Over a med-low flame, continue to cook custard, stirring constantly. Add dash of salt. Taste the custard to see if you’d like to add a little more sugar, (do that now if so). You’ll know it’s ready when the custard thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Immediately remove custard from pot and pour into metal bowl. Ice-bath it to cool it down before storing it in fridge, (meaning, place the metal bowl of hot custard into a larger bowl full of ice & cold water. Stir to speed up cooling process).

Leave the custard in fridge until it’s as cold as the fridge, (either overnight or about 3 hours). Once the custard is cold, zest & juice your lemon. Toss the zest & half of its juice in. Taste the custard and decide if you want to add the remaining lemon juice.

Now you’re ready to churn this delicious batch of ice cream!  Serve some killer ice cream cones to your favorite peeps. Happy New Years y’all!

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Mmmhmmmm, Pizza with a cauliflower crust

From Dish Nicole:

While I was home over Thanksgiving my family and I ate too much and then talked about how full we were. Then the next day we ate the leftovers and did the whole cycle all over again. A family tradition. One of the great things about my family is that we have a huge family and tons of close friends that are honorary family members. We get together throughout the holiday season and usually we do a pot-luck style gathering due to the amount of people. You always get to sample the holiday classics as well as a new recipe someone was trying out. Some are healthy, and well you know, some call for a pound of butter, a la Julia Child. At one recent get together my mom’s best friend Cindy came over and she mentioned a recipe her daughter had told her to try. Pizza dough made from cauliflower. I was intrigued. When I got back to NYC I started the old Google search and came across a website called Eating Bird Food and got to work making my dough. I made 2 pizzas and they were excellent. I am not saying that you should replace delicious crusty pizza dough with this permanently but it is a healthy alternative and is gluten free for our gluten intolerant friends!

 
Yields 2 Pizza crusts
1 head cauliflower (about 2 cups riced)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt & Pepper

Start off by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets or use a pizza stone. I recommend using a pizza stone if you have one. (I do not but you bet I’ll be registering for one!) Remove all the stems and leaves from the cauliflower and chop into small chunks.

Put all the cauliflower in a food processer and pulse until the cauliflower is ground to a coarse rice consistency. Next you want to cook the cauliflower until it’s translucent. You can do this by microwaving it for 8 minutes or heat in a sauce pan over medium heat. If using the sauce pan, you do not need to add oil, just keep stirring and do not leave unattended. Once the cauliflower is ready you can mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. If you would like to add salt and pepper you can do so at this time.

Now you are ready to roll out the dough. Unlike regular dough you do not need to knead the dough. You will simply spread out the dough onto your prepped baking sheets or stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The center should be cooked through and the edges will be crispy.

Remove from the oven and add your toppings. Here is what I used:

Pizza 1: tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, onion, pepperoni & fresh chopped basil
Pizza 2: red potatoes thinly sliced, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese & fresh chopped basil

Once your pizzas are ready you are going to put them back in the oven and broil for approximately 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Slice and eat immediately.

You won’t trick any bread lovers but this pizza sure was tasty. Grab a fork and knife, you will need it, and eat away.

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Flipping the Bird: Get the most out of your Holiday roast!

From Dish Danielle:

A week before Thanksgiving with no real holiday plans, the bf and I decided to host a little something at my place. We felt the right thing to do was to bring all the turkey day strays together to share a proper feast. The 8-10 person guest list quickly grew to 18… My one requirement: bring a dish to share with the group! This was a holiday potluck, so I honed in on the one dish the hostess would be responsible for: the turkey complete with stuffing.* I ordered a bird from a local farm upstate and was informed she (Florence…yes we named her…), was sacrificed only 4-5 days before our feast! Fresh as a daisy, I had to do right by her. I resolved to use every scrap of pretty Florence that I could, both pre/post roasting.

 

This meal was honestly the very best Thanksgiving spread I have ever seen/eaten. Everyone’s contributions were absolutely deeeelicious. Although I sent everyone home with piles of left-overs, the bird was far from stripped. I decided to make a soup with the leftover odds & ends.

DISCLAIMER: This recipe is NOT meant to be followed to a tee! Riff on it however you see fit. Hang onto your roasting scraps and see where your soup takes you. This kind of soup can be made all winter long and interpreted in many different ways.  It’s time consuming but fairly hands off, so great to make while you’re having a cozy afternoon at home. What scraps do you having looming in your fridge right now?

Ingredients:

1 bird carcass

3 leeks, rinsed and sliced (tops also rinsed, sliced and set aside)

4 shallots, sliced

1 head of fennel cut into 1” chunks

10 garlic cloves, sliced

2 parsnips

3 carrots

¾ bottle of white wine

1 box veggie stock

3 qts water

3 bay leaves

1 apple, pitted & chopped

1 pear, pitted & chopped

2 apple cores (leftover stuffing scraps)

2 pear cores  (leftover stuffing scraps)

2 stems of sage

1 handful of rough chopped fresh parsley

2 handfuls small potatoes, cut into 2” chunks

1 bunch fresh thyme, pruned and rough chopped

red chili pepper flakes

S&P

cheesecloth

Start by sautéing leeks, shallots, and fennel in your largest stock pot over med-low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add parsnips/carrots and cook for 5mins. Add wine and raise heat to simmer. Pour the rest into a wine glass and enjoy. Sip and simmer for 20mins. Add stock, water, and bay leaf. Once you’re back to a simmer add Flor the bird! Arrange so it’s completely submerged. Toss in two pinches red chili flakes. Let it bubble awhile…

Now, pile the leftover scraps into several small heaps: the apples/pears, the cores, the leek tops, and the sage. Using the cheesecloth, bundle 2-3 small piles up into the cloth and tie with kitchen string. Drop satchels into soup and continue to simmer. Add thyme. Season with S&P. Add potatoes. Soup should be just about done when potatoes are cooked to your liking. Remove from heat and discard cheesecloth bundles. Pull the bird out of the soup and allow to cool on large platter. Tear meat off bones, shred into smaller pieces and toss back into the pot.

Once soup has cooled, skim fat off top.

Garnish with fresh parsley, serve with crusty bread and a glass of apple cider. Enjoy turkey day’s bounty one more time and count the things you’re thankful for. It’s holiday season y’all.

*I hate to admit it but, dish Amelia’s pumpernickel & rye stuffing bested this hostess’s!

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