Blueberry Sorbet

I bought the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer last year and never got around to taking it out of the box.

Well, this past weekend, my good friend, Molly, was in town and she said it's got to get out of the box and into the freezer!

Blueberries were on sale at the grocery store, and we had bought a couple pints, so we thought, why not make blueberry sorbet? We used the Cooks Illustrated recipe, which was super easy and created the most delicious sorbet. Fresh blueberry taste with a hint of lemon. BlB readers, be prepared for more ice cream, sorbet and gelato this summer!

 

Blueberry Sorbet

Cooks Illustrated, Published July 1, 1995 

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries pureed with 1/2 cup cold water until smooth
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 large lemon
• 1 tablespoon vodka

Instructions

1.      Combine berry puree, sugar, lemon juice, and alcohol in large bowl. Stir on and off for several minutes until sugar has dissolved. (Or, to speed chilling process in next step, combine ingredients in a metal bowl set over a larger bowl filled with ice water.) Rub finger along bottom of bowl to see if sugar has dissolved.

2.      Pour mixture into small container. Seal and refrigerate until mixture is no more than 40 degrees. (If mixture has been stirred over a bowl of ice water, it may already be cold enough, and this step may be omitted.)

3.      Pour chilled mixture into container of an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

4.      Scoop frozen sorbet into a container. Seal and transfer container to freezer for several hours to allow sorbet to firm up. (Sorbet can be kept frozen for up to 3 days.)

Fusilli with Kale, Lemon and Grape Tomatoes

Look, ma, no roasted vegetables!

This is my second attempt at utilizing kale. The first time didn't make it onto the blog; I made kale chips and was not impressed. Actually, more than not impressed, I was super disappointed as everyone in the blogosphere raves about kale chips. Do a quick search and you'll see what I mean. I found the kale chips to be weird and not satisfying. The crunchy parts kind of disintegrated in my mouth, which I just found to be weird.

Anyway, kale is so healthy that I decided I needed to give it another try in a different setting. Additionally, lemons were on sale at the grocery this past weekend, so I had a couple laying around. I did a quick search and stumbled upon Easy Lemon-Garlic Kale Pasta on a blog called The Cilantropist. It sounded like exactly what I was looking for.

I did alter the recipe slightly and added some halved grape tomatoes for more sweetness and a pop of color. (And guess what, they were on sale!) I also threw in some grated parmesan at the end because what pasta dish doesn't get better with cheese?

Fusilli with Kale, Lemon and Grape Tomatoes
Adapted from The Cilantropist
Serves 3

Ingredients

1/4 tsp + 1 tsp minced garlic
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
1/2 pound fusilli or other dried pasta
Extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into half moons
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3/4 pint grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add 1/4 teaspoon garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the kale and cook until wilted and bright green, about 8 minutes. Transfer the kale to a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer the cooked pasta to the bowl with the kale.

3. While the pasta is cooking, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-low heat in the same skillet in which the kale was cooked. Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic and the lemon slices. Cook gently (lower the heat if it is making too much noise) for 10 minutes. Strain the oil through a fine mesh sieve.

4.Toss the kale and pasta with the lemon oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, tomatoes and cheese. Taste for seasoning. Add some of the reserved pasta water if necessary.

Lentils with Roasted Vegetables and Crispy Prosciutto

Kind of a moody looking dish!

Hey, look, more roasted vegetables! And honestly, this wasn't one of my successes. I think the ingredients weren't quite right.

First, I still don't like turnips. I bought baby white turnips this time, hoping that they might be better than last time. Well, they're not. Slightly more edible than the turnip root, but still not pleasurable. (A friendly reader told me to try Tokyo turnips, but I haven't seen them at any of my grocery stores.)

Second, on a good note, I cooked the lentils in vegetable broth and I loved the flavor it gave them. I will be doing that from now on.

Third, and this may be hard to believe, but I didn't like the crisp prosciutto as much as crisp cooked bacon. It certainly wasn't bad, and it still contributed that crisp, saltiness I love, but I found myself wishing it was bacon. I realize this is practically sacrilegious for an Italian to say, but at least I am being honest with you, folks!

I won't bother writing out the recipe, since I wouldn't really recommend giving it a try.

Barley with Roasted Vegetables, Edamame and Toasted Panko

I realize this blog is becoming something of a broken record. "Roasted vegetables with some sort of grain or starch...wow, could this girl be any more creative?" But, if you like something, you might as well stick with it!

I did throw toasted panko on top of this dish, and here is the ridiculous photo of that:

You can see why I chose to lead with the non-panko embellished photo.

I felt like this combination of ingredients gave me a sampling of a bunch of different textures, which I really appreciated. The barley was slightly chewy, the roasted sweet potato creamy, the roasted chickpeas slightly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, the edamame was firm (I defrosted them, but did not cook them), and the toasted panko was crispy and salty. All around, an enjoyable meal and it reheats beautifully!

Barley with Roasted Vegetables, Edamame and Toasted Panko
Serves 3

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pearled barley
1/2 pound frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
1 cup panko
1 garlic clove, minced

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss the sweet potatoes and chickpeas with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes (or until tender), stirring once.

2. Meanwhile, combine barley, just over a cup of water, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes.

3. In a saute pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium low heat. Add the panko, garlic and some salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the panko is light brown. Transfer to a small bowl.

4. In a large bowl, combine roasted vegetables, cooked barley and edamame. Add panko only when serving, so it retains its crunch. (If you are planning to eat as leftovers, pack the panko separately from the veggies and barley.)

Barley Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Edamame

I had bought a bag of pearled barley awhile ago for some recipe I didn't end up making and every time I opened the cabinet and saw it I thought, I should really make something with this. So I finally did.

I randomly found this recipe from Earthbound Farm with a Google search and decided it would be a good guideline for what I wanted to make. I also happened to have a head of cauliflower in the fridge because, shocker, I went back to Giant and it was still on sale!

If you have never made barley, I would absolutely recommend trying it. It is slightly chewy, nutty and absorbs flavors well. Apparently non-pearled barley is more nutritious than pearled barley, but it takes longer to cook. I would recommend keeping an eye on the barley when you are cooking it, too. The package of the barley I bought said 1 cup will cook in 3 cups of water for over an hour. The Earthbound Farm recipe says that 1 cup of barley will cook in 2 cups of water for 30-40 minutes. I made 1/2 cup barley in just over a cup of water and it was done in 20 minutes. Seems like a big discrepancy if you ask me. So keep an eye on it!

Barley Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Edamame
Adapted from Earthbound Farm
Serves 3

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pearled barley
1/2 lb frozen shelled edamame
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Ricotta salata
Handful of fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the cauliflower with a couple tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and slightly browned, about 30 minutes, stirring once.

2. Meanwhile, combine the barley, just over a cup of water, and some salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. (I didn't need to drain my barley; it absorbed all the water.) Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Cook the edamame according to package instructions. (The Harris Teeter brand I used suggests cooking in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in the microwave for 2 minutes. Next time I would try 1 min 45 seconds.) Add the edamame to the bowl with the barley.

3. To make the vinaigrette, whisk the lemon juice, zest, garlic, mustard, a pinch of salt, and a grind of pepper. While still whisking, slowly add a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a steady stream. Taste for seasoning. (If I wasn't lazy I would have added more lemon juice to my vinaigrette, but it was fine as it was.)

4. Add the roasted cauliflower to the barley/edamame mixture, then stir in the vinaigrette. Crumble in a bunch of ricotta salata (the originally recipe calls for 1 cup, but I probably only had about 1/2 cup), and mix in the parsley. Taste for seasoning (mine needed more salt) and enjoy!

Fusilli with Fennel and Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage

Apologies for the dark photo....

This recipe has a secret ingredient.

An ingredient I don't use very often in savory cooking.

In fact, if I am making up a recipe as I go, I usually neglect to think about this ingredient at all.

But not this weekend! Butter made its proud presence known! That's right, butter. And this dish was all the better for it.

This story starts the way most of my stories have been starting lately. X grocery store had Y product on sale, so I just had to buy Y product and now I am trying to figure out what to do with it. The product today is Al Fresco's Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage. (To sweeten the deal, I also had a coupon for an Al Fresco product! Lucky day!) I think that apples work well with fennel and onion, so I figured chicken sausage with apples should work well too. I usually have fennel and onion on hand - it is a sad sad day in the BlB kitchen if there is no fennel or onion around!

This dish turned out wonderfully. The fennel and the onions practically melted into the sauce, which got body and richness from a small amount of butter and pasta cooking water. The sausage was delicious: sweet and maple-kissed. I would certainly recommend picking up a package of Al Fresco's sweet apple chicken sausage if you see it at the store!

Fusilli with Fennel and Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage
Serves 4

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 fennel bulb, cored and sliced, some fronds reserved
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 lb dried fusilli
1 lb fully cooked sweet apple chicken sausage, cut into rounds
1/2 cup dry white wine
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan/skillet/braiser over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel; season with salt and pepper. Cook vegetables, stirring frequently, until meltingly soft, 20-30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt generously. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving at least a cup of pasta water.

3. When vegetables are about done, move them to the sides of the pan and add the chicken sausage to the center of the pan. Cook for a couple minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Cook for a couple minutes. Mix in a tablespoon or two of the butter and a splash or two of the pasta water. 

4. Add the drained pasta to the pan and combine. Remove from the heat, stir in an additional tablespoon or two of the butter, the cheese and more pasta water if it is too dry. Taste for seasoning. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the reserved fronds.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Bacon

So when I took my epic trip to Whole Foods to find farro, I also had to go up and down every aisle to see if there was anything else I couldn't live without, because making the trek to Whole Foods is a special occasion. (And I had a gift card from the VW dealership for getting Zeppy's oil changed last year, so I had to be sure I had enough groceries to use up the gift card, obvi.)

One of my finds was a bag of spinach, tomato and regular pasta shells from Whole Food's 365 brand. I have been dying to use them for something because they are so cute and colorful. I also wanted to use bacon from the package I opened for this dish earlier in the week. And what goes well with bacon (um, everything?) - cauliflower! Giant had giant (yes, my vocabulary is limited) cauliflower on sale this past weekend.

And thus, with only about five ingredients, a dinner was made.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Bacon
Serves 3

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-5 slices bacon, diced
1/2 pound dried pasta, any shape, but one that can "catch" the bacon is best
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Toss cauliflower with couple tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and liberally salt it. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving at least 2 cups of the cooking water, and set aside.

4. While the pasta is cooking, in a heavy, cast iron pan/pot/braiser, warm enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Cook the bacon until crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Remove the pan from heat and let cool slightly. Add 1/2 cup - 1 cup of the pasta water to the pan and deglaze, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon.

5. When the cauliflower is done roasting (or a minute or two before), return the bacon pan to medium/medium high heat and add the cauliflower. Cook for another minute or two, add the drained pasta and combine. Add more pasta water if necessary. Remove from the heat and stir in some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the bacon on top.

Peony Update

Success!

You can almost smell its sweet fragrance through the computer!

This plant appears to be underperforming, but the season is young!

Ravioli with Caramelized Fennel and Onions

We all know the fennel lover in me can't stay away for long!

This is a super simple, make on a weeknight recipe from Real Simple.  The fennel fronds add a lot of great fresh fennel flavor, so don't throw them away!

Peony Update

Blooming is imminent!

Roasted Vegetables and Bacon over Brown Rice

I am obsessed with roasting vegetables. I don't know what I am going to do when we are really into the heat of the summer and turning on the oven is the last thing I want to do. Luckily, turning on the oven is still an option.

I ended up with this dish because I was craving rice, which is really an anomaly seeing as the only kind of rice I usually like is risotto. I used a long grain brown rice and the package said it would need 50 minutes to cook. Whoa, no. It was done in about 30 minutes. Check your rice!

I had picked up a package of bacon at the grocery because it was on sale (I can't resist a sale!), so I decided it would add a salty crunchy bite to the veggies and rice. And I am still trying to use up the block of ricotta salata that went into this, so that got crumbled up on top, too. Overall it was extremely satisfying and reheated well the next day.

Roasted Vegetables and Bacon over Brown Rice
Serves 2

Ingredients

3/4 cup uncooked brown rice
3 small/medium golden beets, peeled and cubed
2 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-5 slices bacon
Chunk of ricotta salata

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside.

2. Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes (or until tender), stirring once.

3. Line a second baking sheet with foil and lay the bacon on the foil. When there is about 10-12 minutes remaining for the vegetables, lower the oven heat to 400 and add the bacon baking sheet to the oven.

4. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. Mix the rice and vegetables together, and crumble the bacon and ricotta salata on top.