Dark Chocolate Sorbet

(Printable Recipe)

This deep, dark chocolate sorbet tastes every bit as rich as the darkest chocolate ice cream but doesn't have a drop of dairy in it. Without the fat content of cream, which dulls the taste buds, the depth of this sorbet's chocolate flavor is fully experienced. The ingredients are simple: sugar, cocoa, a little boozy vanilla. Water. That's it.

Start by melting dry sugar over medium heat. You don't need to stir constantly, but don't walk off, keep an eye on it and stir a bit as the sugar starts to melt and darken, then stir fairly continuously.

 It will begin to look amber and very crumbly, then the sugar will begin to liquify.

Finally, as all the sugar melts it will darken further. Keep stirring continuously now.

Now the fun begins! As soon as the sugar has completely liquified (don't worry about those crystals on the side of the pan, leave them alone) pour in 3 cups of water quickly and lean back as you watch a small volcanic eruption in the pan. 

The water will cause the hot syrup to seize only momentarily. Keep stirring and you'll soon notice the crust beginning to collapse and melt into the water. Switching to a wire whisk will make it easier to feel the solid bits sticking to the bottom of the pan and keep them moving toward reliquification. 

Now add 3/4 cup cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla, and spinkle of salt. Whisk well. 

Now, into the fridge until completely chilled. I recommend making this the day before you want to serve it, churning at the last minute. I use a small Hamilton Beach Electric Ice Cream Maker which requires no ice or salt, but the gel-filled freezer bowl takes 8-12 hours to freeze so I pop it into the freezer at the same time the liquid sorbet goes to the fridge. And the next day:

Liquid sorbet is soon ready to eat with a spoon!

Churn 30-40 minutes or until as thick as desired. 

Sorbet's consistency is less firm than ice cream and may be difficult to churn beyond a soft-serve consistency. It will firm up if moved to the freezer if you prefer to ball it up with an ice cream scoop and can stand to wait that long!  Deep, dark chocolate, smooth and rich with just a touch of bourbon-y vanilla. If you've never made your own vanilla, go for it: drop two or three split vanilla beans into a small bottle of good bourbon. I use Maker's Mark from my native Kentucky homeland. Be patient for a few months and you will be well rewarded. So will your every dessert.

SummerSoiree is on at the Food Network blogsite! Stay tuned each week for fresh ideas for your finds at the Farmer's Market or delicious dishes for picnics and parties all summer long. Get more frozen treat recipes here from friends and family:

Feed Me Phoebe: Coconut Mojito Popsicles
Dishing With Divya: Strawberry Sherbet
The Lemon Bowl: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream (No Machine Required)
Jeanette's Healthy Living: Healthy Fruit Punch Popsicles
Virtually Homemade: Minty Pina Colada Popsicles
Weelicious: Fruity Lemonade Ice Pops
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Chai Green Tea Popsicles
Red or Green: Spiced Rooibos Tea Popsicles
Dishin & Dishes: Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Homemade Eggless Vanilla Ice Cream (No Machine Required)
Domesticate Me: Slutty Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Devour: 5 Frozen Finales
Poet in the Pantry: Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Swing Eats: Grapefruit, Pineapple, Basil and Coconut Milk Gelato
Cooking With Elise: Frozen Blueberry Treats
FN Dish: 6 Reasons to Brave Brain Freeze

For a savory frozen treat:

Taste With The Eyes: Frozen Alaskan Cod, Mediterranean-Style

Fresh Figs with Lemon Cream

Oh, joy! Fresh fig "flowers" adorned with a dollop of lemon cream, what could be naturally sweeter? I know, I know, they need NO adornment, being perfectly sweet enough in their own skin, but I couldn't help but gild the lily a bit with the complimentary flavor of lemon. I've heard the flavor of figs described as strawberry crossed with a peach, but it's just more complex than that, maybe add honey or mango to that list. Best to do some extensive taste testing and note making and I'll get back to you...in the meantime let's put together a nosh to gnash on.

Look at those Turkeys! Really, I mean look at those Brown Turkeys in the back there, and the lovely Candy Striped Adriatics all nuzzled up to our one lone Black Mission Figgy right up front. Such a lovely collection of Mild, Sweet, and Extra Sweet (from back to front again). And these are all perfectly ripe which you'll know if they give without feeling mushy when you squeeze.

 First we'll clip the stem completely off. If any white latex exudes from the cut, clip again to get completely past the stem and just slightly into the flesh of the fig.

A quick crisscross cut not quite all the way through and you'll have pretty little flowers. Or crazy little FEED-ME aliens, whichever way you tilt your head to look at them.

Not Perfect. Toss it.

Now for that dollop of lemon cream. Just takes two ingredients:
Lemon Curd and Whipping Cream






I think there is simply no substitute for good old fresh whipped cream and since it takes a whopping 5 minutes to make I try to always have some cream on hand. Thank you Trader Joe's for this perfect tasting Shelf Stable Whipping Cream that stores right in my pantry. Now, having bragged around about that just now, I have to admit that you've got to get it cold for it to whip, so shelf stable or not, toss it in the freezer for 15 minutes (EXACTLY) or fridge for a few hours ahead of time along with bowl and beater, of course.

Unless you're throwing this together at the last minute and then just use some ice water to ready the bowl and beater in a minute or two, dried well. Gotta have icy cold cream so the fat is stable enough to hold the air bubbles you'll be whipping in. (Warm fat is weak fat, people.)

Your cream will whip it together in no time. When it is well thickened, add Lemon Curd a tablespoon at a time and taste. It took about 3 of this brand for the cream to reach Nirvana.
That's it. You're done. Get the dolloping spoon and have at it.

Check out these other delicious ways with figs and keep checking back in each week. All summer long we'll be blogging together with the Food Network to celebrate SummerFest with loads of ideas for your Farmer's Market finds. Stay tuned for Beets next week!




Feed Me Phoebe: Gluten-Free Cheesecake with Fresh Figs and Honey
Jeanette's Healthy Living: Roasted Fig Greek Yogurt Chai Spiced Sorghum Parfait
Devour: A Perfect Pairing of Figs and Pizza Dough
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Fig and Grand Marnier Jam
Red or Green: Roasted Fig, Beet and Orange Salad with Maple Syrup and Jalapeno Vinaigrette
Dishing: Fig Lassi (Fresh Fig Yogurt Smoothie)
Weelicious: Homemade Fig Bars
Virtually Homemade: Fig and Plum Crostata
The Sensitive Epicure: Figs with Goat Cheese, Honey, and Thyme
Domesticate Me: Flatbread with Fresh Figs, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese
Taste With The Eyes: Frozen Fig with Rose, Almond and Rosemary
FN Dish: Go Big with Fleeting Figs

Blackberry Cheesecake with Fresh Peach Topping

(Printable Recipe)

When blackberries and peaches are at their peak, marry them together with this deliciously light cheesecake that showcases the fresh perfection of the season's fruit. (Yet not without a slightly decadent cookie crust!) 

Pick the sweetest, most fragrant peaches you can find, that give a bit when squeezed, but not so much that they are mushy. Peel and cut into bite sized pieces, sugaring them only enough to enhance their flavor. Reject any that aren't already flavorful without the sugar.  Just a few gratings of nutmeg - or the tiniest pinch - will enhance their flavor.

Start with crust. Melt 4 Tbs of Butter in the microwave, which we will add to one full bag of Pepperridge Farm Chessmen Cookies in the food processor. I know of no other suitable substitute for their buttery sweet shortbread flavor so don't choose anything else. Really. The cake and topping are both light on sugar and are balanced by the richness of this crust. Start the food processor running with all cookies first then pour in the butter and stop when all is damp and darkened by the butter. No sugar is added to this because the cookies are sweet enough.

Press into a Pam-sprayed 9 to 9-1/2" springform pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until just slightly browned and a bit darker around the edges.
When it smells irresistible, you'll know you're on the right track.

While the crust cools, let's start that cheesecakey filling. Either rinse the bowl of the food processor (superior method) or use an electric mixer to thoroughly blend the following into a smooth batter: 2 softened pkgs of Cream Cheese, 1/2 C Ricotta, 3 Eggs, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice, 3/4 C Sugar.


 A note about the cream cheese: it MUST be very soft to blend well. I heat mine, out of the pkg, on a plate for almost a minute in the microwave or until it is slumping off the plate, otherwise you will have unevenly blended pieces of white cream cheese bits throughout your imperfect cheesecake in the end.

The filling may seem fairly thin and liquidy, almost like pancake batter. That's OK. It will be just right when baked!
Now, to scatter and submerge the berries which will turn bright fuchsia-pink as the cake cooks. These are wild berries I picked from the fence row in our orchard and popped in the freezer on a cookie sheet for an hour or so. This keeps them from falling apart or bursting and staining the entire cake an ugly purple. If you purchase frozen berries, get the dry pack type and feel the bag to make sure they are individually frozen and moving around like little marbles in there, not one solid chunk.

Make sure they are pushed just below the surface of the batter. And yes, I'm using a fancy orange chopstick for this little chore.

You can use the back of a spoon if you prefer, just don't disturb the berries much and your reward will be a most lovely dotted slice of cake with luscious whole berries therein.

Bake at 375 checking it at 30 and 45 minutes. It may even take an hour depending on the exact size of your pan and temperamentality of your oven. The middle should be set and not wiggly at all when lightly shaken. Allow to cool several hours on counter (and even overnight in fridge) before cutting. If the sides have not pulled away from the edges, run a thin sharp knife all the way around before unbuckling the springform to remove, then slide onto a large platter with base of pan intact.

Ah, beauty. This only works if you're serving the entire cake immediately. (Unfortunately, you'll have a soggy cake the next morning if you store it topped, such are the powers of the juicy peach.) Just spoon some peaches over each slice as they are plated and store the remainder separately if you intend to attempt to make this baby last more than 24 hours!

SummerFest at the Food Network website is offering up the best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. You'll find me right there and we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  Next week watch for eggplant thoughts, but right now check out these other ideas for peaches:

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Peach Kiwi Salsa
Chez Us: Upside Down Peach Bourbon Cake
The Heritage Cook: Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Filling
Virtually Homemade: Peach Cobbler Muffins
Made By Michelle: Mint Peach Popsicles
Taste With The Eyes: The BLP Sandwich (Bacon, Lettuce and Peach)
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Healthy Peach Crisp Smoothie
Red or Green: Spiced Peach Daiquiri
Feed Me Phoebe: Peach Lassi
Domesticate Me: Grilled Halibut Tacos with Peach Salsa
Weelicious: Kenya’s Peach Cake
Blue Apron Blog: Seared Trout with Peach and Arugula Salad
The Sensitive Epicure: Grilled Peaches with Greek Yogurt, Honey, Lime Zest and Vanilla
FN Dish: 5 Unsung Sides of the Summer Peach

Fresh and Easy Blueberry Pie

(Printable Recipe)

Perfect blueberry pie should be sweet with just a hint of tartness in a berry that has not turned to mush, which is just what makes this pie perfect. If you don't have fresh berries, fear not, you can do pretty well using frozen. I'll tell you more about that later, for now we shall devote ourselves to pie. Today I'm fortunate enough to have berries picked from our orchard just today; berries fat and purple and I beat the birds to them by dragging myself down there early enough in the morning to win.

Rinse those berries and leave in the strainer a moment while we divert our attention to the crust. If you don't like to make homemade crust, get the Pillsbury All Ready Piecrust in the red box, all rolled up and ready to put in the pan. Go ahead and bake the bottom crust according to the box directions, but not quite until done, maybe shave off 5 minutes or so of cook time because it's going back in the oven after the filling is in and top on and that bottom crust will cook a bit more then.

For the filling, we'll use 4 cups of berries. However, the success of this pie is in this secret: Take out one cup and bubble them up with a half cup of water and in a pan over medium heat, just until they start to burst and purple up the water, just 5 minutes or so. These we will sweeten and add to the rest so that most of the berries will remain plump and firm and slightly tart.

While those are heating up, juice 1/2 lemon for 2 tsp of fresh juice and measure up 1/2 cup sugar. Add these to the boiling berries. Now, you may need as much as a full cup of sugar if your berries are very tart. Taste them before you start and you be the judge of the pucker level you detect. Remember that this small batch will be fairly sweet before the whole batch is mixed in.

Finally, add the thickener: 2 Tbs Cornstarch and 2 Tbs Water shaken vigorously in a jar.

Stir this into the berries and continue to stir for 2-3 minutes until is goes from cloudy to glossy as you can see in the split pic below.

Now! Gently stir in the rest of the berries and move this glorious delight to your pie shell where we shall make it more beautiful still.

You can simply top the pie with a full-on solid crust and make plenty of little vents with the tip of your knife, but why not go for the lattice crust that lets those lovely purpley berries peak through? With my cheater method for lattice you'll have it finished in under five minutes. Unroll the other crust onto wax paper and cut into strips. If you don't have a crinkle-cutter like this little contraption, just use a pizza cutter or sharp knife.





Place the first strips about an inch apart across the whole pie; now give it a quarter turn and lay the second set of strips at an angle like this. I start with a longer length and let all the others follow suit. It will appear to be woven without the trouble.

Since you'll have extra crust strips left, I'll show you how to make an easy crimped edge. Just layer the extra strips around the outer edge of the pie and pinch all the way around, this way:

Poke with your index finger and pinch around it with thumb and finger of the other hand until you've gone all the way around. Easy fancy.

Now, bake at 375 for 20 minutes or so until golden but not too brown.
When cooled, this filling is just right, not thick and jelled, but just firm enough not to run liquidy blue all over the plate. And the flavor is perfection!

THE SHOPPING LIST

4 cups blueberries

1/2 cup water

 2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 to 1 cup sugar

2 TBS cornstarch

2 TBS water

Double Pie Crust

**Now for that note about using frozen - if you're craving BB Pie and it's just not the right time, skip the out-of-season berries in produce, which are often too tart and flavorless because they've been picked underripe for their long trip to your store. Choosing frozen, especially wild blueberries frozen, is the best choice according to Cook's Illustrated because they're picked at their peak of ripeness. Test the bag though by picking it up and feeling for individually berries rolling around in there, not a solid block or chunk (means they've thawed and refrozen and are often full of ice crystals). You'll still end up with a very tasty pie!

SummerFest at the Food Network website is back! Once again, you'll find my foodie blogs along with other great food lovin' bloggers, offering up our best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. Each week we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  This week it's blueberries, next week peas and I'm thinking about something cool and crisp. In the meantime, check out these other tasty ideas for blueberries:

Feed Me Phoebe: Gluten-Free Blueberry-Almond Pancakes
The Lemon Bowl: Strawberry Mango Chia Smoothie
Dishin & Dishes: Crunchy Topped Blueberry White Chocolate Muffins
Jeanette's Healthy Living: Gingered Blueberry Shortcakes With Light Creamy Topping
Taste With The Eyes: Blueberry Limoncello Pavlova
Sweet Life Bake: Paletas de Fresca y Aguacate
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Mixed Berry Tea Cake
Red or Green?: Strawberry & Blueberry Crisp (Red or Green-style)
Virtually Homemade: Blueberry Mint Margaritas
Haute Apple Pie: Triple Berry Ice Cream
Pinch My Salt: Strawberry Peach Cobbler With Almond Biscuit Topping
Cooking With Elise: Dehydrating Blueberries, Plus Blueberry and White Chocolate Cookies
Devour: Four Healthy Berry Recipes
Domesticate Me: Summer Berry Crisp
Weelicious: Brainy Breakfast
The Sensitive Epicure: Strawberries With White Balsamic Vinegar Caramel, Orange Zest and Black Pepper
Daily*Dishin: Fresh and Easy Blueberry Pie
From My Corner of Saratoga: Mixed Berry Freezer Pops
FN Dish: Wake Up With Berries

Chocolate Chip and Candied Bacon Cookies with Pecans

(Printable Recipe)

Come on, off course Candied Bacon makes a Chocolate Chip Cookie even better! It's chewy, sweet, little bit smokey, just a touch salty. You've got to do it. And here's what you'll hear, "Mine didn't have any bacon in it, but it was really good!" Candied bacon is not plain bacon. It's like candy.And here's how it all happens:

Press the bacon into brown sugar spread on a plate until it is coated well on both sides. I used 5 pieces of thick cut bacon for this recipe. If you use regular cut bacon you may need 6 or 7 pieces.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-40 minutes, checking closely from 15 minutes on. Cooking time depending on the thickness of the bacon, which should be very dark and crunchy when done. Some edges may get too dark.

Don't forget to spray a rack really well with cooking spray to reduce sticking. Put this over a foil lined baking sheet to catch the mess.

There will be some really dark edges that may or may not be burned. Don't toss them without tasting! You may be surprised. Let everything cool well before attempting to break into small pieces.

Now, assemble the cookie ingredients. You'll need

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup rough chopped pecans 

Start by creaming together both sugars and the butter until nice a smooth and fluffy.

 

 Add the eggs one at a time. I think it's safest to break eggs into a small cup and then slip them into the mix to avoid any mishaps. Removing eggshell from a cup is simple compared to trying to dig it out of an entire bowl of dough or batter. Also add the vanilla now.

Whisk the dry ingredients together briefly to combine well. 

 I like to use whole pecans and chop them myself with a chef's knife so the pieces are larger than the pre-chopped or "chipped" kind. The bacon is actually more difficult to chop than just break into pieces by hand.  

Add these last three ingredients with a big wooden spoon rather than letting the electric mixer do it. This way the chunky nuts and bacon won't break down further, but will stay nice and chunky.

Bake them up at 375 for about 15-18 minutes. Keep an eye on them and remove when they're just beginning to brown. Bacon. It's not just for breakfast anymore.Oh, my, I really did just say that.

It's time for the Comfort Food Feast on the Food Network's FN Dish blog! You'll find me there all winter and today you can check out these othercookie  ideas:  

Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookie Breakfast Bars
Jeanette's Healthy Living: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies
What's Gaby Cooking: Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Lemon Bowl: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
From My Corner of Saratoga: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Napa Farmhouse 1885: New Year's Resolution Chocolate Chip Cookies
Red or Green?: Tao's Double-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Made By Michelle: The Best Blondies, Ever
Cooking With Elise: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sweet Life Bike: Dulce de Leche Chocolate Chip Cookies
Virtually Homemade: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Cultural Dish: Chocolate Chip Cookie Goodness
Thursday Night Dinner: Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
Dishin & Dishes: Chocolaty Chocolate Chip Cookies
Devour:5 Takes on Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
FN Dish: The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie