eggbeater

Sunday New York Times: July 20, 2008 {!}

This coming Sunday you may want to pick up the NY Times. Look for something written by the inimitable Amanda Hesser.
July 20, 2008.
It will be a special day indeed.
Well, for me, at any rate.

See you soon?

 

How To Make Snickerdoodles!

You all have been waiting soooo patiently!

You've been teased.

And promised.

And tempted.

And some of you have even taken nibbles.

But now.

Right now.

I have a recipe, method, step-by-step instruction and photos,

and

if you live close by

you could even taste one.

Follow the bowl of swirling cinnamon sugar

to Simply Recipes where I'm guest authoring.

SNICKERDOODLES.

                     /and you thought the day would never arrive. awww. i keeps my promises!

Have you ever made pastry cream at home?

Creme Patissiere anyone?
With flour? Cornstarch?
Whole eggs? Just yolks?

While there are a number of recipes online, I couldn't find one I loved the explanation for the method of.
Do you have one you always follow?

    p.s. this is research so I can give you a recipe you've asked about... 

The Fourth of July!

today is:

chocolate buttermilk cake
sticky buns
beignets !
sweet potato pie
caramel cake with caramelized butter frosting
a spoonful of the best coconut pastry cream, if I love you
snickerdoodles
chocolate chocolate chip cookies
bacon-scallion-cheddar biscuits
limeade
mint lemonade
strawberry lemonade
lacy yeasted cornmeal waffles with brown sugar butter
creamed corn
warm buttermilk biscuits and local jam
blue bottle coffee
homemade granola
black cast iron skillet baked cornbread
grits
a giant smoker filled with ribs and chicken
perfectly poached eggs
watermelon
real vanilla ice cream
honest iced tea
fresh squozed orange juice
R&B
a dash of hip hop
old school soul
hot cooks
even hotter bakers
corn on the cob
friends
barking

and beautiful
big
explosions of light
and colour
in the broad
grand
mighty
night sky.

happy fourth.
be safe, sane & consensual, and responsible tonight. /please.
just think:
you may even want to remember what you did today, tomorrow. just sayin'

see you soon?

Grits. What to do with leftovers?

In every restaurant there are menu items that cannot be sold after the service they are intended for. There are food banks for leftover bread and produce but once a starch is cooked, what to do with leftovers?

Do you make grits at home? Maybe turn them into cake when you've had your fill or bowlful? Sculpt with them? Feed them to the pig in the barn?

All ideas welcome. Even silly ones.

Coconut Cream Pie!

This was so delicious I might have to share the recipe with you. I'll give you a hint: First I used Food Blog Search. Then I wrote out my standard pastry cream recipe and compared it to Nicole's. I used the basic premise of Baking Bite's recipe,

and then, I finessed like crazy.

It is my belief that white sugar interrupts the subtle flavour of coconut. Now I know coconut is not a shy flavour, but it takes a bit of sweet nothings, patience, and much listening, to get to the root of coconut's true soul. There are few ingredients which do not compete to win when it comes to playing with coconut.

Instead of using all white sugar, I also used raw. I also substituted vanilla sugar for some of the white sugar. (I take dried vanilla beans and their empty brittle sheaths and I break them up in a spice grinder with raw or white sugar until all is pulverized and highly aromatic.)

I didn't have 1/2 & 1/2 so I "made my own" with Manufacturer's cream and whole milk. And although I liked the idea of using whole eggs for pastry cream, (the whites help the custard "set up" a little harder: which is what you need when you're not going to bake the pie again), but I also wanted to enrich the custard with a few extra egg yolks.

Also, I love infusing dairy for pastry cream with whatever flavour I am looking to achieve. So I toasted a bunch of sweetened shredded coconut and did a long infusion. But I passed the liquid through a fine meshed sieve (= chinois) because I didn't want those bits floating around in my smooth custard.

And because this coconut cream pie filling wasn't rich enough yet (ha!), I mounted in some butter at the end, throwing in a dash of browned butter for added kick/ boost.

And of course I seasoned with Kosher salt to taste.

Can you say goddamn?

I have never made coconut cream pie before. But in the last few days I feel I can now say,

I have done this fine American standard, a service.

xo

brown sugar kitchen, friday-saturday 5/30 & 5/31

Psssssssssst,
        come over here.

                   

shhhhhhh,                I have a secret.

                                        a leetle birdy told me BSK will have coconut cream pie & caramel cake

Friday May 30 & Saturday May 31.
                    don't tell everyone, keep it to yourself.

x pescado

Cherry Pit/ Noyaux Ice Cream. & More Notes on Homemade Ice Cream

We appear to be having a cherry pit-fest over here at eggbeater. Welcome, take a seat, but don't eat candied stones from strangers. Not everyone has your best interest at heart.

See PART ONE here and PART TWO there.

One of the many commenters on this controversial post asked why did I not give a recipe for Cherry Pit Ice Cream after I waxed, or cackled-- depending on how you look at it, poetic on the elusive subject. And so, not one to say a unilateral no to requests, here is the recipe.

Find my notes on ice cream from scratch here. In that post there are 3 links to other people who had the time to type out how to make creme anglaise-- the liquid base for many ice cream recipes. If you need a lot of hints, check out what David Lebovitz has to say in his book The Perfect Scoop, or in his Ice Cream Tips category on his blog.

*

    CHERRY PIT / NOYAUX ICE CREAM

    Whole Milk  3 Cups
    Heavy Cream* 1 Cup
    Sugar   3/4 Cup
    Large Egg Yolks   6-7
    Smashed Cherry Pits   1 - 1 1/2 Cups

    *Not ultra pasteurized or listing stabilizers on the carton.

    Heat milk, cream, pits, and half the sugar, in that order, in heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan over low to medium heat. When hot to the touch, shut off heat, whisk and let steep 1-2 hours, tasting every 30 minutes.

    When hot dairy tastes as strong as you'd like it (remembering that it will taste stronger in flavor and sweetness when it's hot), bring liquid to boil and pass through a fine meshed sieve, pressing on the solids to press out as much of the liquid as you can.

    Make creme anglaise with scented liquid, being sure to chill in ice bath until chilled through and through. It is best eaten the day it is churned but will keep 5 days in a non-reactive container (I use glass) with a tight fitting lid in the coldest part of your fridge.

*

Creme anglaise recipes vary considerably because, 1. recipes are guides, and 2. recipes are about proportions. If you know what role an ingredient plays and who each ingredient relies on to make it be the best it can be, you can switch up most anything to suit your particular whim on a given day.

The proportion I start with for home ice cream makers is:
6-8 egg yolks
for every
1Q liquid dairy
and
1/2 - 2/3 Cups sugar

My experience with home machines is that they prefer to have slightly less butterfat involved. In a commercial machine it's easy to make ice cream that cardiologists would call the police on you for, on the other hand. This is because of the amount of time an ice cream spends in the machine, physically getting churned. It's about how much chill a machine might be holding onto or being generated.

If you want the best homemade ice cream mouthfeel, eat churned ice cream as soon as it's ready. If you must put ice cream away for a few weeks or long days, about 20 minutes before you want to eat it, put container in your fridge. This will help "temper" the ice cream = get it to soften slowly, carefully and evenly. If your ice cream ingredients were high in sugar or alcohol, though, you might never get a hard set because these ingredients lower the freezing temperature of water and create smoother, more elastic, softer ice creams.

When making ice creams whose flavors depend on infusions it is of utmost importance that you taste as you go. All herbs, whether they be green or dried, come in varying strengths that only god can determine. Depending on the time of year, weather, and soil; various highly scented flowers, leaves, woods, herbs, spices and other infusables will make stronger or weaker impressions on your ice cream base.

And

butterfat is the magic carpet ride for flavor infusions in ice cream

so

if you are looking for a really minty ice cream made with nonfat milk, you are going to have to work really hard at getting that mint scent and flavor to stick to the inside of your mouth once the ice cream melts.

About 10% of flavor and perfume get lost when ice cream is frozen. Although ice cream melts in your mouth, your mouth gets really cold and has a harder and harder time distinguishing actual flavor the more bites, licks, nibbles and slurps you take.

Also, if you infuse ingredients that are high in fat, like nuts and coconut, they will leach out extra fat into the creme anglaise and you might want to make adjustments for that. Not to mention that with something like dessicated coconut you will lose a portion of your liquid to it re-constituting the dried flakes, so you'll need to be aware of that too.

You can also make ice cream without eggs but not all "alternative dairys" want to be cooked until 160-180F. so be sure to check into it before making an expensive mess in your kitchen.

I hope some of these hints help. I wish you much ice cream making this summer! If you feel like thanking me you may do so by pitching in to buy me a machine I have coveted some time now...

When Life Hands You Cherry Stones,

Make Cherry Pit Ice Cream.

aka Noyaux

{Are you looking for the recipe? Click on this link to find Cherry Pit Ice Cream.}

Pronounced "NWI-oh."

It tastes better than the best marzipan. Involves getting friendly with a hammer. Uses all of the fruit. Wows friends and foes.

Teaches you something about the genealogy of stone fruit. Reminds even the most skeptical that there's always something left to be discovered.             Is less expensive than real almond extract. Makes a great mess. Is gorgeous paired with buttery cakes, other stone fruit,             green almonds, Beaumes de Venise, reduced vinegar sauces, love & lust & crushes,

        luscious sorbets and subtle linen blouses, silk velvet and fast cars, birthday suits and soft socks, all on its own and mounded with soft downy chocolate shavings.

Go Now.

Make It. *another version here.

Thank me later.

Save your organic cherry stones. Throw your stems into the garden or play a miniature game of pick-up sticks.

Cherries won't be here forever. Take a break from strawberries, they'll be here until late summer. Save up your pennies and buy a good pitter.

The first time I made cherry pit ice cream I cracked each pit just so, and with tiny, deft pinches and a keen eye, plucked those tiny "almonds" from the inside of each hard shattered shell walls. Did I say tiny?

But that's because I'm insane.

You can do this instead: pick a dishtowel you're not in love with. lay out cherry stones on one side and fold another side over them like they're going nighty-night forever. Take out hammer and smash every which way but Wednesday. Use this as your infusion. Just be sure to strain that ice cream base through a fine meshed sieve before chilling, churning and serving!

Want to gild the lily? Cook cherries briefly in a dash of cognac or port or red verjus or balsamic or banyuls vinegar, rough chop & add.

What it tastes like,

How it will make you feel,

What will happen when you feed it to that special person,

I can't say here. Unless of course we could definitively establish that you're of age.

xx

How To Make Flaky, Buttery Pastry: Photos From The Class!

**Want to know what classes I'm teaching right now? Click here.**

Extremely lucky for me and you, Anita came to my class yesterday and took an entire series of photos the Pastry Class! Check them out as slideshow if you've the time-- this way you get the whole effect.

And maybe you can help thank her for me, not only are these photos stunning, they're informative & thorough!