Anne Michelle's Aunt's Pilgrim Ice Cream

After a recent ice storm left us without electricity for several days, we found ourselves whiling away our time at a local restaurant, along with others who were also whiling away their time. In one conversation a friend recounted her fondness for her Aunt’s Pilgrim ice cream. She told me it was made with chunks of oranges, cranberries, and walnuts, mixed with sugar and sour cream, then put into the freezer to become semi frozen and served as a side dish.

I love family recipes, and this one intrigued me. I thought such a combination had to be good and so I set out to make my own version of Anne Michelle’s Aunt’s Pilgrim Ice Cream.

I started with three navel oranges, removed the zest and set it aside, peeled the oranges and cut them into rough chunks. I put the oranges in the bowl of a food processor along with the zest, one cup cranberries and half a cup walnuts.

I pulsed about five times, poured the whole thing into a large bowl, added 12 oz sour cream and 2/3 cups sugar. Mixed until sugar was dissolved.

Put the bowl in the freezer until semi frozen.

Served as a side dish

or as a light dessert.

This was super easy to make and turned out to be creamy, tart and sweet. The tartness of the cranberries, the freshness of the oranges and the nutty walnut came together to make a light, cleansing and addictive treat.

Fresh Garlic Soup

A wintry mix

I found inspiration in my basket of garlic

Garlic is so easy to grow, it's a mystery to me why it's not more widely grown. Here in south western New Hampshire, I plant garlic the last week of October, just before the ground freezes. I save the biggest cloves from the summer's harvest for planting. I plant them four inches apart, one inch deep, in a raised bed filled with good garden soil, rich with compost. Cover the entire bed with three inches of hay, then I sit back and wait for spring. That's it! In spring, as soon as the ground thaws, the garlic starts growing without any help from me.

Garlic bed in early spring

They're ready to be picked when four bottom leaves turn yellow and start to brown. To harvest, I gently pull them out of the ground, brush off the extra soil and hang them in the garage to cure for winter storage.

I grow more than a hundred heads of garlic every year to share with friends and to make this fabulous soup. Plant some garlic next fall and you'll never look back.

Fresh Garlic Soup

I came up with this recipe a few years back when a bumper crop of fresh garlic sent me scurrying for ways to use garlic. This soup is quick and easy, comes together in an instant. Don't be afraid of the amount of garlic, it'll come out creamy, mellow and delicious. Like chicken soup, it's a cure for any winter colds. Enjoy it piping hot by the fire and you can almost ignore the wintry weather outside. Here's the recipe:

2 heads of garlic
4 cups of water
2 onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
6 sage leaves
4 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Separate the garlic into cloves, leave unpeeled. In a soup pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add garlic cloves and boil 8 minutes. Drain and peel the garlic cloves. Return them to the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Boil gently uncovered, until garlic is meltingly soft, about ten minutes. Remove sage leaves and puree soup in a blender or food processor. Salt and pepper to taste. Served with warm crusty bread and salad, it makes a light comforting supper for two.

This is my first entry to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by
Chriesi of Almond Corner.

Coconut Custard

As Thanksgiving approaches all thoughts are on food, and if you’re looking for something fun and different for your dessert table, try this coconut custard from my youth.

It’s made with coconut milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Traditionally the custard is steamed, but sometimes it's baked and, on very special occasion, it’s steamed inside a pumpkin. For the holidays, I like to steam the custard in Buttercup and Sweet Dumpling squashes. It’s always a hit and a good conversation piece for any holiday gathering.

Sweet Dumplings and Buttercup squash filled with coconut custard

Recipe:

13.5 oz can coconut milk

5 large eggs

1 cup sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

2 buttercup squash, or four sweet dumplings, or a combination

Special equipment: Chinese bamboo steamer or other steamer

Make custard:

In a blender mix the first five ingredients until smooth, set aside.

To steam in squash containers: slice off the top quarter of squash to make a lid, put in steamer. Hollow out the seeds from the squash bottom, wrap it in foil and put in the steamer.

Wrapping the squash in foil prevents it from cracking

Pour custard into squash, fill it to about 1/4" from the top, steam, covered, until squash is tender and custard is firm, about an hour to an hour and half, depending on the size of the squash. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice and serve at room temperature.

To bake: pour custard into a 9.5 x 13.5 x 2 inch pan and bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the middle is firm. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Colorful fall greens

With just a bit of coddling, beautiful greens still linger in my southern New Hampshire garden.

Chinese cabbage and baby beets

Kale and escarole under row cover

Swiss chard and arugula

Bright Light Swiss chard is as tasty as it is beautiful. In the garden it grows easily and abundantly, and need only to be picked to keep it producing. I harvest it by the armloads from early summer to late fall. Both leaves and stems are edible but I prefer only the leaves and the stems get composted.

Here are two never fail Swiss chard recipes.

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

3 lbs Swiss chard, leaves coarsely shredded, stems discarded

3 Tbs olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs oyster sauce

Heat oil and garlic in a large heavy pot over medium heat, add salt and pepper. When garlic turns slightly golden add chard leaves in batches, stirring until wilted before adding next batch and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl, toss with oyster sauce and serve. Makes 8 servings.

This chard ball recipe is adapted from an old spinach ball recipe. Whether you make them with spinach or Swiss chard the accolades will be the same, and will leave your guests begging for more.

Chard Balls with Hot and Sweet Mustard

4 cups cooked Swiss chard, squeezed dry, or 2 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

2 cups herb stuffing mix, crushed

1 cup grated parmesan cheese (5 oz wedge)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

5 scallions, finely chopped

3 eggs

Dash of freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Cover and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set balls on ungreased baking sheet and bake until golden brown about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with Hot and Sweet Mustard.

Makes about 50 balls

Hot and Sweet Mustard

½ cup Coleman dry mustard

½ cup white vinegar

¼ cup sugar

1 egg yolk

Combine mustard and vinegar, cover and let stand at room temperature 4 hours.

Mix sugar and egg yolk in small sauce pan. Add mustard and vinegar mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Cover and chill. Serve at room temperature.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

In the early 60’s the streets of Vientiane were flooded with Vietnamese refugees escaping American bombs. The refugees took to the streets selling food from their home country. Some vendors pushed carts laden with freshly cooked food, while others balanced a long bamboo pole across one shoulder, two round baskets at either end, swaying left and right seemingly weightless. All kinds of food paraded through the streets this way, bells ringing, horns blowing and hawkers shouting their offerings, all vying for attention.

There were exotic sweet and savory morsels wrapped in banana leaves…chunks of ripe papaya and sugar cane piled high over blocks of ice…sticky rice with mangoes …sticky rice with ice cream…fresh and fried spring rolls…Warm and cold salads…iced coffee laced with sweet condensed milk…Silken tofu in soothing ginger syrup… and the list goes on.

It was in this environment of casual eating that I discovered Vietnamese food, and became forever enamored with street food. I was especially fond of bo boon, a one dish meal with rice noodles mixed with salad greens, tossed in a spicy fish sauce, topped with warm curried beef, and sprinkled with peanuts. This is my version of that dish from long ago. It's comfort food in our family and I make it most often in the summer when my garden overflows with all kinds of greens that can go into this salad. It's the ultimate street food and it takes me home.

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad
1 lb Japanese somen noodles

1 – 1 ½ lb flank steak, cut in half length wise, thinly sliced across the grain
1 large onion, cut in half length wise, thinly sliced
3 TBS canola oil
2 TBS fish sauce
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tsp curry powder
Fresh ground black pepper

12 lettuce leaves, coarsely shredded
1 cup mint leaaves, roughly chopped
1 cup coriander, roughly chopped
I medium cucumber, lightly peeled, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced into half moons
2 cups bean sprouts

Spicy Fish Sauce (recipe below)
2/3 cup coarsely ground dry roasted peanuts.
Chili peppers for garnish, if you like heat

Cook somen noodles in salted boiling waterfor 2-3 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and put in a platter, ccover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Combine beef with fish sauce, 2 tsp curry powder and black pepper in a bowl and marinate until ready to use.

In a large salad bowl combine lettuce, mint, coriander, cucumbers and bean sprouts, toss gently. Divide vegetables among 4 to 6 pasta bowls. Top the vegetables with a handful of noodles, set aside until ready to use. Everything up to this point can be made three hours ahead.
When ready to serve, heat oil, over medium heat, in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic, stir fry until fragrant and onion is tender. Add the rest of curry powder and stir fry another minute. Add the beef and stir fry over high heat one to two minutes, to your desired doneness. I like mine a little pink in the middle. Divide beef among the bowls of noodles. Top each with ground peanuts. Pass the fish sauce at the table. Diners should add a generous amount of fish sauce to their bowl and toss everything together, adding sauce and hot pepper to taste.
4 to 6 servings.

Spicy Fish Sauce with Peanuts
½ hot water
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
2 TBS dry roasted peanuts , ground
Hot chiles to taste, thinly sliced
Mix all ingredients, except peanuts and chiles, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Garnish with peanuts and chiles before serving. Makes 1 ¼ cup.

My garden in September

Morning fog rolling in from the Connecticut River

While tomatoes are waning, wonderful swiss chard will keep on producing until first frost. Fall lettuce, successively planted, will keep our salad bowls filled through the shortened days of fall.


Keep zucchinis picked and pick them small. Tiny zucchinis are more tender, crisper and sweeter than the great big ones that got away. I pick mine between six and ten inches.


Hungarian Wax peppers

These yellow Hungarian Wax peppers have a permanent place in my garden, I just love them. They're quick and easy to grow and produce an abundance of mildly hot peppers. I use them instead of bell peppers. They have just the right amount of heat with a hint of sweetness and freeze beautifully. To freeze, I cut them into half inch rings and pop them into one gallon freezer bags. All winter long I grab a handful and add them to soups, stews and stir fries.

Just as quickly, they can be pickled. Fill pint or quart jars with sliced peppers, cover with distilled vinegar and seal. They keep all winter long in my pantry and are great on nachos and anywhere you like a little heat.

Hot stash


No vampires here!

Wild mushrooms

Chantarelle and Oyster mushrooms found on my walk yesterday.

It was my lucky day to stumble upon these gifts from the woods, I practically skipped home to spend the morning washing, cleaning, and every now and then, sniffing them. I was in mushroom heaven. All the while planning how to best use this windfall.

I settled on my old standby, I seem to always turn to this recipe when I have more mushrooms than I know what to do with. It's sinfully yummy, doubles easily and freezes well.

Wild mushrooms with garlic

1 TBS olive oil
1TBS butter
1 pound assorted wild mushrooms, shredded
3 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
A dash of Maggi Sauce
Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large, cast iron skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until slightly brown and not too dry. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add white wine and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute (at this point taste the mushrooms, if they’re not tender add a little water, continue to cook a little longer until done. Add cream and cilantro; stir until sauce coats mushrooms, about 1 minute, season to taste with salt, pepper and a dash of Maggie sauce. Serve on toast. Any leftovers can be folded inside an omelet, added to fried rice, or tossed with pasta. Makes 6 servings.

A new beginning

Once in while life throws us a curve ball and we get a chance to reinvent ourselves, but too often when this happens we’re afraid because usually we’re put in this situation not of our own choosing. So we’re afraid, afraid of the unknown. I’m afraid, but I will ride the fear and know that I will arrive safely on the other side. Be in the moment I remind myself. At this moment my mind wonders about all the possibilities. One thought that won’t go away is---Should I do the farmers' market? I’m not eager to do the market again, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I’ll have to come up with a different product so I wouldn’t feel like I was going back to something old and stale. It’ll have to feel new, fun and exciting. Not much to ask, but maybe if you don’t ask you don’t get.
People love the spring rolls and I can sell them as fast as I can make them but I’m so tired of making them, it’s like Billy Joel having to sing Uptown Girl over and over again. So I need a new angle on the food. I want my new food to be mostly local ingredients and organic.
Here’s the spring roll recipe for you to try and see what the fuss is all about.

Spring rolls with Chicken sate at Bellows Falls Farmers' Market

Everybody’s Favorite Spring Rolls

Filling:
1 lb ground pork
¼ lbs onions, chopped
¾ lbs carrots, grated
¼ lbs. bean sprouts
1-8 oz can water chestnut chopped
2 TBS oyster sauce
2 TBS dried cloud ears, soaked in water until soft and chopped
50 grams cellophane noodles, soaked and cut into short lengths
2 eggs

1 lb package rice paper

Peanut oil or canola oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together except rice paper and oil. Immerse a sheet of rice paper in warm water and immediately put on damp kitchen towel, repeat until you have five sheets of rice paper between damp towels stacked one on top of the other. Flip over so the first sheet of rice paper is on top. At this point the rice paper should be perfectly hydrated and pliable.

Center about 2 TBS filling mixture on the bottom 2/3 of the paper, leaving 2” border. Fold in the right then the left edges over the filling, roll to top edge, wet rice paper will stick to itself forming a tight seal. Transfer seam side down onto a platter.

When all the filling have been rolled, deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Serve with spicy fish sauce. .Makes 30 to 35 spring rolls.

This recipe doubles easily and cooked spring rolls can be frozen. Reheat directly from the freezer, in 450 degrees oven until deep brown and crunchy.

Spicy fish sauce with peanuts

½ hot water
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
2 TBS dry roasted peanuts , ground
Hot chiles to taste, thinly sliced

Mix all ingredients, except peanuts and chiles, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Garnish with peanuts and chiles before serving. Makes 1 ¼ cup.

This sauce can be doubled or tripled and refrigerated will keep almost indefinitely. I always have it around. It’s good on a lot of Asian salads and for dipping dumplings and such. More on this handy sauce in future posts.

Let me know what you think of these spring rolls and would love to hear about your experiences making them.