red berry soup (with peaches, nectarines and currants)

I love fruit soups.  I really do.  After a delicious summer meal – it is nice to (sometimes) forfeit that heavy dessert and go for something light, refreshing and healthy.  Well, this is it.  Friends enjoyed this the other night.  Everyone just so excited by fruit!  As I’ve said before, Deborah Madison’s Seasonal Fruit Desserts cookbook is truly wonderful – filled with so many simple ideas that I’m blown away each time I peruse it.  The “broth” is made of a cooked and strained berries and the chunky bits are simply peaches, nectarines, berries and currants.  There is nothing crazy here – but the fruit in a cold fruit sauce – is so much better than fruit alone!  Add a dollop of Greek yogurt to keep it light, or some vanilla ice cream for those looking to add a little richness.  Or as Greg said – some lemon or raspberry sorbet might be nice too.  Lots of choices.  Enjoy-

This serves around 4 people –

red berry soup (from Seasonal Fruit Desserts by Deborah Madison):

soup–

3 cups red raspberries or mixed raspberries, red currants and strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water
few drops of lemon juice or rose water
pinch kosher salt

the fruit–

4 peaches or nectarines, white and/or yellow
1 scant cup mixed berries such as blackberries, golden or red raspberries, and currants

garnish–

2 rose geranium leaves with their blossoms, lavender springs, or sprigs of currents (or just serve as is.

For the soup – place the berries in a small pan with the sugar and a half cup water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 90 seconds.  While it simmers, break up the fruit with a masher or pestle.

Turn off the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes and then pour through a sieve.  Using a rubber spatuala, squish out as much juice as possible into a bowl.  You should have about 1 1/4 cups of liquid.

Let cool, then stir in the rose water or lemon juice – and add more to taste if desired.  Add a pinch of kosher salt to taste.  Cover and refrigerate.

To peel the peaches- prepare an ice bath.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Dip the peaches into the water for 5-7 seconds – then quickly remove them with a slotted spoon and pop into the ice bath to stop the cooking.  Slip off the skins or refrigerate the fruit with the skins intact until needed (if serving later).

To serve, divide the soup into shallow bowls.  Slice the peeled peaches and nectarines and divide among the bowls.  Place the blackberries, raspberries and currents in the bowls too.  Garnish with what you might have available from above.

Add a dollop of Greek yogurt, creme fraiche, ice cream, sorbet – or just serve as is 🙂

Enjoy-


pomegranate grapefruit sorbet

Refreshingly cool.  The first bite is pomegranate, lemon and a little lime; the aftertaste is grapefruit.  YUM.  I love this.  I grew up eating tons of pomegranates and tons of grapefruit – so together in this light dessert, well…happiness!  Greg and Andy liked this a lot too.  Sadly, Rob is not a grapefruit guy – so he liked it until the aftertaste.  Oh well.  I didn’t really share this because I’m kind of hoarding it.  However, if I had a dinner party coming up I’d make meringue shells and pop these in for a pretty, tasty summer sweet.  Alternatively, a half ounce of vodka might be super on this sorbet in a little dish with fresh pomegranate seeds and grapefruit segments. I’m having neither so I’ll just eat plain (although the vodka sounds good this second…hmmm maybe later!)  The POM people were kind enough to send me a case of their juice – which was such a treat both mentally (nice that they like my blog) and physically (well, it is good!)  Last year I made pomegranate sorbet but without grapefruit or citrus notes and that too was good with just juice and a simple syrup.  You can try that if you’re not in love with the added grapefruit.  It was back to Sally Sampson for this recipe – I loved her Recipe of the Week-Cookies, so I purchased her Ice Cream of the Week book which is filled with a lot of awesome looking frozen treats.  Many more to come…Enjoy!

pomegranate grapefruit sorbet (adapted from Recipe of the Week-Ice Cream by Sally Sampson):

3 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (don’t bother if using from a carton), strained
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
pinch kosher salt

Mix together the pomegranate juice, grapefruit juice , sugar, lemon, and lime juice.

Heat until sugar has melted.  You do not need to boil.

Refrigerate until cold – several hours or overnight.

Season with a pinch (or 2) of kosher salt  – taste it.

Run in your ice cream machine.

Enjoy!

(gluten-free) chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

It seems like all of a sudden I have friends with kids or relatives who are on gluten free diet.  A reader recently too – asked me for some gluten-free recipes.  So I asked my friend Jill – who knows a lot about a lot – and she shared this very easy chocolate chip peanut butter cookie recipe that she enjoys.  I made them – and I must say that my family wasn’t in love (well, they are not peanut butter lovers.)  But I thought they were pretty good.  Different.  Zach thought they were a little weird, but OK.  However Ali – my neighbor taster (and friend!) gushed about them.  She immediately texted me and said heaven!  She loved the milk chocolate chips (I tried milk and semi.)  Ali thought they were rich and decadent – I’m not sure she even shared with her kids or husband:)  So…mixed reviews – and not for everyone, but I wanted to share for all those who have restrictions because maybe this cookie will fit the bill for you or someone you know.  Enjoy-

(gluten-free) chocolate chip peanut butter cookies:

1 cup sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter
2 eggs
1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips  (use milk chips or semi or divide the batter and make both)
raisins (optional)
toasted nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line sheet pan with parchment.

Mix together the sugar and peanut butter, then add eggs and mix well.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  (Add raisins and nuts if using.)

Bake for about 15-20 minutes…

Enjoy-

flourless (and butterless) crazy delicious chocolate cookies

These cookies are phenomenal.  Seriously beyond anything that I’ve had in a while.  I’m so excited to share them!  They are flourless which is great for anyone who is gluten free (or for next years Passover.)  They are so rich and dreamy I had to double check again and again when I realized that there wasn’t any butter or oil in the recipe.  This recipe has just a few ingredients, takes one bowl and a spoon for mixing and just like that you can have a cookie-fest.  Rob really really liked these – the kids too.  They said chewy gooey goodness!  Big hit.  Zach loved them so much that even Jodi had to give them a try…she said they were “Outta this world, and way more than a cookie.”  Ali too thought pure goodness.  The walnuts give the cookies stability and bite – but I decreased the amount and added Guittard semi sweet chocolate chips to my batch which my family loved.  If you’re not a nut lover – try the chips and replace the nuts with a dried fruit like cherries…or even coconut.  Enjoy!

No…you do not have to beat the egg whites 🙂  many of you are asking…but nope!

Also – these cookies stick.  Let cool for a bit, but easier to remove from parchment when still warm.

And btw I put this in the “healthier” category – because it is low in cholesterol – but you should know it has a lot, a lot of sugar!

flourless crazy delicious chocolate cookies (adapted from recipe in tastespotting.com which was adapted from Payard, via New York Magazine)

2 cups toasted walnut pieces
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used Dutch Processed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips (high quality if possible or chocolate chunks cut up)
4 egg whites – room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and toast the walnuts until fragrant – 7 to 10 minutes.  Let cool.

Lower oven to 320 degrees and line sheet pan with parchment or a silpat.

In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt.

Add the nuts and chips to the dry ingredients and stir.

Mix together the egg whites and vanilla.  Add this wet mixture to the dry and mix until just incorporated.

Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.  Stir once more to redistribute nuts and chips.

Drop by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart on sheet pan (they will spread) and bake (rotating the pans halfway through) from about 13-16 minutes.  The cookies should look shiny and glossy a little cracked.

Let the cookies cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.  And really…enjoy these!!

doughnut topping (for muffins)

This donut topping is just delicious.  Really simple…just cinnamon and sugar – on top of melted butter.  What is not to like?  Sadly, the muffin I tried was not too terrific, but I needed to share the topping.  Great for blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, apple or pear muffin…this is decadent and an nice change from a plain or streusal topping (although I do love streusal!)  Dip, coat and enjoy!

 

doughnut topping (from Flo Brakers Baking for All Occasions):
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
or 1  teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
(you will have leftover dry mix, just bag and save for next time)
2 oz melted butter

When muffins are still warm (10 minutes out of oven), dip tops in melted butter, then roll into bowl of cinnamon sugar to coat.  Place on rack to cool.  Enjoy!

chocolate covered Peeps

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…there is something truly joyful about a chocolate covered Peep!  Plain Peeps, nothing special, but dipped delectably in milk or dark (Rob’s favorite) chocolate — they transform into something spectacular.  I played around this time and planted the dipped peep on a bed of mini m&m’s and wow – the kids were fighting over them.  Lucky for them I’m meant to be off chocolate for a little bit (to help my ever present dizziness).  I also dipped the dark chocolate in cocoa nibs which made for a really intense flavor and coarse texture.  Reader Lisa wrote in to say she dipped hers then covered with caramel sprinkles to look like a nest.  Great ideas are endless…coconut, ground chocolate, candied sugar, pastel cupcake decorations…  See the Halloween Peeps, Valentine chocolates posts to learn how to temper chocolate by hand or where to buy a machine.  If you invest in a machine you will probably make good use of it – finding all sorts of things to dip.  Just remember that it takes time, patience and the best chocolate that you can afford.   It’s all about the chocolate!  Enjoy-

chocolate covered Peeps(inspired by Maria Valente from Chocolations):

tempered milk and dark chocolates
optional-
m&m’s
cocoa nibs
coconut
sprinkles

Dip Peeps in tempered chocolate and place on parchment lined sheet pan to set up.

If using m&m’s or any from the list above, place a mound on the sheet pan first, then settle the dipped Peep on top to set.

Enjoy-

burnt caramel pots de creme (with a little chocolate!)

Delicious.  Scrumptious.  Soothing.  These little pots de creme are worth your time and effort!  I made a healthy lunch for my friend Lori and after, I offered her a bite and she said “OhMyGod.  This is seriously Amazing!  Really.”  She proceeded to eat about half and happily exclaimed that her workout allowed this indulgence.  Alisa too – gobbled this right up.  Suzanne said that it got so very quiet as she and her girls tried and savored.  Sweet, delicious and very satisfying she commented.  Smooth caramel flavor with a hint of milk chocolate made Mike say hmm…caramel…mocha.  Ali said “holy pot de creme or as Leo (who is 3) said with a spoonful dripping down his chin – dat good puddin.”  Gotta love that.  All ages a major hit.  These are a little advanced – in that you have to make a caramel base – but if you just follow the directions – it is easy.   Read the recipe through before you start.  The real tricky part is baking time.  And I messed up a bit (blaming this on my continued vertigo :() — so you might be on your own with timing, but you can do it!  (I will make again soon and post a real baking time.)  Oh, and these can be made the day before you plan to serve which is nice.  Just bring to room temp for 20 minutes or so before you enjoy.

12 servings (if you use 2 1/2 oz cups, I used bigger ones…so had fewer)

burnt caramel pots de creme (from Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage):

3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
5 (3 3/4 oz) extra large egg yolks (just yolks)
2 1/2 oz (41%) milk chocolate chopped fine

Put the sugar and water in a medium heavy pot.  Mix together.  Over medium heat, cook sugar until it melts – and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.  Once it melts, continue to cook with out stirring – and let it caramelize.  You want the sugar to turn a dark amber.  This should take about 4-5 minutes.  The sugar is EXTREMELY hot.  Do not touch it – and take great care when handling it.

While the sugar is cooking, combine the milk and cream and bring to just a boil over medium heat.  Reserve until the sugar is ready.

Now you want to combine the two.  Again take great care.  Wear an oven mitt and use a long wooden spoon.

When the sugar is the correct shade, slowly slowly slowly ladle the hot cream into the sugar – really a little little at a time.  The mixture will bubble up and sputter and foam.  Again, it is very hot so be careful.  When the mixture stops bubbling, add your next ladle-full and continue until completely mixed together.

Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and mix until blended.  Whisk in the caramel mixture – again – ladle then whisk, then ladle then whisk – very slowly so as not to cook the eggs.  You will slowly warm them and combine.  Add the chocolate and whisk until melted.

Strain the custard with a fine mesh sieve into a bowl or large glass measuring cup.  Spoon or pour the custard into 2 1/2 oz (or larger, just cook longer) espresso cups or custard cups or porcelain dishes.  Fill about 3/4’s full.

Let the custard cool to room temperature (I missed this step and it cost me!)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Place the custard cups in a large baking pan.  Place on middle rack in oven.  Then take a pitcher of very hot water and pour hot water into the pan so that it comes 1/2 way up the sides of the custard cups.  This is called a bain marie.

Cover with foil (again, I managed to miss this until later…blaming the vertigo here!)

Bake until the tops are set but the whole custard jiggles when a cup is moved.  The recipe says 25 minutes – but mine took waaaay longer – I think because I didn’t let them set and cool first – and also I forgot the foil for a while.

Once set – remove the cups from the hot water – with oven mitts.  Let cool to room temp.

Cover each cup and refrigerate for at least 5 hours – or overnight.  bring to room temp before serving.

mendiants (chocolate rounds of goodness)

Lisi's Kitchen

Be creative and have fun!  Little chocolate pools covered with nuts, fruits, seeds and berries.  Bite sized treats for your friends and family.  These are GREAT for a party – you can make weeks prior and they present so well.  And most everyone loves a bit sized morsel of goodness.  I happen to LOVE pretzels and tart cherries, fig and peanuts and pepitas and cranberries.  Oh, and the sunflower almond!  These are really fun to make with your kids – creating all different tastes and colors.  You do need to temper your chocolate – so look at the Halloween peeps post and the Valentine chocolates for more direction and go to town.  Enjoy!

mendiants:

tempered dark, milk or white chocolate
nuts
seeds
dried fruits
cocoa nibs
m&m’s
pretzels

Drop tempered chocolate by teaspoonful onto parchment.  Smooth with the back of a spoon or a small palette knife.  Drop nuts, seeds and fruits as desired.  Add a little drop flaky salt if nuts are unsalted – creates a delicious sweet and salty flavor.

(seriously delicious) dried fruit compote with greek yogurt

The subject line in my friend Suzanne’s email read OMG!!! after she tasted this dessert.  “Such a treat,” she said.  “I savored every bite and didn’t want it to end.  One of my overall favorites!”  It really is delicious.  Do not skip this even if you think it isn’t for you.  It’s like that dress that you wouldn’t have tried on, but your friend makes you…and it happens to look great on you.  The fruit and yogurt deliver powerful flavors and texture.  It satisfies your sweet tooth yet makes you feel good at the same time.  Sylvie said it was unexpectedly good (which is great coming from an 8 year old.)  As usual (which seems to be my M.O. of late) it is easy to make.  I happen to be out of commission for a bit with a long bout of vertigo (that still persists) but in the midst (of the more severe week) I thought that baking might calm and restore my senses and equilibrium – so this is one of the many easy things I made when I was spinning.  I also decided that some healthier desserts would be necessary since I was feeling so ill.  Anyway, on I go – try this.  Surprise someone.  Lovely for a casual dinner with friends.  And definitely serve it with the Greek yogurt – it cuts the sweetness of the dried fruits.  On top of ice cream too (for a sweeter sweet.)  Enjoy-

dried fruit compote with greek yogurt (adapted slightly from The Mediterrasaian Way by Ric Watson and Trudy Thelander):

1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed if you have the time)
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
pinch of kosher salt
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried figs (some sliced in half)
1/2 cup raisins (mix in gold if you can, or try dried blueberries or cranberries)
Greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream
almond slivers (optional)

In a small saucepan, mix together the orange juice, water, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low-simmer, and add the apricots, figs, and raisins.  Cover the pot and simmer for about 20 – 25 minutes until liquid get syrupy and reduces a bit.

Serve the compote in bowls with a spoon ful of yogurt or ice cream.  Sprinkle with nuts if you choose.  Enjoy-

jeweled winter fruit soup (delicious!)

Oh, I LOVED this.  Make this!  I served it to a few friends on Saturday and it was a huge success.  Very special – especially for a fruit salad (although I do love fruit).  The marinating syrup is delightfully refreshing – with fresh vanilla, ginger and citrus flavors.  It also presents beautifully.  This calls for some fruits you may have to search for – but are well worth it – but of course you can skip or substitute for what you cannot find.  Make this the day before you plan to serve as it needs to chill overnight.  Ali (my neighbor) was looking forward to a taste…but unfortunately (for her) I gobbled it ALL up finishing it Sunday midday!  Mmmm…

(I’m placing this in the medium effort category only because of the time it takes to cut the fruit.  The actual recipe is very easy.  Please taste your purchased fruit before you use it.  Your fruit salad is only as good as your fruits so try to start with the very best.  Seeding vanilla beans and pomegranates are at bottom of the post.)

jeweled winter fruit salad (slightly adapted from the December 2009 issue of the Food Network Magazine):

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (see bottom of post if you are unfamiliar with vanilla beans)
1 lemon
7 – 8 blood, cara cara or naval oranges (I used 5 blood, 2 cara cara, and one naval – if all large oranges use seven, if small oranges use eight – the blood and cara cara are red hued and look beautiful – taste good too!)
2 mangos, peeled and diced
5 kiwis, peeled and diced into large chunks
8 kumquats sliced very thin – seeds removed
1 – 1 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (About 1-2 pomegranates. See bottom of post if you are unfamiliar with removing pomegranate seeds.  Try to use them because they add crunch, flavor and beautiful color.  They need to be ripe and good so ask for help in your grocery if you are unfamiliar.)
1/2 cup red currants (or more to taste I love these sour bites) if you can find them
2 firm bananas

Combine the sugar, sliced ginger, vanilla seeds and vanilla pod in a saucepan.  With a wide veggie peeler, remove wide strips of lemon and orange zest (from one of the oranges) and add to the saucepan.  Later you will have to pull these items out – so if you want to wrap up in cheesecloth feel free.  I just fished around the fruit.

Bring all to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once boiling, reduce and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Refrigerate until cold.  (To speed up the process place in an ice water bath in the fridge.)

Peel remaining oranges by cutting off the tops and bottom and then using your knife to peel following the natural curve of the orange so that the segment is revealed.  Over a medium bowl, use your knife to cut along both sides of each membrane to free the segments, letting them fall into the bowl.  Squeeze all remaining juice from the orange.  Repeat with all remaining oranges.

Add the cut mangoes, kiwis, kumquats, pomegranate seeds and red currants and gently toss.  Pour the chilled syrup over the fruit.  Then add the bananas and again, very gently toss.

Let chill overnight.  Before serving, remove the citrus zest, ginger and vanilla pod.  Serve in small bowls and enjoy-

vanilla bean– To seed the vanilla bean, place the long bean on a cutting board.  With your paring knife, slice the bean lengthwise – from top to bottom all the way down and through.  Open it up and you will see soft brown inside.  With the back of your knife, scrape the seed gently (while holding the end of the pod) collecting all the goodness from inside.  These are the seeds and they should be on your knife.  The pod contains more flavor and seeds and is often added to marinating liquids or ice creams – and pulled out later.  You can purchase at the grocery or get a bunch from penzeys.com – store  them in an airtight container or they dry out.

pomegranate– To remove seeds from pomegranate, place it on a cutting board and cut into quarters.  Over two bowls, one for white pith/skin and one for seeds, gently break apart each quarterbending it slightly.  More and more pomegranate seeds will be revealed.  You might get splashed a little bit if you pop a seed which is likely and normal.  (Do not wear your favorite white t-shirt.  Or any favorite shirt.  A dark pj top should do the trick.  Or naked is good!)  Peel away the thin membrane and gently pull the seeds from the shell.  You eat the whole little red thing.  Seed included.  Delicious.