End of Summer Spring Clean!

Here are a few pics that I’ve cooked recently, with no particular link, except that I’ve cooked them! I’ve decided to blog them altogether, as they might get forgotten soon with all the new books due out, and the corresponding new pictures. These are all worth a mention though…

Firstly there are a couple from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.

Matled Milk Ice Cream, very rich but so good!

Orange Popsicle Ice Cream with wine poached apricots from Crazy Water Pickled Lemons by Diana hendry

and again with Dorie Greenspan’s chocolate sauce from Baking From My Home To Yours. I liked the second pairing best, but this is no surprise with my chocolate and orange tendancy!

Prawn Fra Diavlo
A yummy light pasta dish from Giada De Laurentiis’s Everyday Pasta. It should have been lobster, but prawns are more readily available here.

Mushroom, Leek and Tarragon Risotto
This one is a vegetarian dish from The 30 Minute Cook by Nigel Slater. I thought it was an unexpected pairing (or I suppose that would be trilogy?) but it was really inspired and really good.

Rigatoni and Asparagus au Gratin
Delia Smith’s Summer Collection is the home of this recipe, which spins out a small amount of asparagus into a tasty and delicious supper. The recipe is here as well as in the book.

Pea and Coriander Soup, this soup in real life is a real vivid just-cooked-pea-green, I just could not get it to come through in the pictures I took...

Lastly one of my most favourite fast soups from Rachel Allen and Rachel’s Favourite Food. My little one loves this soup. I think she wanted initially because Primrose on Fifi and The Flowertots made pea soup, but now she asks for it because she likes it so much. If you haven’t a clue about that last bit don’t worry – kiddies TV programme! Anyhow here is the recipe for this gorgeous soup.

Pea and Coriander Soup
From Rachel’s Favourite Food by Rachel Allen. I have varied this only slightly by omitting a chilli from the recipe, and I’ve also made it with parsley in place of the coriander - which was also lovely.

50g butter
150g onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
½ tsp salt and pepper, or to taste
850ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
450g fresh or frozen peas
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and add the onion, garlic and chilli. Cover with a greaseproof paper and a lid, and sweat over a low heat for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Pour in the stock, and bring the soup to the boil. Tip in the peas and boil rapidly, without the lid, for about 2 or 3 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Add the coriander to the soup, and blend in a liquidiser until smooth.

Date, Rum and Pecan Ice Cream

Date, Rum and Pecan Ice Cream

I have been anticipating this book for a few months now, and eventually ordered it from America, so that I could have it in my grasp more quickly. The book in question? None other than The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I have six other pure ice cream books, some I have used more than others, and I did wonder do I really need another one? I swept this particular thought to the back of my mind (very quickly!) and ploughed on in my pursuit of ice cream.

Then the day came and it arrived, I tell you I NEED this book, anyone with an ice cream maker or a strong urge for the icy stuff needs it too! I have often read about people who love ice cream above all else, and I have never thought I was one of them, but now I am wondering if perhaps I might be. It’s divided up into chapters for Basics, Ice Creams, Sorbets and Sherbets, Granitas, Sauces and Toppings, Mix-Ins and Vessels. As an aside, I made the baked version of dulce de leche (from the Sauces and Toppings chapter). It tasted like Scottish tablet but with the texture something akin to a quivering panna cotta, if you are ever in need of a sugar fix this is the ultimate – condensed milk baked until it is golden and caramelised, oh boy! It didn’t make it to a sundae, we just spooned it from the dish.

There was no question in my mind of which ice cream to make first – date, rum and pecan ice cream just the name hit all the right buttons for me, and so I made it. It was absolutely perfect! The man is an absolute genius! It was just so good, and because the rum was in the egg custard as well as soaked into the dates, the taste of the rum never disappeared even with the last bite, the dates adding a good toffee element and pecans to give a nice bite. I don’t think I would have come up with the date / rum / pecan combo, but I’m so glad David did. Keith said he thinks this might be his very favourite ice cream ever, and I won’t embarrass him by telling you how many scoops he ate at the first sitting - but it was a lot!

There are a few savoury ice creams which I’m not ready for (yet), but next on my list of to makes are apricot and pistachio ice cream, toasted coconut ice cream swirled with mango sorbet, green tea ice cream and orange popsicle ice cream, but this is just a taster of 4 out of 32 others! So expect to see more over the next few weeks!

This is my contruibution to Meeta’s Big Birthday Bang . Happy Birthday, the party will go with a swing with this ice cream!