Halibut Cream Curry

2 tbls coconut oil                                          1 cup heavy cream

1 onion, minced                                           1 tbls garam masala

2 tbls finely chopped fresh ginger        Salt

4 garlic cloves, minced                        1 lb. halibut fillets, cut into 4-inch pieces

1 tsp cayenne pepper                           Small red potatoes, quartered

1 tsp turmeric                                           A pinch of saffron threads, crumbled

1 tsp ground coriander                         Peas

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt            Basmati rice

In large wok, heat the oil. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Add the cayenne, turmeric and coriander and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Whisk in the yogurt, then add the cream, garam masala and saffron and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Add the halibut to the sauce and turn to coat. Cook over moderate heat, turning once, until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. 

Pot boil quartered potatoes. Add rice, potatoes, and frozen peas to the wok, turning over gently. Cover for 5 minutes. Serve with a large salad and fruit.

Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup inspired by Olive Garden's “Zuppa Toscana”

1 fist full of kale, bite sized pieces
6 large red potatoes, sliced thin, plus 1 tbls flake salt
1 whole onion, chopped
1 pound minced pork loin or ground Italian sausage
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and celery salt
1 cup of broth
3 cup of milk plus a splash of heavy cream
1/4 cup salted butter
Fresh oregano, salt and cracked pepper



Prepare the kale and set it aside.

In a medium pot, boil the sliced potatoes until tender, drain and set aside.

In a large pot, brown the ground Italian sausage. Drain as much as the fat as you can (though I usually don't drain my meats unless they look swimming in fat). Stir in the red pepper flakes, oregano, broth. Simmer for 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes add the butter, stir and then drizzle in the milk.

Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the potatoes, a splash of heavy cream for richness, then stir in the kale. Simmer for another ten minutes, then serve.

Ben & Jerry's Style Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream - No Eggs!

Since we got this ice cream machine, we've made pineapple/orange/lemon sorbet, strawberry, chipped vanilla bean, and chocolate peanut butter. Here I've made chocolate chip cookie dough.







You need to make a batch of cookies at least two days prior to making this. The bonus is you could also try making ice cream sandwiches with them. Go to this link for the best no egg recipe ever. Line a small cookie sheet with wax paper and spoon 1/2" inch dollops of cookie dough onto the paper. Set into the freezer and let there for 24 to 48 hours.

The ice cream is one pint heavy cream, one and a half cups 2% milk, 1/2 cup half & half, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 1 tbls vanilla.












During the last five minutes, drop the bits of cookie into the mixer.

When the thirty minute cycle is up, pack the ice cream evenly into two tupperware containers, smoothing down the top. Cover and freeze for at least one hour before serving.

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream-No Eggs No Added Sugar

Slice two bananas and freeze.

Rough chop 1 cup of walnuts.

Add bananas, 1 pint of heavy cream and 4 tbls of organic chocolate syrup to mixer.

Add in 1 1/2 cups milk or light cream.

 Add in walnuts.

Add in large chunk chocolate.

 Mix until whipped smooth. Pack into two storage containers and freeze for one hour.

Scoop and serve!

Apple Gallette

Dough:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tbls unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 1/2 tbls chilled water

Filling:
2 pounds (Granny Smith or Crispin) apples  peeled, cored and sliced
3 tbls sugar

Glaze:
Lemon sugar

Cream

Make the dough first: sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter cubes with two knives. Make sure that you do this rather quickly, you want to keep the butter as cold as possible to insure a light, flaky pastry dough. Cut it in until the biggest pieces are about the size of large peas.

Add the chilled water one tbls at a time, stirring until the dough just holds together (you may not need all the water, depends on your flour and the humidity of your kitchen).

Dump the dough out on lightly floured counter and pat into a circle about 1.5″ inches thick. Double-wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

After the chilling period, take the dough out and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes; this allows the dough to soften slightly so that when you roll it out, it won’t break into slivers or pieces.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter. Carefully transfer the dough to a greased baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. To fill the tart, overlap the sliced apples on top of the dough in a ring 2 inches from the edge and continue towards the center. To complete the tart, fold over the edges of the dough. It doesn’t have to look perfect, the beauty of a galette lies in its rusticity.


Wipe the crust and exposed apples with cream and sprinkle lemon sugar on top. 

Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake the galette for 30 minutes, or until the apples are soft and have slightly browned edges. Try to rotate the tart every 15 minutes to ensure even browning of the crust.

When the tart is done baking, remove from the oven and slide it off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.


I picked up these crispin apples this morning at the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmer's Market and their tart juiciness were just what was needed in this pastry!

Mile High Apple Pie

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) butter, chilled
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lard, chilled
6 ounces (approximately 1 cup) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup ice water, in spritz bottle

Place butter and lard in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to use, remove and cut both into small pieces.

In a large glass or ceramic bowl, combine flour and salt pulsing 3 to 4 times with a  hand mixer. Add butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until texture looks mealy. Add lard and pulse another 3 to 4 times. Spritz surface of mixture thoroughly with water. Pulse 5 times. Add more water and pulse again until mixture holds together when squeezed. Place mixture in large zip-top bag, squeeze together until it forms a ball, and then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Chill your pie pan in the fridge.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut along 2 sides of the plastic bag, open bag to expose dough, and sprinkle both sides with flour. Cover again with plastic and roll out with a rolling pin to a 10 to 11-inch circle. Open plastic again and sprinkle top of dough with flour. Remove pie pan from the fridge and set the pan on top of the dough. Turn everything upside down and peel plastic from bottom of dough. Set aside the second disk of dough. Trim edges if necessary, and then place back in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Peel, core and cut up 10 to 12 nice sized Ginger Crisp or Golden Delicious apples and pile into the center of pie. Sprinkle liberally with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add several pats of butter. Layer second crust on top and pinch edges. Make no less that 4 slits. Wash crust liberally with heavy cream, half & half or whole milk and then sprinkle well with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Russian Chicken, Potato, and Carrot Casserole with Pearsauce

Layer in 5 large potatoes thinly sliced with olive oil, butter, salt, and white pepper sprinkled liberally through out. Start to bake in oven covered at 400 degree. In a pan on the stove, layer sliced chicken in melted butter and olive oil, frying till lightly browned. Add 1/4 cup of Half&Half and 2/3 cup shredded soft white cheese of your choice, simmer. Add sliced carrots on top of potatoes. Add creamy chicken. Sprinkle with minced parsley, paprika, white and tri-color cracked pepper. Continue to bake until potatoes are easily pierced and creamy cheese sauce just begins to look brown. Using a stick mixer, blend smooth 3 very ripe pears and serve on the side.

Day 23 - Mabon Feast of Bacon Gouda Potato Soup and Spiced Cherry Bread

This is based on the Creamy Cheesy Potato and Onion Soup recipe I made back in January.

Break down cost for this meal.

Heavy Cream $1.69
Smoked Gouda with Bacon from Yancy's Fancy $4.75
Potatoes $3.99
Onion $1.00
Dried Rosemary
Olive Oil
Flour $0.85
Water
Yeast $1.19
Chinese 5 Spice $1.00
5 tbls minced dried cherries $1.39

Total cost for 5 servings = $15.86

Butternut Squash and Sopressata Salami

2 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper, and 1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 tbls half & half, milk or heavy cream
4 tbls grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the ends off the squash and cut away one strip of skin to create a flat surface. Place squash cut-side down in a bread pan and add two inches of water and then cover with foil. Roast for 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. 

Transfer onto a plate and then scrape the skin off. Mash into a mixing bowl. Add half & half, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, oil, salt, pepper and stir well until smooth.

3 oz. sopressata salami, sliced thinly

1 cup diced onion
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbls half & half, milk or heavy cream

Fry the onion, season lightly with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and saute until onions are translucent. About 5 to 6 minutes. Add the half & half and simmer for a minute or two to reduce. Then add the mushrooms and continue sauteing until they just start to lose their moisture, another 4 to 5 minutes. Over medium heat, saute salami until slightly crisp and most of the fat has been released. 

Dish and serve with 1 tbls of homemade salsa and fresh herbs of your choice.

ZillyCakes - Vegan Cupcakes and Frosting

Zilly Rosen of Zillycakes is creating a Pirate & Psychobilly themed multi-tiered cupcakes and bride and groom cake for our wedding coming up this October. While visiting the shop this morning to sign off on the final details, the girls and I spied the August vegan flavor of the month - Lavender. Now anyone who knows me, knows I have a sweet spot for anything made with Lavender. With my Buffalo First coupon in hand I ordered two of the adorable minis that Zilly herself topped with little flower buds. The scent was sweet and delicate. The taste was like breathing in a French Lavender garden, I think I wept, maybe just a little. I love cakes and pastries, however my egg allergy prevents me from enjoying pretty much anything sweet, so having a local shop that creates egg-less delights means so much!

This specialty mini is $2.25(US) and worth every shiny penny! My little Leto said it was like eating a fairy cake and I absolutely agree!

The other August flavors are: Sangria Chiffon, Pina Colada, Rocky Road, with Peanut Butter Mousse as an optional filling for any of these.

First Light Farm & Creamery Double Creme Chevre Cauliflower served with Chiavetta's Chicken

When I went to the Bidwell Farmer's Market the morning of Saturday the 30th, I met Max, a goat cheese maker and co-owner of First Light Farm & Creamery.   We got to talking about my captaining Buffalo in the NY Locavore Challenge and our shared passion for all things cheese and he handed me this container and challenged me to make something with it. Frankly after tasting it at his tent I really wanted to just sit under the tree nearby and eat it with my fingers, but I took his challenge to heart and thought long and hard about what could be made with soft creamy goat cheese. 

Here is my dish:

Double Creme Chevre Cauliflower.

                                             

A brown butter barley roux to start, flavored with Irish Sea Salt and whipped with skim milk till stiff peaks formed. Then half of the container of Thyme and White Pepper Chevre is folded in until fully incorporated.

Separate the cauliflower into large bite sized pieces and pour all of the cream sauce on top. Sprinkle with panko and bread crumbs. I like combining the two for the difference in flavor and crunch. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, until a very pale golden brown.

Sprinkle with minced parsley just before dishing. 

Serve with Chiavetta's grilled chicken and a large herbed salad.