brunosdream

It’s definitely summertime here in St. Louis, so this means it’s time to try out some new gelato flavors! I had a couple of friends over for pizza the other night and served this gelato for dessert. The consensus was this recipe is a keeper. The sweetness from the strawberries and caramelized bananas allowed me to reduce the sugar in the mixture.

Strawberry Gelato w/ Caramelized Bananas

Ingredients:

1 pound strawberries pureed and seeded (pass through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds)

6 egg yolks

2 bananas – sliced diagonally into 1/4 inch slices

1 quart half & half

3/4 cups sugar

sugar for caramelizing bananas (you will need a torch to do this)

Procedure:

1) Remove leaves from strawberries, quarter the berries then puree in food processor

2) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

3) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded  

4) Very slowly whisk half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling. Stir in strawberry puree

6) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

7) Place sliced bananas on a sheet pan, sprinkle w/ sugar then torch like you would creme brulee (save 1/4 of the caramelized bananas for garnishing, or snack on them while churning gelato – your choice!)

8) Churn mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions

9) Pour gelato into a 2 quart plastic container, stir in 1 1/2 of the caramelized bananas (making sure they are distributed evenly throughout the mix) then place a piece of parchment paper cut to size on the surface of gelato (this will reduce air exposure and prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of the gelato), seal container and freeze until firm 

Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 quarts 

Cook’s notes: Despite the very light pink color of the gelato, it had a distinct strawberry flavor. Bananas are a classic combination w/ strawberries  – caramelizing them lended a bit more complexity to the blend.

Eat gelato, stay cool! 

Bruno 

Almost No Knead Wheat Bread (recipe from America’s Test Kitchen) 

Ingredients:

I made this tart a couple of weeks ago when I had some friends over for dinner. I wanted to make something using the fresh asparagus from my garden.  The tart accompanied a roasted chicken that was flattened by removing the backbone for quicker cooking. I tucked some garlic and pepper flake sauteed arugula under the skin to boost the chicken’s flavor. The juices from the chicken made the butternut squash w/ sage in the roasting pan taste extra good! For dessert we had “floating islands” (merengue floating in a pool of creme anglaise) made by one of the guests who is an aspiring pastry chef.  This meal was totally delicious!! 

Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a lamb leg roast with mushroom/wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. Dessert was individual chocolate lava cakes w/ the pear gelato (recipe below).

Fortunately I was able to snap these few photos before my camera battery died!

Pear Gelato

Ingredients:

3 pears (of your choice)

6 egg yolks

6 whole cloves

1 quart half & half

1 cup sugar

1 bottle sparkling apple cider (750 ml)

Procedure:

1) Peel, core and slice pears, then poach for 20 minutes in cider w/ cloves; let cool, strain, then puree in food processor

2) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

3) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded  

4) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

6) Once cool, stir in pureed pears and refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

7) Churn mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions

8) Pour gelato into a 2 quart plastic container then place a piece of parchment paper cut to size on the surface of gelato (this will reduce air exposure and prevent ice crystals from forming on the surface of the gelato), seal container and freeze until firm 

Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 quarts 

Cooking notes: This gelato has a very mild pear flavor. I need to figure out how to concentrate the flavor next time I churn up a batch.

Happy Holidays!

Bruno

Last weekend I had a bunch of friends over for a fall feast that was 3 days in the making. We had a great time filling our bellies! On the menu was a 6 1/2 pound grass fed beef brisket from Missouri. The brisket was braised in the oven at a low temperature for 6 hours with a potpourri of veggies and mushrooms which created a delicious broth.  Two sauces were made that are traditionally serve w/ braised meats at the fair of the fatted ox in Piedmont, Italy (one is a tomato based sauce, the other is a horseradish based sauce). I made a pizza for my vegetarian friend and used the remaining dough to make bread to go with the brisket. For dessert I churned up a fennel gelato and served it w/ a bottle of nice cognac and fortune cookies.  The consensus from my friends was the fennel gelato is one of the best flavors I’ve created so far. It was a beautiful crisp fall evening so we all went outside after dessert to light a fire in the chimenea and sip our cognac. We were having such a good time that we hung out for a few hours by the fire and nearly finished off the entire bottle of cognac!

Fennel Gelato w/ Fennel Fronds

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fennel fronds – minced

6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 quart half & half

Procedure:

1) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

2) Place half & half and fennel  in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

3) Pulse half & half  mixture in a food processor then strain out fennel

4) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

5) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

6) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

Summertime is here, so it’s time to whip up some cool recipes! Here’s one for a great gelato that’s packed w/ a few of my favorite flavors. So good, it was a 3 scooper…

Blueberry Gelato w/ Dark Chocolate and Tarragon

Ingredients:

1 quart half & half

1 cup sugar

6 egg yolks

1 cup blueberry juice (from 3 pints fresh blueberries, pureed and strained through a fine mesh sieve)

1/2 cup fresh blueberries cut in half

2 ounces dark chocolate (coarsely chopped)

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon (finely chopped)

Procedure:

1) In a metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow

2) Place half & half in a heavy pot and heat until scalded 

3) Very slowly whisk warm half & half into egg/sugar mixture so as not to curdle the mixture

4) Place bowl w/ mixture over a pot of simmering water, stirring continuously w/ a heat resistant spatula until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon (do not let mixture exceed 170 degrees F to prevent curdling), then quickly place bowl in an ice bath to stop the cooking process and promote rapid cooling

5) Stir blueberry juice into cooling mixture

6) Once cool, refrigerate mixture for at least 4 hours or overnight

I think I’ve found a new favorite bread dough recipe! I’ve been looking for a multigrain blend in the bulk section of the supermarket, but without success. I decided to give this pre-packaged blend a try. It’s called Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Grain Right Stuff 6 Grain. It contains whole grain wheat, whole grain rye, corn, whole grain oats, whole grain spelt, whole kamut grain and flaxseed. I’m glad I gave it a try…  it produced an excellent flavor and texture.

I also wanted to do a different shape for my bread. I needed a change from the usual boule shape I’ve been doing, so I decided to do a braided bread because I love the way the finished product looks!

Braided Six Grain Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup 6 grain blend

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup olive oil

1/1/4 cups plus 1/4 cup tepid water

2 teaspoons salt

1 rounded tablespoon active dry yeast

cornmeal for dusting pizza peel

Procedure:

1) Place yeast in a large bowl and pour 1/4 cup tepid water over the yeast; let sit until it becomes foamy (about 5 minutes)

2) In a seperate bowl mix together the flour, 6 grain blend and salt

3) Add olive oil and remaining 1 1/4 cups tepid water to the yeast

4) Slowly add the flour mix to the yeast while using your free hand to incorporate the flour and yeast

5) Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for 10 to 12 minutes (add more flour a little bit at a time if dough is too sticky)

6) Form dough into a ball and place back into the large bowl (dust the bottom of the bowl before placing dough into it); dust top of dough ball and cover bowl w/ plastic wrap (I use a shower cap that I got from a hotel –  it fits snugly over the bowl)

7) Let dough ferment for 1 1/2 hours at room temperature (if your kitchen is too cold, place bowl in unlit oven w/ the light on – the temperature is usually 70 degrees F). The dough should have at least doubled in size when ready to shape

8) Remove dough from bowl and split into 3 even pieces (I use a scale to weigh out the dough)

9) Meanwhile,  preheat oven and pizza stone to 450 degrees F

10) Roll pieces of dough into strands that are tapered and long enough to braid

11) Braid the dough, carefully transfer to a pizza peel dusted w/ corn meal, dust top of dough w/ flour and loosely cover w/ a plastic bag, then let it rise for 45 minutes

12) Carefully slide braid onto pizza stone, then mist sides of oven w/ water (I use a spray bottle); for the first 2 minutes of baking, mist the sides of the oven every 30 seconds – this delays crust formation and allows the bread to rise rapidly and evenly

13) After 20 minutes reduce temperature to 375 degrees F and rotate bread front to back for even baking; bake for another 10 minutes

14) Remove bread from oven and tap the bottom; if it make a hollow sound it’s ready!

15) Allow bread to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing

Baker’s notes: This bread is delicious!! The crust has a nice crunch and the crumb is light and airy. Feel free to substitute the all purpose flour w/ bread flour if you desire.

Bon Appetit!

Bruno

A collaborative effort among friends for Sunday dinner…

Rack of lamb encrusted w/ rosemary, garlic and dijon mustard bread crumbs; roasted butternut squash w/ sage and red onion; mushroom risotto

Not only was this a great collaborative effort, it was an amazing combination of flavors and textures as well! I made the lamb, Kristin made the butternut squash and Bob made the risotto.

Here are some links to the recipes:

Lamb

Risotto (when finished w/ the basic recipe, fold in sautéed mushrooms and some of the leftover bread crumb mixture used to encrust the lamb)

 Butternut squash (this is a link to a previous post in which I made roasted squash – just add some crumbled dried sage leaves)

This menu is delicious and comes together pretty quick when you have a couple of friends doing some of the prep and cooking.

Bon Appetit!

Bruno

Wintertime is a great time for baking because it warms up the house and makes it smell oh so good too! I reawakened my sourdough starter not long ago. This got me itching to try a new bread recipe, so I pulled out my favorite bread cookbook, Peter Reinhart’s “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice – Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread” to try his recipe for basic sourdough. This bread takes 2 to 3 days to make (3 days if you don’t already have starter in your fridge), but what great results! I will definitely make this bread again despite how long it takes to get the finished product. The sourdough taste was perfect, the crust was crunchy (just the way I like it) and the crumb was light and airy. It looked so appetizing while I was taking the photos that I rewarded myself w/ a slice when I was done and I’m longing for more already! Take the time to make this recipe, I promise you won’t regret it!!

 I followed the recipe exactly, however I didn’t refrigerate my starter overnight after refreshing it, which is supposed to deepen the flavor (by skipping this I cut 1/2 day from the recipe). I also made one large loaf instead of 2 smaller ones. The recipe is a long one, and since I’m a slow typist I decided to just add a link to the recipe here.

  Try it, you’ll like it!

Bruno

Hello! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and mostly stress-free holiday season. I did, because I’ve learned to pace myself and not feel obliged to attend every holiday gathering if I’m not feeling up to it. This philosophy has helped tremendously in allowing me to enjoy the holidays and significantly reducing my stress level.

I prepared this pate’ for the Christmas festivities I attended. I had the lamb liver from the whole lamb I purchased from a foodie farmer and fellow food blogger who lives here in Missouri. (Thanks for sharing your delicious lamb w/ me Susan!) Instead of sauteeing the liver w/ some onions I decided to try my hand at making a pate’ en croute (i.e., in pastry dough) to share w/ my friends. The end result was good, but if you don’t like the flavor of lamb, this pate’ is not going to be to your liking. For those of you who do like lamb, here’s the recipe.

Lamb Liver Pate’ En Croute w/ Apricots, Chestnuts, & Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine

14 ounces lamb liver

10 ounces chicken liver

1/3 cup fresh chestnuts (boiled, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)

1/3 cup cognac soaked dried apricots (soaked for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, then cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms (rehydrated and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)

2 large shallots (peeled w/ a whole clove inserted in each)

5 sprigs dried thyme

2 sprigs dried tarragon

2 ounces unsalted butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

salt and pepper

1 egg (to brush top of  pastry dough before baking)

** for pastry dough I used the following recipe  (doubled)

*** prepare dough and liver the day before assembling and baking

Procedure:

1) In a large pot, pour champagne and add liver; poach over medium/low heat for 1/2 hour

2) Strain liver from poaching liquid, remove shallots and herbs, let cool, then cut into small pieces

3) Place liver in food processor, add butter, sprinkle w/ 1/2 teaspoon salt and 15 grinds of pepper, then pulse until smooth; taste mixture and add more salt and pepper if needed

4) Place liver mixture in a large non-metallic bowl, then mix in apricots and mushrooms (both drained) and chestnuts by hand to distribute evenly; cover bowl and place in fridge overnight (unless you are making the pate’ on the same day)

5) Remove liver mixture and dough from fridge

6) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

7) Roll first disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick and to the size of your mold (to get approximate dimensions, put mold on rolled out dough, then cut to size – remember that you will need enough to line bottom of mold plus about 1/2 inch extra dough over the sides); set aside for assembly

8) Roll out second disk of dough to 1/4 inch thick large enough to cover the top of your mold with about 1/4 inch extra on all sides

9) Spray mold w/ cooking spray for easier unmolding (I used one w/ canola oil)

10) Line bottom of mold w/ dough, gently pressing dough to the shape of the mold

11) Fill mold w/ liver mixture, gently spreading to fill evenly

12) Place top layer of dough on and pinch edges all around to seal

13) Cut vent holes using a small dough cutter, then decorate top as you wish w/ leftover dough (I decorated mine w/ a holly leaf and berries)

14) Brush top w/ egg wash and bake on center rack of oven  for 40 minutes, rotating pate’ after 20 minutes for even browning

15) Remove from oven and let cool completely before unmolding and serving (I loosely covered mine and placed it in the fridge overnight, then sliced it in half the next day so I could take half to each friends’ home)

16) Serve w/ thinly sliced whole grain cocktail bread or by itself

May you all have a wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous 2010!!

Bon Appetit…

Bruno