The Culinary Review

Frozen Blueberry Sorbet

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:26:57 MST

We had a lot of blueberries to use so we wanted to try a sorbet. This recipe came out really well. If you want more of an ice cream texture just replace some of the water with cream, or eliminate the ice and chill the mixture with cream before placing it in the ice cream maker.

Method

Take 3 cups of blueberries and boil them with the sugar and water, once it reaches a boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Place the ice in a blender and add the hot blueberry mixture. Blend until smooth.

Add to an ice cream maker. Add the remaining 1 cup of blueberries to the ice cream maker. We ran it for about 25 minutes.

Freeze for a couple hours. Serve.

Iced Cold Coffee Mocha with Cold Brewed Coffee

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:04:24 MST

For a great and cheap summer dessert we wanted to have a coffee flavored iced drink. So last evening we prepared some cold brewed coffee by adding 6 tablespoons of coarsly ground coffee grinds to about 10 ounces of water. You just let it sit out overnight and filter out the grinds.

Cold brewed coffee is less bitter and more caffeine intense, so it is great to use for cold drinks, or for just adding over ice with a little cream.

Makes about 5 cups of Iced Mocha

Method

Add ice, coffee, simple syrup, chocolate syrup and cream and blend until combined.

Pour into wine or cocktail glass. You could serve over ice. We added homemade Chocolate Italian Ice for extra flavor

Chocolate Italian Ice

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:20:44 MST

Italian Ice is a dessert, served as far as we know only in New York and surrounding areas. We just created this recipe from scratch based on what we remembered it tasted like, seemed quick, and ingredients we had around.

We looked on the web and found recipes that use cocoa powder, water and sugar. But we wanted to use real dark chocolate because the fat in the chocolate would make the ice smoother and the flavor would be richer.

The result was excellent, this is an extremely rich, chocolately dessert that was very quick to make. Anytime you make ice cream with eggs you need to heat the mix together, and then wait for everything to chill. To bypass that step we just used a little less water and then used ice to chill everything fast.

Makes 1 quart of Chocolate Italian Ice

Method

Add the chocolate, sugar and corn syrup to a sauce pan and gently heat, just enough to slightly melt the chocolate mix. If you use too much heat you will burn the chocolate.

Note: you could also use a microwave, using short high-heat bursts.

As it is melting add 1/4 cup of the water until mixed. Then add another 1/4 cup of water and mix again.

Note: adding water to fat-based mixes is difficult so do it in batches slowly.

Then add enough ice, about 2-3 cups to quickly chill the mix and melt the ice for the additional water.

Place the chilled mix, with the ice in a blender and run for 30 seconds or so. If you have any large pieces of ice left just remove them.

Place the blended mix in your ice cream maker for 20-30 minutes, depending on the instructions.

Place the freezer for a few hours until hard.

Frozen Piña Colada with Whiskey

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:28:13 MST

If you are like most people who have an ice cream maker you don't use it as much as you would like. It requires a little planning to have a frozen insert ready for ice cream since the ones we are aware of require at least 12 hours to properly freeze. But we just happen to have one ready since we are in the middle of a heatwave. So we decided to try making a frozen cocktail.

We have made the Piña Colada a few times already, and if you have fresh ingredients around it is a very refreshing cocktail. Having one out at a bar or restaurant may leave something to be desired but making one at home - not from a bottle, is the best way to go.

This time we did not have any rum around so we just used whiskey, and it turned out great.

Method

Place about 2 cups of fresh, or canned pineapple in the blender with the cocunut milk, banana, whiskey and simple syrup. Blend until well mixed.

Strain to get the pulp from the pineapple out. Then chill for an hour or two.

Place the mix in an ice cream maker for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Pour into a cocktail glass.

You can add ice but at this stage it is cold and thick like ice cream.

Whiskey Sour with Pineapple Juice

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:52:02 MST

We usually make Whiskey Sours with Lime Juice, but since we were going to make some Pina Coladas we did not want to waste the pineapple juice - and we had a little extra whiskey.

Using pineapple juice is certainly not as sour as lime or lemon juice but it provides a much more tropical feel and when it is 100 degrees out that is a relief. All these methods for making sour drinks are very similar you basically use something sweet, something sour and a liquor.

If you always use the ratios of

1 part liquor
1 part sour juice
1/4 part simple syrup

you can create anything using any juice or liquor.

Method

Combine simple syrup, whiskey and pineapple juice and shake with ice. We prefer a Boston Shaker. Strain into a cocktail or bar glass.

Avocado Ice Cream

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:32:25 MST

We adapted this recipe from a cold avocado soup recipe we made. Since we had some leftovers, and it was very hot out we decided to try it as ice cream. Avocados are the perfect fruit to use as an ice cream base. It is full of fat, so you can avoid using eggs or heavy cream and it is very creamy, and it is even easier to make than traditional egg-based ice cream.

At first you might think it is strange that there is salt and cayenne pepper but you have to remember that we originally had this as a cold soup. One thing we noticed right away is that the cayenne is much stronger when it is cold, or it could be from the fact that the leftover soup sat overnight in the fridge.

This recipe makes a very small batch. But if you are unsure about using avocados in ice cream then a small batch might be the best way to try it.

Our conclusion is that avocados are a great way to make ice cream. We were thinking of ways to make other flavors and we think this would be a great way to make a base to flavor in many ways. Maybe not chocolate, but by adding some almond extract or vanilla extract with some whole berries or marchiano cherries or even pistachio nuts you would have a great dessert and it is naturally green.

Makes 3/4 of a quart

Method

Cut and peel one medium to large avocado and place it in a blender with the whole milk, salt and pepper. Blend until completely smooth. Chill for a few hours then add the lime juice, half and half, and sugar. Chill further if necessary. The best ice cream is when all the ingredients are as cold as possible.

Place the mixture in your ice cream machine according to the instructions - we did it for a half hour.

Serve soft or freeze for a few hour until it is hard.

How much salt is in Salted Butter?

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:13:06 MST

There is anywhere from 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt per stick of salted butter.

Since you usually cannot be sure of the exact amount it is best to use unsalted butter for baking.

Cold Avocado Soup

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:50:07 MST

Method

Place cut up avocados in blender with 2 cups of whole milk, add salt and pepper. blend until smooth.

Chill for a few hours with plastic wrap directly on the soup. before serving add lime juice and additional seasonings to taste.

Key Limes

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:38:49 MST

Key Limes are generally very small. These were about 1 ounce each, and a pound of them produced about 12 tablespoons of juice. So from this you can see that 1 key lime will give you less than 1 tablespoon of juice.

If you are going to make any sour cocktails you might be better off using regular limes or a lemon, lime combination.

Rice Flour

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:41:10 MST

Rice Flour

Tyler Florence's Tempura Battered Onion Rings

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:41:36 MST

2 large sweet onions, cut into 1/2-inch thick rings, thin skins removed
1 1/2 cups rice flour, plus more, for dredging
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 egg yolk
1 cup beer (use enough until you get pancake batter consistency)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper

4 servings

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Giada De Laurentiis Sweet Couscous with Nuts and Dried Fruit

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:34:25 MST

2 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) couscous
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted and skinned hazelnuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, if desired

4 servings

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Are You a Super Efficient Cook?

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:29:27 MST

Some of us are simply frugal and efficient by nature when it comes to food and cooking. We don’t like to be wasteful and can find uses for most things in our fridge and pantry – even when the vegetables are becoming mushy. We like to find many ways to use our leftovers and only as a very last resort does anything end up in the trash (no – ideally the compost).

So, how do you know if you’re one of these particular people? Here are a couple of behaviors that signals whether or not you're in the food efficiency category.

You know you’re a super efficient cook if you:

- Save your bacon fat when frying bacon

- Save vegetable cuts and scraps during the week to make your own vegetable stock.

- Save your chicken or turkey carcass after a meal to make your own stock.

- Save all your shrimp peel and fish skin and bones after a seafood meal to make your own fish stock.

- Make breadcrumbs, croutons or gazpacho soup with left-over stale bread

- Make wine sauces, or reductions with leftover red wine

- Save your parmesan rinds to add flavor to sauces and stews

- Freeze that tiny piece of left-over fresh ginger to use another time

- Freeze fresh herbs if you have too much and they're going bad

- Grate all your limes and lemons before pressing, in order to freeze small bags of citrus zest

- Make your own banana bread or muffins when your bananas are getting over-ripe, instead of throwing them out

- Make meringue with leftover egg whites – after all the yolks went to a delectable crème brule or chocolate cake…

- Use the same vanilla bean over and over again by soaking it in alcohol in order to make your own vanilla extract

- Make your own preserves and jams when fresh fruit is cheap and in season.

- Know how to make soup out of all your leftovers / going-bad-vegetables and food

- Never throw away any edible food but always succeed to utilize every single ingredient in your fridge by morphing one dish into another and freezing leftovers

Tyler Florence's Herbed Garlic Bread

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:14:53 MST

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), at room temperature
2 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt and extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf crusty baguette
Extra-virgin olive oil

4 servings

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Alton Brown's Mini Man Burgers

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:45:54 MST

1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound ground chuck
8 (3-inch) buns or rolls, split in half
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

8 burgers

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