Food to Share: Lovely Lemon Madeleines and a Winter Picnic

We haven't had much Winter here in Nashville but lately I've found myself longing for Spring nonetheless. Perhaps it's because the weather hovers in the 50's, teasing me. A picnic on a bleary (thank you Rebekka, that is the perfect word) Sunday was exactly what I needed: to be outside, to relax, to eat delicious food and drink wine with friends. 

I went to Arrington Vineyards to share a picnic with Rebekka and Colleen. We had prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches, brie and with crackers, and I made lovely lemon madeleines. They're lovely because, well, they're just beautiful to look at. That much is obvious. They're also packed with lots of meyer lemon zest, cornmeal, almond flour and best of all, butter!

Oh, and did I mention that I woke up to this precious face on Sunday morning? My sweet little Pixel, patiently waiting for me to get up and take her to play outside in the fog.







Lovely Lemon Madeleines
makes 18


1/3 cup semolina
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
1t baking powder
3 large eggs
pinch kosher salt
1 stick (8T) unsalted butter
1T limoncello
1T meyer lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, whisk semolina, almond flour and baking powder together. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and salt with electric mixer until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes (if you see peaks beginning to form you have gone too far!). Melt butter and let cool slightly. Pour butter and almond extract into egg mixture. Beat until combined. Add zest. Fold dry mix into wet mix with spatula until just combined. Let chill in fridge for one hour. Spoon batter into madeleine mold. Bake for 6-7 minutes at 400, drop oven temperature to 350, and bake for another 4-5 minutes.

Beer is Delicious: Stout and Pretzel Truffles

I believe we discussed the similarities between stout and dark chocolate not too long ago? 

I was in St. Louis at the Schlafly Tap Room two weeks ago and I happened to meet the beer soulmate of dark chocolate: Raspberry Coffee Stout. It has the richness of stout, the bitterness of good coffee and the sweet fruity aroma of raspberries to finish. Needless to say, I love it. 

So this past weekend my new favorite stout got together with some 75% dark Olive & Sinclair chocolate and made truffle babies. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing, as you can see.  

Beer and Pretzel Truffles:

(based on this recipe from Honest Cooking)

3 bars (just under 9oz) Olive & Sinclair dark chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

2t coffee flavoring or raspberry flavoring (available at Whole Foods)

3T stout 

3/4 cup salted pretzels, crushed (or cocoa powder) 

Warm cream in pot over medium low. Add chopped chocolate and coffee flavoring and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and add stout. Whisk until the mixture looks like very thick ganache. Place in the fridge in a shallow dish for about three hours or until firm. Scoop into 1/2t balls and roll in crushed pretzels or cocoa powder. 

*Serve IMMEDIATELY if rolling truffles in pretzels. The pretzels WILL go stale in the fridge no matter how well you cover them. 

*Can't find this very special Schlafly beer? Try a milk stout. 

Dessert is Delicious: Horchata Sorbet

A few weeks ago I had the great good fortune of dining at Mas Tacos for the first time. All I have to say is: Yes, please! Since then, I have been back three times and I fully intend to go once a week for the rest of my life. I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food but I love everything that Mas Tacos has fed me. My favorite so far: a fried avocado taco, creamy and warm and topped with crunchy, tangy red cabbage slaw. To go with it, a refreshing watermelon agua fresca. 

On my second visit my lovely friend Katie (who is now in Spain) ordered a horchata, a drink flavored with rice, almonds, vanilla and cinnamon. I immediately ran home and tried to make horchata ice cream. I'm not going to lie to you, it was a miserable failure!  

Who was I kidding? I, having never made horchata before, am obviously not going to be able to top Mas Tacos. My lazy yet wonderful solution? Horchata sorbet. I bought horchata from Mas Tacos and popped it into my ice cream machine. Delicious. 

No ice cream maker? No problem. Make granita! Put your horchata in a shallow baking dish in the freezer and scrape with a fork every 40 minutes or so until it looks like an italian ice. 

I used 4.5 cups of horchata (makes about a quart of sorbet). That means you need to buy three glasses at Mas Tacos (you WILL have some left over to drink). It's important that you ask for "no ice." If you want your sorbet to have more of an ice cream consistency, use 4 cups horchata and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Freeze overnight before serving. Recommended toppings: slivered almond and cajeta. 

Sneak Peek: Dark Chocolate Brownies

Just wanted to let you know: I'm working on a new recipe for dark chocolate brownies, one that's really unique. I started my testing with a solid recipe and a classic flavor combination. I made David Lebovitz's gluten-free brownies and added a cup of fresh cherries instead of nuts. From here I get a little crazier. I look forward to sharing the results with you soon! 

Dessert is Delicious: Summer Clafoutis

Have you ever had a clafoutis (pronounced clah-foo-tea)? I hadn't either, until today. Clafoutis is a French dessert that is the beautiful love child of a cake and a custard. It is light, fluffy and moist and is the perfect little nestling place for sweet summer fruit. I like it, very much. 

I made mine with peaches, raspberries, cherries, buttermilk and orange zest. My mouth waters just thinking about the combination- peaches, raspberries, cherries, buttermilk and orange zest! 

Quite a few eggs give the clafoutis its rise and as it bakes, juice from the fruit oozes throughout the dish. The top turns slightly brown and the smell, oh the smell! If they made peach, raspberry, cherry, buttermilk and orange zest clafoutis perfume I would wear it all the time. 

I sweetened my clafoutis batter only with honey, so I topped it with a touch of powdered sugar when it came out of the oven. Do you remember what your first kiss felt like? I don't mean the one where you knocked teeth and then coughed in his mouth (yeah, I'm a catch). I mean your first good kiss- when you blacked out a little and felt tingly all over? My first bite of clafoutis was a similar experience. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Summer Clafoutis:

-serves six

(based on Pear Clafoutis, by Ina Garten) 

1/2 cup raw honey

3 large eggs

6T all purpose flour (use cornstarch if you want to go GF)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used reduced fat)

2T vanilla extract

pinch of kosher salt 

zest of one orange

1/2 pint berries

3-4 piece stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines or apricots

butter and sugar for the pan

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a pie dish until covered and dust with about 1T granulated sugar. In a bowl, cream eggs and honey with electric mixer on medium for three minutes. Then add the flour, buttermilk, vanilla, salt and orange. Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Half stone fruit and place it in pie dish with berries around it (remove any pits first). Pour batter over fruit. Bake for 45 minutes or until batter does not jiggle in the middle. The top should be golden brown. Top with powdered sugar. 

Beer is Delicious: Chocolate Stout Sorbet

Stout and chocolate have so very much in common. For starters, I love them both dearly. They are thick, smooth, creamy, nutty and, if you're dealing with the good stuff, bittersweet. When combined they make an intensely deep and rich flavor.

For the last few weeks I haven't been able to get enough frozen treats. The weather has been hovering around 100 degrees every day and I'm certain I get sunburned just by looking out the window. Yesterday I made chocolate stout sorbet and we ate it just as the sun was going down. I put the first bite in my mouth and breathed a sigh of relief; for the first time in ages, I was cold!

The best part about chocolate stout sorbet is it's simplicity. It has only three ingredients: chocolate syrup, espresso, and stout. I used Rogue Chocolate Stout for extra chocolaty goodness.

The sorbet comes out looking like frozen brownie batter. It is not overly sweet, so I topped it with a light drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. 

Chocolate Stout Sorbet:

-serves four

1 1/4 cups chocolate stout 

1 1/2 cups of your favorite chocolate syrup 

1 shot espresso 

Make sure all ingredients are VERY cold. Whisk to combine. Follow manufacturer instructions for your ice cream machine. Let sorbet set in freezer for at least eight hours before serving. 

Ice Cream is Delicious: Blueberry Coconut

As the saying goes, the heart wants what the heart wants. The other day I was buying a new food processor online. It was turquoise, one of my favorite colors. When I put it in my "cart," Amazon interjected, "You may also like this: Cuisinart ICE-21TQ Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker, Turquoise." As you can imagine, I am now the proud new owner of an ice cream maker.

So now I feel obligated, ahem, I mean inspired to make ice cream. I decided that my first endeavor should be something simple. It's blueberry season here in Tennessee. Have you ever read the poem "Blackberry Picking" by Seamus Heaney? Well that's how I feel about blueberries- greedy, like a pirate hoarding treasure. They're just so good!

I found this recipe for blueberry coconut ice cream on Roostblog.com. It only has three ingredients: blueberries, coconut milk and raw honey. And since I just read "Ratio" by Michael Ruhlman, I will explain it to you in ratios: two parts blueberries, three parts whole fat coconut milk, honey to taste. Can you believe something so plain can be so delicious?

We had one perfect afternoon this week. It was 75, sunny and not too humid. I can't imagine a better time to eat ice cream (that's not saying much; I've been known to eat ice cream during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade). I felt so lucky to work in an office that has a balcony!