Category: Beverages

Pear and Hazelnut Souffle


I have been toying with an idea in my head for a while. I love this pear cognac/liquor Certain Someone brings me back from his trips to Sweden, Xante.

So with some hazelnut flour and some Xante in the house I was forced to experiment and make this. Unfortunately my souffle fell before I could get some good picks. Rather than top with powdered sugar, I poured a smidgen of some Boiled Cider I just got from King Arthur’s. I liked the flavors of all and feel I can improve on this some more, especially to bring out the Xante flavor. A nice fall souffle. Remember I’m no souffle expert and I made this up. There may be better techniques out there. But it worked well enough for me.
Pear Hazelnut Souffle serves 5-6 mini souffles
1 tablespoon Xante
1 cup milk
1.5 tablespoons of butter plus butter for greasing ramekins
3 eggs separated into whites and yolks
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup hazelnut flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter your ramekins.In a small sauce pan heat milk until near boiling. Set aside.Put egg whites in a mixing bowl and set yolks in a separate small dish. Melt the 1.5 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated ans smooth. Add the hot milk and whisk/blend until smooth.Add sugar. There will be lumps so try to work it out and stir constantly for approx 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch and water and add to milk flour mix. Stir in and remove from heat. Add hazelnut flour and egg yolks. Mix well. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add Xante to milk/flour/ hazelnut mixture. Take a bit of the peaked egg whites and add to this base. Fold in gently. Add the base to the bowl and whites and continue to fold in till all mix is Incorporated. Fill ramekins 2/3 full. Place ramekins. Bake for approx 20 minutes. on a baking sheet with edges. Fill bottom of pan with water.

A Work In Progress…Pandan Sorbet and Pandantini

I got to playing around this weekend. While rummaging through my pantry I found a can of Pandan Leaves Extract I had purchased a while ago for a cake. It costs around 86 cents. In this heat I wasn’t up to cake so I thought of a sorbet. Unfortunately my freezer bowl for the ice cream maker wasn’t ready. I immediately put it in the freezer for some hours and started on the base to refrigerate in the interim. Basically I made simple syrup which I later combined with some Cream of Coconut, Coconut extract, and a bit of Matcha powder. The color was an algae green color, but the taste was good. I cranked it up in the ice cream maker but I didn’t see it starting to freeze at all. So back in bowl over night with and occasional check and stir. In the morning it was frozen in that sugary slushy sort of way. Not as solid as I wanted but sorbet texture. I cranked it in the freezer bowl again (which I put back in overnight) and the color turned from algae green to frothy pale green. The aerating increased the volume by a third at least. Back in the freezer it went. As I tried to photograph it, it melted fast. But the taste was pretty good. Maybe I will cut back on the sugar to get a more clear taste. I also thought it would make a great base for a frozen cocktail. So I added a shot of vodka, and more ice with a few scoops of sorbet to the blender. What I got was Pandantini. Both the sorbet and the drink would be good chillers to relax in the heat. I cant find my recipe book with sorbets for the ice cream maker, so I’m trying to see what may I have missed to not get the consistency more firm. Sorbets are delicate. I’m wondering if it was the extract. Good thing I didn’t add rum to the original base as planned.
Pandan Sorbet
1(14 fl oz) can Pandan Leaves Extract
2 2/3 cups sugar
3 cups water
2/3 cup Cream of Coconut (The milky creamy type in a can used as a base for Pina Coladas/non alcoholic)
1 teaspoon Coconut Extract
1 teaspoon Matcha Powder
Boil water and sugar together to form a simple syrup( approx 10 min). Add Pandan Leaves extract, Cream of Cococnut, coconut extract, and matcha. Whisk until incorporated. Refrigerate until cool. Place in a bowl and freeze. Once it starts to freeze stir occasionally to mix. Freeze several hours until frozen. Place in a frozen freezer bowl from you ice cream maker. Churn to aerate and until color changes to a paler frothy color of green.

So I’m sending these creations to two events. First The lovely Dhanggit is celebrating her baby’s 1st birthday and she wants some Perfect Party Dishes.I’m sure she can serve up both .(Drinks just for the grown ups!)

And then the Pandantini is going over to Diary of a Fantatic Foodie. She is having a Front Porch Cocktail event.

Party On everyone!

Mauby Kick!!!!

Not much cooking this week. However my prizes I have won are starting to roll in and Ive been busy exploring. Bren
sent me my prize based on some questions I answered on Trinidad Tobago. I got some Mauby,Geera,curry, and Amchar Masala.Bren has a terrific recipe on her blog featuring curried plantains in coconut milk. I want to try that sometime soon.Shes awesome and spicy like the spices she sent! In the meanwhile I was curious about Mauby. The pack was a spice pack of Mauby bark, anise seeds, cinnamon, etc. I researched on the web and saw varying recipes. I wanted something more than just boil with water , add sugar. So I emailed Cynthia, the Queen Bee of Caribbean cooking and asked for her recipe.Its a family recipe that goes way back. I didn’t have the whole nutmeg but followed her recipe in principle and theory in regards to brewing and fermenting. I had my first taste this morning as its a 48 hour process. On first sip its sweet, almost tea like.Then a slightly bitter after taste. It grows on you and you find yourself sipping more. Very refreshing. The jury is out on its health benefits. Some say it lowers high blood pressure .And some wild theories are that causes impotence!A study showed blood pressure reduced if mixed with coconut water.Each island had there own version and the recipe gets tweaked to ones preference.Some people even add vanilla or mix with alcohol.The sugar content can be adjusted to your tastes. All I know is I like it and want to get some more Mauby bark and play.It is an acquired taste and I urge you to try it if you ever have an opportunity!

I also cooled off with the coffee I won from Marye recently. If you haven’t had a chance to check out her numerous blogs on , do so. She’s an amazing woman who can do just about anything in my opinion and never lets much shake her faith. We can all learn from someone like that. My first brew was a chilled ice coffee drink with a splash of Chambord. Delish!So you see not a lot of cooking this week, just brewing and sipping!

And on a final note, Mary from Shazam In The Kitchen sent me this lovely prize. She says I’m glamorous and exciting. If she only knew things aren’t always how they seem but it is an interesting and blessed life! I feel you are all creative and fascinating or else I wouldn’t spend much of my down time following you. So consider this passed on to all of you.

Cheers,It’s Friday Cocktail Hour…News,Prizes,Contests,and Bellini’s!


Wow, this week has buzzed by and I’m no where near ready for my trip Saturday. I almost forgot about my little Friday Cocktail Hours. Today I decided to mix some bubbly stuff with some fabulous white peaches in my CSA box. I have an abundance of produce as its only me for the past week. As I was slicing my peaches for freezing, I thought of the Bellini! Perfect.First a few things before we toast.
I am horrible with the whole award /meme thing. It doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it. I just may forget to pass it on or write about it because my time is spent trying to hit all your wonderful blogs between posting, living life, and taking care of Certain Someone.I will go through a little blog withdrawals next week, but that will be good. The wonderful Marye had passed along the Blogging with Purpose award to me a few weeks back. I love Marye and feel she’s a real , down to earth ,caring, honest person who truly has a healthy handle on life. I look forward to her daily posts.

And Gabi kind of reminds me a little of myself for various reasons I have observed over the months.She’s an awesome cake decorator. She awarded me the Yummy Blogs award.

So I cant even begin to think who to pass these on to because I love everyone I read. I really consider you virtual friends and all of you have a purpose and are Yummy. Or else why would I tune in? So these awards go to all of you. Feel free to pass them on.

I also won 2 prizes last week. I never win. First Andrea informed me that I won “Spain and the World Table by the Culinary Institute of America”! Then Bren is sending me some fantastic goodies from her recent trip from Trinidad Tobago Culinary Festival. I guessed the two ethnic groups and national dish of Trinidad Tobago. OK it took me two tries on the National dish. But I won some!
If your feeling a little competitive and want to score some free salmon, check this out from Marx Food:
Wild Alaskan Salmon is in season and MarxFoods.com is seeking out new and exciting recipes and applications. Please submit your favorite salmon recipe below by Friday, June 20, 2008. Salmon should be the star of the dish, but the recipe can incorporate any variety of salmon—fresh, frozen, smoked, canned, pickled, etc.
The creator of the winning recipe will receive three separate 5 lb. shipments of wild salmon fillets; one in July, August, and September, 2008, on the day of their choosing. Each shipment will contain a different type of wild salmon, varying by species and river origin.
The winning recipe will be judged by the MarxFoods.com staff on deliciousness and originality. Please only enter a recipe that can be created in a home (vs. professional) kitchen. Each contestant is limited to entering one recipe.
A winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 25.
TO ENTER
Submit your salmon recipe in the comment section below. Please include a recipe name or title. Stories are welcome and if you have an accompanying photo, please e-mail it to us and we’ll add it to your post.
Now onto the Bellini’s!What better perfect summer cocktail than the Bellini! If you have fresh white peaches or frozen peach puree, give it a shot. Don’t use yellow peaches. I was always under the mistaken impression that the alcohol base was Champagne. A true Bellini uses a Prosecco or other Italian dry sparkling wine. They were created and made famous at the famous Harry’s bar in Venice. Cheers.

Bellini Serves 1
2 parts white peach puree(make your own if you can while you can get them this summer!)
4 parts Prosecco,or other sparkling wine, preferably Italian( although I could see a nice Spanish Cava being used in a pinch).
dash of cherry juice or grenadine optional.
Pour peach puree in a flute and top off with the sparkling wine.Sit back , relax,and take a deep breath.
And finally a interesting tidbit I got via email from a friend.Don’t know if its true or not, but it’s somewhat funny and food related.

WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER (the actual AP headline) Linda Burnett, 23, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws, and while there she went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head. One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda’s eyes were now open, and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she’d been shot in the back of the head, and had been holding her brains in for over an hour. The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. <>A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed and came to her aid. Linda is a blonde and a Republican, but I’m certain that’s irrelevant. Practice random acts of kindness!

My First Macarons and a Early Friday Cocktail Hour.

Due to the Holiday and some other goings on week, I will finish this post with Friday Cocktail Hour and I wont post this Friday( stay tuned however because I will be posting mid week!). Certain Someone and I got a lot done this Holiday weekend and are still working on it. Our place is very cluttered and I have an abundance of books. He installed our new Expedit books shelves from Ikea to house my hundreds and books and bring some order and design to our space.I wont show you before because its frighting. And the afters I’ll post later. Certain Someone is a repressed interior designer. Anyway we also had some good cocktails, BBQ,and I decided to make Macarons for the first time.
Certain Someone loves Hazelnut and I had some Hazelnut flour from King Arthur’s. I followed the recipe and tips from the famous Tartelette. She wrote a informative long awaited article for a online Desserts Magazine. My ganache was bit runny,and some of my macarons cracked. But overall I feel some confidence in hope that they turned out OK for my first try. I hope my future attempts get better. My ganache was just some heavy cream, orange icing gel( a type of paste used for flavoring cakes and icicngs),some more hazelnut flour, white, and Amano Chocolate(from the Blake Makes Give Away). I used the Ocumare. I found a new spray luster from my cake decorating shop and sprayed a soft golden luster on top. I like the gold accents I see on some Pierre Hermes macarons.The taste? Very sweet but nice. I will play around with more variations. But I least I got over the intimidation factor. I’m also entering this in Couture Cupcakes Mad For Macarons In May.

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Friday Cocktail Hour Holiday Edition

I love a nice daiquiri. Just plain with some lime juice. simple syrup and rum. I played with this to use up a lot of apricots I have from the vegetable delivery. Its not to sweet and refreshing on a nice day. Oh and Peter if your reading this…this may be to girly for you. I have a nice cognac called Landy XO from France. A bartender once referred to it as ‘Happy Dog’. When I asked why he showed me the bottle. The stopper was of a dog with his long tail curved under. It gave the appearance of your nickname, thus the name. He also said it was a ‘Mans’ drink. So a pour of Landy for you and some daiquiris for my girls! Cheers!

Apricot Daiquiri serves 1

1 part rum
1 juice of a lime
1/2 part apricot brandy( I cheated and used some brandy I made from Prickly Pear)
3 apricots peeled and stoned
ice

Mix all with ice in a blender.Pour into a chilled glass.