Delightful Caramel Cake

It's that time again.  The Daring Bakers have struck again, and this time it's a truly sweet treat.  How does Carmel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting sound?  I know, I know, it sounds so sweet!  And it is.  Baking this cake came at the most perfect time.  What better time to serve this sweet treat than at Thanksgiving.  

"What, no pumpkin pie?"  Don't get me wrong, I get the whole "pumpkin pie requirement" for Thanksgiving.  It would be a travesty to my family if I didn't have a few of those sweet gourds resting in pie shells baking in the oven.  This year, I even took the time to bake the pumpkin and puree the goodness. But, I digress - that is for another day and another post.

Back to the Caramel Cake.  It was great to offer a slice of Caramel Cake after our Thanksgiving meal. It gave everyone a choice, an alternative to the old faithful standby. And let me tell you, everyone was delighted!  It may have just earned the honor of becoming a Thanksgiving tradition.

The cake.  The cake.  The cake is soooo moist.  The secret ingredient is homemade caramel syrup.  The caramel syrup is added to the batter and adds such depth of flavor.  It really made all the difference in the world.  

This month's Challenge is a recipe from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and her signature Caramel Cake.  The recipe is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon , as published on Bay Area Bites.

Four Daring Bakers teamed up to present and moderate this sweet challenge.  The hosts for the month of November were Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity,  Alex of Blondie and Brownie and Jenny of Foray into Food . And to help with alternative baking,  Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go assisted.  

Enjoy!!

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

(recipes are courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

Her Favorite Cookie

It is official. I am back! To all my faithful readers, I truly appreciate your loyalty and patience. Through all of the bumps in the road, the one constant, familiar, happy place - is and will always be - my kitchen.

Last weekend was a lazy weekend. There was a chilly crispness in the air that betrayed the bright sunlight. Luckily for me, I was able to spend a day with my best little girl in the world, MaryJo. We began the day with an indulgent breakfast at the world-renowned, world famous IHOP. The best place for strawberry syrup....so I'm told. I believe that 8 year-olds can be considered syrup aficionados. After filling our bellies, we embarked on a day of baking in a sunny kitchen.

Decisions, decisions. What should we bake? We curled up on the couch with a few of my favorite cookbooks and began looking at the pictures. If you've never discussed the merits of chocolate frosting versus ginger-laced cookies with an 8 year-old, I highly recommend it.  It's inspiring.  By the way, chocolate always wins.

Each recipe caused us to pause and consider the list of ingredients. I knew she was humoring me as we read through the list.  The truth - if the picture didn't make her swoon, it was crossed off and had no hope of ending up in a cookie jar.  

Then all of sudden we turned the page and her eyes lit up.  She exclaimed, "Black and White Cookies! Nay Nay, we have to make those!  It's my favorite cookie from New York!!" And then she licked her lips. The contract was signed.



We proceeded to mix these delicate sponge-like cookies. From cracking eggs and measuring flour, she tried to be so precise. She has the makings of a master baker, I'm so proud. The Black and Whites only take about 12 minutes to bake. But, be careful not to over bake these cookies. If you do, you will miss out on the sponge-like texture. Frankly, you'll miss the point.

Once completely - and I mean completely cooled, we embarked on the frosting. The toughest part about making these New York wonders was having to make a little girl "wait' to frost them. Frosting was the most fun. To get that perfect black and white line, it is easier to frost all of the cookies with the white frosting first and let them set. Then, we came back for round 2 to frost the other side with gooey chocolate frosting. Oh, my! It was a perfect day.






Black and White Cookies
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Black and White Icing (Recipe below)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.

Line baking pans with Silpat nonstick baking mats or parchment paper. Using a 2-ounce scoop, drop five cookies per pan, 3 inches apart. Bake until edges are slightly light brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.


Black and White Frosting

1 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
6 tablesppons of boiling water

Whisk cream into sugar until smooth. This is your white frosting. Frost one half of each cookie until the white frosting is set. Return cookies to rack to drip, if necessary.

Combine cocoa with boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add to remaining sugar mixture. Stir to combine for black icing. Use immediately, and frost the other side of each cookie. Spread chocolate frosting over second half of each cookie. Allow cookies to set, about 10 minutes.

Silence is Golden...Delicious, That Is

The other day, a rather random event occurred. I found myself in the company of apples - many, many apples. Here is a random question, have you ever given much thought to the quality control and inspection that occurs at your local grocer? I must say, not me. I never really gave it much thought. But because of the due diligence of one produce manager, I now have jars of applesauce to consume at my whimsy.

A driver of an apple-bearing truck pulled up to the back loading dock, with the intent of emptying his truck and delivering his bounty. Unbeknownst to the driver, he would be denied. The produce manager did a cursory inspection and found a few apples frozen. He immediately rejected the delivery. The very astute driver did not want to waste the glorious apples, so he took it upon himself to drive them to a nearby horse farm. His intent was to leave the apples for the care and feeding of the horses.

Imagine the old days, when people used the communal party line to communicate good news (conjure up memories of Sheriff Andy Taylor picking up the phone and speaking to Sarah asking her to ring a number). Well, that is exactly how that truckload of apples got distributed to my friends. The horse farm owner was overwhelmed by the generosity of the driver and knew that her horses couldn't consume all of those apples. To add to the irony, the apples weren't frozen. They were perfect, unbruised, crisp, Fuji apples.

My girlfriend and I shared a box of apples - over 80 apples. The timing was perfect for my Apple Danish Braid. That only accounted for a few of those glorious apples. We were then left with a dilemma. What were we going to do with the remaining apples? How could we use the apples without waste? Applesauce was the answer.



Applesauce is one of the easiest things to make. You can either can or freeze the results. We chose to can it. It took a little elbow grease to peel about 40 or so apples. Other than that, it was a piece of cake. The recipe calls for cinnamon and sugar. I find that if the apples are sweet, you don't need as much sugar. Try it for yourself.

So, if you are ever in the company of large amounts of apples, make applesauce! I will never buy store bought again.



Applesauce

INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. I used fuji
4 strips of lemon peel
Juice of one lemon
Cinnamon to taste
Sugar to taste (about 1/2 cup to a cup depending on amount of apples)
1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Remove from heat. Remove lemon peels. Mash with potato masher or use an immersion blender. Your desired texture will determine which type of masher/puree device to use.

The applesauce is ready to serve, either hot or refrigerated. It freezes easily and lasts up to one year in the freezer. You can also can the applesauce, which is what we did.

Danish Braid

It is that time of month again. As the month of June closes, there is no better way to end the month than to present a Daring Bakers Challenge. This month's challenge was an exciting one for me. A critical ingredient was yeast - and I just don't bake much with yeast. I know...shame on me. So, when I first read the recipe, I was very excited. And you know what, yeast isn't that scary!!

This month was hosted by Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What’s Cookin’?. They chose a technique that I have never tackled - Making and working with yeasted laminated dough. The recipe was for "Danish Braid" from Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking.

So, what is Danish Braid? Kelly and Ben did a great job of explaining this technique to the Daring Bakers crowd, so I thought I would share it with you.

• Danish dough is in the family of butter-laminated or layered doughs with puff pastry being the ultimate. Danish dough is sweet and is yeast-leavened, however, where as puff pastry is not.
• The process of making Danish dough is less complex than that of puff pastry, but equally as important to achieve best results, and a great starting place to begin to learn about laminated doughs in general.
• Danish dough is extremely versatile, and once made can be used for a variety of baked goods. The possibilities are endless.
Some History:
• According to many sources, “Danish” was born when Danish bakers went on strike, and Viennese bakers were brought in to replace them, creating what is referred to as Vienna Bread.
• Conversely, it is also said that Danish bakers went to Vienna to learn the techniques Viennese bakers employed, and Danish dough was created there.
• In the early 1800’s, C.L. Olsen spent time in Germany, believing in the idea of gaining inspiration from bakers of other countries. He brought knowledge back to Denmark to introduce “foreign” breads to his country, also hiring people of other nationalities to bake in his family bakery.

Terminology:
• Laminated dough – is layered dough created by sandwiching butter between layers of dough
• Detrempe – ball of dough
• Beurrage – butter block
• Turn – each “fold & roll” of the dough produces a single turn in a 3-step process where the dough is folded exactly like a business letter in 3 columns. Each single turn creates 3 layers with this method.




Sherry Yard recommends the following:
• Use well-chilled ingredients. This includes flour if your kitchen temperature is above 70 degrees F (~ 21 degrees C).
• It is recommended that long, continuous strokes be used to roll the dough rather than short, jerky strokes to make sure the butter block is evenly distributed.
• The 30-minute rest/cooling period for the dough between turns is crucial to re-chill the butter and allow the gluten in the dough to relax.
• Excess flour accumulated on the surface of the dough after turns should be brushed off as pockets of flour can interfere with the rise.
• Yard calls for a “controlled 90 degree F environment” for proofing the constructed braid. Please refer to this chart to assist you in this stage of the challenge:

Proofing Temperature For Fresh Dough
(room temp) For Refrigerated Dough
Degrees F Degrees C
70 ~ 21 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. 2-1/2 to 3 hrs.
75 ~ 24 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hrs. 2 to 2-1/2 hrs.
80 ~ 27 1 to 1-1/4 hrs. 1-1/2 to 2 hrs.
85 ~ 29 45 min. to 1 hr. 1 to 1-1/2 hrs.
90 ~ 32 45 min. 1 hr.

• When making cuts in the dough for the braid, make sure they are not too long and provide a solid base for the filling.






DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

This is a completely lovely dough with a fragrance that is to swoon over. And when it's baking? My oh my.

A Longer Linger

Hunger pangs, that's how it begins. Our bellys work better than any alarm clock. We know when to eat, and we know it is usually pretty often. As sundown approaches, we begin the mental process of determining what will land on everyone's plate for dinner - right down to the...Dessert. Dessert is always a priority for supper. Sure, we have to figure out the main course, the protein that feeds our muscles. Which hunk of meat will it be - chicken, beef, pork? The side vegetables are equally as important. Come on, really - no one wants a bland string bean. Ultimately, the dinner has to be cohesive and meld together. The tastes must compliment each other, yet not be overpowering.

And, then there is dessert.

I'm not sure if you can blame it on the rampant sweet tooths in my house, or just the childhood magic that always surrounded dessert. My guess, it is the magic, the magic that can never leave the hearts of dessert lovers around the world. Desserts can be richly sweet, creamy, fruity, chocolately, nutty, smooth, cold, hot, utterly delicious.... that always, always linger.

So, as we were deciding our dinner menu, the conversation wasn't complete without deciding which sweet nothing, which sweet something, would linger on our palette after dinner. If we were lucky, it would linger, and linger, and be the sole inspiration of a daydream the next day, wishing for just a taste floating lightly on our tongue. Hoping for a longer linger...

Tonight, the winner was something refreshing, light and delicious. And, are you ready for the irony? It is a healthy concoction!! No joke. This is no laughing matter. This is a dessert that is waistline friendly and mother approved! Sweet, healthy, and tasty!

Let us linger, Lemon Panna Cotta, oh my!


Panna Cotta is an Italian phrase that means "cooked cream". It is a creamy dessert that is a cross between a gelatin and cream brulee. This Italian dessert comes from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is eaten all over Italy and, thankfully, all over the world.

This recipe is crazy easy. The ingredients are quite simple and it comes together quickly, which is always a bonus. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can have success with this recipe. I promise, the the memory will linger all summer long.

Lemon Panna Cotta

1 1/2 cups Greek-style yogurt
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup each heavy cream and sugar
1 pt strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 Tbsp honey
Additional honey, optional

PREPARATION
1. Coat six 6-oz custard cups or ramekins with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk yogurt, half-and-half, lemon zest and vanilla in large bowl.

2. Pour lemon juice in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it; let stand 5 minutes to soften.

3. Heat cream and sugar in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in softened gelatin until dissolved, and stir quickly into yogurt mixture until blended.

4. Divide mixture into prepared custard cups (about 1/2 cup in each). Cover; refrigerate about 4 hours or overnight.

5. To serve: Toss strawberries with honey; let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes. Run a small knife around each panna cotta, shake gently and invert onto serving plate to unmold. Serve with strawberries and an additional drizzle of honey, if desired.


From Woman's Day July 8, 2008

Empty Desires

The weekend weather was warm.  Sweltering actually.   It was the kind of lazy hot day filled with humidity that encouraged hours of wading in a pool and really nothing else.  Our energy was zapped.

The dinner hour was fast approaching, but the desire to actually heat an oven or turn on a stove was completely empty. Unfortunately, so were our bellys. We had to eat. Was a chopped salad the only way to beat the heat?  This was the moment that Jamie Oliver saved me from heat stroke.

I find that food television is addictive, but only a few are really worth my time watching.  Mr. Oliver falls into this category.  He has a knack for cooking just about anything, anywhere, with fresh ingredients.  As it just so happens, I had one of his creations fresh on my mind -   grilled salmon with fennel served with a fresh yogurt cucumber sauce.   Oh, yeah! 

The grill was the key ingredient on this hot day - anything to keep the heat out of the kitchen.   The fresh chopped green salad already had a reservation, so we decided to add the salmon to make a complete and healthy dinner.   

For those of you who have never had fennel, don't be afraid of it.  Fennel has a fragrance similar to anise, but not as strong.  As it cooks, it mellows into a very subtle aroma.  It compliments the salmon in a refreshing way.  When you are looking at fennel in the produce section, make sure you buy fennel with full fronds and may your desires be no longer empty. Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with Fennel and Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

adapted from Jamie Oliver

1 (3-pound) salmon filet
1 lemon, zest and juice
Bunch of fennel fronds
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop the fennel fronds, taking care to use the green fronds, not the stalks.  Place in a bowl.  Zest a lemon and add the zest to the bowl.  Add the juice of the zested lemon to the bowl and combine.   
Place the salmon skin side down and, using a sharp knife, slash it evenly all over on the fleshy side, making the incisions about 1/2-inch deep.   Salt and pepper the the salmon.  Scatter the chopped fennel fronds over the salmon, taking care to stuff the slits with the fennel mixture. Rub the skin side with olive oil and drizzle the top (with the fennel mixture) with the olive oil.  

When your grill is hot,  place the salmon skin-side down. The salmon will start to cook from the bottom up and after about 4-6 minutes the skin should be beautifully golden brown. Carefully flip the salmon over and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes on the other side until desired doneness. While it's cooking, you can gently ease the skin away from the fish if you wish.

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
Small bunch fresh oregano, chopped

Small bunch fresh thyme leaves, chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove and discard the seeds, chop it up and mix it in a bowl with the yogurt. Add the chopped oregano and thyme.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Drizzle over a little extra-virgin olive oil. 

Break the salmon up with a fork into 4 to 6 chunks. Serve with the cucumber yogurt sauce.  

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream, for...

ICE CREAM! How lovely a thought. No. How lovely a taste. Homemade ice cream is so decadent, so indulgent, yet so simple. All you need is milk, sugar, eggs, and your imagination.

Tonight, the stars shined on ruby red berries....sweet summer strawberries to be exact. I sliced the strawberries and let them become happy with sugar, fresh lemon zest, and a tad of lemon juice. You can see how juicy the strawberries became with a little urging. I almost grabbed a spoon and said to heck with the ice cream. Thank goodness I restrained myself. The strawberry ice cream was meant to be churned.

There are different methods for churning ice cream at home. Ice cream is divided into two basic categories: custard-style (or French custard-style) and Philadelphia-style (or "American"). In the end, it really comes down to your personal preference. Custard ice cream is, as the name suggests, made from a custard base. Egg yolks or whole eggs are whisked together with hot milk or cream and sugar, and cooked gently until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Egg yolks are natural emulsifiers, and the resulting custard makes an ice cream that is remarkably smooth and rich. Philadelphia-style ice cream contains no egg yolks and does not require cooking. It's based purely on cream and sugar, and is very delicate-tasting, with so few ingredients.

This recipe is the best of both worlds. It actually contains eggs, but no cooking. You basically use a whisk and whip the daylights out of the eggs. I mean whip the daylights... At first they become frothy, but the more you whip - and yes, your arm will feel like it is going to fall off - the eggs turn into this beautiful thick cream. Once the sugar is incorporated it resembles a pastry cream. It adds so much depth and creaminess to the churned ice cream. It is, by far, my favorite method of making ice cream. And don't forget your bonus, you can get a workout in the process. Does that mean I get seconds?

Fresh Strawberry Ice-Cream

Sweet Cream Base
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup milk

Strawberries
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/3 cup sugar
juice from 1/2 lemon
zest from 1 lemon

Combine strawberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 1/3 cup sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Once the strawberries have macerated, remove about 1/2 cup and chop in a food processor or blender. This adds a nice thickness to the strawberries and turns the ice cream a pretty shade of pink.

Prepare the sweet cream base. Whisk eggs vigorously in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the sugar and continue whisking for 2-3 minutes longer. The eggs will become thick and creamy, almost resembling a pastry cream. Add the cream and milk, stir until fully combined. Add the strawberry mixture into the sweet cream base. Pour into an ice-cream maker and churn according to manufacturers instructions. I have a small Cuisinart ice-cream maker which works great.