Pickled Ginger Sorbet

This is a cure for what ails you. Sore throat? Tummyache? This will make you feel better.

I learned this recipe from Terry Conlan, the chef at Lake Austin Spa in an Asian grilling class at Central Market, our local gourmet market. Every recipe he presented was so full of flavor and so satisfying that it hardly seemed like airy spa food. His food would be reason enough to visit the spa.

This sorbet has bold ginger flavor boosted by lemon juice and rounded out with honey. The recipe only makes a little over a pint, but this is not something you'll pig out on like your favorite ice cream. A small scoop with a cookie would make a refreshing, light dessert after an Asian meal. Or you could serve it as Terry did, alongside some spicy tuna. Perfect summer food. Very refreshing. But I'm providing it here, in the dead of winter, because it's the perfect thing to soothe my sore throat. Ahhh...

Terry recommended a pink-colored pickled ginger for this recipe because of it's sweetness. But the one at my market contained some additives that didn't look too friendly. So I've adapted it using a natural, faintly yellow-colored pickled ginger. But I loved the soft, fluffy pale pink color of his so I added one drop of red food coloring to give it that pink glow. No matter what color it is, you'll be refreshed.


1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup pickled ginger with syrup
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 drop red food coloring

Heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Stir in the honey.

In a blender or food processor (I used an immersion blender), pureé the ginger, a bit of the ginger syrup and the lemon juice. Add the drop (just one!) of red food coloring, if you like. Whiz again to completely distribute. Stir into the sugar syrup.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature. You can speed this along by putting it in a container, put the container in an ice bath in a large bowl, or even in the pan you just melted the sugar in. Let sit in the ice bath until it gets cool.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can pop it in the freezer until frozen. Take it out to stir it and fluff it up occasionally while it's freezing. When you're ready to serve, let it thaw slightly and then pulse in a food processor.

To use an ice cream maker, put the cooled mixture in the freezer for an hour to chill it. Then process in an ice cream maker according to its instructions. Mine took about 20-25 minutes to get it to a soft serve consistency. Then store it in the freezer until ready to serve.

Adapted from a recipe by Terry Conlan of Lake Austin Spa.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

These are our favorite cookies for pure chocolate flavor. With three kinds of chocolate and only 1/3 cup of flour, these are chocolate bombs. They will rev your engine like a strong cup of coffee. The recipe comes from Rebecca Rather's The Pastry Queen cookbook. Rather owns Rather Sweet bakery in Fredericksburg, just outside of Austin. It's worth the trip just to have lunch and then, of course, dessert, at her bakery. She serves huge versions of these cookies in the bakery. But we usually make them smaller so they're easier to eat. I've heard she's recently opened a new cafe, Rebecca's Table, which I'm looking forward to checking out next time I'm out there.

2 cups chopped pecans
6 tablepoons unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet (70%) chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (we use Ghiradelli 60% chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the pecans on a cookie sheet and toast for 6-7 minutes until you can smell their toasty goodness. Let cool.

Melt butter, bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates in a bowl in the microwave at 50% power for 30-second increments until mostly melted. Stir to finish melting and combine chocolate and butter until glossy.

Beat eggs and sugar in mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Mix for about 2 minutes to completely combine.

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add to the chocolate batter and stir until just combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips and combine. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Scoop out batter with a small ice cream scoop that's been sprayed with cooking spray. (I use a 2-teaspoon Oxo scoop.) Place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper or a silicone mat. Press the tops of the cookies slightly to flatten them out.

Bake 12-14 minutes until they're just barely done. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 10-15 minutes before removing with a spatula. If you pull them off too soon, they'll stick and come apart.

Adapted from The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather.

Dulce Crispy Treats

Here's a new spin on an old favorite, Rice Crispy Treats. But this version has a little more grown-up appeal...it uses dulce de leche in place of marshmallows. Are you groaning in ecstasy yet? (Dulce de leche is a Latin dessert sauce made with caramelized milk.) It also has the extra crunch of sliced almonds. One downside, or upside, depending on how you look at it, is that these little treats need to be eaten right away. They lose their crunch after a day or so. I haven't tried this yet, but I suspect a coating of dark chocolate would help them stay crispy a little longer.

1 1/2 cups crisped rice cereal (I used brown rice crisps)
3 teaspoons canola oil
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced almonds
one can dulce de leche (recipe below)
salt

You can buy dulce de leche at most grocery stores these days. But it's expensive. I usually make my own with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Using the pointy end of a bottle opener, poke two holes on opposite sides of the top of the can. Remove the label. Place the can in a medium saucepan. Pour water into the pan until it reaches two-thirds of the way up the can. Bring the water to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Keep a sharp eye on the pan and add more water as needed to keep the level at two-thirds of the way up the can. This is very important. You don't want the can to boil continuously or the water level to drop too low. If the can gets too hot, it can be EXPLOSIVE. So pay attention. Simmer for about one hour until the milk bubbling at the top of the can turns a deep golden. Be very careful when removing the can from the water. I usually use tongs. It's very hot and the condensed milk will be like lava. I recommend making your dulce de leche earlier in the day and then letting it cool.

I've also tried a method where you microwave the sweetened condensed milk in 2-4 minute bursts at 50%, then 30% power levels until it caramelizes. I found this to be more of a hassle than the stove top method. There's also a recipe here using milk, sugar, corn syrup and cinnamon. I'd leave out the cinnamon for this application.

Now, back to the crispies...
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the rice crispies cereal with 2 teaspoons of canola oil. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes until rice is crisped. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

When the rice is cool, stir in the sliced almonds. Add 2/3 cup dulce de leche and the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil and stir well to coat evenly.

Spray a little cooking spray or canola oil into your hands and coat them like you're putting on lotion. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of the mixture and form into discs. This is very sticky stuff. I had to reapply the cooking spray a few times to keep it from sticking to my fingers.

Sprinkle the tops of the crispy cakes with a little salt, then bake 10-12 minutes until just golden brown.

Let cool. You can spread more dulce de leche on the tops of them, if you like, before serving.

Adapted from the October 2007 Gourmet magazine.

Cashew Snowballs

These cookies have all the things I love about shortbread, the crumbly, sandy texture, and the not-too-sweetness, with the additional underlying golden luxuriousness of ground cashews and just a touch of salt to round them out. There's not much sugar in the dough itself, leaving room for the powdered sugar coating that makes them fun for the holidays. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

2 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar (for dough)
2 cups powdered sugar (for coating after baking)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups (11 oz.) unsalted, roasted cashews
1/2 teaspoon salt


Pulse cashews in food processor until mostly ground with a few larger bits for texture. Set aside.

Cream butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla in mixer until well combined. Mix in flour, then ground cashews and salt until completely combined.

Put half of the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and form into one-inch thick logs. Enclose in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with second half of dough. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut each log into half-inch pieces and form into balls in your hand. Bake for 20 minutes.

Fill small bowl or mini loaf pan with the powdered sugar for coating. As soon as you take the cookies from the oven, two at a time, roll them in the powdered sugar completely coating them. Set on plate or sheet pan to cool. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. When completely cool, roll again in the powdered sugar. The heat from the first rolling will melt the sugar onto the cookies creating a very sticky coating. The second coat will stick to the first, creating a more powdery layer.

Be careful or these will end up all over the front of your shirt. I like to make them fairly small, so that they can be eaten in one bite.

Adapted from a Food and Wine recipe.

Shortbread

There are those recipes you find, and treasure, that are simple in their perfection. This is one of them. Shortbread is made of only four ingredients. It's simple, fast and easy. Big return on investment. This is the perfect alternative to sugar cookies which have always seemed to me to be more about the shapes and decoration and not so much about the flavor. These are all about the flavor and the texture. They are pure vanilla goodness with that layered, sandy, texture that you can't get enough of. Just look at them from the back to see all the layers.



Shortbread can be baked in the traditional ceramic pan that leaves a decorative impression, as my friend Jennifer taught me to make it in Atlanta many years ago. Or it can be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters. Or even simply pressed into a square baking pan and then cut into strips. Just keep in mind that you may need to adjust the baking time a bit. What you're looking for is a golden color with just a touch of browning around the edges. Let cool completely to get the sandy, crumbly, addictive texture that shortbread is known for.

To dress them up, feel free to dip them or drizzle them with melted dark chocolate.

This recipe is based on the quantity to fill a traditional, ceramic shortbread pan. Mine has nine sections, each with a decorative impression, making nine square cookies. But I usually prefer to roll them out and cut them with cookie cutters. This is one of our holiday favorites and so much better than any sugar cookie I've ever tasted. The recipe can be easily multiplied for bigger batches. You can also refrigerate extra dough for a few days for later baking or to give away as treats.



Shortbread

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and stir in. Add vanilla and stir in. Add flour, in two increments, and stir in.

If you're going to use a ceramic shortbread pan, press the dough into the pan and bake 20-30 minutes until golden and edges begin to brown. Let cool in pan completely before turning out and cutting into squares.

If you want to use cookie cutters, shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to make the dough easier to work with. Then roll out, cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters, place on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for approximately 15 minutes so they will hold their shape when baked. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden with browned edges.

Adapted from Brown Bag Ceramic Shortbread Pan recipe.

Butterscotch Pudding

I kept reading about this Butterscotch Budino (Italian for "pudding"). It's on the menu at LA pastry chef Nancy Silverton's new restaurant (with partner Mario Batali) Pizzeria Mozza. I've never made butterscotch pudding, but it caught my attention because my father likes butterscotch and I was looking for something to lure him away from his usual birthday choice of pecan pie.

This one is OVER. THE. TOP. It's topped with not one, but two toppings, as if the pudding alone weren't enough. It is. The recipe calls for whipped creme fraiche and a caramel sauce to dress up the pudding. I intended to try it that way. Really, I did. I bought the ingredients and everything. But I never got that far. The pudding was just too luscious all by itself. It's sweet, salty, velvety, tawny, butterscotchyness is perfect as is. Yes, I said salty. It's got a bit of salt that really adds another dimension. This is not your everyday dessert. This is a special occasion dessert. Not that it's hard to make, it's quite easy. But it's Oprah-rich. If you like butterscotch, this will be the ultimate.

The full recipe (with toppings) can be found in the New York Times. But my adaptation below is for just the pudding. Next time I'll try it with whole milk to see how it stands up with less fat.


3 cups cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
3 egg yolks
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/8 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum


Stir or whisk together the cream and milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and cornstarch.

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, stir together brown sugar, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Stir it together initially to combine, then leave it over the heat until the edges begin to brown. After this, you can swirl the pan a bit to make sure it browns evenly. This will take about 10-12 minutes.

Whisk in the cream/milk. It may seize up. Don't worry. Just put it back over the heat, bring it up to a boil, then lower the heat to medium. Temper the eggs with a ladleful of this mixture at a time, whisking the eggs continuously. You just want to bring up the temperature of the eggs. You don't have to whisk in all of the cream and caramel mixture into the eggs. Just 2-3 ladlefuls.

Make sure the heat is turned off under the pan. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and whisk it until the custard thickens substantially. This took me 3-4 minutes. Stir in the butter and rum.

Run the mixture through a sieve and pour into ramekins or whatever you want to serve it in. Mine made about a dozen servings. This stuff is so rich it goes a long way.

Let cool completely. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Adapted from Pizzeria Mozza.