Souped Up!

It’s raining in Los Angeles. This isn’t just a drizzle. Not just a sprinkle. Not even a cat or a dog! I’m talking a full week of non-stop monsoons nearing biblical proportions and it doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Like many a SoCal resident I’m not physically or emotionally equipped to deal with “weather.” I’ll be the first to admit we’re spoiled here and maybe more than a little soft when the temperature dips below 65 degrees or more than a drop of water hits our windshields. Personally it makes me want to take refuge under my Slanket until it all goes away. And p.s., I’m not kidding. I really do have a Slanket!

There’s only one thing to do. Make soup! That’s right, if nature is going to hand me lemons in the form of rain, I’m going to make lemonade in the form of soup! I may not be equipped to deal with weather extremes, but I’m always equipped to whip up something warm and comforting in the kitchen. So until the rain decides to let up, you know where to find me…

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Coconut Soup)

I don’t know if this soup is authentically Thai, but I do know that it is exotically wonderful and deceptively easy to make. It has a kind of restorative, life affirming quality about it and definitely borrows from the Thai palate, perfectly infusing the flavors of coconut, chili, lime and lemongrass. It’s the kind of soup you can make mid-week when you’re stressed out, hating life and the weekend seems nowhere in sight. Think of it as a vacation for your taste buds.

Serves 4

1 quart chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (2- inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 slices Galangal root*
3 Kaffir lime leaves**, torn
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon sugar
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 (13 ounce) cans coconut milk
1 to 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (Asian hot chili paste), or to taste
1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc nam)
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 medium carrot, peeled & shredded
8 ounces button mushrooms, halved
Freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes
4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
Fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Place the chicken stock, garlic, ginger, Galangal root, lime leaves, lemongrass and sugar in a large stock pot or Dutch oven and bring to the boil. Add the chicken breasts, reduce heat and simmer gently until chicken is just cooked through, about 12 minutes. Fish the chicken out of the pot and allow it to cool a bit on a cutting board.

Meanwhile, remove the Galangal root, lemon grass, garlic and lime leaves from the broth and discard. Stir in the coconut milk, sambal, fish sauce, turmeric, carrots, mushrooms, and lime juice. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it into rough and tumble chunks or shred it with your fingers and add it back to the pot. Heat the soup through gently to soften the carrots but don’t bring back to the boil. Add the scallions and ladle into individual bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro.

*Galangal root can be found in Asian markets in most cities. If you can’t find it, feel free to omit it from the recipe.

**Kaffir lime leaves can also be found in Asian markets. If you can’t find it substitute the zest of a lime instead. I buy extra when I’m at the Asian market and store them in a ziplock bag in my freezer. They keep for months!

Tweet

Pin It now!

Life is Just a Bowl of...Cherry Garcia?

Forgive the obviousness of the title. Clearly the brain freeze that comes from nearly non-stop ice cream making (and eating) is getting to me, stifling my creativity for writing perhaps, while vehemently fanning the flames of an undying obsession. Let this also serve as my excuse for not posting in over a week, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me when you taste my latest creation. Well, my homage to a classic Ben & Jerry’s creation really. One inspired by the bountiful red cherries of the summer season.

When it first occurred to me to turn those ruby colored, jewel-like fruits into ice cream I decided to take my search online to find a published recipe for Cherry Garcia. I was disappointed to find that none of the recipes started with a cooked custard base, something I’ve extolled the virtues of before and have become almost evangelical about. I’m convinced it’s the only way to get that densely rich, über-creaminess that is paramount in great ice cream. So, heaving a heavy sigh I decided the only thing to do was to write a recipe of my own.

And so the journey began. As is my creative process, my kitchen cupboards were soon plastered with post-it notes filled with my nearly indiscernible scrawl as I mixed, whisked, scalded and stirred my way to the perfect custard base. Too many egg yolks and the ice cream tastes “eggy.” Too few and it’s not dense enough. 7 egg yolks I decided were the perfect amount. Now it needed just the right hit of sugary sweetness. I added sugar starting with less, tasting and adding more as I went until I’d achieved the perfect balance of sweet but not cloying. Whenever I write a recipe the biggest challenge is remembering to scribble down each addition on those post-it notes as I go, before I forget what I’ve done. As you can surely imagine this becomes an even bigger challenge when I’m writing cocktail recipes, but I’ll get to that another day. I decided that a bit of black cherry preserves would be just the thing to give extra cherry flavor and a rosy blush to the ice cream base. When I was satisfied with the proportions of tart and sweet I whisked the cream into very soft peaks and folded it into the cooled custard. This extra step of lightly whipping the cream only adds to the dreamy, cloud-like texture that is both light and dense at the same time. A culinary contradiction of the fondest sort!

After a 25 minute whir in the Cuisinart, the ice cream was at the glorious soft serve stage. This is exactly when you want to mix in the cherries and chocolate and where I stand hovering over the ice cream maker, spoon in hand, greedily shoveling big mouthfuls of the frozen ambrosia. I heave another heavy sigh, but this time it's full of deep and utter satisfaction.

Ah yes, life is indeed a bowl of Cherry Garcia.

Homemade Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia
(With Two Flavor Variations)

Densely rich, über-creamy and studded with bits of fresh cherries and dark chocolate. Enough said.

Makes a scant 2 quarts

1½ cups whole milk
7 large eggs yolks
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons black cherry preserves
1½ cups heavy cream, lightly whipped
4 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

Heat the milk in a pan, and while it’s getting warm, beat together the sugar and egg yolks and vanilla extract in the bowl of a freestanding mixer with a paddle attachment until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and falls back on itself in a ribbon, about 3 minutes. When the milk is just below the boil slowly drizzle it in a thin and continuous stream while whisking briskly so the egg is gradually warmed up. Return everything to the saucepan and cook while stirring with a wooden spoon. Make sure that you are constantly scraping the spoon across the bottom of the pan so the custard does not scorch. The custard is done when it has thickened slightly and can evenly coat the back of the spoon and when you run your finger along the back of the spoon and it holds the “line.” Don’t let the mixture come to a boil, or it may curdle.

Strain the custard into a metal bowl through a fine sieve to remove any bits of egg and stir in the black cherry preserves. Nestle the bowl of custard into a large bowl of ice water to cool more quickly. I do this because I’m incredibly impatient, but you could just put the whole thing in the fridge to cool completely. Lightly whip the cream until it holds a very soft peak and fold into the cooled custard. Continue stirring occasionally until mixture is cold, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is almost finished churning add in the chopped chocolate and the cherries to combine. Put the finished ice cream in a storage container and freeze until firm.

*Variations: This basic ice cream recipe is so versatile that you can add any flavor combinations you like to the base. Below are two of my favorites.

Toasted Coconut: Substitute 1 (15 ounce) can Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut (NOT coconut milk!) in place of the cherry preserves and 1 cup sweetened toasted coconut in place of the cherries and chocolate.

Peanut Butter Cup: Substitute 1 cup creamy peanut butter in place of the cherry preserves and 1 bag of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, chopped, in place of the cherries and chocolate.

Print Recipe

Tweet

Pin It now!