Vanilla Rhubarb Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

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Sweet Corn Crème Caramel

Corn this time of year is so sweet and full of natural sugar, that it lends itself to both sweet and savory preparations. (They don't call it "Butter and Sugar" for nothing.)

This recipe is part homage to Meredith Kurtzman, the pastry chef and queen of all things gelato, at New York City's Otto. In addition to her famous and irresistible olive oil gelato, Meredith also has a criminally delicious sweet corn gelato, that I first had at a master class she gave while I was in culinary school. Not too sweet, creamy and highlighting everything that is best about corn right now, it is perfect, and only available for the few weeks while the best fresh corn is in season.

Crème caramel, often called crème renversee, is a classic french custard dessert. Very similar in overall flavor to a crème brulee, but the difference being that in this case the caramelized sugar is first placed on the bottom of the ramekin baking dish and the custard baked on top of it. It is then removed from the dish to serve, and reversed, like an upside down cake, with the now top of the custard infused with the caramel. The magic trick of this recipe, is that also somehow in the cooking, some of the caramel first put in the bottom of the dish and hardened, permanently liquifies, making its own sauce at the same time. (For a crème brulee, the custard is baked on its own, topped with sugar just before serving, and then the sugar is burnt (bruleed) with either a torch or broiler, to make that crackly hard top.)

Anyway, custard + caramel= amazingly good. Caramel + corn=old time ballpark good. Two together? Yes, good.

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happyzucchiniwednesday.

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ugust

How to make Basil Oil

This may be the garnish to end all garnishes. I remember so vividly the day we learned this in culinary school, and how I raced home to try it myself, feeling like I had just unlocked some illusive five star chef secret.

This simple little technique gives you magnificent, fragrant green gold to drizzle about a plate, swirl atop a bowl of soup (it floats!), and dunk very lucky crusty bread in. Seriously, this just smeared on a white plate, and you look like a superstar. Regular ol' oil becomes glistening emerald and is all things basil...or parsley or cilantro--it works for a variety of herbs. I made a thai basil-cilantro oil to drizzle around a Thai-spiced quail dish that worked beautifully.

The oil will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. I've also frozen it in ice cube trays to defrost later in the year, to swirl on top of a creamy soup, or drizzle along side some roasted salmon. But try this now, even to just dress up some sliced tomatoes. There. Is. Nothing. Better.


	Basil Oil Makes approximately 1/4 cup 3/4 cup packed Basil leaves, washed 70% Grapeseed Oil 30% Extra Virgin Olive Oil Note: You'll want to use a mixture of oils here. The grapeseed oil is much lighter and much more neutral in flavor, so it will best allow the basil flavor to come through. But adding a little olive oil to the mixture, gives it some heft and richness that will also compliment the food you are putting the oil on. The measurements can be approximate, but shoot for a 70/30 ratio. You'll need enough oil to cover the leaves in the blender, somewhere between a quarter and a half of a cup. 1. Pour boiling water over the fresh herbs in large heatproof bowl. Let steep for thirty seconds. 2. Add ice and cold water to the bowl to stop the cooking of the leaves. 3. Remove the herbs from the water and squeeze dry, then squeeze again, hard, with paper towels to remove as much water as possible. 4. Put blanched herbs in a blender. Pour in enough grapeseed and olive oil to just cover the height of the leaves. Blend well for about a minute. 5. Pour pureed herb and oil mixture into sauce pan on medium heat. You will see a much brighter green color start to form on the outside rim of the pan as the particles of the herbs start to cook through. Stir gently, until the entire pan has changed to the brighter color, approximately 1-2 minutes. Do not let the oil boil or cook at too high a heat, and burn or fry the basil. Turn down if bubbling too rapidly. 6. Strain oil through fine strainer lined with several layers cheese cloth. (Tip: Wet and wring out the cheesecloth before putting it into the strainer. This will rinse out any dust particles from the packaging, and the cloth, if saturated with water, will absorb less of the precious oil.) Pour into squeeze bottle or airtight container. Will keep in the refrigerator for about a week or can be frozen for several months, defrosted for a few hours in the refrigerator.

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uly

Flower Adorned Ice Cubes

Remember those old lady knickknacks of the late 70s of a flower completely frozen in a globe of lucite? There were a few geriatric abodes I visited during that era, and those stopped-in-their-tracks flowers were always a fascination. So perfect and yet so bizarrely frozen.

You can make your own, a bit more ephemeral, version as another gorgeous use for edible flowers. Encase your posies in ice cubes to chic up late summer cocktails or mocktails. You can use any edible flowers for this project. The flower doesn’t impart all that much flavor to the cube or drink when simply frozen or floating, so it is possible to just focus on color. However, if you think they’ll be eaten, or floating around for a while after they’ve thawed, there are a few pairing ideas below.

This is a super quick, nearly effortless way to bring some garden to your cocktail hour. I think it would also be a stunning addition to the season’s bridal and baby showers.

Ring-a-round the spritzer, a pocket full of on the rocks.

Directions:

1. Wash your flowers gently and carefully, making sure to get rid of any unsuspecting bugs so you don’t accidentally go all fossilized wooly-mammoth on your guests. Tiny, perfect flowers can be frozen whole, but large, somewhat less perfect blossoms, can be torn for an equally pretty effect.

2. In an ice cube tray, pour the slightest amount of water to just cover the bottom (which will be the top) surface. Place your flowers in, facing the bottom (so ultimately right-side-up) touching the thin layer of water as much as possible. Remember: The larger the ice cubes, the longer it will take them to melt…

3. Place trays in the freezer, until the first layer is solid. Remove from freezer, and top with a bit more water and another layer of flowers, if desired, or fill completely.

4. Return ice cube trays to the freezer until frozen and ready to use. Unmold and cheers!

Ideas for Use:

-- Clear drinks work best. This is even a great way to doll-up a simple glass of seltzer.

-- Use flowers from mint, lemon verbena, chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, and even thyme for lemonade.

-- Try mint, leaves and flowers, in ice cubes for mojitos

-Try thai basil blossoms in ice cubes for thai basil mojitos.

-Mint, chamomile, apple blossoms, rose petals and rose hips would be delish in iced tea.

-Elderflowers or cucumbery Borage in a gin and tonic on a summer evening. Oh my.

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Raspberry Clafouti

There are few things that could get me to turn on the oven in the middle of this oppressive heat wave. However, much to the dismay of my panting dog, clafouti is one of them.

Unlike almost everyone else in the country right now, the red and golden raspberries in our garden are adoring the heat. They have just started to really take off, offering up several pints a week. (That is, those that aren't stolen when I'm not looking, right off the thorny branches, by aforementioned panting dog).

Clafouti ("klau-foo-tee") is a both rustic and elegant dessert, with a ridiculously fun to say name, that originated in the Limousin region in the southwest of France. It was traditionally made with cherries, as they had an abundance they had to figure out what to do with each summer, poor things. I learned of it from my well-loved, dog-eared copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and was in love from the start. Further investigation revealed that when made with any other fruit other than the traditional cherries, it is actually not called Clafouti, but "Flaugnarde". Are you kidding me? I feel like those rogue Limousinians just came up with the most clumsy sounding word they could to shame the rest of the world into strict adherence to their recipe. My fancy, summer, whatever-berry-filled french dessert will be called clafouti, so there.

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Catie Baumer Schwalb is a chef, food writer and photographer, who splits her life between the city and the country. Not too long ago Catie was a New York City based actress and playwright for more than a decade. She has her Master of Fine Arts from the National Theater Conservatory, and her Grand Diplôme in classic culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. ... Read More ≫

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