Salads, Salads, and More Salads!

I'm talking salad over at Make and Takes today. Come on over and join the convo. Would love to find out what you think makes a great salad.



I'm just telling you what's in this salad. You'll have to play with the amounts to suit your taste.

Mixed Greens with Chicken and Strawberries

Mixed greens
Chicken--cooked and sliced (leftovers are great)
Sliced strawberries
Dry roasted and salted cashews
Feta Cheese
Briana's Poppyseed Dressing

Toss and eat.

Peach Almond Praline Ice Cream Bombe

It's funny how I forget each year just how good a juicy peach tastes. This summer I haven't been able to get enough. I made pie. I made sherbet. Chicken with peaches and ginger. But mostly I've been peeling them and eating them over the kitchen sink. Even my little girl (who has been dressing up as Cinderella in prep for Halloween) can't get enough.




I made this ice cream bombe a few weeks ago. It was the first time in a long time that I actually made something just for me. I cater to the tastes of my husband and children a lot and rarely make what I alone am craving.



In my mind I saw an old issue of Martha Stewart Living from 2001 (I think) that featured several fun, interesting ice cream bombe recipes. I knew that was the direction I wanted to head. You know how I love ice cream. Oh, how I love it. But it can get boring at times. Sometimes I'm ready to pick a new genre within the dessert realm--maybe macarons or laminated doughs?



And then I head back to ice cream. It's like an old friend that you haven't talked to for months, yet you can pick up right where you left off. Don't you love friends like that?

Peach and almond go well together, but I wanted more than adding a little almond extract to peach ice cream. I wanted texture and contrast in flavors. Praline seemed like a great way to go for some crunch. And definitely the creamy vs. fruity was also in the plan.

I promise you'll love this. I also promise I won't hate you if you use store-bought ice cream and sorbet. It's okay. We can still be friends. I won't judge you too harshly. :)

In New York, we could certainly buy peaches--even local peaches. But they were never as delightful as the peaches from Utah. Each summer as we would fly into Salt Lake I would dream of going to the store to buy pounds of peaches to consume during our stay.



Last summer we didn't eat very many peaches. Between having a baby and having my gallbladder removed, there wasn't much else on my mind. When this summer rolled around, I knew I wanted to take advantage of as many peaches as I could.

My favorite place to buy them locally is Allred Orchards on University Ave. in Provo. Their fruit is beyond compare. It is marvelous. Sweet, juicy, inexpensive, and local. What more could you ask for?



Peach Sorbet

6 cups sliced peaches (about 8-9)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
juice of 1 lemon

Place peaches, sugar and water in a pan. Heat over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved and peaches have softened. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice. Puree in batches using a food processor or blender. Chill until very cold. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions. Yields about 1 1/2 quarts.

French Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
dash of salt
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Heat cream and whole milk in a 3 quart pan until very hot. Meanwhile whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and light in color. Slowly add the hot milk/cream mixture to the yolks and sugar while whisking constantly. Return the liquid to the pan and cook over medium heat until the temperature reaches 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Let cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla extract and chill until very cold. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions. Yields about 1 1/2 quarts.


Almond Praline

1/2 cup toasted, slivered almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. water

Place sugar and water in a non-stick skillet. Cook until the sugar melts and becomes a deep amber color. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the toasted almonds. Pour out onto a silicone baking mat or a well-oiled cookie sheet. Let the praline cool completely. Break into shards and place in a food processor. Pulse until the praline is coarsely ground. No large pieces should remain, but it should not be a dust. Set aside until ready to use.

Assembly:

Line a 9" by 5" loaf pan with parchment paper. Cut two pieces of parchment--one to fit the length and the other to fit the width. Be sure to leave several inches of over hang on each side. Those will be the handles to aid in removing the bombe from the pan.

If you have made the sorbet before hand, allow it to soften sufficiently. Spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan. (If you've made the sorbet fresh the same day, transfer it from the ice cream maker directly to the parchment-lined pan.) Allow to freeze for several hours until firm.

When the peach sorbet layer is firm, allow the vanilla ice cream to soften. Stir the almond praline into the ice cream and spread evenly over the peach sorbet layer. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the ice cream. Allow to freeze until hard--at least 4 hours or overnight.

To serve:

Pull the pan out of the freezer. Loosen the sides by tugging gently on the parchment paper. Pull the plastic wrap from the surface and turn the bombe over onto a serving platter. Let stand for about 10 minutes to soften slightly before cutting into slices.

Place any leftover ice cream bombe back into the parchment-lined pan and replace plastic wrap. If keeping longer than overnight, cover entire pan with aluminum foil to keep out odors from the freezer.

Best if eaten within one week. (But it still tastes great after two.)

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Late Summer Fruit

It's not secret that our family adores buttermilk. I've probably started many posts about buttermilk with that very sentence. I'll repeat that again: We adore buttermilk.

Back in January, I finally decided to try Martha's recipe for Buttermilk Panna Cotta. It got rave reviews from my husband, my sister, my kids, and my very own tastebuds. It was wonderful.

Fast forward to a few months ago when I met up with my pals April and Vanessa at Pizzeria 712 in Orem, Utah, and ordered Buttermilk Panna Cotta made with buttermilk from locally owned and operated Winder Farms. It was so much better than Martha's recipe. Richer, creamier, silkier...marvelous in every way.

I've been trying to duplicate the P712 Buttermilk Panna Cotta at home. I tweaked Martha's recipe a bit and finally came up with what we feel is a very good Buttermilk Panna Cotta. One that will get me by until my next visit to P712. I cut down the amount of buttermilk a bit and upped the heavy cream to give it a richer, less jiggly feel. But it's still light enough to fool your taste buds into thinking it's healthy. (To be fair, it is healthier than other similar desserts.) The other addition I made was vanilla. For the BPC in the pictures, I used extract. Use a vanilla bean if you have it--it's worth the extra splurge. I've made it both ways, but I love the flavor and black specks from the bean the most.



Erin, one of my dear friends who used to live across the street from me in NY, brought me some goodies from her parents' garden--including raspberries, blackberries, nectarines. The fresh fruit was so perfect with the cool, creamy panna cotta.



Buttermilk Panna Cotta
adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or 1/2 of a vanilla bean)
Fresh fruit, for serving

Place 1 cup of buttermilk in a heat-proof bowl or top of a double boiler. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let sit for 5 minutes.

Bring 2/3 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil in a small pan. Pour over the buttermilk and gelatin. Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water (or double boiler) and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2/3 cup buttermilk and 1/3 cup heavy cream, and the vanilla extract. Stir and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup (1 quart). Pour into six 4 oz. ramekins or custard cups. Place the cups on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

To serve:

Unmold panna cotta by dipping the ramekin in hot water for a few seconds and run the tip of a thin knife around the edges and invert onto a platter, or alternately serve the panna cotta in the ramekin. Top with fresh fruit.

Best if eaten within 2 or 3 days.

Malted Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Malt. Let's talk about malt. I love it. It's so....malty.

And it's one thing that was definitely meant to be paired with milk chocolate. (Another point goes to malt!) There's something comforting about the slightly sweet flavor of malt. When paired with whole wheat in these cookies, it's even better.



My husband said these cookies reminded him of soft graham crackers. Not too shabby. We love graham crackers, too. The cookies are made entirely with whole wheat flour. Don't be tempted to switch out some for all-purpose flour. I think they will lose something.

They are very sweet and soft from the brown sugar and malt, nutty from the wheat flour, and a touch rich from the milk chocolate.

While my husband prefers them plain, I love mine with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chunky cookies.



Malted Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
an original recipe by Lindsey Johnson

2 1/2-3 cups whole wheat flour (add a bit more if you like a thicker cookie)
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup malt powder (such as Carnation or Horlicks, not Ovaltine)
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 package good quality milk chocolate chips (we like Ghirardelli or Guittard)


1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. Melt butter in another large mixing bowl (microwave safe) and whisk in sugar. Let cool to room temperature. Add the eggs, malt powder and vanilla; whisk well and make sure no lumps of dark brown sugar remain.

3. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm—about 30 minutes or overnight. (I liked them best when chilled overnight.)



4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using two large spoons, or (my favorite way) a small ice cream scoop, place golf-ball size mounds of dough on a baking sheet—about 3” apart. (A large, rimmed baking sheet will fit about 9 balls of dough.) Gently press the cookies down if you used 3 cups of flour so they spread evenly. Bake until cookies no longer look wet on top, about 10-12 minutes, making sure to rotate baking sheet halfway through baking time. Remove from oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Place cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling.