Comfort Foods and Indulgences

coffeeice-creamIf it were up to the kids, ice cream would be a freezer “staple”. My list of staples includes; lentils, quinoa, brown rice, black beans, cheese, nuts – all kinds, tahini, coconut milk, and the usual cast of characters to creating whole meals. Ice cream is not on my list. 

As a rule, I do not buy ice cream at the grocery store. The problem being, when it is in the house it becomes the obsession. Rather than a bowl of fruit or hummus and veggies for an after school snack, the kids go right for the freezer. It bugs me.

Los Angeles has been experiencing a month long heatwave. Turning on my oven has been avoided at all costs. With an excessive amount of egg yolks residing in my fridge, ice cream has become the weekly sweet treat.

What I love most about this particular recipe, is that the custard embodies fridge staples, making it easy to adapt it to a “flavor of the day or week”. With pre made cookie dough on hand, one of my kids favorite flavors can be achieved in less than 30 minutes.

Not to mention, no need to get anywhere near the oven!

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ImageOr the Uncondensed Title: Green Chile, Parmesan and Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits with Chorizo & Chipotle Gravy. Whew!

While I can overeat with the best of them, a Hearty Breakfast Boy I am not. It slows me down and makes me feel sluggish which is why I usually stick to a banana and some peanut butter. Sometimes oatmeal, occasionally an omelette.

These rules change if we’re talking brunch, though. My little peckish early morning hunger turns into a full-fledged giant appetite after I’ve been up for a few hours. Or automatically after 10am.

This recipe is something Adam came up with last Sunday, the first lazy day we’ve had together in quite some time. He just returned from 17 days in Wisconsin, working on a project while freezing his ass off. He had an idea for changing up his biscuits and gravy to which I replied “Oh gosh, I’m not sure about that. I think you’ll have to make it so I can try it.”  Of course I was sure about it, you can’t really mess up biscuits and gravy, can you?

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lemoncustardI have to say, I love something a little sweet after my meal. Especially lunch. I feel it's time to revive the "after lunch dessert" movement. Wait, is that actually a movement?

Anyway, this was our after lunch dessert and let me just say, its lemony-goodness hit the spot.

If I didn't have to finish making lunch for my family, getting everyone a different drink, cleaning up spilled milk and washing the dishes...I could have taken a picture right away and you would have seen that this dessert comes out of the oven all puffed up and beautiful. If you serve them right away, they will look that way.  My food blog fantasy is to have a team of people ready to take pics as soon as things emerge from the oven....prolly' not gonna happen.

This sweet little dessert (that by the way is low-cal), has a delicate sauce on the bottom....a nice little surprise. It's perfection. Make it soon, you will love it too.

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tart.rockyroadChocolate, almonds, and marshmallows are one of my all time favorite combinations.  Thus, I love, love, love a “rocky road” anything. My kids also love this combo. As well as anything with caramel, blueberry muffins, a fruit tart, any kind of cookie and  s’more.  S’mores = Summer. They could care less if it is made over a camp fire or on the stove.  It is the all time favorite summer dessert and I am embarrassed to say that they eat way more than I care to admit.

A couple of years ago I came up with way to combine the two.  Sometimes, I add a bit of chocolate chunks right into the ganache.  I have been known to make some homemade marshmallows and last year I made a marshmallow meringue top – torched it and made a group of 12 year old boys very, very happy.

Last month, I had made some homemade graham crackers.  A few of them got a bit over done so I stuck them in the freezer (I think you all know by now, I hate wasting anything). Instead of using store bought, I made my crust using the “not so perfect” graham crackers and no one knew the difference.

A rocky road tart gives us the perfect combo of a s’more and a rocky road candy bar. One cannot really go wrong with graham crackers, creamy chocolate ganache wtth a bit of marcona almonds and marshmallows on top!

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chocolate-strawberry-shortcake-014When I pulled out the pocket folder filled with recipes I’ve gathered from cooking classes I’ve attended over the years, I was surprised to see that some of the recipes dated back to 1984. That was the year I started taking classes from Andrea Halgrimson in her cozy little kitchen in Fargo. I had two young sons at the time. Gathering with a small group of food-loving people in Andrea’s kitchen was always a special night out for me.

I flipped through my stash of recipes to find Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake. On a May evening in 1984, Halgrimson mixed up a biscuit-like chocolate dough that she rolled out and pressed into large round cake pans. The two chocolate shortcake layers were packed with a filling of whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

That was the night I got over my fear of unflavored gelatin. Halgrimson showed how easy it is to dissolve a little gelatin in water in a glass measuring cup. She placed the measuring cup in a small amount of water in a saucepan over low heat. As the water in the saucepan warmed up, the granulated gelatin dissolved in the water in the cup. Easy.

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