The best part about eating Indian is the colorful variety. I already made a vivid green palak paneer, so  I needed a contrasting side dish: This is an easy solution, and the yogurt has a cooling affect against the peppery spinach dish.

I cheat and use the pre-cooked beets, but they’re really great for when you want to save an hour and/or don’t want to stain your hands red.

Beet Raita from How to Cook Indian

Ingredients:

• 2 beets (I use the pre-peeled and cooked ones from Fairway)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon red chile powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Dice the beets and set them aside.
2. Put the yogurt in a large bowl and beat until smooth (you can use an immersion blender or just a fork).
3. Add the beets to the yogurt, then add the cumin, chile powder and salt. Stir well and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Directions:

Beet Raita is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

My favorite kind of tea is Earl Grey. I probably drink it too much. But don’t worry, I switch between brands so I don’t get sick of it. My favorite? Revolution Earl Grey with Lavender (in a box with a silk bag!). So this “grown up cookie” has been on my list of things to bake for a very long time. Ever notice how that list always gets longer, even during my week off? I need to stop looking at new cookbooks, reading blogs, and watching cooking shows until my entire “to bake/cook” list is checked off. Yeah, sure. Anyway, this is the perfect cookie to bake for a tea/coffee get together with friends, and the perfect end to a meal. Why? Because it’s easy to make. All you need is a food processor and some pantry staples. And some loose earl grey tea (only about a tablespoon). And I have plenty of that in my house (decaf, too!).And of course I make these amazing cookies for a small dinner party, serve them on a pretty long plate, and we finish them, and all along I forget to take pictures! Well, I’ll just have to make them again. I am fully stocked with tea.

These cookies can be made pareve very easily. Just use Earth Balance instead of butter. Of course, you lose that buttery taste, but I really don’t think you’ll miss it. The tea flavor is so strong, anyway. And Earth Balance does a good job with the flaky texture. Added bonus: they’re vegan, too! No eggs in shortbread!

I think I cut these cookies a little too thick. I was a little nervous that they would crack if I cut them thinner, though now I realize that they won’t (or if they do I can just smush them back together). So show me how thinly you cut yours (or, if you roll yours out and use cookie cutters, how’d that work out for you?)

When you first dump the dough onto the counter, don’t panic! Yeah, it looks dry and like it will never come together. All you have to do it smash it together and it really sticks – wow! It’s as easy as adding ingredients to the processor, dumping, piling together, and then refrigerating in a log (that’s probably the hardest part). Another bonus: you can freeze the dough in log form for super easy last minute dessert cookies. Or maybe not everyone’s as obsessed with stocking their freezers as I am?

Chocolate-Earl Grey Shortbread Coins, adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (1/4 ounce) good quality Earl Grey tea leaves
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and tea leaves in the bowl of your food processor and process for a minute, until the leaves are finely chopped.

2. Add butter, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Process for about 45 seconds, until everything is together. Break down clumps and scrape the bowl with a spatula.

3. Process for another 30 seconds until the dough looks uniform.

4. Dump the dough onto a work surface and knead to bring together.

5. Squeeze the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, and roll back and forth until smooth. Don’t add flour!

6. Roll the dough in plastic wrap and twist the ends to secure it.

7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

9. Remove the plastic wrap and use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 3/8-inch thick rounds.

10. Place cookies 1-inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

11. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes, rotating halfway, until the cookies look dry on top.

12. Transfer the cookies to a rack to let cool completely.

These cookies are really good with some buttercream spread on top. Just saying.

Chocolate Earl Grey Shortbread Coins is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Remember when I made paneer? That was really only so I could make this dinner! A fragrant and spicy spinach dish flavored with garlic, cumin and green chiles. This was a good start for a Syrian cook, spice-wise, since I already have whole cumin in my pantry. So you don’t have to go spice shopping just yet!

I actually couldn’t find green chiles, but poblanos are pretty close, and they sell those at Fairway.

Palak Paneer: pressed fresh cheese with spinach, from How to Cook Indian

Ingredients:

• 1 pound baby spinach or 3 bunches fresh spinach, stemmed
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 4 green chiles, stemmed and chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 12-14 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 10 ounces paneer, cut into cubes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Place a saucepan over medium heat, fill it with water, add 1 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Add the spinach and blanch. Refresh under cold running water and drain well.
2. Transfer to a food processor, add the chiles and process to a fine paste.
3. Place a nonstick pan over medium heat and add the oil. When small bubbles appear at the bottom, add the cumin. When it begins to change color, add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the spinach puree and stir. Add 1/2 cup water.
4. Bring to a boil, then add the paneer and stir gently. Add the remaining salt and the lemon juice; stir gently. Add the cream and remove from the heat. Serve hot.

Palak Paneer is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

I have been wanting to make this cake ever since I bought this cookbook, and that was a while ago. But first I didn’t find kosher mascarpone cheese, then I didn’t have an occasion to bake it for, and then I had a baby who didn’t really allow me to do much multi-step cake baking. Well I baked it. It took a while. I juiced lemons one day, made curd another, worked on the frosting the next morning, and that afternoon finally baked the cakes. So it took a while, but it was done, decorated, and waiting in the fridge to eat. I wanted to skip lunch and just eat cake.To be honest, this cake got mixed reviews. Some loved it for the dense cake and fluffy frosting. Others took one bite and said, “too tart!” I thought it was great. Of course it’s tart, it has lemon everywhere. A lemon simple syrup soaks the cake. There’s lemon curd mixed into the frosting and between the cake layers, then more on top for decoration. So if you don’t like tart desserts or lemon flavor, skip this one. Or make it with passion fruit or oranges. Otherwise, I highky recommend it.

This cake has a bunch of steps, so read through all the directions before you attempt it. It also needs to cool completely before assembling and to sit in the fridge for a while to set, so plan ahead.

The original recipe called for baking the cake in 2 layers and cutting each of those in half to make a 4 layer cake. I skipped that and only made 2 layers. If you do it my way, you’ll definitely have extra cream. It’s delicious on top of sugar cookies, so bake up a batch of those to serve with the leftovers. Or eat it plain.

The original recipe also called for piping fancy rosettes on top. I skipped the pastry tips and just put a thick layer of cream and piped a lemon curd design over the top. I was still told it was hundred dollar cake worthy, so I don’t feel bad for skipping that labor intensive step.

A note about mascarpone cheese – when I sent my father shopping for ingredients to make this cake, he said, “I’m not buying that, I don’t even know what it is. And eew, cheese!” Well it’s not a smelly aged cheese. It’s an Italian cream cheese. It’s thick, creamy, and spreadable and delicious to use in desserts.

Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake, adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking

For the Lemon Curd:

• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

For the Cakes:

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 7 tablespoons plus 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour

For the Lemon Syrup:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the Mascarpone Filling:

• 2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pound mascarpone

Directions:

1. Make the lemon curd (can be made up to three days in advance!): fill the bottom of a double boiler with at least 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Make sure the water is at least 2 inches below the top portion of the double boiler (read: glass bowl on top of pot).

2. Off the heat, place the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar into the top of the double boiler and whisk until blended. Add the lemon juice and mix well.

3. Reduce the heat of the double boiler under water is at a gentle boil.

4. Place the egg mixture over the water and cook, stirring constantly but leisurely, scraping the edges so the eggs don’t scramble, until the curd is very thick, about 7 minutes or 180 degrees on the thermometer.

5. Immediately strain the curd through a strainer set over a medium bowl. Use a spatula to press it down.

6. Add the cold butter pieces to the curd, burying them so they melt quickly. Wait one minute.

7. Whisk until butter is completely melted and blended with the curd.

8. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface and place the bowl in a larger bowl with ice water. Place in fridge when cool.

9. Make the cakes: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Fit two 9″ round cake pans with parchment, but do not grease.

10. Whip the egg yolks and 7 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer on high speed until thick and very light in color, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a separate bowl (OR this is when having a second mixer bowl, like me, comes in handy!).

11. With the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed to soft peaks. While the mixer is running, gradually add the remaining 7 tablespoons of sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.

12. With a spatula, fold one third of the egg whites into the beaten yolks.

13. Using a fine mesh strainer, sift half the flour over the top and gently fold in.

14. Repeat with the remaining egg whites and flour. Fold until no streaks of white remain.

15. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans.

16. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are golden, firm to the touch, and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on racks.

17. Make the syrup: Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the liquid is clear.

18: Remove from heat and cool completely. Stir in the lemon juice.

19: Make the mascarpone filling: Place the cream and sugar in the mixer bowl and whip until soft peaks form.

20. Place the mascarpone and 1 cup lemon curd in a large bowl and stir until blended (it should be the consistency of pudding).

21. Gently fold in the whipped cream until the mixture is homogenous and thick.

22. Transfer 2 1/4 cups of filling to a medium bowl. Then transfer half the remaining mixture to another bowl, and keep the remaining in a bowl. Refrigerate all three bowl of mascarpone.

23. Unmold the Cakes: Unmold the cakes by running a thin knife or spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen. Turn upside down and give the cake a sharp rap on the table to release. Repeat with second cake.

24. Turn the cake right side up, leaving the parchment paper attached. Repeat.

25. Level the cakes, if necessary.

26. If you want to make a 4-layer cake, do this. If you make a two layer cake, skip this step: Using a serrated knife, slice each cake horizontally into two layers. Set one of the bottom layers to use last, and remove parchment from the other bottom layer.

27. Assemble: Place a cake layer, cut side up, on a serving plate. Brush the cake with 1/4 of the lemon syrup. With an icing spatula, spread 1/3 of the mascarpone filling on top. Place 3 tablespoons of the remaining lemon curd on top of the filling and spread evenly to the edge.

28. Place  second layer on top, cut side up, and repeat with the lemon syrup, mascarpone filling, and lemon curd.

29. Place third layer on top, cut side up, and repeat with the lemon syrup, mascarpone filling, and lemon curd.

30. Top with the last layer of cake, placing it bottom up (cut side down). Remove the parchment paper. Moisten with remaining lemon syrup. Use your clean icing spatula to spread the mascarpone reserved for frosting over the cake. Spread the top thinly and make the sides thicker.

31. Spoon the piping mascarpone into the pastry bag (or plastic zip top bag) and pipe rosettes over the entire top of the cake, starting around the outside and working your way in. Or just spread the frosting neatly over the top.

32. Put the remaining lemon curd into a plastic bag and make a very small snip in the corner. pipe a center of lemon curd on each rosette or a design over the top of the cake.

33. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Slice with a thin, sharp knife and SERVE!

Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

After attempting to make French macarons, I had plenty of egg yolks left over (and no cookies!). Sure, I could make ice cream or pudding with them, but I didn’t feel like it. So even though I don’t have a pasta roller, I decided to make pasta dough and roll it out with my rolling pin. When the dough was finished, I was scared to ruin it, so I took my pasta over to my parents’ house, instructing my sister to bring her Kitchenaid pasta-rolling attachment there as well, and we teamed up to serve our family the best pasta dish ever!

There really is nothing like fresh pasta; it’s so unlike the boxed stuff, it was worth the failed macarons, the work and the wait!

We cut our dough into fettuccine and made a simple sauce with garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and a little butter so as not to overpower the delicious pasta, but once you have the fresh pasta, there are endless possibilities!

Seven-Yolk Pasta Dough
from French Laundry Cookbook, via Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1. Mound flour on a board or in a bowl and create a well in the center, pushing the flour to all sides to make a ring with sides about 1-inch wide. Make sure that the well is wide enough to hold all the eggs without spilling.
2. Pour the egg yolks, egg, oil and milk into the well. Use your fingers to break the eggs up. Still using your fingers, begin turning the eggs in a circular motion, keeping them within the well and not allowing them to spill over the sides. This circular motion allows the eggs to gradually pull in flour from the sides of the well; it is important that the flour not be incorporated too rapidly, or dough will be lumpy. Keep moving the eggs while slowly incorporating the flour. Occasionally push the flour toward the eggs; the flour should be moved only enough to maintain the gradual incorporation of the flour, and the eggs should continue to be contained within the well. The mixture will thicken and eventually get too tight to keep turning with your fingers.
3. When the dough begins thickening and starts lifting itself from the board, begin incorporating the remaining flour by lifting the flour up and over the dough that’s beginning to form and cutting it into the dough. When the remaining flour from the sides of the well has been cut into the dough, the dough will still look shaggy. Bring the dough together with the palms of your hands and form it into a ball. It will look flaky but will hold together.
4. Knead the dough by pressing it, bit by bit, in a forward motion with the heels of your hands rather than folding it over on itself as you would with a bread dough. Re-form the dough into a ball and repeat the process several times. The dough should feel moist but not sticky. Let the dough rest for a few minutes while you clean the work surface.
5. Dust the clean work surface with a little flour. Knead the dough by pushing against it in a forward motion with the heels of your hands. Form the dough into a ball again and knead it again. Keep kneading in this forward motion until the dough becomes silky smooth. The dough is ready when you can pull your finger through it and the dough wants to snap back into place. The kneading process can take from 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Even if you think you are finished kneading, knead it for an extra 10 minutes; you cannot overknead this dough. It is important to work the dough long enough to pass the pull test; otherwise, when it rests, it will collapse.
7. Double-wrap the dough in plastic wrap to ensure that it does not dry out. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before rolling it through a pasta machine. The dough can be made a day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Homemade Pasta with 7 Yolks is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Today’s the first day of Autumn! I’m still sharing this summer produce recipe, okay?

Summer produce. Yum! Too much fresh produce that you can’t finish? Eew. That’s probably where pies, crisps, tarts, and cobblers came from, actually. And boy, do I love baking with fruits! After making a whole bunch of lattice-crust pies, I decided to take a different route with these plums, and this cobbler was born!

This is a very easy recipe. So make it, you won’t be sorry. You can easily spread out the dough making and the actual cobbler making over two or three days, making it even easier. If I can do it with Richie around, I’m sure you can manage to find some time for it, as well.

One of the best parts of this recipe is that it’s easily adaptable and changeable. If you don’t have plums, use peaches. Or apricots. Add some blueberries in the mix, or use brown sugar instead of granulated. I happen to love the plums in this recipe because of the bright color of the end product. They also have a great sweet and tart flavor that I love…and other people love it, too. I know because it was a hit with all my visitors!

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe scones
• 6 plums, halved, pitted, then sliced into about 6 slices
• 1/2 cup sugar (more or less, depending on the sweetness of the plums)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons corn starch (or 4 teaspoons all purpose flour)
• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon milk or cream, for eggwash
• 2 tablespoons sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Make the filling: Place plum pieces in a large bowl and taste one slice. Add sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and corn starch/flour. Toss until the slices are evenly coated.

2. Pour into pie pan.

3. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out the scone dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.

4. Cut out circles and arrange on top of plum slices.

5. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7. Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg and milk or cream.

8. Brush top of tart with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

9. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is browned and the fruit is bright and bubbly.

10. Serve warm or at room temperature. It’s especially good with ice cream.

Plum Cobbler is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Your side dish can’t get easier than this. If you have pesto in your freezer (either store-bought or homemade will do?), then you can prep this dish in about five minutes. Have basil growing like a weed in your garden? Then it might take a bit longer to make, but it’s still pretty simple, and always a big hit.

Now when we decided to make these roasted tomatoes, we preheated the oven and waited for it to get hot enough. We had planned an entire menu with short cooking times and a variety of dishes based on the fact that our oven would work. Little did we know that because of the extreme heat there would be a brown out! So tomatoes that should have taken about 15 minutes to soften and caramelize took over an hour. Oops. Hey, they still turned out delicious. And we tried them again in ovens that actually worked; they were still a hit!

Pesto Roasted Tomatoes, adapted from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

• 2 – 2 1/2 pounds large red tomatoes (we used Jersey tomatoes!)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup pesto
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (omit if you’re making this with a pareve meal, like we did)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Core the tomatoes and slice them across/not through the stem into 1/2 inch thick slices.

3. Arrange slices on a baking sheet in a single layer.

4. Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, and pepper.

6.Bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and spread each slice with pesto. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using.

8. Bake for another 7-10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft (and if you put cheese, it is slightly browned).

9. Remove from oven and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Pesto Roasted Tomatoes is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

What do you do when you have (what feels like) millions of figs on your tree? You eat as many as you can, obviously. And then you give a couple bunches away. And then you eat some more. But when you get sick of eating them raw, you have to think of other stuff to do with them. In the past, we made jam (yum!), but we wanted to do something different now. Like roasting them. And then we looked through How Easy Is That? and saw that Ina has a recipe for roasted figs with caramel sauce! We LOVE caramel. So of course we had to try this recipe out, and aren’t we glad that we did!

Roasted Figs with Caramel Sauce, adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

• 24 to 30 fresh figs (from your own fig tree if possible!)
• 6 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted*

For the caramel:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the caramel:

1. Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and mix together. Cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then, cover the pot and put on high for three minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar turns chestnut brown. Watch the pot carefully, because the caramel will burn very quickly!

2. Turn off the heat and stand back while you add the cream and vanilla.

3. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until the caramel dissolves and he sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes.

4. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours, because it thickens as it sits (though I love to eat it HOT!)

Make the figs:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cut the stems off the figs and cut them in half through the stem.

3. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and roast for 10-15  minutes, until tender.

4. Warm the caramel sauce.

5. Place the figs on a serving dish or in individual dessert bowls, and drizzle with the caramel. Sprinkle with almonds and serve warm.

*oops! We forgot the almonds – the recipe was amazing, anyway, though the textural contrast of the almonds would add a delicious touch to them. So try not to forget them!

Roasted Figs With Caramel Sauce is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

What do you do with summer fruit that’s going to be bad tomorrow? You make pie, of course! Honestly, I can’t decide if I like most fruits raw or cooked (baked, barbecued, you know). So when both Dad and I came home from the supermarket with giant bags of summer peaches, there was no way they were all getting eaten. At the end of the week there were exactly six left to make this amazing pie! I also had a few raspberries, so I threw them in here. The recipe called for nectarines and blackberries, but hey, this substitution worked just fine.

I am not a lattice pro, so I actually didn’t make as  many stripes as I should have. Next time I will. It’s actually not  so hard, and when you have a crimpy ravioli cutter people are impressed by your pie making skills. I served this to my mom’s cousins and friends at the pool, which is why I used the tart pan and not a pie one. In the end, it was actually easier because cutting it was so much easier! Just pop off the sides and slice with a knife. I think I’ll start using tart pans for all my future pie baking.

Don’t be intimidated by pies! If I can make this while sleep deprived while the baby naps (cause really I should have been napping, too) , you can find time to make it!

You wanna hear a secret? Not only does this pie make a scrumptious dessert (especially with ice cream on top), it also works as a quick breakfast! Just slice a piece and microwave for 30 seconds, because warm pie is yummier than room temperature pie any day.

Adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking:

Ingredients:

• 2 recipes Flaky Pie or Tart Dough
• 6 ripe peaches
• A handful of raspberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar (for sprinkling)

Directions:

1. Make the pie dough, if you haven’t already.

2. Split the dough in half and press one half into the pie or tart pan (I like using tart pans better because it’s easier to slice the pie/tart afterwards).

3. Roll the other into a disc and refrigerate while you make the filling:

4. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Cut each half into five slices and add to large bowl.

5. To the bowl, add flour, sugar, lemon juice, and raspberries. Mix with a spatula until the fruit is evenly coated.

6. Add the fruit into the tart shell and refrigerate.

7. Roll out the disc of dough for the topping into a 1/8 inch wide rectangle, about 14×12 inches. Using a ravioli cutter, cut 1-inch thick ribbons.

8. Lay half the ribbons in one direction. Fold back every other ribbon, and place one ribbon perpendicular to those. Replace the ribbons. Fold back the ribbons that you did not fold back last time (every other one) and place another ribbon. Repeat until the entire top is covered.

9. Refrigerate tart for 30-60 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

11. Prepare egg wash: combine egg yolk and heavy cream and brush on top of lattice, making sure to cover all the dough.

12. Sprinkle the tart with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.

13. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

14. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 40 minutes before serving.

Lattice-Top Peach Tart with Raspberries is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The thing about this mint ice cream is that it’s not flavored with extract. Instead, I steeped some mint leaves in the milk and let that flavor the custard. Delicious! Then, I added some chopped up thin mints to the batter during the last few minutes of freezing. Wow! What a great minty combination! You get that bright fresh mint flavor from the ice cream, and then the chewy and pepperminty thin mint bite a little while afterwards. This is a great refreshing summer ice cream.

You know what would make it even better? Using this as a filling for ice cream sandwiches using really soft chocolate chocolate chip cookies! Hmm…I just might have to try that.

Okay, so when I made this ice cream I thought that maybe the fresh mint would give it a nice natural green color. It didn’t (though maybe sometimes it does, depending on the mint?) so I added just a splash of food coloring – you don’t have to do that, but there’s something fun about eating green mint ice cream!

Fresh Mint Ice Cream (with Homemade Thin Mints), adapted from Thomas Keller:

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 ounce (about 1/2 cup loosely packed) mint leaves – I used a little more
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 10 large egg yolks
• 10 thin mint cookies, chopped into small pieces

Directions:

1. Add the milk and cream to a medium saucepan. Add the mint and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes (to infuse the mint flavor).

2. Strain the milk through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or clean saucepan (if into a bowl, add back into same saucepan).

3. Add 2/3 cup of the sugar and heat over medium high until just below simmering, whisking every once in a while to dissolve the sugar.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk in the remaining 2/3 cup of the sugar and the egg yolks until thickened and pale.

5. While whisking, slowly add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the yolks, then whisk in the remaining milk mixture.

6. Strain the mixture into a clean saucepan or bowl.

7. Cook the custard over medium heat, whisking, until it coats the back of a spoon.

8. Set the bowl in an ice bath or let cool in the fridge.

9. Freeze in an ice cream maker.

10. During the last 10 minutes of freezing, add the chopped cookies.

11. Pour into quart container and place in freezer to harden.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream is a post from: The Kosher Foodies