Homemade Pistachio Pudding

makes 6 small ramekins

adapted from cooks.com

Print this Recipe!

Pistachio Paste:

1/2 cup salted pistachio nuts

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

Pudding:

2 cups whole milk

2 large egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup pistachio nuts, chopped

To make the Pistachio Paste:  place pistachios in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until the nuts are in small bits.  Add the sugar and water, and blend until relatively smooth.  Easy!

To make the Pudding:  Spoon Pistachio Paste into a medium saucepan.  Add the milk and whisk over medium heat.  Heat milk and pistachio until steamy and hot.

While milk is heating, whisk together granulated sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and pinch of salt.  Mixture will be thick.  Keep whisking until it’s smooth.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the steaming pistachio milk into the sugar and egg mixture.  Whisk together.  Add another half cup of hot milk and whisk to incorporate.  Return the milky egg mixture into the saucepan over medium heat.

Heat pudding mixture over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  Whisk almost constantly.  You might also want to use a heat-proof spatula to stir the mixture, ensuring that the sides and corners of the pan aren’t burning. Boil for about 1 minute, or until thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract, until butter is melted.  Pass cooked pudding through a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl.  This will ensure that any cooked egg bits don’t make it into the finished pudding.  Press the pudding through the strainer.  Add a few of the pistachio nut bits that the strainer catches, back to the pudding if you’d like

Spoon into small ramekins, place plastic wrap over the individual puddings (so the plastic touches the top of the pudding), and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream and chipped pistachios.

Pudding will last, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake

adapted just slightly from Spike Mendelsohn’s recipe

makes two small or one large milkshake (about 2 1/2 cups)

Print this Recipe!

8-10 large marshmallows

3 large scoops vanilla ice cream or a heaping 1-cup of vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place marshmallows on  skewer and toast until slightly charred over a gas flame.  If you don’t have skewers or a gas range, you can toast the marshmallows on a sheet tray in the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes.  Keep an eye on the marshmallows as they’re in the oven.  They’re liable to burst into marshmallow flames pretty quick.  Place on a plate to cool slightly.

In a blender mix together ice cream, milk, vanilla extract and toasted marshmallows.  Save one or two toasted marshmallows to top the milkshake(s).  Blend well.  For a thinner milkshake add more milk.  If you’d like it a bit thicker… add more ice cream.   Pour into glasses and top with toasted marshmallows.  Enjoy on the quick.

Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream
adapted from Alton Brown

makes 1 quart of ice cream

Print this Recipe!

2 cups half and half
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cherry preserves (not jelly. preserves)
1 vanilla bean split and scraped
1/4 cup bourbon soaked cherries, roughly chopped
1 to 2 cups of bourbon for soaking cherries, 2 Tablespoons bourbon for the recipe

Make bourbon soaked cherries by combining 1/2 cup dried cherries with 1 to 2 cups of bourbon. Let the mixture sit in a clean jar with a lid, for at least two days. Once the cherries have plumped up you can make this ice cream with the cherries and a bit of the bourbon… and you can sit around just sipping on the rest of the bourbon. Deeelicious.

Combine all ingredients except the chopped cherries and bourbon, in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place a candy or frying thermometer in the milk mixture. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. This is pretty hot for milk. If your milk breaks a bit, don’t worry too much. It’ll work out in the end.
Once 170 degrees F is reached, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean and add the chopped cherries and bourbon.  Stir to combine  and  place mixture in a lidded container and refrigerate overnight. This will allow the flavors to mellow and improve the texture of the milk.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine but will increase in volume and be the texture of soft serve ice cream. Place the mixture in a container with a lid and freeze for at lease one hour before serving.

Super Citrus Smoothie

adapted from Sunset Magazine

Print this Recipe!

Here’s what you’ll need for one big smoothie:

A juicer

A blender

2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

the juice of 1/2 a grapefruit (save the other half for tomorrow’s smoothie?)

1/2 cup fresh orange or tangerine juice

2 tablespoons honey

heaping 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 frozen banana (they blend better when frozen)

1/2 cup ice cubes

In a blender, combine juices, yogurt, and honey.  Blend for a few seconds.  Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.  This recipe makes one giant smoothie.  Yumtown.

Creamy Tomato Soup

adapted from Martha Stewart

serves 6

Print this Recipe!

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, finely diced

course sea salt and fresh black pepper

splash of red wine vinegar (just over 1 Tablespoon)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 dried bay leaf

2 cans (14 1/2-ounces each) low sodium chicken broth

2 cans (28-ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in juice  (with basil if available)

1/2- 3/4 cup whole milk or cream

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat.  Add oil, carrot and onion and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the onion is translucent and the carrots are well on their way to softening, about 7 to 8 minutes.   Add the splash of vinegar at stir until cooked off.

Turn flame to low and add flour.  Incorporate into the onion and carrots.  Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to distribute the paste and cook off the flour taste.

Add chicken broth and bay leaf.

With clean hands add the tomatoes to the pot, breaking the whole tomatoes up with your hands as you add the tomatoes and the juice.   Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat.  Using an emulsion blender, puree soup in pot until you’ve reached the desired consistency.  Maybe you like more chunks than some folks!  If you don’t have an emulsion blender, let the soup cool for about 30 minutes and, working in two or three batches, puree some of the soup in a conventional blender until smooth.  Place pureed soup in a bowl and puree the remainder in the pot.

Return pureed soup to the pot and stir in milk or cream.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Let cool to room temperature before dividing among airtight containers or jars (leaving 1 inch of space at the top) and freeze.