Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Your mom always told you to eat your vegetables, so why not eat them for dessert?! The inspiration for this one came from David Lebovitz, but I wanted a bit more spice in my recipe, and to give it a shot as a dairy-free ice cream. Sweet potatoes and coconut milk are fabulous together, so I guessed that it would work well here, too, and I was right! The best part of this ice cream is that it’s so simple – baking the sweet potato is about as difficult as it gets – after that, you just peel the potato and chuck everything in the blender to puree, and then you’re done!

The finished ice cream was subtly spiced, not too sweet, and full of fresh sweet potato flavor – it tastes very much like pumpkin pie. The candied pecans added some nice crunch, and a touch of extra sweetness. I really enjoyed this ice cream, and will definitely make it again, though I’m considering a curried sweet potato ice cream next. I’m always thinking of the next batch of ice cream.

Spiced Sweet Potato Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

1 large sweet potato, about 1 lb
1 14oz can coconut milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp dried ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T rum
freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
squeeze of lemon juice, less than a teaspoon.

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 T maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400. Poke a few holes in the sweet potato with a knife or fork, and bake the potato on an oven-safe plate for about an hour, until the potato is tender all the way through when you prod it with a knife.
2. While the sweet potato is baking, toast a half-cup of chopped pecans in a pan on the stovetop for a few moments. When the nuts are fragrant and toasty, pour in the maple syrup and stir around for a minute or so – the maple syrup should be bubbling. Then, turn the candied pecans out onto a bit of parchment and chill.
3. Peel the potato and cut into a few large chunks. Put the sweet potato and all other ingredients in the blender and puree until smooth. Taste, and adjust seasoning if needed. Chill, and turn in the ice cream maker. In the last minute of turning, pour in most of the pecans, separating them as you pour them in. Reserve a few pecans to garnish your scoop of ice cream.

Mango Salad with Spicy Lime Pepita Dressing

This is my favorite Spring salad, and cements my undying love for the culinary genius that is Rick Bayless. His cookbook Mexican Everyday, is definitely one of the few cookbooks I own that I’ve cooked multiple recipes out of. Living in Chicago, we’ve been lucky enough to eat in his restaurants, but I prefer the simpler everyday recipes in this book to eating out. That braised pork shoulder I made a couple of months ago was Rick’s recipe and definitely a winner.

When you finish this salad, you just might want to lick the plate, to get every last drop of the spicy, tangy dressing. The salad is topped with chunks of ripe mango, crumbled bleu cheese, toasted pepitas, and either avocado or whatever leftover grilled or roasted meat you have on hand. In this case, we had some leftover chili-garlic paste rubbed skirt steak from the night before, so we topped the salad with that.

The dressing takes a little more work than your average vinaigrette, but is totally worth it. The dressing makes about a cup, which is good for about 6 entree salads.

Pepita Lime Salad Dressing
Makes 1 cup of dressing

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (from about 4-5 limes)
1/3 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
spoonful of chipotle puree, to taste
squeeze of honey, to taste
1/3 cup raw pepitas, toasted (some will be reserved to top the salad)

1. In a small pan, gently roast 4 cloves of garlic in the olive oil over very low heat. Cook until the cloves of garlic begin to soften, and get just a touch of golden color. Turn off the burner and set the oil aside.
2. While the garlic oil is cooking, toast the pepitas in another small pan, over medium heat. Shake the pan often so that they don’t burn. You’ll know they’re done when you start to hear the seeds start popping as they heat up – this takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on the size and freshness of the seeds. Set the toasted seeds aside.
3. Pour the fresh squeezed lime juice into a mini-food processor or blender, then pour in the garlic and oil. Puree until smooth. Add a small spoonful of chipotle puree and 2 T of the toasted pepitas, and puree until smooth. I like the dressing to be thicker than a regular vinaigrette, so if it’s still a bit thin, add another tablespoon of pepitas, and puree again. Next, add a squeeze of honey, and a half-teaspoon of salt – puree, taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking by adding more honey or salt.

To make the salad: toss the dressing with lots of greens (romaine, spinach, butter lettuce are good here), then top with cubes of ripe mango, some of the reserved pepitas, and some crumbled bleu cheese. The addition of meat is optional. Avocado is also a perfect topping, but Mark won’t eat it, so I usually go without.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

I am thrilled that the farmer’s markets have finally re-opened for the season in Chicago. The last couple of Saturday mornings have been like a joyous reunion, as all of the market shoppers greet their favorite farmers and catch up on news from the farm and chat about what’s good at the market this week. The first weeks of spring mean two things to me – asparagus and rhubarb.

Asparagus is one of those things that just shouldn’t be bought at a grocery store. It’s best eaten within a couple days of picking, and the flavor doesn’t hold up too well when it’s been shipped from other countries. To store asparagus for a couple of days, I slice off a tiny bit of the ends from an entire bunch of asparagus in one slice, then store the whole bunch standing up in a cup with a tiny bit of water in it, and then put a plastic bag upside-down over the cup and asparagus – this will keep your asparagus fresh and snappy in the fridge for a couple days. Our first bunch of asparagus went on top of a gluten-free pizza, with green garlic pesto and a bit of tomato for sauce, and topped with some local buffalo mozzarella from the market. Best pizza I’ve ever made, for sure.

I have long been a rhubarb fan, and generally a fan of anything puckeringly tart. Growing up, we’d go over to Grandma’s house and harvest armfuls of rhubarb. Mom would make rhubarb sauce for breakfast, or if we were really lucky, Grandma would make a rhubarb pie. I’m not much of a baker, so most of my rhubarb is turned into strawberry rhubarb sauce, ice cream, or a summer crisp. I also stockpile cubed rhubarb in the freezer for the winter season.

Rhubarb sauce is stunningly simple to make – toss a bunch of cubed rhubarb into a saucepan, add a little water, sugar, a couple handfuls of strawberries, and simmer until soft. Taste, and add more sugar to suit your tastes – I like my rhubarb quite tart. I’ve been adding a couple spoonfuls of rhubarb sauce to my bowl of oatmeal, and eating it a spoon or two at a time from the container in the fridge – I love this stuff!

Rhubarb sauce
Makes 1 quart

1 1/2lbs of rhubarb
2 cups frozen strawberries, whole
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot and stir together. Cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce is simmering, remove the lid, stir, and cook for about 5 more minutes until the rhubarb is soft. Add more sweetener if you like.

Serving suggestions: swirl some into your morning oatmeal, serve over vanilla ice cream, top a bowl of plain yogurt with a couple spoonfuls and a bit of granola or eat it straight up!

Curry Fried Quinoa

I really enjoyed the curried quinoa salad I made a couple of weeks ago, so I wanted to do something a little different with curried quinoa this week. I made up a batch of quinoa with curry powder early Sunday morning, cooled it quickly in the fridge so that it would be ready for a quick brunch.

I can make a decent fried rice at home, but there’s no way to achieve the wonderful almost charred taste of fried rice that you’ll get at a Thai restaurant. For one, I’m working on an electric range, which offers less control over heat than a gas range. Asian restaurants also have special burners for woks, that directly apply the gas flame to the bottom of the wok, providing unparalleled heat that you just can’t replicate at home. So my attempts at fried rice will always be somewhat lacking compared to take-out, but I can still put together a comforting bowl of fried rice or quinoa that is full of veggies and flavor.

Curry Fried Quinoa
Serves 7 as a main course

2 cups dried quinoa
3 T hot curry powder, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 T fresh grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper
1 jalepeno, seeded and sliced
1 T oil
1 tsp tamari (wheat free)
handful of cilantro, chopped

Cook the quinoa in your rice cooker with 2 T of the curry powder. Let quinoa fully cool before making this dish – day-old quinoa is best.

1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spray skillet with olive oil, and pour the beaten eggs into the skillet. Quickly scramble the eggs, chopping them up into small pieces with your spatula when they are almost done. Pour cooked eggs into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 T oil, and when oil is hot and shimmering, add the onion, carrot, bell pepper and jalepeno. Saute for 4-5 minutes, until onions just begin to caramelize.
3. Add garlic and ginger to the pan, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the quinoa to the pan, and stir. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tamari and stir again. Add eggs and cilantro to the pan, then cook 1 more minute and serve.

Emily’s Green Goddess Tuna Spread

My friend Emily saved my lunch last night. We had the same sort of Sunday, spending the day at the American Cancer Society Walk & Roll – though Emily was working, and I was participating. But spending Sunday away from home left me woefully behind in planning meals and lunches for the week ahead. Once again, Emily swooped in to save me with her herby tuna spread – and my lunches have been revolutionized! In 5 minutes, you can whip up a healthy lunch with the aid of your trusty food processor.

This tuna spread takes the best flavors of a traditional Italian tonnato, amps up the volume on flavor and cuts the calories without the olive oil or mayo. The finished spread is moist, without being wet like tonnato or hummus, but is very spreadable and delicious on whatever cracker of chip-like vehicle you have on hand (I am currently obsessed with these Wholegrain chippies which are GF!). And I can see that I’ll be riffing on this recipe all summer long, depending on what greens are available at the farmer’s market – fresh basil, watercress or dill would be lovely. Olives or sun-dried tomatoes would also fare well in this simple dish. Dress it up any way you like for a quick and healthy lunch – thanks, Emily!

Green Goddess Tuna Spread
Serves 4, with crackers for lunch
1.5 Weight Watchers points per serving for tuna spread

2 small cans of tuna in water, drained
1 handful of cilantro
1 big handful of spinach
1 scallion
1 T lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 T wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoons capers
Dash of dill seed
Dash of red pepper flake
lots of fresh ground pepper
crackers of choice for serving

Put all of the greens in the food processor first, and pulse until minced. Pulse the rest of the ingredients in the processor until mixture comes together. Serve with crackers.

Sweet Success: Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

It’s been a rough week in our house, with a wonderful end to the weekend. All month we’d been looking forward to participating in a 30-mile bike ride for the American Cancer Society’s Walk & Roll event, and today was the big day. We rounded up a few friends to join us on the ride, and together we raised $1,350 to support the services of the American Cancer Society!

And then, on Tuesday I got “doored” on my ride home…for those not familiar with this foe of urban bikers, it’s when a person in a parked car opens their car door and hits a biker. In my case, I was riding at a brisk pace, and was thrown from my bike. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but I’ve got some large and very colorful bruises and a torqued shoulder. The shoulder pretty much put me out of commission for the rest of the week as far as biking goes. Then on Wednesday, Dave – a member of our cycling team, got hit by a car on his ride home from work…only Dave’s accident required an ambulence and ended in a broken wrist and wearing a cast for 6 weeks. So, Dave and I were benched for the ride, and Danielle was kind enough to join us for the 5-mile walk option for Walk & Roll, serving as official escort of the walking wounded. Greg and Mark ended up being the only cyclists for Team Responsible Adults, but they did us proud, finishing the 30 miles easily and safely!

Special thanks to all who supported us today – your gifts will help many cancer patients in Illinois receive care and services that they need to fight cancer.

After the beautiful walk this morning, I decided that we needed a sweet end to the beautiful weekend, so I happily opened my brand new ice cream cookbook, The Perfect Scoop, in search of inspiration. I found exactly what I was looking for in a chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I know I write about ice cream a lot, but it’s not only a dessert that I love, but it’s so simple to make at home, and to make gluten-free! I switched up the original recipe a bit using half-dairy/half coconut milk as I normally do (and this would work fine with all coconut milk if you’re dairy-free). I also made my own peanut butter by simply tossing peanuts in the food processor and running it until it turned to butter, adding 1tsp walnut oil to loosen it up just a touch. The final touch to the ice cream came when I decided to make some chocolate covered peanuts to add in as a mix-in. The finished ice cream was incredible – the ice cream was a perfect creamy balance of peanut butter/chocolate flavor, and the sweet/salty chocolate covered peanuts took it right over the top. We’ll be savoring this quart of ice cream for a few days!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop
Makes one decadent quart

1 1/2 cups half & half
1 14oz can coconut milk
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 T rum

1. Whisk together the half-and-half, coconut milk, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then add rum and blend in the blender for a few seconds until smooth.
2. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Chocolate covered peanuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup roasted peanuts
pinch of salt

1. Melt the chocolate chips, then stir in the peanuts to coat, along with a pinch of salt. Scoop coated nuts onto a small sheet of parchment paper and smooth as best you can into one layer. Pop in the freezer to chill quickly. When the ice cream is almost done, remove the peanuts from the freezer, and break up the peanut mass into bite-sized chunks, or chop with a knife. Fold the chocolate peanut chunks into the finished ice cream as you pour it into a storage container.

Enchiladas

The first time I had homeade enchiladas was at my first boyfriend’s house when I was 16. They had lived in Texas for a few years, and his favorite dinner was his mom’s green chile chicken enchiladas. At the time, I thought they were great…but now, I think that a recipe with cream of chicken soup and sour cream as the base is not something that would come out of my kitchen today, since canned soups have gluten.

We received 2 chickens in our farm share this month – one is a nice roaster, and the other was a much smaller bird, so I took that one out of the freezer on Saturday. I was a little stumped as to what to do with the bird until I visited Alicia Carrier’s blog, Bread and Honey. Alicia’s blog is one of those that I regularly go to for inspiration. Her stories are wonderful and peppered with personal details that keep you coming back for more. Her photos highlight her artistic talents, and make you want to sit down at her table for dinner every night.

I saw Alicia’s post on enchiladas – and knew that this was the destiny for our chicken. I hadn’t made enchiladas in awhile, and I’ve never been happy with the sauce I made – until now. WOW – Alicia’s recipe is so simple – I think it took me 10 minutes to put the sauce together, and the flavor was fresh, spicy, earthy and absolutely perfect for enchiladas. These enchiladas were definitely the best I have ever made, and Alicia’s sauce will now be my go-to recipe.

Most enchilada recipes call for briefly cooking the tortillas in oil before rolling them up, so the tortillas don’t get too soggy, but I hate to add the extra fat to a recipe if it really doesn’t enhance the flavor, so I discarded that step. Though this made the enchiladas softer, and trickier to remove the pan, they were just as tasty.

Enchilada Sauce
Makes 3 cups of sauce

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
4 seeded & soaked chiles. (I used a mixture of what I had on hand – pasilla, guajillo and ancho)
1 clove of garlic
2 T chili powder
2 tsp cumin
salt
2 1/2 T apple cider vinegar
2 cups tomato sauce

Heat a skillet on medium heat. Place chiles in the skillet and press down with a spatula for a few seconds on each side to toast the chiles – they will get slightly lighter in color when toasted – if they start to smoke – take them off the heat. Once they’re toasted, they’ll feel more pliable and leathery. De-seed the toasted chiles and soak in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water from the chiles, and combine all ingredients in food processor and taste until it tastes like the best enchilada sauce you’ve ever had. Makes about 3 cups – we made a pan of 6 enchiladas, and have about 3/4 cup leftover for potential pizza topping later this week.

Chicken Enchiladas
Serves at least 4

3 cups shredded roasted chicken
1 tsp oil
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
3 big handfuls of spinach
2/3 cup shredded queso fresco
6 corn tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp vegetable oil. Add onions and saute until they begin to brown – about 5 minutes. Add shredded chicken to the pan, along with 1 cup of sauce, and heat through. Toss the spinach on top of the chicken mixture, and fold it in. When the spinach has wilted, turn the burner off, and remove from heat and get ready to assemble the enchiladas.
3. Set up an assembly line with the pan of chicken filling, room for rolling the enchiladas and a well oiled pyrex pan. Wrap corn tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and warm them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Place the warm tortillas on the counter, and spoon about 1/3 cup of filling in the middle of each tortilla, then roll up and place them in the pan. Spoon about 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the enchiladas in an even layer, then sprinkle with the queso fresco. Bake for 20 minutes, and serve.

Getting the enchiladas out of the pan is a bit tricky, but even if they aren’t as pretty as Alicia’s enchiladas, they’ll still be mighty tasty. I also had about a cup or so of filling leftover, which we’ll be enjoying for lunch later this week, served over brown rice. I don’t like leftover enchiladas, when the tortillas have gotten all soggy.

Intermission: Help Me Fight Cancer

Dear beloved blog readers,

I’m going to take a break from food writing today to tell you about something that’s important to me – and to ask for your help.

Many of you know me personally, and know that I am an avid cyclist, and a few of you may know that I spend my days working for the American Cancer Society to help create a world where cancer no longer takes the lives of those we love. This weekend, I’m combining my passion for cycling and fighting cancer by participating in the American Cancer Society Walk & Roll event.

I’m riding 30 miles for my mom, who is an inspiring example of what it means to be a survivor. Diagnosed with breast cancer over 15 years ago, she has endured countless rounds of treatment, and all with strength and grace. She’s also been there to help care for others in her life who are struggling with cancer, offering care, counsel and homeade pots of soup to anyone in need. On top of that, she’s my mom and I would gladly ride 30 miles for her everyday.

I’m riding 30 miles for my mother-in-law, ViviAnne, who was such a bright light in our lives, and the lives of all the hospice patients she cared for. ViviAnne taught us so much, and we miss her every day.

I’m riding 30 miles for Carol, my mom’s close friend, who with my mom, taught me to love food and the joy it brings to cook for those you love most. I wish that I could cook with Carol today, now that I have my own kitchen to play in.

It’s for these three important women in my life that I work at the American Cancer Society, and so that more women like my mom will receive the life-saving treatments they need. I’m proud of the work that I do, and each time I talk with a survivor who’s benefitted from our free services, or meet a volunteer who gives their time and talents to advance the fight against cancer, I’m inspired to do more.

Please help me!
A donation to the American Cancer Society will help provide free rides to treatment, wigs for patients experiencing hair loss as a side effect of chemo, air transportation and lodging for patients receiving treatment away from home and one-on-one support from our patient care team. Help us advance the fight against cancer today.

Click here to support my ride

To learn a little more about the services we provide to cancer patients and caregivers, check out the following links (that are also projects that I contributed to):

Illinois Cancer Help website
“You” TV spot
“Best Chance” TV spot

Thank you for your support!

-Jenn
P.S. – Tomorrow I’ll be back with a recipe for the BEST enchiladas you’ve ever had.

A Taste of Heaven: Morels

I have really good friends. I already knew that, but today, my friend Karli brought me the equivalent of culinary heaven. Morels. WOW. How did I get to be so lucky?!

I haven’t tasted morels in at least 10 years, but growing up, they were the annual taste of spring. The home I grew up in was nestled in the middle of a state park. We had miles of groomed hiking trails and a series of lakes just steps from our back door. We strolled along the hiking paths all seasons, but spring brought special delights – the delicately beautiful trillium that only grow in shady, wild spots, followed by mayapples – those oddly delicious orbs hiding beneath green umbrella-like canopies. Just about the same time, the field at the end of our street erupted in the white, purple and pink blooms of lilacs, and you could smell their heady fragrance a half-block away. Lilacs are still my very favorite flower. The morel stash was in the same field as the lilacs, and the strange looking mushrooms would peek out of the long grasses underneath the poplar trees.

After dinner on spring evenings, the whole family would walk down to the end of the street, and look for these precious fungi. The hunt probably makes them taste at least twice as good, as you always feel a special thrill each time you find one and shout out about your discovery. But sauteed in butter, with a little white wine, garlic, rosemary and a splash of cream – foodie nirvana. Thank you, dear Karli for your wonderful gift of morels!

Sauteed morels over rice pasta (using this recipe from last week).

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom

I’m a little late on my Happy Mother’s Day post, but what can I say – I’ve been playing in the kitchen all day, and just sitting down late to catch up on blogging. I did call my momma this evening to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, even if I wasn’t there to celebrate with her in person.

My parents are definitely the source for my love of food, and this blog really is dedicated to the love of cooking that they instilled in me early on. My mom was and is the cook in our family, though Dad also has his specialties in grilling, and once upon a time he was the croissant baking master (a story for another time). Mom had us in the kitchen early, helping her prep meals, clean vegetables and chop things up, while WJR talk radio played in the background. She would pull her step stool up to the counter, and I might help her snap beans, or segment grapefruit, clean cucumbers to be made into pickles, or chop corned beef for chipped beef on toast.

I also always loved going grocery shopping with her. Once a month, mom went “BIG grocery shopping” at LS Family Foods. (I would later find all of my boyfriends and my husband at that grocery store, but again – a story for another time). I loved walking up and down those aisles, looking at all the things available for cooking. Mom might send me off to the deli to get turkey for sandwiches, or off to the cereal aisle to get our favorite breakfast choices. She taught us how to buy produce at Lucky Natural Foods and the local farm stands – always feeling, touching and smelling the produce to get the freshest/most ripe offerings. She had relationships with everyone who worked in the stores and at the farms. That art has mostly been lost in this megastore world, but I’ve created similar relationships with the farmers I support, and at my local produce market, that is not unlike Lucky’s, in that it is a family business.

When Mom & Dad spent evenings with friends, it was to gather in the kitchen together and cook. While us kids weren’t cooking with them, we were included in the feast, and encouraged to try everything (though sometimes a pizza might be slipped into the oven for us as well). There were New Year’s Eve celebrations with crab, my first taste of escargot where I decided the butter was far better than the snails, wonderful homeade breads from Carol, fondue parties and so much more. And now that I have my own kitchen, I too, love to cook for the people I love, and now share my love of food with all of my readers here. Thank you for being a part of this space, dear readers!

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, and thanks for raising us to love food, cooking for the people we love and the importance of supporting local farmers and food producers. We wouldn’t be the foodies we are today without the foundation you laid for us.

Love,
Jenn