Rose's Outrageous Cherry and Chocolate Ice Cream

Rose, her brother and her father came over to pick cherries, cherries and more cherries from my very heavily ladened cherry tree, and then invited me for dinner the next night.  Rose, who at nine years of age, has mastered the fine art of making ice cream, made the most outrageous Cherry and Chocolate Ice Cream for desert, and  generously agreed to share her recipe

Rose's Outrageous Cherry and Chocolate Ice Cream,            photo by Rose

• 1/4 cup of shaved chocolate, Rose used Dark Callebaut chocolate from Belgium
• 2 1/2 cups of pitted Bing cherries
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of heavy whipped cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla, (if you are not a 9 year old you may want to substitute 1/4 cup of something alcoholic like Kier, Brandy or Amaretto to soak the cherries in to keep them from freezing solid)

Whisk eggs, and slowly whisk in sugar, add milk and cream and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture simmers.   Put mixture in ice cream maker and churn until almost stiff.  Add cherries,(if you have soaked them in alcohol, pour off any excess alcohol before adding to cream mixture) and chocolate and churn for one more minute.  Place in freezer and cure for a few hours.  

Tomato and Garlic Scape Tart

I made this tart for my friend Ann's potluck birthday party, and so, after a perfect weather weekend in the country, I came back to the city, tart in hand, to Ann's empty house with partially deflated balloons on the front porch.  I had missed the party by a day.  I have promised to make this again the next time Ann visits, hopefully with fresh tomatoes from my garden instead of from the store. 

I used garlic scape pesto, however you could substitute finely chopped garlic or shallots in its place. Traditional pesto made with basil would also be good, however I would substitute a milder cheese for the cheddar when using the basil version.

Pastry

Use your favourite sturdy pastry recipe. 

Filling

• a selection of tomatoes
• sharp cheddar cheese
• olive oil
• garlic scape pesto
• salt and pepper to taste

Slice large tomatoes into thick slices and salt, let rest on paper towels to drain off excess fluid. If cherry tomatoes are large, cut in half and treat the same way.  

Roll pastry into large circle about 12" in diameter.   Place on parchment paper, on baking sheet with out edges.    Cover centre 8" diameter of pastry with 1/8" slices of cheese.  Arrange tomatoes over cheese.  Mix olive oil and scape pesto.  Paint tomatoes with mixture.  Fold up edges of pastry to contain tomatoes.  Salt and pepper top.  Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes until tomatoes look done.  

A Variation on my Award Winning Cherry Pie

This year's bumper crop of cherries

There was a cherry tree in my back yard when I first moved in, and over the years it has matured into a large and beautiful tree that shades the yard and produces a bounty of cherries in June.  Time to make cherry pie. 

As a young girl, my mother decided I should be a home economist and in order to prepare me, entered me in baking competitions.  While other kids would practice the piano or go to dance lessons, or hang out and play, I would come home after school and practice baking.  I would bake the same recipe with a slight variation,  cut out a wedge, examine the consistency,  taste and then wrap up and put the experiment in the freezer and start all over again.  Cherry Pie was one of my Red Ribbon winners, and so, after not having made the recipe for years, I took down my old recipe book from the top shelf and baked it once more.


The recipe from my youth used frozen cherries, so working with fresh cherries required some adjustment, and then it was sweeter than I would bake it now, so I modified the recipe once again, and then I substituted Amaretto for the almond extract.  I am not sure it would win the red ribbon, however it does feel right now.

My less than perfect cherry pie.  I am definitely out of practice. 

Preheat oven to 375F

Pastry

• 2  1/2 cups of sifted pastry flour
• 1/2 cup of ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of cold butter
• 5 to 6 tablespoons of cream
• 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

Mix dry ingredients, and cut in butter.  Mix cream and almond extract. Gradually stir in cream mixture until mixture holds together.  Do not overwork.  Split in half and form into two flat balls.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate while preparing filling. 

Cherry Filling

• 5 cups of pitted Bing cherries
• 1/4 cup of Amaretto
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Add Amaretto and lemon juice to cherries and let rest for half an hour.  Mix sugar and corn starch together.  Add a bit of water to make paste.  Drain liquid from cherries, and mix juice with corn starch mixture.  Heat over hot stove until clear.  Add cherries and set aside.

Roll half of the pastry and place in 8" pie plate.  Add cherry mixture.  Roll other half of pastry and cut into strips.  Weave lattice on top of pie.  Cover edges of pastry with foil, and bake for 40 minutes. 

Garlic Scape Pesto

Garlic scape in the garden today 

This past fall I planted 10 different types of garlic in my garden, not knowing which I preferred.  Unfortunately, the pen I used on the name tags washed off over the winter, so I still won't know which is my favourite and will have to be disciplined enough to save some of my favourite for planting later in the fall.  Lesson learned - keep notes, tags aren't good enough. 

On a positive note, I now have an abundance of garlic scapes.  In the past I would throw a few in a stir fry, or in a salad or sauté some as a side.  However over a hundred scapes at one time presented a challenge, until my I remembered my friend Denis raving about the pleasures of Garlic Scape Pesto, and I have to say after making this once, it will become an annual event.


Of course, I didn't have pine nuts in the cupboard or sunflower seeds for that matter, but I did have pumpkin seeds, so I gave it a try, and will definitely use again.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Garlic Scape Pesto

• 2 cups of garlic scapes 
• approximately 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds
• 4 sealable small bottles for storing

Cut scapes into small pieces that the food processor can handle.  If any of the scapes have progressed to the hard flower stage, remove hard piece and discard.  Chop in food processor, adding olive oil slowly until the mixture is slightly more fluid than a paste.  Add about the same amount of grated parmesan cheese and pumpkin seeds as olive oil.  Process and add more olive oil until correct consistency.

Place in sterilized bottles, seal with olive oil, and store in refrigerator.  

I also made a vegan version with no parmesan cheese and twice the amount of pumpkin seeds and added some salt to compensate for the missing salt from the cheese.  

Wilted Greens on Vegetable Ragout on Quinoa

Monday was both a rough day at the office and a hot and steamy summer day, and I had planned on making my fallback quick and easy summer dinner, salad Niçoise, when my daughter arrived home and announced she had decided to become Vegan.  Salad Niçoise without eggs, cheese, anchovies and tuna is not possible!   And if adjusting for a vegan diet were not enough to deal with at the end of a tough day, the salad greens I had picked  from my garden  in the country on Sunday, had wilted, sitting in the car, in the sun, while I stopped at a friend's going away party on the way home. 

Time for a new strategy.   I checked the refrigerator, and decided on a vegetable ragout on quinoa.  As I was about to throw out the greens, my daughter suggested wilted greens - so  together - Claire and I made Wilted Greens on Vegetable Ragout on Quinoa, a vegan meal without having to resort to the dreaded tofu. 

Vegetable Ragout

• 1 large red onion coarsely chopped, approximatey 1 cup
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely  chopped
• oyster mushrooms, about the size of your fist
• a handful of shitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 small eggplant, sliced
• 1 28 oz can of whole stewed tomatoes, coarsely cut
• the end of a bottle of of wine, red or white 
• olive oil, quantity depends on your cooking style. I tend to use less
• salt  and peper
• a pinch of dried chile flakes
• a sprig of thyme
• a handful of fresh basil

Heat olive oil in a stainless steel pan.  Add onions and garlic and soften, set aside.  Sauté eggplant, mushrooms and red pepper.  Put all cooked vegetables in a large stainless steel pot and add tomatoes, chile flakes, thyme, and wine if you have some. if not, add a dash of balsamic vinegar and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes,   Add herbs, and salt and pepper to taste, simmer for a few more minutes. 

Wilted Salad Greens

• 4 cups of washed mixed salad greens
• 2 cloves of garlic,
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• fresh herbs such as coriander, chives, 
• extra virgin olive oil, 
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste.

Heat stainless steel frying pan, add olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots,  add vinegar, greens and herbs, lightly cook until warm and wilted.  Do not overcook. Salt and pepper to taste. 

To serve, place cooked quinoa in bottom of bowl.  Ladle ragout over quinoa and place wilted vegetables on top.  Sprinkle with coarse smoked salt.

Pickled Asparagus with Lemon and Pepper

As spring progressed to summer and the asparagus season looked like it might be coming to an end,  I was running out of time to preserve asparagus.  At the same time my spring onions were prolific.  

Pickled asparagus with lemon and pepper

• 2 bunches, about 3" in diameter of freshly picked asparagus
• 4 to 6 spring onions including white part of stock,  (I grow multipliers in my garden which are perfect at the same time that the asparagus is ready to harvest) Alternately, often, young garlic with stocks are available at the market at his time of year
• 2 tablespoons of pickling salt
• 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups of white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• juice form 1 lemon
• thin lemon slices
• thinly sliced lemon peel 
• pepper corns

• 2 wide mouthed 1 pint preserving bottles, sterilized

Cut asparagus to 3/4" shorter than bottle.  Pack bottles with asparagus spears with tip down.  Include a two or 3 early spring onions including white part of stalks and 3 or 4 slices of lemon in each bottle. Add 1 teaspoon of pepper corns  and lemon peel to each bottle.In non reactive pot, bring vinegars, salt and sugar to a boil.  Add lemon juice.  Fill bottles to within 1/2 inch of top.  Screw on lid and process for 10 minutes.