Sweet Memories

Do you have food that is made better just because of the memories attached to them? These Arabic sweets are just that for me. My good friend Laith has brought them back from Jordan for the past 4 years. He's been one of my best friends since the awkward years at the beginning of college to the more fabulous dressed senior year.  Freshman year we would get together, snack on them, and watch Grey's Anatomy. Now we get together, snack on them, drink red wine, and watch project runway. Some things wonderfully stay the same.

My description of the sweets is that they are all pistachio (some have just pine nuts) variations of Baklava which is layers of filo pastry, nuts, and honey. Kelley's favorite was what we called "the bird's nest." Mine is the filo pastry with a ton of pistachios in the middle because face it, the best part is the sweet nuts.

Almond Panna Cotta

You know, just chilling with some almond panna cotta while looking over my Italy travel sketchbook, no biggie.

Panna cotta is a mitxture of cream, milk, sugar, and unflavored gelatin so it becomes the texture of flan but tastes more like a mellower ice cream.
I made this wonderful dessert for several reasons:
1. Its delicicous, everyone should try it
2. I had extra cream from an Ice cream recipe that needed to be used
3. I felt like reminiscing a little and pretending I was back in Italy.

I used a basic recipe and then modified it by replacing half the cream with my version of almond milk. I let maybe a third of a cup of almonds soak in 2 cups of milk in the fridge for two days, then blended it, and finally strained it. Then I added around a teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of vanilla (almond extract would be ideal but alas i had none) . Next time I suggest just using straight up almond milk because my way was a little time consuming, but if you have some almonds waiting in your pantry to be used like I did, then go right ahead. Also, I suggest making it a day in advanced, the cup I ate the next day had a much stronger almond flavor. This is a great recipe to keep classic or modify and add whatever flavor you want so go experiment!

Good Girls Go To Paris

This weekend I traveled to visit a friend near Detroit and we spent a 95 degree day romping around town. Needless to say, we desperately needed a delicious meal to top it off, so we went to Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes in midtown. ...and it was delicious.

We split a savory and a sweet crepe. The savory was the Dana- chicken, brie, sun dried tomatoes, and herbs.

For the sweet we got the Melissa- lemon and ricotta topped with brown sugar and lemon cookie crumble. Sounds terrible, right?

Cherry and Raspberry Pie

Sometimes when you try something new it fails. Facts of life here, food can be deep. This valuable lesson was taught to me by a pie crust. Although I think the end result looked pretty good  (the woven top crust made me feel like an accomplished housewife from the 50s or Bree Van de Kamp, which I guess is the same thing in the end) but unfortunately was too tough. I think I may have overworked it so next time I think store bought crust is going to have to do.

The filling on the other hand was heavenly. The recipe for cherry pie required 4 cups of cherries but after half an hour of pitting cherries I was left with only 2 cups so the other half was some frozen raspberries I was keeping for an emergency just like this. The combination was actually perfect, it was sweet but still tart and bright, the cherries gave some body and the raspberries broke down and rounded out the flavors. Next time I'm just making the filling. I'll find ways to use it, crepes, biscuits, by it self... seriously it was that good. So to recap: things fail, crust bad, filling amazing.

Sake House

For the second Blacksburg Restaurant Week deal, we went to Sake House, a primarily sushi place. I'm not a big sushi person mostly because I don't like seafood and more so if it's raw, but what's the fun if I never try something new?

First we started with miso soup which has always been too salty for me but the spoon is so beautiful that I eat some anyways.

Then we had a sample plate that included California rolls, 2 sashimi pieces, vegetable tempura, teriyaki chicken, and best of all gyozas. These were fried but the first and best ones I've ever had were steamed and were from Wok in Colombia. They were pork and mushroom gyozas in chili oil, another perfect example of simplicity at its best. When I have some time, I must learn how to make them.

The sample plate at Sake House was decent but not spectacular, it lacked distinctive flavor. Each bite tasted fine but nothing stood out. You win some, you lose some.

(Second photo by Andrea Rampone)

Classic Caprese

We dined on this wonderful plate during a barbeque in the rain, perhaps not one of our best ideas. If its pouring down rain and your forced to hold an umbrella over the grill, maybe it wasn't the best day to decide to have the get together.

Anyways this was our easy but still delicious side to our burgers. Sometimes there's just no need to mess with a classic. A caprese salad consists of sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and a dash of salt. With something this simple make sure to buy quality ingredients, it makes all the difference!

Cherry Frozen Yogurt with Dark Chocolate Chunks

Summer is in full swing, time for some frozen treats!

I was feeling a little nostalgic for Italy so the original plan was pistachio gelato. Well this called for thickening a custard slowly over the stove. I thought I had time to go into my room put on shoes and come back, but unfortunately I came back to a pot of pistachio scrambled eggs. It was a great disappointment, even more so because I had already invited friends over to hang out and eat gelato...
On to plan B. I always have yogurt so why not frozen yogurt? I used the basic vanilla recipe that came with my ice cream maker but modified it to make a cherry chocolate version and through my experiences I bestow onto you my best tip.

Don't skimp on the fat.

Don't use skim milk and don't use fat free yogurt. I've tried in the past and it never turns out right. It may be good straight from the machine but after its spent 2 hours in the frezzer its not longer creamy and just icy. No one wants an ice cube like chunk of ice cream.

So here is the recipe
1-2/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 cups fat-free vanilla yogurt (I used cherry but experiment with whatever flavors you have around)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (I used almond extract because I thought it complimented the cherry better)
1 cup chopped dark chocolate chunks (my addition but add fruit or nuts if you prefer)

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, heavy cream, and vanilla. Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The frozen yogurt will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the frozen yogurt to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.
Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy the treat and experiment!