Browsing Tag

fruit

Fig and Cognac Ice Cream

It’s still close to 100 degrees during the day. I write that as if the weather dictates when to eat luscious, cold, creamy ice cream but the heat does make me start thinking about creating something cool and refreshing with summer’s bounty.

This fig and cognac ice cream blends a few of my favorite things: figs, cream, cognac. The result is a quick-to-make elegant treat.

If you have never tried a fresh fig, you are in for a treat. Go out and buy a couple of pounds of black mission figs and get ready for several great fig recipes over the next few days!

Be careful when you are picking or buying figs: they do not ripen further after you pick them. Look for the slightly soft or even slightly oozing ones.

At home, I have two fig bushes – one in the ground and one in a pot. I have waited patiently for 3 years for enough figs to cook with. Once again, neither has produced many figs. The squirrels are almost as disappointed as I am.

However, I found two pounds of perfectly ripe black mission figs at the store and my daughter lent me her ice cream maker. (Sharing some cooking tools really helps when your space is limited!) I once had figs in Armagnac (the liquor, not the province)– and want to reproduce the rich flavor in an ice cream.

Most homemade ice creams need to be eaten very soon after making them. Not this fig and cognac ice cream – it still tastes great a few days later.

Fig and Cognac Ice Cream

Ingredients

2lbs black mission figs, stemmed and cut into small pieces

1c sugar

1/4c water

zest of one lemon

2t lemon juice

3T cognac or brandy

1c heavy cream

balsamic vinegar – a drizzle (optional)

Utensils

Ice cream maker, a blender or food processor, a 12” to 14” skillet (non reactive), measuring spoons, measuring cup, and a sturdy spatula.

Method

Put the figs, water, sugar and lemon zest into the skillet and bring to a boil on medium high heat. Stir it gently as it bubbles. When you can scrape your spatula along the bottom of the pan and the liquid does not rush to cover the bare spot, pour in the cognac and cook for a minute longer. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

When cooled, pour the fig mixture, lemon juice and heavy cream into your blender and puree. Taste to check that the sweet/tart balance is right.

Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the ice cream maker’s directions.

Be adventurous and add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar when you serve it. A friend of mine at My Gluten Free Friend suggested this and it is wonderful.

Adapted from David Lebovitz The Perfect Scoop.

September 21, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor

Appetizer, Fruit, Jams, Quick Jams

Fig Jam with Rosemary and Cognac

Making a jam is really quite simple and easy. You need a 12” skillet and a pot large enough to sterilize your jars. Get a few jars at your grocery store and you’re ready. This recipe only makes two of half pints of jam – just perfect when you have a small amount of storage room.

I fell in love with figs as a small girl. We spent the summers in an old family home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. There was a huge old fig bush that only produced a few figs. I’d climb up and pick the figs and present them to my father in a bowl with fresh cream.

Making this fig jam is similar to making the base for fig ice cream.

My favorite way to enjoy this jam is to warm a small wheel of Camembert cheese till it just oozes, spread it on a toasted baguette, add a dollop of fig jam and have a wonderful lunch to go along with the warm memories of my father.

This fig jam recipe only makes two half pints of jam and it only takes about 40 minutes.

Fig Jam with Rosemary and Cognac

Ingredients

1lb black mission figs

3/4c white sugar

The zest of one lemon

1T lemon juice ( about half a lemon)

3” of a sprig of rosemary

1/4c cognac or brandy

Pinch of salt

Utensils

2 half pint preserving jars, a 12” skillet, a pot big enough when filled with water to cover the jars, and a smaller pot to sterilize the jar lids, plus a pair of tongs and a spoon to scoop the jam into the jars.

Method

Wash, stem and chop figs into 6 to 8 pieces. Mix the chopped figs with the sugar, rosemary, lemon zest and lemon juice.

Let this mixture marinate while you sterilize the jars. Place the jars in the big pot, cover them with water to an inch above the jars. Add the tongs and spoon. Boil for 10+ minutes. Place the lids in a small saucepan and gently simmer for 10 minutes.

For more detailed information on preserving, read the instructions that came with your jars or go to www.foodinjars.com

Now it’s time to make the jam. The sugar in the marinade should have turned into a syrup. Pour this fig mixture into the skillet and heat on medium high, stirring gently until it boils. Continue until the mixture thickens enough that a spoon dragged through the liquid leaves a swipe that does not immediately fill in. Take out the sprig of rosemary. Add the cognac and stir for a minute longer. The whole process will take 10 to 12 minutes.

Carefully take your jars out of the boiling water and spoon the jam into them.

Screw the lids on – not tightly – and return the jars to the hot water bath. Boil for 10 minutes. When you take the jars out of the bath for this final time, screw the lids on tightly and you’re done!

September 15, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor

Desserts

Fruit Trifle

After a long early morning bike ride, while we were catching our breath in a coffee shop and chatting, my good friend Alanna mentioned she was having 12 friends over for dinner and still needed a dessert that would not require a long bike ride to be guilt-free. We were too tired to start messing up her clean kitchen by flinging pots and pans around and cooking something. Besides, she is one of those marvelously organized people who has her table set, her meal organized and the kitchen clean the night before.

We came up with a brilliant idea that is also easy: a fruit trifle. This version has no custard so it’s really quick to make. Alanna went to the store and bought an angel food cake, lots of beautiful berries and a little heavy cream. I dashed home and made the citrus syrup from my North African Orange Cake recipe.

Alanna brought out a beautiful glass trifle bowl that we created the trifle in, though any glass bowl or even individual ramekins would work. It only took a couple of minutes, and, as my fiddler friend says, viola! A great looking and great tasting dessert – hardly a trifle!

Fruit Trifle

Ingredients

The amounts depend on the size of your serving bowl.

1 store bought angel food cake

3 pints of hulled strawberries (about 1½ pounds) and enough cut in half to ring your bowl and the rest roughly chopped

3 dry pints of blueberries

1 dry pint of blackberries

1 dry pint of raspberries

1 pint of heavy cream

2T Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liquor

3T white sugar

Citrus syrup

juice of 1 orange

juice of 1 lemon

1/3c sugar

2T Grand Marnier or other orange liquor

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick (or ½ tsp cinnamon powder)

Utensils

Glass bowl, measuring spoons, measuring cup

Method

Make the syrup first by mixing all the ingredients together in a small saucepan and simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for use.

Cut the angel food cake into 1 inch layers saving 3 layers for the trifle and using the rest to fill the center hole. To start to assembly the fruit trifle, place the first layer of cake in the bottom of the bowl, fill the center with pieces of cake then brushed the top of the cake generously with the citrus syrup. On top of this add a layer strawberries, with half cut ones pressed against the outside of the bowl to look beautiful, and the roughly chopped ones filling the inside. Brush the orange syrup over the strawberries and then add another layer of cake, orange syrup and then a layer of blueberries, building the layers. You get the idea.

The final layer at the top of the bowl is raspberries on the outside, with a ring of blueberries and blackberries inside.

Allow the fruit trifle to sit to soak in all those great flavors for 30 minutes up to a few hours.

Whip the heavy cream till it starts to thicken, adding the sugar slowly, then the Grand Marnier. Whip until soft peaks form. You can do this several hours ahead and store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve pile a good dollop of the whipped cream into the center of the trifle and put the rest in a serving bowl with a spoon for your guests to add a bit more on their fruit trifle as they choose. Continue Reading

July 28, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor