Cannolis

My Dad and I made cannolis ages ago, but I never got around to blogging about them. We went to Saint James Cheese to get the BEST ricotta to make these. When we ran out, we went to whole foods and got more ricotta that was a fraction of the cost. NOPE. Not even close! The consistency of the the filling was way off. It was too runny, and would not keep its shape within the connoli shell. Lesson learned. Either spend the money on good ricotta, or make it yourself! Next time, I'm definitely making it myself!

Also I don't have the recipe on hand at the moment, but here are the pictures of the process for now!
- Click "Read More"

Sushi!

Homemade Fresh Crab with Avocado and Asparagus rolls  

and Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls

I have been on the worst sushi kick lately. It's all I want to eat these days. So naturally, I wanted to try and make some myself. I figured it wouldn't work out just because I've been led to believe that it is too hard for any non-sushi chef to do at home. First of all, that is soooo false. It's a lot easier than it looks and it also tastes just as good, if not better, than the stuff at the restaurants. This is especially true because I was using real crab instead of that imitation stuff (which I will probably use when I go back to school and no longer have papa bears credit card at my grocery disposal - not to mention amazing fresh crab available whenever you need it). The rice is also incredible. I also don't want to make any other rice ever again. I did use "sushi rice" though and not the authentic stuff, which apparently is a faux-pas but whatever. I thought it was good.
 
I also just got a new camera for Paris, so this is the first post I've done testing it out. I think the pictures came out pretty orange-y yellow, which I really don't like, but I think I just need more practice. It's a new kind of camera that's basically a cross between a point and shoot and a DSLR. i'm afraid I might regret not getting the DSLR but this wasn't exactly cheap either so I'm going to jump of a bridge if I don't get the hang of it soon. I spent my entire spring semester saving up for this beast so it better be worth my while!


Sushi Rice

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked glutinous white rice (sushi rice)

3 cups water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoon mascarpone cheese

1/2 tablespoon sour cream

about a cup of partially cooked crawfish

1 teaspoon crab and shrimp boil (caution, this stuff is spicy...I learned the hard way...)

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Julianned and lightly sauteed green squash 

salt and pepper

*sushi rice

*seaweed wrap

Fresh Crab with Avocado and Asparagus rolls

Ingredients

about 1 cup fresh crab meat 

about 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (next time i'll use the light stuff, but this is what we had in the fridge)

Half of an avocado, slide in strips

1 or 2 asparagus 

*sushi rice

*seaweed wrap 

Set up your sushi station

Start by making sure you have a glass of ice or super cold water next to you. The rice is extremely sticky and it gets hard to work with when it starts sticking to your fingers rather than the seaweed. I also had to make my seaweed sheet smaller because it was a little to long for the size roll I wanted to make. If you seaweed is fresh, you should be able to fold it back and forth two or three times and then crack it. If not you can also just use scissors. 

Also make sure to put plastic wrap in between your seaweed and the bamboo rolling thing. This makes it much easier to unroll and the rice also doesn't stick to the bamboo.

Scoop the rice with your hands and press it down onto the seaweed with your fingers. Try not to overdo it thought because your rice will start to look like one mushy mass. I made sure to go a little bit over the long edges so when I rolled it and they came together they would stick better.

Flip the seaweed and rice over so the seaweed side is exposed but the plastic wrap is still underneath.
Also make sure the plastic wrap and bamboo is lined up close to the edge of the seaweed it comes together when it is time to roll it up.


For the avocado and crab roll, in a small separate bowl, gently mix together the mayo and crab. Then place 2 rows of thin avocado stripes, then your asparagus, then your crab mix. Then you can start to roll your sushi slowly, while moderately pressing down on the roll to tighten and secure the insides.

Carefully unwrap the roll, making sure the two sides have met and are sealed. If they don't quite come together, you can easily sprinkle a little more rice and re-roll it a bit so it stays closed.

Use a serrated knife (a regular chefs knife didn't work for me) and slowing cut your sushi. Make sure they aren't too thin, because then they will fall apart when you try and each them.

Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls 

Pistachio Ice Cream

For this recipe I used Jeni's best Ice cream base and then added my own pistachio paste that I ordered off of amazon. Pistachio paste is what we used at sucre to make the pistachio ice cream, so I thought buying it would be the simplest way rather than making the paste myself. It's also a lot cheaper than buying and blending them yourself, which would probably cost at least 20 big ones. I bought this one, and I also had a lot left that I can use for other things (like a chocolate pistachio tart perhaps?) I also thought it would provide the most pistachio flavor, because some recipes just soak the pistachios in the base during the cooking process and then strain them out, which doesn't leave an amazing color or texture like the paste does. I think it came out great, but it was also super rich. You couldn't eat an entire cup of this even if you tried. well...at least I couldn't...

Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream 
This recipe is pretty much the same as the vanilla bean recipe from the previous post, however in this one I added vanilla extract and pistachio paste instead. Adapted off of Jeni's best ice cream base.

Ingredients

2 cups milk
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 ¼  cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup pistachio paste

Directions
Before you start cooking, set up your stations:

(a.) In one small bowl, wisk together 1/4 cup of milk and the cornstartch

(b.) Place the 3 tablespoons of cream cheese in a bowl and set aside.

(c.) Open plastic bag with edges folded over set over a large bowl filled with ice (the ice should melt a bit during the cooking. you can add a bit of water to it later if it isn't ice bath ready by the time you are ready to cool your ice cream)

(d.) In a 4-quart sauce pan (at least - believe me I made this mistake and it was a hassle trying to switch pots in the middle of everything...pictures to follow...) Add the remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt and pistachio paste and wisk together until somewhat incorporated (it should turn a very faint green - the color shows up more during the cooking process)

(e.) 4 minute timer ready to go

NOW you can start cooking (and this is actually the quick part)

1. Over medium high heat, cook the mixture until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil for exactly 4 minutes.

This is when I realized my pot was too small and had to turn off the flame and switch immediately....surprised it didn't make a big difference as to the cooking process. but it did take a bit for the pot itself to get hot again

2. Pour in the cornstarch slurry and mix well. Bring back to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes then remove from heat.

3. With your small measuring cup, scoop out about 1/4 cup or more of the hot mixture and pour into the cream cheese bowl. Mix very well and then pour it back into the main pot. Stir well until thick.

4. Pour the hot cream into the plastic bag over the ice bath. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or until completely cold. If you don't want to freeze right away, you can also put the plastic bag in your fridge for up to 3 days.

5. Freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions (I do it for about 25 minutes)

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ever since I got my ice cream maker, I've kind of been obsessed. I've only done two blog posts so far, but I can't tell you how many times I've already used this thing. Once you fail (which you will, unless you are some kind of ice cream savant), especially a couple of times, you become obsessed with perfection. I think I finally found a fool proof, go-to base recipe that I will probably use for most of my ice creams though, so I can't start experimenting. 

When I worked at the confection studio at Sucre, I noticed we never used egg yolks. But after doing a ton of research on the web, I couldn't really find any recipes that didn't start with some form of custard (which means using egg yolks to thicken the milk, almost like making lemon curd or the filling of a berry tart if you have ever done that...) Well doing this is extremely temperamental and can go wrong at a number of different stages in the process. And the worst part about that is, many times you don't exactly know where you went wrong. Did I curdle the milk? Did I not whip the egg yolks enough with the sugar before adding it to the milk? Was my flame too hot or too low? There is so much going on at once, and so many things that could go wrong, I really needed something a bit more foolproof (heavy cream doesn't grow on trees you know...).

On a random slowish afternoon at work, my lord and saviors walked through the double glass doors dressed as a thin, hipter-ish, middle aged man and his wife. The ones that kind of remind you of your old music teachers and almost always leave a tip (people from the city - and definitely my people working at the uptown sucre know exactly what kind of people i'm talking about. Actually I bet people from certain parts of new york know what i'm talking about too...but I digress...). We started chatting about our amazing gelato and how it doesn't have eggs etc. He also turned out to be a dabbler in the homemade ice cream world as well and he suggested I try Jenni's best ice cream base, which uses cream cheese instead of eggs and a timer rather than candy thermometer (thus excluding the two things I dread about making homemade ice cream).

Obviously I went home and bought the cookbook right away. Of course I will continue to try the traditional custard based ice creams, but for now, HOLY COW this stuff is incredible! Its creamy, rich, and pretty much fool proof. You can even trade out the 3 tbs of cream cheese for marscarpone...which obviously I will be doing very very soon.... 

Homemade ice Cream Sandwiches, made with Jeni's Best Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The "Cake-y Sandwich Part" Recipe 

which I found on this website

Ingredients 

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon salt

10 x 15 inch (25 x 38 cm) rimmed baking sheet

Parchment paper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar. 

Then whisk in the egg and vanilla. 

Then add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix until incorporated. (since there is no leavening agent, you can't over-mix it - refreshing, huh?) 

In you parchment lined baking sheet, pour in the batter and spread out a thin layer using a offset spatula. - If you don't have one, get one. They are super cheap and come in handy for a million different things. 

Bake for 10 minutes, rotating half way through to ensure even baking. It should be done when the cake is no longer shiny and it has begun to separate from the paper along the edges. 

Let it cool completely and then remove the parchment from the pan to cool even more. If you don't your ice cream will melt and both will be ruined! 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 

Ingredients

2 cups milk
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 ¼  cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
1 vanilla Bean, both seeds and pod, separated 

Directions
Before you start cooking, set up your stations:

(a.) In one small bowl, wisk together 1/4 cup of milk and the cornstarch

(b.) Place the 3 tablespoons of cream cheese in a bowl and set aside.

(c.) Open plastic bag with edges folded over set over a large bowl filled with ice (the ice should melt a bit during the cooking. you can add a bit of water to it later if it isn't ice bath ready by the time you are ready to cool your ice cream)

(d.) In a 4-quart sauce pan (at least - believe me I made this mistake and it was a hassle trying to switch pots in the middle of everything...pictures to follow...) Add the remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt and vanilla bean and wisk together until somewhat incorporated (it should turn a very faint green - the color shows up more during the cooking process)

(e.) 4 minute timer ready to go

NOW you can start cooking (and this is actually the quick part)

1. Over medium high heat, cook the mixture until it comes to a rolling boil. Boil for exactly 4 minutes.

2. Pour in the cornstarch slurry and mix well. Bring back to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes then remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean.

3. With your small measuring cup, scoop out about 1/4 cup or more of the hot mixture and pour into the cream cheese bowl. Mix very well and then pour it back into the main pot. Stir well until thick.

4. Pour the hot cream into the plastic bag over the ice bath. Let sit for at least 30 minutes or until completely cold. If you don't want to freeze right away, you can also put the plastic bag in your fridge for up to 3 days.

5. Freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions (I do it for about 25 minutes)

Yeah you know you want a bite....