Tomato Soup With Gruyere and Fried Capers

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March: She is a sultry, wanton wench with her come hither dance toward Spring as she promises warm breezes and sunny skies then slams the door in your face just as you begin to lose yourself in her lies.

March's ritual of a day of sun followed by four days of rain, repeat, keeps my food hankerings in a tizzy.  What I crave this time of year, when Spring begins to flirt with Winter, is strawberries and asparagus. What I make, when March decides to turn on the faucet, is soup.

And when nothing but tomato soup will do, with nary a sun-ripened tomato in sight, I turn to those delightful tomatoes in a can: San Marzanos.

This is a simple, belly-warming soup that can be whipped up inside of an hour. Make it thick and chunky or smooth and creamy with no dairy added. Make it vegan by using vegetable stock and omitting the butter.  Make as much or as little as you want, adjusting the ingredients accordingly.

Winter to Spring Tomato Soup with Gruyere and Fried Capers
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
Several teaspoons olive oil and butter for the pan.
2 large cans San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes
2 or so cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 medium carrots, pared and cut into small dice
1 stalk celery (optional), strings removed, cut into small dice
4 cups good, organic chicken stock (I used homemade or Pacific Organic, Low Sodium)
Chopped fresh basil if you can get it, or several sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons capers, drained and fried
1-2 tablespoons gruyere cheese, shredded
Preparation:
Have a large stock pot ready on the stove.
Put the oil and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add the onions, carrots and optional celery and saute until just softened, about 7 minutes. Adjust the heat so the vegetables don't burn.
When the veggies are soft, add the garlic and saute another minute, stirring so the garlic doesn't burn.
Turn off the heat and transfer the vegetables to the stock pot.
Add the tomatoes to the skillet and break them up, deglazing the pan in the process, then add to the stock pot.
Turn the heat under the stock pot to medium-high and add the chicken stock and the thyme, if using.
Bring the soup to just under a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour or until all the vegetables are very, very tender.  The liquid will reduce a bit during this process.
Adjust the seasonings with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
When done, turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly.  If you are using fresh chopped basil, add it now.
Blend the soup to the consistency you desire, using a stick blender right in the pot, or by transferring in batches to a food processor or blender.
If the soup is too thick, add a bit of stock.

To make a fancy presentation, ladle the soup into wide, shallow, heated bowls and sprinkle with fried capers and grated Gruyere.  Enjoy while the weather is fickle!

Cook's Notes:
Sharp eyes will see that the photo at the top is watermarked with the year 2014 and indeed that is when it was taken. I make this soup a lot when the weather is chilly and this particular photo was the best representation of the recipe.

 

Copyright 2005-2015, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

A Cooling Summer Apéritif: Chilled Cucumber Yogurt Soup Shots

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Icy-cold cucumber yogurt soup spiked with bits of fresh mint and fennel fronds, served in shot glasses on the back deck. What better way to spend the apéro hour, waiting for the evening to cool down before lighting the grill?

Well, you could be up here on the north coast of California where, as evening falls, we change from shorts and t-shirts to long pants and sweatshirts, or, like last night, down vests. Yes, really. One of California's best kept secrets, our summer weather. It's even foggier and colder than a summer in San Francisco.

However, once in a while we get stunningly sunny, warm afternoons. One warm enough a few days ago to prompt me to pull out a recipe that I made often during the hot summers of the Sacramento Valley where I used to live.

I adapted this recipe years ago from Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook. The recipe lends itself well to adaptation and as I happen to have both fennel and mint growing in my garden, I thought they might be a good pairing. I was right. I used the fennel fronds, chopped fine, but I think that a peeled, chopped small fennel bulb would also be perfect.

With seedless cucumbers and a good, organic, plain yogurt, full-fat, low, or non, as your base, think up your own herbal combinations and go for it.

Chilled Cucumber Yogurt Soup with Mint and Fennel
Adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook
Ingredients:
4 heaping cups peeled and chopped seedless cucumbers
3 cups non-fat plain yogurt
2 cups spring water
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons agave
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons (packed) finely chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fennel fronds
Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and buzz until finely emulsified.
Refrigerate until very, very cold.
How simple was that?

Cook's Notes:
Owing to the cucumber pulp, this soup can have a grainy texture. If you wish to present a more refined, smoother concoction, strain it before serving.
Had I reserved any, which I did not, I would have served these shots with a spear of cucumber as a stirring stick.

Copyright © 2005-2009, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Minimalist 'Adult' Fresh Peach Ice Cream

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This probably should be called ice milk as there is very little cream in it. Consequently the texture is a bit less creamy and smooth than ice cream but it's also kinder to your waistline. A big plus is that you don't make a custard that then has to be cooled; two hours or less in the fridge is plenty. The flavors are pure peach with a bit of an orange nip. Perfect for a hot summer day. Or a Fourth of July dessert.

The "adult" in the title comes from the fact that there's alcohol in the mix to keep it from freezing into a brick in your freezer. I added the orange liqueur because I thought it would compliment the peaches. It does. Of course, if children are to be eating this please omit all the alcohol from the ingredients list. Your ice cream will be very tasty. Especially if you use the ripest, perfumiest organic peaches. Mine came from the Neukom Family Farm at our local farmers market.

Christine's Minimalist Adult Fresh Peach Ice Cream
Ingredients:
5 large very ripe peaches (mine were an early variety called 'Sungold')
1/8 cup Splenda sugar blend (or 1/4 cup sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vodka
1 1/2 tablespoons Triple Sec
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup half & half

Preparation:

Working over a bowl so you don't lose any of the juices, slice the peaches in half and remove the pits.

Leaving the skins on, coarsely chop the peaches into the bowl then transfer, juice and all, to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until thoroughly combined. There will be flecks of peach skin throughout the liquid which you can either strain out now or leave in as I did, which gives the finished ice cream an interesting texture. I found it interesting, anyway.

Pour the mixture into a container, cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours or until very cold.

Process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

When finished, the ice cream may be served soft right out of the maker or you can pack it into a freezer-proof covered container and freeze for several hours. Be sure to let it thaw for about 10 minutes before scooping it into serving bowls.

Keep ice crystals from forming on the surface of any ice cream remaining that is stored in the fridge by covering first with plastic wrap then snapping a lid on tight.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Delicata Squash With Sautéed Greens, Pancetta And Honey Tangerine

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When you've been driving all day, some of it under rather harrowing conditions, this is the perfect quick-to-fix meal to warm you up and calm you down when you arrive home. A glass of red wine helps. Of course I'm talking about me...

The first part of my 6-hour journey home yesterday was easy - a little rain, a little wind - then it began to snow. Big fat fluffy flakes falling slowly at first, just enough to marvel at, then falling faster and faster until before I knew it I was queued up behind a number of cars being led through the snowy whiteness by a highway patrol car, the road becoming too trecherous to allow for the errant fast driver yet not icy enough to require chains. All of this occurred on the 101 within 50 miles of my home - a very rare occurrence for my neck of the woods as I live on the northern California coast in a maritime temperate climate zone. Not used to driving through snow, especially without chains, you can imagine my relief at arriving home safe and sound, if a bit hungry.

Honey tangerines (also called Murcott oranges) are in markets right now and their sunny goodness is a welcome ingredient to the winter palate. Wonderful in vinaigrettes and simple sautés, honey tangerine juice will also brighten roasted meats and bring elegance to winter desserts. Last night it rounded out all the ingredients of this sauté and made them shine.


Delicata squash with Sautéed Greens, Pancetta and Honey Tangerine
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
1 medium delicata squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups mixture of winter greens, torn (see Cook's Notes)
1 and 1/2 ounces pancetta, cut into small squares
3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup honey tangerine juice, squeezed and strained from 1 tangerine
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
olive oil spray for the pan

Preparation:
Spray a heavy skillet with olive oil spray and set over medium high heat.
Add the pancetta to the hot pan and cook, stirring to break up the pieces, until crisp and browned. Remove to a plate.
Spray the same pan again and lower the heat to medium.
Add the cubes of squash and sauté until it softens and begins to brown.
Add the minced garlic and stir until the garlic has become softened and aromatic.
Toss in the torn greens. This is usually a mixture of winter greens: Chard in its many colors plus several kinds of kale, mustard greens and beet tops.
Stir everything together gently and allow the greens to wilt. A bit of additional olive oil may be needed to keep the squash from sticking to the pan.
Pour the honey tangerine juice over everything and stir well to combine.
When the greens are cooked to your liking, season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
Serve on warmed plates and sprinkle with the crispy pancetta.

Cook's Notes:
For this dish I tore the greens into smaller pieces so as not to overpower the small cubes of squash nor lose the pieces of pancetta among them.


Plus A Small Rant:
(Not too long ago, last week I believe, I came across a complaint on the Internet about long, descriptive recipe titles on food blog posts. I don't take this personally as I'm sure the person who wrote it doesn't know my blog exists, but it still prompts me share this small rant. I'm only sorry that I didn't bookmark where I read the complaint as I would have loved to share it with you.)
I know that I'm given to long recipe titles and obviously am among quite a group of others who do the same. And I guess that this drives at least one food blogger critic a bit nuts. Personally, besides liking to be more descriptive than less, I also like it that people searching the Web for recipes are more apt to land on one of my recipes if I use said descriptive titles. And, duh, that's what we want, isn't it? So get over yourself. These are blogs for crying out loud.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Heart Healthy Lentil Vegetable Soup

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I've got to be quick about this as I'm late for the roundup at Heart of the Matter. Brought to us by Joanna, Ilva, and Michelle, this great blog offers up healthy, low fat, good-for-you recipes from bloggers around the world. Our mission for HotM 11 was to come up with a heart healthy soup. Joanna will have the roundup posted in the next few days so be sure to visit. I know there will be some fantastic recipes there that you'll want to try for yourselves.

Lentils, one of the world's healthiest foods, celeriac, sunchokes, carrots, celery, rutabagas, onions, garlic and Meyer lemon juice for some pizazz. Fabulously healthy ingredients all gently cooked together in a vegetable stock. What more could you want on a cold winter's day? A hint of olive oil is used to sauté the onions and garlic, otherwise there is no added fat. The combined tastes of all the vegetables is so good that I didn't even add herbs - just a touch of kosher salt.

As you can see in this photo, I added some local canned albacore, a slice of whole wheat walnut bread, and topped the dish with grated parmesan but these can easily be left out without sacrificing taste. In fact if you left out the tuna and the cheese, this would be perfect for vegan friends and family.

So let's get to it. This recipe is easy as pie: You count the ingredients in the photo above and use that much for a very large pot of soup. Cut the amount in half and you will still have enough for two plus leftovers for your workday lunch.

Heart Healthy Lentil Vegetable Soup

Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
6 Celery stalks with some leaves, sliced thin
4 Rutabagas, peeled and cut into chunks
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
5 or so sunchokes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1-2 teaspoons olive oil for the pan
3 quarts good, organic vegetable stock
1 heaping cup lentils, washed and picked through for debris
1 can gourmet canned albacore tuna (optional)
juice from 2 Meyer lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
shavings of parmesan cheese (optional)
Preparation:
Have a heavy skillet and a large soup pot on the stove.
Put the soup pot on a back burner, put in the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer, covered.
Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions until they are soft. Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more until the aromas come up and they are softly cooked then add them to
the vegetable stock.
Add the lentils to the stock and cook for about 15 minutes until beginning to soften.
Add the rest of the prepared vegetables to the stock and bring to a simmer. Allow to everything to cook gently until all the vegetables are tender and the lentils are done.
Add the Meyer lemon juice then the kosher salt and pepper to taste

To your good health!

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Cocoa Spice Encrusted Seared Wahoo

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The very same wonderful neighbors who grow our lamb every year and often bring us fresh-caught crab are also known to go on a fishing trip or two after which they share the bounty of their catch with us. Yes I do know how lucky we are.

Last summer neighbor Chris went on such a trip to Baja and brought back a number of different kinds of tuna. In the bunch that he shared with us was this loin of Wahoo, a relative of the King Mackerel. While this fish is not in the tuna family, you could've fooled me: It looked like a tuna, seared like a tuna and tasted delicously like a tuna only really, really juicy. All the fish caught on Chris' trip were loined and flash-frozen on-site making this the freshest thawed fish I've ever tasted.

Michael Chiarello's NapaStyle Cocoa Spice Rub was the perfect base for the thick coating on the loin. The spice rub has cardamom in it so I embellished it with more cardamom and extra salt to bring out the flavors. You don't have to try to find a loin of Wahoo to make this dish; albacore or yellow-fin tuna would work just fine.

Seared Wahoo with Cocoa Spice Rub
Christine's original recipe
(print recipe)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons NapaStyle Cocoa Spice Rub
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon fine Kosher salt
1 loin of Wahoo or tuna
2 teaspoons olive oil for the pan
1 teaspoon butter for the pan
Preparation:

Grind the spice rub, cardamom and salt in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a very fine powder.

Pat the loin dry with paper towels and then roll in the spice mixture, coating the fish entirely. Use up all the spice powder by patting it on with your fingers to make a thick coating.

Place the oil and butter in a heavy skillet over high heat.

When the butter has melted, add the coated loin and sear quickly, turning the loin with tongs until all the loin is seared and browned.

You can serve the loin at this point if you like your fish very rare. Otherwise, place the pan in a hot (400 degree) oven for 2 more minutes to cook the fish a little longer. The center will still be rare.

Remove the loin to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 2-3 minutes then slice it into rounds with a very sharp knife.

Serve with steamed green beans tossed with a small amount of butter and a sprinkling of toasted chopped pecans.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Vegan Chocolate Banana Brownies for HotM 8

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Hmmm. . .

Bake something sweet but not fat . . .

Something satisfyingly gooey but good for you . . .

Something heart healthy, with no eggs or butter.

This is what Ilva and Joanna are asking for in this month's HotM theme: Baking.
Heart of the Matter, Ilva's and Joanna's brainchild, is the blog devoted to the development of heart healthy recipes from food bloggers around the world. I love this monthly event because it makes me think and it gets me into a healthier cooking frame of mind.

This recipe was truly an experiment. The only guideline I had was from my daughter-in-law, Amy, who told me that 1 banana may be substituted for 1 egg in most baked vegan recipes. Well, not using eggs and butter is one of the parameters of this event, so I went with the bananas. Then I thought of chocolate - one of the world's highest anti-oxidant foods. Now there's a theme - chocolate and bananas. What's not to like?

According to the web site World's Healthiest Foods, "bananas are one of our best sources of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. Since the average banana contains a whopping 467 mg of potassium and only 1 mg of sodium, a banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure and protect against atherosclerosis."

Chocolate, the darker the better, is not only packed with anti-oxidants that help fight free radicals, it has been proven to lower blood pressure in a number of studies.

Because I was heading in a vegan kind of direction with the ingredients I'd settled on, I decided to use agave instead of honey for the liquid needed here. This turned out to be a very sweet idea. Walnuts add fiber and the benefits of linolenic acids.

So, here we go - brownies with very low fat, no eggs, no cholesterol, plus they're vegan!

Vegan Chocolate Banana Brownies
Christine's Original Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3 ounces very dark, bitter sweet chocolate
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
4-6 tablespoons agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped toasted nuts, I used walnuts

Preparation:

Spray an 8"x 8" or 9"x 7" pan with a Pam-like spray.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center of the oven.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas then add the agave syrup, vanilla and melted chocolate and stir well.

Stir the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, followed by the chopped nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly to the edges and bake in the oven for about 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out crumb free. If using the 8-inch square pan, you may have to bake them several minutes longer.

The sides of the brownie batter may pull away from the edge of the pan when done; be sure that the edges don't burn.

Remove from the oven and allow the brownies to cool in the pan on a rack.

Cut into 1-inch squares and serve with afternoon tea.

Cook's Notes:

Although these were good right out of the pan, they are better the day after baking for some strange reason.

If I were to make these again I might substitute whole wheat flour for one half of the flour measurement.

Be sure to check out the HotM roundup at the end of this month. Want to join in the fun? Send your post link to Joanna at joannacary AT ukonline DOT co DOT uk before October 23rd.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

A Mother Of A Bean

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Up until recently, I'd never been much of a bean person. I actually can't remember my mother ever cooking a pot of beans. Maybe that's where my indifference came from.

Not that I've never cooked beans before. In the 70s and early 80s when I decided to be vegetarian and Molly Katzen came out with the Moosewood Cookbook, I made her Black Bean Soup a lot. Over the years, though, my bean cooking had fallen off to just short of never.

These days, however, with all the attention on getting one's fiber, eating more whole grains, beans, etc., I've re-examined my ho-hum attitude toward the lowly bean.

Did you know that beans are a high fiber, complex carbohydrate, low glycemic food that are high in B vitamins and many minerals? Or that Beans have been shown to lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes, and lower the risk of colon cancer when eaten as part of a regular diet regimen? Neither did I until I did some research.

And if health factors alone were not enough to get me on the bean wagon, discovering Rancho Gordo has also helped to renew my interest. Steve Sando is so enthusiastic about his beans he practically could make a convert out of anybody. Including me. Here is my most recent purchase of a trio of beans from the man himself: Good Mother Stallard, Black Valentine and Marrow.

These beans are clean, people! No dust, no rocks. And I found just one bean that wasn't absolutely perfect. How many of you can say that about your store-bought beans?

Firmly on that bean wagon now, this morning I began with the Good Mother Stallard: A swirl of purplish burgundy on a creamy background encases this sturdy, plump bean which holds its shape even after cooking. The taste is nutty and earthy, the mouthfeel creamy and smooth. This is a bean to dress simply so its lovely flavor and texture are not muddled. And please don't throw out the cooking liquid. It's pure gold.

Cooked with fresh (or dried) bay leaves (I'm so lucky to have a bay tree growing outside my kitchen door!) and a covering of cold water, the finished beans needed nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil, some lemon zest and a sprinkling of Maldon Sea Salt to make my eyes light up and my tongue do its happy dance.

A quick rinse under cold water and these were ready to soak. A 6-hour soak was all they needed.

They cooked to a perfect consistency in less than 1 hour.

There's no particular recipe here. I simply did the following:
Rinse the dry beans under cold water.
Place them in a large pot and cover with cold, fresh water. Throw in 3 fresh or dried bay leaves. DO NOT salt the water. This will retard the cooking of the beans and you'll end up with hard rocks. Ditto on using stock. Just use plain, cold water and you'll be rewarded.

Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. When a boil is reached, lower the flame to maintain a simmer, on my stove, that was low.

Allow the beans to simmer until they've reached the consistency you desire. These were well cooked in just under 1 hour. In fact, I may have overcooked them just a teeny bit.

Remove the pan from the heat and drain the beans, saving the pot liquid! The liquid these beans make, in and of itself, is worth it. Use the liquid for soups, stews, or to add back into the beans if you wish.

Discard the bay leaves.

To achieve the finished dish (photo at top of page), drizzle beans with good, extra-virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest (go ahead, squirt in some juice if you want) and a sprinkling of good sea salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging. My post is not really about an herb per se, but WHB includes plants, veggies, and fruits as well. Plus, I'm so excited about beans, I simply must share.

Weekend Herb Blogging is the brainchild of my blogger buddy Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and is being hosted this week by Ellie of Kitchen Wench, way down in Australia. To read about WHB and how to join in, please click here. Ellie should have her round-up posted on Monday. I can't wait to read all the entries!

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Chipotle Vanilla Ice Cream

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Take a bite. Go ahead. The first thing that hits your palate is vanilla, engaging both your nose and your tongue with its lovely perfume. Then cold. Sweet. A little crunch of chocolate. Suddenly, as the ice cream melts and reaches the back of your tongue, a bloom of smokey, hot, red jalapeno pepper fills your mouth.

What? You don't like your ice cream spicy hot?

Take heart, O timid one. Tempered by the cold and sweetness, the bloom is fleeting, gone all too soon. Did it really happen? That's when you take another bite. Then another. Then another...

Mr. CC's eyes got very big after his first taste. This is always a good sign. As a slow grin spread across his face, I knew I'd hit the bull's eye.

Hornitas in Estes Park, CO

So, the sisters and nieces were sitting around in Di's (the youngest sister) house in Colorado talking about Ann's (the middle niece) upcoming @%#*!th birthday (we're not allowed to say it out loud) and blow-the-doors-off-bash she's going to throw. Amidst the talk, margaritas and ginger-mint snaps (Ann's creation - hopefully she'll share the recipe), we were cooking up a somewhat Mexican influenced dinner for Kelly (the youngest niece) whose 18th birthday was on that very day.

While charring red bell, poblano and jalapeno peppers for the myriad dishes on the menu that night, which I will talk about in another post, I idly wondered about combining chipotles and vanilla in an ice cream custard. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea and told Ann that, if successful, I'd bring the ice cream to her birthday bash.

I'm happy to report that this concoction is as delightful as I'd hoped and then some. Excellent on its own, a scoop would be an elegant partner to a sweetly-filled empanada (south american filled pastry turnover), my sis Cynthia's specialty.

As I'm wont to do, I made the ice cream low fat and sugar-free. The chocolate walked on stage as I was freezing the custard last night. Giving a slight curtsey it pleaded, "Use me, please!" How could I say no? Feel free to use all the cream, eggs and sugar you wish, but this is quite delicious as I've made it here and way easier on your heart.

Chipotle Vanilla Ice Cream
Christine's original recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups 2% milk
1 large chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/4 teaspoon adobo sauce
1/2 vanilla bean
3/4 cup Splenda granular
1 cup egg substitute such as Lucerne's Best of the Egg (found at Safeway)
1 12-ounce can fat free evaporated milk
1 ounce chopped or shaved bitter-sweet chocolate

Preparation:

Combine the milk, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, vanilla bean and Splenda in a saucepan, whisking gently to incorporate the Splenda.

Place over low heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. It's okay for the chile to break apart during this process as it will infuse the milk with its smokey heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in the egg substitute until fully combined.

Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Take care that the eggs don't curdle.

Remove from the heat again and allow to cool for 5 minutes before stirring in the fat free evaporated milk.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a clean glass container.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the mixture, stir to blend and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze in your ice cream maker following the manufacturer's directions. Add the chopped chocolate when the custard has become semi-frozen.

Ann, you find the ice cream maker and I'll figure out how to get the custard to Oakland.

Cook's Notes:

We girls cooked up a storm while in Colorado and I'm hoping to get a few of those recipes posted here soon.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved