Sabtu, 11 Agustus 2007

Crab Fritters With Summer Salsa and Coconut Sticky Rice



2 fresh mangoes, peeled and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
5 small tomatoes, cored, cut in half and seeds squeezed out and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. chili powder

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, mix well and set aside, covered.

Coconut Sticky Rice
1 ¾ cup water
1 cup jasmine rice
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1 ½ cup coconut milk

In a medium sauce pan, add the water, rice, olive oil, salt, and cardamom, cover and bring to a boil; then reduce heat to low until rice has absorbed all of the water, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer the rice to a bowl and fold in the coconut milk. Cover and set aside.

Crab Fritters
½ lb. fresh crabmeat, remove any pieces of crab shells
1 c. fine white bread crumbs, unseasoned.
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 medium shallot, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
¼ tsp. chopped basil, dried; or two fresh leaves, chopped
½ tsp. chopped chives, dried; or 1 tsp. fresh chives, chopped
¼ tsp. chopped thyme, dried; or 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
¼ tsp. chopped tarragon, dried; or ½ tsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
½ c. olive oil
½ c. flour (reserve for dredging the crab patties)

In a bowl, toss the crab with the breadcrumbs until the crabmeat is evenly coated. In a separate bowl blend all the herbs with the cream, garlic, and shallots. Then, with a fork, gently fold the crab into the cream/herb mixture, set aside.

Batter
1 egg
¾ cup milk
¾ cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Now make the batter by whisking together the egg, milk, salt, and pepper; then gradually wisk in the flour, continually whisking until the batter is smooth.

Fold the crab mixture into the batter until evenly combined.

To cook the crab fritters:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan to medium heat.

Place flour from fritter recipe in a bowl and have a tray lined with absorbent paper on which to place the hot fritters.

With your hands, form the crab and batter mixture into thin disk-shaped patties; dredge them in the bowl of flour. Once the oil is hot, gently dip the patties in the egg wash and then place them into the oil. The fritters should cook on each side for roughly 1 minute, the thickness of the patties will dictate the cooking time, or until each side is a dark, golden brown color and the center of the patties should be warm to hot.

Remove the fritters from the oil and place onto the absorbent paper.

To Serve:

Place fritters on a bed of the summer salsa accompanied by the coconut sticky rice.

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Winter Squash Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream



8 cups winter squash (Butternut, Hubbard, etc.), peeled, seeded and cubed
4 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 cups onion, peeled and sliced
2 cups carrot, peeled and sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
4 cans of chicken or vegetable stock (14 ½ ounce cans)
1 pint Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla ice cream
2 Tbsp. chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, toss squash with 2 Tbsp. olive oil to coat. Place squash in roasting pan or on sheet pan covered with foil. Place in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a 3-quart soup pot, add the remaining olive oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 15 seconds more, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Add the carrots, celery, bay leaf, and chicken stock; bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until approximately half the liquid has evaporated. Remove the bay leaf and discard.

In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetables and stock. Return puree to the pot and add ½ pint of the ice cream. Simmer over low heat to warm the mixture thoroughly.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and some chopped nuts sprinkled over the top.

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The Mother of All Ice Cream Sandwiches


Ingredients:

2 pounds of chocolate chip cookie dough
2 pints of your favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
1 small package of M&M’s

Double your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, or double our recipe from page 98 of the Ben & Jerry’s cookbook, reprinted below.

Divide the doubled recipe of dough into two equal portions and form into two large balls. Place one of the dough balls between two pieces of parchment or wax paper. Slightly flatten the dough ball by pressing down with the palm of your hand; then roll out as you would a pie crust to approximately ½ inch in thickness, taking care as you roll to retain the round, cookie shape. Carefully transfer the dough to a large baking sheet. Repeat with the second dough ball and transfer to a second baking sheet. Follow the recipe’s baking instructions. At the point when the cookies are removed from the oven and are still warm and quite soft, decorate one of the two cookies with the M&M’s by pressing them gently into the top of the cookie.

While the giant cookies are cooling, temper two pints of your favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream so that the ice cream is soft enough to spread, but not runny. Once the cookies have thoroughly cooled, turn the undecorated cookie, top side down, onto a serving platter or cake plate. Spoon on the ice cream and spread it evenly over the cookie’s surface to within a half inch of the edge. Place the decorated cookie on top and press down lightly. At this point it is good to put the cookie sandwich into the freezer for at least a half hour or more to firm up the ice cream prior to slicing into wedges. For ease of slicing, use a large serrated knife.

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Organic Crème Brulée


Ingredients

1 pint of Organic B&J Vanilla ice cream ( other flavors may be used. Smooth flavors work best. Break up chunks if using chunky flavors)
2 Organic eggs
2 tsp. Organic sugar
1 tsp. Organic vanilla
1/2 cup Organic sugar, reserve for "burnt sugar crust"
4 oven proof ramekins for custard

Soften ice cream to a liquid state. You can empty the pint into a bowl and leave in the refrigerator for a few hours. Do not heat at high temperatures to melt ice cream.

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees

Place four ramekins in a pan with water half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Beat the eggs only until well blended, no more then 15-20 seconds. Pour eggs, sugar, and vanilla into softened ice cream and stir until well blended. Pour crème mixture into ramekins. Place pan with water and crème mixture into oven for 1 1/2 hours. Custard is done when top is firm and jiggles slightly in the middle when shaken. Remove pan from oven and cool custard to room temperature. Note, you will see holes on top of the custard from the air in the ice cream having escaped--this is normal. When completely cooled, cover with food wrap and store in the refrigerator
.

To create burnt sugar crust:

Immediately before serving, pour a liberal amount of sugar on the top of the first custard, pouring any excess into the next ramekin. Continue until the tops of all four ramekins have a thin layer of sugar. Caramelize the sugar by placing the ramekins under a broiler on the top rack or by using a small culinary flame torch. Note this step goes quickly, remove when sugar on the custard turns golden brown. Serve immediately.

recipe