Monthly Archives: July 2011

July 30, 2011

31 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Picture of the Day

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Had a wonderful afternoon at the South Florida Foodies potluck event in Midtown. Met a lot of passionate & talented fellow food lovers and got the chance to try out a new recipe–ramen in Momofuku broth from Lucky Peach Vol. 1 with scallop and crab mousseline “scallops”. More to come on the potluck later (including a pictorial). Just had to snap a pic of this newfangled propaganda poster for my POTD. :)

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Almond Milk & Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Oreos

30 Saturday Jul 2011

Posted by in Recipes

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Or, Ice Cream Take Two

This was our second batch of ice cream made with the Kitchenaid mixer ice cream maker attachment, and like the first attempt, it wasn’t half bad. Where the first attempt was eggy and a little on the brittle side, this version had zero eggs and a a nice creamy mouth feel. It was too sweet by far, but the texture was pretty decent. Not quite like Ben & Jerry’s and I’m not 100% sold on the cornstarch slurry, but not bad.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Almond Milk & Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Oreos

This recipe is based on Dana Treat’s Cherry Crisp Ice Cream, which was in turn adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

2 c. almond milk
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
1.5 oz. cream cheese, softened (we used reduced fat Neufchâtel)
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. corn starch
1/8 tsp. fine sea salt
a slack 2/3 c. white table sugar
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
2 caps vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. crushed Oreos (we used reduced fat)

Place the bowl of your Kitchenaid mixer ice cream maker in the freezer 24 hours prior to your desired ice cream having.

Make the component parts:

Cornstarch slurry: mix 2 tsp. almond milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to form a smooth slurry.
Cream cheese: mix cream cheese and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth and well combined.
Cookies: crush Oreos. Resist the temptation to visit the bowl of cookie bits between steps.
Chilling Station: place a large bowl in the sink, fill with ice and water.

Make the ice cream base:

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, combine remaining almond milk, cream, sugar, agave nectar and vanilla. Bring up to a boil and keep it there for 4 minutes. Watch your pot like a hawk, or it is going to boil over. If your pot continues to boil over like mine tried to, pull it halfway off the heat if you can, and if not, knock the heat back a little until the boil is less enthusiastic.

Remove from the heat and whisk in your slurry.

Return to the heat and cook, stirring, about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat for good this time.

Slowly pour the milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour into a 1 gallon freezer bag and submerge as best you can in the freezing water. Let stand until cold, about 30 minutes.

Ice cream it:

Assemble your frozen ice cream maker attachment right before the 30 minutes is up. You want this sucker to still be near-freezing when you add the ice cream base.

Carefully pour your ice cream base into the frozen ice cream maker bowl and let spin on mix until thick and creamy, about 25 minutes. Add the cookies and let go another 5 minutes.

Spoon out into your container of choice and freeze until your desired serving consistency is reached; for us this was about an hour.

Serve & enjoy. Makes about 5 moderate servings.

Dinner with Friends: Michy’s

26 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in Life

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We visited Michy’s during another stop on our continuing ‘foodies with cameras’ dinner/impromptu photo shoot quest with our good friend Kevin. Our mission: to find great food that not only delights, but looks beautiful as well.

This is not the first Bernstein restaurant we have visited on our trek. Check out my review of Sra. Martinez and related pictorial.

Michy's Menu provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

We ordered the large chef’s tasting menu this evening, and it was worth it. Expensive, but a great way to experience the menu. While I don’t think we will be tackling the tasting menu every time we have one of these dinners, for a restaurant like this, where we already know and love the chef’s food, it was a good way to go.

Yummy, Yummy Table Bread

Appetizer Course(s)

Peruvian Ceviche provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Peruvian Style Ceviche – Seafood of the Day (scallops, a white fish and shrimp) with ginger, lime, chilies, sweet potatoes and crisped corn. This was some of the best ceviche I have ever had–nice and light, not too acidic, perfectly cooked and tender.

Tuna Tartar provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Tuna Tartar - Diced tuna with a soy, ginger, scallion and chili oil dressing and house potato chips. While not a standout dish, it was fresh and delicate.

Greek Watermelon Salad provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Greek Style Watermelon Salad – Watermelon with upland cress, bacon molasses vinaigrette, feta, black olives and pecans. A well-balanced salad, though a touch of sour would have been a nice addition–maybe something in a pomegranate molasses?

Croquettas

That fig marmalade was so great, I had to include Kevin's shot too. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Jamon Serrano & Blue Cheese Croquetas with Fig Marmalade – We were excited to see Bernstein’s fig marmalade, having absolutely loved it at Sra. Martinez. These croquetas did not disappoint–the bleu cheese was a great addition and the marmalade was fantastic as always.

Bellies of Pork with Ham Jus. Ham Jus. Mmmmmmm......

Pork Belly with Tortellini - Crisped portions of pork belly with a sweetish glaze, pork cheek tortellini and rich ham jus. The tortellini and jus would have been a great dish alone; the addition of pork belly made for one rich (and tasty) appetizer.

That's Some Tasty Thymus!

Sweetbreads “Milanesa” – Lightly breaded and perfectly fried sweetbreads with Cippolini onions, apple slivers, black eyed peas, bacon and cider gastrique. This was the first time any of us had had sweetbreads, and we were all dying to try them. Yum. Creamy and light, we see what all the hubbub is about, especially when paired with the freshness of apple. The beans were also great–al dente and wholly satisfying.

Entree Course

Beefy Goodness - Shortribs

Short Ribs Falling off the Bone – Short ribs (boneless as advertised) with a sun choke mousseline, natural jus and roasted vegetables (favas, tomatoes & English peas). There’s a reason this is Michy’s most popular menu item. These short ribs are great, giving up their beefy goodness with almost no resistance. The vegetables were a perfect accompaniment, although I must admit to being a sucker for sun chokes. I could have dealt well with much more of that puree.

Delicate and Fragrant Snapper Curry

Whole Yellowtail Snapper - Pan-seared Yellowtail Snapper with Malaysian curry, green and ripe mangoes, jasmine rice and hearts of palm salad. Our portion was most of a snapper, and I’m so happy it wasn’t more. This dish was great–it smelled amazing, and the curry was nice and light, but at this point we were getting pretty stuffed.

Carbonara - It's not the same as mom's, but was the near-universal favorite entree of the night

Fettuccine Carbonara – Fresh fettuccine with smoked bacon, crispy Jamón Serrano, prosciutto, melting St. Andre cheese and English peas. This was fantastic, and not just because I love fresh pasta and bacon. This dish was not near as heavy as I anticipated, and provided a luxurious bacon-y foil for the fish.

Classed-up Grits

Creamy Polenta – Creamy white grits with truffle, poached egg and bacon bits and shaved Parmesan. What’s not to love about cream, cheese, egg, truffle & bacon? This was a great side.

Dessert Course

I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. Demille

Tasty little beehive of goodness provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Baked Alaska – Pistachio cake with dulce de leche ice cream wrapped in toasted Italian meringue and sauced with passion fruit salsa. I’ve been dreaming about this dessert off and on since our last visit, and I am happy to say for good reason. The pistachio cake is awesome–not too sweet and not too heavy. I also appreciate any time my food has been on or near fire :)

Apple Pie provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Deep Fried Apple Pie A La Mode – Some sort of deep fried apple pie with apple cider caramel and vanilla toffee ice cream. This was also wonderful, but I was so preoccupied with the Baked Alaska, I only had a small taste.

Snickers for Grownups provided by Kevin Huggins. Follow him on Twitter @fuji27

Chocolate and Peanut “Candy Bar” – A soft, delicate chocolate cake & other things candy bar with fresh peanut gelato. It was no popcorn ice cream, but it was certainly tasty.

My Picks

Best Appetizer: Sweetbreads Milanesa, but the ceviche was a close second (possibly because it’s 999.99 degrees outside and ceviche is all I want to eat all summer).

Best Entree: It’s a really close race between the carbonara and short ribs. I do love my fresh pasta, but the beef was so.. beefy.

Best Dessert: Baked Alaska! I’ve been dreaming of the pistachio cake :)

My DH’s Picks

Best Appetizer: After deliberation, the Pork Belly with Tortellini–the tortellinis and jus was what put this dish over the top.

Best Entree: Hands down, the carbonara.

Best Dessert: No contest: the Chocolate and Peanut “Candy Bar”.

Kevin’s Picks

Best Appetizer: Peruvian Style Ceviche

Best Entree: Fettuccine Carbonara

Best Dessert: Deep Fried Apple Pie a la Mode

Check out the review on Foodie In Miami