Vanilla Beet Gelato

Ah beets, how much do I love thee? So, much that I want to even eat you for dessert!

Actually, I should say Matt wanted beets for dessert, I think I've finally converted him into a beet lover too. We had picked up a bunch of baby beets at the farmers market & were pondering what to do with them. Matt's first (& only) suggestion was to make ice cream. We'd had beet ice cream last summer from the Chef Shack & I know Thomas Keller makes one so, it's not a completely original idea. I decided to do a gelato instead of ice cream because, well, it's really easier & we like gelato just as much.

I roasted the beets before puréeing them with the milk because I think roasting brings out a lot of sweetness from them. Matt suggested the vanilla as a way to give it even more of a dessert flavor & I think it went well with the flavor of the beet. When first churned, the ice cream tasted like beets but it was subtle, Matt thought it was almost more of a back of the mouth flavor. After curing in the freezer for a day though, the beet flavor is much more prominent. I think it's going to go wonderfully with the dark chocolate brownies I plan to serve it over tonight.

This was a total experiment so I only made a small batch, 2 - 3 small servings. If I make it again I will double the amount of everything except the beets. I think that would make the flavors of the vanilla & beet a little more even though, it would reduce the intensity of that beautiful pink color.

Vanilla Beet Gelato

1/2 c beets, cut into 1 - 1/2 inch pieces (for us this was 8 baby beets)
olive oil
1 c milk
1/2 c cream
1/2 vanilla bean
6 T sugar

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put the beets in a small roasting pan & drizzle with a little olive oil. Stir to coat. Roast for 15 minutes until softened.

Put the beets in a food processor with 1/4 cup of the milk. Process until as smooth as you can get it. Put this puréed beet mixture into a saucepan with the remaining milk & cream. Split the vanilla bean in half & scrape the seeds in to the pan. Add the scraped vanilla bean to the pan. Stir in the sugar. Heat over medium-low until the sugar is dissolved. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, make sure to remove the vanilla bean. (You can skip the straining step if you want little pieces of beet in your gelato, I wanted a smoother texture.) Chill in the fridge until cold.

Process according to the directions on your ice cream maker.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

I realize beet gelato might not be everyone's cup of tea but we certainly enjoyed playing with the idea & eating the results. Now I'm thinking of what other vegetables might make good ice cream flavors....parsnip ice cream anyone?!

Beet Greens and Garlic Scape Pizza

The first thing I did when we got home from the farmers market on Sunday was cut the greens off of the beets as that helps the beets last longer. Matt wanted to know what my plans were for the greens. I had figured we'd just end up throwing them in a stir-fry or sautéing them for a side dish but he had plans for this pizza.

The beet greens have such a nice fresh flavor, not bitter at all like some greens can be. The stems have a very mild beet taste. We blanched the leaves & stems in the microwave for a minute to soften them up before putting them on the pizza. (I also do this if I want to freeze them to use later in thinks like soups & stew.) We had planned on pairing it with a little chopped garlic but then noticed that some of the garlic scapes in our garden were ready to harvest so we used one of them instead. Scapes are so perfect in a application like this giving a garlic flavor that isn't sharp or overpowering like raw garlic. Other than that this pizza just has some fresh mozzarella & freshly ground pepper, very simple but really full of flavor.

The scape is the flower stem of a garlic plant. They get cut off to help increase the energy put into growing the bulb & they are mighty tasty! You should start seeing them at farmers markets in our area the next couple of weeks.

For the crust of this pizza I added a little wheat bran. It give a nice flavor, texture & color to the crust as well as some healthiness.

Beet Greens & Garlic Scape Pizza

Wheat Bran Pizza Crust

1 T olive oil plus extra for the bowl
1/2 c warm water
1/2 t dry yeast
1 t kosher salt
1/4 c wheat bran
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more if needed

Mix the 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the warm water. Stir in the yeast then the salt & wheat bran. Stir in the flour until you can't stir anymore with a spoon. Knead the dough until it is smooth & elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky add more flour a little at a time.

Put a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl. Put the dough in & turn it to coat with the oil. Cover & let sit until double in size, about 2 hours.

Making the Pizza

10 - 12 baby beet green leaves with stems, chopped (you can use chard here instead since they are basically the same thing)
olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
1 garlic scape, sliced into small pieces (use a clove of garlic if you can't get scapes)
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Put the beet greens & stems into a plastic bag. Microwave on high for 1 minute to blanch. Set aside

Lightly oil a baking sheet. Spread the dough out into a rectangle about 12" x 18" on the prepared sheet. Scatter the cheese cubes around the dough. Sprinkle the garlic scapes & blanched beet greens over the cheese. Season with pepper. Bake for 13 -15 minutes until the cheese is melted & bubbly & the golden brown.

Makes 1 pizza

We are really enjoying putting all sorts of different seasonal ingredients on our pizzas lately, ramps, garlic scapes, beet greens...what is your favorite, perhaps a little unusual, pizza topping?

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Linguine with Sugar Snaps Peas and Tendrils

Sunday at the Kingfield Farmers Market we picked up the first peas of the season as well as a large bag of pea tendrils. We wanted to use them in a simple dish that would spotlight their sweet, fresh flavor without too much other fussiness.

Really it's hard to get simpler than this, peas, spring onions & pea tendrils quickly sautéed, then mixed with linguine & topped with the just a dash of cream & some grated Parmesan. All of this just lets that pea flavor & snap shine through. It's like a big bowl of spring.

Linguine with Sugar Snap Peas & Tendrils

4 oz whole wheat linguine
1/2 T butter
1/2 T olive oil
7 - 8 oz sugar snap pea pods
1 spring onion, white & green parts sliced (or 2 scallions)
2 c pea tendrils, torn removing any thick stems
2 T heavy cream
6 T grated Parmesan
salt & pepper

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain one cooked.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter & olive oil is a large skillet over high heat. Add the pea pods & onions & sauté quickly. Add the pea tendrils & cook for another 1-1 1/2 minutes until the tendrils are wilted & tender. Stir in the linguine. Add the cream & cheese stirring until the cheese is melted & everything is coated. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Serve with extra grated Parmesan if desired.

2 servings

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

Food 365 May

1. #151 - Cherry Bomb Brat & Grilled Asparagus, 2. #150 - Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream for Breakfast, 3. #149 - Sushi!, 4. #148 - Grilled Asparagus Wrapped in Guanciale, 5. #147 - Pork Chop with Rhubarb Honey Sauce, 6. #146 - Three Lilies Pizza, 7. #145 - Risotto with Leeks, Broccoli & Black Beans, 8. #144 - Taco Night!, 9. #143 - Spicy Asian Salmon, 10. #142 - Iced Chai, 11. #141 - Rhubarb Cobbler Cake, 12. #140 - Not a fluke, 13. #138 - Ramp & Potato Tart, 14. #137 - Pasta with Morels & Ramps, 15. #136 - Cured Salmon over Daikon Pancakes, 16. #135 - Rhubarb Pie, 17. #134 - Vosges Exotic Dark Chocolates, 18. #133 - My First Cheese Soufflé, 19. #132 - Creamed Peas on Toast, 20. #131 - Chicken Soup with a Side of DayQuil, 21. #130 - Cheese Ravioli, 22. #129 - Take out, 23. #128 - Chicken Pot Pie, 24. #127 - Spindini, 25. #126 - Risotto with kale & sausage, 26. #125 - Banana's Foster, 27. #124 - Crawfish, 28. #123 - Charcuterie Platter, 29. #122 - Banana Pudding Layer Cake, 30. #121 - Chicken Fingers

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

One of Those Nights

Last week kept me pretty busy in the yard, we are in the midst of a huge landscaping project & my job was to dig up all the sod in our yard to prepare it for planting. It was sweaty, tiring work! So, when dinner time rolled around on Friday the last think I felt like doing was working on dinner. It seemed like the perfect night for a quick almost snack-like dinner.

Our meal consisted of a warm baguette with cream cheese, a greek olive assortment, spinach parmesan couscous & guanciale wrapped asparagus.

There were two stars to this meal. The first was the asparagus wrapped in guanciale...

We were inspired to make this when we had a similar appetizer at Broders' Pasta Bar a few weeks back. Its dead simple to make. I just cleaned the asparagus & wrapped it in the thin slices of guanciale. What is guanciale you ask? Guanciale is an unsmoked Italian bacon made from the from the cheeks or jowls of the pig (or as Matt calls it Face Bacon). It is a tasty, tasty treat but if you can't find it use pancetta instead, it won't be exactly the same but still good. Then the wrapped spears are thrown on a hot grill or grill pan & cooked until the guanciale is cooked & crispy. The saltiness of it with the sweet, fresh asparagus is perfection.

The other high point was the Spinach Parmesan Couscous. Near East* was nice enough to send us a couple boxes of their Parmesan Couscous to try.

Couscous is such a easy side because it cooks in 5 minutes & it's a snap to dress up. For this version I put some sliced spring onions in with the water to boil. Added the couscous & seasoning package then let it sit for 5 minutes. After that, I stirred in about 2 - 3 cups of chopped spinach until the spinach wilted from the heat. I could have eaten just a big bowl of this as my whole meal! It's a little thicker than regular couscous, almost like a polenta, most likely from the cheese. It's called parmesan couscous but it actually has a blend of three cheese in it including blue cheese which I could really taste. I was also happy to see it wasn't full on chemicals & artificial flavorings.

All & all this was exactly the kind of meal I needed after a hard week of work, easy & satisfying!

*Near East sent us samples of couscous to try but didn't pay us in any other way to write about it.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski