November 18th, 2013
Today we celebrate our book, The Vibrant Table, being available for pre-order and all the work on it – successfully completed . We’ve been pretty much consumed with making it for year and a half, and have put all the best that our minds and hearts have to offer into it. Looking back on the whole process, I remember the tremendous challenge, the ups and downs and self-doubt. But above all, I remember the challenging and fulfilling work, the excitement, and the sense of great accomplishment. And we really love the result.
The book is beautiful, thanks to the guidance of all the fine people at Roost Books, it is colourful and radiant, with fresh, vibrant dishes and many family stories. There are 320 pages with all but two new 100 recipes, which are very diverse – I tried my best to offer something for everyone. Most of the recipes are vegan, all of them are vegetarian and all but two are gluten free. We also took care to make most of the recipes as light as possible, letting seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs shine and take the main stage. As many of you have requested in the past, I share my ideas and experience of raising kids to appreciate healthier foods. You’ll find many of our favorite soups and salads, plenty of main dishes to choose from, and desserts to indulge in. In short, we’re very proud with the way the book has shaped up and so excited to share it with you.
The official release date is June 10th of next year, but you can get it earlier if you order it from Roost Books. We’ll keep you updated on any news regarding The Vibrant Table, including when the “look inside” option will be available on Amazon. We hope that you’ll love the book as much as we do. Pre-order it on Roost, Amazon, Shambhala, Random House, McNally Robinson.
Now to the ice-cream. This was my first attempt to make a winter squash ice-cream and now I wonder why I haven’t done it every fall, all season long. It has a beautiful colour, perfect texture and amazing flavor. The cranberry sauce creates the most pleasant contrast with the smooth and mild ice-cream, and the maple toasted pecans contribute the delicious finishing touch. Make it to celebrate with us, or surprise your family and friends at the Thanksgiving table, I know I definitely will.
Kabocha Squash Ice Cream
(makes 2 batches)
1 small kabocha or red kuri squash, or pumpkin – cut in half and seeded
2 cans full-fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon shredded ginger
3/4 cup maple syrup or more to taste
pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon xanathan gum – optional
for the cranberry sauce
2 cups cranberries
1 cup honey
for the pecans
large handful of pecans
maple syrup and grapeseed oil for drizzle
sea salt
to make the ice cream base
1. Turn the oven to 400 F (180 C). Place the squash halves cut-side down on the baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes or until soft throughout. Let cool
2. Meanwhile, pour the coconut milk into a medium saucepan, add in ginger, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let infuse for 30 minutes.
3. Combine the squash flesh (I utilize the skin of red kabocha or red kuri squash as well, as it’s soft when baked. You’ll need a high-speed blender though, if using the skin), gingery coconut milk and the rest of ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
4. Chill well in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
to make the cranberry sauce
1. Combine the cranberries and honey in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the cranberries begin to pop open, for 10-12 minutes. Let cool and pulse in a blender or food processor to a chunky consistency.
to toast the pecans
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). In a bowl, drizzle pecans with maple syrup, grapeseed oil and a pinch of sea salt, mix to coat. Spread on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes. Let cool and chop.
to make the ice cream
1. Make sure that ice-cream base and cranberry sauce are well chilled. Churn the ice-cream base in your ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions ( I needed to do this amount in 2 batches, based on the size of my Cuisinart ice-cream machine).
2. Prepare a chilled container and scoop about 1/3 of the freshly made ice-cream into it, distributing into an even layer. Drizzle about a third of the cranberry sauce on top, followed by a third of the maple tossed pecans.
3. Continue to scoop another third of the ice-cream into the container, alternating with the cranberry sauce and pecans. If you do it in two batches, keep the ratios accordingly. Chill for at least 2 hours or longer before serving. When hardened completely, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before scooping.
Tags: ice cream, recipe, squash
Tweet
August 28th, 2013
When it comes to ice-cream, for me, the stranger and less common the flavour, the better. My track record includes lavender, cardamom, black sesame, avocado, spiced apple and rose petal ice-cream, to name a few. This summer, the ice cream recipe I’m most proud of is this Kaffir Lime and Mango one.
I’ve been dreaming about flavouring ice cream with kaffir lime leaves for a while now. Although they are most commonly used in savory dishes, the leaves have that aromatic and zesty taste that I imagined would work beautifully in many desserts. And my imagination did not fail me this time – the ice cream came out absolutely out-of-this-world delicious.
Ripe mangoes have been falling off the trees all over the neighborhoods around us lately, which means very happy times for me. I have a few friends who are just as enthusiastic about getting their hands on the freshest local mangoes, and we set out on mango hunts around the neighborhoods whenever possible. But if a sweet ripe mango is out of reach where you live, you can omit it – the bright flavours of the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and coconut milk will do a wonderful job on their own.
I made a lime reduction to accompany the ice-cream with an extra-zesty kick, but it is entirely optional.
The Vietnamese owner of the market, where I usually buy frozen kaffir leaves, recently asked me what I do with all these lemongrass stalks and lime leaves, and was amazed to hear that I use them to make delicious ice cream. I have to admit that I felt a bit accomplished in surprising him, as I always feel that he knows much more about cooking than I ever will.
Kaffir Lime Mango Ice-Cream
2 cans full fat unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
3 lemongrass stalks – cut into 2-inch pieces and bruised with the back of a chef’s knife
2 large handfulls kaffir lime leaves – bruised
1 large or 2 small ripe, sweet mangoes – peeled and pitted
zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup light agave syrup or other sweetener of choice
1. In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of coconut milk with xanthan gum or arrowroot powder to form a thick slurry. Set aside.
2. Heat the rest of the milk, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in a medium sized pan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and leave to infuse for 1 hour.
3. Transfer into a blender (preferably high-speed) and blend until smooth. Strain the solids through a fine-mesh strainer. Rinse the blender.
4. Pour the strained mixture back into the blender, add in the slurry, mango flesh, lime zest and juice and agave, and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until well chilled, preferably overnight.
5. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
Notes:
1. If you have a high-speed blender, such as Blendtec or Vitamix, you can eliminate the first step. Just heat the whole amount of milk in step 2 and add the xanthan gum in step 4 along with the rest of the ingredients.
2. You can also eliminate step 3 if your blender is not very strong, just strain out the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves after infusing the milk, without blending them. The flavor may be not as pronounced in this case.
Lime Reduction
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice – from about 5 limes
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lime zest
1-inch piece fresh ginger – minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1. Combine the lime juice, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and keep it gently boiling for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until reduced by 3/4 and syrupy.
2. Add the zest, ginger and lemon juice and let steep for about 5 minutes. Strain and cool. Add honey or agave if the reduction is too strong and zesty to your taste.
Tags: ice cream, kaffir lime, mango, recipe, vegan
Tweet
October 15th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Before it gets too cold, here are two ice cream ideas that are a little more hearty to set the mood for fall.
I’ve been wanting to try black sesame ice cream for a while now. At first, I was mostly intrigued by its deep asphalt grey colour, which is so uncharacteristic to ice cream or any dessert for that matter. Deviant ice cream. But then I thought about the flavour and realized that it would taste of halva and honey, and there was no stopping me then.
I also made some ginger ice cream to go with the grey batch. Ginger is another one of those warming, earthy flavours, which combines wonderfully with the sesame. I found the pairing of the two to be very comforting, almost soothing to have after a long day or to end a peaceful dinner.
Ginger Ice Cream
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-inch peeled knob of ginger plus 1/4 cup grated ginger
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of coconut milk with xanthan gum or arrowroot powder to form a thick slurry, set aside. Heat the rest of the milk, agave syrup, vanilla and the knob of ginger in a medium sized pan. Bring to a near boil, mix to dissolve the agave. Cover and leave to infuse until cool. Remove the knob of ginger and heat again. Add the slurry and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and add grated ginger. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
Black Sesame Ice Cream
Black Sesame Paste
1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1/2 cup raw honey
Toast black sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan often. Remove from heat immediately as you start smelling the toasted seeds. Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Mix honey with the seeds.
2 cans full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup coconut sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons black sesame paste
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup coconut milk and arrowroot powder, making a slurry. In a medium sized pan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, stir in the arrowroot/xanthan slurry and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Mix in the black sesame seed paste thoroughly. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
To make raw ice cream, use this recipe for vanilla ice cream and add about the same amount of grated ginger or sesame paste. You may want to reduce the amount of agave for the black sesame ice-cream or use 1/2 cup of coconut sugar instead.
Tags: black sesame, dessert, ginger, ice cream, raw food, recipe, vegan
Tweet
