I was invited to my friends for a BBQ. I offered to bring ice cream sandwiches for dessert. I had a massive failure with ice cream sandwiches last year (which explains why it didn't make it into the blog). What makes this recipe easy is using ice cream in brick form. It's much easier and less messy to slice ice cream and place it onto the cookie rather than scooping it. The issue with this is that you're limited with flavours. I bought Neapolitan ice cream because I thought the three colours would make the sandwiches a bit more fun.
Ice Cream Sandwiches - Makes 12-14 sandwiches From Foodtv.ca's Ricardo and Friends The cookie recipe takes no time to bake and assembling the sandwiches is just as quick!
* ½ cup allpurpose flour * ½ tsp baking soda * 1 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped * ¼ cup unsalted butter * ¼ cup cocoa powder * 3 eggs * ½ cup brown sugar * ½ a 2-litre brick ice cream, cut lengthwise
Baking the chocolate cookie With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 17" x 12" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Set aside. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter with the cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth. In another bowl, beat the eggs and brown sugar until the mixture turns pale, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, followed by the chocolate mixture. Spread the dough evenly on the pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 5 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Unmould onto a cooling rack and remove the paper. Let cool completely.
Putting the sandwiches together Cut the cookie wafer in half lengthwise. Cut the ice cream brick lengthwise into 3 equal rectangles - 7.5" x 4.5" x ¾" inches (I thought the ice cream was a bit too thick and would slice it more thinly). Return one of the ice cream rectangles to the freezer for another use. Arrange the two remaining ice cream rectangles short end to short end on one cookie wafer. Cover with the other cookie wafer. Using a knife, trim away any excess ice cream. Cut into 12 sandwiches (or as many as you'd like - I made 14). Store in a large container in the freezer. Tada!
Top: the batter and the whole cookie wafer. Bottom: cutting the cookie lengthwise and adding the ice cream.
Everyone enjoyed these sandwiches at the BBQ. Who wouldn't like ice cream sandwiches?
I received an e-mail about a Blueberry Blogger Recipe Contest sponsored by the British Columbia Blueberry Council. It came at the perfect time because blueberry season is in full swing. I love eating blueberries on their own. Other than blueberry pie, I have to admit I don’t often cook with blueberries. After much thought, I thought I would submit a blueberry-centric pavlova recipe to the contest.
It is much debated whether pavlova hails from Australia or New Zealand, although it is agreed that it was named after a Russian ballet dancer named Ánna Pávlova. I was therefore quite amused that when I told my boyfriend A this, he thought it originated in Russia, considering his mother is from New Zealand! My first time trying pavlova was actually in Vietnam at an Australian restaurant with my best foodie friend, the Gastronomer!
Blueberry Pavlova – Serves 10-12 Pavlova’s traditionally consist of a meringue, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, commonly strawberries, kiwi's and passion fruit. On this occasion, I have combined it with a blueberry sauce and fresh blueberries. There may seem to be a few steps to this recipe but they're all relatively quick and easy, and definitely worthwhile!
Meringue - made 6 small ones and 1 large one For the pavlova, you can make a great big meringue and slice it, or small daintier ones, served individually. On this occasion, I tried both!
I have experienced enough failures (like the time I used up 6 eggs for a meringue recipe that only called for 2) with whipping egg whites to share a few lessons: * the eggs should be at room temperature – so leave them on the counter for a good hour before preparing your pavlova or you can even soak them in warm water beforehand. * the bowls and tools you use should be clean - any residue will ruin your egg whites. * the egg whites have to be separated without any egg yolk – so my tip is to separate your egg white into a separate smaller bowl. When you’re sure you’ve separated it properly (if not, use it in an omelet!), pour the egg white into a larger bowl and repeat with the next egg. This way you don't ruin your whole batch with one bad egg; there is nothing more upsetting than having to redo all of your eggs because the third egg white you added had a bit of egg yolk!
If you take these precautions, you shouldn’t have any problems - I didn't this time!
Top: Adding the cream of tartar and salt, frothy mixture means sugar can be added. Bottom: Drawing circles and spreading the meringue.
* parchment paper and baking sheet * 6 egg whites, at room temperature * ½ tsp cream of tartar * pinch of salt * 1-¼ cup of granulated sugar * 2 tbsp cornstarch * ½ tsp vanilla extract
Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet. Using a round bowl turned upside down, draw circles to use as a template for your meringue. Add the cream of tartar and salt to your egg whites. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cornstarch Beat the egg whites, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer, for a few minutes until frothy (2-3 minutes) on medium-low speed. Add sugar a spoonful at a time while still beating the egg whites, until incorporated and beat mixture on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating on medium-high until stiff peaks are formed (4-5 minutes). Using a rubber spatula (or a spoon), spread the egg whites onto your circular templates. (I made 6 small circular meringues and one large one on a separate baking sheet). The meringue layer should not be too thin since you want some body to the meringue. Bake for 60 minutes at 250F. Add 10-15 minutes baking time for the larger meringue. If you have time, allow the meringues to sit with the oven turned off for 2 hours to dry out the meringue. Meringues can be made in advance the day before and stored in an airtight container.
Blueberry sauce While pavlova's usually consist of meringue, whipped cream and fresh fruit, I thought an extra layer of blueberry sauce would add another component to the dessert! This blueberry sauce can be used in many other recipes: on top of crêpes, as a filling for turnovers or simply spread on toast. Lemon and blueberry go hand in hand so I added lemon zest for a bit of lemony flavour!
* 2 pint of blueberries * 3-4 tbsp sugar * zest of one lemon
In a small pot, add blueberries and sugar and heat up to medium-low. Crush the berries with the back of a spatula (or I used a potato masher). Let it simmer for 10 minutes until blueberries are cooked. Add lemon zest. Taste and add sugar/zest as required and turn off the heat. This can also be made in advance and refrigerated.
Whipped Cream You can make maple whipped cream or just use icing sugar. While you want egg whites to be at room temperature when whipping them, cream has to be cold for best results! Refrigerating the bowl you'll be using also helps.
* 1 cup heavy cream (35% fat), cold * 3-4 tbsp icing sugar, to taste * 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add icing sugar and vanilla and continue whipping until stiffer peaks form. Store in the refrigerator until you need it.
To assemble the blueberry pavlova This is for a blueberry pavlova but you can add any fruit to your liking! I alternated between the white and blue coloured ingredients for best visual effects.
Place your meringue on a plate. Spoon the blueberry sauce on top. Layer the whipped crem with an icing spreader. Add fresh blueberries on top. Slice into wedges if you've made the large pavlova and serve. Tada and enjoy!
Starting with the large meringue.
Blueberry sauce on top.
Now the whipped cream and fresh blueberries.
Enjoy it as a lice from a large pavlova.
Or from a smaller individual portion.
I love this recipe for a number of reasons. I like the crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, meringue, combined with the thick blueberry sauce. The soft whipped cream and fresh blueberries add an element of coolness that's perfect for a summer dessert. You can prepare each component ahead of time and just assemble it for your guests. Finally, I think the different layers make it a very pretty dessert!
P.S. Thanks to A for being my personal photographer (first photo and the last 6)! P.P.S. Thanks to my friends for being pavlova tasters!
310 Commercial Street @ Standish Provincetown, Massachusetts 508.487.0977 website
I just mentioned that A and I rarely have dessert when we go out. Well, after grabbing lunch/dinner at The Mayflower, we decided to have ice cream. Lewis Brothers is well known for its ice cream in P-town. Before the wedding, we had purchased a few pints for the pre-wedding BBQ. I found out that my new brother-in-law D's favourite flavour is mudslide chip.
I always enjoy soft serve ice cream so decide to have a peach flavoured soft serve yogurt. I really liked the mild peach flavour. Unfortunately, I reached my full capacity early and couldn't finish my frozen yogurt. My boyfriend A was happy to oblige.
Soft serve peach yogurt.
A decided to get the mudslide chip, which consisted of vodka, kahlua, bailey's and chocolate chips. Geez... what's not to like? A seemed to like it!
A's mudslide.
Finally, we took the opportunity to walk around P-town. It's definitely an interesting and eclectic town. There are interesting stores around that you would find nowhere else. Too bad I didn't have more time to check it out!
300 Commercial Street Provincetown, Massachusetts 508.487.0121 website
When planning my trip to Cape Cod (after the wedding that is), I was most excited to go whale watching and luckily my boyfriend A felt the same. Unfortunately, the weather did not seem cooperative; thick layers of fog limited vision to a few hundred feet or so. However, I was able to convince A to go anyway (he came with little hope of seeing anything). Luckily, the fog did clear and we ended up in a feeding area so we were able to see twelve different whales or so! What a sight they are, just beautiful! I was excited for the whole day! Dolphin fleet is the only fleet in Provincetown that offers whale watching.
Mother and her calf, and other whales.
After the long boat ride (our trip was extended by 30 minutes because the whales were SO amazing!), A and I were famished. We walked around Provincetown (P-town) looking for food. P-town is a very touristy area and so we just agreed on pizza. As we walked toward a pizza joint, A stopped and pointed out that he thought what I really wanted was seafood. Yes, so sweet! As you can imagine, there are many seafood restaurant in P-town but we decided to go to The Mayflower.
A ordered the veggie burger deluxe ($8.95) which came with fries. He paid a small fee to add cheese to his fries but was sorely disappointed that it was a fake cheesy sauce, rather than real cheese.
Veggie burger deluxe.
I came into the restaurant planning to order a scallop dish but got distracted by the Portuguese section of the menu offering bolhas de bacalhau, Portuguese codfish cakes (many Portuguese fishermen settled in P-town after the American revolution). I like trying new things! The potato and salted codfish cakes were tasty although slightly overcooked, as you can see below. It was good but maybe I should have had scallops one last time...
My codfish cakes.
I think The Mayflower is like all restaurants in P-town, a bit more commercial. The food is okay but you're not really there for the food.
222 Main Street East Orleans, Massachusetts 508.255.8547 website
On the day after the wedding festivities, my boyfriend A and I took it pretty easy. We had breakfast hosted by my brother-in-law D's family. As D and my sister L headed out to Martha's Vineyard for a few days of rest, A and I went to check out the beach. After our long walk, we came home to leftovers of cheese and cake from the wedding.
A on the jetty in Provincetown.
While A napped after our long walk, I researched restaurants in Cape Cod. I narrowed them down to a couple. I let A make the final decision since he faces less choices because he's vegetarian. We decided to go to the Nauset Beach Club. The Nauset Beach Club specializes in Northern Italian cuisine and is set in an old converted beach house. By the parking lot, I spotted a garden that I assume supplies the kitchen. I think that's a good sign for a restaurant!
The garden and Beach Club!
We were first served two pieces of bread with sage flavoured oil. I remember really enjoying the hot bread (because it was a foggy and cold evening), especially dipped in the sage oil. And I decided to share a starter and picked the risotto del giorno: grilled radicchio with shaved asparagus. It was very good and I really liked the unusual use of radicchio in the risotto.
Top: bread and sage oil. Bottom: risotto with radicchio.
For my main dish, I ordered the linguine con vongole ($13 for the antipasto portion) since I figured clams in Cape Cod would be quite fresh. This dish was very simple and depended on the freshness of the clams. The little neck clams were great but the sauce lacked a bit of excitement.
Linguine con vongole.
A on the other hand loved his gnocchi con asparagi ($19) and stated the homemade gnocchi was the best he had ever had. I tasted a gnocchi and had to agree it was pretty tasty. My friend C whose family hails from Northern Italy likes her gnocchi more chewy but I like them soft and melt-in-your mouth and these were in that category! (On a side note, I remember having amazing gnocchi at Tom Colicchio's Craft in NYC years ago.)
Gnocchi con Asparagi.
With our main dishes, I decided to order a contorni. The verdure ($6) I selected consisted of escarole with garlic and carona beans and tomato confit. It was a great choice! With my Asian background, I love eating cooked greens. The dish might not look spectacular but I loved the creamy beans and the tomato confit was perfectly flavourful. Anyone would eat greens if they were served this dish. I have been obsessively searching the internet for a recipe to replicate!
Escarole with garlic and carona beans and tomato confit.
One thing I noticed going out for dinner with A is that he encourages to stop eating when I'm full, while I'm happy to plow through sometimes. The result is that when we go for nice meals, we usually skip dessert since we are pretty full at the end of our meal. But come to think of it, I think I'd rather have a nice appetizer than dessert.
If you're looking for a nice Italian restaurant in Cape Cod, or a good restaurant in general, I really think we picked a winner!
As I mentioned in previous posts, the reason I was in Cape Cod was for my sister L's nuptials to D. L and D rented a beautiful beach house in Provincetown, where we had all been staying. Months of preparation culminated to this special day. We hoped for good weather; instead it stopped raining just enough for the backyard ceremony.
As for the food, their caterer PTown Parties Catering provided a perfect New England feast. After the ceremony, we enjoyed cocktails while L and D went to get pictures taken at the beach. Appetizers included freshly fried clams, potato latkes, mini BLT's and endive spears. I was too busy to take pictures but everything was quite tasty. Being cheese lovers, L and D also had prepared an extensive selection of cheeses.
L thought of every detail for the wedding!
After L & D's return, we sat down for our meal (that is, after I gave my toast, which somewhat helped me regain my appetite!). We were first served clam chowder. You can't have a New England meal without, can you? It honestly was the best clam chowder I had. It struck a perfect balance of clam brininess and creaminess; I realized then that most chowders are too rich and heavy. My boyfriend A arrived right before the ceremony and enjoyed his corn chowder that he was highly praising too. (By the way, A generously offered to take food pictures of me.)
Corn and clam chowders.
The main meal (the majority ordered the lobster) was served with jalapeno corn bread with honey butter. The corn bread was good but had a surprising kick from the jalapeno that was a bit overwhelming.
Corn bread served with honey butter.
Finally, our lobster arrived. I have to admit I slightly regretted my lobster decision. I just didn't want to work for my food at that moment (embarrassingly, I was spoiled and got help from my mom...). However, the lobster meat couldn't be more fresh. A's vegetarian option consisted of a lasagna that seemed quite good. Each main dish was accompanied by roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables and half an ear of corn.
Top: Lobster and lasagna. Bottom: the newlyweds getting ready to chow down!
L and D's wedding was a small affair, 30+ guests. The night was filled with different activities, from the Mexican shoe game to the anniversary dance. The night did end with traditional cakes. The chocolate mousse and carrot cakes came from Whole Foods. The prices were ridiculously reasonable compared to wedding cakes. I couldn't eat more that night but I did really enjoy the carrot cake for breakfast on the next two mornings!
Cake time (L made the cake toppers)!
It was a beautiful wedding and a memorable night. Congratulations to my sister L and my b-i-l D! I was happy to be there as maid-of-honour! If you'd like to check out more pics, their photographer Shang Chen did an amazing job!
