Are you a fan of brownies so rich and dense that if you close your eyes when taking a bite you think you're actually biting into a piece of fudge?
No?
OK then, why don't you toddle along……today's post is clearly not for you.
Desserts
Mango Sorbet
Every now and again our love of fresh, colorful fruit gets the best of us and between my wife and I, we end up buying a bit more than even our large family can maw through in a reasonable amount of time. So it was last week when the crisper bins of our fridge started to look something like a "Noah's Ark" of fruit, as they appeared to contain at least 2 of every variety known to mankind.
Rhubarb and Ginger Buckle
Here is yet another Genius recipe from Food52 that I had to share. I promise you are going to want to make this, so don't screw around and put this recipe on the bottom of your to-cook pile, stick it on the top and make it the next sweet treat you make. Remember, rhubarb won't be available in the markets much longer.
Like the other "Genius" recipe we've posted here, Alice Medrich's Best Cocoa Brownies, this cake is absolute perfection. Rich with butter, sweet with sugar, slightly tart from the rhubarb and buttermilk, and with a spicy pop from the candied ginger, this confection is firing on all cylinders.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
We've been going a bit crazy with rhubarb around here as of late. As the first true sign of spring produce we see in these parts we like to greet it's arrival with a bit of fanfare, thank you very much. So far we've used the lovely, tart red-green stalks in a knock-out Rhubarb Fool recipe we pinched from our friends Jody and Ken at The Garum Factory, in some Rhubarb Mojitos concocted by our fun dinner companion Tammy, and in this super easy, yet wildly delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.
Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake
For Peyton's "Sweet Sixteen" birthday dinner she stayed true to form and just like last year chose an Asian themed meal and CHEESECAKE for dessert. She was a little concerned that they weren't the most natural of pairings, but I assured her that on your birthday there are no rules. If the little nutbag she wanted sushi and cheesecake for her birthday feast, then an East meets West mash-up it would be.
Chocolate Budino
Riz Au Lait
Now that you've polished off the last of the pies, cakes and crumbles left over from your Thanksgiving feast, it's time to replenish your dessert larder with a new treat. God forbid you go more than a day or two without a holiday worthy sweet in your house this time of year….what would the neighbors say?
You might think from the name of this recipe (Riz Au Lait is French for rice with milk) that it's all about the rice….it's not. This dish is all about vanilla and cream, the rice acts only as a mechanism to deliver these two stars to your taste buds and to provide a little texture. This is not the rice pudding of your youth, the cold, gummy cup of misery that the lunch ladies served up on occasion. That dish was cold rice soaked in low-fat milk and sugar, this one by contrast delivers plump grains of short rice luxuriating in a bath of warm, sweetened cream and vanilla. You follow?
It's snowy whiteness is so enticing that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is the dish that Mrs. Claus uses to fatten Santa for his long, cold journey on Christmas Eve. Yeah, this dessert is sinfully rich and should therefor be served is appropriately small portions (unless of course you're looking to Santa-size yourself). In fact, it's so rich that it's one of those dishes that warrants a mention on the Q & A form presented at your annual physical.
Apple Cranberry Crisp with Hazelnut Topping and Creme Anglaise
With just under a week to go before Thanksgiving, it's time to start training for the big day. I'm not talking about kitchen time trials where you block out cooking times for your various dishes to make sure you have the oven and burner space to pull everything together in a timely fashion.
No, I'm talking about deliberately increasing your food intake over the next week to prepare your body for the onslaught that is the Thanksgiving feast. Just as you would never dream of running a marathon or swimming a mile without some serious conditioning, don't kid yourself into thinking that you can survive Thanksgiving without some pre-feast indulgence.
Key Lime Cheesecake
Peyton, who is once again on a pescatarian kick having given up eating all red meats while off at camp this summer, recently returned home after a six week absence, so a special meal was in order. As a huge fan of Asian food, sushi in particular, working up some appetizers and a main meal was pretty straight forward. We started with some fried crab spring rolls and "Wagamama" gyoza, then moved onto a fabulous rice salad with oranges and mangoes, and an awesome Thai dish called shrimp larb that we served up with a tasty cabbage and green bean salad.
Lime Cheesecake Ice Cream
Within minutes of polishing off the last of our stupendously good homemade coffee ice cream, my wife and I were back to pouring through Jeni Britton Bauer's Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home cookbook for another inspired recipe of hers to try. I fell hard for the "Salted Caramel", while my wife was drawn to the "Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Cherries".
Guess which one we made?