photo by hundrednorth

]]> http://www.kungfoodie.com/edible-eatable-totoros/feed/ 2 http://www.kungfoodie.com/peach-frozen-yogurt/ http://www.kungfoodie.com/peach-frozen-yogurt/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:05:33 +0000 Kat http://www.kungfoodie.com/peach-frozen-yogurt/ Recipe for starting the summer off right….

1. one bag of uber ripe farmer’s market peaches
2. a gifted jar of manuka honey from New Zealand
3. one deliciously sweet cookbook by an American dude living in paris
4. three hours of passionate hands-on ice cream making instructions
5. one borrowed Mega Ball ice cream maker
6. thirty eight years of ice cream cravings

As Spring was gearing up and heading into Summer I simply couldn’t resist falling into the ice cream craze. Knowing that David Lebovitz would be doing a book tour for The Perfect Scoop (his new frozen desserts cookbook) I waited on pins and needles for him to arrive in Berkeley. If you’re not familiar with David be sure to drop by his blog…his adventures as an expat in France has kept me laughing for over two years now.Of course the wait was worth it and enjoying a taste of Chicory Chocolate Chip ice cream from Berkeley’s Ici was the icing on the cake….errr…scoop. Photos here.

The Perfect Scoop is 246 pages of easy to understand info and recipes that will have your mouth watering in 60 seconds flat. I’m amazed at how simple some of his recipes are, and the flavors combinations are just insanely wonderful. David doesn’t skip anything making sure to include recipes for sorbets, frozen yogurt, sherbet, granitas, plus sauces, mix-in treats, homemade cones and an array of ‘vessels’ like ice cream sandwich cookies! I have to apologize to all my friends for talking about nothing but ice cream for the last two weeks.With a pile of lovely ripe peaches on hand my first recipe to conquer was Peach Frozen Yogurt on page 90. Instead of using refined sugar I decided to give it a go with manuka honey (a dark honey from New Zealand which has a rich heady taste).

Talk about sexy…this is peaches XXX.

Since I don’t currently own an electric ice cream maker I borrowed a  low brow ice cream maker from the awesome Shuna. Silly? Maybe a tiny bit. Fun? Yes! It was incredibly easy to use. Of course my boyfriend had to point out that I earned extra nerd points for rolling it around while watching Youtube videos. Uh, they were cooking videos sweetie…really, I swear.Want to guess what flavor comes next?

Photos by Kung Foodie,
at the Eggbeater Ice Cream Class

[RSS readers: click through for the photo slideshow.]

In many ways this is my favorite time of year in the Bay Area….slow rainy days, lush green hills, cherry tree blossoms, and flashes of sunshine. Everything is hinting at Spring but the wetness makes for a perfect excuse to spend the weekends indoors with friends whipping up batches of homemade donuts.

Our crush-worthy neighbor and blog friend Shuna let us loose in her kitchen last Sunday, and Drew went to town creating some insanely divine sugar and spice mixes that we rolled those hot little pate choux puffs in. Who ever thought fried dough could be so good? Oh wait, I guess (ahem) lots of people already do. Duh.

Edible photo goodness from left to right.
[view all the Donut photos]

whip cream
black sesame & salt
raspberry & tayberries
curry & ginger
vanilla & cardamom
cocoa nibs & mesquite

I have to say this was one of my all time favorite food experiences. I don’t think i’ve ever sat down and tasted spices right out of the bottle, at least not this many in one shot. There was a lot of talk about what might work well together. My beloved (he shall now forever be known in our house as the Mix Master) managed to create some amazing blends grinding them up in a little coffee grinder.

I really enjoyed the curry and ginger dip topped with a small bit of raspberry…but the most divine flavor was the mesquite powder with cocoa nibs. I can’t even begin to describe this taste other than to say it was so wonderfully intense it had me making noises that got everyone blushing.

I told D he needed to start bottling this RIGHT NOW! He could call it ‘Earth’s Passion’ or ‘A Taste of Sin’ and people would secretly hoard it using it every morning in their coffee or on their cereal, then walk around all day with a smile on their face. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? A spice blend that could save the world…or at least make a lot of people happy.

It was truly the most perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday.

I admit it. I’m a Lost addict. I simply can’t get enough of this show and I’m not really sure why. All the exploding fiery plane bits were pretty exciting in the beginning and then I kept on watching…because who can deny the wonders of, oh well, being lost on a island in the middle of nowhere I guess. Ooh the mysteriousness of it all makes me tingly inside. This is love right?

Okay…honestly, this isn’t about me. It’s about FISH BISCUITS people!

Because we all know that fish biscuits have the power of love hidden inside. Like a strangely morphed scene from Like Water For Chocolate, I’ve been imagining those secret Dharma cooks laboring away over a hot oven mixing batches of biscuit dough and being sure to cry a few tears into the bowl. What else in the world could inspire two incredibly dirty and hot kids to get nekkid in a cage on camera?

As a little token of my love on this V-day I’ve made a special batch of Lost Fish Biscuit cookies! And while the recipe I used might say “flavored with citrus zest” I promise you…every bite tastes like strawberries.

I started plotting my cookie project many months ago, wondering what make for the best combination of recipe and coloring. Figuring out the correct size by comparing the layout of Sawyer’s mouth/hand/face biscuit munching action came in handy (thanks for actually taking a bite on camera dude).

Mixing up what I thought would be the first test batch of several it all turned out to perfectly. While it’s not hard to make your own cookie cutters (tutorial here), I decided to create a template on stock paper and cut them out by hand with a sharp knife. It didn’t take long considering they’re life size; each cookie is about eight inches in length, two inches wide, and almost a half inch thick. Since the cookies are so large you have to roll out the dough on your baking sheet or a silpat otherwise they’ll get distorted if you try to move them. One batch of dough will yield around five cookies and the lovely salmon color comes from one quarter bottle each of both red and yellow food coloring.

I made two paper templates one of which I used to cut out the cookie shape, the other I folded in half and used as a guide for the lettering. While looking at the top half of the template (which is laid on top of the raw cut out cookie dough) I used a small butter knife to press the bottom half of each letter. Then removing the template I finished the top of each letter. It’s not perfect but it still looked close to the real deal. A purist with money might simply buy a cake letterpress set like this one, but you can also download my fish biscuit template and have a go at it the freestyle way.

As a parting present here’s a little video recap of the moment Lost became a legend in my mind. Thanks for the fish biscuit dance Sawyer…and thanks Kate, for taking a bite of his already half eaten cookie.

For those Lost fanatics out there here’s a sound clip just begging to be turned into a ringtone.

-Kat

photo by KungFoodie

What more could one ask for than a triple apple rum raisin pie to top off your holiday dinner? Not much I say…’cept maybe some whip cream of course. Mmmmm…. How can you beat hot baked raisins soaked in rum? And layers of sweet Golden delicious and tart McIntosh apples coated in brown sugar and butter?

Being that I am a self-proclaimed pie eating addict, I do formally declare THIS to the world’s best apple pie recipe ever!

* If you’re not really sure what Ubuntu and Linux is, don’t worry….you can always create a cookie design with that cute little Firefox.

The ‘computer geek gone chef, and back again’ blog has been working overtime to bring us must-read posts like Working With Pumpkin and Why I Love Perl (okay…so this post is a little about programming but also about food. How can you go wrong I ask?). Joseph’s recipes and tutorials are one part food science, one part artistry, and one part geek love. You’re guaranteed to walk away with a smile on your face and a brain full of serious cooking lore.

Go check out blog.JosephHall.com and be sure to download one of his foodie wallpapers.

I recently stumbled upon the beautiful food blog Nordljus. Lordy this woman takes beautiful photos and writes of delicious things…like popsicles!

Our San Francisco heat wave has come and gone, yet even with the chilly Bay Area summer nights the neighborhood ice cream truck music rings in my head bringing me dreams of childhood days scrambling for change to buy my favorite orange creamsicles or strawberry push-ups. If you just missed that music link I dare you to go back and click it.

While August 14th is National Creamsicle Day, I think my thirty-something self would rather make these Strawberry Rhubarb Almond Yogurt Lollies on Keiko’s blog.

As usual with the Internet I find that my life is compressed with little more than one degree separation of all things I love. The second I’m thinking of sweet icy things and searching for recipes I find the most adorable music video Popsickle from a band called the Starlight Mints. It just so happens that I went to college with one of the Mints (hallo Marian!) and worked at a catering company with another (hallo Allen!). Those sweltering August days in Oklahoma were divinely made for popsicles.

[If the video is missing I apologize, it means that Youtube is down for maintenance.]

Bloggers Popsicle Recipe Roundup…

Mahanandi – Strawberry Mango Icepops
Noshteria – Yoghurt and Strawberry Cream Pops
Cilinarily Obsessed – Jello Pudding Pops
Vanesscipes – Multicolored Surprise Pops
Nature Moms – Tropical Smoothie Popsicles
Apartment Therapy – Watermelon Popsicles
Vineela – Saffron Pistacho Strawberry Kulfi Pops

Mmmmmm…I must go find some frozen green tea mochi on a stick! Get your fill of more ice cream music here.

Hidden Passion by Princess

Modern Trio by Princess

Essence of Spring by Princess

Blushing Sorbet by Princess

Flaming Pillow by Tokyo Ayano

Slick Pink by Kemular

Space Odyssey from Sakamencho

For more mouth-watering imagery visit Alde’s Japanese Sweets, Emily’s wagashi making demo by Minamoto Kitchoan, or Katsuzin13′s gallery of wagashi.