It's just about summer again, which means the days get longer and it's okay to overload on ice cream again. Here's an ice cream recipe I came up with after a friend randomly texted me with the idea to make pumpernickel into an ice cream. Always up for an ice cream challenge, I decided the best way to incorporate the bread's taste would be to steep it in the cream. For this little experiment, I used a fresh baked loaf of pumpernickel, but you can easily sub in pretzels or sugary cereals to make equally unique desserts. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 cups whole milk, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• pumpernickel bread, cubed
• Maldon sea salt

First, heat one cup of the whole milk in a microwavable bowl with the sugar for about 2 minutes or until dissolved. Slice up your pumpernickel bread (about enough to fill a medium-sized bowl 1/3 of the way).

Next, combine the sugared milk, the remaining cup of milk, the cream and the pumpernickel in a medium bowl or container, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. You'll want to shake or stir it along the way to make sure that the pumpernickel taste has been absorbed into the cream before moving on to the next step.

Strain the cream through a colander. You'll want to press down on the pumpernickel to get as much of that flavorful cream out of the bread as possible.

Finally, process the mixture in your ice cream maker. Just before removing from the machine, fold a little Maldon sea salt in to taste. Pumpernickel has such a unique flavor you don't expect to find in an ice cream, yet here it is. I was surprised at just how well this one turned out. As the days of summer get longer, we'll definitely be making this one again.

People, I have achieved my end game. I finally managed to make a seafood dish that Mark really, sincerely loved (I did, too!). Don’t get me wrong, in the last few years he’s grown to like seafood when we dine out, and he’s always open to trying new things. But after a few not entirely successful tries to make his mouth water with ocean-dwelling protein prepared at home, I got discouraged. And lazy. And stopped making seafood at home at all.

That all changed last week. We finally made our way over to the Hollywood farmers market at the insistence of our dear friends, who had been talking up the fishmonger there at every opportunity. Some awfully pretty swordfish was on special, and while waiting in line to purchase it, I pulled up this recipe. “BOOM,” was Mark’s reaction, being a lover of coconutty things. I had a good feeling about this attempt, and I was right. The meatiness of the swordfish + the light yet powerfully flavorful sauce is irresistible.

List of ingredients:

• 2/3 cup light coconut milk
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 tbsp fresh lemongrass, peeled and finely minced (or 2 tbsp grated lemon peel if you can’t find lemongrass)
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 2 tsp chili paste
• 4 shallots, peeled and rough chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and rough chopped
• 1 ½ lbs swordfish steak, cut into four 6-oz portions
• Cooking spray or a little bit of olive oil

Honestly, this recipe is as easy as it gets. First, I turned on my broiler. After giving all the choppable ingredients a nice rough run through with my knife, I combined the coconut milk, cilantro, lemongrass, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, chili paste, shallots, and garlic in my food processor and pulsed until well-combined and coarsely chopped.

I put the fish in a roasting pan lightly coated with oil and spread half of my delightful smelling shallot mixture evenly over all 4 steaks, creating sort of a coating.

I broiled the steaks for almost exactly 15 minutes (until the fish was just cooked through), then served them up with the remaining sauce, some steamed white rice and a little spicy garlicky bok choy action.

FINALLY. Success was mine! A wonderfully elegant fish dish that Mark loved. Loved so much, in fact, that he suggested we head to the farmers market every other weekend to make Sunday nights seafood night. My friends, the dragon is slain.

This Rasa Malaysia recipe for roast chicken may not be quick & easy, but it does yield really great crispy skin and juicy, well-seasoned meat. Plus, I had all of the ingredients lying around the house except for the chicken. Incidentally, if you are a fan of making Chinese food at home, invest in a bottle of dry sherry. It comes up more than you would think.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, about 2 1/2 – 3 lbs
• 4 garlic, lightly pounded
• 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced

For the marinade:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 dashes white pepper

For the skin coating:

• 2 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar (clear in color)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dry sherry

First, I rinsed the chicken and patted it dry. As much as I love roasting chicken, I hate, hate, washing and drying chicken. It is a pain. Anyway, I trussed the chicken following the directions from this very simple video. I didn’t realize it until I read that post, but the reason you truss a chicken is to ensure a juicy breast. Good to know, as I HATE dry chicken breast and consequently, avoid making/eating it.

Next, I mixed the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and rubbed it all over the outside and inside of the chicken. I threw the garlic and ginger inside the cavity and then stuffed the whole chicken into a super huge plastic Ziploc bag and poured the marinade in over the top. Then I put it in the fridge (sitting inside of a large plate in case of leaks!) to marinate overnight, turning the bag once.

The next morning, I mixed the skin coating ingredients together a small bowl. I liberated the chicken from the plastic bag, removed the garlic and ginger in the cavity and scalded the chicken with hot boiling water by pouring the water all over the chicken (I’ve never done this before, but apparently it removes the marinade on the chicken skin.)

I shook the chicken off and aired dried it at room temperature for about 30 minutes or until the skin surface was no longer wet. Then I rubbed the skin coating mixture evenly on the chicken skin and continued to air dry the bird until dinner time using the harness technique I created when I made Peking duck last year.

Near dinner time, I heated up the oven to 400 degrees and roasted the chicken in a roasting pan for about 10-12 minutes breast side up, and then turned it over and roasted for an additional 45 minutes-hour, or until the skin was nicely brown or golden brown and the meat was cooked all the way through. I let the chicken rest, carved it up, and served it with some steamed white rice, drizzling both the meat and grains with the pan juices in the roasting pan.

Like I said up top, this is a bit of a time-consuming recipe. I'm not entirely sure I think it was worth all that effort. BUT it is pretty good, and given that I almost always have the ingredients for it, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up making it again sometime.

I’m a night baker, at least when it comes to cookies.

I never really plan to make cookies. They’re not something I crave on a regular basis, and I’m not particularly good at making them. BUT, in that magic hour after dinner and during evening television watching, I sometimes find myself itching to make and eat something sweet. And I usually have most of the ingredients I need to whip up a batch (or two or three) of Cookie Monster’s favorite treats.

Last week when the urge hit, I just happened to be on a ginger kick. The result? Several dozen of these pretty decent gingersnap cookies.

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup dark molasses
• 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

First off, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, and made my cinnamon sugar. You can buy it at the store, but that seems silly. I just mixed together ½ cup of white sugar with 1 tbsp cinnamon. Done. I also sifted together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

I used my stand mixer to beat the shortening until creamy, then added the sugar, then the egg, then the molasses (while the mixer was still going). Next, I added the flour mixture gradually until incorporated into a soft dough. I started off doing this while the mixer was going, but flour started going everywhere, and it was generally a big mess (like in the cartoons!). So I just turned the mixer off to add the flour, then turned it back on to mix. Seems simple, but it’s something that I actually had to think about.

I formed the dough into 1-inch balls, rolled them in the cinnamon sugar, then placed the balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and baked for about 10 minutes per batch. Then I let them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before diving in.

These were really good out of the oven, slightly less good the next day – they got kind of brittle (although they still tasted pretty good). If I make these again in the future, I will try experimenting with oven temp and bake time to keep them soft, and will attempt to remember to throw a piece of bread in with them. But for a last-minute, nighttime recipe? Not bad at all.

No, this is not a repeat post. I know, the creamy polenta recipe I posted back in February seems very similar. BUT, in this one, I make the polenta slightly differently! And this one subs in chicken sausage! And grapes!

Fine. You caught me. This is basically a repeat post. But this version of the polenta + sausage combination is really good, too.

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2-3 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1 cup medium-grind polenta
• 1/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• 3 tbsp parmesan
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound chicken or turkey sausages
• 1/3 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 pound seedless red grapes, cut into bunches with stems attached
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup dry white wine

First, I made the polenta. This time, I actually managed to find real polenta (as opposed to cornmeal)! In a large saucepan, I brought the water, milk and butter to a boil. I added the salt, then added the polenta, whisking constantly for 3 or 4 minutes until I had broken up all the lumps. I simmered it for 45 minutes partially covered (stirring every now and again) until the polenta was thick, smooth, and creamy. I removed the pan from heat, stirred in the crème fraiche and parmesan, and set it aside, covered.

Next, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. I heated my cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with just a bloop of olive oil (1-2 tbsp), added the sausages and fried them until they were nice and brown all over (about 5 minutes).

I added the broth, thyme sprigs, grapes, and shallots, gave it all a nice stir, then transferred the skillet to oven for about 15 minutes, turning grapes and sausages halfway through cooking time.

I removed the grapes and sausages from the skillet, and added in the wine over high heat heat, cooking for just a moment and scraping up browned bits. I served the sausages and grapes over the polenta and drizzled it all with the pan sauce.

As similar to my previous polenta + sausage dish as this is, it does have some really tasty and interesting departures - the grapes add a really nice sweetness, and the chicken sausages make things a tad less greasy and heavy. But I promise, no more creamy polenta recipes from here on out...at least for another couple months.

Half a cup of sriracha. Yeah, you read that right. HALF A CUP. I love the Thai chile sauce as much as anybody could, but it is a very bold flavor and one I usually use sparingly in recipes. I was skeptical that these sweet and spicy chicken drumsticks from Bon Appetit would turn out well with that amount of rooster sauce. The inclusion of fruit jam/jelly didn’t quell my fears.

But actually, the spice and the sweetness from those two ingredients paired really nicely, particularly with a little help from the acidity from the vinegar and brightness from the mirin. While a little too in-your-face for regular consumption, we polished off these (not insignificantly) hot, sticky drumsticks in no time.

Ingredients:

• 12 large chicken drumsticks
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sriracha
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• your choice of fruit jam/jelly (I used red raspberry jam)

First, I rinsed and patted the drumsticks dry, placed them in a large bowl and salted them generously. I covered the bowl and refrigerated it for an hour.

After the hour was up, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees, and whisked together the rice flour and the cornstarch in a large bowl. I dredged each of the drumsticks in the flour mixture and placed it on a rack in a roasting pan. Then I baked the drumsticks for 1 hour (until the skin was brown and crisp), turning every 15 minutes.

In the meantime, I combined the sriracha, rice vinegar, mirin, and jam in a small saucepan, whisked it together, and brought it to a boil over medium high heat. I reduced the heat to simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes, until it had reduced down to about ¾ cup.

When the chicken was ready to come out of the oven, I covered each drumstick with the sauce and placed it back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. This sauce is not messing around. It is as flavorful and spicy as…well, as you’d imagine something with half a cup of sriracha would be.