pictures and pancakes: 2013

Friday

summers last breath

so that happened fast! summer was here and summer ran away...a few weeks of heat on the east coast followed by a bit out west. in new york and the northeast, it went out with a bang. a huge lightning and thunder storm slammed through and brought with it the cool beginning of fall on its coat tails. although we are ready for a nice light jacket and strolls through the city without a full sweat, we will miss the days of cold beer, summer foods, boat rides and fireflies. a little homemade ice cream is our last gasp at holding on to summer, and even as our hotter days end its never really offseason for ice cream in our book. so before the soups and stews set in, lets enjoy a few more weeks dreaming of that fantastic summer.

TART CHERRY BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM

for our tart cherry buttermilk ice cream we used a mix of sour and bing cherries, but you can use whatever you have on hand. the buttermilk ice cream is a great base for whatever fruit is in season- try peaches sautéed in brown sugar and cinnamon or plums cooked with honey and cardamom!

2 cups pitted cherries

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs water

12 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, split in half and seeds scrapped

2 cups buttermilk

pinch of salt

in a medium saucepan, combine cherries, sugar and water and bring to a boil over high heat. reduce to medium and cook until slightly broken down and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. cool completely.

whisk eggs yolks and remaining sugar in a medium bowl. in a large saucepan, bring cream to a boil over medium heat. slowly drizzle the warm cream into the yolks, whisking constantly and adding all the cream in a slow steady stream. pour the mixture back into the saucepan and add vanilla bean seeds and pod. cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

remove from heat and pass through a mesh strainer into a bowl. whisk in buttermilk and salt. let cool completely and freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. remove ice cream from the machine and fold in the cooled cherry mixture. transfer to an airtight container and freeze overnight.

all images © andrew purcell 2013

back down south

a few weeks back we spent a fantastic week down south in birmingham, al.. while shooting for cooking light magazine, we ate and drank our way through a town full of fantastic food. we were showed lots of amazing southern hospitality, eating way too much fried okra, drinking lots of good people beer and connected with great friends like hector sanchez and mairin cooper carins.

this version of our pimento cheese is one we made for our friend dimity's birthday party. she had bbq flown in from butts to go, which we were also lucky enough to hit up while in al – they also happen to have the best potato salad we ever tasted. by no means are we experts on southern food and we definitely don’t discriminate – any bbq , bourbon cocktail or pimento cheese dish is good in our book! here’s what we think is a simple tasty recipe that’s perfect for any summer gathering and has an unexpected kick from easy refrigerator jalapeno pickles.

PIMENTO CHEESE WITH PICKLED JALAPENOS

4 medium jalapenos, thinly sliced

½ cup white wine vinegar
1 Tbs granulated sugar

pinch salt
½ tsp whole black peppercorns
½ tsp whole coriander seeds

combine jalapenos, vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns and coriander seeds and shake well. refrigerate for at least 3 days and up to 2 weeks.

8oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup mayonnaise
4oz sliced pimientos
12oz shredded sharp cheddar
½ tsp sweet paprika
¼ tsp salt
2 green onions, chopped
½ Tbs fresh black pepper
Saltine crackers to serves

in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together cream cheese and mayonnaise, until blended. add Pimientos, cheddar, paprika, salt, onion and pepper and stir until just combined. can be made and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead. serve with saltine crackers and top with pickled jalapenos.

all images ©andrew pucell 2013

Saturday

summer cool down

as most of the people living back east already know, its been hot hot hot for too many days in a row...and for those in other parts of the world, you have no doubt heard all of us complaining about it, and we promise, its justified! here is a drink we cant stop sipping and one that we think is a perfect cool me down treat on a hot summer weekend.

we have started to get some amazing produce from our local csa in the last few weeks, and recently received some strawberries that were to die for. we quickly remembered this great strawberry cup recipe from gourmet in print a few years ago. we made the shrub syrup (the gourmet recipe without adding the soda water and ice cubes), added a little adult enhancer and a bit of cucumber and we think it pretty delicious, let us know what you think!

strawberry cucumber cocktail
makes 1 drink

1 oz. strawberry shrub syrup (recipe)
1.5 oz. quality vodka
2 oz. soda water
garnish with persian cucumber ribbons

combine with ice and stir

all images ©andrewpurcell 2013

Thursday

gazpacho

well, here we go…after a bit of downtime on the blog (ok, a looooong break), we are newly inspired with some great recipes and images to share. we did a bit of a redesign and made room for some larger photos. pictures and pancakes will most likely be a fun work in progress, but we really hope to get more images, recipes and those that inspire us up on the blog a lot more often in the second half of 2013! let us know what you think and maybe what you might like to see.

this recipe is a simple summer soup that’s refreshing, quick and takes advantage of tomatoes at their peak ripeness. tomatoes that are a bit soft or almost overripe are perfect for this soup! your average red or your favorite heirloom varietal can work just as well as yellow tomatoes and feel free to garnish with whatever veggies you have on hand.

we love eating anything out of these gorgeous bowls from the fabulous Nikole Herriott of www.herriottgrace.com . made in england by sue paraskeva, we'd love a set of 12. and if only we could have one of everything from the shop our kitchen would be complete…

we are heading to Birmingham, AL soon for work – any restaurants or shops we shouldn’t miss?

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho

makes 4 cups

2 pounds ripe yellow tomatoes, cored & chopped

1 small cucumber, peeled & chopped

½ to 1 small jalapeño, seeded & diced

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs red wine vinegar

½ tsp salt

2 whole cloves garlic

1 rustic loaf, sliced and grilled

garnish with thinly sliced candy stripe beets and lemon cucumber, finely diced red onion, thai basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper

in a food processor or blender, combine tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeño, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and salt and puree for about 5 minutes or until your desired texture. chill for at least 1 hour.

slice a bit of the root end off garlic cloves and place in a square of foil. drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil each, close the foil pouch and roast at 400 F for about 1 hour or until tender and soft. let cool slightly and then squeeze out garlic paste to separate from the clove.

divide soup between bowls and garnish with beets, cucumber, onion, basil and pepper. serve with grilled rustic bread spread with roasted garlic.

all images ©andrew purcell 2013