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 Texture. That’s all I have to say about this delicious and unusual chocolate dessert from ‘Screen Doors and Sweet Tea’ by Martha Hall Foose. It is cool, creamy, and absolutely delicious. I was drawn to this recipe equally by the name and the picture. Now, back to the texture. This dessert—I wouldn’t call it a cake,–is softer and not as sweet as fudge and creamier than a flourless chocolate tort or cake. It’s perfect for hot summer nights and can be frozen for up to a month, which makes it perfect to have on hand for when guests drop in.
Enjoy!
Darkness on the Delta
Serves 6-8
‘Screen Doors and Sweet Tea’ by Martha Hall Foose
7 oz Bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Place the chocolate in a large bowl and set aside.
- Combine the milk, 1/3 sugar and nutmeg in a small saucepan on the stove top and heat to melt the sugar.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Pour in half of the hot milk, whisking constantly.
- Return the milk-egg mixture to the remaining milk in the saucepan. Continue to cook the milk and egg mixture stirring constantly for about 5 minutes or so, until it thickens slightly.
- Pour the hot milk over the chopped chocolate and stir vigorously to melt the chocolate.
- Cut the softened butter into pieces and stir it into the chocolate a few pieces at a time.
- Stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside while you prepare the pan.
- Spray a 6 inch round cake pan with a removable bottom with non stick cooking spray and line the bottom and sides of the pan with plastic wrap.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan and place in the freezer for 6 hours.
- To serve, remove the sides of the cake pan, place a plate on top of the cake, flip it over and peel off the plastic wrap. Garnish with powdered sugar and raspberries.
- Store any remaining cake in the freezer.
 Yes, it’s true. I suffer from OCD. That’s Obsessive Cooking Disorder, not that other one. This past Friday was my first day off in 2 weeks. (Every mom knows that it wasn’t really a day off—more like a ‘spend the day with Lily and catch up on laundry’ day) That means I wasn’t cooking for Other People, just me. I got to make us whatever I wanted, and I went a little nuts. You see, I had just picked up my copy of ‘Good to the Grain’ Baking with Whole Grain Flours by Kim Boyce. It’s the cookbook that all the food bloggers are discussing right now with rave reviews and I had to have it. This book inspired me to go to Whole Foods and pick up not one, not two, but five different flours to play around with. (Oat, Barley, Graham, Buckwheat and Rye, if you must know.) So, Friday morning, baby on my hip and blender at the ready I made two different batches of crepes. It’s a good thing that I perfected cracking an egg with one hand years ago. For those of you not in the know, crepe batter is a marvelous thing; you can make it in the blender and put it in the fridge to use for breakfast the next morning. Just wake and bake, or griddle rather. I also made the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip cookies and—drum roll please—homemade Grape Nuts! I have never seen a recipe for homemade Grape Nuts before and I was hopelessly intrigued and powerless to resist. The recipe was fabulously easy and was calling my name. They were delicious the next morning with Vanilla Almond Milk and fresh blueberries. They tasted just like Grape Nuts, only better. I also selected the Barley Crepe recipe, with beer and molasses and the Ricotta Crepes substituting Graham flour for the spelt. (Whole Foods was out of spelt flour—this book must have started a craze!!) Lily and I loved the Barley crepes. This batter was quite tender and a little finicky to deal with. The crepes broke easily during cooking. However, they were delicious and I ended up stuffing them with creamed mushrooms and asparagus for dinner. The Ricotta Crepes were delicious too. I had to thin the batter as suggested with extra milk, and I served them with butter and maple syrup for breakfast. The chocolate chip cookies were good too. I mean really, what’s not to like about a Chocolate Chip Cookie? Next up, next week: Sand Cookies
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 I love lazy Sundays. Who doesn’t? For me that means, sleeping in a little later, strong coffee, jazz, the paper and these waffles. These waffles are delicious and the best part about them is that the batter has to be made the night before so it is super easy to whip them up for a really quick breakfast. If you have the time definitely make the caramelized walnuts. They are totally addictive.
Waffles with Caramelized Walnuts
Adapted from The Secrets of Success Cookbook Signature Recipes and Insider Tips from San Francisco’s Best Restaurants by Michael Bauer
½ cup warm water,
1 package active, dry yeast
2 cups of milk
2 cups of all purpose flour
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 eggs
¼ tsp. baking soda
Caramelized Walnuts
2 cups walnuts
1 Tbsp. water
½ cup sugar
Waffle Batter
In a large bowl, combine the water and yeast. Set aside until the yeast dissolves and the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add the milk, flour, butter, vanilla, salt, vanilla extract and sugar to the yeast mixture. Stir to blend. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside overnight at room temperature.
Caramelized Walnuts
Oil a large baking sheet or line a baking sheet with a silpat. Combine the nuts, water and sugar in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar caramelizes, about 5 minutes. Pour the caramelized nuts onto the prepared baking tray. Allow the nuts to cool, then transfer to a storage container and store at room temperature.
In the morning:
The next morning, heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Just before cooking the waffles, whisk the eggs and baking soda into the yeast mixture. When the waffle iron is hot, pour about ½ cup of batter onto the waffle iron. Cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Most waffle irons have a timer—if yours does not, simply crack open and check to see if your waffle has an even golden brown color. Serve with the caramelized nuts and maple syrup. Whipped cream and berries would be a nice touch too!
Enjoy!
It’s the simple things that matter most.
 I discovered the absolute joy of homemade croutons while I was in cooking school in France. Oh to take a slice of white bread, cut it into cubes or other shapes (hearts on Valentines Day) and fry it in butter with a generous sprinkling of salt and a twist of freshly ground black pepper. So tasty, I still dream about it over 15 years later. Croutons are easy to make at home—it just takes a few minutes and the results are so much more pleasing than the jawbreakers that pass for croutons at salad bars nationwide. So what are the advantages to making croutons at home? Well, this way you won’t be left with half a box of croutons that you will only throw away next spring. Freshly made they are crunchy on the outside and give just a little in the middle with an enticing softness. You can pierce them with your fork. They are highly addictive so unless your will power is greater than mine you should only make as much as you need. You can control the seasonings and limit the sodium. With homemade there will be no hydrolyzed this and high fructose that unless your kitchen is wildly different than mine. At the Cordon Bleu, we used pan de mie, or Pullman loaf in English. Any fine grained sandwich bread will do. I like to experiment and use whole wheat, pumpernickel or rye bread depending on the recipe and salad dressing. Don’t limit your use crouton use to just salads though. They add a really pleasing crunch to pureed and blended soups and are a classic accompaniment to gazpacho.
Croutons
1 slice of sandwich bread, crusts removed and cut into cubes or other shapes with a cookie cutter.
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes to the pan and toss gently to coat. Saute until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper while still warm.
Enjoy with or without your favorite salad!
 Delessio Bakery (delessiomarket.com) Lily is our Peanut Butter Princess. Aka the great Peanut Butter Traveling sales women in training or the Peanut Butter Whisperer. Whatever you may call her, she just loves the stuff. I have to admit to a certain fondness for peanut butter too—peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are my go to food when there is nothing else in the house to eat. Peanut butter and chocolate is one of my all time favorite combinations. I was hooked on Reese’s as a kid, both the cups and the pieces. I also love Tagalogs—you know the girl scout cookies? One of my very guilty pleasures is to stash a box of Tagalogs in the freezer. I eat the peanut butter patty on top first, then the somewhat naked shortbread. I have always been very specific about how to eat my sweet indulgences. (Don’t even ask about Kitkats or Twix bars.) Lest you are shocked by these revelations, don’t worry—I only eat mass produced treats when I am desperate. Or out of gummy worms.
But Lily’s first birthday is coming up—this Friday to be exact and I want to make her something so delicious she will not be able to resist putting her entire face into her piece of birthday extravaganza. When Lily likes something she screams with joy and puts her entire face in it. Sometimes I wish that I could do that too!
 cakes from Delessio Bakery (delessiomarket.com) When I first started working in the restaurant business, I worked the cold station and helped make desserts. One of the desserts that I introduced to the The Cannery (now closed) in Yarmouth, Maine was Richard Sax’s Peanut Butter Pie with Fudge Topping. It rocks. It’s fast, easy and can be made with one hand on the kitchen aid and a baby on your hip. If you wanted to speed up the process you can make this delicious pie with a purchased graham cracker crust. I love the fudge topping. It’s just soft enough. (Really it’s just ganache, not fudge.) The chocolate that I really like to use is Guittard—it’ a San Francisco based company. They have exceptional chocolates and I really like supporting family owned businesses whenever I can. To complement the pie, I ordered up a small Chocolate Retro cake from Delessio Bakery in San Francisco. They make really great cakes and pastries among other things. Check them out if you can.
Peanut Butter Pie with Fudge Topping
Adapted from Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax
Graham Cracker Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 15 individual crackers)
¼ cup sugar
½ stick unsalted butter, melted
Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use old fashioned or freshly ground)
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
Fudge Topping
½ cup heavy cream
6 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- Graham Cracker Crust: Preheat the oven to 350F with a rack in the lower third. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended. Press evenly into a buttered 9 inch pie pan, reaching up to but not over the rim. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack.
- Filling: Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter with an electric mixer or Kitchen Aid at medium speed until well blended. Add the confectioners sugar, butter and vanilla and continue beating until fluffy. (For a more mousse like filling fold in ½ cup not-quite stiffly whipped cream at this time.)
- Carefully spoon the filling into the cooled crust, spreading evenly. Loosely cover the pie and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. (At this point you may put the pie in the freezer to speed it up. You may also freeze the pie for 2 weeks at this point.)
- Fudge Topping: Bring the cream to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. Gently spread the topping over the cooled pie. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
- Cut the pie into wedges and serve cold.
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I have been eyeing this recipe since I got Dorie Greenspan’s ‘Baking From My Home to Yours.’ The picture in the book is drool-worthy. These are delicious, decadent and really easy to make. The secret? Purchased Dulce de Leche. I love the combination of a crumbly shortbread-y crust, caramel-y duce de leche, nuts (!) and a dark chocolate layer on top. Oh my god. Totally heavenly. My mouth waters just thinking about it. If you bring these to the next office party or family gathering people will definitely sit up and take notice. I love the fact that you can throw the ingredients for the crust in the cuisinart and whir away until the dough forms then you press in, yes, that’s right press in the crust—no rolling out dough on the countertop and making a mess. You can even melt the chocolate layer in the microwave. The one complicated move is to caramelize the nuts—Dorie uses peanuts, but I had mixed nuts in my pantry so I used those instead. The caramelized nuts add a certain je ne sais quoi to the recipe, but if you are nervous about caramelizing or don’t have time you could just use roasted and salted nuts instead.
Enjoy! I’m going to have a piece right now…
Snickery Squares
From Dorie Greenspan’s ‘Baking From My Home to Yours’
 Crust:
1 cup of flour
¼ cup of sugar
2 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
Filling
Caramelized Nuts:
1 ½ cups salted, roasted nuts of your choice or a mixture of nuts
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. water
About 1 ½ cups of store bought dulce de leche (I used a 10oz jar of the Barefoot Contessa’s Espresso Dulce de Leche)
Topping
7 oz of bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Guittard bittersweet chocolate disks and eliminated the chopping.)
½ stick (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temp.
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8” square pan and put it on a baking sheet.
The Crust: Toss the flour, sugar, confectioners’ sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds—stop before the dough comes together in a ball.
Turn the dough into the buttered pan and gently press it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork and slide the sheet into the oven.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it takes on just a little color around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.
 To make the filling:
Have a silicone mat-lined baking sheet at the ready, as well as a long-handled wooden spoon (you’ll be cooking sugar that will climb to over 300F, so you’ll want to keep as far away from it as possible) and a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan.
Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves (see picture). Keeping the heat fairly high, continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color. (If sugar splatters onto the sides of the saucepan, wash down the splatters with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.) Toss in the nuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring to coat the nuts with the sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and turn white—keep stirring until the sugar turns back into caramel. When the nuts are coated with a nice, deep amber caramel, remove the pan from the heat and turn the nuts out onto the baking sheet, using the wooden spoon to spread them out as best you can. Cool the nuts to room temperature.
When they are cool enough to handle, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces (I chopped mine.) Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in biggish pieces for the filling and finely chop the other half for the topping. Spread the dulce de leche over the shortbread base and then sprinkle with the whole candied nuts or the big pieces.
 Topping:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in a microwave oven, using a low power setting. Remove the chocolate from the heat and gently stir in the butter, stirring until it is fully blended into the chocolate.
Pour the chocolate over the dulce de leche, smoothing it with a long metal icing spatula, then sprinkle over the finely chopped candied nuts. Put the pan into the fridge to set the topping, about 20 minutes; if you’d like to serve the squares cold, (I do!) keep them refrigerated for a least 3 hours before cutting.
Cut into 16 bars, each roughly 2 ½ inches on a side.
Enjoy!
I have to tell you it is much easier to get to the Farmer’s Market first thing in the morning when you have a baby. Once the baby is up there is not a chance of going back to bed for hours. Pre-baby, I was solely a mid-morning farmer’s market kind of gal. There is a beauty to getting up early in the morning, but for me that beauty exists during the week. Surely Saturday and Sunday were made to sleep it right? Wrong.
We finally started going to the Alemany Farmer’s market last week. I was surprised to find out that it is the oldest Farmer’s Market in California. It’s been in operation since 1943. Pretty cool, huh? There is a fabulous selection of produce available. For me, it is always overwhelming the first few times that I go to a new farmers market and it takes me forever to shop. First, I have to do a walk through and gauge what’s available, who’s certified organic, who has the cool weird (generally asian) stuff, who looks friendly, who is busy and who is not. Let me tell you—it is a challenge when I go by myself and this time I had the baby strapped to my chest and my husband following a discreet 10 paces behind me. The standouts were the walnut vendor and the date vendor. There were varieties of dates and walnuts that I had never heard of before! So exciting…it makes me want to buy a quarter pound of everything I haven’t tried before and do a comparative tasting. I limited myself to two varieties of dates–Blurry Black and Deglet Noor. I love to snack on dates—so yummy and sweet and good for you! For next week I have my eye on some red walnuts and I am busy researching walnut recipes to justify my purchase of these ‘red’ walnuts that are $9/pound.
Tonight we are having a farmer’s market dinner. I got home from yoga and threw together a quiche with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms and leeks all from the market. Mashed garnet yams on the side. It’s easy, quick and delicious dinner, especially if you have frozen pie crust in the freezer.
Here’s my basic quiche recipe, but mix it up and put in the vegetables that you like and have on hand.
Phoebe’s Farmer’s Market Quiche
Preheat the oven to 375F
(1) 9” pie crust
1 bunch of swiss chard, leaves separated from the stem and washed
3 small leeks, use white and light green parts only
¼ # mushrooms, I used oyster, but you can use whatever you have or skip it completely.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup grated cheese. I used gruyere which is traditional for a quiche, but you are welcome to use other varieties such as cheddar, Monterey jack etc.
- Press the pie crust into the pie plate and set aside in the fridge.
- Slice the leeks and chop the swiss chard
- Clean the mushrooms, and melt the butter in a saute pan. Brown the mushrooms in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Browning the mushrooms adds a really nice layer of flavor.
- Heat the olive oil in a second pan and saute the sliced leeks. Add the swiss chard, stir so that it starts to wilt. Add ½ cup water and cover.
- Once the swiss chard has wilted and it tender, add the mushrooms and set aside.
- Combine the milk, cheese and eggs.
- Place the sautéed filling ingredients in your chilled pie shell.
- Pour the milk mixture over the filling and give it a gentle stir. (more of a poke then a stir—you just want to make sure that everything is evenly distributed.)
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until it is puffed, golden and jiggles ever so slightly in the center.
- Remove from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, slice and enjoy!
I have to tell you it is much easier to get to the Farmer’s Market first thing in the morning when you have a baby. Once the baby is up there is not a chance of going back to bed for hours. Pre-baby, I was solely a mid-morning farmer’s market kind of gal. There is a beauty to getting up early in the morning, but for me that beauty exists during the week. Surely Saturday and Sunday were made to sleep it right? Wrong. We finally started going to the Alemany Farmer’s market last week. I was surprised to find out that it is the oldest Farmer’s Market in California. It’s been in operation since 1943. Pretty cool, huh? There is a fabulous selection of produce available. For me, it is always overwhelming the first few times that I go to a new farmers market and it takes me forever to shop. First, I have to do a walk through and gauge what’s available, who’s certified organic, who has the cool weird (generally asian) stuff, who looks friendly, who is busy and who is not. Let me tell you—it is a challenge when I go by myself and this time I had the baby strapped to my chest and my husband following a discreet 10 paces behind me. The standouts were the walnut vendor and the date vendor. There were varieties of dates and walnuts that I had never heard of before! So exciting…it makes me want to buy a quarter pound of everything I haven’t tried before and do a comparative tasting. I limited myself to two varieties of dates–Blurry Black and Deglet Noor. I love to snack on dates—so yummy and sweet and good for you! For next week I have my eye on some red walnuts and I am busy researching walnut recipes to justify my purchase of these ‘red’ walnuts that are $9/pound.
Tonight we are having a farmer’s market dinner. I got home from yoga and threw together a quiche with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms and leeks all from the market. Mashed garnet yams on the side. It’s easy, quick and delicious dinner, especially if you have frozen pie crust in the freezer.
Here’s my basic quiche recipe, but mix it up and put in the vegetables that you like and have on hand.
Phoebe’s Farmer’s Market Quiche
Preheat the oven to 375F
(1) 9” pie crust
1 bunch of swiss chard, leaves separated from the stem and washed
3 small leeks, use white and light green parts only
¼ # mushrooms, I used oyster, but you can use whatever you have or skip it completely.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
3 eggs
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup grated cheese. I used gruyere which is traditional for a quiche, but you are welcome to use other varieties such as cheddar, Monterey jack etc.
- Press the pie crust into the pie plate and set aside in the fridge.
- Slice the leeks and chop the swiss chard
- Clean the mushrooms, and melt the butter in a saute pan. Brown the mushrooms in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Browning the mushrooms adds a really nice layer of flavor.
- Heat the olive oil in a second pan and saute the sliced leeks. Add the swiss chard, stir so that it starts to wilt. Add ½ cup water and cover.
- Once the swiss chard has wilted and it tender, add the mushrooms and set aside.
- Combine the milk, cheese and eggs.
- Place the sautéed filling ingredients in your chilled pie shell.
- Pour the milk mixture over the filling and give it a gentle stir. (more of a poke then a stir—you just want to make sure that everything is evenly distributed.)
- Bake for about 35 minutes, until it is puffed, golden and jiggles ever so slightly in the center.
- Remove from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes or so, slice and enjoy!
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This week I had an excess of nectarines and peaches—you know when you buy a batch and they all ripen at the same time? That’s what happened to me and as much as I love fresh peaches, eating six in a day seems excessive. So, I turned to my brand new very awesome ‘From My Home to Yours’ baking book by Dorie Greenspan and this is what I found: ‘Flip Over Plum Cake’. It was so good (and easy) that my husband dubbed it ‘Flip Out Cake’. This cake rocks. Once you have made it once, you will want to make it again and again. It’s super easy too. You can use any stone fruit or combination thereof that you like. If you don’t have fresh fruit on hand you can use frozen. Later in the week I made it for a client and they too ‘flipped out’ over it. Enjoy it! I hope it becomes a Family Classic! It’s tasty enough to serve at a dinner party in bowls with top notch vanilla ice cream paired with Late Harvest Riesling, Coteaux du Layon or Sauternes.
Flip Over Plum Cake
*This is called ‘Flip Over’ because the fruit sinks to the bottom and the batter rises to the top.)
Adapted from ‘Baking: From My Home to Yours’ by Dorie Greenspan
- 2 pounds ripe stone fruit, pitted
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground ginger
- ¼ ground coriander
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. pure almond extract
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Have ready a 9×12” pyrex baking dish. (I used an 8×8” square pyrex dish, and that worked out just fine.)
Cut each stone fruit half into 4 to 6 pieces and toss into a bowl with ½ cup of the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and coriander. Let them sit, stirring from time to time while you prepare the batter. They will give up some juice and a syrup will develop.
Put the remaining 1 cup sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Whisk to blend, then pour in the milk and extracts and whisk again so you have a nice smooth batter.
Put the butter in the baking pan and melt it in the oven, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
Give the batter a light whisking and pour it over the hot butter—it will probably set around the edges immediately. ( Mine did.) Scatter the stone fruit over the batter and drizzle over whatever syrup has accumulated in the bowl
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is golden and a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, or let cool to room temperature. Enjoy! It won’t last long…..
Maine in August is glorious. It’s my favorite time of year there. It brings back memories of carefree childhood summers—you know those days, when school days are far in the distance and you wake up each morning with no plans and a sense of adventure. I love being able to go back each year to our family cottage on Pattee Pond in central Maine. My grandparents and their friends cleared the road to the lake in the 1930’s. My family has had a cabin on the lake ever since. We stop at the local farm stand on our way to the pond and pick up fresh maine blueberries, lobster, corn and basil for a late summer dinner. After a quick, refreshing swim we settle in to shuck corn and cook together. I make my famously delicious corn pudding with basil. This recipe is a fairly recent acquisition, it was published in Gourmet in July of 2007, but it has rapidly become a favorite of both family and friends. The secret is to use fresh, sweet corn cut right from the cob. I hope that you enjoy this as much as we all do.
Corn Pudding with Basil
Gourmet Magazine, August 2007
4 cups corn (from 6 ears) *use a ‘corn zipper’ to easily remove the corn from the cob.
1 cup packaged fresh basil leaves, torn
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp. salt
A few twists of freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter a 2 1/2-quart shallow baking dish.
Pulse half of corn in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in basil, flour, sugar, remaining corn, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk in milk, cream, and eggs until combined.
Pour into baking dish and bake until center is just set, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
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Texture. That’s all I have to say about this delicious and unusual chocolate dessert from ‘Screen Doors and Sweet Tea’ by Martha Hall Foose. It is cool, creamy, and absolutely delicious. I was drawn to this recipe equally by the name and the picture. Now, back to the texture. This dessert—I wouldn’t call it a cake,–is softer and not as sweet as fudge and creamier than a flourless chocolate tort or cake. It’s perfect for hot summer nights and can be frozen for up to a month, which makes it perfect to have on hand for when guests drop in.
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