Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream and the Ingenious Cherry Pitter

Last month, the cherries were alluring and abundant at the farmer’s market. While I like eating them fresh, the heat wave this summer and a childhood memory inspired the idea of making cherry vanilla ice cream, a favorite flavor of my mother’s. Preferring the “weird” choices, like rum raison, pralines and cream and cherry vanilla, worked in her favor with young kids. There was always ice cream left for her to eat. Maybe now that I am adult, I could appreciate the subtlety of cherry vanilla ice cream. Besides, I was planning a summer solstice locavore party and it seemed like an appropriate menu item since most of the ingredients could be sourced locally.

The first challenge was finding an ice cream maker. Growing up, I remember the crank kind in the big wood barrel that you would fill with salt and ice. It took a long time and was a lot of work, but my siblings and I never seemed to mind with the reward of fresh ice cream at the end. We usually made ice cream using the fruit that we picked that day. I was looking for the less labor-intensive machine – the electric style one. Back in Berkeley, I borrowed one from a friend on several occasions. It was fraught with its own inconsistencies, ie my friend told me that I have to run it inside the freezer to keep the filling cold enough, but it made better ice cream than any store bought I’d eaten. My mother indicated that she had one, but she’d never used it. I brought it home only to find out that the machine wouldn’t turn on, so that went to the appliance recycling yard. My mother bought a replacement, this time a 2 quart capacity Cuisinart machine that was on sale at William Sonoma. I made sure, first thing this time, that the machine worked. I didn’t want to end up with a bunch of ingredients and no working machine on the day of the party.

The next step was tracking down a cherry pitter. Several years ago, a friend was in Wisconsin on work related trip. She returned to work with several pounds of sour cherries and a story about an awesome cherry pitter she bought. I asked to borrow it for this effort. From past experience, I know that most cherry pitters are challenging to work with; it’s tiring on the hand or the cherries are too big or the pit doesn’t come all the way out. This particular pitter works like a hole punch. It comes with a plunger that is attached to a mason jar lid (you provide your own jar, which keeps down shipping costs). The cherry is placed between the plunger and whole in the lid and then you push down on the plunger and without much effort at all you have a perfectly pitted cherry, often with the stem still intact. Amazing. One could easily pit pounds of cherries without tiring. It’s worth the investment. A similar one can be found at Amazon.

Not having made cherry vanilla ice cream before, I needed to find a recipe. Searching on the internet, I was surprised at how many obviously bad recipes I was finding – why would you make cherry ice cream with maraschino cherries or cherry juice??? I found a simple cherry recipe on at 101 Cookbooks*. It calls for whole milk and heavy cream, but what I liked most was that it uses honey – which meant I could sweeten the ice cream with a local, raw honey. The only ingredient it didn’t include was vanilla, so I found a vanilla ice cream recipe* by Alton Brown that uses whole vanilla bean and substituted this in place of the liquor from the first recipe. My mother swears by making a custard with eggs for ice cream recipes. Neither of these two recipes included eggs and I was trying to keep it simple, so I opted out on the eggs. I did discover that the difference between vanilla ice cream and French vanilla is that the latter uses eggs. I was able to order whole milk and double cream from local farms through Mugshots. Differing cream types (light cream, heavy cream, double cream), identify the amount of fat content. Double cream contains a minimum of 48% milk fat.

While the recipe was really simple, I was met with disaster the first go around. Having worked with finicky ice cream machines before, I was worried about this. The recipe is really simple and requires only that you heat the milk(1 cup), cream(2 cups) and honey (3/8c) until it starts to simmer. Then you add in the pitted and quartered cherries (1 lb) and the vanilla bean(scrapings from one bean and the empty pod), chill the liquid in the fridge for at least a couple of hours and then pour it into the pre-frozen container in the machine. It should only take 20 minutes to turn into a frozen, thickened consistency. Well, it never did thicken and we had cherry milkshakes instead of ice cream. I think most people didn’t mind, but I was disappointed.

Determined to figure out what went wrong, I did some research. A friend thought it might not be a highly rated machine, so I went to the reviews online to find out that it was one of the best. The reviews were helpful though as a few people had a similar experience as I did with others proffering advice. The biggest take away was that I could figure out was that the custard was not chilled enough in advance. Some suggested chilling in the freezer rather than the refrigerator. The one thing I don’t understand about the ice cream maker design is why it has a big opening in the top that is not sealable if it is so important for the liquid to be extremely cold. It just seems like a big hole for the heat to rush into, particularly in the warm months when most ice cream is made and consumed. All machines I saw had this feature, so there must be a reason but I haven’t figured it out.

With the extra remaining ingredients and more fresh cherries, I gave it a second try. This time I put the custard in the freezer for a couple of hours to chill. I also set the cold bowl over the hole to seal it up after pouring in the ingredients. Previously I increased the recipe amount by 1.5 times as I was making some for a large group and the machine claims it would make up to 2 quarts. This time I decided to do the recipe amount of 1 quart. The purpose of the ice cream maker is to whip air into the mixture, so having room for increased volume is important. This is the difference between American ice cream and gelato, which is much denser and requires a different machine. Well these 3 changes did the trick and in less than 20 minutes of machine turning I had perfect cherry vanilla ice cream that I enjoyed with friends. Given this success, I am sure I will be inspired to make more ice cream this summer so I have borrowed my mother’s machine for a little while longer.

*Notes: I made a few changes from the original recipes which are reflected in the ingredients above. One is cooking the vanilla pod along with the scrapings in the liquid for a more intense vanilla flavor. Pull the empty pod out before chilling. Another is increasing the honey quantity by 1.5 times. The honey which is more mellow than regular cane sugar, keeps the dessert from becoming cloyingly sweet, even with this little extra. I also upped the quantity of cherries to one pound.

Strawberries and Rhubarb

My strawberry season started off at Strawberry Harvest Festival hosted by POP (Philadelphia Orchard Project) whose mission is to plant orchards in the city of Philadelphia that grow healthy food, green spaces and community food security. The celebratory event was held on the grounds of the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park where there is the Strawberry Mansion Children’s Orchard. In addition to a bbq and lots of fresh strawberries, they served fresh strawberry juice and strawberry crumble. Part of the event included a volunteer effort to plant 36 fruit trees in the field in front of the mansion. Much of what we planted was “pawpaw” trees. I’d never heard of that fruit before moving back to the area. Apparently it is native to the area and can be used in any recipe that calls for a bananas. The flesh is yellow and sweet and a bit challenging to eat as there are so many large black seeds. Once they come into season this year, I’ll have to see what inspiration I can cook up with the fruit.

Part of the day included a volunteer effort to plant 36 fruit trees in the field in front of the mansion. Much of what we planted was “pawpaw” trees. I’d never heard of that fruit before moving back to the area. Apparently it is native to the area and can be used in any recipe that calls for a bananas. The flesh is yellow and sweet and a bit challenging to eat as there are so many large black seeds. Once they come into season this year, I’ll have to see what inspiration I can cook up with the fruit.

The farmer’s markets are up in full swing, including our single farmer stand in Manayunk. When it first kicked in last month there was an abundance of rhubarb and strawberries. Beyond strawberry rhubarb pie, I’ve not had much idea of what do with rhubarb. I remembered that I had saved an article from many years back on savory ways to serve rhubarb which I dug up for inspiration. One of the recipes, simple lemony rhubarb sauce, is a dish that was recommended with white fish and was definitely simple to make. All it involved was dicing up a pound of rhubarb and cooking it down over the stove with 1/3 a cup of sugar into a sauce consistency which takes about 15 minutes. At the end you add juice from half a lemon. Rhubarb is known to be tangy, but it didn’t require much sugar to make it palatable, particularly for a savory dish.

I served the sauce with some tilapia that I baked in foil with some olive oil, salt, parsley, pepper, sliced onion and diced asparagus, also fresh from the farmer’s market. The meal also included red quinoa and a salad with sliced strawberries and toasted pecans. All in all a light, fresh meal to initiate the beginning of the abundant summer growing season.

A friend who suggested serving the sauce over yogurt mentioned that her father would make rhubarb daquiris. As I enjoy experimenting with cocktails, I mixed up a strawberry rhubarb daquiri that was made with rum and included fresh mint. The rhubarb added a refreshing acidity similar to using fresh squeezed lime that I so enjoy in my drinks.

Some great alternatives to the traditional strawberry rhubarb pie!

Talula’s Table for Twelve

Talula’s Table in Kennett Square had grown to mythic proportion in my mind as one of the ultimate farm to table experiences. I first heard about the restaurant from a friend in California when I moved to the area in 2006. If it’s getting written up on the other side of the country, there must be something notable about the place. Perhaps it’s the fact that you have to make a reservation a year in advance precisely at 7am in the morning when they first start taking calls. The demand is due both to the quality of the food but also because they only serve 12 people a night. In fact, you have to reserve the entire restaurant and plan on bringing 8 to 12 people willing to spend $100 on a meal. By day the restaurant is a store where they sell prepared foods and run their catering business. At night, the diners sit at a long farm table set up in the middle of the store.

I never seem to have the wear-with-all to plan that far in advance, but Jenn and Scott did. Jenn had first tried a year ago in January on Scott’s birthday not realizing that you have to call at 7am to secure the reservation. So Scott decided to try as a surprise on Jenn’s birthday. Unbeknownst to Scott, Jenn turned the alarm off because she wanted to sleep in on her birthday. At 7:30am, Scott awoke and stumbled down the stairs to make the call only to find out it was already reserved, however they had a cancellation for the night before. That’s how I found myself lucky enough to be dining at Talula’s this May along with 9 other of Jenn and Scott’s food loving friends.

Kennett Square is in the heart of Chester County home to many small farms most notably mushroom farms. The town is the home to annual mushroom festival that I attended last September. There is an abundance of fresh produce grown nearby for Talula’s to integrate into their menu and they do it so tastefully. The restaurant was started by a couple who owned and operated another restaurant in Philadelphia but decided for a quieter place, closer to the food source. Just weeks before we were to eat there, Sam, another friend to be dining with us, passed me a Philadelphia article about how the couple had broken up, but that the wife’s friends and colleagues had rallied to help her maintain the restaurant. The new chef de cuisine had already been working with them. LeBan’s review of the new operations indicated that it had changed, but that it was still remarkable. Whew.

Dinner service starts at 7. It’s a BYO establishment but they give you wine recommendations with the various courses on the menu that they send out a week in advance. I thought that was really smart. We started with champagne and passed hors d’oeuvres, each a small bite of heaven. I noticed we all struggled with eating the goat cheese and sun dried tomato tartlet without dropping crumbs all over the floor as the crust was so wonderfully buttery.

We then sat down to an eight course extravaganza. At the beginning of each course, the dish is explained to the diner and questions may be asked. We learned that the pickled wild ramps served with the lamb are basically foraged onion grass. As it the time of year when the produce is really starting to flourish we were treated to late spring’s abundance throughout each course; asparagus, rhubarb, pea shoots were just a few. I was glad to see we had a dish with mushrooms as well. Two of my personal highlights bookended the meal – starting with the asparagus soup with a crab tortellini and finishing with a puff pastry lavender ice cream sandwich bite over a rhubarb puree. The duck plate was memorable for its texture and flavor. I still haven’t come to terms with my love of foie gras. The delightful, creamy mouthful was served over a thin crisp. Talula’s food is memorable both for the flavor and its artful plating. Each dish looked like a work of art. They manage to put just enough to fill you mouth with flavor but not have you too stuffed so you are not enjoying the food by the end. I was pleasantly surprised by the use herbs and seasoning that managed to stand out and be noticed, like the nutmeg in the tartlet or the mint in the pea sauce that complimented the scallops. I am starting to learn how to use less in a dish to really profile flavors. This meal was an inspiration for that effort.

The meal did not end with the dessert dish listed on the menu. It was followed by a tray of homemade truffles – in both dark and milk chocolate – some sprinkled with salt, some filled with caramel and some filled with a raspberry banana tasting filling. Even the bill came in a lovely basket with a take away bag of tea and biscotti. At home, nibbling on the tea-dipped biscotti whose flavor was so unusual, it took me a while to identify that it was lavender.

Even the service was stellar, friendly, informative and unobtrusive. The evening really did feel like a dinner at a friend’s house without the host having to run around but instead gets to enjoy the company and food. Talula’s is definitely recommended if you are the kind of person who can plan a year in advance – or at least score an invitation from a friend who does!

Scrapple

Even though I grew up in this area and relocated back to the area over 3 years ago, I still had never tried scrapple, one of the notable foods of the Philadelphia region. Perhaps knowing that it is typically made from any variation of pig parts kept me at bay. Although from what I understood, it is much like Spam, which I always liked fried crispy and in a sandwich like a blt. So why wouldn’t I enjoy scrapple?

MidAtlantic Tap Room has many variations of scrapple on their menu – traditional pork, crab and vegetarian. Apparently what makes “scrapple’ scrapple is the cornmeal and onion base. So I decided it was high time I tried it. I started out tame by ordering the vegetarian option which is made with mushrooms and other vegetables. What’s not to like about cornmeal and vegetables. Through Mugshots buying club you can order the traditional variety that comes from Green Meadow Farms. Well, if I am going to try scrapple at least I know that they are sourcing the meat sustainably. Besides, isn’t it more sustainable to eat all of the pig?

The order comes in a brick-like block, again much like Spam, so why not start by preparing it in the same way – sliced thin and fried crispy. As it is typically eaten at breakfast, I decided to make my own variation on huevos rancheros since I had some leftover tomatillo salsa. The salsa is incredibly easy to make. In a food processor, blend about 12 oz of tomatillos, a small bunch of cilantro, 2 garlic heads, 1 jalepeno and some salt. I typically include an avocado for some additional body, but that’s optional. Over a warmed tortilla, I spread some of Bobbi’s black bean hummus and then placed the fried egg and fried scrapple with the salsa on top. While I found it easier to eat like a taco than with a fork and knife, the flavors and textures - spicy and soft and crunchy – were complimentary all in one bite. I would definitely eat that scrapple again.

Last year Reading Terminal Market hosted Scrapplefest to “Celebrate all things scrapple”. If they hold another one this year, I’ll be sure to check it out. You can listen to a report on the festival and scrapple experts on this episode of Chef’s Table. The vegan scrapple, Vrapple, won second prize.

My next challenge is to make a vegetarian variation of scrapple. Most of the ones I found use some sort of soy product, including Vrapple. But I really want to make it all vegetable and non-soy based, similar to the one at MidAtalantic. If anyone has a good recipe, let me know!

Sauerkraut and Reuben Sandwiches

When I was growing up, my mom would cook whatever we requested for dinner on our birthdays. My top two choices were always her quiche lorraine and her Reuben sandwiches. To this day, I would still say her Reuben sandwiches are the best I’ve eaten and I have eaten quite a few over the years.

My top two complaints of those that I have tried and not liked are too much meat and not being grilled. Sometimes they are piled so high with meat that you can’t get your mouth over them. What makes a Reuben sandwich so great are all the other ingredients. They should to be given equal mouth space per bite to really appreciate the blend of all the flavors. How can one make a Reuben and not grill it? The bread becomes crusty and the cheese melts and the ingredients warm throughout.

My mom always made the sandwiches in a waffle iron (with the flat plate inset) with rye bread, swiss cheese and pastrami, but her two unique touches where how she prepared the sauerkraut and her special sauce. I recently asked her to share her two secrets. She would rinse the store bought sauerkraut (refrigerated bag type, not in a can) in cold water and then cook it a long time over low heat with caraway seed to make the sour flavor more mellow. Her special sauce was merely Heinz chili sauce mixed with Hellman’s mayonnaise. Sort of like Russian dressing, but the chili sauce gave it a little more of a kick.

Wanting to put a spin on the traditional Reuben and make my own creation from local ingredients, I ordered what I could through Mughsot’s local buying club. This included the raw fermented sauerkraut from Wills Valley and the ham and swiss cheese from Meadow Run Farm. Raw sauerkraut is one of those super foods that combines a highly nutritious vegetable, cabbage (yes, more cabbage) with a very healthy process (fermenting). The raw stuff is good for improving digestion, killing bad bacteria and boosting your immune system. Most supermarket sauerkrauts are pasteurized which kills much of the health benefits, so you might have to scour the shops for your raw options.

While I really like rye bread, I decided to use the all-purpose bread that I usually have at home which is a wheatless multi-grain bread that I get from Trader Joes. It’s high in protein and fiber and has a hearty texture. For my version of the special sauce I mixed Hellman’s mayonnaise with some harissa (spicy chili) sauce that I picked up in at a middle eastern specialty store. Harissa is one of my go-to condiments when I want to make certain dishes spicy. It’s particularly tasty on eggs. Wanting to the minimize the calorie count where possible, I used spray oil on both sides of the bread and pan rather than pouring oil into the pan.

I don’t have a waffle iron, but I do have a cast iron, enameled grill pan which is one of my favorite cooking wares. I cook / grill vegetables (particularly good for zucchini and eggplant), meats and make all sorts of pressed sandwiches in it. Having a heavy lid, helps cook the items quicker and gives those textured grill marks. The particular one I have is from Mario Batali’s line and not too expensive ($80) as compared to some of the Le Crueset items – then again, it’s probably made in China and not France.

I spread the sauce mixture on one side of the bread and then layer equal parts sauerkraut, ham and swiss cheese on top. I find it important to put the sauerkraut over the sauce so that it mixes down with it when heated. I also don’t use that much meat or cheese, for purposes of moderation and because I have found it more appealing as an overall flavor profile. Then I grill until the cheese is melted and it’s brown on both sides. Perfection! It also goes great with Philly Fresh spicy pickles.