Fettuccine with Grapefruit Sauce, Brussels Sprouts + Manchego

We got home late Sunday evening, unpacked the car, put up a pot of tea, and got ourselves situated on the couch. Maki promptly passed out. We read a little, before heading to bed. I knew that last week wasn't going to be relaxing. We had a lot on our plates. There was the drive down, the multiple days of cooking, which was then followed by a family brunch, a trip to New York to see Hedwig (our second time this year), and a wedding shoot in Brooklyn. It's not that we didn't have fun. We did. But it was the kind of trip where we came back and just crashed.

I avoided work as much as possible on Monday. I took long walks with Maki, watched a movie, and I even got myself on the elliptical for a few minutes (having not used it in over a month, it wasn't the best experience). There was a little time spent in the kitchen, too. For a while now, I've been meaning to create a Brussels sprout recipe. My family is well aware of my love of these guys. The web is inundated with Brussels sprout recipes, though (do a search for "roasted Brussels sprouts" and you'll see what I'm talking about). The goal was to come up with something a little different and yet keep the dish familiar. As I started thinking of what to do with them, I figured throwing pasta into the mix couldn't hurt. But how to bring it all together? A creamy grapefruit sauce, rich and slightly tangy.  A touch of thyme. A sprinkle of cheese and a hearty dose of freshly ground pepper. And... done.

Fettuccine with Grapefruit Sauce, Brussels Sprouts + Manchego

Servings: 4-6 

Ingredients
For the grapefruit sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves only
1/2 cup fresh pink grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt
Black pepper

For the Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 lb Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and sprouts halved or quartered (depending on size)
Salt
Black pepper

1 lb fettuccine
1/4 cup grated manchego cheese

Instructions

1. To cook the Brussels sprouts, set a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and let it heat up in the pan.  After a minute, add the Brussels sprouts and season with a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Let the Brussels sprouts cook for a few minutes and then give them a quick stir. Once they have browned, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.

2. In the same saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add the chopped shallot and a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes translucent. Stir in the thyme and cook for another minute or two. Pour in the grapefruit juice and dry vermouth. Cook for two minutes and then stir in the heavy cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn off heat and add the Brussels sprouts back to the pan.

3. Cook the fettuccine according to the directions on the packaging (if using fresh pasta, boil for 2-3 minutes in salted water). Toss cooked pasta with the sauce and Brussels sprouts. Taste for seasoning and, if necessary, season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls. Sprinkle manchego cheese on top before eating.

Cranberry Sauce Ice Cream

I've been on an ice cream kick recently. And by recently I mean since the beginning of the summer. It was such a harmless idea. My sister-in-law thought it'd be fun to bring an ice cream machine down to the Cape house to show her kids how to make it from scratch. A great rainy day activity. They loved the ice cream, but were less interested in the process of preparing it. The adults, on the other hand, became obsessed. The vanilla ice cream we made using a recipe from Melissa Clark over at the New York Times was wonderful; smooth, creamy, and not overly sweet. At that point, we were hooked. What would should we make next? 

While there have been a few misses, most have been hugely successful. Favorites were coffee, Oreo, and, the biggest hit, blueberry crumble. I took a short break from making ice cream, but, over the last month, have gotten back into it. Pumpkin was delicious, as was this cranberry sauce ice cream that I prepared for Friendsgiving. Served with apple cake, it was the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Having made four batches of it over the course of a week, I think I could do with my eyes closed.

Part of the joy of making ice cream comes from watching your creation churn in the mixer. For a while, I'd been using a machine that was a gift from my mom. It worked well enough, but it was starting to slow down. Time for an upgrade! I'd heard from a number of people, including my mom, who's also fallen hard for homemade ice cream, that the KitchenAid attachment worked well. So, I reached out to my friends over there, who were generous enough to send it over for me to play with. Since receiving the attachment, I've used it a half a dozen times, and it's worked beautifully on each occasion. I find that the bowl freezes quickly, which was not the case with my last machine. The paddle does a great job scraping the sides of the bowl, too. Overall, I've been pretty happy with it.

Cranberry Sauce Ice Cream

Yield: 1 quart Source:  Adapted from Melissa Clark's recipe

Ingredients For the ice cream base 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 tsp Kosher salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 6 egg yolks

For the cranberry sauce 12 oz cranberries 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan set over low heat, whisk together the heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, Kosher salt and vanilla extract until the sugar has dissolved. Add the egg yolks to a separate bowl and give a quick whisk to break them up.

2. When the cream mixture becomes hot, slowly whisk in a third of the liquid to the egg yolks. Then, whisk the egg-cream mixture back into the pot. Continue to heat it, stirring often. Once the base is thick enough to start to coat the back of a wooden spoon, it's done. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Strain the base through a fine mesh sieve and, once it reaches room temperature, transfer to a container with a lid. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

4. Put the cranberries, orange juice, cinnamon and sugar in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until the cranberries burst. Stir sauce. Once it thickens a bit, remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Let cool to room temperature and then transfer to a container with a lid. Let chill in the refrigerator.

5. Once the ice cream base and cranberry sauce has chilled, churn the base in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. When it's done churning, prepare the ice cream for the freezer. Start by putting a third of the cranberry sauce in the bottom of a container with a lid, then top with ice cream. Repeat with remaining base and sauce. If you like really soft ice cream, enjoy immediately.  However, if you want your ice cream harder (like you get at the store) place the container in the freezer for at least four hours.

Cauliflower, Fig + Walnut Salad with Tahini Dressing

A chill has arrived in the air. It's crisp and harsh on the nose. Extra layers of clothing and warm, fluffy socks go on before heading out. The pace of our walks has turned brisk.  I look forward to a mug of coffee or tea, as hot as I can get it without burning my tongue, which I'll make as soon as I get home. Maki doesn't seem to want to spend extended periods of time outside either. As soon as we get inside, she immediately curls up on her bed, as if to say, "Ok, I don't need to go out there for a while!".

We're gearing up for our first Friendsgiving dinner in our house. The menu is coming together: a slow-cooked brisket, smoked on the grill and then transferred to the oven for eight hours, and herb and garlic roasted fish. The side dishes are coming along as well. One that will be gracing our table is this cauliflower salad. Or maybe it's a slaw. Whatever you want to call it, there are some great textures and bright flavors in this side. And pomegranate adds a bit of tartness and, of course, that pop of color that makes this so striking to look at.

Cauliflower, Fig + Walnut Salad with Tahini Dressing

Servings: 4-6 as a side

Ingredients 1 head cauliflower, coarsely chopped (some bigger slices are fine) 1/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped 4 Turkish figs, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup arils from a pomegranate 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley 3 tablespoons tahini 1 tablespoon honey 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons turmeric 1 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

Instructions

1. Place the chopped cauliflower into a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the tahini, honey, lemon juice, cumin, turmeric, paprika, salt and olive oil.

3. Pour the dressing over the cauliflower and mix with a spoon. Let sit for 10 minutes.

4. Add walnuts, figs, pomegranate and parsley to the cauliflower and mix to combine. Season with additional salt before serving.