Sasha's Kitchen: Hazelnut Souffle

CSN Stores is a great place to pick up anything you need for your kitchen, and just about anything else from a swing set to new souffle dishes! I just got invited to do another product review from CSN stores, and I was thinking of reviewing some new souffle dishes to make some of my favorite desserts. I can't wait!

I haven't made any souffles recently, though I have shared several in the past on A Kitchen In Brooklyn, and they are one of my favorite desserts to make and eat.  Not too long ago, my husband went to Capsouto Freres for dinner, home of the best souffle in Manhattan. The restaurant is a bit out of the way to get to (you basically have to hike on the west side of Tribeca right near the entrance of the Holland Tunnel), but it is totally worth it. The French food is great at this old New York mainstay, and the portion sizes are nice and large as well. But the souffles are the real treat. In fact, at lunchtime, they even have a souffle bar which includes savory souffles! When we were there for dinner there were four choices on the menu - chocolate, hazelnut, raspberry and a seasonal special - clementine.  I couldn't resist trying the clementine, which was delicate and amazing, while Brad had the hazelnut. The hazelnut souffle there was made with real hazelnuts and was delicious (I got a taste), but I remembered I had some of the creamy and delicious Hazelnut Spread that ShopRite had sent me, so I figured I would put it to use in a creative way, to make my own hazelnut souffle. It worked out nicely, and now I am back on a souffle kick, so I plan to make some more souffles in the coming week.

Sasha's Hazelnut Souffle
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites
1/3 of a cup creamy hazelnut spread (use ShopRite's or Nutella)
pinch of salt
3 T flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for bottoms of souffle dishes

Spray the bottoms of four souffle dishes with Pam and sprinkle each with granulated sugar. Preheat the oven to 375. It must have reached that temperature before you put the souffles in the oven! This is key.

Combine the heavy cream, egg yolks, flour, salt, sugar, vanilla and hazelnut spread in a bowl. Set the egg whites aside.

In the basin of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed for several minutes until the egg whites are big and fluffy, almost like a meringue.  Once they are super fluffy and have reached this point, gently fold them into the hazelnut mixture, using a spatula.

Fill the four ramekins to the top using this mixture and place them on a baking sheet in the oven. Turn the oven light on so you can watch them bake. It is important not to open and close the oven at all before you are ready to take them out. They should be done when the rise up nice and large, which takes about 15-20 minutes (in my case it took closer to 20 minutes).

These were absolutely delicious and filled with wonderful hazelnut goodness! Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Sasha's Kitchen: Hazelnut Souffle

Sasha's Kitchen: Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream

I never ate much ice cream before I lived in Brooklyn. I live very close to Brooklyn's famous Blue Marble Ice Cream, which is probably the best ice cream I have ever had. They have different flavors each day, both traditional and offbeat, as well as seasonal flavors, and even some sorbets. All of the ice cream is organic - made with local New York State dairy products. The pumpkin ice cream, their newest fall flavor, is amazing - simply put. So What on earth would possess this inspired, but busy chef to make her own pumpkin ice cream when Blue Marble is right around the corner? I guess I have that urge to create and making ice cream is fun (and simple). Plus, I wanted to see if mine could be good - although I knew it wouldn't be as good or better. But it's worth trying.

I got a new Deni ice cream maker as part of a promotion from CSN Stores, so I was eager to try it out. This first recipe is seasonal and delicious, but fairly simple. My next flavor, which will be a dessert at our house for the family Thanksgiving Dinner that Brad and I are hosting is going to be a recipe I found for gingerbread ice cream made with Trappist Ale and various spices. Yum! I was impressed with the ice cream maker - it worked well, though I did have some difficulty attaching the top, which may something that I can figure out with a bit more effort. It was certainly an improvement over my 20-year old manual Doniver ice cream maker.  This one churns automatically, which is a nice upgrade.

Sasha's Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream

1 1/4 cups organic pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups of heavy cream

5 egg yolks

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of nutmeg

Combine the pumpkin and the vanilla in a bowl. In a saucepan, heat the brown sugar and 1 cup of the cream and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar over medium heat for about five minutes until it bubbles a bit on the sides. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining heavy cream, egg yolks, spices and pumpkin mixture. Add this mix to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it forms a custard. Chill for at least 5 hours. Then prepare the ice cream following the manufacturer's instructions for your ice cream maker.

This was really good! But it wasn't as good as Blue Marble. Other than not being an ice cream professional, I think the difference is the heavy cream that I used, Farmland, which has 1 gram of sugar. I have decided to use organic Ronnybrook whole milk and organic Ronnybrook heavy cream in my next ice cream making experiment for Thanksgiving (the gingerbread ice cream with the beer) and see if I get just a little bit closer to Blue Marble perfection. It was still really good though and quite beautiful to look at with a great orange color and wonderful spiced pumpkin flavor. Check out the video of the ice cream maker doing its thing, below.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream

Sasha's Kitchen: Parsnip Apple Fall Soup (and an upcoming product review)

CSN Stores has offered a product for review through their site, which offers a world of great products, from cookware like Le Creuset to barstools and I look forward to reviewing a product from their store. I have been using a very old ice cream maker for many years (truly old school) and I look forward to reviewing a new, updated and automatic ice cream maker from CSN Stores.  I can't wait to try it out to make some fall pumpkin spiced ice cream.

Pumpkin soup is one of my favorite fall soups. Last year, I made two delicious pumpkin soups - a pumpkin cashew soup and a pumpkin pear soup.  Nothing is better in the fall then a delicious root vegetable soup. Although I plan to get back into the pumpkin soup groove soon, this time I decided to try making a soup with one of my favorite root vegetables - parsnips. What better combination than with fresh New York fall apples? I was inspired to create my own parsnip-apple soup by the recipe for parsnip-apple soup in Tyler Florence's new cookbook. However, my recipe is totally different. Tyler adds oysters and bacon which are totally not needed in my vegetarian rendition. I found the paprika to be a great complement as well, and I much preferred the crisp tartness of honeycrisp apples - my all time favorite apple. The result is slightly, but not overwhelmingly sweet - it is a natural sweetness from the apples, as I did not add any sugar. It also has that wonderful fall crispness. This was a real treat and a soup I will surely make again. Be sure to use farmer's market fresh apples and parsnips. This soup is all about your starting material so it is imperative to use the best local produce!

Sasha's Parsnip-Apple Soup
2 1/2 lbs of parsnips
2 large honeycrisp apples (use three if the apples are small)
2 large granny smith apples
2 cups of heavy cream
2 quarts of low sodium chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
paprika to taste
parsley to garnish
4 T olive oil
1 onion, diced

First, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot with the peeled and chopped parsnips and the diced onion. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the parsnips are softened.  Add the peeled and chopped apples and cook over medium heat for another ten minutes. You may need to add the rest of the  olive oil at this point.  Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then add the heavy cream and cook over medium heat until the parsnips and apples are full cooked.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before pureeing in batches in the blender. Season with salt, pepper and paprika, and garnish with a bit of parsley.

Sasha's Kitchen: Parsnip Apple Fall Soup (and an upcoming product review)

Sasha's Kitchen: Jamie Oliver's Spicy Pasta with Mushrooms and Lamb Sausage & Upcoming CSN Stores Product Review

First off, a note, I will be publishing a product review in an upcoming post of a great serving product from CSN Stores.  I am thrilled to be doing a product review for CSN Stores, as they have so many great options for service on your dining room tables. An upcoming post from me on A Kitchen In Brooklyn will showcase one of the great products that CSN stores has to offer for chefs and home entertainers! CSN stores is a great retailer that has a fantastic selection of items for your homes and kitchens.  So stay tuned for a review of a really fun product from CSN stores to spice up any dinner party!

Jamie Oliver is one my my favorite chefs. His cooking style is so organic and raw - it really showcases the ingredients that he uses. Many of his recipes are quite simple, actually and they are always improved by using the best fresh ingredients possible.  Jamie is a big meat lover and loves to use interesting and flashy meats in his cooking. I love lamb and lamb sausage so when I saw Jamie's recipe for pappardelle pasta with spicy lamb sausage and wild mushrooms in one of my old Jamie Oliver books, The Naked Chef Takes Off, I knew the recipe was one I was going to have to try. I did a few variations to use the quality local ingredients in my grocery store and the result was quite delicious.

Jamie Oliver's Pappardelle with Spicy Sausage and Wild Mushrooms (with some variations by me)
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
8 oz spicy lamb sausage, skin removed, and chopped into small pieces (I got some great lamb sausages at Fresh Direct)
2 handfulls fresh thyme, leaves picked from stems
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (Jamie uses dried red chiles crumbed, but the effect is the same as it adds some heat)
14 oz wild mushrooms (I used cremini, but you could use oyster, shiitake or chanterelles), torn or sliced
[note - I omitted the butter, you don't need it, and added a bit of olive oil]
handfull of fresh parsley
grated parmesan cheese
1 lb fresh pappardelle (although Jamie made his own, I got mine fresh at Fresh Direct)

So I didn't make my own pappardelle, but a pasta machine is an inexpensive kitchen appliance I plan to get soon so I can start making my own ravioli, tortellini and fresh pastas.

To make this recipe, saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil with the sausage meat. Remember to remove the skin from the sausage meat and chop into small pieces. Add the thyme, red pepper flakes and mushrooms and a bit more olive oil. Cook the pappardelle and combine with the mushroom mixture. Throw in some fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Sasha's Kitchen: Jamie Oliver's Spicy Pasta with Mushrooms and Lamb Sausage & Upcoming CSN Stores Product Review