Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tbsp. Earl Grey tea leaves (about 5 tea bags)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• Pinch salt

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring cream and milk just to a boil over medium heat. Turn off heat and stir in tea. Cover and let steep for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange six 4-ounce oven-proof ramekins in a roasting pan and add water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest and salt. Strain infused cream into the egg yolks. Extract as much liquid as possible without pressing on tea leaves. Discard tea. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Divide custard mixture among cups. Cover pan tightly with foil, poking a few holes to let steam escape. Carefully transfer pan to oven. Bake until custards are set but still slightly wobbly in centers, about 3o minutes. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack to cool, then refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Martha Stewart, via Austin American Statesman

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3/4 lb. Spanish chorizo, sliced into 1/2"-thick rounds
• 6 stalks green garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 leeks, chopped white and light-green parts
• 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 2 1/2 c. short-grain rice (bomba, Valencia, calasparra)
• 1/4 tsp. saffron threads
• 7 c. hot seafood or chicken stock
• kosher salt
• 3 1-1 1/4 lb. lobsters, halved lengthwise, claws cracked
• 2 c. shelled peas or frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 c. parsley lemons

Preparation

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill. Let burn down to red-hot coals; rake to edge of grill. (For backup, start a second round of coals in a charcoal chimney on pavement nearby.) Put a 16"-18" paella pan on grill grate; heat olive oil. Add chorizo, green garlic, and leeks; cook until golden, 3-4 minutes.

Add smoked paprika and rice; cook, stirring often, until rice is coated, 2 minutes. Add saffron to the stock, and add the stock to the pan and season to taste with salt; stir to distribute ingredients. Let cook, undisturbed, until stock simmers and rice beings to absorb liquid, about 10 minutes. Rotate pan every 2-3 minutes to cook evenly.

Arrange lobsters over the rice. Continue cooking, rotating the pan often, as the rice swells and absorbs the stock. Add more coals from the chimney to maintain even heat under the pan. Cook until the rice is almost tender and the lobster is cooked through, about 10 more minutes.

Scatter peas on top. (If the liquid evaporates before the rice is tender, add more hot stock.) Cook without stirring, allowing the rice to absorb all of the liquid, so that a crust develops on the bottom and the edges begin to dry out and get crusty, 5-10 minutes, for a total cooking time of about 40 minutes.

Remove pan from grill. Cover with large clean kitchen towels and let rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with halved lemons, making sure to scrape some of the crust from the bottom of the pan onto each plate.

Bon Appetit, July 2011

Ingredients

• 2 large tomatoes
• 1/2 large red onion
• 1 ear of corn
• 3 firm peaches
• 1 minced jalapeño
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Lightly oil, salt and pepper corn and peaches. Grill on all sides. Cut corn kernels off of the corn cob. De-seed and dice tomatoes. Dice peaches and red onion. Mix all ingredients together with lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeño. Let sit at least 15 minutes to marry flavors.

Rachel Mabb

Ingredients

• 3 lb. pork butt, cut into 1- to 2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 8 ounces cola, plus more for cooking
• 1/8 cup soy sauce or teriyaki
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• Juice and zest of 2 oranges
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 dried habanero or ancho chile
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 recipe Grilled Peach and Corn Salsa

Preparation

Combine paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder and rub into pork cubes.

Mix cola, soy sauce, pineapple juice, lime juice and zest, orange juice and zest, garlic and cumin and cover pork. Marinate pork in the refrigerator 2 to 6 hours.

Remove pork from marinade (reserve liquid), and sear meat in olive oil on all sides in a heavy-bottom pot. Add reserved marinating liquid and dried chili and simmer for approximately 2 hours. Liquid should reduce to a glaze by the 1 1/2 to 2-hour mark. To keep meat moist during earlier cooking time, add additional cola as needed. Meat should be falling apart tender. Can keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Saute to reheat.

Serve in flour tortillas with slices of avocado and grilled peach and corn salsa. Serves 4.

Rachel Mabb

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. curry powder
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 lb. assorted firm stone fruid (about 5; such as plums, nectarines, peaches, or apricots), julienned
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Whisk first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add fruit and scallions; toss gently to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bon Appetit, July 2011

Ingredients

• 1 pound seedless watermelon chunks, cut into small slabs
• 6 ounces fresh goat cheese, cut into 12 rounds
• 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Arrange the watermelon slabs on 6 plates and top with the fresh goat cheese rounds. Sprinkle all over with the orange zest and nigella seeds.

In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice and lemon juice with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the watermelon and goat cheese and serve right away.

This doesn’t keep well, so you want to eat it all on the first day!

Food & Wine

Ingredients

• About 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, for the pan
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour, for the pan
• 6 ounces (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (gently packed) fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves [CP: we used more, more like 1 cup]
• 12 ounces premium bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp. granulated sugar
• Garnish with powdered sugar

Preparation

Preparing the pan: Generously butter a 9 inch springform pan and lightly dust the interior with the flour. Turn the pan upside down and bang out the excess flour. Wrap a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan and partially up the sides. Turn the pan right side up and set it in a shallow baking pan or on a half-sheet pan.

Infusing the butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the mint leaves and let the butter sit in a warm place for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavor of the leaves.

Butter and chocolate mixture: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Create a double boiler by selecting a medium (10-12") stainless-steel mixing bowl that will rest on top of large (6-quart) pot. The top of the bowl can extend beyond the rim of the pot, but the bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Put about 2" water in the pot and bring it to a simmer. If the butter has cooled, heat it again to thin it. Pour the butter through a fine sieve into the mixing bowl and press the leaves with the back of a spoon to extract all the butter. Add the chocolate to the bowl and place it over the simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted, then remove the bowl from the water.

Eggs: Beat the eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for a full 10 minutes. They should quadruple in volume and become light colored, very thick and fluffy. Fold 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then very gently fold in the remaining egg mixture until completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Baking: Put the baking pan with the cake on the center oven rack and pour in enough water to come about 1/2" up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until an instant-thermometer inserted in the center of the cake register 155 to 160 F, 25 to 30 minutes. The top of the cake will lose its glossiness and be slightly mounded, but it should not bake so long that it rises and cracks. If you insert a skewer into the center, it should come out gooey. Let the cake cool completely in its pan on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and remove the outer ring. The cake will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream, ice cream or custard sauce.

Recipe from “The Herbfarm Cookbook,” via the GardenWeb Herbs Forum

Ingredients

Waffles:

• 300 g caster/superfine sugar
• 450 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 600 g flour
• cinnamon
• salt

Syrup:

• 600 g cane-sugar syrup (or light corn syrup)
• 300 g butter

Preparation

Mix the sugar with the eggs, milk, flower, cinnamon, salt and the butter sliced in pieces. Make 12 small balls.

Preheat the waffle iron [CP: this needs to be an old-fashioned, cast iron waffle iron that makes relatively thin waffles, not a Belgian/American waffle iron]. Squeeze a paste ball in the iron. Bake the waffle in about 30 seconds.

Cut the waffle in two thin waffles and spread the waffle with the mix of syrup and butter.

www.stroopwafelshop.com

Ingredients

• 1 giant, round crusty loaf
• 2 good steaks (boneless)
• 5-6 tbsp. butter
• 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 7 oz. shallots, diced
• salt and pepper
• some garlic
• some brandy
• Worcestershire sauce
• horseradish
• Dijon mustard

Preparation

Slice the top off of your crusty loaf, and hollow out the middle. Melt the butter, and cook the shallots and mushrooms. Add garlic, brandy, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Sautee your steaks in some butter or oil of their own, seasoned w/ salt and pepper. Place one of the steaks into the loaf. Add all the mushroom mixture. Top with the other steak. Spread horseradish and Dijon, to taste, over the top. Take the whole loaf, wrap in parchment paper, string, and tin foil, and weight down with a cutting board and some nice heavy books, overnight (preferably in your cool basement, not in the refrigerator). The next day, slice into wedges as you’d cut a pie (just cut through the paper/foil), and enjoy.

The Grauniad

Ingredients

• 12 cups chicken broth
• 5 TBSP lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 12 egg yolks
• salt and white pepper to taste
• thinly sliced lemon

Preparation

Heat the chicken broth until it is scalding hot. Add the lemon juice and zest. Whisk egg yolks, then gradually whisk in some of the hot broth. Slowly return to broth, lower heat, and stir constantly while warming and thickening. Serve immediately, garnished with the lemon slices.