Buy The Book #1: Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream

Welcome to the series where I cook something from each of my cookbooks. I have 85 and counting, so we have a lot of possibilities. I follow the recipe by the book to prove that you should buy the book. First up? Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream. Let’s make fresh strawberry ice cream!

I have to admit, I struggled with the book choice for ice cream. It was this book vs. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. I chose WS because its recipe didn’t contain any eggs. I figured no eggs would be slightly healthier. Besides, there will be Cherry Garcia from the Ben & Jerry’s book later. (It’s my all-time favorite ice cream.)

This is so simple! Dairy (cream and milk), sugar and vanilla are the base. Mix all of the liquids. Add a pinch of salt.

The sugar is next. Add the dairy and stir until the sugar dissolves. The instructions say to let the base sit out for 15 minutes before refrigerating. Stir occasionally. I’m not sure why you couldn’t put it in the refrigerator immediately. Anyhoo, chill the base for at least three hours.

In the meantime, get the strawberries. Quarter them and let them sit for an hour. I added a little sugar and Kirsch. Mash about half of them.

Add the strawberries and their juice to the base.

Let’s churn!!!! To the ice cream maker we go.

Churn, Baby Churn!

You should now have yummy soft-serve ice cream. Hey, stop eating it! Pour it into a freezer-safe container.

Press plastic wrap right down on the surface. Put the lid on and freeze.

Do not try to lick the ice cream maker.

Well now. Isn't that special?

Tasty. Tasty. Tasty.

Tools of the trade:

• Pampered Chef 8-Cup Measuring Cup
• French Whisk
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
• Zyliss Ice Cream Scoop

Breaking Bread

I had a very stressful day yesterday. So much so that when I took it to the bed for a much needed 5 pm nap, I tossed and turned forever. When I woke, I didn't feel much better. This is how I ended up baking bread at midnight.

There is something so calming about fooling around with dough. Whether it be pasta dough or bread dough, it soothes me. I used to think it was baking that did it for me, but it's really about dough. Although I love to bake desserts, I've found that making those can be stressful too. Have you ever tried to tort and decorate a cake?

Pita bread is so cool. The little dough pockets make the containers for all types of sandwich fillings. I tend to stick with hummus, tomatoes, olives, feta, etc. I also like to cut the pita into triangles, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs and spices and make a sort of low-fat chip. Quite tasty. This is my second attempt a making pita bread; it's been years since the first try. Hopefully, these will be better. This recipe is from Tyler Florence.

Mix the yeast, warm water and sugar in the bowl of your standing mixer. Let the mixture stand until the yeasts become foamy.

Add the flour, slowly. It's a whole 3 1/2 cups! I used 2 C of bread flour and 1 1/2 C of whole wheat flour. I kneaded the dough on low speed until all the four was incorporated.

Then I turned it up to #4 and let it rip for about 10 minutes. This was a departure from the recipe. I like for the dough to clean the bowl.

The dough was sticky. I plopped it onto a well-floured board and kneaded it by hand until smooth.

After 90 tortuous minutes in a covered oiled bowl (the dough, not you) and you should have beautiful puffy dough. Punch it down and divide it into eight pieces. A bench scraper helps divide the dough.

Shape the dough into balls and allow them to rest, covered for 15 minutes. This keeps the dough from fighting back when you roll it out.

Roll each piece into a circle, or something close to a circle. I put the pitas between towels and let them rise for 20 more minutes. This was another variation from the recipe.

I placed the bread on a 500 degree pizza stone using a peel. I can't share any pictures because my pizza stone is ... well let's just say it's not fit for public viewing! Bake until the bread puffs up. How cool is that? Now I have to admit that not all puffed up properly. Of the six I baked immediately, three rose properly.

As the bread cools, it deflates. Well it's supposed to. After five minutes on the cooling rack, I mine had not deflated. I used a toothpick to poke holes in the side of the bread and lightly pressed down.

The ones that didn't rise made great flatbread. I purposely rolled some improperly and seasoned them to make zesty flatbread.

Use kitchen shears to cut the pita in half. Looks like I did alright this time.

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• Pampered Chef Pizza Stone
• OxO Bench Scraper
• Siplat
• Shun Scissors

Rising To The Occasion

If you have a better dinner roll recipe than Rose Levy Beranbaum, email me immediately! In the meantime, here is the best yeast roll ever. This is from the venerable The Baking Bible. I'm warning you now, bread baking is about patience. It's also about precision, so please buy a food scale.

These rolls start with a sponge. A sponge is a way to develop flavor. You mix part of the ingredients until they become thick batter. You then sprinkle the rest of the dry ingredients on top. Cover and let ferment for several hours. I love to do all of this in the bowl of my KitchenAid. I'm glad I invested in the lids for the bowl too. The sponge will bubble through the dry ingredients.

Add the melted butter and mix for a minute. Allow the dough to rest.

Now, put your mixer to the test and knead for 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and allow it to rise for two hours.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but it has doubled in size.

Take the dough out and gingerly fold it. Allow it to rise for two hours.

Yep. It doubles again.

Shape the rolls and dip them in butter. Allow them to rise. Hey, you only have to wait 1 1/2 hours this time. You saved 30 whole minutes!

Your patience has been rewarded. Look at these ... okay, ignore the camera shadow.

Get these to a hot oven!! Now, the directions say to create a little steam by allowing a pan to preheat on the floor of the oven and then add ice cubes to it. I skipped this method on this batch. The rolls were still tasty. They had a nice bottom crust because I placed the pan on my baking stone.

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Bowl Covers
• Pyrex Square Dish
• Pampered Chef Pizza Stone

Joyous Vanilla

My uncles love "white ice cream." Pass around a bottle of Brer Rabbit Syrup and they are the happiest men I've ever seen. Our family's favorite, as well as most of Little Rock's, when it came to ice cream was Yarnell's.

Sadly, I must admit that I have moved on. A friend and his family drove from Chicago to Louisiana. I told him that they had to stop in Arkansas and bring me back some Yarnell's. We did a taste test and my beloved Yarnell's lost to his Blue Bell. I was shocked. Then I looked on the back of the container and I felt like the little kids in the Breyer's commercials trying to pronounce the unnatural ingredients.

Okay. All of that was the setup for this vanilla ice cream. I've made vanilla ice cream before (and I still enjoy my Ben & Jerry's.) I knew that when I made the molten chocolate cakes, homemade vanilla ice cream was the proper accompaniment. I have just two ice cream books, William-Sonoma Ice Cream and Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book. Trust me. You won't need any other recipes. This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma. Here's the online recipe.

Start with the vanilla bean. Take a fresh bean and split it in half lengthwise. You know your pod is fresh if it is pliable. Older beans are dry and brittle. Try to buy beans in a jar, so that they are moist. Scrape the seeds out using the back of a paring knife.

Add the seeds and pod to a pot of dairy.

Heat on medium heat for five minutes, or until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Okay, so I had bubbles all over the pan.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and remaining dairy in a bowl. Temper the yolks with the warm mixture.
Everybody back in the pool! Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. You'll know when the custard is thick enough because it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. When you draw your finger across the spoon, it will leave a trail that won't fill back in.

Now, set up a straining and rig: large bowl of ice. Smaller bowl nestled inside. (I like using an 8-cup measuring cup.) Place a strainer over the smaller bowl. Strain the custard.

Once it's strained, stir occasionally to cool (don't let a skin form.) When it's cool enough to refrigerate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Make sure the wrap is touching the top of the custard. Refrigerate overnight. Now you may entertain yourself by licking the spoon.

Time to break out the ice cream maker!!! I use a KitchenAid stand mixer and the Ice Cream Maker Attachment. This is a great combo if you are short on counter or storage space. I store the attachment in the freezer. That way it's ready when I need it. Turn the mixer on and pour in the custard.

After you've finished churning, you can eat it soft serve or freeze it. Here mine is dished up next to a molten chocolate cake.



Tools of the trade:

• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Shun Paring Knife
• All-Clad 2-qt Saucepan
• Pampered Chef 8-Cup Measuring Cup
• All-Clad Strainer
• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
• Zyliss Ice Cream Scoop

My Big Fat Greek Pizza

If Wolfgang Puck ran for president, I would vote for him. I mourned the recent death of the California Pizza Kitchen founder. That is just how much I love the thin crust "gourmet" pizzas. When eating out, I love pizza margherita, tomato and basil with fresh mozzarella. I have a deep and profound love for kalamata olives, feta and spinach, so that's usually the pizza I make at home.

Let's get started. I like the full flavor of a whole wheat crust, but I'm not a fan of the texture. I tried to strike a compromise by using King Authur's White Whole Wheat Flour in Wolfgang Puck's classic recipe for pizza dough. The results were pretty good.

First, proof the yeast and then dump all the ingredients into the food processor.

Process until the mixture forms a ball ... or something close to a ball. OK, at the point it all clumps together, you're good.

Knead the dough a for a few minutes by hand until it's smooth and firm. Place it into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise until it has doubled in size, about two hours. Divide the dough into four balls. (I always use a scale for this part.)

Shape each ball by pulling down on the sides of the dough and tucking them underneath the rest of the dough. You'll can feel when you need to stop this process because the dough will start to fight back and become harder to pull. Next, roll the ball on your board until the top is smooth. Place the balls back into the oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for an hour.

Here comes the fun part! Grab a ball and start flattening! I have tried to toss the dough in the air to stretch it. This has resulted in dough finding a final resting place in the garbage can. I must admit that I have to take the training wheels approach and use a rolling pin. I bare the scars of this shame every day. I roll the dough on my board and then transfer it to a peel. I don't care about the shape. Throw a little cornmeal on the peel before you add the dough.

Top with your favorites. This version has spinach, kalamata olives, feta, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. I also added sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried oregano and fresh basil. As you add your toppings, periodically lift the dough or jiggle it to make sure it isn't sticking to the peel.

Transfer the pizza from the peel to a screaming hot pizza stone for the signature crispy crust. I can't show you my stone because it is an embarrassment. I have dropped and burned so much stuff on it, it has changed colors twice.

A note about pizza stones: buy the largest one that will fit in your oven and just leave it in there all the time. It helps regulate the temperature and provides great baking results. You can place it on the floor of the oven if you have a gas oven and on the lowest rack if you're lucky enough to have an electric oven.


We'll skip to a shot of the finished product now.

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Totally Bamboo Butcher Block
• Salter Scale
• Shun Santoku
• French Rolling Pin
• Pampered Chef Pizza Stone
• All-Clad Pizza Cutter