What Have We Been Cooking Up at NRPL?

What Have We Been Cooking Up at NRPL?

In the last session of “Science and Cooking Experiments,” on August 10^th, instructor Jeremy Miransky provided a cool, sweet ending to a wonderful summer workshop series!

Chocolate Ice Cream in a Baggie

Ingredients and Materials:

2 quart-size freezer bags

1 gallon-size freezer bag

Crushed ice

Rock salt or kosher salt

Duct tape

1 pint (2 cups) half-and-half

3 tablespoons instant chocolate pudding

¹/₃ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Instructions:

1. Mix the half-and-half, the sugar, chocolate pudding and the vanilla together in a bowl.
2. Pour the mixture carefully into the quart size baggie and seal the bag after carefully squeezing out as much air as you can.
3. Put the bag into another quart size baggie, again squeezing out all the air and sealing it carefully.
4. Put the quart bags into the gallon bag.
5. Fill the gallon bag with ice and salt, alternating the ice and salt layers.
6. Make sure that the quart bag is completely surrounded with  the salt and ice layers.
7. Seal the gallon bag and put a towel around it.
8. Rock and shake the towel-wrapped bag  for 10 minutes.  Keep the bag moving but be careful not to drop the bag or let it open.
9. After 10 minutes, open the large bag and carefully take out the smaller bag. 
10. If the ice cream isn't yet frozen, add more salt and ice to the large bag, seal and roll for another 10 minutes.
11. Quickly rinse off the smaller bag so that salt doesn’t get into your ice cream.
12. Put the ice cream into small bowls and enjoy.

Your hands can get very cold while doing this, so wear gloves or put a towel around the bags.

We used half and half, but you can also use whole milk, light cream or heavy cream, depending on how rich you want the ice-cream to be.

Experiment with other flavors. Add crushed frozen fruit, chocolate chips, instant decaffeinated coffee, etc.

For the last six weeks Chef D’Amour, (Giovanni Green of Break Bread Not Hearts,) has created one fabulous dish after another, with the help of the teen and tween participants of “Cook Like an Iron-Rich Chef” workshops attendees participants. Each one has been created with fresh, healthy ingredients—often a mix of savory and sweet and always incredibly tasty. His grand finale was no exception!

Savory and Sweet: Summer Kale and Berry Zeppole

Ingredients:

2½ cups of flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 bunch of kale

1 small onion

1 bulb garlic

8 ounces shredded mozzarella

½ cup water

Thyme

Black Pepper

½ cup cane sugar

½ cup of grapeseed oil or 1 stick of butter

½ pound of mixed berries or other fruits

½ cup of raisins

½ cup water

Cinnamon

8 tablespoons of flaxseed with 1 cup of water

1 teaspoon of sea salt

Grapeseed or coconut oil for frying

Love

Yield: Serves 6-8 people

Directions:

1. Begin by giving thanks for the harvest of the food you are about to prepare.
2. Wash the berries and remove any stems depending on the types of fruits you are using. Cut fruit into small pieces. Most nutrients are found in the edible skins of fruits so be sure to use organic fruit if possible to avoid the risk of pesticides.
3. Wash the kale and rip into small pieces by hand.  Finely dice onions/garlic.
4. Sauté the onions, garlic, kale, and thyme with a pinch of salt and pepper until the kale is tender and set aside. 
5. After the kale mixture is cool enough to handle mix with 1¼ cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 4 tablespoons  of flaxseed, ½ cup of water, and mozzarella then form into small balls by hand or with a scooper.
6. In a saucepan add the oil, sugar, fruit, water, salt, and cinnamon and allow to come to a boil.  Once boiling remove from the heat.
7. Add in 1¼ cup flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 4 tablespoons of flaxseed, and 1 cup of water and stir to incorporate into fruit-sugar mixture. 
8. In a double boiler or small frying pan placed over a saucepan with boiling water, add the chocolate chips and ¼ cup grapeseed oil and stir continuously over low heat until the chocolate chips are completely melted.  Set aside.  If the mixture is too thick whisk in more oil one tablespoon at a time.
9. Add grapeseed oil to a large skillet to the depth of 2 inches and bring to medium-high heat.  Using a cookie/ice cream scooper, spoons, or your hands drop the kale zeppole dough into the oil and fry first followed by the fruit zeppole mixture.  Fry for approximately 4 minutes or until the zeppoles are golden brown.
10. Sprinkle the kale zeppoles with more cheese and drizzle melted chocolate over the fruit zeppoles and enjoy with love.

This dish is versatile and can be created to be savory, sweet or both depending on the additions of onions and other vegetables, herbs, spices, cheeses, maple syrup, jams, jellies, and anything the imagination will incorporate. With the fruits it is a delicious and light dessert. With the savory ingredients it can be a wonderful appetizer or side dish. These can also be baked instead of fried for an even healthier treat.

Be sure to use dark chocolate and organic berries and fruit, as it is higher in antioxidants and nutrients that support our brain and heart health along with other bodily functions and systems.

The kale is high in Vitamins A, C, K, iron, and a long list of nutrients to support your body. Adding the garlic and onions to the dish will boost your immune system and keep you healthy. The kale, garlic, and a variety of summer fruits are extremely fresh this time of year from a farmers market so try to eat local.

- Chef D’Amour

Librarian, Writer, Poet...

Librarian, Writer, Poet...

You may know Susan Moorhead, one of our Children's Librarians. Did you know that she is also a writer and a poet? Susan's stories, poems and essays have appeared in a variety of print and online publications and anthologies. Most recently, Susan's short story, Eva's Ocean, was published in the annual 2015 The Westchester Review! 

You can read some of Susan's works online. Click here to read The Exit, a wonderful short story which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Loose Ends is a lighter, funnier story which you can read here.