Fresh strawberry ice cream

I remember from high school philosophy, the importance placed on the topic of 'tempus fugit'. In other words, time flies. It seems like summer started yesterday and it's left us by today. The brevity of the seasons in the pacific northwest, has a clear impact on the fruit season.

All this talk is just a reflection of how fast time seems to go by. The boy and I moved in together almost two months ago, but it really feels like much longer than that. In a good way. It's been two months of happiness and extraordinary food.

The weekend after we moved, we went berry picking at Sauvie Island. The island is paradise by the city. It originates from the confluence of the Columbia and the Willamette rivers and it's full of farms and lovely beaches. If you live around the area or are visiting Portland, I highly recommend a visit to the farms. There's produce available for picking at all times of the year.

We went picking a bit too late for strawberry season. There didn't seem to be any strawberries left and nobody was bothering to find any. However, the boy saw a few unpicked precious red jewels and devoted himself to finding all the ones that were left. Words can't describe the taste of those strawberries. Tiny, intensely red and delightfully sweet. However, they were a bit bruised and they weren't gonna make it to the next day in good shape.

That's when I opened 'the perfect scoop' and found one of David's recipes. A combination of strawberries, heavy cream and sour cream. The tartness of the sour cream and the sweetness of the strawberries are a pairing made in heaven. Just like he says in the book, this is best when freshly churned. Unfortunately, the sour cream seems to make it a bit icier than other ice creams when it has been in the freezer for a while. But don't worry, it really won't last you long.

Strawberry sour cream ice cream
From 'The perfect scoop'

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch (I didn't add it, but I bet it'd be great)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice the strawberries and toss them in a medium bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch, if using. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve and all of the strawberries are coated. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. At this point your strawberries will release all their wonderful juices. So be patient and don't skip this step. 

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Zucchini and corn frittata

I am in love with spicy food. There. I said it. I know for all of you who probably have been eating spicy food their entire lives, that's no big deal. However growing up in Spain, spicy food wasn't the most common thing on earth. Even though Barcelona is a very cosmopolitan city, 'exotic' food restaurants haven't been widespread until very recently. 

So 4 years ago, when I moved to the US, a whole new world of foods opened for me. Literally. I lived a block away from an Indian restaurant and two blocks away from the most amazing Thai place. I could grab Chinese food across the street from work. I even got to eat free hot wings every Wednesday at the MIT bar. But still, spicy food wasn't my favorite. 

Don't get me wrong. I liked the flavor, but the heat would give me the most terrible heartburn for hours at a time. I tried really hard when I switched jobs and I got to enjoy homemade Indian food made by my labmates. It was delicious. Painfully delicious. So still, I would try to avoid any dish on a menu that had more than one spicy 'flame' next to it. 

Then I met the boy. The boy is a Texan. He's far from any stereotype you can associate with his origins, but he really likes spicy food. On our first date he made me the most unbelievably amazing chicken mole (his mole sauce is out of this world good) and on the following ones, every time we ate out, there was something spicy involved. So I fell in love with spicy food. Chili, Thai stir fry and hot fried rice are common things on our dinner menu and I crave spice daily. 

This frittata is not quite as spicy as I'd like it. (Funny huh?). But that can be solved by adding a few more jalapenos or maybe some habanero. Hot or not, it's delicious. The zucchini is tender and the corn kernels pop in your mouth as you chew. It's the perfect way to use your summer harvest and the recipe came from the fabulous Shutterbean. 

Spicy zucchini and corn frittata

Ingredients

And obviously... eggs! 8 of them. 

I used a yellow onion and 2 jalapenos, the original recipe used red onion and only once spicy pepper. Next time I think I'll add a habanero. Chuck your corn and slice the onion, jalapeno and zucchini. 

Preheat your oven broiler. 

In a large skillet (broiler resistant), sautee the onion until almost translucent, about 3 min, then add the jalapeno and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the zucchini and corn and cook until tender 7-10 min. In the meantime, beat your eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Once the veggies are cooked, add your eggs and cook for about 4 min or until the top of the eggs is still runny but the frittata comes off the sides of the pan. At this point, transfer your pan to the oven and broil for about 3 minutes or until the top of your frittata is golden brown and delicious. Serve warm or at room temperature. We served it with sour cream and scallions.

Fig newtons (and giveaway)

I'm not quite sure what to tell you about today. I'll tell you that summer is going by too fast but somehow it barely feels like summer. Oregon has rewarded us with a week of warmth, only to have rain and gray days to follow.

On days when it's 65 degrees (yes, you heard right) and miserable outside, it seems like everyone's pace is much slower than usual and few of us feel motivated enough to smile. On those days, I'm glad I can get in the kitchen and bake something. The oven keeps the apartment nice and warm in the evening, as if it really were hot outside.

These cookies were, surprisingly, a breeze to make. The dough needs to rest overnight in the fridge, but it takes about 10 min to put together and it's the easiest dough you've ever rolled. This said by someone who really hates rolling dough. The filling is even simpler. Dried figs, a bit of water, period.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Why would I make these at home when I can buy a box of Fig Newtons at the grocery store for a couple bucks?. Well, just like with Thin Mint cookies, the homemade version is better. Far better. The cookie is softer and more buttery and the filling is just plain clean fig taste. They really are worth the little effort they involve.

Before the recipe, I'd like to announce a giveaway from Food on The Table. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Food on The Table is a web and mobile service that creates meal plans and generates grocery lists according to your tastes/needs. After indicating food preferences/dietary restrictions, you'll be able to choose from a variety of recipes and Food on the Table will automatically build a grocery list for you. Moreover, their service will tell you which grocery stores on your area have sales on those items in your list. 

Sound good? Well then, to enter the giveway, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me which store sold cookie/candy/cake, you like making home versions of. For extra entries, follow Baking Powders on Facebook , or post about this giveaway on Twitter. Please leave a separate comment for the extra entries and indicate your FB/twitter name. You can enter until Thursday August 9th at midnight. The winner will be chosen and published on Friday August 10th. Good luck!

AND THE WINNER IS... ANDREAMC!

Fig Newtons
Adapted from Faux Martha

2/3 cup all purpose flour (more if needed)
6 tbsp softened unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
1 cup dried Black Mission figs
1/4 cup water

For the dough

With a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the two egg yolks and vanilla and beat to combine. In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Incorporate the flour mixture into the wet mixture, mixing with a spatula. At this point, depending on how warm your butter is, the dough might be really soft and very sticky. If this happens, you can add a bit more flour until the dough is soft and elastic but doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. On the contrary, if the dough doesn't come together, you can add a tablespoon of water at a time and mix it in until the dough comes together. At this point, cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge overnight. 

For the filling

In a food processor, combine the figs and water and process until you get a paste. If your figs are very dry you might need a bit more water. I didn't have any booze around, but I'm sure some bourbon or rum would go perfectly well with those figs. 

Preheat the oven at 350 F. 

Once the dough has rested, roll it to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut it into 3 1/4 inch strips. I'm not to concerned about perfect shapes, so I made a couple of them a bit wider. The only trick here is to work quickly. Since it's a soft dough, the more time you spend rolling it, the stickier it will get. I rolled mine between two pieces of parchment paper to make my life easier and then left the dough in the fridge for 5 min before adding the filling.

Spread the filling in the center third of your dough strips. Fold the sides of the dough over the filling and place them upside down on a cookie sheet (so the seam is facing the sheet). Cut the dough to form your cookies, as long or as short as you want them. Bake the cookies for 10-12 min or until golden brown. Once cold, store them in an airtight container. Mine didn't last at all, but I think you don't want to keep them for more than 4 days anyone as the dough softens up overtime.