The most flavorful of all apricot varieties is the Blenheim. The Blenheim—also called the Royal and the Royal Blenheim—is a petite fruit often with lightly green shoulders. While the Blenheim is not as richly colored or meaty as other apricots, its flavor is sublime.

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Rhubarb is among the first crops of the year–along with asparagus and radishes. Use rhubarb that is firm like celery, not limp. You may want to “string” the rhubarb stalks before cutting them. Just hold the end of a stalk between your thumb and a paring knife and pull the strings down the length of the stalk. Plain-stewed rhubarb is strong flavored. That’s why this recipe begins by stewing the stalks with sugar.

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Because this recipe use a purée of just harvested pumpkin, you will need about 90 minutes to prepare the ice cream mix and another 2½ hours to freeze.

‘Sugar Pie’ is the pumpkin I chose for this recipe, but you can use any pie or sugar pumpkin—those are the smaller pumpkins, not the big jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

By the way, you can make this treat with any orange-fleshed winter squash–so if you want to serve butternut or acorn squash ice cream, here you go.

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Pumpkin Ice Cream

Prep 90 mins

Inactive 2 hours, 30 mins

Total 3 hours, 60 mins

Author Steve Albert

Yield 8 servings

Here is a tasty pumpkin ice cream that is easy to make: it is simply sweetened pumpkin purée, milk, and whipping cream, frozen.

Ingredients

• 1 ‘Sugar Pie’ pumpkin or other deep orange-fleshed squash (about 2 pounds or larger)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups whipping cream
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground ginger, and vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Prepare Pumpkin Purée: Preheat oven to 375°F. Use a heavy knife to cut the pumpkin through the top. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub inside of pumpkin with vegetable oil. Place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until very soft when pierced, 45 to 75 minutes.
2. Scoop flesh into a food processor; whirl until smooth. (Drain the purée in a strainer for about 30 minutes if it is watery.)
3. Prepare Ice Cream: Use a whisk to mix the cream, milk, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and salt in a bowl.
4. Scoop the mix into an ice cream maker; chill and freeze according to the manufacturers’ directions.
5. 5. Spatula the ice cream into a bowl. Freeze covered until it’s scoopable, about 2½ hours. Will keep for up to 1 week.

Courses Dessert

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Candied Orange Peel or Any Citrus Peel

Author Steve Albert

Yield 4 dozen pieces

This recipe is very simple: you want to completely cover the citrus peel you choose in sugar and water during the cooking process. The ratio of sugar to water is 2:1, that is two parts sugar to one part water. You can start with 4 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water—that would submerge the peel of 4 medium oranges or 8 lemons or tangerines or 2 grapefruits. Remember, if the peel is not submerged during cooking add sugar and water at a ratio of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water until the peel is covered.

Ingredients

• 4 medium oranges (organic grown or unsprayed fruit) (substitute 8 lemons or 8 tangerines or 2 grapefruits, if you like)
• 4 cups sugar, plus additional sugar for rolling at the end
• 2 cups water

Instructions

1. Cut the oranges in quarters or halves and remove the fruity flesh. Reserve the fruit for serving at the next meal or for snacks or juice the flesh for drinking or other cooking uses.
2. Place the halves in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water; cover by an inch or so. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Lower the heat and simmer until the peel is very tender, about 5 to 10 minutes; poke with a fork or skewer to test. Allow the peel to cool until it can be easily handled.
4. Use a spoon to scrape away as much of the pulp and white pith from the inside of the rind as possible.
5. Use a knife or scissors to cut the peel into long strips ⅛ to ¼ inch wide.
6. Put the strips of peel in a heavy saucepan and add 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. Cook and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring often until the sugar dissolves in the water to make syrup. The syrup should completely cover or submerge the strips of peel. If not, add sugar and water in 2 to 1 proportions until the peel is covered.
7. Simmer the syrup slowly; you may need to adjust the heat to keep the syrup at a slow simmer. Cook until the peel becomes translucent and the syrup is thick and bubbling.
8. Increase the heat slightly and cook the syrup until it threads, about 5 to 10 more minutes—the syrup will form a thread when poured from a spoon. (The syrup will thread at about 230°F—use a candy thermometer if you have one.) (Another test is to pour a bit of syrup into a glass of cold water; it should form a small ball.)
9. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
10. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Scoop the strips of peel from the syrup with a slotted spoon or remove them with tongs. Place the strips evenly on the cooling rack and let them dry for a few hours or overnight.
11. Toss the strips of candied peel with granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Separate strips that stick together.

Notes

Candied peel will keep for months stored in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container.

Use the left-over syrup to poach dried fruit.

If you find these candied peels too hard, add 2 tablespoons of corn syrup to the recipe; it will keep the peel moist even after they dry.

If you find the candy too bitter—if you use grapefruit peels, for example; you can cook out the bitterness by covering in cold water and boiling twice or three times; then trim the peels and cook with sugar and water.

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Family and friends will gobble up chocolate chip and dip applesauce cookies.

In this recipe, I substitute chocolate bits and chunks that I’ve chopped myself for standard chips—I just like the surprise of finding those just-a-bit-bigger bits and chunks along the way. Also in this recipe let solid shortening and applesauce take the place of butter to give the cookies an added mouthwatering softness. You don’t have to dip these chocolate chips in chocolate once baked, but why wouldn’t you?

The chocolate chip is a quintessential American cookie (first baked by Ruth Graves Winfield of Whitman, Massachusetts in 1939), but I think it eats well any place in the world.

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Poached pears and chocolate can be either a hot or cold dessert. For poaching, I like either the early-season Bartlett pear—a medium-large fruit with white, sweet, and tender flesh, or the late-season Bosc—a large, long-necked fruit with white, tender-juicy and sweet flesh.

I poach the pears whole then serve them halved with spoonfuls of dark or white chocolate sauce—or both–along with almond cookies dolloped with chocolate.

Serve poached pears and chocolate sauce warm, or let cool to room temperature, or refrigerate to serve later, chilled.

The classy alternative to halving the pears is to slightly pare the flower ends flat, set each whole pear upright in an individual serving dish then spoon the sauce over the stem ends to drape each pear in flavor.

Also of interest:

Pears: Kitchen Basics

How to Grow Pears

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The baked stuffed apple is a delicious, traditional, and easy-to-make winter and holiday treat. I bake these apples on the oven shelf right under the baking ham.

Choose any one or two of these great baking apples for this tasty dessert: Honeycrisp is sweet, Braeburn is sweet-spicy, Jonagold and Rome Beauty are sweet-tart, and Granny Smith is tart and tangy.

As for stuffing the apples, there are so many tasty matches: almonds, raisins, walnuts, pecans, dates, and cranberries—you can pretty much mix and match any of these for the flavors you most love.

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McIntosh is an East Coast and Midwest favorite. Granny Smith, originally from Australia is a West Coast favorite. It’s not hard to find either of these great tasting apples at farm markets from late summer through early spring.

Choose apples that are heavy and firm, vibrant colored, and fresh smelling. Smell is the best ways to choose apples that are fresh and ripe.

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A refreshing, fruity balance of sour and sweet, apple slices are versatile—and widely matched for flavor.

Sweeter varieties such as Fuji and Gala are right for desserts—match them with cream, ice cream, and honey; tart varieties such as Braeburn and Granny Smith are suited to dark greens such as spinach and arugula and sharp cheeses.

Taste apple slices for their flavor notes—spicy like nutmeg and anise, dairy like butter and cream and cheese, and nutty (especially near the core) like almond. Tasting for flavor will help you match raw apples with suitable flavor partners.

Selecting apples for eating raw. A fully ripe apple will be heavy and firm with a vibrant color and fresh aroma. Heavier apples contain more moisture and are less likely to have a mealy texture; ripe apples will be vibrant red—yellow and green apples are best with a slight blush; a just ripe apple will smell fresh and rich—not overly fruity.

Best apples for eating raw:

• Red Delicious: crisp, juicy, and sweet flesh with a thin but tough skin.
• Fuji: crisp and sweet, a green-red fruit.
• Gala: sweet, orange-yellow fruit.
• Golden Delicious: not too sweet, not too tart, a golden yellow, freckled fruit.
• Granny Smith: brisk and tart and bright green fruit.
• McIntosh: very juicy and slightly tart red-green fruit.
• Jonathan: sweet, slightly acidic, vibrant red with yellow undertones.
• Pippin: crisp, slightly tart, large greenish-yellow with red blush.
• Braeburn: blends sweet and tart, red hue over a yellow skin.

Preparing apple slices. Rinse apples under cold running water. Cut apples in half then cut each half in half again and pare out the core. Slice each quarter to the thickness you desire. Once apples are cut the enzymes in the flesh will begin to oxidize and turn them brown. To keep apple slices from turning brown, place them in a lemon and water solution as you cut them (for every two cups of water, add two tablespoons of lemon.)

Serving apple slices in a salad. Serve apple slices raw with the flavor match you choose. To create an apple-slice based salad bind the apple slices and other ingredients with a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise or apple cider vinaigrette or yogurt—just enough to lightly coat the mix. Try this: thin apple slices with torn spinach leaves, chopped walnuts, and raisins lightly tossed with low-fat yogurt and a dab of honey.

Sliced apple flavor matches:

• apples + arugula
• apples + bananas
• apples + bacon
• apples + blueberries
• apples + cantaloupe
• apples + caramel
• apples + carrots
• apples + cheese – slivers of Brie or Camembert
• apples + hard cheese—a wedge of Cheddar or Stiltin
• apples + cinnamon
• apples + cottage cheese
• apples + granola
• apples + honey
• apples (tart) + horseradish
• apples (tart) + mangoes
• apples + maple syrup
• apples + oatmeal
• apples + pears
• apples + peanuts
• apples + oranges
• apples + peanut butter
• apples + pineapples
• apples + spinach
• apples + brown sugar
• apples + yogurt
• apples + almond butter + cinnamon
• apples + celery + walnuts (bind with a tablespoon of mayonnaise)
• apples + caramel+ slivered almonds
• apples + caramel + peanuts
• apples + caramel + pecans
• apples + cream + ginger
• apples + ginger + hazelnuts
• apples + kiwi slices + strawberries
• apples + apricots + pine nuts
• apples + raisins + rum
• apples + snow peas + apple cider vinaigrette
• apples + red cabbage + cinnamon
• apples + almonds + crème fraîche + raisins
• apples + brown sugar + creams + walnuts
• apples + caramel + pistachios + vanilla ice cream
• apples + cabbage + orange + pineapple

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