I have been craving ice cold ice cream all week at work and after browsing through David Lebovitz online recipes for ice cream I decided to make my own.

I don't have an ice cream machine. But I do have a whisk, time to stir every 30 minutes, and a freezer. Yes, that's almost everything you need to make homemade ice cream. Lebovitz has some great suggestions and techniques to make it with a machine at home, you may find what works for you best here.

It took me less than 20 minutes to make the liquid, then checked on it in the freezer every 30-45 until I was content with the consistency.  I love almonds, wildflower honey, and anise- the flavors of greek honey come to mind. Oh, and did I mention there's no added sugar? Just sweetened with honey! It's relatively low in fat.

Roasted Almond Honey Soy Ice Cream
Serves 4-6, depending on the size of the scoop
Ready to eat after 3 hours

equipment: Blender, whisk, 9x13 aluminum sheet cake pan

1 T Bacardi Rum (alcohol keeps it from solidifying, you can use vodka too)
1 T Arrowroot powder
1/4 cup wildflower honey
1/2 tsp whole anise seed
2 cups unsweetened plain soymilk
generous 2/3 cup freshly roasted almonds

Roast the raw unblanched almonds in the oven, remove and set to the side to cool. Roughly chop.

Blend the rum, arrowroot powder, honey, and anise seed together in the blender. Slowly add the soymilk and combine thoroughly. Pour the liquid into the baking pan, and stir in the roasted almonds. Place the pan into the freezer.

Whisk the liquid every 30-45 minutes over the course of a 3 hour period. Serve immediately or reserve for the next day.  If you serve for the next day, remember that you'll have to let it thaw briefly and stir to maintain a nice semi-creamy consistency.
 

The last few weeks I've been picking up fresh raw beets at my favorite local farmer's stand, Nolt's Produce on Franklin Street in Fleetwood. Nolt's Produce is perhaps a hidden jem in the area. It's a family run stand that's open daily from dawn until dusk (except Sundays). Their corn, cabbage, cantaloupe, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and much of their seasonal produce comes directly from their small farm behind the stand. Their peaches, plums and other seasonal stone fruits come from a fruit farm nearby. I'll have to write a post strictly on their stand. I've saved so much money this summer by buying from them- not to mention continuing to eat well! It's so close to where we live and a treat every time I go. The fresh veggies I buy from Nolt's determine what we'll be eating the next few days. (Which means this week I'll be making recipes with zucchini, peppers, beets, and cantaloupe.)

My recipe for Beet and Apple Salad is quick and easy. Only a grater is required. For raw enthusiasts, use raw pecans and a cold pressed nut oil and you'll have a nice recipe to add to your repertoire.

I love the unique taste of wildflower honey and I wouldn't trade in its unique taste for clover honey in this recipe.

Beet Apple Salad (or call it a slaw if you must)
Serves 4 as a side, or 2 as a main dish

1 apple, cored (unpeeled)
2 large carrots, peeled
2 large raw beets, greens removed, peeled
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
1/4 cup pecan halves, toasted and roughly chopped
pepper to taste

Toast pecan halves in the oven while you're combining your salad ingredients.

With a box grater, coarsely grate the apple, carrots, and beets into a large bowl. The apples and carrots will absorb the deep red color of the beets. In a small mixing bowl or your glass measuring cup, whisk together balsamic vinegar, wildflower honey, pepper, and oil. Pour the dressing onto the grated apples, carrots, and beets, and combine. I'll leave it up to you as to whether or not you want to add the pecans immediately or wait until serving. The nice nutty crunch is a nice contrast to the apples, carrots, and beets. The pecans will soften as the salad flavors meld together.

Serve at room temperature or slightly cool.

When serving, place on top of colorful greens to intensify the colors.   

  

These ground almond Panmelati are an adaptation of Lidia Bastianich's Honey Orange Crumb Cookies from her Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy cookbook. I was so enticed by her descriptions of Italy and its cuisine watching her television show that I purchased her cookbook the last time I stopped in at Borders. The television episodes feature the same recipes from the book with additional histories. I'd encourage you to watch her show and visit her website. For those of you that love German cuisine you'll catch flavors, words, and food habits in Northern Italy that are similar to food customs in Bavaria.

Honey-Orange Crumb Cookies, Panmelati, are found on page 217, from Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy, published by Alfred Knopf, 2009. For those of you that don't want to purchase the book now, you can view the recipe on her website and browse through her other delectable and traditional recipes from Italy.

My adaptation reduces the yield, replaces the breadcrumbs with ground almonds, and adds anise seed. These are soft, crunchy, chewy, and perfectly flavored with orange. Pistachios could be used in place of walnuts.

Ground Almond Panmelati
Yield: 32

2 medium to large oranges, preferably organic
1 cup wildflower honey, local
1/4-1/2 tsp whole anise seed
1/4 tsp lavender
1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely ground almonds, freshly ground
1 tablespoon flour (optional, if necessary)

Peel the oranges and cut the bitter white pith away. Keep the peel in strips if you can and chop finely. The finer the pieces the easier it will be to cook them until they are translucent.  Reserve the chopped peel. You'll need about 1/2 cup. Place the honey, anise seed, and lavender in a small to medium sauce pan and bring it to a simmer.  Add the anise seed by rubbing the seeds between  your hands as it drops into the pan. Add the chopped peel and cook until translucent and soft. It will take between 3-5 minutes. You can use this time to grind the almonds.

Add the ground almonds and 1/2 of the toasted walnuts to the honey mixture while still on the stove. Bring back to heat and stir until a soft dough forms, enough to form round balls. If the dough is too soft, add more ground almonds or a tablespoon of flour. I found I didn't need it, but you may if your almonds are too coarsely ground. You don't want to grind them to a flour, but to the size of breadcrumbs. 

Remove from heat and form the dough into truffle size balls. Wash your hands in cold water repeatedly or pat them lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Roll them in the remaining chopped walnuts and set to cool on parchment paper. Enjoy after they have cooled. Store in an airtight container away from sunlight or heat. Refrigeration isn't necessary.

Tirggel cookies are another type of cookie where you can use Springerle or Speculaas molds. Tirggel cookies are toasted on one side, white underneath and demand to be dunked in tea or coffee. They are flavored with anise, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, and are kissed with the slightest bit of rosewater. The dough is very easy to make and can be made without a mixer. 

I've translated the recipe from the bakers at Honegger-Tirggel, Swiss bakers who distribute and sell their Tirggel cookies all over the world during the Christmas season. It is a traditional Swiss/German cookie. They have provided home bakers a recipe to try.  If you have grown up enjoying Tirggel cookies, please comment and share your story or recipe.

Tirggel
from Honegger-Tirggel
Yield varies depending on the size of the cookie mold

450 grams honey- I used local wildflower honey
100 grams powdered sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground anise
1 1/2 Tablespoons rosewater
700 grams all purpose flour

Oil to coat cookie molds

While I tried to stay true to the original recipe's directions I have adapted the preparation and made additional suggestions. The original recipe can be found on the Honegger Tirggel website.
 
Preparation:
In a double boiler, place honey, powdered sugar, spices and rosewater together. Stir until all of the sugar has dissolved and the honey mixture is thin. Set to the side to cool but not completely.  Place flour into a bowl and make a well. Pour the cooled honey into the flour and fold together with a wooden spoon to make a dough. You may need to knead the remaining flour into the dough. If you're short on time, place the dough into the refrigerator for one hour otherwise, as the original recipe indicates, let cover the dough and cool overnight at room temperature.

Set the oven to broil. Place the rack on the top shelf. Line one cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Roll out portions of the dough on a prepared surface to 2mm thick or thicker depending on the size of the mold. The cookies will be quite thin. Oil the Springerle or Tirggel mold with a sweet oil, I used almond oil. Re-oil mold as needed. Spraying your mold with a non-stick olive oil spray works well too to prevent the dough from adhering to the mold.  Print cookies, cut them out with a cookie cutter, and place them on prepared baking sheets.

Broil cookies 2-3 minutes until the relief of the cookie turns golden brown and the underside of the cookies are white. Cookies burn very easily so watch them carefully as they broil.

Remove cookies from baking sheet and repeat the broiling process one sheet at a time. Place a fresh sheet of parchment paper on the sheet every time you bake. Place cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies will improve in flavor the next day. Cookies will be tough, not soft and demand to be dunked in tea or coffee.