Roasted Tomato Cornbread

When I was working at the restaurant, I always dreaded cornbread day. As a part of the bread baking team, we were in charge of making all of the breads and pastries for the entire resort, the types varying based on the days of the week or the events taking place on property. Cornbread was for outdoor events, usually large groups, so days when we made cornbread, we were cranking out about 300 little golden muffins an afternoon. Mixing the batter was easy, but baking them off was quite a feat. Because of the set up of the kitchen, we would corner ourselves in front of the 400° F convection ovens, filled with pre-heated muffin tins. Then, with that hot air blowing from the oven, we quickly pulled out the hot tins, sprayed them with cooking spray, and scooped batter into each little crevice, before shoving them back in and slamming the door. After ten minutes, we flipped them out and repeated the whole process over again. (It was definitely a two-person job so at least you had someone to commiserate with.) Between the hot oven air and that warm, East Tennessee July summer sun, you were dripping with sweat and all of your pores were filled with cooking spray by the end of the whole she-bang. We always saved cornbread for last, so thankfully, we were able to pull our last trays just before dragging our cornbread-smelling bodies home where I beelined straight for the shower. Needless to say, when I got back home to Orlando, I took a little cornbread baking hiatus.

Lucky for us, this cornbread doesn’t make 300 muffins and you don’t have to stand in front of a hot oven, shoveling the batter in at record-high speeds. This is a much more chill cornbread, perfect for any summer dinner party. I slow roasted grape tomatoes in a hefty glug of olive oil and then poured cornbread batter right over top before baking. It may not be the prettiest cornbread, but it’s simple and delicious and I think it will become a favorite around here.

Roasted Tomato Cornbread

Yield: 1-10 inch cast iron skillet

Ingredients 

roasted tomatoes

1 pint grape tomatoes

2 T olive oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt

cornbread

1 3/4 cup (245 g) cornmeal

1 cup (125 g) all purpose or whole wheat flour

1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted + 2 T for pan

Procedure:  

1. Preheat oven to 300° F.

2. In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil, and salt. Toss to coat tomatoes and then transfer to a cast iron skillet. 

3. Bake for 90 minutes, checking and gently stirring every 20 minutes.

4. When the tomatoes are finished roasting, increase oven temperature to 400° F and place 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet to melt while you mix the cornbread. 

5. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. 

6. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter until homogenous. 

7. Pour liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until combined and no dry streaks remain. 

8. Pour cornbread batter over top of roasted tomatoes and bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is deeply golden brown. Remove from oven and top with a little more butter. When cooled slightly, gently flip cornbread out onto a plate and serve. 

Floral Strawberry Poptarts

As a child, prior to maturing into what some would lovingly call a “food snob”, I had some very specific (and kind of strange) eating habits. Pepperoni and mayonnaise sandwiches. Dipping everything (not just fries and pizza, but green beans, those little packs of salad crackers, steak, potato chips…) in Hidden Vally Ranch Dressing. And pop tarts. Pop Tarts were a very serious matter in my house and as a 10 year old, I had perfected my pop tart process. First, the best/only pop tart options were 1) brown sugar cinnamon 2) s’mores 3) frosted strawberry. Ranked in that order. All other pop tarts had no place in my heart. Second, pop tarts had to be toasted. They should be just warmed, so that the corners are a very light golden brown. Then, here’s where things get a little weird, right after removing the pop tarts from the toaster, they got smeared with butter. (And actually, not even really butter, because it was the mid 2000s, but I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter from the tub.) Immediately after smearing, you sandwich the pop tarts together so that the butter is smushed in between the two. Wrap it in a paper towel and let it set for 5-10 minutes so the butter/margarine stops melting and sort of re-solidifies. Then you can eat your pop tarts. PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME FOR THIS. Also, if I were to eat pop-tarts today, with the exception of using real butter, I would stand by this process every step of the way.

These pop tarts are cuter, less processed, and more adult than the silvery packets at the store. Strawberries are cooked down into a jam with elderflower syrup and a splash of gin and then they are tucked into the most adorable stamps of pie dough. After they are baked, they are drizzled with a little glaze and covered with rose petals because that makes them even cuter and you can eat them in one bite. Use any fruit you’d like for the filling and if you’re feeling extra nostalgic, cut your pie dough into big rectangles and make a pop tart a little closer to the classic.

Floral Strawberry Pop Tarts

Yield: 24 baby pop tarts

Ingredients: 

for the pie crust

1 1/4 cup (165 g) all purpose flour 

1 1/4 cup (140 g) cake flour

1 T granulated sugar

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

6-8 T ice water

for the strawberry elderflower filling 

10 oz strawberries, chopped

2 T elderflower syrup*, see notes below

1 T gin

1 tsp cornstarch

1 T water

for the glaze 

1/3-1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 T heavy cream

rose petals, sprinkles for decoration

egg wash

Procedure: 

to make the pie crust 

1. Cut butter into cubes and place in the freezer while you assemble the rest of your ingredients (about 5 minutes).

2. In a medium bowl, toss together flours, salt, and sugar.

3. Add butter cubes to the flour and toss to coat. Use your fingers to press each butter cube flat into the flour, breaking them up until the butter chunks are roughly the size of walnut halves. Make a well in the center of the flour. 

4. Pour 6 T of ice water into the well and then use your fingers to gently toss the mixture to begin hydrating the flour. Add more water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough begins to come together.

5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead gently until there are no more dry spots of flour and dough can be pushed into a cohesive mass. Divide the dough in half, pat each half into a rectangle, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill overnight. 

to make the filling 

1. In a saucepan set over medium heat, combine strawberries, elderflower syrup and gin. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes until strawberries are broken down. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Stir cornstarch slurry into strawberries and bring to a boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes more, stirring continually and then remove from heat. Let cool completely. 

to assemble pop tarts 

1. About 30 minutes prior to assembling, remove pie dough from the refrigerator. 

2. Working with one dough block at a time, turn dough onto a floured work surface. Roll out, flouring as needed and moving the dough around frequently to prevent sticking, until the dough is 1/8” thick. 

3. Use a 2” dough cutter to cut out circles out of the dough. You should have about 24 circles. 

4. Transfer half of the dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spoon 1 tsp of strawberry mixture in the center of each circle. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the edges with egg wash, and then top each strawberry-filled circle with the remaining unfilled circles. Use a fork to seal the edges. 

5. Repeat steps 2-4 with the remaining block of dough and strawberry filling. 

6. Preheat the oven to 350° F and transfer pop tarts to the freezer while the oven preheats. When the oven is ready, brush the tops lightly with egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the tops and bottoms of the pop tarts are golden brown. 

to make the frosting 

1. Whisk together powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Add heavy cream, a little at a time until glaze reaches your desired consistency. Spoon over pop tarts and then decorate with rose petals and sprinkles. 

Notes: Flora Wellness forages and makes the best flower syrups around. I keep a variety on hand for everything from cocktails to cappuccinos, buttercream and to pie fillings and you can use any of her floral syrups in this recipe. If you don’t have a Flora Wellness syrup on hand, you can sub 1 T sugar, 1 T of water, and a tsp of your favorite edible flower.

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Tahini Oatmeal Ice Cream Sandwiches with Java Fudge Ice Cream

These ice cream sandwiches are an easy summer dessert recipe. A soft and chewy tahini oatmeal cookie filled with a simple, homemade no-churn coffee ice cream, rippled with fudge that can easily be made with or without an ice cream maker.

This past weekend was my birthday and it was a perfect quarantine celebration. Instead of celebrating one day, I prolonged the festivities throughout the entire weekend, simply because I wanted to and what a great decision that was. Friday morning started with a bang when I released my very first e-book! (If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, what are you waiting for? Get it here!) I also finished up a little recipe testing and got some not-as-fun computer work out of the way in order to clear my weekend schedule. A friend and I picked up Shake Shack and picnicked in a pretty park, and Friday night, we threw a big blanket on our living room floor, stacked pillows around us, and transformed the room into the perfect picnic fort for the weekend. I made a bunch of random vegetables, we drank some funky natural wine, had a tiny dance party, and finished season 2 of Dead to Me. Perfect birthday evening.

Saturday morning, we made breakfast sandwiches with kale and focaccia and puttered around the house. I finished photographing a few things, we dropped cookies off to some nurse friends, picked up tacos and made a giant bowl of guacamole and snacked all afternoon. Also, all day long, I walked Martin through the whole sourdough making process, so we took little breaks to fold dough throughout the day. We made pizzas and drank a great bottle of Tempranillo and watched Center Stage. Sunday morning started with a breakfast frittata filled with all of the weekend’s leftover veggies, the baking off of our sourdough loaves, church online, and big lattes. Then we packed leftover pizza into aluminum foil satchels, tucked them in a backpack and went for a hike. We explored a little nature preserve about 45 minutes from our house, found five ripe blackberries, a bunch of wild fennel, and caught a couple of glimpses of gopher tortoises. We ate our picnic looking out over the water and it was just magical and really so perfect to be out of the house and somewhere that wasn’t a grocery store. Sunday afternoon, I drank pink wine in a bathrobe and took a nap and if that’s not living your birthday to the fullest, I really don’t know what is. We made easy pantry pasta for dinner and wistfully cleaned up our living room fort and I’m already counting down until next year. (I also realized that this entire birthday weekend recollection is essentially a diary of what I ate all weekend, but this is a food blog so I guess that’s allowed.)

how to make homemade ice cream sandwiches

So let’s talk about ice cream sandwiches. It’s Memorial Day weekend, which is the unofficial start of summer and even if we aren’t partaking in giant backyard BBQs right now, it would be wrong for us to keep ourselves from ice cream sandwiches. Often, homemade ice cream sandwiches made with cookies get so hard in the freezer that you almost break your jaw when trying to bite into them and that’s really not a fun way to eat ice cream. So for these sandwiches, I wanted to keep our jaws intact and I made a tahini oatmeal cookie that would resemble the soft cookie of an oatmeal cream pie. These hold up really nicely, just watch how long you bake them. I would recommend under-baking them slightly in order to keep them on the softer side.

I’m very much on an ice cream kick. Just prepare yourself because there are quite a few ice cream recipes coming at ya this summer, I just can’t help myself. This ice cream doesn’t need an ice cream maker. You just steep coffee beans into heavy cream, strain them out, and use your cream to make a creme anglaise. The fudge ripple is a simple chocolate ganache folded in after your anglaise is chilled and whipped and then the whole thing is frozen. If you’re not into making your own ice cream (I implore you to give it a try), you can definitely just buy your favorite from the store for these ice cream sandwiches too.

Yield: makes 9 large ice cream sandwiches

Author: Anna Ramiz

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Tahini Oatmeal Ice Cream Sandwiches with Java Fudge Ice Cream

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 30 HourTotal time: 31 H & 30 M

These ice cream sandwiches are an easy summer dessert recipe. A soft and chewy tahini oatmeal cookie filled with a simple, homemade, no-churn coffee ice cream, rippled with fudge, that can easily be made with or without an ice cream maker.

Ingredients

for the java fudge ice cream base

• 1 3/4 cup (400 g) heavy cream
• 2 tbsp (10 g) whole coffee beans
• 3/4 cup (170 g) granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

for the fudge ripple

• 2.5 oz (70 g) dark chocolate, chopped
• 2.5 oz (70 g) unsalted butter
• 2 oz (57 g) heavy cream
• 2 tsp kaluha, optional

for the tahini oatmeal cookies

• 1 stick (4 oz, 113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (125 g) tahini, well-stirred
• 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (110 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 3/4 cup (240 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 cups (300 g) rolled oats

Instructions

to make the ice cream

1. Make the fudge ripple: Combine chocolate, butter, and heavy cream in a bowl set over a double boiler. Cook, stirring frequently, until everything is melted. Remove from heat and whisk vigorously until smooth, glossy, and completely emulsified and then whisk one minute longer. Whisk in the Kaluha if using. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the chocolate to prevent a skin and let rest at room temperature for 3-6 hours, until cooled and thickened. The chocolate should be thick and scoop-able, but not hard.
2. Make the ice cream base: Combine heavy cream and coffee beans in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until cream is beginning to bubble around the edges of the pan and is hot to the touch. Remove from heat, cover tightly and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain out coffee beans, return cream to saucepan, and bring back to a simmer.
3. While the cream is heating, whisk together salt, vanilla, egg yolks, and sugar in a large bowl. When the cream is hot, slowly stream it into the egg mixture, whisking continually the whole time. Transfer the entire mixture back into the saucepan and return to heat.
4. Cook, stirring continually with a wooden spoon, over low-medium heat until anglaise sauce is thickened, but do not bring to a boil. You can test if the sauce is ready by wiping your finger through the sauce along the back of the wooden spoon. If the line your finger creates holds, the sauce is ready. If it drips, continue cooking.
5. When the sauce is sufficiently thickened, strain into a large mixing bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
6. Whipping and chilling: When the anglaise sauce is cold, transfer to a mixer and begin whipping. Whip until soft peaks form.
7. Assembly: Gently fold chocolate ganache into the whipped anglaise until just combined. There should be some thick streaks of chocolate, as well as small flakes throughout. Transfer the entire mixture to an 8x8 pan or loaf pan. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream and then wrap the entire pan tightly. Freeze overnight, or for 12-18 hours.

to make the cookies

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and tahini. Beat for 30 seconds, until combined and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add sugar and brown sugar, and cream until thick and sandy, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no flour streaks remain, followed by the oats.
6. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold with a rubber spatula a few times to ensure that everything is well mixed. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator for at least another 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours.
8. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake cookies for 8 minutes and then flatten them with a spatula. Return to oven for 2-4 more minutes, until edges are golden brown and the centers are set. Let cool completely on the pan.

to assemble the ice cream sandwiches

1. Sandwich one scoop of ice cream between two cookies, and wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap. Return to the freezer for at least 6 hours, to allow the ice cream to refreeze before eating.
2. You can store the wrapped ice cream sandwiches in a zipper bag in the freezer for about two weeks. Martin has found that if you take the ice cream sandwich out of the freezer and let it sit in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before you eat it, it’s the perfect and softness for eating.

Notes:

I recommend slightly under-baking the cookies to ensure that they stay soft and chewy after freezing.

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