Magnum Ice Cream Bars

A miracle has happened. Walking through Target, I noticed a freezer case ahead, lighting up magically as I approached (no really--Target's coolers have motion sensors), and I beheld... Magnum ice cream bars.

First, a brief narrative. When I lived in Europe, I was sadly disappointed by the quality of pre-packaged ice cream treats: the European equivalents of fudgsicles and Nutty Buddies. The "ice cream" was light on the tongue, almost foamy, a far cry from the dense, rich American ice cream I was used to. One day (late in my year, sadly), I was lamenting this disappointment to an American friend, when she asked, "Wait, haven't you ever had a Magnum bar?" No, I hadn't. Fortunately, one was available for purchase at that location.

I was instantly overcome and in love. Not only did the Magnum live up to my hopes of dense, creamy goodness--it surpassed them. The Magnum ice cream bar is the best ice cream bar I have eaten to date, American or European, hands down. The classic Magnum is vanilla ice cream robed in thick milk chocolate. The only thing better than discovering the Magnum was discovering the Double Chocolate Magnum, which is a milk chocolate ice cream bar surrounded by a double wall of ganache and chocolate.

And now, apparently, they have made their journey across the pond and landed in Target. They are pricey--$4 for three bars--but I didn't care. I bought two boxes, Double Chocolate and Double Caramel, and I think I plan to share...maybe.

 According to Wikipedia, Magnum is manufactured by the British/Dutch company Unilever, and has just debuted in the U.S. this year. Cheers! Whistles! Applause! Now go get your own box.

Peanut Butter Noodles

Because I spend so much time out of the house, I've started buying microwaveable meals to take to school. After trying a few varieties, I've settled on two reasonably priced brands from the organic aisle: McDougall's soups and Annie Chun's noodle bowls. My favorite noodle bowl flavor is Peanut Sesame, and this dish, combined with a vague memory of eating peanut butter noodles from a Chinese or Thai restaurant, inspired me to search for my own peanut butter noodle recipe.

I found an extremely well-reviewed recipe on AllRecipes and made it for lunch on Sunday. It was wonderful. I'll post the recipe below, from Amy Barthelemy, and then tell you my variations.

(Serves 4-5 people as a side, 3-4 as an entree.)

Peanut Butter Noodles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons hot chile paste (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces Udon noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until tender according to package directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, combine chicken broth, ginger, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, chili paste, and garlic in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until peanut butter melts and is heated through. Add noodles, and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and peanuts.

Crystal's Variations and Notes
This recipe is beautifully constructed, and I tweaked it a little when I shouldn't have. I wanted a robust peanut flavor, so I added an extra tablespoon of peanut butter to the sauce, but once I tasted the finished product, I realized it would have been fine without. I found only one brand of udon noodles at the grocery store, but they were perfect. I briefly considered not buying the chili paste (found in the sauce section of the Asian aisle), but I'm so glad I did. The two optional teaspoons in the recipe add just the right amount of spice, and you could easily kick it up with a few more teaspoons if you were so inclined. The chopped peanuts and diced green onions are an attractive garnish. To make this a complete meal, I sauteed some boneless, skinless chicken breasts with a little oil, soy sauce, ginger, and freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, and sliced and served them on top of the noodles. Heading out to warm some up for lunch instead of settling for Annie Chun's...

Fogo de Chão

Vegetarians, turn away now. While I sympathize with your cause, and enjoy vegetarian food on a regular basis, my next post requires me to sing the praises of meat. Seared, slow-roasted, smoky, dripping meat.

This past weekend, I was treated to one of the most glorious meals of my life at Fogo de Chão in center city Philadelphia. Fogo de Chão is a chain of Brazilian steakhouses, but they are located only in major cities in the U.S. and Brazil.

Although this is a fine dining establishment, it functions on a very interesting restaurant model. They serve a set menu for a fixed price, all you can eat. The meal is served in three sections: salad bar, family-style side dishes, and...the meat.

First, the salad bar. Magnificent. It was like having one of my favorite culinary magazines manifested on my plate. I started with a base of typical spring greens, but my horizons were soon significantly expanded. What followed was a string of high-quality ingredients called for in recipes from the likes of Food & Wine, items I rarely buy because of their expense. Whole halves of sun-dried tomatoes. Lightly blanched asparagus, broccoli, artichokes, hearts of palm. Shitake mushrooms. Roasted redskin potatoes. Belgian endive. Prosciutto, smoked salmon, thick-cut salami. Fresh mozzarella, aged Manchego, and a giant wheel of genuine Parmigiano Reggiano (basically the only real parmesan--all others are imitations). I thoroughly relished my plate, wishing I could smuggle bags of tomatoes and parmesan out the door, before turning to the next phase of the meal.

The three standard sides were brought family-style to the table on small silver platters: garlic mashed potatoes, fried polenta, and caramelized fried bananas. Each was delicious, but I particularly enjoyed the mashed potatoes--smooth, thick, and savory. Before I was finished with the salad and sides, others at the table began ordering their meats, and I was soon overtaken by the rich, smoky scent.

Once you're ready for the meat, you don't have to leave your chair. You simply flip the colored chip given to each person at the beginning of the meal from red to green to start the nonstop table service. At the sight of the green chip, the waiters begin swarming your table, each with a different cut of fresh meat on a skewer. They slide nimbly between you and your dining partner and ask politely if you would like their cut of meat--top sirloin? bottom sirloin? filet mignon? ribeye? beef ribs? pork ribs? lamb chops? roast chicken? pork loin? sausage?--and you accept or decline. If you accept, they ask which doneness you prefer (medium is the brownest you're going to get), they fresh-slice it, and you pick it up with your own pair of tongs. My favorite cuts, the bottom sirloin and filet mignon, were perfectly seasoned, tender, and ridiculously juicy.

Since this dinner was a treat, and even Fogo de Chão's website doesn't tell you the menu prices, I can't tell you how much my food cost. But I would venture that it was probably the most expensive meal I've eaten, and I'm kind of glad. All you can eat meat should cost that much, so it's done sparingly. Go only on a special occasion, or if your bill is paid for you, and enjoy thoroughly. It's totally worth it, every once in a while.

Polenta

At some point during my senior year of college, my friend Sarah introduced me to polenta. She bought a premade package of it, fried it in slices, and served it to me with marinara sauce. It was delicious, but completely unfamiliar to me. The only thing it reminded me of was Pennsylvania Dutch cornmeal mush, which is also served fried by the slice, but then slathered with syrup and eaten for breakfast. It was aptly named, and I hated the "mush." Polenta was much more to my liking. The grits were coarser, and the corn flavor was enhanced, rather than drowned, by the savory cheese and tomato sauce.

I recently picked up a bag of corn grits with which to make polenta, and I have decided for sure: I freakin' love polenta.

Polenta is stupidly simple to make: boil water and salt it, add grits gradually, and simmer while stirring for five minutes. This is the soft cereal version, which I really like, but you can also cook it until the mixture is thicker, pour it into a pan, let sit, cut into slices, and fry or bake.

The most common recipes I've seen include herbs and parmesan, and a good marinara sauce is a classic topper. I shook in some pre-grated parmesan and romano, added some dried basil and minced onion, and used Belletieri's tomato pasta sauce, which is made locally.

The result is pure comfort food. It's pasta without being pasta and hot cereal without being breakfast. You can make it as salty, savory, buttery, or cheesy as you like; the grits are a sturdy and mild base for many flavors.

And it's cheap! I bought a bag of good quality Bob's Red Mill organic corn grits in the Giant natural and organic aisle. A half cup of grits makes 2 portions or an extra large single portion, and this is a 24 oz. bag, for which I paid somewhere around $3.50. A filling and economical meal.

Polenta!

Holiday Cookies

My Christmas traditions for some time now have included single-handedly decorating a double batch of sugar cookie cut-outs, and individually dipping an entire bag's worth of mini pretzels in chocolate. I decided to abandon both this year, in favor of baking several new cookie varieties. I was inspired by the America's Test Kitchen Best Holiday Cookies 2010 issue, which included staples like Snickerdoodles and Russian Tea Cakes and recipes I've never seen before, like Texas Pink Grapefruit Bars and Peanut Butter Mousse Cups.

Like a crazy woman, I chose four recipes to try in one day, and accomplished them all. Here's the chronicle.

Cookie #1: Turtle Thumbprints

These turned out beautifully. The dough stayed soft and fudgy, and the pecan, cocoa, and caramel flavors balanced well. I did use the cream from the top of a jug of raw milk to mix with the caramel, and it produced a more liquid caramel than regular heavy cream would have. It tastes wonderful, but they are messy.





Cookie #2: Macadamia Eggnog Creams

The unique ingredients in this recipe made it fun to prepare. Eggnog goes into both the dough and the rum-spiked glaze, and the creamy, nutmeggy flavor definitely shines through. The salty macadamia nuts add a nice contrast. The flavor is subtle and perhaps somewhat lackluster, but sugar cookie fans who also like eggnog should love them, and they were super easy to bake.




Cookie #3: Molasses-Spice Lemon Cookies

These turned out to be my FAVORITE cookie of the day. The dough is packed with spicy ingredients--Brer Rabbit molasses, ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger--and the flavor, especially just out of the oven, was incredible. I took them out when they still looked underdone, which resulted in a cookie that has stayed very moist. I almost wanted to leave them alone, but the lure of the lemon cream was too much. A simple combination of powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, and butter fills the cookies, adding a creamy tang to offset the spices. I can't get over the flavor. Delicious.

Cookie #4: Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I had made a version of these before, probably from a recipe on AllRecipes.com, and I think I liked that one better. I recall it using sweetened condensed milk, which resulted in a richer, fudgier filling than the denser, drier one in this recipe. The version I made this time also called for instant coffee, which I thought was a good idea, but when I tasted the finished product, I thought the flavor seemed a bit harsh. I think I also overbaked these slightly, since the oatmeal crust and topping ended up a bit too crunchy. They've gotten good reviews from their tasters, however.

Chocorooms

I planned for a leisurely Monday morning this week, getting plenty of sleep last night and waking up in time to shop for the week's school lunch groceries and visit Five Below for stocking stuffer ideas. I didn't find anything worthwhile for the stockings, but these Chocorooms did catch my eye. I had seen them before, and although I was skeptical about the quality of edibles purchased at Five Below, I had confidence in the Chocorooms' Japanese origin. The Japanese know what they're doing when it comes to candy.

My box says it is distributed by D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co. in York, PA, and manufactured by Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. in Tokyo. Confident that I had purchased an authentic Japanese product, I opened the package.

The Chocorooms are adorable, for one thing. They look exactly like they do in the photo. The cracker stem is slightly sweet, and firm but crispy. The chocolate mushroom cap is smooth and very malty. I was nervous about the quality of the chocolate, but the ingredients list chocolate as the third ingredient after sugar and wheat flour. It is unfortunately followed by partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and artificial flavors, but the rest of the ingredients didn't sound awful: whole milk powder, cocoa butter, lactose, non-fat dried milk, malt syrup, yeast, salt, and leavening. I thought the ratio of chocolate to cracker was just about perfect.

I spent about $2 on a 3.13 oz box, which includes about 33 Chocorooms. I'm a big fan. They're tasty, cute, and relatively cheap for the novelty. Maybe I did find a stocking stuffer after all.

Slate Article on Inaccurate Prep Times in Cookbooks

I apologize for the dearth of new material here lately. Grad school and other demands have required all of my time. I hope to re-energize the blog over Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

Until then, check out this article on why estimated recipe preparation times in cookbooks are always wrong.