Ruby Chocolate Ice Cream With Coconut And Walnuts Sandwiched By Ruby Chocolate World Peace Cookies

Fall is one of the best times for an ice cream sammie.

Technically, I am not supposed to have a blog post title that long.

It should be short and sweet, intriguing.

But if you are not intrigued by the title above, you’re a dead person in a flesh suit.

Start here. Watch the video, make the cookies.

I swapped out my gluten-free flour blend and an equal amount of ruby chocolate for the chopped chocolate at the end.

And a word to the wise: weighing the ingredients for this recipe is important. I measured by volume the first time around and was totally unimpressed. Measuring by weight changed the whole experience. This recipe makes 36 cookies, and they can be frozen, baked, or frozen unbaked and sliced/baked when ready.

You could also skip the ruby chocolate if you like and make them as written, and you wouldn’t be sad, but this is a theme. 10/10 recommend finding some ruby chocolate for the cookies — you need it for the ice cream anyway, so why not?

Next, make the ice cream. This ruby chocolate ice cream is velvety smooth and rich, studded with unsweetened coconut and chopped walnuts. It’s not the same flamboyant pink of other recipes on the interwebs because I opted not to add food coloring or beet powder, but it you want that shock of pink in your mouth, add a 1/2 teaspoon of powder or as many drops of food color as you like.

New to ruby chocolate, which is a relative newcomer to food? Read more about ruby chocolate here from the company that discovered it.

Ruby Chocolate Ice Cream With Coconut And Walnuts

Ingredients

1 ½ cups heavy cream

½ cup coconut milk

⅓ cup sugar

3 egg yolks

6 ounces ruby chocolate

Optional: Beet powder or red food coloring

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Method

Heat cream, coconut milk, and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear at the edges.

While the milk heats, place the egg yolks in one bowl and the ruby chocolate in a slightly larger bowl and prepare an ice bath for the slightly larger bowl.

Once the bubbles appear, turn off the heat and very, very slowly drizzle the heated cream and coconut milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. If you go too fast or don’t whisk you’ll end up with sweet scrambled eggs. Go slow.

Return the mixture back to the heat, turn the flame to medium low, and get ready to stir until it thickens. This can take a minute (up to ten), but don’t get impatient and turn up the heat or you will end up with — you guessed it — sweet scrambled eggs.

When the milk mixture coats the back of the spatula and is thick (like a custardy sauce, not quite pudding), it’s done. Place a strainer over the bowl with the ruby chocolate and pour the milk into it. This catches any stray bits of egg (it happens).

Stir until the ruby chocolate is completely melted and incorporated. If adding beet powder or food coloring, do it at this step.

Place the bowl of what is now delicious, delicious ruby chocolate custard into the ice bath and stir until cooled. Wrap the bowl in plastic and chill until totally cold (at least four hours, but overnight is good, too).

When the custard is cool, process according to your ice cream maker’s directions. I add the coconut and walnuts in at the last five minutes, and it works like a charm.

Sandwich between two cookies, eat out of the ice cream maker, or freeze and serve later.

Note: 

This recipe doubles easily.

You can also substitute milks (non-dairy, no heavy cream, etc), but you will not get the same richness.

In The Planning Stage (Apparently)

It’s a reflection. Get it?

I haven’t posted here since the beginning of the summer, and if you haven’t read that post you need to go there because it’s the most delicious salad that translates into fall with maybe just sturdier greens and some quinoa.

I’ll wait.

But now, this post, which doesn’t have anything to do with food, really, except that I have made white bean and kale soup, gluten-free bagels, and GF and vegan doughnut holes from Minimalist Baker (among other delights), and am working on a ruby chocolate truffle that may make it onto the blog (along with Ruby Chocolate World Peace Cookies, in progress). But this post is not about that.

This post is about this quote:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish
someone had told me. All of us who do creative work, we
get into it because we have good taste. But there is this
gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not
that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s
not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game,
is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints
you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.

Most people I know who do interesting, creative work
went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t
have this special thing that we want it to have. We all
go through this. And if you are just starting out or you
are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the
most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put
yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish
one story. It is only by going through a volume of work
that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good
as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to
do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take a while.
It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your
way through.” – Ira Glass

My creative work has gone through some changes with the publication of my book Healing Where You Are: An Introduction to Urban Foraging; the shitty voice in my head has been back for awhile now, and my creative practice in the past eight months or so has simply been to get it to STFU.

I do that by pressing on. By walking. By jotting things down and editing when I get the urge. By saying no to mercenary writing that sucks the life out of me and yes to putting paint on canvas. By starting big projects that might lead to bigger projects (spoiler alert: #tinycabinbiglife).

Have I done as much as I should? Could?

Not likely.

But winter is coming, and for me that just more opportunity to dig deeper. To fight my way through.

To let go, even.

Also to start baking again. So there’s that.

What’s unfolding for you? Curious to know how people are moving forward after the first pandemic years.

Summer Salad With Vegan Cashew Dressing and Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

chipotle spiced roasted potatoes sit atop vegan cashew dressing on colorful salad greens with red and yellow peppers
Chipotle-spiced potatoes languishing on vegan cashew dressing and crispy salad greens.

It seems everybody and their fucking brother has a salad recipe for the summertime, but I’m just going to come out and say it: this one is better.

How’s that, you say? 

1. It’s accidentally vegan, and by “accidentally” I mean I don’t follow a vegan diet, but we should all eat less meat, because A) high-quality meat is getting more expensive, B) the only meat you should eat is high-quality meat, and C) eating plant-based meals a few times a week is really good for you.

Plus it’s cheaper to eat plant-based whole foods that aren’t processed. So there’s that.

2. The two highlights of this salad — the dressing and the potatoes — can be strewn about any number of variations in terms of greens and accoutrements. I give some suggestions in the Recipe Notes.

3. It’s a really good chance that you have everything you need to make this salad immediately. The only iffy thing is the cashews, but even the cashews can be picked up at a convenience store on the way home, as they don’t need to be fancy and raw (which means no soaking).

Everything else is pantry and fridge staples, and there’s no unusual ingredients. 

There’s also no yeast — a common vegan trick for a “cheesy” flavor — in this recipe. Many people, including this writer, have issues with yeast. Leaving it out is no big deal.

4. It’s just really, really fucking delicious.

Summer Salad With Vegan Cashew Dressing and Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

Ingredients

Vegan cashew salad dressing (makes about a cup)

½ cup roasted, salted cashews

¼ cup neutral oil (I used canola)

1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey (I used shagbark hickory syrup in late winter)

3 tablespoons lime juice (more to taste)

1 clove garlic (about 1 teaspoon chopped if you buy it in a little jar, which I do sometimes and LOVE, so zero shade)

1 teaspoon cumin

Hot water to thin (see Recipe Notes)

Chipotle-spiced Potatoes

Yellow potatoes, cut into ½”-1” cubes 

Chipotle chili powder (see Recipe Notes)

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Salad Stuff — go crazy here

Romaine hearts, chopped

Red and yellow peppers

Carrots

Red cabbage

Chopped snap peas

Avocado

Cherry tomatoes

Black beans, grilled chicken, leftover steak, or all in some combination

Pickled red onions (or raw in thin slivers)

Shredded sharp cheddar if you want the dairy experience

Method

Salad dressing: Place all ingredients except water in a food processor or very capable blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Add hot water to thin as needed, but be prepared to bump up the lime juice and other seasoning (cumin especially) if you add too much. Since I use this on hearty romaine salad greens, I certainly don’t mind a thicker dressing, but you choose your own adventure.

This can be stored in the fridge for three days. Note that it will thicken as it cools, so you may need to add a combo of lime/warm water to thin.

Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Chop up a mess of yellow potatoes, more than you think you need. More than you think you want. Seriously.  Chances are good when you are done eating your salad, you’re going to want to nosh on these with some ketchup. If you have leftovers, they are just fine on salad the next day, or you can use them in a frittata. SO GOOD. Plus, if you’re going to turn your oven on in the summer, you might as well make it count.

Add potatoes to a bowl and splash with a generous glug of olive oil, chipotle chili powder, salt and black pepper. How much?

Frustratingly for you, maybe, it’s hard to say. People’s spice preference is different. The chipotle chili should be visible on the potatoes, and you want them fairly slippery with oil. Use more salt than you think you need, and keep it handy.

Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Give them a stir, taste for salt and add if needed,  turn off the oven, and let them sit in the oven for another ten minutes while you put your salad together.

Assembly: I chop, wash, and spin dry three romaine hearts every week in the summer so there’s no excuse not to eat veggies, and it’s easy all the time (I’ll grate tons of carrot in there, too). You can use any type of hearty salad green, but for the love of all things holy, avoid iceberg lettuce in most applications, including this one.

Add whatever salad-y things you like. I would avoid cucumbers unless they are the English kind that have less water, but I might also avoid those. They just don’t seem delicious here, but if that’s your jam, have at it.

Add dressings and pile on the potatoes. I like to toss everything together in a slightly larger bowl so the dressing touches every corner of the salad and potatoes. 

Eat. Repeat. Salad for days.

Recipe notes

  • If you use too much hot water to thin your cashew dressing, it could also dilute the flavor. I like to alternate between water and additional lime juice. If you only have one lime, you could also add unseasoned rice vinegar instead. Acid is a good friend here — it keeps things light even though this is a filling salad.

If you don’t stan chipotle chili powder, substitute the same amount of smoked paprika. It changes the flavor profile a bit, but the smoke is what you’re after. If you hate both of those options, season the potatoes with a fancy smoked salt and live your best life.

No Cap: Tortilla Soup

The garnishes seem overwhelming, but this is also delicious without a single addition.

I am going to share a top secret recipe today that is fail-proof, delicious, cheap, and vegan (if you skip some of the garnishes). It’s because I LOVE YOU, and I want you to have good things in your life. That’s why.

Not even going to make you sit through a story — just soup, soup, and more soup. Enjoy.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, finely chopped (keep as many or as few seeds as you like)

 Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons puréed chipotles in adobo (see Recipe Notes)

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (or two smaller cans)

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I used veg for the vegetarian)

1 can of corn kernels (or fresh, about 2 cups)

1 can black or dark red kidney beans

GARNISHES, ANY OR ALL

Avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

Shredded Colby jack (or cheese of your choice)

Sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro

Red onion, finely chopped

Method

Heat oil over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add onion, garlic, green chilis/jalapeño, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is soft (5-8 minutes).

Add chili powder and cumin and stir to coat. Cook a minute or two until spices open up, then add chipotle purée and tomatoes. Season again with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes start to caramelize a bit on the bottom of the pot (the time for this varies depending on your pot, the heat, etc. But there will be less liquid and the tomatoes will brown slightly. Mine took about ten minutes).

Add vegetable stock, corn, and beans. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered 15-20 minutes and taste for seasoning.

At this point, the soup is done. It can be set aside and reheated, and it’s even better the next day. It freezes perfectly.

Garnish the hell out of your soup, or eat it plain. Delicious either way.

This soup’s spice can be moderated by adding fewer seeds/veins from whatever pepper you choose.

Recipe Notes

  • When you open a can of chipotle chilis in adobo, dump in a blender and purée. Remove the amount you need for the soup, then place the rest in a Ziploc bag and flatten. Freeze. Break off chunks of deliciousness as needed.
  • Add grilled, shredded chicken (or rotisserie chicken from the store – EASY) for carnivores.

Passionfruit and Lemon Curd

Sunny, sweet, and tart. Best when the outside of the passionfruit is wrinkly and it feels heavy in the hand.

What do you do when the sun is out, but it’s frigid, with temperatures dropping and snow on the way? And you just need a little tart sweetness in your life?

You make passionfruit and lemon curd.

Floral. Sharp. Delicious.

Put it on a biscuit. Swirl it into yogurt. Eat it from the jar. Your choice.

Passionfruit and Lemon Curd
2 passionfruits
2 lemons (juice and zest)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
5 tablespoons salted butter

Method
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the guts of the passionfruit, lemon juice and zest, and sugar. Strain your beaten eggs through a mesh strainer to remove any stringy bits and add to the bowl. You could also strain the passion fruit guts if you like to remove the seeds, but the little crunch is nice so I leave them in. Whisk these ingredients together and set the bowl aside.

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Whisking constantly, add the egg and juice mixture to the saucepan.

Now is the fun part. Stand over the stove, whisking vigorously, for approximately 10 minutes until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you do not keep the mixture moving, you will end up with lemon-scented scrambled eggs. So put on a podcast, and settle in.

If your mixture does scramble slightly, you can always press it through a strainer after it’s thick. This will remove those passionfruit seeds, but that’s OK.

Refrigerate curd. It will thicken as it cools and become absolutely perfect. Best to eat this within a week, but you can also freeze it in ice cube trays and for use in smoothies or even as a swirl in homemade ice cream.

NOTE:
You can make this curd with any citrus fruit. You may need to adjust the sugar depending on how tart the citrus is, but you’ll need between 3/4 and 1 cup of liquid for this recipe if using another citrus fruit.