lavender french café ice cream

it's so easy it's sinful. your guests will think you're the best thing since martha stewart herself but you'll know the secret! so here goes:

ingredients:
1 quart high quality french vanilla ice cream(store bought... this is the good part)
2 tablespoons of your favourite freshly ground coffee beans
1 oz. honey
1 tablespoon of lavender blossoms

let your quart of ice cream sit out of the freezer for about 15-25 minutes to get a little soft. once pliable scoop all the contents out into a mixing bowl. add your honey and stir it in (don't stir too vigorously just enough to fold it in uniformly). then add the ground coffee beans, to add the lavender place the measured whole blossoms in the palm of your hand then rub both of your hands together over the mixing bowl allowing the "ground" lavender to fall into the bowl. gently fold in the dry ingredients. prep 5 8oz (preferably metal) ramekins by placing one or two whole coffee beans upside down on the bottom of the ramekin. scoop the final mixture into 8oz ramekins and cover each ramekin with freezer paper and secure with a rubber band then place in freezer for 2-4 hours.

PLATING!!! (remember my favourite part!)

prep your plates and get a bowl of hot water. remove the ramekins from the freezer and uncover. lightly float each ramekin one at a time in the hot water to loosen the ice cream. flip upside down on plate and wiggle loose. the whole bean should be seen at the top. garnish with a few whole stalks of lavender and a swirl of honey.

ENJOY!!

this recipe serves 5

roasted stuffed pear à la niçoise

this was a discovery i made completely on accident and more out of necessity to use some ingredients before they went to waste. my wonderful roommate has a habit of purchasing large family size quantities of exquisite fruit, massive vegetables, and choice cuts of great meat. then in his tender way he reminds me that i need to use his purchases. hence this recipe. i had a flat of fantastic bartlett pears and no dessert in mind. i ran to the fridge and had some brie-esque cheese, some mascarpone and sliced almonds. alright then, let's make dessert!!

ingredients:
8 medium sized semi-ripe pears (your favourite variety will work fine)
6 oz. st. andré, brie or other similar soft cheese.
4 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese or plain unflavoured yogurt.
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sliced almonds
a few drops of pure almond extract
1 lemon

pre-heat oven to 375F
using a large coring tool core out the centers of your pears without puncturing the tops of the fruit. core out about 2 times the size of the tool in order to make room for the filling. in order to get the fruit to stand and to keep the contents inside your pear take an even slice off the bottom of the pear so it will sit flat. let them sit while you prepare the filling.

let your st. andré or brie sit out to get to room temperature (do not microwave as it will make the cheese runny). once at room temperature begin by crushing the cheese and getting a smoother consistency. combine ingredients;
6 oz st. andré
2 tablespoons of mascarpone/yogurt
1/4 cup honey
a few drops of almond extract
juice of 1/4 lemon sliced from bottom of lemon (you'll see why this is important soon)
stir ingredients together to create a filling with the consistency of a thin paste add more mascarpone/yogurt to get the right consistency.
lightly fold in 2 tablespoons of crushed almonds for texture.

now comes assembly...

flip your pears upside down exposing the holes you've dug ;)
stuff them with the filling. then cover the bottom with a small square of aluminum foil being careful not to cover too much of the rest of the pear.
repeat for all eight. leave a little breathing room between all the pears. with any left over filling place in oven-safe ramekin and cook with the pears (you can use the excess for garnish). cook in a 375F oven on the top shelf for 45 minutes or until soft to the touch.

remove the pears and let rest for 5 minutes.

plating!!!! (my favorite part)

prepare you plate with a crescent shaped scrape of the excess filling. turn your pear upside down and remove foil. gently place on plate at largest point in the crescent shaped scrape. drizzle the honey over the pear lightly to give the appearance of dew. cut a horizontal slice from your lemon, cut from the center out (a radius cut) turn the ends away from each other and place in void on plate. tuck a little sprig of mint and a sprinkle of the sliced almonds and your dish is plated!!

ENJOY!