Cannoli Ice Cream Sandwiches; Baby Spinach and Watermelon Salad; My Fall Classes start in October.

Post Date: 2 September 2016

Happy Labor Day.  I hope everyone had a great summer and is ready for fall.  I was away on a bicycling trip in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, so I have not been trying many new recipes lately.  Picture above is from the Cheshire Trail in Keene, New Hampshire. But I have gotten back to my summer desserts project with Cannoli Ice Cream Sandwiches.  I have also been making a new summer salad for our week night dinners.  More on these below.

 

 

  Cannoli Ice Cream Sandwiches

 

 

For the ice cream recipe, I followed, with some modifications, a recipe from Bruce Weinstein’s The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, my go-to volume for all matters ice cream.  Like with regular Cannoli, the ice cream uses Ricotta Cheese.  However, I replaced the anise seeds in the recipe with orange zest.

 

For the Cannoli shells, I used a recipe from Ursula Ferrigno’s book Flavors of Sicily, which I mentioned in a previous post.  In her recipe the shells are baked instead of deep fried, then rolled around the cannoli tubes as soon as they come out of the oven.  However, instead of rolling them, I just let them cool flat on a rack to make the “bread” for the ice cream sandwiches. 

 

Baby Spinach and Watermelon Salad

 

 

This salad is my take on a dish from the SeaGrass Restaurant in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.  It is a wonderful summer salad, refreshing and very easy to make, with Just a few ingredients – Baby Spinach, Watermelon Chunks, Almond Slivers, and Crumbled Feta Cheese, topped with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Glaze.  Other greens may be substituted if you prefer.

My Fall 2016 Classes

 

My fall classes do not start until October 15, giving me plenty of time to decide on the recipes for the classes.  First up is “What’s for Breakfast?” a two session Saturday morning class.  One item I will definitely be including in this class is Brie and Blueberry French Toast.  While staying with my good friends the Abusamras (Laurel, Ilse, and David) in New Hampshire on the bike trip, they made an Israeli breakfast dish called Shakshuka, a 1 skillet dish that includes tomatoes, eggs, onions, feta cheese and a variety of spices.  It is an excellent breakfast dish.  However, it takes almost an hour to prepare and cook, so rather than make it in class it will have to be one of the supplemental recipes I always give out to try at home.  A Google search will give you several variations on this dish.

 

Reminder – Instagam

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Upcoming Classes

Here are my classes for the fall term.  The Fall 2016 catalogue is now out.

 

October 15 and 22 – Saturday Morning – What’s for Breakfast? – Plum Center

October 30 – Sunday Afternoon – Bistro Lunch – Plum Center

November 6, 13, 20 – Sunday Afternoons – Cooking Basics 101 – Plum Center

December 6, 13, 20 – Tuesday Evenings – Quick Weeknight Dinners – Plum Center

 

To register for this class, or any ACE cooking classes, please go to:

http://www.fcps.edu/is/ace/specialinterest.shtml and scroll down to the Culinary section

While there, be sure to check out the other culinary courses offered by ACE’s excellent chef instructors.

Till next time, keep cooking.