The Jealous Crumpet

A sweet little blog

Category Archives: Recipe


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Harry Potter Inspired Acid Pops

1As any true Harry Potter fan knows July 31st is Harry’s birthday. He’ll be 36 years old this year. Now don’t you feel older.

Harry and his buddies were frequenters of the candy shop Honeyduke’s, where they would by Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Cockroach Clusters and Acid Pops. To celebrate Harry’s birthday I created my version of Acid Pops.

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Acid Pops

1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Water

5 drops Lemon Extract

5 drops Green Food Coloring

3 packs Pop Rocks 

Step one: Take your wand, flick and clearly state “Accio Acid Pop ingredients”.  For muggles just collect your ingredients. 

Step two: In a medium sauce pan combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Heat on high, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Step three: Prep your lollipop mold by spraying a small amount of oil in the area they candy will touch.

Step four: Boil the ingredients until the temperature reaches 300°F and remove from heat.

Step five: Add extract and food coloring and stir.

Step six: Carefully spoon the melted sugar mixture in the mold, immediately place the sticks in the candy and pour Pop Rocks onto the hardening lolli. Beware they Pop Rocks may shoot wildly around the room when they hit the hot sugar.  Don’t put your face near the candy to hear the snapping of the Pop Rocks as you could lose any eye. I learned this one the hard way.

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After 20 minutes the candy should be cool enough to enjoy.  The Pop Rocks do lose there snap after time, so you want to enjoy them the same day.

Happy Birthday Harry!!2

 

 


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Violet Sake and Vending Machines

2While I was visiting Kyoto I had the pleasure of staying at the Sakura Terrace.  There were many great amenities at the hotel, not the least was a free happy hour where guests got a free cocktail of choice each evening.

My plan was to try a different cocktail on each of our 4 nights at the hotel and on the very first night I got a violet sake cocktail. I LOVED it!! I’d never even thought of making a cocktail with sake, but it was delicious, perfectly balanced, refreshing and beautiful (I am a sucker for pretty libations).  123On the second night I got the violet sake again.  By the third night both my husband and I got the violet sake and by the end of the trip I had never branched out.  When we got back to the states I make it my mission to create my own violet sake.  4For months I played with various sakes, syrups and sodas to create the best possible drink.  It was a fun project and my husband especially enjoyed the position of official cocktail tester.  So here is the recipe!1Y2B2228 copy1 oz Monin Violet Syrup

2 oz Nigori Sake

3 oz La  Croix Lime flavored sparkling water

Mix syrup and sake. Add  water and ice and stir. Enjoy simple perfection!

You may have noticed the uniformed little ladies gripping the rim of the glass.  They were vending machine purchases.  One of the many things that I loved about Japan was the large amount of toy machines that contained the most bizarre little toys.  For 1 or 2 yen you could buy the craziest figurines and I bought many of them.  Far more than is acceptable for a full grown adult, but they were so interesting!! They had machines that sold nothing but old men sitting on benches, peeing dogs and even cute animals made into foods, such as a puppy made into a hamburger.  You can see what I’m talking about on the far right below. Untitled-11 I bough my flexible little ladies, a squat toilet, a woman serving sake, but the weirdest machine I bought is below!Untitled-1How weird is that!!! It is a baby head with an alien inside.  I didn’t have any coins when I spotted it so I dragged my husband into a cafe to get change so I could buy it! The best 2 yen I’ve ever spent!1


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Happy Epiphany: Let Them Eat Cake!

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Today is the day that the three wise men FINALLY showed up to bring baby Jesus some sweet swag. In various parts of the world this is celebrated by eating a cake that has a trinket baked inside of it. The person that finds the trinket, without eating/choking on it, is dubbed king, given a paper crown and a year’s worth of bragging rights.

This year I spent Christmas in France with my husband and in-laws so so we celebrated Epiphany a bit early with Galette des rois (King Cake).

The french version of King Cake is lovely, with a buttery, flakey phyllo housing   sweet frangipane. The trinket or fève is of a nicer caliber than the misshapen plastic Jesus that typically adorns the American versions and can come in a variety of shapes and themes.

My mother-in-law has collected fèves most of her life and has a impressive collection tucked away in a coffee tin. Over the years people have added to her collection and she now has hundreds of miniatures.  There are nativity sets, Disney Characters, monuments, barn yard animals, 1920’s actors, books, etc. I love looking at the every Christmas when we visit.3

I ate my slice fastidiously, confident that THIS year I had the fève.  No fève. But no one got it, so we had to try again later than night at dinner.

I carefully ate tiny bits, not wanting to break or swallow the ceramic prize.  And the Queen was…

My husband. Every freakin year!

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The prize was an adorable ceramic book: Le Diamant de la Couronne (The Crown Diamonds.

But it wasn’t a totally loss for me.  After careful consideration and dagger looks from his wife, my husband dubbed me Queen of the King Cake and I got to wear the crown for a bit.

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Ignore the look of extreme jet lag and exhaustion.

It’s good to be Queen!

If you want to make your own King Cake you can get my recipe from last year. It is simple and easy because I am a lazy chef, but it was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

https://thejealouscrumpet.com/2015/01/06/galette-des-rois/

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Asparagus Soup

Asparagus SoupIt is rainy and gloomy today, but as I’ve been under the weather for the last couple of weeks it is a perfect day for me to stay home, watch vintage movies (I’m in the mood for something creepy and Vincent Pricey) and eat warm homemade soup.

I photographed this wonderful recipe for Event Magazine‘s current issue and not only is it delicious it is insanely easy to make. Puree ingredients, warm, eat; it doesn’t get much simpler  than that unless it is from a can, in which case it is usually rife with preservatives and sodium.Asparagus SoupThis recipe was created by the chefs at D & L Bistro. It is a wonderful location, with lots of nice nooks and crannies for me to photograph in and a lovely patio for pleasant weather dinning. Asparagus SoupAsparagus Soup

1 bunch of asparagus

1 medium yellow onion

2 garlic cloves

1 large Yukon gold potato

1-quart chicken stock (vegetable stock may be used as a vegetarian option)

¼ cup heavy cream

1-tablespoon canola oil

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and purée in a blender. Heat the mixture in a pan and serve immediately. Garnish with asparagus tips and olive oil.Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 2.55.02 PM

 


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Chantenay Heirloom Carrot and Ginger Soup

Heirloom Carrot and Ginger SoupOn this gloomy, rainy Autumn day nothing is more perfect than a lunch of warm heirloom carrot and ginger soup. It is especially perfect when paired with fresh rolls and garnished with chives and dill.  Fresh RollsAnother great recipe for Chef Chris at The Bottle!fresh ginger

HEIRLOOM CARROT AND GINGER SOUP

(Serves 8 people)

2 tbs. whole butter

1 medium Vidalia onion

1 small clove of garlic

2 fresh bay leaves

1 tsp. salt and fresh ground pepper.

2 lbs. Chantenay carrots (any good sweet heirloom variety)

1 small piece of peeled fresh ginger (2 oz.)

6 cups vegetable stock (carrots, onions and celery)

1 cup heavy cream

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, sauté the roughly chopped vegetables in whole butter for five minutes. Add the vegetable stock, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Simmer for five minutes or until the carrots are tender. Puree and strain the mixture into another sauce pot and add the heavy cream. Bring to a light simmer and check seasoning. A few drops of lemon juice will help to bring out the flavor of the carrots. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, your favorite crusty bread and fresh herbs.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

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Honey Roasted Dates with Whipped Chèvre

Honey Roasted DatesOn a trip to one of my favorite produce markets, Garden Cove, my husband and I came across pints of fresh dates.Fresh Dates Neither of us had ever encountered fresh dates, though we are fans of the dried variety, so we were standing in the aisle debating how to eat them when an employee walked by.

“Excuse me,” said my husband to the employee. “How do you eat fresh dates?”

“Just raw,” the worker said. “But they are not for everyone. I love them, but there are many people who don’t like the taste.”

“What do they taste like?” asked Olivier.

After some pondering the employee said, “They taste like shirt.”

Olivier and I stared blankly trying to figure out what he really said, because surely shirt wasn’t what he meant.

Then the man pulled up the neck of his cotton t-shirt and pantomimes eating it.

“It tastes like… shirt?” Olivier asked skeptically.

“Yes, yes, shirt,” said the employee enthusiastically.

So, of course, we bought some to taste this shirt-flavored fruit for ourselves.

When we got home I washed and dried the dates anxious to give them a try.

Olivier and I bit into our fruit at the same time and damn it if it didn’t taste just like shirt! I mean seriously, it tasted like freshly laundered cotton and the texture was a bit mealy like a pear giving your mouth a drying affect, just like you shoved the corner of tee-shirt into your mouth. Very weird.

I was going to make an arugula salad with sliced raw dates and pine nuts, but decided to go with something more desserty. Plus I had just impulsively bought a lot of honey. 6The dates do have pits, so Step 1, halve 25 dates and remove the pits. Pit the datesPreheat oven to 400°. Put date halves in a plastic bag (or bowl if you’re not lazy and don’t mind stirring) and add 3 tbs honey, 2 tbs olive oil, and 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar. Shake or stir (good for you for not being lazy) vigorously. Place the coated dates on a cooking sheet and place in the oven.Honey roasted datesI roasted the dates for 10 minutes and then flipped them. Then I forgot to set my timer, got distracted and frantically pulled them out of the oven after another 20 minutes in the oven. This seemed to work out nicely for me and added a candied, honey-burnt edge to the dates. They were quite tasty. Whipped Chèvre Combine 2 oz of chèvre (goat cheese) with 3 tbs of heavy whipping cream, a splash of vanilla extract (I was going for half a tsp, but knocked my hand on the edge of the bowl and added a splash instead). I also added a half a teaspoon of confectioner sugar, not sure if this did anything, but I added it.

Then remove the yummy dates, top the whipped cheese on top and enjoy!2