Fresh Kyoho Grapes

Kyoho grapes [pronounced kee-oh-ho] are large, seeded, extremely sweet and juicy with meaty flesh. Like the Concord variety, this specialty grape is powdery and thick-skinned with a blackish purple color. I absolutely love Kyohos. There are several ways to eat them. You could peel them with a small paring knife because they are large enough but I think this method waste a lot of the precious juice inside. In my opinion, the best way to enjoy the fruit is to simply place a grape between your index finger and thumb, lean your head a little backward, gently squeeze the fruit until the flesh pushes through the skin, along with a generous amount of fragrant, sweet juice. Remove and discard the few seeds embedded in its flesh, and repeat.
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Fig Crumble Dessert (Fruit Crumble Recipe)

Making fig crumble is very simple. The ratio is very easy to memorize; just combine equal parts by weight of flour, sugar and butter. To enhance the fig flavors, I caramelized the figs in butter and sugar and mixed a little bit of fig compote at the bottom of each cup. I think crumbles are best eaten warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I served them in individual small dessert cups for portion control, but I think it just tempts everyone into having seconds.

I was really excited to make this dessert, because all summer I've been waiting to use the figs from our garden. I try to wait until the fruits are ripe before harvesting them, but between the birds and the girls, there are almost none left on the trees. Today, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to grab a few figs for the crumble. I’ll try again in a couple of days, so stay tuned for another decadent fig dish!

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Indian Candies

Since I got married, I've discovered a lot of Indian dishes. My father-in-law (I call him Daddy) has introduced me to many new, exotic, Indian foods that were unfamiliar to my palate. Today, Daddy had me try a new Indian confection. When I tasted it, it immediately reminded me of the Vietnamese equivalent called kẹo mè xửng Huế, except that the candies contain rose water, whole cardamom pods, dates, poppy seeds, pistachio, cashew nut and almond.
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Almond Pudding Recipe

Almond pudding is not your average dessert. I came up with the recipe in an effort to make good use of the Tamarin speculoos spread I recently received and some left-over almond flour I ground after making frangipane apple tartlets.

To make the dessert, I mixed black sesame powder with almond milk. I used arrowroot starch as a thickener and added speculoos spread and agave nectar as the sweeteners.  Arrowroot is a neutral ingredient and is very easy to digest.

It makes a great dessert, but my husband Lulu also loves it as breakfast (I thin it with more almond milk) or as a late-night snack. As an added bonus, this dessert is eggless, dairy fee and gluten free.

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Michael Mina's Butterscotch Pudding (Vol Au Vent Pastry Recipe)

I was browsing through Chef Michael Mina's recipes, looking for one to post alongside the interview, and I stopped on butterscotch pudding. My husband Lulu loves anything butterscotch and I thought it would be a nice treat for him. I didn’t want to serve the pudding by itself in a bowl, and after going through several options in my head (I thought of creating chocolate cups or tart shells), I decided to make a quick puff pastry dough and baked it as a "vol au vent".

I filled the puff pastry with Chef Mina’s butterscotch pudding and sprinkled a little powdered sugar over them. To make the flavors more complex, I sautéed a medley of dried fruits and pistachios in butter and added a splash of rose water. If I had time to do butterscotch three ways, a la Chef Mina, I would also have made a stack of mini crêpes layered with butterscotch cream  and a butterscotch crème brulée. You won’t go wrong with any of these dishes.

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