Milk

Beverly Drive on the corner of Poinsettia is Milk Los Angeles. Not the clothing boutiqe, but rather the L shaped counter packed with sweet delights, creative sandwiches and salads. Get an Arnold Palmer (half ice tea, half lemonade) and order a flavorful sandwich with a side of lightly seasoned greens, or go for their deep bowls filled with protein and farmers market veggies. The roasted chicken salad comes with sinful skin on roasted chicken dabbed with chimichuri sauce. While Milk is not a Los Angeles diet minded cafe a la M Cafe, its dining selections are made with real food that is good for you. Everything in moderation is what your doctor always tells you. Wash the roasted chicken down with a milkshake made with homemade ice cream, the Mint Chip is a popular choice. Still have room for dessert? The outrageous brownies and a slice of blue velvet cake is sure to send you into sweet nirvana.

Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter Cups

I am still on the fence when it comes to using a play-on-words to name a dessert. Sometimes a catchy name fits so well that I cannot resist. This dessert came about when a birthday cake for my sister Rebecca took a turn for the worse in the hot and sticky August heat in Boston. I abstain from making cakes that are merely sweetened bread products with a dab of cream in between each layer. I was introduced to the school of cake as the base with a flurry of flavorful layers making up said cake about a year ago, and I haven’t looked back. I will say that this method of birthday cake making can be tricky when it is 95 degrees outside and you are driving around Boston with a not so efficient air conditioner. Thinking on my feet I decided to portion the cake up into rocks glasses rather than have a sliding sticky disaster descend on the birthday party. My sister’s favorite things are chocolate, peanut butter, caramel and bananas so the flavors that I decided to incorporate into the dessert were an easy choice. As of late I have been enjoying a lot of desserts that are easily described as candy bars and the like on “crack.” From Cadbury Cream Eggs, Crunch Bars, Snickers and Peanut Butter Cups, these sweet concoctions weigh heavier on the delicious while the kitch-y connotations are long forgotten. I will admit that this dessert tastes a lot like a Snickers bar, but at the end of the day it is a peanut dessert in-a-cup.

Financier is traditionally a brown butter and almond cake. This American version substitutes peanuts for almond meal with the addition of cocoa powder to make it chocolate.

The condensed milk and honey caramel is a stovetop dulce de leche cream. I recommend making extra caramel and storing it in the fridge as a go to ice cream topper. I caught my brother’s room-mate going at the caramel with a spoon with a look of bliss on his face. Job well done?...I think so.

When using milk chocolate in desserts, I try to add an element of bittersweet chocolate to balance out the milk and avoid a lack of depth in the dish.

For the financier:

125 grams Peanuts, toasted
125 grams powdered sugar
120 grams Egg Whites, room temperature
70 grams Butter
20 grams all purpoes flour
20 grams cocoa powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt



For the condensed milk caramel:

10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces heavy cream
4 ounces honey
4 ounces granulated sugar
20 grams butter
salt
vanilla


For the peanut and milk chocolate ganache:

8 ounces heavy cream
8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
2 ounces creamy peanut butter
salt


For the bittersweet chocolate frozen custard:
8 ounces 64% chocolate
8 ounces heavy cream
salt
2 ounces heavy cream, whipped


For the candied peanuts:
100 grams sugar
100 grams peanuts, toasted.

2 ripe yet firm bananas

The best kebab ever

Charred Feta, Pita and Chicken Kebabs

Delicious and sure to satiate your overheated summer body. While dining on salads in the sweltering heat is a great choice, there are a lot of other ways to eat light that won't cause you to be in a food and heat coma. Try this superb kebab combination that is perfect for a quick char on the grill. These skewers are easy to assemble. Grilled feta you ask? Yes please. Toasted soaked pita? I'll have seconds.

Makes 12 Kebabs for 6 People
**Soak your wooden skewers in water to avoid starting a fire during your backyard bbq.

Make your zahtar oil:
1 cup Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Zahtar; a blend of thyme, sesame and tangy sumac
2 teaspoons of salt

1. Stir above ingredients to combine.
Note:Some of the oil will be used to marinate the chicken, the rest will be for soaking pita and basting the kebabs.

3 Mini Pita Pockets cut into 8ths
1.5 lbs Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast (hormone free), Cut into 1” chunks
24 Kalamata Olives, pitted
24 Cherry Tomatoes
12 ounces block feta, cut into 24 1” cubes
2 Red onions cut into 24 small wedges
2 Cucumbers cut into bite size pieces
1 Bag baby spinach
1 Lemon
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
8 ounces Greek Yogurt, plain (0% tastes wonderful)

1. Cover the pita pieces with a portion of the Zahtar Oil to soak.
2. Marinate your chicken "chunks" in a portion of the zahtar oil
3. Starting with onion, place on skewer. Follow with pita, feta, olive, chicken and tomato. Repeat until two of each element is on each kebab.
4. Brush each kebab with remaining oil and squeeze half of a lemon over the assembled skewers.
5. Place on a preheated grill. Brown on one side, flip and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink. Cooking times will vary depending on the grill.
6. Toss the cucumbers with lemon zest, the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper. Pile on top of a platter of spinach greens.
7. Lay the finished kebabs on top of the salad and enjoy with yogurt.

Laverne and Shirley

Laverne and Shirley Eat

brown sugar souffle

The perfect versatile summer dessert with that bit of pizazz you didn't even realize you were in search of. Crumbles are my loves but why not showcase your current summer fruit with a souffle that rises so evenly and mighty that you are sure to receive a few cheers. With a souffle base high in sugar, the crust of the souffle is perfect, giving way to a fluffy, pudding like center. Fresh or sauteed peaches and nectarines are perfect to drop into the center of the souffle once it is out of the oven. I wanted a cold contrast and dropped in a giant scoop of peach and greek yogurt gelato. The trio of brown sugars called for in the recipe give a great roundness of molasses flavor. The recipe is completely adaptable to only one type of brown sugar and a multitude of ice creams and fruit. Stick to granulated sugar when whipping your whites, as I find it incorporates itself into the bubble structure of meringue a lot easier than brown.

Ingredients
4 ounces butter
1/4 vanilla bean scraped
4 ounces dark brown sugar
2 ounces light brown sugar
2 ounces light muscavado sugar
1 tablespoon, brandy
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs separated
2 T granulated sugar
pinch cream of tartar
4 buttered and sugared ramekins.
**be sure to butter the ramekins with softened, not melted butter. Brush using upward strokes to create channels for the souffle to rise.

1. In a small saucepot, melt the butter with the vanilla bean.
2. Removed the bean and whisk in the three brown sugars, salt and brandy.
3. In the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg whites on medium speed.
4. Once a foam is reach add the cream of tartar. Continue whipping until there no whites in the center still yellow and airless.
5. Begin sprinkling in the 2T of granulated sugar with the mixer remaining on medium speed.
6. Whip to medium peaks that give a dairy queen curl when pulled.
7. Take 3.5 tablespoons of the brown sugar base and whisk in the two yolks.
8. Sacrifice a small portion of the meringue and stir it into the brown sugar base. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining egg whites gently, turning the bowl as you fold.
9. Pour into prepared ramekins and bake in a 385 degree convection oven for 10 minutes, or a 400 degree Farenheit still oven for 15 minutes. Once the souffle is golden and has risen remove from the oven and enjoy immediately.