Apple And Fig Napoleons With Red Wine Sauce And Sour Cream Ice Cream Recipes

APPLE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Place pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle evenly with 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture. Carefully roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 3 inch squares, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with more parchment and another baking sheet. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake pastry in oven until crisp and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Remove top parchment and baking sheet. Transfer, with bottom parchment, to a wire rack, and let cool.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add apples; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add remaining cinnamon mixture. Cook until apples are tender but not falling apart. Let cool completely. To assemble, top the pastry with whipped cream then apples; repeat with another layer of each. Serve immediately.

MAPLE-FIG ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Bring 2 cups water and the figs to a simmer in heavy small saucepan over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, turning occasionally, until the figs are very tender, about 30 minutes. Transfer the figs and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid to a food processor (or add some water to make 1/2 cup). Blend until the figs are pureed and no large lumps remain. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and chill. (Fig puree can be made 1 week ahead.)
• Whisk the whipping cream, sugar, maple syrup, salt and egg yolks in a heavy large saucepan until blended. Whisk over medium heat until the custard thickens enough to coat a spoon (and the temperature registers 170 degrees F to 180 degrees F), 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately whisk 1/2 cup of the fig puree into the custard, reserving the remaining fig puree. Transfer the custard to a bowl and chill uncovered until cool, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Whisk in the sour cream and brandy.
• Process the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a bowl, cover tightly and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours and up to 3 days.
• Scoop the ice cream into goblets or bowls. Spoon some Brandied Maple-Fig Sauce on top, sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.
• Stir the fig puree, maple syrup and brandy in a small bowl until blended. Cover and chill until needed. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead.)

RED WINE REDUCTION DESSERT SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine wine, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together in a saucepan; simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce reduces, about 30 minutes.

PORK WITH APPLE-CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Rub pork with thyme. In a large skillet, brown pork in 1-1/2 teaspoons butter; remove and set aside. In the same skillet, saute onion in remaining butter until tender. Stir in apple; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add 1-1/2 teaspoons apple juice or brandy; cook and stir 30 seconds longer. Transfer to a bowl. , Add wine or broth and remaining apple juice or brandy to the skillet. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook for 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in broth, pork and apple mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°, turning pork occasionally. Remove pork and keep warm. , In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt and pepper; gradually stir in cream and mustard. Stir into apple mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork.

FIG ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Soak figs in a bowl of water until softened, 3 to 4 hours. Drain figs and chop.
• Combine chopped figs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until until sugar is dissolved and figs begin to break down, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool to room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes. Cover saucepan with a lid and refrigerate.
• Heat half-and-half in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not boiling, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
• Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, and salt together in a bowl until smooth. Temper egg mixture by drizzling 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half into egg mixture, while continuously whisking egg mixture until slightly warmed. Pour egg mixture into half-and-half and return saucepan to medium-low heat; cook, whisking constantly, until custard is smooth and thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Place saucepan with custard in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally, until chilled, about 30 minutes. Stir sour cream and vanilla extract into chilled custard. Cover saucepan and chill custard completely, at least 3 hours.
• Process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir fig mixture into ice cream in the last 5 minutes of processing. Transfer fig ice cream to a container and freeze until solid.

APPLE-AND-FIG NAPOLEONS WITH RED-WINE SAUCE AND SOUR-CREAM ICE CREAM

Steps:

• To make the ice cream, place the milk and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring just to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisking rapidly, pour the milk into the yolk mixture. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan, place over low heat and stir constantly until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; do not let mixture simmer. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold. Remove the vanilla bean and whisk in the sour cream. Freeze in an ice cream machine. Store in freezer until shortly before serving.
• To make the phyllo, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on a work surface, brush lightly with butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Top with another sheet of phyllo, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat once more. Trim the edges to make a 10-by-14-inch rectangle. Cut into 8 3 1/2-by-5-inch rectangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining phyllo, butter and sugar. Bake until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer until reduced to 1 1/3 cups, about 40 minutes. Strain and set aside.
• To make the apples, combine the apples, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, covered, for 8 minutes, stirring once. Uncover and simmer until apples are soft but not mushy and some liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes more. Remove the lemon zest and vanilla bean. Stir in lemon juice and set aside.
• To make the fig paste, puree the figs in a food processor. Add the cream, Armagnac and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Set aside.
• To assemble, place 1 piece of phyllo on each of 8 plates and spread with some of the fig paste. Spoon the apple mixture over it. Spoon a pool of the sauce beside the pastry on each plate. Lean 1 piece of remaining phyllo over the sauce and against one of the longer edges of the plated phyllo. Repeat with all the plates. Place a scoop of ice cream beside the napoleons and sprinkle with a few strands of lemon zest. Serve immediately.

VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH BALSAMIC FIG SAUCE

Steps:

• Place ice cream on counter to soften. In a small pot, combine vinegar and water and bring to a boil. Add figs and reduce heat to simmer. Stew figs in sauce until they are soft and sauce is thick and syrupy, about 12 minutes.
• Scoop ice cream into glass goblets or other dessert dishes and top liberally with hot balsamic fig sauce and whipped cream. Garnish the top of the whipped cream with a little freshly grated nutmeg.

SOUR-CREAM ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Purée all ingredients with 1/8 teaspoon salt in a blender until mixture is smooth and sugar has dissolved. Chill until very cold.
• Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up, about 6 hours.

ICE CREAM WITH RED WINE REDUCTION SAUCE AND FRESH FRUIT

Steps:

• Pour one bottle of red wine into a saucepan.
• Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise. (Do not substitue vanilla extract for the bean -- the flavor is not anywhere near the same or as good.).
• Add the vanilla bean, sugar and peppercorns and keep on a low, rolling boil until the liquid reduces to about a cup. (this will take around a half an hour).
• Remove from heat and allow to finish thickening.
• Pour sauce over sliced fresh fruit (I prefer peaches or mango) and all natural vanilla ice cream.
• The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

APPLES IN WINE AND CINNAMON SAUCE

Steps:

• Over medium heat in a heavy saucepan, melt the margarine, then add the wine and stir in the apples.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the mixture and stir.
• Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and vanilla.
• Lower the heat to a simmer and cover; continue cooking for 2 hours, stirring occasionally until the apples break up.

RED-WINE-POACHED FIGS WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a 1 1/2-quart saucepan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer figs, covered, until tender, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer figs with a slotted spoon to a bowl and boil syrup until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Strain syrup through a fine sieve into another bowl. Add syrup to figs and cool to warm.
• Serve fig mixture spooned over ice cream.