I spent all of this past weekend – and then some – in the Windy City for work. And, while I missed the daily hugs and kisses of my family, I basked in the peacefulness of a silent hotel room for three restful nights. I ate very well while I was in Chicago. Too well, actually.

With a group of good friends, I sampled the shared plates at Perennial Virant. The morels in a cream sauce were a distinct highlight. I satisfied my craving for Thai food twice, at Baisi Thai during a shopping excursion and then at Star of Siam, where my dining partner and I accidentally swapped plates. I neglected to point out the error, mostly because I’d fallen in love with the Pad Khee Mao that he had ordered but that I ended up eating [sorry, Brian – hope you enjoyed my Pad Thai.]. The bartender at Lula Cafe kept my glass of Rosé filled as we waited for our friends to join us for what turned out to be a wonderful dinner. Morels made a second and much-loved appearance, this time in the form of chicken-fried morels in a pasta dish with duck confit. At the Publican, my sister and brother-in-law savored a leisurely brunch, filled with wine-poached eggs and a heavenly plate of maple-syrup braised pork belly. That pork belly has not left my mind since.

But, alas. The trip is over and the week is underway.

I have cookies to share, though, and cookies always brighten up the week. I’m guest posting over at A Thought for Food today, and I’m so thankful that Brian asked me to join him there. He’s got a lovely blog, filled with his beautiful photography and approachable and elegant recipes. So, please, go take a look at his site, and find the recipe for these Pistachio Cherry Icebox Cookies there.

I have a confession to make. I have never deep fried anything in my life. Unlike the fearless Taylor, who will deep fry cookie dough and carrot cake at the drop of a hat, I’m frightened of hot oil. Years ago when I was studying organic chemistry, a beaker of hot sulfuric acid shattered in my hand, splattering my arm with the corrosive, smoking liquid. The searing pain of that burn is permanently etched into my memory. The rational side of my brain is fully aware that hot oil is not quite the same as hot sulfuric acid, but I’ve had a hard time explaining that to the irrational and more hysterical side of my brain.

I met Christianna at BlogHer Food in Atlanta last month, and I liked her immediately. As it turns out, Christianna holds a monthly recipe swap from a vintage cookbook. When she invited me to participate, I immediately thought YES.

And then I saw that the recipe was for doughnuts. Which happen to be deep fried.

I took a big, deep breath and decided to take the plunge. Hot oil and I would meet – but hopefully not touch – and become friends. Or, at least, cordial acquaintances.

The goal of Christianna’s recipe swap is to redevelop the old recipe, sprucing it up and making it our own. In that spirit, I kept the heart of the recipe the same – mashed potatoes blended with the sweetened dough which is then fried in oil and rolled in sugar. However, I made some adjustments in the spices and the batter components. For the potatoes, I used Yukon Gold, a versatile potato with waxy, yellow flesh. Cardamom and cinnamon add a slightly exotic flavor to the cake-like inside of the finished doughnut.

The fear of frying in hot oil? Gone.

Potato Doughnuts with Cinnamon and Cardamom

These are best eaten warm and on the day they’re made, by the handful.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Doughnuts

3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup mashed Yukon Gold potatoes
Vegetable oil for frying

Ingredients for Topping:

½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, butter, sour cream, and the potatoes. Gradually add flour mixture to the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Chill the dough, covered, for 1 hour. Roll out dough on a well-floured surface to ½ inch thick. Cut out doughnuts with a floured round cutter or the bottom of a floured glass.

In a dutch oven, heat vegetable oil (2 inches) over medium-high heat to 360 degrees F. Fry the doughnuts in batches, 2 minutes per side or until they are golden. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

While the doughnuts are still warm, roll them one at a time in the sugar topping, coating them well.

Topping

In a shallow bowl or pie plate, stir together the cinnamon and sugar.

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Oh, my. It’s June already. Wasn’t it just January?

I’m sitting here in a mostly quiet house, waiting for my family to get home from swimming lessons. It’s not completely quiet, you see, because we have a new addition to the family. Our little 4-month old, a fluffy grey Maine Coon kitten named Maggie, is darting back and forth under my feet as I sit at this desk, chasing a little ball and chirping at me, trying to get my attention. And she’s definitely getting attention. While she will never replace our Fritz, I’ve already fallen in love with the crazy little thing. We’ve all fallen in love with her.

I’m looking forward to this month. I’m headed to Chicago this weekend, a trip I look forward to each year – not only because I get to sleep in a hotel room all to myself, but because I get to hug my sister for the first time in months. We’ll celebrate Father’s Day towards the middle of the month. We’re making a quick weekend trip to Disney, and we’re staying at one of the hotels that I’ve had my eye on for a while. My mother and her twin sister celebrate their birthday at the end of the month, on the same day that Sam and I will have been married for 14 years.

And one last little thing to start June off right – the new website design.  I was in the mood for some serious spring cleaning around here, and the talented Lindsay of Purr Design and the blog, Love & Olive Oil, is behind this beautiful makeover. We’ve been working together for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet her in person twice over the past two months. Not only is she incredibly creative but she is completely adorable and sweet as sugar.

And this month of June? It’s going to be a good month.

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Speaking of olive oil, I made this olive oil ice cream over the weekend. If you’ve never had olive oil ice cream, you are missing out on quite a treat. I first had olive oil ice cream in Seattle last August when I was there for the IFBC. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but over the past several months, especially as the temperatures have climbed into the 80s and 90s, I have not been able to get it out of my mind. A quick internet search revealed that the easiest way to satisfy this craving was through David Lebovitz‘s recipe, found in his book, The Perfect Scoop.

The recipe requires a great olive oil – one with real fruitiness. If you use a cheap, bland olive oil, you’ll be really disappointed in the result. I had a free sample of Roland olive oil (sent to me by Roland Foods) that worked beautifully, resulting in a well-balanced, perfectly creamy and lightly sweetened ice cream.

Do yourself a favor. Make this ice cream.

olive oil ice cream

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup good olive oil

Directions:

You can find the full recipe with directions here and you should really buy David Lebovitz's book.

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