July 2013

For a baba ghanoush recipe that would fulfill its potential as a dip full of redolent, smoky eggplant flavor and brightened with garlic and lemon juice, we grilled the eggplants directly over a hot fire until they were wrinkled and soft. To avoid watery texture and bitterness in our baba ghanoush recipe, we drained the flesh of excess fluid before combining it with flavor-enhancing ingredients. 

Instead of a double boiler, we kept things simple for our Easy Chocolate Ice Cream and used the microwave to melt the chocolate and combine the ingredients. We used sweetened condensed milk in place of cream because it maintains its velvety texture in the freezer. For a fluffy, light texture similar to churned ice cream, we took a cue from the Italian dessert semifreddo and folded in whipped cream. Bittersweet chocolate also worked well in maintaining the texture. To heighten chocolate flavor even more, we turned to instant coffee powder.