Pie Irons and Grilled Cheese- Father’s Day is Coming

I have two great cookbooks for the men in your life. The first is Grilled Cheese and Beer–for those with the finer tastes in life. An erudite tour through the subtle delicacies and variations on one theme–cheesy bread. Written by Kevin VanBlarcum & James Edward Davis, this book has stratified levels of complexity and health-consciousness so there is really a grilled cheese for everyone in these pages.

My favorite is the Jalapeno Popper recipe with includes the preparation of a beer batter in which you dip the bread (of course I recommend wheat always), then you baste the toasted sides with cream cheese and sliced jalapeno. Spicy Spicy Spicy.

The book includes suggestions for how to pair your grilled cheese with the right beer– one wants to be careful to consider the mouthfeel and nasal bouquet of one’s libation, that it is complimentary to the exact stinkiness of the selected cheese. Well, may there be no more mystery or guessing game here. Grateful am I to these astute authors. My brother will love this. Izzy enjoys laying next to it while I grate cheese at the counter.

Then there is the second selection, the Dutch Oven and Cast Iron Cooking book by Peg Couch, which introduced me properly to all the various ways one can use pie irons camping style to make pie, calzones, casserole, etc. Fun to use in the backyard firepit–dinner as marshmallow. Or take backpacking with you– the pie iron can double as an impractical badminton racket or weapon. I have been cooking my bread with a Dutch Oven method for the last five years and I am a believer in the way the oven or cloche technique captures moisture and mists the surface of the bread to a thick crust.

I would consider either of these cookbooks an excellent Father’s Day gift.

Redfish Court Bouillion and Spiced Scallops with White Quinoa Grits

Always love seafood in the summertime! Especially when it’s seafood I caught on my own line. I went out with KP and my dad to some shallow bayou-y gulfish areas south of New Orleans and had the most thrilling catch of my life—reeled in an enormous redfish bull from a precarious teeter totter of a vessel—our Old Town featherweight, fondly known as the banana boat. So wonderful to share this memory with my favorite and most beloved of witnesses! Dad, Happy early Father’s Day. KP– thanks for being my anchor (emotionally) while that fish pulled our canoe around for fifteen minutes and for encouraging me not to let go or let up. Both in the boat and out of the boat, you are steady and assured.

That night I cooked up the catch into this Red Fish Court Bouillion recipe I got from an old Creole cookbook. It was delicious!

Redfish Court Bouillion

If scallops were half as fun to catch, I would have gone out hunting for some of those too, but instead, I fished these out of the ice at Costco.

White Quinoa Grits with Scallops in Spice Oil

Adapted from Food and Wine and Bon Appetit

Grits

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 small leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

1 cup white quinoa, rinsed and drained

Kosher salt

Pepper

Spice Oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

6 black peppercorns plus freshly ground for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lemon juice

Scallops

1 1/2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil

8 large or 12 medium sea scallops, side muscle removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups mixed cilantro and flat-leaf tparsley with tender stems

Olive oil (for drizzling)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Grits

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the leeks and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Whisk in the quinoa and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and porridge-like, about 25 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper; keep warm.

Spice Oil

Grind first 4 ingredients and 1/2 tsp. salt to a fine powder in spice mill. Transfer to a small saucepan over medium-low heat; add oil. Cook until oil begins to simmer, 2–3 minutes. Scrape into a small bowl; stir in garlic and lemon zest. Let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Season with salt, pepper, and more juice, if desired.

Scallops

Heat grapeseed oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat until oil begins to smoke. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Sear until well browned, about 3 minutes. Turn; cook until just barely opaque in center, about 30 seconds longer.

Meanwhile, place herbs in a medium bowl and drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over; season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Divide scallops between 2 plates; spoon 1 Tbsp. spice oil over each plate (reserve remaining oil for another use). Garnish with salad.

Get some seafood for summertime!

Cilantro Lemon Soup, Ginger Fried Rice and Boogaloo

Bayou Boogaloo sailed through Mid City this weekend. There were many, many pirates. Most of them neon. I saw a stuffed dolphin on a guy’s shoulder, next to his mullet’s tail. We sailed our trusty Old Town Featherweight from stage to stage, along side a fleet of giant rubber duckies. Summer has arrived in the Crescent City.

Stay green and stay sun screened.

Cilantro Lemon Lentil Soup

Adapted from Penzeys Spices

Cilantro Oil:

1 Cup fresh cilantro, cleaned and chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2-3/4 Cup olive oil

Soup:

1 TB. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp. ground allspice

3/4 tsp. salt

1 Cup dried lentils, rinsed

6 1/2 Cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

4 TB. fresh lemon juice

pepper, to taste

For the Cilantro Oil:

Put the cilantro in a blender with 1/2 Cup olive oil and the salt. Puree and drizzle in more olive oil until you reach your desired consistency. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

For the Soup:

Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until browned, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the allspice and salt and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Add the lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Transfer about 1/3 of the soup to the blender and puree until smooth. Return to the stockpot and stir. Add the lemon juice and pepper. Drizzle with cilantro oil before serving.

Kale and Ginger Garlic Fried Rice

Adapted from Food and Wine

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

One 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

6 scallions, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

6 cups coarsely chopped curly kale leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups day-old cooked short-grain white rice

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

In a wok or very large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the ginger, scallions and a pinch of salt. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until the ginger and scallions are tender, about 2 minutes. Add the kale, season with salt and stir-fry until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the cooked rice and stir-fry until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Make a well in the rice and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the eggs. Cook without stirring until the eggs begin to set at the edge. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs until just set. Stir the eggs into the rice along with the vinegar and oyster sauce and season with salt. Serve immediately.

Spring Lettuce and Leek Soup and Skinny Margaritas, Anti-Hurricane Potion

Hurricane season starts in two weeks! To help sublimate our fears, KP and I volunteered to help pass out 1,500 hurricane readiness pamphlets in our neighborhood, provided by Nola Ready. At this point, visit NOLA Ready and at least sign up for emergency alerts so you can panic at appropriate times. There are evacuation meeting points, etc, that are good to know now, especially if you have family members with disabilities who may take a little more planning to transport if need be.

For good karma with regard to nature, KP and I joined a new CSA this spring! Inglewood Farms in Alexandria, LA, about four hours north of us, delivers weekly to New Orleans. For about $20 a box, we get bookoo greens. I’ve come to know myself too well. If I don’t have greens literally brought by carton to my doorstep, it is unlikely I will purchase for myself the amount necessary to keep me healthy. That’s just the truth. Fortunately, when I’ve got lettuce in plentiful supply, I get motivated to do all kinds of salads—the need to clear through last week’s supply before another shipment arrives turns into the most health-promoting race to the finish. This week, I found a soup recipe that consumed three heads of lettuce and all the leeks that came in last weeks box. Got my eye on making a carrot cake next… with all the carrots they sent. Then beets.

Know Thyself; Join a CSA.

Spring Lettuce and Leek Soup

Adapted from Southern Living

1 large head romaine lettuce

1 large head escarole lettuce

1 head butter lettuce

(one handful of spinach, kale, mixed greens with SUPER green color)

3 tablespoons salted butter

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup dry white wine

5 cups chicken stock

1 (15-oz.) can white beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Sour cream

Dill sprigs

Rinse romaine, escarole, and butter lettuce well; shake and pat dry. Roughly chop leaves and stems; discard cores.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add leeks and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add wine, and cook 1 minute. Stir in lettuces, stock, and beans. Cover and increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until lettuce leaves are wilted and stems are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, parsley, and dill

Using an immersion blender, process hot soup until smooth. Stir in salt and pepper. Garnish servings with sour cream and dill sprigs, if desired.

And then, because you earned it, enjoy a margarita. Made a little skinnier with Cascade Ice.

Skinny Margarita
3 oz Lemon Lime (or Grapefruit) Sparkling Ice
1 ½ oz Tequila
Splash of fresh squeezed orange
Fresh squeezed lime
Directions: Shake and pour into a chilled rocks glass rimmed in salt. Garnish with a lime slice.

Pinto Bean Burgers and Culinary Fight Club at Central City BBQ

I am dazzled by the transformation of Central City over the last half decade. Tonight KP and I visited a new establishment, Central City BBQ. I am delighted by the artful and homegrown approach to urban bbq! Central City BBQ hosted the Culinary Fight Club competition tonight—the challenge: burgers with 25% mushroom blend—the competitors: Chef BJ Creswell, Room Chef at Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, Chef Ryan Andre, Corporate Chef, City Pork Hospitality and Chef Mike Newhall, Executive Chef, Elite Catering & Events. Judges were Isaac Toups, Chef/Owner, Toups’ Meatery and Tory McPhail, Executive Chef, Commander’s Palace, and Chef Will Avelar from Meril.

Central City BBQ is one of my new favorite institutions in town. Loved watching these chefs get off to the races and down to business fighting for the best burger in town.

The clear winner was Chef Ryan Andre—who made a delicious double-patty umami-flavored king oyster mushroom blend for the burger. Incredible flavor.

So thrilled to be given the opportunity to be a voting participant in the the Taste Bud Challenge. Glad my winner took home the golden knife and top prize! Ryan Andre! Given my belief that a burger too frequently will prematurely end your life, I recently fixed burgers for my family and Jazz Fest guests, with a mostly bean blend. (and a little chorizo).

Pinto Bean Burgers

Adapted from Martha Stewart

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped shallot

1/3 cup toasted almonds, chopped, plus more for serving

1 3/4 cups cooked pinto beans

2/3 cup panko

1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup cooked and chopped andouille or chorizo sausage

1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt

Sprouts, sliced avocado, and lemon wedges, for serving

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium. Add shallot and cook until soft, 3 minutes.

Pulse shallot, almonds, beans, panko, 1/4 cup roasted peppers, sausage and egg in a food processor until just combined. Season with salt and pepper and form into four 3 1/2-inch patties.

Wipe skillet clean; heat remaining oil over medium-high. Cook patties, flipping once, 8 minutes.

Mix yogurt and remaining 1/4 cup peppers. Spread on burgers and serve, with sprouts, avocado, lemon, and almonds.

I’ll end with a little pig art to delineate male and female bathrooms at Central City BBQ. Top notch artwork.

And all my new favorite chefs. I love you New Orleans.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake Jazz Mornings with CC’s Coffee

We keep on Groovin—last night was Earth Wind and Fire on the mainstage with Sweet Crude and Lake Street Dive my second favorites. Enjoying Jazz Fest with Dad on his 65^th birthday, Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder—the spice of life to be sure. We are having lots of coffee these AMs and I am grateful to Community Coffee for sending over some of their Vanilla Crème Brulee and Sunrise Blend to help pop our eyes open for another day of music!

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

Adapted from Southern Living

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup medium-grind yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (about 7 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon zest, and beat on medium speed just until combined.

Stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on medium-low speed just until combined after each addition. Pour batter into prepared cake pan, and sprinkle with fresh blueberries.

Bake in preheated oven until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and springs back when lightly pressed in the center with a fingertip, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove cake from springform pan; serve warm or at room temperature.

Stracciatella and Jazz Italian Style

Decided on a staycation in New Orleans this week for my hard-won week off. What a delight to live in a city where just participating in the social fabric feels as though I have gone far away (from work). Of course this week is a little better than average for NOLA—it is Jazz Fest—which brings a sense of purpose and renewal to the culture as we attempt to show off all our strong notes—crawfish monica, Dr. John, Walter Wolfman Washington, Oscar Donahue’s jazzy jewelry, Mardi Gras Indian second lines, and how to dance in the mud.

In the spirit of vacation, in addition to Jazz Fest, this week we’ve gone to the Saenger to see Alton Brown perform on Food as Science.

Last night we went to Tipitina’s to enjoy Galactic.

Intentionally couched in the birthplace of jazz, I’ve been enjoying this new book on the history of jazz by University of Cambridge press by Anna Harwell Celenza, Jazz Italian Style, which provides numerous scholarly insights on how the influence of jazz during the first and second World Wars added to the conversation between American culture and Italian culture, with its inherent tensions during the time of fascism; also she paints a portrait of the unique psychodynamic significance Sinatra took on for the bereft post-war crooner generation of women in the 1940s-50s. I’d say this book goes well with a Negroni and the accompaniment of John Boutte with a side of keys.

Perhaps also with an italian-style dinner.

Stracciatella

Adapted from Food and Wine

6 cups Basic Chicken Stock* or good-quality store-bought stock

2 large eggs

1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups leaf spinach (about 2 ounces), thinly sliced

1 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Pepper

In a medium pot, bring the chicken stock to a simmer over moderate heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and cheese. Slowly add the egg mixture into the hot stock, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just set, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and peas and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and basil and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

**Chicken Stock

Basic Chicken Stock

Adapted from Food and Wine

One 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, quartered (or I just use the bones and skins of one I’ve already eaten)

2 medium white onions, quartered

3 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into 2-inch pieces

3 celery ribs with leaves, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 garlic cloves

2 parsley sprigs

2 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

6 black peppercorns

Kosher salt

In a large stockpot, combine 4 quarts of water with all of the ingredients except the salt. Simmer over very low heat, partially covered, for 8 hours; skim the surface of the stock as necessary.

Strain the stock into a large bowl and season with salt; discard the solids. Let the stock cool, then refrigerate. Skim the fat from the surface before using.

Sour Cream Drop Biscuits and Avocado Yellowtail Crudo

Oh this world and the people in it! Jazz Fest is here and a multitude of rapscallions have migrated to New Orleans to take in the pleasures of music, food and dance at the fairgrounds. KP’s dad arrived, now sporting around town on a Honda Harley scooter, and he has been dubbed “Jazz Fest Santa”—photo ops are available at a discount price to select fans. And CONGRATULATIONS to SUSAN from Minneapolis who won the CLICK giveaway last month! Hopefully your free Click will keep you Jazzed, my dear.

It’s gonna be breakfast and brunch only at home for the next week. Here are some tasty dishes to whisk together for hungry house guests.

Sour Cream And Scallion Drop Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled, divided

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1½ cups sour cream

Hungarian hot paprika (for serving)

Preheat oven to 400°. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Drizzle in 6 Tbsp. butter and mix lightly with your hands just to distribute butter. Make a well in center of bowl and add scallions and sour cream. Mix with a wooden spoon until no dry spots remain and mixture forms a shaggy dough.

Using 2 spoons, drop ½-cupfuls of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing at least 1½” apart, or into a 12″ cast-iron skillet, arranging so sides of biscuits are just touching (you should have 8). Brush tops with remaining 2 Tbsp. butter; sprinkle with paprika. Bake biscuits until tops and bottoms are golden brown on top and bottom, 12–15 minutes.

For Brunch, make this!

Yellowtail Crudo With Citrus And Avocado

1 avocado

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon crème fraîche or sour cream

2 serrano chiles, seeded, finely chopped, divided

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

Kosher salt

4 ounces sashimi-grade skinless, boneless yellowtail fillet

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon finely chopped shallot

½ teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger

½ teaspoon yuzu kosho

1 radish, trimmed, thinly sliced

Cilantro leaves with tender stems and thin fancy crackers or crispbread (for serving)

Preparation

Mash avocado with garlic, crème fraîche, half of serranos, and 1 Tbsp. lime juice in a small bowl until mixture is mostly smooth; season with salt.

Hold your knife at a 45° angle and slice fish with the grain into ½” slices (use a sharp blade and aim for one long, clean stroke). Cut each slice crosswise into ½” pieces.

Combine oil, fish sauce, shallot, ginger, yuzu kosho, remaining serrano, and remaining 1 Tbsp. lime juice in a medium bowl. Add yellowtail, season with salt, and gently toss crudo to combine.

Spread avocado mixture on plates. Top with yellowtail, radish, and cilantro. Serve with crackers.

Smoked Gouda Carbonara in Honor of Carbon #GoScience

What better way to celebrate science than to gather the elements and use your kitchen as a laboratory. I’m here on site in DC today and plan to wave my poster tube around like a wand or a torch. All around me in our nation’s capital are examples of the beauty of nature and the human striving to know and master the lessons there for us when we look deeply.

Some inspiration from the Hirschhorn Museum.

Consider this rhododendron a pompon for science today.

And this dinner a reward for marching for those of you who hit the pavement with your posters and song.

Smoked Gouda Carbonara

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 pound spaghetti

5 large egg yolks

1 large egg

1 cup (4 ounces) finely shredded smoked Gouda, plus more for serving

Kosher salt

Black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

6 ounces slab bacon, finely diced

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.

I recommend making your own pasta– tastes infinitely better. See here for basic pasta recipes.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the whole egg, the 1 cup of Gouda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of black pepper. Very gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water to temper the eggs.

Meanwhile, in the large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat until rendered but not crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the pasta, crushed red pepper and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Cook, tossing, until the pasta is coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the pasta mixture into the large bowl and toss vigorously until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes; add more cooking water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the pasta into bowls and serve, passing more Gouda at the table.

Shout out to the chickens who prolifically laid eggs for all the yolks in this dish. YUM.

Have Your Sour Cream Vanilla and Blueberry Cake and Eat it for Easter

Hot off the press, Have Your Cake and Eat It: Nutritious, Delicious Recipes for Healthier Everyday Baking by Mich Turner, is a beautiful new baking book from Sterling Epicure that features the work of the celebrity baker who has fashioned delectable desserts for Downton Abbey and Buckingham Palace!

I was so inspired, page after page of gorgeous creations, Almond Toscaners, Lemon Meringue Chiffon, Chocolate and Coffee Roulade… and where possible, Turner points out ways to make her recipes healthier. Sugar is sugar, but in the fat department, there is room for improvement. And many of the cakes have prunes and dates and fruits and nuts and oats to vie for righteousness.

I really appreciated the design ideas—Turner is a master in presentation and in the cake I chose to make here, I adapted a recipe to have a structural variation from the “Skinnylicious Vanilla Cake” –which involves sparing frosting in exchange for meringue.

Sour Cream Vanilla and Blueberry Cake

Adapted from Have Your Cake and Eat It

Cake

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup superfine sugar

4 medium eggs

1 TB vanilla bean paste

2 cups self-rising flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup sour cream

2 cups blueberries

Frosting

2/3 cups cream cheese

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

¼ cup sour cream

Meringue

1 ½ cup superfine sugar

1 ounce light corn syrup

¼ cup water

4 medium egg whites (5 ounces)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and line with parchment two 8 inch round pans. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add beaten eggs one at a time. Beat well. Add vanilla paste. Sift flour and baking powder together and fold that in. Stir in sour cream, then finally fold in 1 cup of the blueberries. Spoon batter evenly into each pan and then bake for 45 minutes. Let cool then chill for several hours.

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and sour cream. Chill for 30 minutes. Spread onto both tops of the cakes.

For the meringue, measure the corn syrup, sugar and water into a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir until temp gets to 176 F, then don’t stir until temp gets to 230 F. Put egg whites into a clean bowl and start whisking on full speed. When the syrup gets to 246 F, remove the pan from heat and while the egg beater is still going, slowly pour a steady stream into the whites. Keep whisking until it looks glossy and is a little cooled down, then use right away.

Put meringue into a frosting bag and fit with an open rosette pipetter, and pipe a layer in a flowery pattern on to the top of each half, stacking them up so it looks like an ice cream sandwich. A beautiful ice cream sandwich. Torch the meringue so the lines get better defined.