A Successful Strawberry Season

(unlike last year)


And it seems like it's been a year since I last posted. Insert some lame excuses here- I really have none. Travel interfered with posting and cooking, but I've been back for a couple weeks now. Really, the problem is that unemployment sucks.

Regardless, back in June I went strawberry picking twice (since I'm a loser without a job, I can.) and I made some tasty things with them- only one of which I've mentioned.

I don't want to bother going into a lot of detail about my strawberry fun now that strawberry season is long over and it won't really help you anyway, but let me share my success with sorbets. I've tried sorbet once before, but I neglected to consider how different some berries are compared to each other while making the sorbet, and ended up with more of a bluish granita studded with whole blueberries. A bit odd, but tasty. Fortunately, when trying strawberry sorbet for the first time, I went with a real strawberry sorbet recipe, with excellent results.


Strawberry Basil Sorbet
recipe from The Nifty Foodie

1.5lb fresh, hulled strawberries
1 cup +2T sugar
1.5T lemon juice
pinch of salt
handful (around 1/4 cup) fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Slice the strawberries and toss with 2T sugar. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, turning occasionally. Then combine in a food processor with the remaining sugar and other ingredients, process until pureed.

Pour into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions. Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
based on a combination of the above recipe and this recipe from the LA Times

2 fat or 3 regular stalks of rhubarb, diced (about 6 oz)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water, plus 1T or so more
1lb hulled strawberries
2T cup sugar
1t lemon juice

In a small saucepan, stir together the rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 min. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp. Meanwhile, toss the strawberries with the remaining sugar and let sit for about 30-45 min, stirring occasionally. Combine rhubarb mixture, strawberry mixture and lemon juice in a food processor, puree, then pour into your ice cream maker and follow the instructions.

These sorbets were very popular in our house, and didn't last long. I like my fruit desserts to be not so sweet so you can really taste the fresh fruit, and these were perfect. I'm definitely planning on using the 13lbs of frozen strawberries in the chest freezer for more sorbet later, as well as the remainder of last year's peaches.

Basil Ice Cream

Hey everybody, look! It's another use for basil!

I know, basil ice cream probably seems a bit odd, but it's actually really good (far better than the strawberry balsamic ice cream I made a few years ago- strawberry balsamic sorbet, yes, mixing balsamic and dairy, no.) As you can probably guess, I made this because I had more basil than I knew what to do with.

This ice cream had a nice vanilla taste but with the bite of basil. The basil wasn't overpowering, and it actually complements the sweet really nicely- maybe that's why basil and heirloom tomatoes are such a perfect combination?

Basil Ice Cream
from The City Sisters
4 cups 2% milk (original recipe called for whole)
6 T fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 cup sugar
pinch salt
8 egg yolks
1 cup light cream (the original recipe called for heavy, and I actually intended to use my favorite ff1/2&1/2, but I grabbed the wrong carton. I actually had no idea I had light cream)

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, basil, half the sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat (once it's started to boil) and let steep for 30-60 minutes. Then transfer to a blender and puree.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2cup of sugar with egg yolks in a bowl and whisk vigorously for a few minutes, until the mixture is a light yellow. Combine the egg and basil/milk mixture together, whisk to fully combine, and put back in the saucepan, over low heat. Stir often with a wooden spoon, and heat until the mixture coats the back of the spoon and reaches 175F (or you can go with either of those indicators). Don't let it boil! Also, watch that it doesn't get too hot and the eggs scramble.

Transfer the custard to a bowl and chill (either in an ice bath for a little while, or for a few hours in the fridge).

Once it's cool, strain through a mesh sieve (which... I didn't. I forgot) and stir in the cream. Transfer to an ice cream maker and make ice cream!

I think I need to make basil sorbet next time, and use it as a palate cleanser course during a fancy dinner party. I think the dairy would cancel all palate-cleansing properties of the herb, and could be like an early dessert course.

The Cure for the Common Ice Cream

I wanted ice cream the other day. We had vanilla, which normally is kind of blah but still good (at least I have a decent variety of toppings). But this wasn't regular vanilla, this was low fat (and therefore high sugar) fake-tasting vanilla, bought on a "buy 1 get 1 free" special at Big Y. The corresponding low fat cookies and cream was good, but this stuff was hard to disguise even with a huge spoonful of caramel sauce and low fat whipped cream.

What's a girl to do?

I'll tell you: make apple pie ice cream.

Apple Pie Ice Cream
courtesy of my own crazy head

1 gallon boring vanilla ice cream, softened slightly (left on the counter for a while, or 30 sec in the microwave)
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
1t cinnamon
1T sugar
1T caramel ice cream topping or honey (optional)

Get the ice cream out of the freezer, leave on the counter to soften up.

In a small saucepan, combine apples, cinnamon and sugar. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until apples soften. The mixture will get nice and syrupy and bubbly and smell amazing.

Add caramel to apples, stir to combine.

Add that to the softened ice cream. Stir to combine.
(honestly, I should have probably used the mixer for this, the ice cream wasn't uniformly softened and I didn't get the apples incorporated as homogeneously as I'd have liked)

Freeze, for a few hours or overnight. If you melted the ice cream too much, you might get some ice crystals, but then it has a semi freddo consistency, which I think is kind of fun. I think using the ice cream maker to refreeze the ice cream might avoid that.

Summertime

What's more summery than ice cream? And what's more fun than ice cream you can eat with your hands?

In light of these truths, I made ice cream sandwiches, following an idea from the most recent issue of Everyday Food: ice cream sandwiches using storebought pizzelles.

I made coconut ice cream:
4 cups unsweetened coconut milk (I used 1.5 cans lite and 1 can regular)
1/3 cup sugar (this wasn't very sweet, 1/2-2/3 cup might be better if you want it sweet)
1/2t vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine milk, sugar and extract and chill. Stir in coconut and mix in an ice cream maker. Or transfer directly to freezer and stir every 15-30 minutes until frozen (which is what I did, it was too hot for my ice cream maker to work when I made this)
(Note: this ice cream was rock-hard when I took it out the freezer. I recommend letting it sit for about half an hour on the counter before serving)

Blueberry sorbet (somewhat adapted from a Ben & Jerry's recipe for strawberry sorbet)
3/4lb thawed frozen blueberries (or fresh, if you have them)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours. Mash the blueberries with a potato masher (I do wonder if I should have cooked them to start, they stayed whole, which was still good, but not really what I was looking for)

Then combine:
2 cups of water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
and add to blueberries.

Transfer to ice cream maker to freeze. This is a really nice, light dessert, good for a hot summer evening, whether or not you're on a diet.
(Like the coconut ice cream, this stuff's pretty hard straight from the freezer, so pull it out a bit before serving)

And I made strawberry ice cream.
1 3/4 cups 2% milk
3 long strips lemon peel
1/2 t vanilla
dash of salt

Combine in a medium saucepan and cook until just barely boiling.

Meanwhile, whisk together
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

And whisk in milk mixture, one ladle full at a time, stirring constantly. Transfer milk/egg mixture back to saucepan and cook, until custard is thickened and reaches about 175F (a meat thermometer is handy for this).

Strain custard and chill in an ice bath for a few hours, or in the fridge overnight.

Puree
3 cups strawberries
1/4 cup sugar

And add strawberry puree to custard. Transfer to an ice cream maker, and just before completely frozen,
Add
1/2 cup quartered strawberries.

Done! (Note, like the coconut ice cream, this was really hard ice cream, I recommend letting it sit on the counter at least half an hour before attempting to serve)

When all of these ice creams were at a soft serve consistency (ideally, fresh from the ice cream maker, before freezing thoroughly in the freezer), I assembled the ice cream sandwiches.

Coconut ice cream and pizzelles (from BJ's, this entire package was $7.99)

Lay out pizzelles on a clean counter. Spoon about 1/4 cup softened ice cream over each pizzelle.
Top with another pizzelle and smoosh gently.

Freeze until dessert. I made these several days ahead and stored them in the basement freezer in tupperware/fake tupperware. The pizzelles softened, but were a nice match for the ice cream, and the sandwiches were very refreshing.

And speaking of sorbet, here's a recipe I haven't tried yet, but want to.
Beer sorbet
18 oz (1 and 1/2 cans) flat dark beer, perhaps Guinness
5T (1/4 cup plus 1T) sugar

Mix, freeze in the ice cream maker.

I love the story that goes with it: Ben & Jerry say that at trade shows, they always ended up next to the beer booth, and no one wants ice cream while drinking a beer (to which my husband says, seriously?), so they decided to just go with it, and have a beer-friendly frozen dessert, beer sorbet. Having really enjoyed a stout ice cream, and loving the beer/honey syrup I make for beer cookies, I'm eager to try beer sorbet. I may play around with substituting honey for sugar.

Ginger ice cream

One day, I had milk in my fridge. Lots and lots and lots of milk. I had to use it up, lest it expire and die a very smelly, dreadful death.

So I made ice cream, of course.

All of my previous ice creams have been variations of an orange coffee gelato from the Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker cookbook (included with the ice cream maker), but this time, I decided to venture elsewhere for a base recipe. I found a Martha Stewart ginger ice cream that looked good, so I adapted it for my half gallon of whole milk.

Not-so-fatty ginger ice cream (not quite low-fat, either)
Ingredients:
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
dash of coarse salt
2 cups whole milk (2% would also be good, for a lower-fat/calorie version)
2-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks

In a medium saucepan on a countertop (not over a burner- yet), combine egg yolks (make sure you use those whites for something else! such as meringue buttercream or a double batch of coconut macaroons) and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a few minutes, until mixture turns a lemony yellow. Whisk in milk and salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (note my "stirring constantly" kitchen set up- one hand on the laptop, the other stirring). Once mixture has thickened (but make sure eggs don't scramble/curdle- even if they do a little, it's ok, just not ideal), remove from heat and add in sliced ginger. Let sit 30-45 minutes, then cool (in a refrigerator is fine and easy, but takes longer, over an ice water bath is quickest). Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the ice cream maker's instructions.

Nutella #4!

Cold nutella: nutella gelato!

I got this idea after remembering the nutella milkshakes I'd treat myself to once in a while at Boloco. They're very decadent, and probably significantly less healthy than a mango orange nonfat yogurt smoothie (my usual, if I was going for a smoothie/milkshake).

I've had an ice cream maker for just over a year, and I think this was the 6th time I've used it (orange-lemon gelato, strawberry-balsamic gelato (gelato fail- balsamic and dairy is a bad combination), kahlua gelato (formerly the favorite), and cherry vanilla gelato), the last time being in June- so even though I've used the ice cream maker several times, it'd been a while. And there were things I forgot:

Don't let the egg/milk mixture curdle. My recipe said to cook this for about 8 minutes, til thickened. After 3, it started to curdle- not bad enough to affect the finished product, but still.Once I made ice cream, and even after 40 minutes, the custard still had not thickened. I think that was an extreme, but my point is, you need to watch it, and stir frequently.

After making the custard, it needs to chill. This takes a good several hours- it's best to just let it go all day or overnight.

Chunky add-ins should be stirred in by hand. Also, nutella won't make a nice swirl, it'll kind of break up. Less pretty, but still delicious. And it'll stay somewhat solid, not creamy like a fudge ripple.

The recipe.

2 cups 2% milk (2% is important)
1/2-1 teaspoon vanilla

5 egg yolks (you can save the whites for something quick, like coconut macaroons, or meringue, or this ethereal lemon frosting that I'm going to try this weekend)
1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped, toasted almonds
1/2-2/3cup nutella

Scald milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks and sugar until lemon-colored (a few minutes, with a whisk)

Temper the egg yolk/sugar mixture: add a ladleful of scalded milk and whisk, add another ladleful, whisk, and continue til about half the milk mixture is added to the eggs. Then return the egg/milk to the milk in the saucepan and cook- here's where it's tricky. I cooked over medium/medium-high heat for 3 minutes, which was just barely too long. The custard should thicken to coat the back of the spoon, but sometimes it's frothy and hard to tell. So just keep spooning the mixture to check to see if it's curdled- if it just barely starts to curdle, it'll still be ok. And keep stirring gently.

Strain the custard into a bowl (definitely strain it), and chill until it's thoroughly chilled- I like to just chill it overnight, then you know it's definitely cold. It must be cold when it goes into the ice cream maker, or else it won't freeze. Chilling takes at least 3 hours.

Once the custard's chilled, add it to the ice cream maker. Follow the directions on your ice cream maker. On mine, the kitchenaid attachment, I set up the pieces and start the mixer going on the lowest setting, then slowly pour the chilled custard in.

I let that go for 20 minutes, until it seemed ice cream-y solid. At this point, it basically gets to a soft serve consistency. Then stir in the almonds (I tried using the mixer's paddle, but the almonds just clumped up, so I switched to a spatula by hand) and the nutella.

Transfer to a bowl and freezer for a few more hours (again, I prefer chilling the cooked custard overnight, making the ice cream the next morning, and chilling orver the day to have fresh ice cream for dessert) and voila, ice cream! With nutella cookies, of course.
I feel like every time I make ice cream, the newest flavor I try is the best. This definitely continues in that trend. The nutella stays kind of solid, so you get little bits of nutella, instead of smooth nutella swirl (and this is how I like my sundaes, when the hot fudge gets a little solid where it touches the ice cream). The toasted almonds go nicely with nutella- I would have preferred hazelnuts, but I didn't have any on hand.

Found: on special at Shaw's

Lately I've been stopping at the grocery store after Zumba class. It's extremely convenient, the dance studio is right in back of Shaw's. Also, I tend to buy more fresh and healthy foods after an intense workout.

Last week, I saw cherries were on sale. I added them to the strawberries I've been eating (averaging about 3lbs a week... I hope ODing on strawberries has no adverse effects). They looked beautiful, and were a really good price. However, they had no flavor at all. I was really disappointed!

So I turned them into ice cream, and I have to say, this is about my best batch yet.

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream

approx. 1.5lbs of cherries, destemmed and pitted
3T sugar
2T (yes, tablespoons) vanilla

In a wide fry pan or wok, start to simmer cherries. Sprinkle sugar over, and cook until they start to soften. Add the vanilla, cook until the liquid turns into a syrup. Let cool. Puree about 2/3s of the cherries and leave the rest whole.

3 cups 2% milk
scant 2/3 cup sugar
8 egg yolks

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, scald milk. Meanwhile, combine yolks and sugar, whisk together. Add about half of the scalded milk (ladle slowly, ladleful by ladleful) to egg/sugar mixture, then add back to the saucepan with the remaining milk. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened, anywhere between 3 and 8 minutes. It won't thicken much, just enough to notice, and you definitely don't want the eggs to scramble.

Remove from heat, strain and add the cherry puree. Let chill (I usually put it in the fridge, but today I was too impatient, so made an ice water bath, which worked rather well, so I suggest an ice water bath).

Whip out your handy-dandy ice cream maker, and start it up according to the directions. When the custard/cherry puree mixture is just about done, slowly add in the whole cherries. Freeze a couple more hours, until it's the proper ice cream consistency, or, if you can't wait, set aside a small bowl to taste immediately. This is good.

(the recipe I followed for this was adapted from the basic gelato recipe that came with my Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker, and I made up the cherry part as I went.)

Long time, no post!

I've done it, I've moved. I live in MA now. I'm not yet a legal resident, but apparently I need to, or else I can't have health insurance (which is such a mess anyway).

I've been having a lot of food worth posting about, but little time to do it. However, this weekend I hosted a cocktail party back in NH, and I made kahlua gelato. This is batch #3 of ice cream, and definitely the best.

Recipe:
scald 2 cups of 2% milk with 8 coffee beans in a medium saucepan.

whisk together 5 egg yolks and 2/3cup sugar, then slowly add half the hot milk into the egg mixture, stirring frequently so you don't scramble the eggs. Add the egg/milk mixture back into the saucepan, and cook until slightly thickened, about 8-10 min.

Take it off the heat, stir in 1/4cup of kahlua (or, if you want the alcohol to burn off (I wanted the alcohol), add it to the egg/sugar mixture before adding in the scalded milk)

Strain and let cool in the fridge until it's cold.

Put it in your ice cream maker, and let 'er rip!


it was delish. I left it at D's, and I was really torn about doing that... but I can easily make more.

I went to a new (for me) bakery last week. Well, I went to two. I went to Sweet in Boston, and had a most delicious madagascar vanilla mini cupcake. The frosting was my perfect buttercream frosting, sweet and not buttery, but not with a crisco feel to it like so many bakeries use. The cake was dense, and not very sweet, a good complement to the super-sweet frosting.

I also went to Sweet in Worcester (the names are a coincidence), which had beautiful cupcakes that I like better after 4 days. The cake was good, but the frosting was a little too light and crisco-y for me. I bought them on Friday, and by Tuesday the outer layer of frosting had hardended to a nice shell, and the cake was not stale at all. I'm definitely going there again (picture soon- you need to see these cupcakes). Parking was tricky, but then, I live in a city now, so I should expect that.

We also did some wedding cake tasting last weekend... more on that later.

Picture soon of my cocktail party spread. The menu included:
chicken sausage and gruyere tart
corn and shitake fritters (my first attempt at deep frying!)
veggie platter
ranch dip
three layer hummus (roasted redpepper, original, cilantro- from Trader Joe's)
coconut macaroons
kahlua ice cream
endive stuffed with boursin and pecans
olive spread
baguette and rosemary sourdough bread
tarragon artichoke dip (which Samantha brought)

The cocktail party was my annual pre-Dartmouth grad student semi formal dance. As always, the cocktail party was a hit, the dance was a waste of time (they didn't even give us free alcohol, we got there too late. But the place smelled so strongly of beer that we hardly noticed the lack of alcohol. Seriously, are they trying to recreate a scuzzy frat party?)

Look what I made!

Cupcakes!



and..... ICE CREAM!!!!!!!1 (er, gelato) As well as honey cardamom madeleines and fig pecan biscotti. I heart my ice cream maker.
Gelato, step by step:

orange-lemon gelato, with coffee beans, starts with orange and lemon peel, and coffee beans.

Add 2 cups of milk to the flavors, scald.

Add 5 egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar, cook til thickened, then strain out the solids.




Cool the custard, then pour it in your ice cream maker (which has been chilling for a while)



Mix- look how regal she is!




20 min of mixing produces ice cream!

It's really sweet, next time I will cut way back on the sugar- 1/2cup would probably be plenty, maybe even less. Next on the ice cream list is strawberry balsamic gelato. I'm tempted to do sorbet, though... we'll see.

Ice cream

Oh, my. I was watching the food channel last night, because synchronized diving was on NBC, and 10 minutes of that was plenty. "Unwrapped" was on. I enjoy this show, although Mark Summers annoys me (far more than he did on Double Dare). Anyway, last night was back to back Ice Cream episodes.

Warning: don't watch shows about ice cream when you don't have any in the house. This leads to unnecessary cravings. I usually have at least froyo for my post-gym smoothies, but I didn't even have that. And the nearby grocery store was closed, as was the local ice cream place. Sigh.

What I gather from these episodes were that I must have my own ice cream maker. Soon. I'm planning to register for the Kitchen Aid attachment one, but ugh my wedding is well over a year away. I might just have to get it myself.

A cooking school in Denver goes ice cream classes in the summer. I can't remember all the ones that made me drool, but black pepper was one that made me think. And I thought, I really need to incorporate ice cream into my appetizers. Ice cream does not need to be a sweet dessert concoction, it could easily be a mildly sweet, savory thing! And I then I made my yum/thinking noise, which needs to be put into letters.

Finally, they presented this website: ecreamery.com. Oh, my. You can design your own ice cream, and this clever young man in Chicago will make it for you, and mail it to you. (and then you get dry ice to play with) Check out the site. I'm in awe.

Unfortunately, it costs a fortune. A 1/2 gallon is $55 and shipping is $36.

This is why I need an ice cream maker, so I can make my own basil walnut gelato and pineapple ginger ice cream.