NuJoi's Kitchen Diary: Zyliss

Showing posts with label Zyliss. Show all posts

Monday, August 18, 2008

Buy The Book #1: Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream

Welcome to the series where I cook something from each of my cookbooks. I have 85 and counting, so we have a lot of possibilities. I follow the recipe by the book to prove that you should buy the book. First up? Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream. Let’s make fresh strawberry ice cream!

I have to admit, I struggled with the book choice for ice cream. It was this book vs. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. I chose WS because its recipe didn’t contain any eggs. I figured no eggs would be slightly healthier. Besides, there will be Cherry Garcia from the Ben & Jerry’s book later. (It’s my all-time favorite ice cream.)

This is so simple! Dairy (cream and milk), sugar and vanilla are the base. Mix all of the liquids. Add a pinch of salt.

The sugar is next. Add the dairy and stir until the sugar dissolves. The instructions say to let the base sit out for 15 minutes before refrigerating. Stir occasionally. I’m not sure why you couldn’t put it in the refrigerator immediately. Anyhoo, chill the base for at least three hours.

In the meantime, get the strawberries. Quarter them and let them sit for an hour. I added a little sugar and Kirsch. Mash about half of them.

Add the strawberries and their juice to the base.

Let’s churn!!!! To the ice cream maker we go.

Churn, Baby Churn!

You should now have yummy soft-serve ice cream. Hey, stop eating it! Pour it into a freezer-safe container.

Press plastic wrap right down on the surface. Put the lid on and freeze.

Do not try to lick the ice cream maker.

Well now. Isn't that special?

Tasty. Tasty. Tasty.

Tools of the trade:

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Joyous Vanilla

My uncles love "white ice cream." Pass around a bottle of Brer Rabbit Syrup and they are the happiest men I've ever seen. Our family's favorite, as well as most of Little Rock's, when it came to ice cream was Yarnell's.

Sadly, I must admit that I have moved on. A friend and his family drove from Chicago to Louisiana. I told him that they had to stop in Arkansas and bring me back some Yarnell's. We did a taste test and my beloved Yarnell's lost to his Blue Bell. I was shocked. Then I looked on the back of the container and I felt like the little kids in the Breyer's commercials trying to pronounce the unnatural ingredients.

Okay. All of that was the setup for this vanilla ice cream. I've made vanilla ice cream before (and I still enjoy my Ben & Jerry's.) I knew that when I made the molten chocolate cakes, homemade vanilla ice cream was the proper accompaniment. I have just two ice cream books, William-Sonoma Ice Cream and Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book. Trust me. You won't need any other recipes. This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma. Here's the online recipe.

Start with the vanilla bean. Take a fresh bean and split it in half lengthwise. You know your pod is fresh if it is pliable. Older beans are dry and brittle. Try to buy beans in a jar, so that they are moist. Scrape the seeds out using the back of a paring knife.

Add the seeds and pod to a pot of dairy.

Heat on medium heat for five minutes, or until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Okay, so I had bubbles all over the pan.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and remaining dairy in a bowl. Temper the yolks with the warm mixture.
Everybody back in the pool! Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. You'll know when the custard is thick enough because it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. When you draw your finger across the spoon, it will leave a trail that won't fill back in.

Now, set up a straining and rig: large bowl of ice. Smaller bowl nestled inside. (I like using an 8-cup measuring cup.) Place a strainer over the smaller bowl. Strain the custard.

Once it's strained, stir occasionally to cool (don't let a skin form.) When it's cool enough to refrigerate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Make sure the wrap is touching the top of the custard. Refrigerate overnight. Now you may entertain yourself by licking the spoon.

Time to break out the ice cream maker!!! I use a KitchenAid stand mixer and the Ice Cream Maker Attachment. This is a great combo if you are short on counter or storage space. I store the attachment in the freezer. That way it's ready when I need it. Turn the mixer on and pour in the custard.

After you've finished churning, you can eat it soft serve or freeze it. Here mine is dished up next to a molten chocolate cake.

Tools of the trade:

Saturday, March 22, 2008

When Winter Won't Leave

Yesterday was Good Friday and it snowed! (This will make it very hard to wear white linen for Easter.) What better time to write about the Saturday I spent making soup? Roasted butternut squash soup is always a favorite. I had some sweet potatoes on hand and I wanted to see what I could do with those and some corn. The result was fabulous. It's now on my list of favorites too.

Roasted butternut squash soup first. My version is a combination of three different recipes from Cook's Illustrated, Williams-Sonoma and the Food Network. Preheat the oven to 350-400. Grab a baking sheet, ice cream scoop, rubber mallet and cleaver. Oh yeah. Get some squash too.

If you have an easier way of dismantling hard squash, let me know! Here's the deal. Apparently I'm a wuss. I struggle to open jars and occasionally a water bottle or two. I've heard of people being able to tear through hard squash with a chef's knife. I look at my Shun and think, "No damn way." I value my knife and my fingers, although not necessarily in that order.

Anyway, use the cleaver to slice a thin piece off the bottom of the squash to make sure the squash has a secure base. Stand the squash up on a kitchen towel. Split it in half using the mallet and cleaver. Use the ice cream scoop to remove the seeds and membrane. Save both.

Place the halves cut side down on the baking sheet. Use a Silpat or foil to make cleaning up easier. Roast until tender.

In the meantime, drizzle a little olive oil into your soup pot. Add a few sage leaves and heat the oil.

Add the seeds and the membrane.

I like to give the seeds and membrane a head start before I add the onion. I don't know why. Saute until the onion is tender.

Add chicken stock. You can make this with veggie stock or water. I prefer the chicken stock. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer.

Remove the solids. I just dump the contents of the pot into a strainer. Add the stock back to your pot.

By now the squash should be done. Grab the ice cream scoop again and dig out the flesh. Add the squash to the pot. Now whip out your immersion blender. I named mine Frenzy. Don't have one? Add the squash to a blender and ladle in some broth. Either way, process until smooth. Put the soup back into the pot and simmer.

Now here is where you can get more creative. You can add heavy cream to the pot now for a richer soup. When serving, you can garnish each bowl with chopped pecans and/or fried sage.

Now for the sweet potato corn soup. Start by infusing some olive oil with sage, just like the roasted butternut squash soup. Add onion and saute.

All I had in the house was frozen corn. I dumped it (still frozen) into the pot.

Moving on to the sweet potatoes. Pierce the sweet potatoes a knife and roast until tender.

Remove the skin and mash immediately. Throw it in with the now thawed corn and very soft onion. Add chicken stock. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer.

Once the flavors meld, puree. Again, the immersion blender rocks.

Strain the soup. (I don't like the corn bits.) I finish the soup with cream. Adjust the seasonings. I throw in a pinch of sugar. When I dish it up into bowls, I add a little bit of brandy.
Yeah. It's good.

Tools of the trade: