NuJoi's Kitchen Diary: ice cream

Showing posts with label ice cream. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Day 1 #Thanksgiving2015

I'm out of practice lol! I decided to make vanilla ice cream. When I reached for my vanilla beans, they we crunchy, so extract to the rescue. I have two ice cream cookbooks, one by Ben & Jerry, the other is by Williams-Sonoma. I prefer the Ben & Jerry book. The problem is, the recipies are for no-cook custard. Works fine for me, but my guests may have issues. I proceeded to cook and then overcook my custard :-( We'll see how it churns tomorrow.

I could be a Breyer's Ice Cream commercial -- fou ingredients you can pronounce!

I made turkey stock for the greens today. Shout out to the Cuisinart Slow Cooker - 9.5 hours on high. I start simple, just onion and garlic.

Get you some smoked turkey wings and low sodium chicken broth.

So here's the deal. I gave up pork in the mid '90s because of my family health history. It was either that or sweets and I have a distinct love for butter and sugar. Anyhoo, nothing flavors greens and beans like pork. Folks who claim turkey is the same are lying! Turkey is good, but it doesn't have the power of pork!

Here's what I do to compensate. Use chicken broth or stock with your smoked turkey. Water won't do you any favors when it comes to flavor. Don't add any salt! Even low-sodium products have enough salt.

I'll let it cool and then remove the fat.

You want your bones to be brittle and appear bleached. This means you've extracted all the flavor. These might be a little underdone. I want more than spotty white patches. If the stock doesn't set up properly (really gelatinous), back to the slow cooker!

I got my serving dishes down and started on my table. Not bad, huh?

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: