Infusing flavor

I finally got around to making my favorite flavor, Mint Chocolate Chip. I found a recipe in this great ice cream cookbook, A Passion for Ice Cream, which is filled with amazing ice cream recipes that are all also paired with desserts. Since I am on an ice cream mission I left out the dessert aspect of this recipe which was fudge cookies but I am sure I'll get around to those later. Actually, the image on the cover of this book is this recipe. (I know its not green but she prefers to let the flavor speak for itself..I had to add the green to mine).

So onto the infusing part. Infuse: to steep in liquid without boiling so as to extract the soluble constituents or principles...and this is what I did. Instead of using Mint extract the recipe called for using actual mint leaves and cooking them with my cream/sugar mixture. Once heated through and before adding this to the egg mixture I strained the liquid to omit the leaves and, voila, pure mint flavoring. I was a little skeptical when straining as my leaves were brown, wilted, and not so pretty but I guess that is what happens when you cook leaves. So after finalizing the whole process, refrigerating the base overnight and then freezing, the verdict is out...definitely good mint flavor but somewhat unique. I am curious to see what others think. My husband thought it was definitely mint but tasted like leaves! So I just did a second taste test to be able to really describe it and the only additional thing I could say is that is has an herb like taste...but after the initial bite all I taste is yummy Mint Chocolate Chip. I think this could become my signature flavor..its my favorite but with a twist.

And the cute cow bowls..my girlfriend recently went to the Ben & Jerry's plant and brought me back these fun cow dishes...love em.

Yo! Cinnamon Fro Yo!

I guess that wasn't the most creative of names, but I am trying! I had this yogurt that I made my Donvier yogurt maker that was just not the right consistency so I thought to make it into frozen yogurt. Perfect idea. I didn't waste the yogurt and made a fairly healthy treat of cinnamon frozen yogurt (see right), that even my husband liked!

I used the recipe from Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Ice Cream Book for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, but altered it a bit to my liking. My yogurt was a little sour (yogurt is more sour the longer you "cook" it and even with the added sugar and the two tablespoons of vanilla, this recipe was a little too sour for my liking. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and voila! it was just to my liking! The other little change was I replaced the light cream with a mixture of 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 cup skim milk. With the skim yogurt I had made, this recipe was pretty light and some what healthy, as far as ice cream goes -- and the texture was pretty creamy as well. Yes, I am of the belief (just like Tina) that ice cream is ice cream and one shouldn't cut corners on the fat or sweeteners, but in my case I had to use what I had in my house (it was late and I didn't feel like going to the store) so I experimented and I'd say it came out pretty well!

Bruce Weinstein (of the UltimateCook website) is one of my favorite ice cream book authors -- his book is full of diverse recipes and each recipe is followed by a plethora of variations. My husband loves peanut butter, so we are also a big fan of The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book.

On another note, I had little bit of a fun experiment last week. I wanted to draw ice cream at the studio last week. I bought an Haagan Daz Vanilla and Almonds Ice Cream Bar at the store next door but soon realized that I had to run out and that I wouldn't be able to draw the ice cream bar before I left. Luckily living recent weather has dumped a lot of snow in New England and I decided to bury the ice cream (box, wrapper and all) in the snow. When I came back four hours later I had about a half an hour of drawing time! (The drawing wasn't worth showing!) In addition to the snow freezer I made, I am sure the chocolate shell kept the ice cream a bit in tact too, because as soon as I cracked the shell, the ice cream was a soupy mess...Long story short, snow makes a good freezer in a pinch, though I am sure our ancestors figured this out well before I did!

Very Cherry

Here's the outcome of the red hot cinnamon and cherry ice creams. The red hot cinnamon was made too close to the book club starting time and didn't get enough time to freeze harder -- before I got to take a picture, it was too soupy. The cherry was more photogenic as you can see on the left.

Here is my bit of feedback.

1. Red hots. So hard to find. I thought, "Oh, Valentine's day candy is out, I'll find them at CVS." Two CVSes and even the help of my friend Nicole, but no luck. Luckily Dairy Fresh Candy in Boston's North End had them. Save! Well worth is though, this red hot cinnamon is still one of my favorites.

2. Cleaning the dasher (a.k.a. paddle). I hate it. I don't know if it is just the dasher on my Cuisinart, but I find it so hard to get all the ice cream from it when transfering to another container. There are so many nooks and crannies. I find my self fighting the dasher, the melting ice cream, and time. Not so fun. In the end I lose some of my ice cream to melted puddles in the kitchen sink. Overall I love my Cuisinart, but I would be interested in feedback on other machines.

Over all, the ice cream was a hit at book club. Not sure if it is the most efficient thing to bring to a party...its not so much a nibbling food, but Heather made some amazing cakes and alas, what is cake without ice cream?

Where to begin?

With so many recipes and advice out there it was difficult to know where to start. Do I use eggs? Is the base cooked? Am I using the right milk? So my trials begin. I figured the most important question to start with was what kind? So since Mint Chocloate Chip is my ultimate favorite I tried a similar Peppermint Chocolate...Yum. I searched through some recipes, got my KitchenAid set up, and got started. I quickly learn that making the ice cream is really not that difficult, its having the patience with the whole process. No you don't mix cream and put in a machine and you have yummy ice cream. Its 24 painful hours until you actually get to enjoy your dish. So I followed the recipe to a T, slowly boiling my ingredients, slow whisking it into the egg yolks, and then once again slowly bringing it all to a boil. I did read that its important to "slowly" heat the ingredients so I patiently created my concoction. The final verdict of my first ever batch of ice cream...consistency was almost perfect being creamy and smooth and the flavor was great but a little too much peppermint extract(mouthwash aftertaste got to be too much!). Only challenge I found was that it did not freeze very hard. It stayed somewhat soft so I will work on perfecting the solidifying process. My first attempt is a success and motivates me to make more. Here is the recipe I followed.

Peppermint Chocolate Ice Cream
2 1/4 c heavy cream
3/4 c whole milk
1 c sugar
4 large egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp peppermint extract (I used more...and it was too much)
peppermint bark chocolate chunks

Heat cream, milk, 1/2 c. sugar, and peppermint extract over medium heat to almost simmering and set aside. In bowl whisk yolks, 1/2 c. sugar and salt. Slowly pour hot liquid into yolk mixture whisking as its poured. Return mixture to pan and heat on low stirring consistently until lightly simmering along edges(do not boil). Cool for at least 4 hours in fridge. Then churn is machine according to directions. Add peppermint chocolate 5 minutes prior to end of churning. Made about 1 1/2 pints(maybe a little more).