Raze-berry

Fires: still raging in the hills across the freeway from my house. Air quality: awful. Temperature: near or at 100 for a week. Ice cream activities: NOT DETERRED.

This Friday I returned to the Eagle Rock farmer's market, this time to pick up a pint of raspberries for our recipe. I had help this time from both housemate Lani (most often seen modeling ice cream eating at the end of these entries) AND the lovely Ella. Here is Ella mixing some eggs and sugar.

For other ingredrients used, as well as for the recipe, reference my last entry, about peach ice cream. I made the same sweet cream base as I did in that recipe. The only difference is that for the raspberry, we mashed the berries and mixed them in with the cream base, putting it all into the ice cream maker at the same time. If you recall from the peach recipe, I put in the peach pieces at the last minute, so they didn't get too frozen.

The raspberry mash worked really well, but it would also work to leave bigger fruit pieces. To do that, simply put the raspberries back into the fridge to chill, after adding the sugar/lemon/berry marinade to the cream mixture. Then add the raspberries, in pieces as big as you'd like, to the ice cream maker about three minutes before it's the consistency you want (ie, about 25-30 minutes into the makin'.)

It melted the SECOND it hit the stagnant, burning air, but it was delicious nonetheles. It was a really pretty pink color, and it was slightly more tart than the peach flavor. Sour/tart is my favorite flavor.

Keep it cool, kids. I think next will be root beer flavor, so hang on to your flame-retardent knickers!

peachy keen

Success! Since I am sure the last 24 hours have been BREATHLESS WITH ANTICIPATION for you since my last post, I am ecstatic to be able to put you at ease. For your information, Los Angeles has reclaimed its rightful place as GODAWFUL HOTTEST PLACE ON THE PLANET (ie West Coast), usurping Portland and Seattle in their underdog race for the throne. As I write this, it is 99 degrees outside my little air-conditioned office. It's not even the hottest part of the day yet. The weather.com widget says it feels like 94 degrees, but that is more wrong than sticky melted ice cream all over a new pair of skinny jeans. I've been outside a couple times today, and it feels like it is warmer outside my body than it is inside. This is a mistake.

Ok, let's get down to business. It has been hot, which is bad for humankind but excellent for fruits!! So I meandered on over to the Eagle Rock Farmer's Market and bought some fresh local peaches for my next project. (side note of preachy locavorism: local food is better for you, and better for the planet. the less it travels to get to you, the less carbon emissions it creates, and the more nutrients and flavor are intact when it gets to your plate. It is also cheaper to eat local, contrary to popular belief. Find a market or CSA near you!)

THE RECIPE:

2 c Ripe peaches; finely chopped (for me this was two medium-size peaches. mostly just put in as much as you want to eat, keeping in mind the capacity of your ice cream maker.)

2 lg Eggs

1 1/4 c Sugar

2 c Heavy or whipping cream

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 c Milk (I use 2% because i am in a constant struggle to maintain and or/gain weight. i don't drink milk, but when it's in ice cream all is forgiven.)

Start by chopping the peaches, and combining with 1/2 cup of sugar and lemon juice. Like so:

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or however long you can stand it before you want ice cream. For me this was more like an hour, and it turned fine. The sweeter you want it, the longer you should leave it in the fridge.

After chilling, pour the syrup from the bowl into a seperate bowl. Like so:

Into the bowl with syrup go the cream and milk. In another small bowl, whisk the eggs until fluffy, and add the remaining sugar a little at a time until completely mixed. Then add the egg mixture to the dairy/syrup mixture, and pour into ice cream maker.

Run the ice cream maker for about 25 minutes

Right before the ice cream is as thick as you want it, add the peaches. Let the machine run for five or so more minutes, until desired thickness is reached.

I realized I hadn't yet taken a picture of the machine IN MOTION, so here is what it looks like about three minutes before being done.

This looks like it was right before I added the peaches. It gets a little thicker than this. I like my ice cream super soft. If you don't, let it run a little longer or stick it in the freezer when it's done, for another fifteen minutes or so. I personally do not tend to wait for things. I like to eat.

And so do Laura and Jeff.

This weekend, look out for a fresh RASPBERRY recipe!!!

love means...

never having to say you're sorry. and yet, here i am. it has been far too long since i've posted, and i've been trying to all day, but my computer is not recognizing the camera. that's obviously what i get for trying to update my blog from work. sigh. anyway, i will post to share this perfect picture with you, which was taken at scoops ice cream, perhaps the best ice cream in los angeles. it has become apparent to me that i need to conduct bimonthly taste tests at scoops, for research purposes only, as a fellow ice cream afficionado. scoops is famous for introducing new flavors DAILY, and for mixing strange things together that are ultimately the most delicious thing one has ever tried. here is the picture.

the flavors i was trying that day were earl gray and almond-fig. they were ridiculously delicious, of course. scoops is mega-innovative and i will no doubt be trying many of their recipes as time goes on.

coming up from MY kitchen, in the meantime, are peach and raspberry recipes to celebrate summer. peach is what i've been trying to uploday today, and raspberry is happening friday night. so we all have that to look forward to. and if anyone is reading this in the pacific northwest, STOP READING AND GO EAT SOME BLACKBERRIES. they do not grow more delicious than they do in washington and oregon right now. this is one of the rare times when los angles produce can't hold a candle. blackberries and apples. mm.

Chocolate Sex

OK, first of all. Happy August! Month of my sister's birth, along with many other illustrious sorts of people. Here is some trivia of people born on August 25th, a day without which nothing fun would have ever entered the world:

-elvis costello (the first time i typed elvis i typed "elvix," and now i sincerely wish that were actually his name)

-blake lively

-kel mitchell

-tim burton

-rachel bilson

-gene simmons

-sean connery

-billy ray cyrus

i think it is safe to say that i have never seen a list of birthday-sharers that so perfectly encapsulates a person. anyway. ON TO ICE CREAM. 

the title of this entry comes from this perfect, terrible little book in residence at my home,

which basically consists of vintage photographs with really soft, hazy lighting, and then big gregarious pictures of chocolate superimposed. needless to say, it was like three ratings on the MPAA rating system scale further down than my housemates and I were hoping for. 

so yes, it is true. this weekend i tackled chocolate ice cream. i wouldn't say "tackled," so much, actually, as "got to immerse myself in delicious chocolatey things all day sunday and then put them in my mouth." 

let's get down to it. this is one of the two basic chocolate recipes in my ice cream recipe book, and it seemed like the one with less texture and a richer flavor. which is funny, considering how it turned out. but i'm getting ahead of myself. here is the recipe:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup milk (i used 2%)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy or whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt (brings out the chocolate flavor- don't forget this step!)

alrighty. right off the bat, i'll tell you that i digressed from the recipe in a pretty substantial way, because i do not own a double broiler. you are always supposed to melt chocolate in one of these, so it doesn't burn. so if you HAVE a double broiler, godspeed. heat the water in the bottom until it is hot, not boiling, and add the chocolate in the top. 

what I did, however, was just throw some o' the ol' chocolate into a pot. 

and i kept the heat on really low. when it was just about all melted, i added the milk. if you have the double broiler, add the milk slowly, making sure not to let it boil. if you are ME, add the milk however you want it, and take the pan off the flame right away because it will boil immediately. 

i'll tell you now, to ruin the surprise but also to let you know what you're getting into, my way resulted in a texturized ice cream at the end. there are little bits of chocolate that are more solid than liquid. i like how it turned out a lot, and i think it matches the richness of the flavor. if something is entirely smooth and totally rich, i tend to freak out a little. i have a thing with decadence. i don't handle it very well. but if it's weird and not entirely smooth, then i think to myself "ah yes. of course it is this rich and chocolatey tasting, it has little bumpies in it." this paragraph makes me sound insane.

MOVING ON. 

after the pan has been removed from heat, mix the eggs and sugar a little at a time, whisking until light and fluffy (albeit a pretty nasty color and consistency. HAVE FAITH. it gets better.)

add the cream, vanilla and salt. blend completely. 

add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, blend. should by now look something like this:

cover and refrigerate until cold. this should be a little more than an hour, unless your fridge is awful. then it should be about three. mine is more on the awful end. 

when cold, add to ice cream maker, let run 25-35 minutes until it's the consistency you're looking for. now is when i will tell you that when i went into the kitchen after half an hour to check on the ice cream, i realized that i had actually succeeded in making perfect ice cream. both of my last two recipes came out a little slush-y, which worked in both cases and froze to become more solid. but THIS one was EXACTLY PERFECT to the point that i danced around in my house all by myself because i was so proud of myself. here is a picture of this fantasy-inspiring texture:

this is by far the most delicious recipe yet, and perhaps the most delicious thing i have ever cooked in all my life. does it count as cooking, if it's cold? hm. anyway. i quietly believe this ice cream could bring about world peace if i told the right people about it. 

eat yo' hearts out, fools!