Musk Melon Sorbet

The following recipe was made during my Summer Produce cooking class. You can read about it and get other recipes HERE.

Musk Melon Sorbet – using a ripe musk melon that was brought in, we seeded it and chopped it up to create a puree. Before blending, we added 2 tablespoons of vodka, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 1/4 cups of sugar. With everything in the blender, we processed it until it was fully combined and chilled it in the fridge for 15 minutes. After it was chilled, we poured it into my ice cream maker and had it churn for 25 minutes. To further ripen the sorbet, we transferred into a freezeable container and let sit in the freezer for another hour. (Two hours or more would be ideal.) To serve, we saved the musk melon rinds and served the sorbet inside them, garnished with fresh mint.

MMM… Melons & Breakfast!

It’s a hot day in Chicago and a little too hot in the kitchen to slave over the stove. So with that in mind, I needed something quick. One of the fastest meals I can put together is breakfast… and that was dinner for us tonight! I made “Eggs in a Hole,” which is a fried egg cooked into a piece of toast, maple sausage patties and some fresh pineapple. It was also a great time to crank out some sorbet! After making a watermelon sorbet not too long ago, I just had to try the recipe with cantelope. I used this Melon Sorbet recipe from Alton Brown. It is my go to sorbet recipe for melons because it came out perfectly!Here’s Alton’s recipe for Cantelope (Melon) Sorbet:
1 pound, 5 ounces diced cantelope
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Vodka (I used Absolut)
9 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups

Place the melon in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vodka, and sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Place the mixture into the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F; depending on the temperature of your ingredients and refrigerator, this could take 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

** I’m also submitting this to the Weekend Breakfast Blogging: Summer Feast event, hosted by Monsoon Spice. This event focuses on a dish using Summer Fruits & Vegetables which can be served for breakfast or brunch. With the warm summer upon us, this Cantelope Sorbet is cool, refreshing and a great palate cleanser for the heavier breakfast & brunch dishes. If you have any breakfast & brunch dishes, submit them to the event by July 31st, 2008!**

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Dinner was a bust… as in not cooking what I had planned. My hubby picked me up from work and we ended up going to one of our fave Asian restaurants for dinner, Joy Yee’s. If you live in Chicago, you know Joy Yee’s pretty well… and if you live in Chicago and don’t, you better find a way to Joy Yee’s soon!

But I do have a recipe to share… for Key Lime Pie ice cream! I’ve been on a key lime kick lately and I was due for another creamy concoction from my ice cream maker. I initially wanted to use a recipe calling for egg yolks that require no cooking/tempering. Instead, I used this recipe, adapted from My Recipes.Here’s my adaption of Key Lime Pie Ice Cream:

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup bottled Key lime juice
1/2 cup whipping cream
Dash of salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
Key lime wedges (optional)

Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour mixture into freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Stir 1/3 cup graham crackers into ice cream. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container, and cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm. Sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon graham crackers. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired. **I’m also submitting this to the Got Milk? blogging event, hosted by Linda of Make Life Sweeter. She’s accepting recipes using milk, so if you have one, share it!**

Melon Sorbet

Now with breakfast done, onto some fun treats to enjoy later! I had a large half of fresh watermelon sitting in my fridge and decided it was time for a fruity sorbet recipe. With my ice cream freezer bowl ready, I made this Melon Sorbet recipe from Alton Brown. It was really easy and so refreshing! Seriously, this recipe is so good, I plan on making variations with other melons like cantelope & honeydew… I’m also submitting this to Nik Snack’s very first blogging event she hosting, Ice Scream, You Scream. What a great event to pay homage to Ice Cream… after all, July is National Ice Cream Month! Here’s Alton’s recipe for Melon Sorbet:
1 pound, 5 ounces diced watermelon, muskmelon or honeydew
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Vodka (I used Absolut)
9 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups

Place the melon in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vodka, and sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Place the mixture into the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F; depending on the temperature of your ingredients and refrigerator, this could take 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

Frozen, Creamy Coffee… Ice Cream!

So I’ve been without ice cream now for a few days and it was about time I made another batch. This time, I decided on a nice coffee ice cream so I can pair it with some caramel and raspberry sauces I have.

I’m a bit impatient so I haven’t made any ice cream recipes requiring any cooking or use of eggs. Having to wait for that kind of mixture to cool before freezing is too long for me. I did find a quick coffee ice cream recipe from Emeril Lagasse. The only change I made to the recipe was using vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. The result? Fabulously cold, creamy and flavorful coffee!

I’m also submitting this recipe to the You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Frozen Desserts blogging event, hosted by Mike. This is a great event, especially with the summer weather… and besides, who can resist something cold to beat the heat?Here’s Emeril’s recipe for No Cook Coffee Ice Cream:

2 cups half and half
3 tablespoons instant coffee crystals
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
4 cups heavy cream
Garnish: Chocolate covered espresso beans Mint sprigs

In a small bowl combine the half and half, coffee crystals, sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the heavy cream. Freeze according to manufacturers directions. Garnish with coffee beans and mint. Yield: 2 quarts

Mango & Lychee Sitting in a Tree

One of my favorite flavors of boba tea (aka bubble teas, flavored drinks with large tapioca pearls) is mango lychee. Since I’ve been having fun concocting ice cream flavors, I figured boba flavors would work just as well in ice cream form.

To make my mango lychee ice cream, I used a common base of heavy cream and whole milk. Using the light syrup that the lychees were packed in added the subtle sweetness and a touch of mango extract added a hint of color and enhanced the flavor of the mango I used.

I’m also submitting this recipe to Meeta’s Mango Mania blogging event! Be sure to check out the round up later this month on her site that will be full of recipes using mango, one of my favorite fruits.

Mango Lychee Ice Cream:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 can lychee fruit, drained w/syrup reserved
1 1/2 cup mango, cubed
3 drops mango extract (about 1/8 teaspoon)

In a blender, process syrup and mango until pureed.
On low, add lychee fruit and pulse – do not over process.
In a bowl, whisk milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
Add fruit puree mixture and cream.
Combine until fully incorporated.
Stir in extract until color is unified.
Place in ice cream maker and process per manufacturers directions.
Freeze mixture in freezer-proof containers for 2 hours to “ripen”.

Beat the Heat!

Now that I’m settling back into the daily routine, I spent the day playing with my ice cream maker and using some new popscicle molds I purchased over the weekend. Just my luck though… the weather cooled off this week in Chicago, but at least I have some great frozen treats to enjoy!

Mixed Berry Ice Cream

1 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry mix)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar

In a small bowl, combine the frozen mixed berries and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Stir gently and allow the fruit to macerate in the juices for 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

In a medium mixing bowl (preferably with a spout), whisk the milk and remaining sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream plus any accumulated juices from the berries.

Turn your ice cream machine on and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl. Process the mixture per your ice cream machine’s directions. During the last 5 minutes of processing your ice cream, add the macerated berries.

Enjoy the ice cream when finished processing or transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for 1-2 hours to “ripen.”

I’m also submitting this recipe to the Key Ingredient Cook’s Kitchen contest for their berry recipes!

Vanilla Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla paste (or extract)
1-2 tablespoons mint chocolate liquor
1 cup chocolate chips (or mini chips)

In a medium mixing bowl (preferably with a spout), whisk the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, vanilla paste and liquor. Turn your ice cream machine on and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl. Process the mixture per your ice cream machine’s directions. During the last 5 minutes of processing your ice cream, add the chocolate chips.

Enjoy the ice cream when finished processing or transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for 1-2 hours to “ripen.”

Mango Strawberry Fruit Pops

1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/4 cup fresh sliced strawberries
1/2 cup peach nectar

In a blender, process the frozen mango chunks and peach nectar until you reach a smoothie consistency and mango is no processed through. Add strawberries and process on low, just enough to incorporate it into the mixture. Pour the mixture into popscicle molds and freeze until set, 1-3 hours.

Harv: My Ice Cream Idol

One very special friend of mine, Harv, surprised me with a fabulous new kitchen toy over the weekend. He graciously gave me a Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker. Thank you Harv! He’s quite the ice cream connoisseur and well, I have ice cream maker envy because he has the king of all ice cream makers. Even more impressive is that he’s rebuilt/refurbished 2 commercial ice cream makers from scratch himself! (I’m in complete and utter awe…) Here are similar pics of his handsome ice cream maker, a Taylor 104-27 (which is very similar to what is used on Iron Chef competitions of Food Network):

My first recipe I tried was a simple strawberry ice cream. Unfortunately my attempts to make it healthier by using 2% fat milk and half & half didn’t result in the consistency I wanted. I learned from a fellow friend and blogger, Annie of Annie’s Eats, that full fat is definitely necessary. Check out her blog for the same recipe but with much better results!

So for my second attempt I wanted to use up some well ripe fruits and ingredients I had on hand. Thankfully this time around I had success! I made an adaptation of a sherbet recipe included in the instruction/recipe booklet. Here’s my recipe for a low fat pineapple sherbet:1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
2 cups 2% low fat milk
1 cup processed fresh pineapple*
3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar

*Process fresh pineapple in a blender. Use 1 cup of this processed fresh pineapple for the recipe.

Combine all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into your ice cream maker and churn/freeze based on your manufacturer’s directions.
You may want to transfer the finished product in a freezer proof container so that it can “ripen” for an hour or two in the freezer.

Ice Cream Socializing!

Today some friends from my Chicago Cooks & Bakers group met up for a little ice cream fun! After a great lunch, we got busy making various ice cream sandwiches. Here are pics from our event along with our lunch menu I prepared:

Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt Galore
Fudge Marble, Vanilla, Chocolate ice creams
Strawberry& Peach frozen yogurts

Cookies Galore
chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia
sugar, mini m&ms, oatmeal raisin

One of our creations!

Rippled Chips

American & Swiss Cheeses

Burger Fixins’

Citrus Cilantro Turkey Burgers

Homemade Limeade

Sweet Endings Always Involve Chocolate

With dinner done on this cool summer night, I planned for a sweet treat of chocolate chunk cookie ice cream sandwiches.
Ice cream sandwiches are handheld desserts consisting of a slice of usually vanilla ice cream, with a small layer of a soft cake-like chocolate pastry or cookie on the top and bottom.

The ice cream sandwich was probably invented in the summer of 1900 on the Lower East Side of New York City. The Washington Post contains this store from the New York Tribune: “The ice cream sandwich man, who sells quarter-inch layers of alleged ice cream between tiny slabs of water wafers, did a big business during the hot spell and his field of operation was within the district inhabited by the Russians, and his pushcart was elaborately decorated with signs in Hebrew characters. He made the sandwiches quickly in a tin mold, and was kept so busy that he could not make change, but insisted on receiving the actual price for each ice cream sandwich – 1 cent.”
Here is the chocolate chunk cookie recipe I made, which was then filled with ice cream & frozen for chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chocolate chunk chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda.
In another large bowl. stir together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa.
Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture.
Mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate chunk chips until they are evenly distributed.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets (or parchment paper lined sheet).
Bake about 10 minutes.
Cool on a baking rack.

For ice cream sandwiches:

Place a dollop of your preferred ice cream flavor between 2 cookies.
Press cookies firmly together to create a sandwich.
Work quickly and place sandwiches in a freezer safe container.
Freeze sandwiches to firm up ice cream.