WE ALL SCREAM

This is an adaptation of Hannah Kaminsky’s Paradise Plum...

doggiedrawings — Sat, 25 May 2013 00:37:21 -0700

This is an adaptation of Hannah Kaminsky’s Paradise Plum Ice Cream recipe. This ice cream is vegan too, with the addition of tapioca syrup and alcohol to reduce iciness as much as possible. I actually made this ice cream with pluots, but the name ”Tropical Pluot” (or “Paradise Pluot”) doesn’t quite carry the same charm, does it?

Food Blog of the Month!

doggiedrawings — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:31:37 -0700

I just found out that We All Scream is FOOD BLOG OF THE MONTH at www.goodwebguide.co.uk So very chuffed, and I can’t believe it’s already almost the end of the month and I had no idea. :)

Link: http://www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/article/blog-of-the-month-may-we-all-scream/15613

Thank you, Emily Jenkinson!

There was an ice cream truck (now closed) that used to serve a...

doggiedrawings — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:50:17 -0700

There was an ice cream truck (now closed) that used to serve a Blue Malt ice cream that I liked, so this is where the inspiration came from. For the malt powder, ideally I would have liked to have to used Horlicks, because I grew up with this as a kid, but could only find Carnation.

This Cucumber-Mint sorbet would have been lovelier had I used...

doggiedrawings — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:08:00 -0700

This Cucumber-Mint sorbet would have been lovelier had I used organic Persian cucumbers instead of (bland) non-organic English cucumbers. I will know better next time! Meanwhile, I am wondering what a non-dairy Cucumber-Avocado ice cream (sorbet?) would taste like. On my birthday, I was treated to a wonderful lunch at Inn of The Seventh Ray and I was blown away by their Raw Cucumber-Avocado soup. Of course, the ice cream version of this would be SWEET, not savory…

I tasted St-Germain liqueur for the first time last week ( I...

doggiedrawings — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:44:32 -0700

I tasted St-Germain liqueur for the first time last week ( I bought a $5 mini-bottle from my neighborhood liquor store), and I had a bunch of fresh apricots from the farmers’ market so I thought, why not combine the two flavors? Tangy apricoty-orangey smoothness with a delicate elderflower note.

I have made a White Chocolate ice cream before (one of my...

doggiedrawings — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:29:00 -0700

I have made a White Chocolate ice cream before (one of my favorite flavors!) and THIS combination with ginger is out of this world! I took inspiration from David Lebovitz’s recipe and swirled in some Kiwi compote because I happened to have some kiwi fruit in my fridge. The white chocolate is Green and Black’s Organic White Chocolate. P.S. I prefer to make and mix in ginger syrup instead of infusing fresh ginger in the milk base. I don’t know the scientific explanation but have found that ice cream made with ginger syrup has a stronger and longer lasting gingery “bite”.

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4/25 TWEAKED RECIPE. I wanted a stronger stout flavor so I have...

doggiedrawings — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:03:00 -0700

4/25 TWEAKED RECIPE. I wanted a stronger stout flavor so I have reduced the molasses from 2 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon.

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I am not a drinker of stouts, but after tasting the delicious Guinness Ice Cream at Carmela (they said there is molasses in it), I knew I had to try make this at home. At my neighborhood liquor store, searching for the Guinness, a bunch of hardcore beer connoisseurs talked me into buying some Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout instead, which is supposed to be more flavorful. This recipe is an adaptation of Humphrey Slocombe’s Stout Ice Cream recipe. Might also go well with Espresso Hot Fudge Sauce.

Ice Creams for L.A. Food Swap

doggiedrawings — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:46:00 -0700

I am registered for the next L.A. Food Swap which is in ONE WEEK. April 28th, Echo Park.

Flavors on ze list:

Lemongrass with Kumquats
Saffron Mango with Pistachios and Raisins
Goat Cheese with Roasted Strawberries
Banana Bread
Grapefruit Mojito
Imperial Stout with Salty Chocolate freckles
Orange Blossom
Papaya Lime Sorbet
Toasted Coconut Pandan
White Chocolate Ginger with Kiwi Compote
Durian (maybe… is this a wise idea?)

An adaptation of David Lebovitz’s Saffron Ice Cream. The...

doggiedrawings — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:29:48 -0700

An adaptation of David Lebovitz’s Saffron Ice Cream. The first time I made this ice cream, I steeped the saffron for way too long (a tiny bit goes a looong way!) and the saffron flavor overpowered the mango. Round 2 - and it is much better with extra mango. P.S. I used Trader Joe’s Spanish Saffron.

An adaptation of this Serious Eats recipe. I am still blown away...

doggiedrawings — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:44:00 -0700

An adaptation of this Serious Eats recipe. I am still blown away by how much this tastes like banana bread!

*UPDATED NEW...

doggiedrawings — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:24:43 -0700

*UPDATED NEW RECIPE*

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I originally wanted to make a “paleo-friendly” extra durian-flavored ice cream with little much else added to frozen durian and coconut milk but unfortunately, on second tasting, much of the natural sweetness was lost and those sour-bitter-metallic-pungent durian flavors came through too strongly. My tasters had to run to the kitchen to spit. (If you are brave, you can still refer to my “Paleo Durian Ice Cream” recipe HERE.)

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Version 2 is an adaptation of this Indonesian Durian Ice Cream recipe - it is sweeter, creamier in texture and has a light pandan flavor to mask the durian smell that some people cannot stand. I used heavy cream and white sugar but these can be replaced with extra coconut milk and palm sugar. You can buy frozen durian and pandan leaves at asian grocery stores.

*EDIT: This recipe yields 1 pint (half...

doggiedrawings — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:00:00 -0700

*EDIT: This recipe yields 1 pint (half quart)

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I have 2 weeks left on the Whole Life Challenge and here is another Paleo/Primal-friendly frozen dessert that is very easy to make, adapted from this recipe. Puree, freeze in the New Air ice cream machine, ready in 30 minutes! The delicious Cherimoya (which I grew up knowing as Custard Apple) was from my local farmer’s market. PHOTO

Still doing the Whole Life Challenge (8 Weeks of Paleo-dieting)...

doggiedrawings — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:25:31 -0800

Still doing the Whole Life Challenge (8 Weeks of Paleo-dieting) … Today I made a dairy-free and sugar-free ice cream and it’s quite delish! The Date Caramel recipe is from this blog post. P.S. I make my own almond milk.

Review: NewAir AIC-210

doggiedrawings — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:49:00 -0800

When a home appliance company Air & Water offered to send me a commercial grade ice cream machine to review, and told me that I could keep it, I couldn’t say no. I mean, look at it.

Link: New Air AIC-210

Please note that I have only ever used a Cuisinart ice cream machine, so the Cuisinart is my only point of comparison as far as ice cream machines go.

My first impression of the New Air machine was - wow! It is huge. And the canister looks tiny. It’s hard to imagine that 1 quart of ice cream will fit in there but it does! So far, I have made 4 ice creams in this machine: Bacon (with Pineapple), Spicy Chocolate, Celery (with Rum Raisins) & Banana (with Date Caramel).

KEY FEATURES of the NEWAIR:

1. The machine is self-cooling with a compressor so the canister bowl doesn’t need to be frozen before spinning. This is super convenient and because the bowl is so small anyway, I keep it in the freezer. It doesn’t take up much space.

2. Ingredients don’t have to be cold before spinning. This is not an advantage for me because I like to chill my ice cream mixture overnight anyway to let the flavors intensify. But if you are in a hurry (and have at least 60 minutes), this is another convenient feature.

This is my pre-chilled Spicy Chocolate ice cream mixture…

3. The machine runs on automatic… Set the timer, walk away and let it do its magic. There is a tiny opening in the plastic lid if you want to add in extra ingredients during the last minutes of spinning. The default time is 60 mins, and it will automatically stop spinning when the ice cream is done - even if the 60 mins isn’t up yet. The machine will also keep the ice cream cold, after it is done.

As my ice cream mixture is already cold before spinning, I find that the process takes roughly 40 minutes. A bit longer than the Cuisinart’s 20 minutes.

Counting down….

4. No noise! I love that it’s so silent, unlike the Cuisinart.

CHALLENGES & TIPS:

1. This New Air ice cream machine is a beast. It’s large and weighs 30lbs. It takes up a lot of precious kitchen counter space.

2. There are more parts than the Cuisinart and they are quite awkward to fit together. For instance, there’s a heavy “motor” thing with a stick that has to slot into the canister lid AND also into a hole on top of tiny plastic paddle which has to be positioned inside the canister at the correct angle so that the motor stick fits. It’s a bit like an Ikea assembly exercise and I keep feeling like I am going to break something. TIP: A chopstick will help line up the paddle opening with the plastic lid opening.

3. The second time I used this machine, the canister was frozen stuck and I could not lift it out of the machine. Tip from fellow ice cream maker David Vo (who has had experience with compressor-based ice cream machines): “Wipe down the outside of the canister with alcohol (eg, Vodka) before lowering it into the machine. The high freezing point of alcohol will prevent the metal canister from sticking”. Yes, this works.

SO HOW IS THE ICE CREAM?

Good ice cream! There is some inconsistency with the freezing… it tends to be solid down the bottom and on the sides, and softer on top and in the middle. (The Cuisinart result has a more consistent soft-serve texture throughout.) But this is not a big deal. I don’t know if the ice cream tastes “commercial grade” because I don’t buy commercial ice creams…

Here is the Bacon ice cream from the night before. Sorry, bad lighting, but you can see what I mean.

The top/middle part is soft. Underneath and around the sides - frozen solid. This was after 60 minutes and the ice cream mixture was already cold before I added it to the machine. Increasing the freezing time would not remedy this issue because the paddle will stop anyway, as soon as the ice cream at the bottom becomes hard.

To sum up, the Cuisinart, for all its noise and low-tech-ness, is more user-friendly. The Cuisinart parts fit together and can be separated with ease. The New Air parts are more fiddly…. I really dislike that paddle. It’s messy to lift out of the canister. (Not that it is entirely a bad thing to get ice cream all over your fingers).

On the other hand, the New Air machine is very convenient if you don’t have time to hang around the kitchen watching and waiting for the ice cream to be done, and just want to load in the ingredients and push a button.

[P.S. Only $159 on Amazon!]

*UPDATE: I have used the New Air machine several more times and I am liking it more and more! It is especially convenient for fruit sorbets that don’t require ‘cooking’. Puree the ingredients, pour into the machine and it’s done in 30 minutes - perfect frozen consistency and ready to eat.

Going "Paleo"

doggiedrawings — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:37:24 -0800

I have just signed up for the 2013 WHOLE LIFE CHALLENGE, a rigorous diet-exercise routine that forbids me to consume any DAIRY, SUGAR, or PROCESSED FOODS for 8 weeks. I see this as a creative cooking challenge and am quite excited about it. I am already making almond milk every few days.

What this means though is that for the next 8 weeks, my homemade ice cream menu will be limited to only two flavors: Cherimoya and Banana, which are basically PURE FRUIT - frozen and blended with a bit of almond milk or coconut milk.

Googling around, I also found this very exciting “Salted Raw Caramel Dip” made mostly with Medjool dates. Can’t wait to make this and try it with the ice creams.

P.S. I will still be making real ice creams for my friends and will continue to share recipes. Yes, I already know that I will be losing WLC points for taste-testing.

This is a delicious ice cream! I used Blood Orange Olive Oil...

doggiedrawings — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:09:10 -0800

This is a delicious ice cream! I used Blood Orange Olive Oil from The Olive Press (available at my local farmer’s market). I was going to swirl in some Chocolate Balsamic sauce (see this earlier version) but I didn’t want the chocolate to overwhelm the delicately fragrant citrus flavor in the ice cream. Other mix-in possibilities: dates, figs, pistachios.

Recipe adapted from Vegan A La Mode, though this is a non-vegan...

doggiedrawings — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:42:11 -0800

Recipe adapted from Vegan A La Mode, though this is a non-vegan dairy version. I used Margo’s Bark root beer (see the doggie mascot?) which I highly recommend because “All profits go to helping the cause of shelter and rescue dogs.”

My root beer extract is from Fairies Finest. I think next time I will make a Root Beer SHERBERT instead of an ice cream because I want a stronger root beer soda flavor.

I have made a Pistachio ice cream before, and this is exactly...

doggiedrawings — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:46:20 -0800

I have made a Pistachio ice cream before, and this is exactly the same recipe with two exceptions: the addition of rosewater, and no almond extract. I also mixed in some sugar-plumped cranberries and pistachio pieces. I love this flavor - so wonderfully nutty and fragrant.

I wanted to do a Blood Orange Sorbet but I don’t have...

doggiedrawings — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 01:19:00 -0800

I wanted to do a Blood Orange Sorbet but I don’t have enough oranges right now. It takes at least 6 oranges to get 1 cup of juice. Perhaps I’ll mix in some cranberries and pistachios…

I love Kaya - this is a South East Asian coconut jam that is...

doggiedrawings — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:16:00 -0800

I love Kaya - this is a South East Asian coconut jam that is eaten with warm toast and huge slices of cold butter. I bought some Kaya from an Asian supermarket but it tasted so artificial that I decided to make my own, and boy is it a time-consuming process… a full hour of standing over the stove, stirring stirring stirring. Tip: If the kaya looks lumpy, a hand blender will do the trick.

Here are two Kaya recipes: slow method and fast method. I personally prefer the flavor of the slow method with the double-boiler. Tip: Pandan leaves are better than bottled Pandan Extract which works but has a weird chemical smell. You can get these at an Asian grocery store.

This Kaya Toast ice cream is a buttery ice cream with toasted crumbs, and layered with kaya jam - YUM! The recipe is an adaptation of Jeni’s Toasted Brioche with Butter and Jam ice cream recipe.

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