decisions. decisions.
( preparing beer brats for those that don’t have any idea what i’m referring to )
Tag Archives: food
recipe: triple chocolate ice cream!
being the lucky guy that i am, kris and odin got me an ice cream maker for our kitchen aid mixer for my birthday so, naturally, i set out in search of the perfect recipe for first batch.
i knew i wanted something that really played to the home field advantage of being able to use eggs laid fresh in the morning by The Girls and i didn’t have to look very far since the recipe booklet for the ice cream maker had a wonderful-sounding recipe for triple chocolate ice cream that called for eight egg yolks!
anything with 3 kinds of chocolate, heavy whipping cream, half and half and eight egg yolks has to be super tasty, right? it’s like that old joke about pizza, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.
and remember, if you’re going to make ice cream, why not use the very best ingredients like *cough* shameless plug *cough* organic valley heavy whipping cream and half & half 🙂
( note: don’t miss the 2 cooling steps! i did which extended the whole process to three days given my schedule. you can certainly make the ice cream in one day if you plan ahead. )
triple chocolate ice cream
ingredients
2 cups organic valley heavy whipping cream
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) semisweet baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 cups organic valley half & half
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 egg yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 bars ( 1.55 oz, 46 g each ) milk chocolate, chopped ( about 1 1/2 cups )
in a small saucepan, place 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. heat over medium-low heat until chocolate melts, stirring frequently. remove from heat; set aside. in medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half & half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. remove from heat; set aside.
in small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder. set aside. place egg yolks in mixer bowl. attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. turn to speed 2 and gradually add sugar mixture; mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened. continuing on speed 2, very gradually add chocolate mixture and half & half; mix until well blended.
return half & half mixture to medium saucepan; stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy. do not boil. transfer half & half mixture into large bowl; stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, vanilla and salt. cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.
put ice cream “freeze bowl” and mixing attachments in place and turn on speed 1. pour chilled mixture into freeze bowl.
continue on speed 1 for 10-15 minutes or until desired consistency, adding milk chocolate during last 1 to 2 minutes of freeze time. immediately transfer ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours.
yield: 16 1/2 cup servings.
so, how does it taste? if you’re into chocolate and creamy, rich goodness, then really, really, really good. it rides right up to the line of over-the-top richness and stops just short.
in a blind taste test, odin said he preferred my triple chocolate homemade ice cream to the leading organic store brand ( store brand is in the bowl on the right, recipe results are in the spoon about to be consumed )! and both he and his mother said it was THE BEST ICE CREAM THEY’VE EVER HAD!!!!. and i sampled the ice cream at lunch at work to a pretty discerning group of ice cream fanatics to rave reviews.
all-in-all, i’d rate this recipe a knock-it-out-of-the-park homerun. two big thumbs up.
recipe: egg nests.
since The Girls are always producing eggs and odin loves to help in the kitchen, we’re always looking for fun and simple egg recipes that he can help make. recently, i ran across this recipe for egg nests and thought i’d give it a try.
first, of course, you want some fresh eggs. we have those aplenty.
oh, and preheat the oven to 450°F.
grate some cheese, about a 1/4 cup for every 2 eggs. the recipe calls for gruyere, which i used, but there’s no reason you couldn’t substitute something else to your liking.
separate the egg yolks from the whites. put the whites in a mixing bowl and the yolks in individual bowls to help you later on when you have to place them carefully in their nest.
whip the egg white with a quarter teaspoon of salt until stiff. i might have overwhipped these whites, but whatever.
gently fold the cheese into the egg whites, being careful to not collapse the whipped goodness.
create little mounds of the egg white mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. you want the mounds shaped like nests so they can hold the yolk, so be sure to make indentations in the center.
put the egg white nests in the oven for about 3 minutes and then pull out the tray and carefully add an egg yolk to the center of each nest.
put the baking sheet back in the oven for about 3 more minutes and prepare yourself for eggy cheesy goodness! they are quite tasty but obviously only for going to be enjoyed by those who like “runny” yolks.
truth be told, i probably over browned these whites just a titch. be warned, they brown fast! but i don’t think it affected the flavor.
the Most Awesome Pizza i have ever made, ever.
it might look unassuming but this right here is a slice of the best pizza pie i have ever made in my entire life. if i were a better food writer i might be able to describe how all the flavors work awesometasticly perfectliciously together to create a symphonic explosion of taste.
prosciutto, salami, roasted garlic, green olives and caramelized onions on a thin sourdough crust.
if i were to do anything differently i’d have used semi-soft fresh mozzarella, but that’s hard to come by around these parts.
the recipe is a inspired riff on this caramelized onion & prosciutto pizza recipe by the pioneer woman.
chicken feet for soup for the soul.
we received a special request to make some chicken soup for someone going through a rough patch. happy to oblige, of course, though i did warn her that our super delicious soup starts with broth made with chicken feet. i think she thought i was joking.
no joke – beautiful broth begins with chicken feet!
and, no, these feet do not belong to any of The Girls. we get bags of feet from our local, amish source for organic meat birds.
pure maple syrup’s sweet revenge on hfcs imposters.
we love maple syrup ( in moderation, of course ) and can’t imagine why folks put up with the high fructose corn syrup imposters made with maple flavoring. for shame!
now, new research shows once again that you really can’t improve on Mother Nature. it turns out that maple syrup has 54 beneficial compounds, many with key roles in human health:
“I continue to say that nature is the best chemist, and that maple syrup is becoming a champion food when it comes to the number and variety of beneficial compounds found in it,” Seeram said. “It’s important to note that in our laboratory research we found that several of these compounds possess anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been shown to fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial illnesses.”
i’m sure some enterprising chemists are attempting to isolate Maple Magic, but we’ll stick to the real thing. perhaps it’s time to plant a few maple trees in the backyard.
in search of a truly awesome barbecue sauce.
having kicked off the 2011 grilling season somewhat humbly, i yearned to get to barbecuing proper ( or, at least as proper as you can get with a backyard gas grill ).
and i’m quickly reminded of just how unsatisfactory i find pretty much all barbecue sauces. my latest purchase, bone suckin’ sauce, is alright as far as bottled sauces go but not particularly to my taste ( even though i applaud them for no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives & being gluten free ).
anyone have any suggestions for a bottled awesomesauce (preferably organic)? or, even better, willing to share a guarded family recipe?