Whoooeeee! Congrats...now if only I had me a full time gig. Doing something (what good are 2 diplomas to a 50-something woman with a non-vertical skillset? I dunno...).



ps: Rosebud and Gum Mastic (very middle eastern) ice cream, next project as soon as I get my hands on the mastic, which sounds MUCH more euphonious in some other language...hmmmmmm. Aza, lentischio/mastice, lentisco/mastique, mastikha, damla sakizi...guess the language(s)!

Italian or Spanish, French, German, Arabic?

Just guessing!

Keep us posted on your results!!!!

I did look up your candied/crystalized ginger discussion. . .do you have that down to a fine art???

I might have to play with that!

Hey, you are doing what you love Jude, so the full time job is overrated I like doing these gigs. . .dunno if I want to sign on for the long time!

I think the creativity of the culinary arts is amazing. . .I paint too, but the trick for me now it to bring that creativity into the classroom!
Ta!
Janie

Jude my Lello (I wonder why they posted it as Nello where I bought it) arrived. . .with extra tub.

Of course I will have to wait until the weekend, as per my current course of eating/cooking.

Can't wait.

The sorbets are calling me. . .I could make my simple syrup. . .and be ready!

Oh, yummmmmmm.

BTW, my last attempt at vanilla was the best yet. . .I added 2 splashes of Coconut Rum to the 1 1/2 quart recipe. . .and I can report no taste of Coconut, just pure delish!

Of course it was just as rock hard after the freezer . . .lecithin and glycerine on order. . .

Yeah, it's tough to wait...where did you buy it from that they had it posted as a "nello"? I got mine on amazon.com.

BTW, I finally made a green tea ice cream this last weekend (wasn't me that started this thread as you may know ), but I couldn't leave it alone, I split the lightly vanilla base into 2 batches and added 2 Tbsp rosewater to one and 1 Tbsp mint water to the other. The mint comes through, the rosewater didn't overcome the strength of the green tea, so next time, more rosewater, probably half again. Yum, tho! Oh, and a batch of honey vanilla chai. They lurk in the freezer waiting for the weekend!

I got mine also at amazon.com.

You blow me away with your cooking expertise! "Mint water" and "rosewater" aren't exactly ideas that come to mind. . .in this "home cook." Although they sound delish!

Mint water. . .mint infused water? Or something ya buy at the "chef" store???

I need to start a mint bed. . . it grows like a weed here. . .and when I was a child, simply everyone in the south had mint bed under their water faucet!!!! All to add to the ice tea. . .(and I guess mint juleps!) My DM always thought the dog "helped" it grow, so we didn't really use it in food. . .but a little picket around might keep it more pristine!

It's less a matter of expertise than of collecting...everywhere I go, I'm curious about anything kitchen related (ingredients, tools, "toys" ) and pick things up to use/try SOMEtime...

The rosewater and mintwater are both middle-eastern products (Turkish, Lebanese, etc.). I knew about the rosewater years ago, necessary to one of my old time faves, Turkish Delight (yes, in the original and in the chocolate/candy bar). Find it easily in the import aisle at some of our larger grocery stores. The mintwater, just like it (literally infused water, no alcohol or glycerine or whatnot like flavours and extracts) I found in a "middle-eastern deli" store next to the rosewater; they come in a little glass bottle, looks like an old-style soda bottle. Couldn't resist, natch!

The trail actually goes back to that rose and mastic ice cream I want to try (still waiting on the mastic) which was triggered by a recipe in a foodie blog I read somewhere that I can't claim credit for. Then I had the green tea ice cream going, somehow made so much that I had to "do" it (churn it, that is :lol in three batches, so the wanted to add a little something-something to the last 2 batches...was thinking of the rosewater, then pulled both "waters" off my shelf and said, hmmmm, why not (sniffing them first, of course).

So it's way more accidental fun than expertise!

(and the Honey Vanilla Chai is 2 Celestial Seasonings teabags soaked/infused in the custard base while it was still warm and cooling down, just left them in there, nice mild sweet 0-carb spicy flavour!)

Ta!

ps: make some nice mint tea infusions, strong, and use them in cooking; fresh mint can't be beat.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to mention, on yet another thread, how much I LOVE my Lello machine!

It is by far the best ice cream machine I have ever used. I have found that I can even take a warm custard and get great results. I run it for 40 minutes and it gets nice and cold and then I let the machine rest for 5-10 minutes and then I run it again for another 40 minutes and it comes out perfectly!

Hmmmmmm, you are making my resolve to do desserts only on weekends soooooooo hard.

Maybe one celebrate the arrival of the Lello batch!!!!

But what recipe to follow!

My basic vanilla is VERY rich.
I use 1.5c manufacturing cream
1.5c CC 2% milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 - 2/3 cup shugr
1 vanilla bean

I have not yet been able to find a sweetening blend that will give me the same flavor/texture as the shugr but I am still working on it.

Warm the milk, cream and scraped vanilla bean/pod and cover for 40 minutes or so. Beat the sweetener and egg yolks until pale. Slowly add the warm milk mixture and make sure its blended. Do not beat it too long or quickly or it will get way too foamy. Pour into a clean saucepan and cook on med heat until it forms a thick custard but make sure not to let it boil or overcook. Strain into a cold bowl in an ice bath. I strain it directly into the Lello bowls. Half in one and half in the other. Cover with Saran wrap and once cooled to room temp refrigerate.

Geez, mine didn't come with an extra bowl, I actually have to wash mine between batches!

MJ, how do you find the post-freezer scoopability with just the Erythritol in the Shugr, and egg yolks? (and can you still buy the stuff? I thought not).

I am so delighted with the Lello Gelato maker.

I made my (oh, it's an adaptation of BettyR's Premium Vanilla) and the texture was so much better, it froze, really, where you could almost scoop it, and it was scoopable in pretty shapes in such a short time in the freezer. And it stayed more scoopable, I think it will even be better with the lecithin/glycerine I am getting today!

I did make the 'scream in 2 batches, it seemed better. . .since BettyR's recipe is for 1 1/2 quarts. . .

My guests were impressed!

Congrats! You're no longer a Lello virgin!

Jude, you are a genius!

I made a version of your simple syrup--PDX with sweeteners.

I intended to make a fruit sorbet while I had visitors. . .and wow them with my ease of making frozen treats. (Ice cream ws ready to churn when they arrived!)

But I wanted more 'scream, rather than the sorbet. . .

And on my long commute home decided that I could formulate a non-cooked vanilla using the syrup, plus "powdered eggs" (eggbeaters would work, but I didn't have those, cream, DaVinci's and some LC milk, plus ThickNThin. . .and glycerine!

Well, I was not recording amounts. . .will do that next time, but the theory works!!!!

The simple syrup is the key. . .the E is dissolved already, and DH thought I had made my regular "custard" base!!!!

Thought I'd pass that on!

And I can still make sorbet!

BTW, what do you think the milk/cream %would be in an authentic Italian gelato, say melone. . .or frangole. . .or limone? I know they contain milk products, but have a large fruit component or flavor. . .

Hope someone knows!! TIA!!!!

Yeah, I'm a little partial to the whole simple syrup idea myself...

As for that milk/cream percentage question? Hmmmmm, start with a good Gelato al Limone recipe, and break it down from there:



I have noticed that there's a wide variance in the "definition" of gelato (vs. sorbet/sherbet, ice/granita, ice cream...) and it seems that a lower fat dairy (milk instead of cream) is the defining characteristic in the majority of "gelato" recipes I've seen, and with enough fruit to provide distinct flavour, as in this one above.

So my answer re the percentage of dairy/milk over fruit? It depends on the strength of the fruit flavouring the product, but it's mostly dairy flavoured by fruit rather than fruit creamed up by dairy...

IslandGirl--I must have missed the simple syrup recipe. Will you please post it?

Lise