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Post by imec on Jun 21, 2009 17:18:43 GMT
makes 6 - 8 servings
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 15 basil leaves, chopped coarsely 1/2 cup lime juice 6 - 8 basil sprigs for garnish
Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Cool the mixture, add lime juice. Puree in a food processor or blender, strain and transfer mixture to a shallow pan, cover and freeze until firm.
Remove from the freezer, puree again in a food processor, put in a small bowl, cover and freeze.
Use a melon baller to make 1 to 3 balls, place in a chilled stemmed glass and add a garnish, this is a great palate cleanser.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2009 17:24:06 GMT
Oooo ~~ I've got limes, I've got basil! I can already feel myself needing to over-do the basil.
Thanks, this looks lovely.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 17:40:29 GMT
That does sound great. I would be tempted to try it with Thai basil.
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Post by bazfaz on Jun 23, 2009 9:19:33 GMT
That sounds good. What volume does a Canadian cup hold?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2009 12:08:31 GMT
If Google information can be believed:
In Australia, Canada, New Zealand one cup is defined as 250 millilitres. This is the commonly used cup.
1 metric cup = 250 millilitres = 16⅔ international tablespoons = 12½ Australian tablespoons ≈ 8.7988 imperial fluid ounces ≈ 8.4535 U.S. customary fluid ounces
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2009 16:41:07 GMT
Ah, that makes life easier. Thanks, Kerouac. Just a reminder that The Galley has a stickied Food & Cooking Resources thread. Please check out replies #12 and 26 there for useful conversion tools. Oh yeah -- here's a good one in Reply #5 in Recipe References.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2009 15:37:36 GMT
I'm going to make this tonight. Using an ice cream machine though so I guess just put the chilled mixture in the machine? That's how I generally make sorbets. Thanks again,I am looking forward to.
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Post by imec on Jun 24, 2009 16:42:21 GMT
I think that should work. I can't remember if I used mine or not when I made this. If it doesn't quite "set up" I suppose you could always freeze and crush as per the recipe.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2009 16:47:00 GMT
This got me to thinking about onion sorbet.
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Post by imec on Jun 24, 2009 17:55:06 GMT
This got me to thinking about onion sorbet. Having trouble getting my head around that. But then, I also had trouble getting my head around the "Foie Gras Ice Cream" served to us as a special treat by the chef of a small restaurant in Rochester, Minnesota (http://www.sontes.com/) - until I tasted it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2009 18:07:38 GMT
I haven't had that, but I've had beer ice cream.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 24, 2009 18:18:41 GMT
Forget going to France! I just put an airplane ticket for Dolores Hidalgo in the mail for you. This town, the cradle of Mexican independence, is also famous for its bizarre ice cream flavors. When my sister & I were on our meandering trek through the heartland of Mexico, she rejected a visit to Dolores Hidalgo on the grounds that "peculiar ice cream is not a good enough reason to visit a place". What a sad and misguided person. Flavors, in order, on the green sign: shrimp, octopus, goat milk caramel, quince, cheese, honey, strawberry, mamey, mango, zapote, "and many more". The red sign: Mole (savory paste usually eaten with meats), mango, buttery vanilla, guanabana, pecan, lime, pine nut & pecan, pistachio, cactus pad, strawberry, pulque (fermented corn squeezins), honey from the bee, avocado, petals (probably rose petals), cheese, pine nut, vanilla, chocolate, strawberries and cream, coconut, tequila, zapote, shrimp, corn, beer, mamey Untranslated words are tropical fruits that I don't think have other names. It's a shame that neither sign carries one of the more (in)famous Delores Hidalgo treats -- pork crackling ice cream.
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Post by imec on Jun 24, 2009 18:36:15 GMT
This is great! I'd love to try the Tequila flavour and just between you and me, I'd kill for a taste of the pork crackling.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2009 12:58:44 GMT
Made this last p.m. and was fantastic,used regular sweet basil as you indicate. I always forget about this machine my mother gave me years ago because I have it tucked away. But now that it's out I'm inspired. I always make a really rich fig ice cream on the 4th of July as the figs are really in by then.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2010 18:22:58 GMT
other summertime delights. I am a big fan of summertime desserts sorbet,gelatto,frozen yogurt,and the like. We had a dinner party this past weekend and one of the highlights was a Meyer lemon mint sorbet. (I used the last of the juice I had frozen from this years harvestA). I have a small electric Krups brand electric ice cream maker. It makes about a gallon (I'm guessing). I eyeballed the same ice cream maker in one of Cristina's posts...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2010 18:26:17 GMT
I am always confused about the terminology, but I love ices. This is good, because I don't have an ice cream machine and ices can be made in the freezer.
My favorite is probably lemon or lime made with lots of peel for maximum bittersweetness.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2010 18:29:22 GMT
I was in a quandry about what to call the thread because I get confused about too Bixa. When I was a child...they called it sherbert,that kind of thing. Frozen desserts would suffice I suppose.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2010 18:53:12 GMT
Oh, the thread title is fine. It's just that I don't know the difference between the various frozen things.
Is the difference between sorbet and ice that the first one is made from pulped fruit and the second from juice, for instance?
And gelatto -- milk or cream based?
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Post by fumobici on Jun 2, 2010 20:43:46 GMT
Gelato is typically lower in butterfat than ice cream. Most towns in Tuscany have at least one "gelateria artigianale" where the gelato is made in shop from honest ingredients and generally the prices are reasonable. There's hardly anything on Earth I'd rather have as a snack. I have no idea why there's essentially nothing analogous in North America, I'd expect it would be an instant success just about anywhere.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2010 21:43:48 GMT
So, Fumobici,are you saying you haven't found any authentic gelato here in N.A.? (I'm supposed to go to a neighborhood meeting this p.m. at a place that fancies itself to be an authentic gelateria. I must inquire about this.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2010 21:54:16 GMT
Right behind the cathedral, on the corner of the zócalo in Oaxaca, there is a place that sells gelatto.
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Post by Jazz on Jun 2, 2010 21:55:40 GMT
.... I have no idea why there's essentially nothing analogous in North America, I'd expect it would be an instant success just about anywhere. You'll find it in Toronto, fumobici. I live in one of the two Italian neighborhoods in Toronto and there are many gelaterias. One of my most enjoyed desserts is hazlenut and raspberry gelato served together with fresh raspberries.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 2, 2010 23:44:04 GMT
I actually have a fine little gelateria right here run be a Greek woman who makes hers at home, but I reckon most of us here aren't so lucky. Best gelatos: Rum cappuccino on the Piazza della Cisterna in S. Gimignano and melone at a famous gelateria in Arezzo's centro. Honorable mentions: Blood orange at a touristy place on the South bank of the Arno, Florence (ridiculous at 6 Euro, but I had a craving) and panna cotta in coppa coi biscotti on the Piazza Emanuelle II in Pisa. Current favorite ice cream: Double Rainbow coffee from SF. To die for, as they say.
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Post by cristina on Jun 3, 2010 2:39:14 GMT
I used to think, until very recently, that sherbet and sorbet were the same. Since becoming the owner of an ice cream maker, I've learned that there are differences. Sherbets always have some kind of dairy (either milk, buttermilk or egg whites), while sorbets use water or fruit juice as the primary liquid. In France, sherbert is called something like "sorbet with milk," so the terminology can be confusing. And of course every country has some sort of rule about what can be called what, based on the percentage of butterfat. Gelato uses less sugar than other frozen concoctions and also has far less air whipped into it. Gelato machines typically have a spinning drum with a paddle that moves up and down, while the machines for everything else have a paddle that only spins horizontally. While I have gelato recipes, I don't dare make them for fear of being disappointed. Especially since I do have a superb gelateria not too far away from me. And the owner's name is Cristina too. Personally, I am still trying to figure out the difference between a granita and a dairy-less sorbet. I think (but am not sure) that sorbets have finer crystals, and granitas are similar to shaved ices. For example, the lemon granita and sorbet recipes that I have call for exactly the same ingredients and proportions, but the sorbet is made in the ice cream maker (more beating and more air), while the granita is just frozen in a pan and occasionally roughed up with a fork as it freezes. I haven't been a fan of ice creams and their cousins ever since overdosing on them during my first pregnancy. However in the 6 months that I have been making my own, I have to conclude that it is because mass produced frozen desserts just don't taste as good. To celebrate the wonderful blackberries I found this weekend at a great price, I made a quart of lemon sherbet on Sunday. It called for the following ingredients: 3 cups (750 ml) whole milk (I used 2% fat, lactose-free for the benefit of one of my children) 3/4 c (150 g) sugar zest of one lemon juice from 2-3 lemons (6 Tbsp or 90 ml) It was really delicious with the berries. I contemplated making lemon sorbet also. These were the ingredients: 2.5 c (625 ml) water 1 c (200 g) sugar zest from 2 lemons 1 c (250 ml) lemon juice - about 6 lemon's worth I will try that one next.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 3, 2010 17:10:45 GMT
Ohhhhhh, Cristina ~~ that's great! I knew there had to be a difference between sorbet and sherbet, but wasn't sure what it was. I think the main difference between granita and sorbet is that granita is a "fairly firm, flaky slush" and that sorbet "is churned constantly during the freezing so that no large flakes of ice form". Both those quotes are from Mary Simeti's brilliant book, Pomp and Sustenance*. That said, if you look up sorbet or sorbetto you are directed to "see granita". I've used her recipes for granita to make sorbets/ices, as I prefer the finer, firmer texture. Here is what she has to say about gelato: Ice cream is not really the proper translation for gelato, since unlike American ice cream Sicilian gelato is not made with cream at all, but with crema rinforzata, which is nothing other than the omnipresent biancomangiare in a particularly liquid form. ... While the gelati made from fresh fruit require cold processing that involves stabilizers that are not available on a retail basis, the chocolate and nut-flavored ice creams, made with a crema rinforzata that needs no exotic ingredient, can be satisfactorily duplicated in domestic ice-cream machines. Gelato Siciliano serves 8Crema rinforzata base5 cups milk 4 tablespoons corn or wheat starch 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar Heat 4 cups of milk to the boiling point. Remove from the heat, and add the remaining cup of milk, in which you have carefully dissolved the 4 tablespoons of starch and the sugar. (I like to use vanilla sugar in all these ice creams.) Stir, and return to the heat. Bring once more to the boiling point, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the crema is a room temperature, add one of the flavorings listed below. Refrigerate, and when well chilled, put in your ice-cream machine and process according to instructions. 2 cups almond flour or very finely ground blanched almonds -- @ 1/2 pound ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 cups very finely ground toasted & peeled hazelnuts @ 1/2 pound ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1/2 cups very finely ground pistachios + 1/2 cup very finely ground almonds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- For chocolate gelato: 7 ounces semisweet choocolate 1/2 cup milk Use only 1 1/2 cups sugar in making the crema. Melt the chocolate in the milk over a very low flame. Add the chocolate to the crema when both have cooled. [end of quote]----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And now, because I'm tired of typing, here is the link to Saveur magazine's adaptation of her vanilla gelato recipe. The "adaptation" is that they made a smaller amount. If anyone wants it, I'll give the original recipe. www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Sicilian-Vanilla-Ice-Cream*Finally back in print, hallelujah! The reissue is under a different name, though. Lovers of food history needs to have this book in their libraries. Here is Food Timeline's take on ice cream and ices.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2010 15:43:32 GMT
Yes,thanks Cristina and Bixa!!! I rustled up some recipes out of a Martha Stewart cookbook,she has a whole chapter on. I will cull through and post the ones I've tried. I have a fabulous fig ice cream recipe tucked away somewhere...I make it every year as the figs ripen right around the 4th of July. Looks like we are going to have a good year for them judging by my tree and some secret places I go. (SHHHHHHHH!!)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 4, 2010 15:59:07 GMT
Did anyone see this article in the NYTimes? Some of the ideas my brain rejected out of hand, some of them are downright annoying in their quirkiness, and some of them sound addictively delicious. click picture to read article[/color] (I do know what whoever is responsible for writing Vegansaurus should be held down and force-fed foie gras.)View these videos, and the frozen flights of fantasy shown above won't seem so radical. You'll be taken from the public square in Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, with its iced offering of shrimp or pork rind to an elegant restaurant in southwest France serving pimento sorbet atop tuna tartare with fresh mango. Some off-the-wall ideas could work nicely. The chef in that video serves a goat cheese salad topped with balsamic vinegar ice, something that would certainly be worth trying. I used to always stir some ground cayenne pepper into commercial chocolate ice cream, which puts a little spin on the chaud-froid concept.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2010 0:59:27 GMT
Yes, some of those sound down right bizarre. I need to take a trip over to the Creole Creamery,here in uptown NOLA. They have some similar,very interesting flavors (Lavender/Cayenne anyone? ). Today, I made my annual 4th of July fig ice cream,always a big hit.
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Post by cristina on Jul 5, 2010 1:01:15 GMT
Bixa, I saw that article this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. While, I too, couldn't wrap my head around some of the flavors, there were a few that I think I could enjoy. I liked the reference to ice cream as a "shape shifter." When it is called ice cream, we expect something more sweet than savory. I prefer to think of ice cream as the 4th state, after liquid, solid and gas. Here is an interesting article about Chicken Fried steak ice cream. I love chicken fried steak (in moderation, unfortunately) and was intrigued by the writer's experiment. Fortunately, I don't think this flavor of ice cream will ever catch on.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2010 1:07:02 GMT
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