Category: Duxbridge mysteries

Life Is Short…Eat Ice Cream!

Ice Cream or Gelato? Why not both?!

Yummy Vanilla Nut Crunch can be found here.

And two Strawberry Ice Cream recipes here.

I have also made plenty of gelatos. It is definitely one of my favorite styles of ice cream. Smooth, creamy and not as heavy as many full cream styles.

Pictured above, Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – one of my favorites. Recipe here.

Gelato starts with a good base that you can then add any number of flavors to:

Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 large egg yolk
  • 2/3 cup sugar

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.

Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.

*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.

For Vanilla Gelato:  Just before freezing the gelato,  mix in the vanilla and then add to the ice cream freezer.  Use 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract depending on how intense you like your vanilla flavor.

More flavor treats: Dutch Chocolate Gelato (here)

Key Lime Gelato (so refreshing) here

So before summer slips away, time to make some ice cream treats.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Gardening Is Good For The Soul

Saturday I set out to do some early morning gardening and think through the next scene in Duxbridge that’s giving me trouble. Gardening is good for that

A few minutes into pulling bindweed and trying not to swear with every vine, my now 11-year old (how does that keep happening – wasn’t she just 4 and her dad would park his car across the driveway so she could ride her bike without worrying she’d land in the street?) neighbor stops by.

As usual, she wants to talk about plants and the household menagerie. We chat amiably for quite a while and then she disappears, as kids are wont to do. I figured she’d grown bored of watching me weed. Understandable, I was bored with weeding myself.

But no, she reappears with her mom’s gardening basket filled with gloves, tools, and a knee-pad. She slips on gloves and grabs her clippers, kneels on the pad and begins to help me trim down the iris leaves.

She also brought cilantro seeds for me to plant for the ducks.

I did figure out that scene, btw, it just didn’t happen while gardening.

Put The Lime In The Coconut…Bars

So I had another birthday not too long ago and there was much celebrating.  I prefer a Key Lime Pie (recipe here) to cake on my birthday. But this year, I decided to go with Key Lime Bars instead. Easier to transport and package up as ‘thank-yous’ to various folks.

This time, I had just a few extra coconut shreds, so instead of storing them, I decided to toast them and add them to the top after I removed the bars from the oven.

Key Lime Coconut Bars

  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx 28 squares)
  • 3 heaping tablespoons shredded coconut
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
  • 8 oz pk cream cheese, softened
  • 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free)
  • 1/4 cup Key Lime juice or regular limejuice
  • 1 tbsp lime zest
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract (opt)
  • 1 lime, sliced into thin slices, then quarter

9×9 glass baking dish, mixing bowl and 36 cupcake papers

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, coconut and butter thoroughly with fork. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing cream cheese mixture. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Beat in lime juice, lemon extract and lime peel. Pour into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Bake about 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes on rack, then cover loosely and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled. Cut into 24 to 36 pieces, place in cupcake papers and top with lime quarters.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

 

Garden Fresh: A Few Grapes For Smoothies

I processed the few grapes I got this year into juice that I then add to my morning shakes. My neighbor gave me a handful of passion fruit, as an exchange for all my plums her toddler loves to eat. So I also added those to my shake this morning.

Not exchange was not necessary, he can have all the plums he wants! He’s a pandemic baby, born just as we went into lockdown, so I have probably seen more of him than I normally would, as mom and dad walked around the neighborhood several times a day and my office faces the street. Socially distant chats were a welcome diversion.

It’s been my pleasure to watch him grow and start walking and now starting to talk, enough to make his desire to pick plums from my tree clear. Still a nice distraction from work, as far as I’m concerned.

This morning’s smoothie:

Mixed Berry Smoothies

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup ea:  blueberries and raspberries, frozen
  • 4-6 whole strawberries, frozen
  • 1/4 cup fresh grape juice
  • 2 passion fruit (scooped from shell)
  • opt: 1 tbsp ground flax and 1 scoop whey powder

blender

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend well.  This makes 2 thick smoothies.  For more of a milkshake consistency, add 6 ice cubes and blend well. I use frozen fruit, so I don’t add the ice cubes, but sometimes a bit of water to make a smooth consistency.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

 

Fresh Summer Salsas

The tomato harvest has been lackluster this year. Weird weather has caused the fruit to be small and slow to ripen. Some I’m afraid are not going to ripen at all. The San Marzano, which should be about the size of a Roma, look more like cherry tomatoes. Early Girls are anything but early and no bigger than golf balls. And I have to wonder what the Park Wonders would look like in a good year – beefsteak size for sure. Flavor has been great on all of them, but I take comfort in that. 

Since the jalapenos are not only abundant this year, but incredibly hot, I decided to try and roast them to bring out a bit of the sweetness. It wasn’t all that successful, but I did manage to make a couple of jars of pickled jalapeno and freeze them to use sparingly in cooking over the winter.

I set a few aside to make salsas this week. I went with Fresh Salsa (recipe below) and Cucumber Salsa to cut some of the heat (recipe here).

For most of the summer, whenever I grill, I toss an onion on to the grill and let it roast until the grill cools down, so usually about 20-30 minutes on the back of the grate. The flavor can’t be beat and it slips right out of the skin. I refrigerate and add to various recipes. This week, it’s the salsas.

As the weather cools, I may roast a dozen or so and freeze them – they lose their shape but are great in soups and stews and with roasts.

Fresh and Easy Salsa

  • 4 tomatoes, quartered
  • 6 green onions
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • ½ to 1 bunch cilantro, remove stems
  • 2 to 4 jalapenos*, remove stems
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • dash of limejuice if desired

blender or food processor

In blender or food processor, add all ingredients and coarsely chop until blended well**.  If you can make a day ahead, it gets even better.  Seal in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.

**If you prefer a chunkier style salsa, you’d be better off chopping vegetables by hand.

How is your garden looking this summer?

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions