Transition to Fall

Salted Caramel Pecan Crunch Ice Cream

Yes, I know the summer is over and it's now fall but you wouldn't know it in Southern California.  It is still warm enough to have an excuse to make ice cream!  Salted caramel has become popular but it also is considered a fall flavor.  Salted caramel ice cream?  Now that's a California kind of fall.

This ice cream hits all notes with the sweetness of the caramel and a touch of fleur de sel.  The perfect crunchiness of the candied pecans add the right amount of texture.  Serve it in a homemade ice cream cone and you just can't get enough.

Therapeutic topic of the week:
Can TV make you fat?  It obvious that if you're sitting around all day watching television that you're not getting exercise and using energy.  But did you ever think that certain commercials make you eat unconsciously?   John Bargh, an expert in priming behaviors recently studied the effects of junk food commercials.   One study observed the effects of children watching a cartoon and adults watching a comedy.  They either saw commercials with junk food or non-food products.  The adults rated various foods after watching the show while the children had various snack foods available to eat while they watched.

The results showed that both children and adults ate more if they watched the junk food commercials.  Fascinatingly, they did not eat the food advertised in the commercial!  The advertisements primed eating, not necessarily what food was being advertised.  When the adults asked why they were eating, they simply report it was because they were hungry.  They didn't know that they had just been primed to eat.  The scary part is people were eating without knowing that the advertisements were causing them to eat.  Yikes!

So what does this mean?  Turn off your TV!  Or at least record it so you can forward the commercials.

Salted Caramel Pecan Crunch Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:
Ice cream custard:
2 cups whole milk, divided
1½ cups cane sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pecan praline:

1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 oz pecans - about 2 cups
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

Spread 1½ cups sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn.

Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup of the milk.

Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F.

Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Make the pecans.   Preheat oven to 300°F. Put sugar, cinnamon, salt, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg in a plastic bag, shake to mix. Put egg, water, and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until slightly foamy, add pecans and coat well. Lift pecans out of bowl with a slotted spoon and put into the bag of sugar and spices. Shake pecans in bag making sure they are well coated.  Bake 30 minutes on a baking pan lined with silpat or lightly greased aluminum foil. 15 minutes into the baking, stir up the pecans with a fork. Let cool completely.

While the ice cream is churning, chop pecans into small pieces.  Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the pecans, then chill in the freezer until firm.

Ice cream slightly adapted from David Lebovitz

Pecan praline from Simply Recipes

Millions of Peaches

Roasted Peachy Sherbet

Did you know July is National Ice Cream Month?  I think it's fair to dedicate an entire month to ice cream considering it is consumed by 90% of the nation in the United States.  My contribution is summery, light and made with peaches.  The tartness of the buttermilk is mellowed with the sweetness of the peaches and balanced with cinnamon.  It's like having peach pie!  Roasting the peaches with brown sugar boosts that peachy flavor, making this sherbet scrumptious. 

Stress relief tip of the week:

Be willing to forgive others. Allowing others the right to make a mistake goes a long way toward forgiving yourself for mistakes. Assume that others are doing the best they can. Mark Twain once said, "Never attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity." This goes a long way toward doing the best you can as well.

Roasted Peachy Sherbet Recipe

Ingredients
3 ripe yellow peaches, pitted and halved
3 donut peaches, pitted and halved
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup whole milk
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

Cut your peaches in half and remove the pit. Place them cut side up in a baking dish and stuff the middles with brown sugar. Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 25 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack.  Puree peaches and their syrup in a food processor. Pass through a medium sieve into a bowl; discard solids.

Whisk together corn syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt, and pour into peach puree. Whisk in buttermilk and milk. Cover, and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, until thick and creamy, about 35 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

A child's wish

Halal Rocky Road Ice Cream

Every Muslim knows what I'm talking about. Walking into an ice cream shop because your parents say you earned an ice cream cone. You decide you want the chocolate one with the fluffy white clouds and your parents say no. Why? Because marshmallows have pork gelatin.

Finally, after all these years, Whole Foods carries a miniature marshmallow made with fish gelatin which also happens to be Kosher. Now the answer to the dilemma is simple. Use the marshmallows in the best rocky road recipe out there. It's a child's wish come true.


Stress relief tip for the day:
Make a priority list. Take a couple minutes to write down the things you have to do and prioritize them by numbering each one in order of importance. Quickly move to priority number one and feel good if you accomplish that one action.

Halal Rocky Road Ice Cream Recipe

Makes about one quart

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

3 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder

5 oz. chopped semisweet chocolate

1 cup lowfat milk

Pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups Elyon Mini Marshmallows

1 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Directions

Warm one cup of cream with the cocoa powder, whisking thoroughly. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 30 seconds while whisking.  Remove pot from heat and add chocolate stirring until smooth.  Add second cup of cream and pour into a large bowl.

Warm lowfat milk, sugar and salt in the same pot.  In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks.  Pour two tablespoons of milk into eggs to temper while whisking and then slowly add in the rest of the milk. Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook on low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Pour the custard though a sieve and into the chocolate mixture.  Add vanilla and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Freeze mixture in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.  Enjoy! 

Adapted from David Lebovitz The Perfect Scoop

Hot n Cold

Baked Alaska

The ultimate combination of hot and cold in what seems like an accidental science experiment.  The meringue acts as an insulator and keeps the ice cream from melting in the oven.  Meanwhile, the edges of the meringue become crispy and add a texture to the dessert.  The tartness of the raspberry sorbet cuts through the richness of the chocolate ice cream and brownie. 

Hard frozen layers of ice cream covered in meringue and lightly baked -- and that decadent brownie, it's worth the indulgence.

Baked Alaska Recipe

Ingredients

1 quart super-premium raspberry sorbet
1 1/2 quarts super-premium chocolate ice cream

Decadent Brownie, recipe follows

Meringue

8 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups sugar

Directions
To make the ice cream dome, remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften slightly. Line a 3-quart bowl with plastic wrap.  Spoon 2 cups of the raspberry sorbet into the bowl and smooth with a spoon or offset spatula to even. Top with the chocolate ice cream, again smoothing to even, and then top the chocolate layer with the remaining 6 cups orange-vanilla ice cream. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and freeze until the ice cream is very hard, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Turn the brownie out onto a large, flat, ovenproof plate. Unmold the ice cream dome on top of the brownie layer. Place the cake back in the freezer. Hold in the freezer until the meringue is ready.

In electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar for 2 minutes on medium-high speed until fluffy. Increase the speed to high and add the sugar in a slow stream until stiff, glossy peaks form, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the ice cream dome from the freezer. Remove the plastic wrap. Cover the ice cream dome completely with the meringue, using the back of a spoon to make swirly peaks. (Alternately, place the meringue in a pastry bag fitted with a rose tip and pipe spikes for a hedgehog look.) Freeze for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bake until the peaks start to turn a golden brown color, 3 to 5 minutes. For easier slicing, let the cake stand for 30 minutes. Slice and serve.

Decadent Brownies:
Cooking spray
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment well.

For your brownie batter, melt your butter in a medium (or large) heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.

While the butter is melting, whisk the cocoa powder, sea salt and sugar in a separate bowl. (The sugar and salt will work as abrasive agents to get any lumps out of the cocoa.) Whisk the cocoa/sugar/salt combo into the melted butter until the sugar has dissolved fully. The mixture should look like fudge and pull away from the bowl into a ball. Take off the stove and set the pan on a dishtowel on your counter. Allow the fudgy mixture to cool down until it's warm, but not hot anymore.

Stir the vanilla into the cooled fudge mixture to loosen it up. Add the eggs into the mixture 1 at a time, adding the second egg after the first egg is fully incorporated. The batter should look shiny and well blended. Add in your flour and stir it until it's fully incorporated. Once it looks fully blended, beat the batter vigorously for at least 45 strokes. This'll not only get out any pent up stress, but it will make the brownies chewy. Fold in your chocolate chips. Spread the thick and fudgy brownie batter evenly in the lined pan with an offset spatula or your greased hands.

Pop the brownie in the oven and bake until they get a nice crust and your house smells like brownies, 20 to 25 minutes. Let them cool completely on a rack or a dishtowel on your counter.

Adapted from Anne Thornton

Homemade Ice Cream

Strawberry 'n Cinnamon Ice Cream

Although it is not a popular combination, the heat from the cinnamon and tartness of the strawberries work really well together.  Creamy, smooth ice cream with sweet strawberries and a hint of cinnamon you can feel at the back of your throat.  It's truly an indulgent experience.  The secret is the low-fat cream cheese to achieve the creamy consistency with less fat than cream.

Strawberry 'n Cinnamon Ice Cream Recipe