Mango Chili Ice Cream

I've enjoy the combination of sweet dried mango and chili powder, so I figured that those flavors would work well together in ice cream.  I've also been using lime juice in quite a few recipes to add a little sour to the mix.  I found a recipe online and tweaked it a little bit.

Ingredients: (This makes two batches of ice cream)

• 5 manila mangos
• 7 tablespoons lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 3 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (I use cane sugar)

Directions:

Cut and peel the mangos.  Cut up into pieces.  Juice the limes.  Blend mango, lime juice, chili powder, corn syrup, and salt in a blender until smooth.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat milk and heavy cream on medium heat until it's just about to boil.  In a medium size bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar.  Add hot milk/cream mixture to egg/sugar mixture in 1/4 cup increments, mixing well, until about 1 1/2 cups have been added.  Then, add egg/sugar/milk mixture to the rest of the milk in the saucepan and heat on medium for about 10-15 minutes so that the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon.  Make sure you stir frequently.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Add the ice cream base to the mango mixture and stir.  Place ice cream in refrigerator for at least a few hours.  Run ice cream through ice cream maker for about 20 minutes and freeze for at least a few hours before eating.

Cilantro Cashew Ice Cream

Well, my little poll showed that most of ya'all were interested in cilantro in ice cream.  I looked up some ideas for this and end up mixing a couple to make this cilantro cashew ice cream.

Ingredients: (makes two batches of ice cream)

2 cups cashews, soaked for a couple of hours in water
2 bunches of fresh cilantro
2 limes
2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
3.5 cups heavy cream

Directions:
Combine the milk and heavy cream in a saucepan until just about boiling.  Meanwhile, mix the cashews, cilantro, and sugar in a food processor.  In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and cilantro/cashew/sugar mix with a whisk.

Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk/cream mixture to the bowl and mix.  Keep adding 1/2 cup amounts to the bowl and mix until about 2 cups have been added.  Then, combine everything in the saucepan and return to medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often.  Do not allow the mixture to boil.
After about 15 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool.  You may wish to strain through a wire mesh to remove any clumps.  Store ice cream in refrigerator for at least several hours.
Once ice cream has cooled, mix in the juice of the two limes.  Then, mix ice cream in ice cream maker for 20 minutes and place in freezer for a couple of hours before eating.

Coming Soon: Cilantro Cashew Ice Cream

Is it going to be good???

Basil Lime Sorbet

I went to Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco with some friends last weekend.  Check out their website: http://humphryslocombe.com/%7C_Home_%7C.html.  I tasted several flavors, but especially enjoyed their basil lime sorbet.  So, of course I had to try to make it myself.

I found this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basil-lime-sorbet/.  Notice that all you need to make this is a blender, not an ice cream maker.  I used 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar and made the simple syrup, as directed.  I juiced about 10 limes, which gave me about 1 cup of lime juice.  I chopped up about 30 large fresh basil leaves.  Then, I put all of this in the blender and froze the liquid overnight.  Once it was frozen, I put the sorbet back in the blender to make it slushy.  This was delicious and pretty easy to make (other than all the juicing).  It seemed a bit on the sweet side, so I may use a little less sugar if I make it again.

Ice cream I've made before starting this blog.

The first time I made ice cream, I started with the basics.  Although I was a bit ambitious and tried to make 3 flavors at once.  I quickly learned the secret to making ice cream: plan ahead.  You really need to begin 2 days before you want to serve the ice cream.  This allows enough time to cook, cool, churn, and freeze.  Even though some of the ice cream on this first attempt was not ready until days after I had intended it to be ready, it was still delicious and I found I was inspired to try more.  I made:

• Vanilla Bean... classic
• Blackberry (vanilla with fresh blackberries mixed in)
• Chocolate... also classic

These recipes were all from the book that came with the ice cream maker. 

In the months that followed, I've tried a lot of flavors.  Here's what I remember with any links to recipes that I've been able to remember and find:

• Strawberry Goat Cheese Balsamic: http://www.fiberfarm.com/2011/05/goat-cheese-ice-cream 
• I couldn't really fast the goat cheese.  It seemed to make the ice cream creamier though.  If I made this again, I would add more balsamic vinegar.
• Rum: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rum-Ice-Cream-350599
• Can't go wrong with hard liquor and ice cream
• Pumpkin Bourbon: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/pumpkin-ice-cream.html
• I think this is my favorite that I've made even though I've tried a lot of flavors since.  I will need to remake this one when I want to make something I know will be good.  I liked that the bourbon was added at the end of the process.
• Mango Coconut Lime: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mango-Coconut-Ice-Cream-109471
• I'm not sure this is the recipe I used, but if it is, I substituted lime juice for lemon.  There are also vegan versions of this where only coconut milk is used.  Definitely a good fruit ice cream.
• Candied Bacon: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/03/candied-bacon-i-1/
• Here's where I started getting even more adventurous.  This actually kind of worked.  Again, you can't go wrong with hard liquor and ice cream.... and in this case, meat.  If I made this again, I would make sure the bacon was nice and crispy so that it added a crunchy texture.
• Blue Cheese Honey: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/02/roquefort/
• I substituted blue cheese for roquefort.  This is the only ice cream I've made that was inedible.  There was way too much cheese and the flavor was overpowering.  I ended up having to throw it away.  If I attempted this again (and I'm not in any hurry to), I would put a very small amount of cheese so that it was a very subtle flavor.
• Olive Oil: http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/06/olive-oil-ice-cream.html
• This had very few ingredients and was pretty easy to make.  I liked this ice cream alright, but I wasn't in a hurry to eat an entire bowl of it.  I think this ice cream would be complimented well by some fresh fruit or cookies.
• Lavendar Honey: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Honey-Lavender-Ice-Cream-108526
• This came out very creamy.  I used dried lavender and I only had about half the amount the recipe called for.  However, I think this was actually a good thing because there was enough lavender that you could appreciate it, but it wasn't overwhelming.
• Peanut Butter Banana Honey: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/peanut-butter-and-nanner-ice-cream-recipe/index.html
• Delicious... and no cooking involved!  It reminded me of my favorite sandwich as a kid (which of course was peanut butter, banana, honey).