Ice cream

Ok, so Jake is giving me crap for not posting in a while. Here is the recipe for the ice cream I made last thursday. This was my first time so I made 2 batches; one cinnamon and the other vanilla. I used a compromise between 2 different recipes, one of which was from the Professional Chef. I love that book. They actually turned out pretty good, but I still think it could use some work. I think churning has a lot to do with it.
I'll give you the recipe for a basic vanilla. You can scale down (or up) as desired.
For ~1.4 L You need:
16oz/480ml milk
16oz/480ml heavy cream
~200-300g sugar (I'm not yet sure what the magic number here is)
a vanilla bean, split and scraped (or use vanilla extract since no one has vanilla beans)
28g glucose syrup (I don't know what this is or where you get it so I just increased the sugar. The range I've given will definitely work. For your info, I went on the high side of the range the 1st time. I think I can stand to scale back a little, but it is good. If using the syrup, add it at the beginning with the first ingredients.)
1-2 good pinches of salt
10-12 egg yolks (the PC said 15. the other recipe said 6. The eggs have a lot to do with the texture so I would put more than six, but I think 15 might be a little excessive. I also have no idea what to do with that many egg whites.)

How do you do it?
It's all about making the cream. Heat the milk, cream, 1/2 the sugar, salt and the vanilla bean pod and seeds in a saucepan on medium heat. If using vanilla extract, hold until just before you strain the cream.
Stir the mixture constantly for about 10 minutes.
Cover and remove from heat. Let it steep for 5 minutes.
While the cream steeps, mix the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar.
You'll need to temper the egg mixture with the hot cream before adding it to the saucepan. This is so the eggs don't scramble when you add them to the pan.
Add a few spoonfuls of the cream to the egg mixture and whisk rapidly. Slowly add more of the cream until you've mixed about 1/3 of it with the egg mixture.
Remove the vanilla bean and add the egg mixture to the saucepan.
Return the pan to medium heat and stir constantly to keep from scorching for about 5 minutes.
The consistency of the cream is more important than time. Keep simmering on medium heat and stirring constantly til it thickens. The cream is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon and the lines stay straight when a finger is drawn through it.
If using vanilla extract, add a good bloop of it just before it looks like it has reached the correct thickness.
Strain through a fine strainer into a metal container over an ice bath.
Stir occasionally til it reaches ~40 F, ~1 hr.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
If you've got an ice cream machine then process the cream as directed and freeze. This will help incorporate air into the cream making it light and fluffy, and also adding volume to it. It will also give it a deliciously smooth consistency. As it freezes, water ice crystals will form. The churner will keep these crystals at a minimum size so that the cream has a homogenous texture to it. I highly recommend the churner if you can get one. Hand churning just doesn't even compare.
Conversely, churn as well as you can by hand and place in the freezer. Churn every 1.5 to 2 hrs for 4-6 hrs til frozen.
IF you don't feel like waiting that long to have ice cream you can put the cooled cream from the ice bath straight into the freezer and start churning every 1-2 hrs. THis won't hurt the flavor at all, but it will affect the texture. It will still take 4-6 hrs to freeze. I prefer to just make the cream the night before, put it in the fridge and start freezing/churning when I get home from school/work.

For cinnamon ice cream:
Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks (if you're in Augusta I've got plenty) and a couple pieces of lemon rind with the milk, cream, and sugar at the beginning. Leave in until you strain the cream. Also add a couple of pinches of ground cinnamon to the egg mixture.

For chocolate ice cream:
add some chocolate. duh.
But seriously, just melt some chocolate and, once again, add it just before straining.

Coffee ice cream?
Substitute ~2 oz/57g coarsely ground coffee for the vanilla bean.

Once again, sorry we don't have pics. Our roommate's camera needs to be charged.

Venison Chili

History:

My brother gave me venison. We have had it for some time. I made a little loaf of bread today. Chili and bread on a cold day. Sounds good to me.

Recipe:

1 lb? of ground venison

2 cans of corn

1 red pepper

1.5 onions

1 can of black beans

1 can of kidney beans

2 cans chopped tomatoes

a bunch of garlic

salt

pepper

chili powder

baybere

cumin powder

Brown the meat in a large pot, put to the side. Saute onions and garlic with olive oil. Add pepper. Toss in meat and seasonings. Pour all the cans in. Turn on low and let go for some time.

Enjoy.

Eclairs [AB/JG]

History:

I made these once years ago for a friend in high school. I went back to them after I got a book with a recipe [now I have like 3], and I actually originally made these for Anita's birthday. I think this may be my 3rd-4th time making them. Big hit at the house with Clark and Patrick actually. I tried to make them to take to class, but by the time those Clark and Patrick had finished I didn't have enough.

Recipe:

Pata a choux:

1 cup of water

6 tbls of butter

tbl of sugar

salt

161 grams bread flour

4 large eggs

1 egg white

Bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to boil. Once boiling pour all the flour in at once and start to mix. Very soon everything will come together in a ball. Put ball in a kitchenaid mixer and mix on low until steam is not coming off anymore ~5 minutes [sorry if you don't have a stand mixer.] Once cool add the eggs one at a time until fully combined. Then add the white. I use a gallon bag and pipe the shells onto parchment paper. Usually I put a bit on the batter in the corners of the parchment paper to hold it on the pan. Starting in the middle of the size of an eclair you want [~3 inches] go up 1.5 inches, come down 3 and then back up 1.5 inches. It is like making an 's' on itself. Or you can make a little spiral for creme puffs. Use a watery finger to push any tips down. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then 350 for 15-20 or so. Still perfecting the time on my end. Cool, poke a hole and fill. For the chocolate top melt via double boiler chocolate and some milk.

Enjoy.

Creme:

2 cups whole milk

56 grams sugar [2 tbls x 2]

28 grams cornstarch [~2 tbls]

salt

2 eggs

1 egg yolk [from white above]

vanilla

2 tbs butter

Heat milk, sugar [1 of the 56 grams], vanilla to a simmer. Whisk eggs, egg yolk, sugar [other 56 grams] cornstarch, and salt. Temper together. Heat on medium-low until the creme when stirred comes off the side of the pot. Strain into a clean bowl mix in butter, and let it get to RT. Use a gallon bag and pipe into eclair/creme puff shells.

I have also folded in fruit [blueberries] to give this a bit different taste. Very you can use the pata a choux for whatever you want. Chicken salad etc to made savory.

Have fun, and let us know what you do.

Pineapple-Jerk Pork [JG/CL]

History:

Great dish; and highlights that I am a creator and Clark is a executer. So we are in a management class and are learning how to label each other. We had this huge pork loin, what last semester? And we were deciding what to do with it.... Clark found a recipe that was stuffing it with savory items... sounded good, but as I was driving home that voice in my head said, 'Hey pineapple and pork are awesome together do that.'.... Thanks voice. And thinking on it I wanted something that was was spicy on the outside, but then as you bit into it, the sweetness of the pineapple came out and cut the heat. And not just spicy. We wanted it to burn. So here it is the Pineapple-Jerk Pork.

Recipe:

1 large pork loin

brown sugar

pineapple [I tend to like the tidbits], washed and drained

dry rub [recipe at the bottom]

I start by getting separate bowls for the pineapple and brown sugar... the whole touching raw pork thing. Butterfly the pork. This really means to open it up into a wide flat piece of meat. Imagine there is a spiral in the meat, and just have the blade go through it. Cover the meat with brown sugar and then the pineapple. Put more towards you, and then roll up the pork like you would any kind of sushi or cinnamon bread. You have just created a spiral of brown sugar pineapple in the pork. Tie off with twine. Go crazy with the dry rub. Seriously. Again crazy burn. Let the pork rest like this for ~15-30 minutes, preheat to 350 either pop in the oven and go ~45 minutes or sear on all sides and then put it in.

Enjoy.

Dry Rub: [Clark add you magic]

Salt

white pepper

cayenne

berbere

dehydrated garlic

thyme

and some other things clark will add...

that's a really good base, but some other things you can throw into the mix:
I like to scale back some on the salt and also use celery salt
ground ginger, ground coriander...I think that's everything. c

La Ratatouille

History:

OK this is it. The real deal, the real Ratatouille. In short, I love this dish. Quick, easy, tasty, it has become a staple side for us. One of my favorite meals during the fall/winter= ratatouille and fresh bread. Nothing better.

Recipe:

2 Onions

2-3 zuchinni

2-3 yellow squash

4-6 tomatoes

1-2 cans tomatoes prn [pharmacy for as needed!]

garlic

salt

pepper

basil

parsley

oregano

olive oil

Mince the garlic. Start to saute with olive oil, and 1/3 of herbs. Add the onions chopped up. Go until translucent. Add zuchinni and squash. Cut how you like, but I like to have them as little wheels. Start to cook with 1/3 of herbs, salt, pepper. When medium to done [you should notice a bit of a color change] add the tomatoes. I use the cans if I don't have enough fresh to cover everything is juices. Add the rest of the herbs, s/p to taste, and cook on low for 20-30 minutes... or however long.

Enjoy.

We need to charge our roommate's camera. Hence no pictures.

I'm really getting worn thin

We just made the spice-encrusted salmon with yellow mole again. I told you, we've got so much mole left over. You can find the recipe with pic on an earlier post. Actually, Jake made some ratatouille. He makes it all the time. It's one of our other staples. Maybe he'll tell you about it. I'm exhausted and I can't wait for our health fair and my seminar to be over. This will be my first real spring break.
I did start making some ice cream but it will have to chill/freeze overnight. I'll write it up tomorrow although I have a feeling it will be more like ice-milk. I didn't cook the cream long enough.
good night

Chia Muffins

History:

First of foremost that is not a typo. These are chai tea muffins, but when I originally made the recipe I misspelled it Chia. And so it stays. I think by now you will have noticed language is not my specialty. I border on dyslexic [I spelt that right?], and tend to think one word, say another, and then what you really hear is a juxtaposed between the two. Hey we all have our faults. You may notice that in this we actual make our own chai tea... if you have chai tea you can try that, but we really like to try and show you how to make food from basic ingredients.

Recipe: [Again this is in grams.... see blueberry for conversion]

140 grams whole wheat flour

140 grams all-purpose flour

1 stick butter

3/4 cups black tea

2 eggs

266 grams sugar

cinnamon

vanilla

2.5 tsp baking powder

salt

cardomon [this is really expensive....]

fennel

ginger

clove

black pepper

Start to brew the black tea. You can use other teas a la oolong, I tend to just use any of the many teas we have on hand. One of the reasons is I like tea when making bread. Once the tea has seeped add the clove and fennel. [The clove and fennel we have are whole, hence this step. I also try to grind them a bit before putting in.] Cream butter and sugar, then add vanilla and eggs. Combine all dry goods. Small pinch of pepper and ginger. Mostly cinnamon then baking powder, then cardomon, then the rest. I don't really measure this part. Add 1/5 dry to egg/sugar. Add 1/4 cup tea. 1/3 dry. 1/4 cup tea. 1/4 dry. 1/4 cup tea. Add rest of the dry. Mix well. This will be more of a batter and liquidy then the blueberry muffin. Divide into 12 muffin tins [you may have some excess]. Put the cinnamon:sugar (1:4) on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until done. Enjoy.