Flavor{s} of the Week

In order to make this endeavor at all helpful for the pocketbook, I've realized that I need to be making as many batches of ice cream out of my ingredients I purchase as I can.  Tonight I went to Whole Foods ( I would recommend here, Trader Joes, and Henry's Marker to get organic, and good ingredients) and purchased what I needed for Carrot Cake Ice Cream.  I am excited about this one, as it will be something new, and although I got the idea from one recipe, I found three of them and made my own.

{This is how we enjoy ice cream in sunny so-cal}

Anyway, this week I will not only be using an ice cream machine, I will be one.  I am making the following, starting with Carrot Cake and the rest in whatever order strikes my fancy:

• Carrot Cake Ice Cream 
• Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Peach Frozen Yogurt
• Chocolate-Pretzel Frozen Yogurt.

They are all really unique choices, and I think they will be good.  I have a thousand flavors swirling in my head, but I will have to start with these.  Any preferences on where to go after Carrot Cake?  The sooner I post them the sooner you can make them.  Oh, and, anyone want some?  What am I going to do with 4 flavors? Let me know, I would LOVE to share.

Bon

Chocolate Bacon Ice Cream

I know it sounds disgusting.  But you have to get past it and think of it like a chef: the perfect combination of salty and sweet will keep your guests wanting more.  Did you know that the Lays potato chip people have this mixture down to a science?  Those chips aren't that good, they just keep you wanting more sugar or more salt so you reach in handful after handful.  So think of this creation as that: a perfect blend of salt and sugar that really does leave you wanting more.  


Now I must say that if I did this again I would change a few things.  The recipe below is for chocolate frozen yogurt.  Next time around, I would do full fat ice cream. I am firm believer that eating sweets is all about self control and ingredients. I use only natural and organic ingredients because 1.) they are healthier, and 2.) the flavors are so much richer.  It is much better to have one scoop of full fat ice cream that is mouth watering good and has natural ingredients than have two scoops of non-fat ice cream that is so-so in taste, and it's self life might outlast your own.


  Also, per my friend Julia's suggestion, I would make the bacon bits larger.  I was so nervous about having bacon in ice cream that I cut them very small.  The truth is they were very good, and thus we learn a lesson:  if you are going to do something, be bold about it, and do it with gumption.  Anyway, here we have it:


Chocolate Bacon Ice Cream


Ingredients:


1 cup whole milk  (I used Organic Rice Milk, pick your variation, but the less fat, the less creamy)
6 ounces of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate ( I used 12 ounces of Organic chocolate chips...oops!)
2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used Organic Greek Yogurt to make up for the thin Rice Milk)
1/4 cup sugar (Organic)
6 strips of organic bacon
6 tablespoons organic brown sugar


{Oh yeah, it's all about what you have.  You don't have the exact ingredients?  Make a variation.  You don't want to use whole milk?  Don't.  Try it out and if you hate it, then you learned for the next batch.  No harm done.}


Directions:


Pre-heat the oven to 400.  Cover a cookie sheet ( I know it's not the technical term but it's what my mom called it when we were little and I like it) with aluminum foil, shiny side facing up.  Place the bacon strip evenly on the cookie sheet and sprinkle about a tablespoon of brown sugar on the side facing up.  Be generous, and if you need more, just use more.  Don't be too uptight about measurements here. 

Once the oven is pre-heated, place the bacon inside the oven and set the timer for 12-14 minutes.  Half way into the baking process, open to oven and use tongs to rub the bacon in the melted brown sugar and flip it over. This way, both sides are coated.  Let it cook for the remaining time.  You will know the bacon is ready because the brown sugar on and around the bacon will have turned a dark, maple brown. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack to allow to cool.  Once it has cooled, chop into small pieces, you can determine the size based on how prominent you want the bacon to be. Set aside.

Now it's time for the ice cream/frozen yogurt part.  Most ice cream makers call for the container to be frozen at least 24 hours before use, please check with the manual on this one.  Combine the milk and chocolate in a blender or food processor, until smooth, about 20-30 seconds.  Add the yogurt and sugar and process until smooth, about 15 seconds.

Turn the Ice Cream machine ON and pour mixture into freezer bowl through the "pour spout" and let thicken which is about 25-35 minutes.  You can watch the thickness here, and you can tell how it's turning out.   In the last 5 minutes or so of mixing, pour the bacon into the mixture as it churns.  Add the bacon in segments so that it gets all throughout the ice cream.  

Once the Ice Cream is all churned up, turn the machine to the OFF position and remove pouring spout and plastic "blade."  Some ice cream will have stuck to the blade, just be patient and remove it with a spoon.  Now you are ready to enjoy your treat.  The freezer bowl should still be cold, so either scoop and enjoy immediately, or put into an air tight container and place into the freezer.  If you are making the ice cream ahead of time, I would suggest the latter, and then placing it at room temp about 5-10 minutes before you are serving it.  This will allow for it to soften just a bit. 

This dessert is so rich and flavorful, I would suggest serving as is. Some ice creams may need a bit of sauce or syrup, but that will overpower the flavor here, and take away from the combination of sweet and salty. Plus, the point is to taste the bacon.  Oink, oink...enjoy!

One Year and Counting

This week I bought my last loaf of bread for a whole year.  I also had my last ice cream cone from an ice cream shop in San Francisco.  I'm not going on a crazy diet, nor do I care enough to do so.  Instead, my husband and I have set a few short term goals for the next year, and not buying bread and ice cream is one of mine.  My first goal is to finish grad school.  I am currently at Fuller Theological Seminary and am getting my masters in Theology.  I love to bake, cook, read, write, and am an avid runner and exerciser and will do anything that Jillian Michaels says, and I still haven't figured out how it all works together.  But, finishing is the first step to figuring that out.


One of my other goals was to bake bread and make home made ice cream for a year.  A whole year. That means no going out and buying it from the store or anything that looks like a store.  If I have to open a container that is not from my own bakeware to eat it, then we are not doing it.


We eat bread and ice cream a lot.  Tons.  We love it.  So why not learn the craft and have a better appreciation for it?  Why not make what we eat so we can be sure it's healthy and good?  It's going to be a year of trial and error.  Of delicious food and sometimes no food at all.  We know that.  But, we are very excited.


I hope you are too.  I'll post recipes and pictures of my food, my occasional rant, and hopefully make some new food-loving friends along the way.  In the meantime, check out my friend Julia.  She's an AMAZING cook, baker and friend, and she is going on this journey (at least the ice cream part) with me.  She has one of the best palettes of anyone I have met, always up for a new flavor and adventure.  So bookmark her blog as well, I'll be sending you there anyway.


Much love.