Watermelon Sorbet

When I was a kid, I lived just a little way down the street from a candy store named Buckheart's Candies. They also had an ice cream counter there, and honestly, I remember that better than the candy.

Specifically, I remember one called Watermelon Ice. It was obviously made from real watermelon, because they left the seeds in it. I've never found it anywhere else, and Buckheart's went out of business decades ago. I miss spitting out those seeds!

Last summer I decided to look for a recipe, and this one is pretty close. You do need some kind of ice cream maker to properly make it, but that's the only extra equipment you'll need.

Here's the recipe!

Recipe source: food.com

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice 

3 cups diced watermelon, seeds removed 

Heat water, sugar, and lemon juice together, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, then chill. Puree the watermelon and stir it into the chilled syrup. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and run it according to the directions for your model. Enjoy it soft-serve directly from the freezer, or pack it into an air-tight container and freeze it until it is scoopable.

Old-Time Ice Cream

 My dad used to make really good ice cream back in the '80's and '90's using an old recipe that was not cooked, but contained raw eggs.

"Wait, did you say raw eggs? In food? You'll get sick from that!" you say.

 I ate that ice cream for roughly 30 years completely safely, so no, raw eggs do not automatically mean salmonella poisoning by a long shot.

Actually, my French Silk Pie recipe also is served using raw eggs.

Having said that, don't prepare or serve this to young children, pregnant women, or the elderly. There is a risk, however small.

I consider the ice cream safer though, because freezing helps kill pathogens.

I had to find this recipe online, and it's fairly close. I changed a few things about it here and there, but that was mostly about the method, not the ingredients.

Rant incoming. You've been warned.

You do need an ice cream freezer (sometimes called an ice cream maker) to make this recipe. I know that the industry is pushing us towards the kind that uses a bowl you stuck in your freezer for 24 hours before making the ice cream, but I freaking hate those. There is nothing terribly convenient about being forced to either plan your frozen dessert at least a full day before making it, or being forced to sacrifice freezer space to hold your ice cream freezer bowl all of the time.

Just let me use ice cubes and salt fercrissake!

Luckily Nostalgia has a countertop model that uses ice cubes and salt (table salt is fine.)

So, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

3 eggs (cold)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 cups whipping cream (cold)

1 cup milk (cold)

1/8 Tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract*

Beat eggs and sugar for 5 minutes until thick and pale. Mix in the whipping cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Add mixture to the bowl of your ice cream maker and follow the directions for your unit.

Note: Counter to what you'll find on the internet, there really isn't any reason to chill the custard before freezing it if it's never cooked and the ingredients are cold. It's a total waste of time. I've tested both ways and got the same results. The few degrees of warmth you add by beating the eggs makes no material difference. Now, if you intend to just let this sit on the counter for a couple of hours before sticking it in your ice cream freezer while you catch a game on TV, that's something else. Chill it.

*You can make this with other flavors, such as a nice maple pecan by adding 1 tsp Mapline and toasted pecan chips. I'll post a chocolate version later.

Frozen Yogurt

I like a good frozen yogurt as much as I do a good ice cream, and luckily I recently found, and slightly modified, a good recipe. You need some kind of ice cream maker to make this, but it generally takes much less time than any ice cream recipe I've made, either in prep time, or freezing.
This is not a low fat recipe. Substituting in low-fat ingredients will cause large ice crystals to form, which are poor for the texture of the frozen yogurt.
Enjoy!

Frozen Vanilla Yogurt

3 Cups Unflavored Whole Milk Yogurt
1 Cup Half and Half
2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract (or put 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Sugar in the measuring cup before measuring out the sugar),

Mix all ingredients together and follow the instructions for your ice cream maker to freeze to a creamy texture.

Avocado Milk Shake and Cinnamon Smoked Pork Chops

Folks-
I've got one recipe, and one new grilling trick to relate to you today. Both are the result of looking ingredients up on Wikipedia.
In the first case, I looked up Cinnamon, and discovered an interesting story. According to what I read, the Roman Emperor Nero burned an entire years supply of cinnamon for the city of Rome to mark the death of his first wife. I wondered what that would smell like, thinking it might be sort of incense-like, so I tried burning a stick. I found it didn't smell like incense, but the smell was unique, and I wondered how it would add to grilled meat. Tonight I tried it, grilling pork chops on my gas grill. I soaked an ounce or two of cinnamon sticks in water for an hour and a half, drained the water, and wrapped them in aluminum foil in two bundles. The bundles of cinnamon sticks went directly onto the gas flames in the grill. Everyone in the family liked it at least as much as hickory smoking, with me liking it more for pork. I recommend trying it!
The second experiment I tried on my family (Zhenie went shopping before she had a chance to try it) is also the result of reading Wikipedia. I was looking up Avocados, and discovered that Avocado milkshakes are popular in Brazil. My kids all liked it, until I told them what it was. The flavor is very subtle, but good. Here's the recipe:

Avocado Milkshake
2 Cups Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/4 Cup Milk
1 Avocado, skinned, pitted, and diced

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Easy Ice Cream

Folks-
I made this for the first time today, varying the recipe that I found on a British website. I found following their directions exactly caused the ice cream base to be much too sweet (probably due to differences in measurements.)
You do need an ice cream freezer to make this.

Ingredients:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Salt (added 6/16/2011)
Optional (for Chocolate): 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Mix all ingredients together and put into the ice cream freezer and freeze according to directions.
*Edited 6/16/2011: When making this tonight I put in about a quarter teaspoon salt and this improved the flavor. This may now be the best ice cream recipe I've ever tried. At least that's what my kids say!