Refrigerator pickles

It's been a few months since I've made these, but Thia loves them. These are an easy dill pickle suitable for the modern age. Instead of canning them, you store them in the refrigerator, which means you're not making them in large batches. I have successfully made these with large cucumbers sliced into wedges and with whole cocktail cucumbers, and it works equally well either way.

You can use a pickling spice mix instead of the listed herbs and spices, but you'll end up with something just like what you would buy in the store. I recommend the listed herbs and spices as the best option.

Recipe source: Once Upon a Chef.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar 

3 tbsp kosher salt 

2 tbsp white sugar 

2 cups cold water

1 3/4 to 2 lbs cucumbers prepped (stems cut off, cut into wedges if wanted)

2 tbsp coriander seeds

6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes 

16 sprigs fresh dill weed

Combine the vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small, nonreactive saucepan, and heat while whisking until salt and sugar are both dissolved. Take off heat and add cold water, then refrigerate until needed. Divide the remaining ingredients between two clean quart jars (or one two quart jar) and cover with the brine. Fill to the top with cold water if needed, then close the jars and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours to one month.

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.