I Haz Ice Scream!

We have regained control of our kitchen again and one of the things I wanted to do most was break out the ice cream machine.

Do your ice cream dance to this!

We received the ice cream maker as a gift and I wanted to open it and use it the moment I got it, but our freezer was tiny and (frankly) it sucked. I put the machine aside, knowing that I would replace the fridge, but other priorities got in the way.

I put it aside but I longed to play with it. I can be incredibly patient but this was torture!

To prepare for the day when the ice cream machine and I were to have our first date, I started collecting frozen dessert links. Some of these do not require a machine and many are for non-dairy, vegan, gluten-free, and every variation you can imagine:

Click here to go to the Pinterest board

With a new fridge in the house and the threat of death by snowmageddon, I scoured through dozens of homemade ice cream recipes and tried out my hand with a strawberry ice cream.

My first try was a complete disaster. It was entirely too sweet. It was gross. The less said about it, the better.

My second try was a chocolate ice cream and the Matriarch and one of the kids declared it both delicious and a success.

I combined about three different recipes and concocted a recipe of my own (given the ingredients at hand). It was an educated guess and it paid off. The result was rich and chocolaty, it had a slightly piquant finish that lingered on the tongue, and was well worth the ice cream dance!

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup chocolate syrup

1 can condensed milk

¼ teaspoon ground 

• Chill all wet ingredients.
• In a bowl, mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.
• Churn for 20-30 minutes until it reaches a soft serve texture.
• Freeze for at least one hour.
•  Serve.

The process could not be simpler. Technically, I should have churned the cream mixture first and added the chocolate syrup in the last five minutes. Again, I took a shot that it would work because the syrup did not sufficiently affect the viscosity of the mixture.

Next time I make chocolate ice cream, I’m adding cayenne pepper and either chocolate chips or crushed candy canes for a minty finish.

The next project will be an orange sherbet. 

Eventually, I want to try a Neapolitan sherbet too. The kid wants me to make a red bean ice cream and a green tea gelato. My dream is to recreate Cherry Garcia (I want to make the frozen yogurt but Mom requested the ice cream version).

I continue to dance the “I haz ice scream!” dance. (That GIF is so, so wrong!)

Food Porn Movies

We are still experiencing technical difficulties involving our kitchen, so we’ve been keeping the food relatively simple for the time being. But we dream big! In the meantime, I fantasize about having a dinner party… I’ve even dreamed about it.

Until we settle down at Chez Food Goddess, there is food porn!

Netflix and Hulu are our go to entertainment right now, and to whet my appetite for some good food porn, I tried out “Tasting Menu” (notice I did not link to anything because I really don’t want to recommend it). 

It sounded right and I liked Claudia Bassols from her involvement in the PBS series “On The Road Again” – a trip through Spain with Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Claudia was the anti-Gwyneth.  Although to be fair, Gwyneth was almost fun (which is to say she wasn’t in full-Goopness).

If you prefer, ignore the show and just check out the recipes.

But back to “Tasting Menu,” the movie left me cold. They could have placed it at a Chuck E. Cheese’s and it would not have significantly affected the plot. Hell, the setting could have been a giant hot tub! For a foodie movie, they seemed distinctly disinterested in food. In fact, you barely saw the food. It broke my heart.

It also made me yearn for better food porn.

Some of these movies are exceptional works of dramatic art, some I chose because the food parts were fascinating and enthralling, sexy and enticing (and the last five are on my to-see list, as soon as I convince Mom that a cartoon, cooking rat is not as gross as she thinks).

Babette’s Feast 

Eat Drink Man Woman 

Vatel 

Big Night 

I Am Love 

Chocolat 

Kings of Pastry (documentary) 

Tortilla Soup  

Like Water for Chocolate 

Dinner Rush 

Ramen Girl 

Mid-August Lunch 

El Bulli 

Chef 

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (documentary) 

Ratatouille 

Mostly Martha 

Tampopo

Finally, I have no idea what A Woman A Gun and A NoodleShop is about, but it has this scene and now I must watch it: 

Did I miss anything? I'll take compelling food scenes, if the whole movie doesn't hold up or isn't really about food. 

Chasing Harissa

Sriracha may be the king of chili sauces right now, but harissa is quickly gaining on it. Harissa is a North African hot pepper paste used as condiment, dip and marinade.

It’s a simple thing: roasted peppers (red, serranos, chilis), herbs and spices (garlic, coriander); and oil (vegetable, olive). 

It may be bought (jarred, canned, and in tubes), but it is also relatively easy to make your own, whether you have a good Middle Eastern area or a premium market near you. 

You can also purchase directly from Amazon: Dea paste from France; Mina Moroccan sauce; Mustapha’s red pepper harissa; and Moulin Mahjoub’s spread in olive oil among others.

Cook and Be Merry did a comparison of some harissa products that you ought to read to give yourself an idea what is available and, perhaps, factors to consider when you shop for a brand.

It is just as easy to make your own, and it may be better because you can regulate how much heat you can handle.

The New York Times has a 15-minute preparation if you want to try it out but have trouble making commitments. The Seattle Times has a more substantial recipe. Saveur has a relatively easy and delicious version with dried Mexican chiles. The blog Food52 has a version that uses a variety of peppers for a more sophisticated, deep flavor.

If you’ve tried it and love it (trust me, you will!), you can try other variations. Bon Appetit has a green harissa. The Kitchen Confidante blog has a fire roasted tomato harissa.

The beauty of the sauce/dip/condiment is that it keeps for weeks, and it may be used in a variety of food preparations: you can flavor soups and stews, you can use it as a spread over breads, you can use it as a marinade for fish, meats, vegetables and grains.

No matter what kind of diet you’ve chosen to torture yourself with to begin the New Year, harissa is a perfect addition to your repertoire.

We are in the midst of a refurbishing project and as soon as we have our new fridge and stove, we want to try out some of the recipes below (I’ve been saving some of these with delectable anticipation).

Chase that capsicum euphoria with any of these recipes:

Dijon Chickpea Fritters with Harissa Aioli

Harissa Shakshuda, Egg and Tomato Breakfast Skillet

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Potatoes with Harissa Aioli

Sweet and Sticky Harissa Chicken

Gluten-free Squash Soup with Harissa and Orange

Sweet Potato Fries with Creamy Baked Harissa Feta

Harissa Bloody Mary

Harissa Chicken Wings

Roasted Corn with Harissa Butter

Halibut in Kadaifi with Harissa Sauce

Panko-Crusted Barramundi with Harissa Aioli

Harissa lentils and Cauliflower

Homemade Naan and Harissa Yogurt Sauce

Eggs Benedict with bacon, Avocado Hollandaise and Harissa

Chorizo, Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates with Harissa Tomato Sauce

Israeli Salad with Oranges, Olives and Harissa

Winter Squash Tamale Pie with Harissa

Polenta Bites with Green Harissa and Feta

Grilled Apricot Shrimp with Harissa Aioli

There is also a Pinterest board for future reference: