Let's visit..... (clinic, winter, medicine)

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Gman2007

Sherbet.. Mmm... never made that before! Care to share the recipe???

So for a lazy-folks ice-cream maker you mean electric? I find the hand crank wears out the kids a little before they dig into the ice cream!

Yep, I have an electric model. Throw ingredients into the top, turn it on, come back in 15 minutes or so... I usually scrape down the sides for a while (just hold a spatula against the drum as it turns) so it doesn't build up a layer of ice, but otherwise it's work-free. It's done churning when it's all about like a stiff dough.

My recipes tend to be kinda random, but today's experiment went like this:

about 3 cups of whole milk
the juice from one orange (ie. whatever citrus I had handy)
a couple tablespoons of sugar (next time I'll leave this out)
a squirt of lime concentrate
a couple tablespoons of Countrytime Lemonade mix
about 1/4 teaspoon of Vit.C powder (because it was too sweet)

Mix it all together, adjust the flavouring as needed (the last three items were "adjustments") and let the machine do its thing...

Spoon it into serving cups (Yoplait's newly reshaped single-serving yoghurt cups are just right for this) and stick into the freezer until it's hard. It sets up rock-hard but thaws very fast, so I've found it's better to keep the serving size on the small side -- eat two of 'em rather than fight with one that at first you can't drive a spoon into with a sledgehammer, then melts back into milk before you can eat it. Solution -- small servings!

If you use cream the texture will be softer and it will be richer, but I can't be arsed to buy cream for the purpose -- milk works well enough (and makes it relatively low-calorie). You can add melted butter to the mix get nearly the same effect. I use as little sugar as possible because I don't like it real sweet. So nutritionally, it's not much different from drinking plain milk.

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One of the best batches was essentially vanilla ice cream with chocolate bits:

3 or 4 cups of milk
about 1/4 cup of sugar
glob of vanilla
some random amount of bitter chocolate (or chocolate chips or whatever chocolate you like best; the stuff from Trader Joe's works well), melted

Mix milk, vanilla, and sugar, pour into machine, let it process til it starts to set up. Pour in the melted chocolate, which will promptly freeze into small bits. The more set the ice cream when you do this, the larger the bits will be.

You can also try mixing the melted chocolate with the milk for a different effect -- sometimes it will partly separate out and make bits, sometimes not.

For plain chocolate ice cream, use cocoa, or for a different flavour try Nestles Quik (omit sugar).

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For my next ice cream experiment, I plan to use the dregs from a bottle of Welch's Grape Juice!

[Mt-7]

Thanks! Definitely taking notes for summer company!

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

Alright, now I have made ice cream, so what is the difference when you make sherbert?

Far's I can tell it's essentially ice milk or water-based with fruit flavourings. Today I made what was more or less ice milk with random citrus additives, and it was tasty as can be. (It's also all gone.. I ate it for lunch.

Some other things a person might try -- make regular plain ice cream, but then about the time it starts to set up, throw in fresh fruit or berries of whatever sort trips your trigger. Raspberries or blueberries would probably squish up nicely even if tossed in whole. Strawberries or peaches would need to be chopped up first. Gooseberries might be good -- tart fruit makes a nice contrast.

The machine is a Cuisinart -- it was about $40 at Sam's or Costco, with an extra freezer drum (you put it in your freezer overnight to supply the Cold part of the equation). One of the nicest things I ever bought myself. It came with a nice recipe book, but after the first couple batches I stopped paying attention to that and just throw in whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

BTW the cheapo "Swiss" brand ice cream at Sam's Club is about the best I've had in commercial ice cream in years. It's light yet tasty (remember the house brand ice milk Albertson's used to have, back in the '60s and '70s? Real similar to that), not too sweet, has a texture close to homemade, and doesn't go foamy and nasty when it melts. (And it doesn't stick to stuff like tar, either!)

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Far's I can tell it's essentially ice milk or water-based with fruit flavourings. Today I made what was more or less ice milk with random citrus additives, and it was tasty as can be. (It's also all gone.. I ate it for lunch.

Some other things a person might try -- make regular plain ice cream, but then about the time it starts to set up, throw in fresh fruit or berries of whatever sort trips your trigger. Raspberries or blueberries would probably squish up nicely even if tossed in whole. Strawberries or peaches would need to be chopped up first. Gooseberries might be good -- tart fruit makes a nice contrast.

The machine is a Cuisinart -- it was about $40 at Sam's or Costco, with an extra freezer drum (you put it in your freezer overnight to supply the Cold part of the equation). One of the nicest things I ever bought myself. It came with a nice recipe book, but after the first couple batches I stopped paying attention to that and just throw in whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

BTW the cheapo "Swiss" brand ice cream at Sam's Club is about the best I've had in commercial ice cream in years. It's light yet tasty (remember the house brand ice milk Albertson's used to have, back in the '60s and '70s? Real similar to that), not too sweet, has a texture close to homemade, and doesn't go foamy and nasty when it melts. (And it doesn't stick to stuff like tar, either!)

Ever had schwan's?

[Gman2007]

Much appreciated! I'll have to do some adjusting for my 5 quart....

[Mt-7]

Hey, just bring that 5 quart to the porch

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

Ever had schwan's?

Never heard of it... I don't really like the extremely rich and gooey brands like Breyers and Dreyers or however they spell 'em... but most of the cheap and standard-brand ice creams now are all fluffy air and taste fake. I was amazed at how the Sam's Club Swiss brand (for a little under $6 for 5 quart bucket) tasted like the real thing!

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Gman2007

Much appreciated! I'll have to do some adjusting for my 5 quart....

What I've learned for different batch sizes (mine can do up to 5 cups, tho it gets crowded): Increase the non-sweet flavourings first, then adjust with more sugar if needed. It will taste sweeter when finished. A dash of salt helps most mixtures other than straight fruit. Most of the recipes out there are WAAAAY too sweet, especially if you plan to top 'em with fruit or chocolate sauce.

On that note... Rez's one-minute hot fudge topping:

In a ROUND-BOTTOMED glass bowl (NOT a flat-bottomed bowl) -- 1 quart Pyrex mixing bowl is perfect:

1/2 cup sugar
1 heaping tablespoon cocoa
dash salt

mix well (smash up the cocoa lumps as best you can)

Mix in enough evaporated milk to make a gruel about like soft-cooked cream-of-wheat, or perhaps a tish thinner (the amount will vary depending on the cocoa density and the humidity, and isn't really critical anyway)

add 1 tablespoon of butter

Microwave on HIGH for one minute. It should come to a boil and start to "shrink". Stir well. If it seems too thin, M/W another 20 seconds (repeat as needed. If you went a little heavy on the evap.milk it can take up to two minutes total. Longer cooking times will make it more like old-fashioned "gets hard when it hits the ice cream" sauce.)

Makes two generous servings (it's VERY rich). Recipe doubles gracefully, but does not triple well (but it's so quick and easy to make, it doesn't matter). Texture will vary depending on your exact mixture -- you can twiddle it til you get it how you like it. I don't mind having a little variety so I just throw it together any which way (I only measure the sugar).

Why not use a flat-bottomed bowl? Because it will cook unevenly and way too fast, and you'll wind up with something between caramel and concrete!

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

Ever had schwan's?

Schwan's ? Yes. It sucks. Give me Baskin Robbins thank you. Too bad they don't deliver. !

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by rickers

Schwan's ? Yes. It sucks. Give me Baskin Robbins thank you. Too bad they don't deliver. !

Rickers! Your wifey must be taking good care of ya!
Actually I will take some Tillamook Creamery
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