Ice Cream

Coffee Ice Cream & Coffee Tables

February 6, 2012

The past four days my diet has consisted of turkey, potatoes (mashed, roasted, no skin), cranberry sauce (thank goodness), rice cakes and crackers, and peach fruit cups. I mentioned in the last post that I had to go have an allergy test, to de-bunk some of my stomach issues I have been having as of late. Well, turns out I’m allergic to pretty much everything. The allergy test was done on my forearms, and I reacted to basically every allergen they introduced. I already knew I had really bad hay-fever, as my allergies were unbearable as a teen during the spring and summer. My grass allergy is out of control, which affects things like wheat that is in the grass family. I knew I was allergic to dairy, so no milk, or eggs, or only egg whites and fully cooked, not runny. So, I’m on a food elimination diet. Only eating those foods I mentioned, and then starting this week slowly introducing other foods to rule out which ones I am allergic to. Hopefully at the end of it I will know exactly what I can and cannot eat so that I don’t continue having stomach issues.

Having a dairy allergy, the last thing I would be eating is ice cream. And, unfortunately I am not. Adam bought me an Ice Cream Maker Attachment for my KitchenAid last Christmas, which I have only used once. Adam calls it the $100 ice cream, since it cost about that much to make it one time. So, I thought I had better get my money’s worth out of it. Last time I did make ice cream that used coconut milk and almond milk with only a small amount of cream and egg. So I did eat that, it was not as hard as ice cream but still just as delicious. This time, I thought I would make a true ice cream, considering I can’t eat it anyways. Lucky Adam.

I was trying to contemplate which flavour to make this time, and settled on Coffee. Why? Maybe because all that has been on my mind lately is Coffee Tables. If you follow me on Twitter you’ll have heard me lamenting about it. Since I moved in with Adam over a year and a half ago (wow! can’t believe It’s been that long) we have purchased some new furniture, and accessories. We have painted our bathroom, from ugly orange to pale grey, put moulding around the giant mirror, painted our kitchen white, and recently painted our bedroom a rich romantic charcoal grey. There have been a lot of changes, and many still to come. One thing I really want, now, is a coffee table. Adam never bought one when he moved in, and we just never bothered. He had three small ottomans, black leather that are hollow for storage. They line up in a row, and that is pretty much our table. While they are good for resting your feet, they suck at being a table. We put a couple trays on top, but it’s not quite the same as a coffee table. I usually put my water glass on the ground next to my chair, which Adam then accidentally kicks over without fail.

We have been trolling craiglist, but quite honeslty it’s too annoying. Almost every item on there is from Ikea, and we already have enough apartment-Ikea items. I LOVE this table from Urban Barn, however I do not love the $500 price tag. We have visited thrift stores, and other furniture stores but have yet to find something quite like it that catches our eye. Adam has said he would probably be able to make a table that looks like the one we like, so for now I have hope that one day we will actually have a coffee table. I also have my eye on a DIY headboard… I hope Ice Cream is a a fair enough trade for handy-man duties 😉

While I do not drink coffee, I do love coffee-flavoured things. I am just not a coffee drinker. I have never really tried a full cup, but know I do not like it. I’ll drink tea, but it’s not a daily thing for me. I stick to my ice water. Coffee Ice Cream is delicious, especially this recipe. I also added some chocolate stracciatella, which is like Italian chocolate chips. You add melted hot chocolate to the ice cream, and it breaks apart into strata-like chocolate shavings. You can drizzle it on top, and break the hardened chocolate lines into chunks, or pour warm melted chocolate into your mixer which will also break it up into shavings.

This is a rich intense coffee flavour. Definitely good for both coffee and non-coffee lovers alike.

Do you like coffee? Or just coffee flavoured stuff, like me.

Stracciatella Coffee Ice Cream
Recipe from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop 

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (decaf or regular)
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground coffee (press grinds through a fine mesh sieve)
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips or other chocolate (optional)

Directions:

1 Heat the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is quite warm and steamy, but not boiling. Once the mixture is warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

2 Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set on ice over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

3 Reheat the milk and coffee mixture, on medium heat, until again hot and steamy (not boiling). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

4 Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes.

5 Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Then discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and finely ground coffee, and stir until cool.

6 Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then transfer to your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Storing in cute mason jar optional.

This would be delicious for an apres-dinner dessert for Valentine’s Day. Even better in an Affogato.
Cookies

Almond Butter Cookies

February 1, 2012

Tomorrow I’m going for an allergy test, that I have been waiting over six months for. Isn’t that ridiculous? I called back in July, and was told by one doctor I would have to wait a YEAR to see them. The second referral I had was only about six months wait list. I couldn’t believe I would have to wait so long to find out what I was allergic to.

I had an allergy test about seven years ago, when I learned I was allergic to peanuts, and dairy (Milk, Cheese, Cream etc) and other various foods. I even think the test said I was allergic to raw carrots and celery..and maybe apples? I’m not sure how you can be allergic to these things, It seems pretty odd to be allergic to raw carrots. I already knew I had severe hay fever, and was allergic to most cats and dogs (dander). I would suffer greatly in the summer. I would be the kid who had red, watery eyes, unable to breathe and have to take an allergy pill every day. It was horrible. I remember wishing that I didn’t have allergies, that I was normal like my friends. It was especially hard when I played baseball all summer. We even had a cat! I think we got her way before my allergies really developed, but I basically adapted and got used to her. Anyone else’s pets though, was torture.

Now, I was good for about 5-6 months afterwards about not eating what I was allergic to. Some things made sense. My dad, the great chef, would make us ‘breakfast for dinner’ as a special treat. He would make a giant egg and cheese omelet, with toast and jam and most likely bacon or ham. I remember feeling quite sick after eating it, and now I understood why. It was loaded with dairy, and that makes me nauseous. Go figure. I also tried to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a few weeks later, to see what the reaction was. My face did slightly break out in hives, so I decided to steer clear of it. Over the yeras I have been pretty good at avoiding things like ice cream, and switched to almond milk over a year ago after the small amount of skim milk in my morning cereal began to make me feel really quite sick. After years of not eating those foods though, I have to say my other allergies such as dander and hay fever really subsided, and I can enjoy being outside. I tried to eat peant butter again, after no signs of reaction, however, after months of eating it in my oatmeal I began to get stomache aches immediately after. So, that meant I had to switch that too.

Enter, Almond Butter.

I had only tried it a handful of times before, and never really quite liked it. It just wasn’t peanut butter, which I so loved. It had a much richer nuttier flavour than peanut butter, and it was a little more oily. I slowly began adding it to oatmeal, and then dipping apples and bananas in it. I converted to Almond-Butter and Jam sandwiches. Even Adam eats it now, if there is no meat for his lunches. I have even seen a few posts about how to make your own almond butter. Which looks delicious, and something that I might try soon. Over time it grew on me, and now I have almond butter cravings, instead of peanut butter ones. I even made my own almond buter cups, like a reese’s peanut butter cup. I really like Trader Joe’s Creamy Unsalted. There is no added sugar, and is natural.

There are so many people with a peanut allergy. I used to love peanut butter cookies, the way they slowly dissolve, and crumble into your mouth once you take a bite. I would let it sit on my tongue for just a minute for the peanutty flavours to develop. Adam was never a huge fan of peanut butter cookies apparently, but he did like these. They are perfectly crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center. I based this recipe on my regular peanut butter recipe, switching up a few things and halfed it. It makes about two dozen cookies, so I wouldn’t suggest doubling it, unless you want a very large batch.

Almond Butter Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup + 2 heaping Tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Cup Butter, Room Temperature
  • 3/4 Cup Almond Butter
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • handful of almonds – optional

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder. Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the almond butter, mix on slow and add the sugars.
  4. Add the egg, mixing well. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon, and on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. It will look smooth, and should not be crumbling.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop dough and then roll the dough into smooth round 1 inch balls using the palm of your hand.
  6. Place on the backing sheet. Using a fork, press the tines into the top of the cookie, to make the signature criss cross pattern, flattening it just slightly. You can also top it with a single almond at this point.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes, until slightly browned and just about set in the center.
  8. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Make sure they are fully cooled before storing them
  9. Note – You can make these in advance, and roll the cookie dough into the little balls, storing them in a container and freezing them until ready to use. When baking from frozen cookie, place them on the sheet and into the oven for a few minutes til they get soft, and then pull them out and make the criss cross pattern with the fork, and then stick em back in the oven to fully bake =) baking time may need to be increased by a minute or two since they are baking from frozen.
I stored them on the countertop, you can store in a container, and will last about 4-5 days. You can also freeze baked cookies.
Apples, Cakes

Skillet Apple Cake

January 27, 2012

Adam and I are lucky to live in the same condo building as our friends. It sometimes feels as if we are living in a FRIENDS episode, bumping into them in the hallways and elevator, borrowing clothing, ingredients, pots and pans when needed and other miscellanious items such as muffin liners, glue guns, and staplers etc. It’s nice to know if you run out of something, or need to run out quickly someone is home to watch a little one, like we have done for our friends with a toddler. We’ve even relieved them of the little guy when they aren’t feeling well, taking the baby and the dogs out for a walk so they can get some rest. It’s nice to know people in the building, other than just a neighbor whom you pass by in the hallway with a nod. One of our friends lives only a few doors down, while the other live on the opposite side of the building. We get together for dinners as often as possible, knowing its only a short commute between houses, without worrying who is driving or what the weather outside looks like. It’s also nice that one of them is a Vancouver Police Officer, so if anything happens I know where to go! Haha. I was originally going to make another type of apple cake, to bring to Adam’s parents, that required eggs. Having only one egg left, and not wanting to get dressed to go to the store, I called our friend to borrow an egg. We were all still in our PJs. Afterwards, I found this recipe which I wanted to try instead, and of course, it did not require any eggs. Bonus for me, since I have a slight allergy.

Later that afternoon, we were waiting to go to dinner when all of a sudden the fire alarm in our building began to go off. We have had problems in the past of pipes bursting after cold weather, as they did last winter. Again, knowing people in the building really pays off, as our friends apartment was unfortunately flooded with water when the pipe burst, and luckily I was home along with our other friend who had a key to their place, and we were able to get in and try to control the water damage before the Firefighters got there. We figured this was the same instance, and got our jackets on to go outside and wait. However, when we entered our hallway we smelled smoke. This was an actual fire. Other neighbours told us there was a lot of smoke at the end of the hallway, and to call 911. We went back in, grabbed a couple items,  like my computer (my life!) and went outside. Our friend, the police officer, was waiting for us to look after the little guy, so he could go inside and see what was happening, as his wife had just gone to the store when it happened. Our other friend had to wrangle their two cats into a carrier, much to their dismay, but humorous for us watching them trying to push their way out of it, met us outside. Luckily it was not a large fire, but rather someone had not watched a pot on the stove that caused it to smoke and sound the alarm in their apartment, to which they did not turn off, and then it caused the entire buildings fire alarm to set off. There was quite a lot of smoke, but luckily no one was hurt and no further damage was caused.

We went back in, got dressed and left for dinner, apple cake in hand. Adam is part of the strata committe, and had to attend a scheduled meeting that night. I’m sure they had more to talk about after the ‘fire’ incident. I sent the rest of the cake down with him to share with the other members. Another reason you should get to know your neighbours – they might bake you something!

This cake is subtley sweet, studded with tart chopped apples. You can bake it in a skillet, I decided to finally break mine in. Or, bake it in a cake dish, 8” or 9”.

Unfortunately I don’t think I can use our skillet for cooking on our stove, as we have a glass top stove and I’ve read some stories online of the cast iron causing it to break and crack. So, for now it will only be used in the oven.

Apple Cake
Slighlty adapted from: Joy Of Cooking 75th Anniversary Edition 

You will need:

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk, with a squirt of lemon)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2-3 medium green or tart apples

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly season/grease your cast iron skillet. Alternatively, you can use an 8 or 9” cake pan.

Cut apples into segments, chopping up into smaller pieces, reserving some slices, leaving the peel on.

Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl thoroughly to remove any large lumps.

Add, the milk, oil and vanilla.

Add the chopped apples and mix until incorporated into the batter.

Scrape the batter into your prepared baking dish, and spread evenly. Arrange reserved apples slices ontop of batter in a pattern.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool on the counter on a cooling rack.

Once cooled, you can sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or maybe a scoop of ice cream.

This would also be good with a crumb topping, a mixture of brown sugar and buter with oats.