misstenacity

I like the aspect of the KA attachment that implies you can churn more air into the ice cream, making it a little softer and lighter, especially lower-fat ice creams. Despite my inclinations towards cream, I am far more likely to make MOST of my frozen treats with milk or half & half or a mixture, so that I can eat more of the ice cream at once! :grin: I do not yet own a KA mixer, but have been quasi-coveting one for some time, and being "in need" of a new ice cream maker has had me thinking about killing two food-birds with one stone. Thanks for all the insight! Andrea http://tenacity.net

Hehe. A bit more disgusting but a friend of mine in college would lick/scrape/eat every molecule of the artificial salty butter flavor out the inside of each bag of microwave popcorn he ever made. Myself - yesterday I liked the whisk with which I had just made alfredo sauce. Mmmm.... I also have a fascination with milk skin and the burnt-on layer that milk makes in the bottom of a pan, such that I made a "crepe" out of one of these and blogged about it: http://tenacity.net/2005/11/i-am-gawdamned-freak.html Andrea http://tenacity.net

Ah, sorry for the late reply, Wendy. My ganache is still "resting" in the fridge and it is about 1.5 cups worth. I have corn syrup and I know that's very sweet so I will add just a bit of that to some re-warmed ganache and see what happens to the texture. Should be fine - thanks for the suggestions! Andrea http://tenacity.net

One more question (I keep making smaller batches of "truffle goo", tweaking the recipe as I go): My latest batch is too bitter. Can I re-melt it and add sugar, or will the re-melting do bad things to the currently perfect consistency of the mix? Thank you! Andrea http://tenacity.net

Thanks for the whipping/stiffening suggestions. I've got some gooey ganache that I've been freezing solid into balls and then very very quickly coating with coverture (messily, as this is my first attempt at *that*) before they melt. Once its all "sealed", they are nice and soft when you bite into them, but definitely not what I was after.... Andrea http://tenacity.net

Just made mine today, with the rest (sob!) of my macerated fruits and black sugar from last year. Both held up perfectly, the latter in the fridge in a glass container. I chronicled my making of the black sugar on my blog last year, with photos of the brown sugar turning lava-like as it burnt: http://tenacity.net/2004/12/gifts-final-edition.html I *like* the burnt flavor - perhaps because I love coffee? But now if I want to make it again next year I need to start another jar of fruit soaking.... Oh, and this year the cakes turned out a lot lighter. Not exactly sure why, but there were two differences from last year: smaller mini-loaf pans, and when I creamed the butter and sugar it did not cream successfully and actually broke and looked curdled when I added the eggs. I couldn't recover from that, so I just forged on and baked the cakes with the weirdo looking batter. Resulting cakes are more cake-y than dense (which bf likes, I do not). So perhaps I will just souse them extra to add some density. Hehe. Miss Tenacity http://tenacity.net

Has anyone tried a pie (or more technically a tart?) using a crust with ALL cornmeal? My "spin" on Thanksgiving this year is to use all native North American ingredients - so no wheat flour. Other grains that are available.... wild rice? Hmmm. Andrea http://tenacity.net

I definitely agree. Used to love Cherry Garcia in college, but since discovered the HD version "cherry vanilla" which is fabulous even without the chocolate. Hell, if I just want chocolate overload, I'll eat some of my own sorbet instead, or go right for the Godiva stuff. Hehe. Chunky Monkey does still have a special place in my heart, since no one has really even tried to imitate it (there is a close flavor offered by Boulder - Banana Almond - that is quite good). And another college fave was the lowfat frozen yogurt flavor "blueberry cheesecake" (since relegated to the flavor graveyard). That shit gave me a sugar rush that was pure heaven. But HD rules the day now for the "pure" ice cream experience. If I want gobs of crap mixed in I'd just as soon buy Blue Bunny or Dreyer's over Ben & Jerry's. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Now, I don't think this actually counts as 'chili', but I'm simmering in the crocky pot right now my first batch ever of MENUDO. Its stomachy goodness! Andrea http://tenacity.net

Oh, the joys of a VitaMix. Just made this out of a bag of yellow, orange, & red carrots in the fridge that were about to die: Noisy Lemony Carrot Soup 3/4 lb carrots, cut lengthwise into stalks 1" piece ginger, sliced 1 small lemon, juice of few strips of zest of that lemon 1 tsp "better than boullion" chicken flavor 1 1/2 cups water (or substitute good chicken stock for water + boullion) handful almonds (about 15) Place all in your Vitamix. Puree for 3-5 minutes, until steam rises from top. Done! If no Vitamix, slice the carrots much finer and simmer everything for 15-30 minutes, then puree with the almonds. Add salt & pepper to taste. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Wow, sugar cravings! For lunch today I had one serving of my chocolate sorbet, then a serving of freshly made avocado ice cream, then had to have something chewier but still sweet so went right for a candy bar. Mmmm, endorphins... Andrea http://tenacity.net

I've got nothing to compete with those beautiful calzones, but I coincidentally also made calzones a few nights ago and found a nice filling mixture which I'll use again. (To fill one small 7" diameter calzone) 1/4c roasted eggplant, roughly pureed 1/4c ricotta (sadly mine was store-bought) 1 egg white handful grated mozz for gooeynees few dashes smoked paprika The egg white helps to bind everything so it doesn't get too runny. I love the taste of roasted eggplant so this was a flavorful yet light filling. To make it heartier I might add cooked cubed or ground lamb. Yum! Andrea http://tenacity.net

Megan - I bought my scale from a place called saveonscales.com, the brand is myWeigh, model 3001 for $30(!) and it has a lifetime warranty. So far I've been overjoyed with the accuracy of cooking by weight instead of volume. Andrea http://tenacity.net

In the category of "items I'd probably take awhile to get around to purchasing unless I found them at a yard sale, but I'd use them once I had them...": Grain mill (or such attachment for my VitaMix) Huge stockpot toaster oven (!) But in the category of "items I think I really want, are kind of expensive so I haven't bought them yet, in reality I probably wouldn't use them as much as I ought to once I had them...": pasta machine GOOD ice cream maker stand mixer :-) While having a stand mixer would be nice, its just another damn appliance to have around. Ditto the ice cream maker. Viva la "steel bowl and whisking every 20 minutes in the freezer" method! Andrea http://tenacity.net

The first time I had bitter melon was in Shanghai, in the form of an egg-white omelet. It was salty with soy sauce and oh-so-yummy. To get children to eat the melon, removing some bitterness is probably essential, but for we intrepid gastrophiles, the whole POINT of eating bitter melon is the bitterness, which is supposed to do nice things to your GI. So, the bitter-er, the better-er. Bitter Melon benefits for blood sugar I just bought one yesterday so I might make this dish for lunch today with some stir-fried chicken bits. Yum. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Not currently PMSing, but still in the midst of a week-plus long sugar craving cycle. Beware me, oh weak and helpless candy corn! If any of ya'll 1) have patience to "cook" while PMSing and 2) love chocolate, I'm posting a recipe to recipeGullet for future reference. It is from a friend of mine and is thusly named: Chantal's Sorbet of Death Being a sorbet completely stuffed to the gills with chocolate, it is both rich and not egregiously fatty. Enjoy! I'm chilling my 2nd batch in the last few days right now.... Andrea http://tenacity.net

Heh. It's "just" my usual morning porridge - oat bran with lots of water & milk, thickened then garnished with nuts & dried fruit. However, the last several days I've been adding a big spoonful of cocoa powder to the mix, hence the color... Andrea

BUMPing this thread for a little diversionary rant. Before that begins, let me state that I will always have a soft spot for Chunky Monkey in my heart.... but in general, I'm nearing the end of my patience for B & J. Ben & Jerry's came out with a competitor to Haagen Dazs' Light varieties, and they called it Body and Soul. It advertises 25% less fat and sugar than regular B&J flavors (HD advertises 50% less fat, for the record). Here are my impressions of the B&J invention: "Body and Soul" is (mostly) a sham. Just tried the Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor and while eating it was thinking to myself, "hmmm, this seems.... fluffy." Usually I eat Haagen Dazs, so I just chalked it up to B&J being not quite as high quality. Until I visited the store to check out other flavors... On the label (but not on the website), each serving amount is suffixed by the weight in grams. Here's the dirty little secret of how it was so easy to reduce the numbers: Cherry Garcia (102g) vs Cherry Garcia Body & Soul (86g) Fudge Brownie (103g) vs Fudge Brownie B & S (87g) and on, and on... The ingredients are also modified slightly, giving Skim Milk the #1 position instead of Cream. That would account for the "rest" of the 25% of calories/fat/sugar that Ben & Jerry's has eliminated with the Body & Soul line. But it only accounts for a a third at best of that change. Mostly its just cold air. Note that the weights for Haagen Dazs vs Haagen Dazs Light are IDENTICAL (usually 102g per 1/2 cup). In order to cut the fat and keep the weight and flavor, unfortunately the sugar counts on the Haagen Dazs Light flavors has gone up, usually by 25% or more. That's the only disappointment in an otherwise high quality light ice cream. Bleah. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Chantal's Chocolate Sorbet of Death Serves 4 as Dessertor 1 as Main Dish. Being a sorbet completely stuffed to the gills with chocolate, it is both rich and yet not egregiously fatty. PLEASE use the best-est quality cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate you can find. No Hershey's! Enjoy! 2 T dark rum 2/3 c cocoa powder 1 oz bittersweet chocolate 1-1/2 c strong brewed coffee, hot 1 T molasses 1/2 c sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp salt 1. Whisk together the coffee, cocoa powder, chocolate, molasses, sugar, and salt until fully combined. Optionally, a blender can be used. 2. Chill until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight. 3. Add vanilla extract and rum. 4. Process in your ice cream machine, or pour into shallow glass dish and place in freezer, beating every 30 minutes or so to break up ice crystals. Sorbet is ready to eat or repackage for storage in 1-4 hours, depending on your freezing method. If allowing to fully freeze before eating, place in fridge for 30 minutes or more before consumption to soften the sorbet. Makes a generous pint (without voluminous add-ins, below). VARIATIONS: 1. Fold in 3-4T chunky peanut butter just before churning, or when packing into storage container for hardening. 2. Fold in 1/2 to 1 cup whipped cream or other fluffy/whipped enrichening device such as sour cream, creme fraiche, etc - before churning. 3. Add 1/2 tsp pure red chile powder to mix 4. Add 1/2 tsp other spices to mix, such as cinnamon, orange extract, etc. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Chocolate, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, Ice Cream, Healthy Choices ( RG1463 )

The funny thing about those enchiladas is that they are one of the best meals I've cooked at home in a long time. Very flavorful and spicy. Too bad they look like what Dr Seuss might have purged after eating green eggs & ham.... My usual breakfast, this time in a chocolate incarnation. VERY yummy. ....and a pizza that while not at all inedible, can't help but look suspicious. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Today on this cold & rainy afternoon I made my first avgolemono, using a recipe posted as a comment to an Epicurious recipe. I'll post it here - it worked beautifully! "Soupa Avgolemono: 8 c. homemade chix stock, 1 c. orzo, 4 eggs/ separated, juice of 3 lemons, fresh ground black pepper. This recipe will make a perfectly balanced salty, rich, filling, comforting soup. Boil broth, add orzo and simmer until tender 20 min. Whip whites until medium peaks, add yolks beating continuously, add juice, beating. Temper eggs with 2 c. broth, adding in constant slow stream while continuing to beat furiously so you do not curdle the eggs. Add egg mixture back to remaining broth and serve. When reheating, do not re-boil - heat slowly until very warm or you may curdle the eggs. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon. I sometimes add more than juice of 3 lemons, as the sourness is the best part of the taste! You should taste lemon, richness of eggs, salt of chicken, and starch of rice, in that order and you've made it perfectly. You can also add thin pieces of shredded chicken meat (pull off bone in strips), although classic recipes don't include chicken, vegetables, garlic or any of the ingredients many reviewers added to "fix" this recipe. " I only made a single serving (1/4 of the above recipe amounts, except juice of 1 lemon), alas, so now it is all gone. :-( Miss Tenacity http://tenacity.net

I finally got this book and have been lightly reading it for a few weeks. Today I started my first ever batch of yogurt cheese (& whey), and when that's done I will start soaking my porridge grains overnight before cooking to see if that makes any difference in how I feel in the morning and digest things overall. Previously, I was soaking my muesli overnight, but only in water. I guess it needs an acidic "starter" solution to really get things going, nutritionally speaking. When I start making some of the real recipes, I'll try to post back here how they turn out. Anyone have any early favorites among Fallon's included dishes? Andrea http://tenacity.net

Nah, you're right. The eel was fantastic and I was looking forward to it for days in advance. I would assume it was pig intestines - they were about 3/4 inch in diameter, and methinks a cow's would be far larger than that. We had one taco that had the intestines fried (so therefore crunchy) and one that was just sauteed. I preferred the latter, even though it was slightly chewy like bad calamari. The crispy variety you just couldn't tell what you were eating (just tasted like crispy mystery meat), so that detracted from the experience for me personally. Miss Tenacity

BUMP - I just finished reading this whole thread and am curious to hear how your later ice cream experiments turned out.... Thanks! Andrea http://tenacity.net

Short/sandy almond cookies, from my mom's recipe. 2 sticks butter 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour (I use whole wheat pastry instead of AP) 1 cup ground nuts (I use almonds) Combine, shape into a log then chill. Slice and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350. Yum, yum. Andrea http://tenacity.net