Darienne

Not sure where to post this. Not from Mexican websites...but then lime and Jalapeno? Jalapeno and Lime Ice Cream: the story So, I decided to make the above ice cream and put together two recipes because neither satisfied me completely, and then to top it off I would add some Tequila. Jalapeno Ice Cream from Always Order Dessertand Jalapeno & Lime Ice Cream from Fine Cooking, recipe by Keeley Cochrane. One had too much Jalapeno but featured my usual cornstarch and half & half base and added the molasses which was to bring out the ‘earthy tone’ of the Jalapeno. Upon adding the molasses, the mixture curdled and turned an ugly brown color. Perhaps Piloncillo would have accomplished the 'earthy’ thing without the strange curdling effect and ugly color. No, I had not put the lime juice in at the point of curdling. Perhaps the combination of chopped Jalapeno and cream and molasses together might lead to curdling??? OK. Added the suggested green coloring but not sparingly enough. OMG, now it is a really ugly green. Strained out the Jalapeno, cooled the mixture, added the lime juice, zest and Tequila. Into the fridge. The texture left a lot to be desired. Toasted some finely chopped pecans to disguise the unlovely mouth feel. Pistachios or almonds might have been better but it is Sunday and I live in the middle of nowhere. Don’t know how I feel about it. Very strange taste. The Jalapeno (1 only with no bits left in as suggested in the recipe) was overwhelming the lime juice and the ice cream tasted like a cold green chile, very green and ‘vegetabley’. So as it was churning, I added extra lime juice and zest. And some extra ground sugar. Now it’s better but there should be a lesson in all of this. photo: straight out of the ice cream maker before hardening.

My mistake. It was Pastrygirl who posted that very useful reply. Sorry Pastrygirl. I do apologize for getting your names mixed up. As for your comments on adding powdered sugar to chocolate...I was just making some lime and jalapeno ice cream and decided that I had cut down too far on the sugar content and this was after the mixture had been cooked and was cooling. I thought about confectioner's sugar and then realized that I could pulverize some plain granulated sugar and it worked perfectly. Doesn't answer the chocolate question but it's one more bit of learning for me.

You could add fried or roasted pepper strips: sweet colored peppers or what I would use...roasted Poblano strips.

The percentage on the package is the total amount of cocoa solids plus cocoa butter. The rest is mostly sugar, plus a little lecithin and vanilla. 70% can mean 40% solids and 30% fat or 50% solids and 20% fat. Against the same 30% sugar, those two 70%s will taste very different. Not many manufacturers list the cocoa butter content separately. Callebaut has many many formulations and uses a 1 to 5 drop system to indicate the fluidity of each formulation. 3 or 4 is recommended for dipping and molding, 5 may be too fluid to get a thick enough shell. Anything sold as couverture should have 30% cocoa butter or more. The working temp of your chocolate and degree of precrystalization will also affect fluidity. If you have a chocolate whose flavor you like but that is too viscous, you certainly may add cocoa butter to thin it down. I would not add sugar, because what sugar would you add? I suppose you could use powdered sugar, as the particles are too fine to detect and it is used in Greweling's gianduja recipes, but I haven't tried that with straight chocolate. You definitely do not want to add granulated sugar, because it will not dissolve in the cocoa butter but will remain gritty. To adjust sweetness, I would find a different chocolate or do a blend of sweeter and darker until I was happy. Chocolate is one of those things you can work with for years and still keep learning and exploring. Have fun and be sure to post some pics when you make something that delights you. And so I did learn something additional from your post. Why you are rightfully called the Chocolate Doctor. Thanks.

Nothing is too retro for this old lady, but seeing as I have a specific popsicle need for the Dog Weekend, and don't own any old fashioned ice cube trays...heck I grew up with an ice box...my current solution will probably do. I'll find a way to steady all the Dixie type cups for pouring and freezing (or get the 'guy' who is steadier than I am) to pour and then folks can get the popsicles for themselves and I don't need to bag them or decant them or anything. You know when you are hosting a large event, with as many dogs which has a whole other set of considerations, you need to have everyone as able as possible to get coffee, beer, popsicles, etc, as much as possible. For one thing, you ALWAYS have those types who 'need help' as in 'I don't mean to bother you but...' 'here I come bothering you for another thing which I could have asked someone else for or looked for and found myself, yadda, yadda'. Notice how invariably they don't help to clear stuff up. So the popsicles can be stashed in the garage, in the dog freezer, and thems what wants 'em, can get 'em. And...we won't have melting extras hanging around.

Give us a description and someone...not me I wouldn't guess...will be able to tell you what it was.

Report back on Nigella's breakfast bars. Turned out quite well and next time, I'll add cinnamon at least. There is no escaping that they TASTE considerably of condensed milk and if you don't like or can't bear or don't want that taste, then don't make them. Or add cinnamon or something to mitigate against the condensed milk flavor. Oh, Diana is bang on...they are not too sweet, out of the fridge at least. For my own purposes, they are suitable until I find something else. I have to ingest 150 calories or so at 6:30 am with pills that must be taken with food. I DON'T want to eat anything at that hour...just give me a cup of coffee...but seeing as I have NO choice, these bars will work and better than anything I have come up with so far.

Rum if often identified with coconut and if I had had some, I would have used it. As it was I had Tequila and so in it went.

Here's a little goodie that I have never seen before. Found it in a box at the Restore, Habitat for Humanity, my DH's favorite department store, along with Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, etc, etc. I'm sure Andie, our resident expert can tell me more about it. It's a little loaf pan with all sides coming open and then put together with the little moveable wire bit.

Have not made the lime paletas yet but have made the coconut again with great success and praise, including a few with Tequila added. Then made the recipe straight into ice cream which worked out well, adding sufficient Tequila to please the grown up faction. I found the entire ice pop event a bit too fiddly, the making, the careful placing in our always crowded freezers, and the decanting. Then just yesterday I FINALLY located some small 3 oz plastic cups...the kind the dental hygienist gives you to take a sip and spit...and with popsicle sticks, at least the decanting will be given over to the one who takes the pop only, and one at a time. I am speaking crowd control here. Plus you don't have to keep track of those piddly little plastic cover and stick thingies. I have two sets of ice pops given to two sets of friends and now they have to make sure I get back all the stick thingies. Nuisance. Green, but a nuisance.

Just reporting back. The ice cream came out very well. Added 3 tablespoons Tequila. Ice cream for big guys.

eG's own Kerry Beal has put out some very good DVDs for those beginning in chocolate. Her website is: The Chocolate Doctor.

Sorry Jenni. I don't have enough experience with that aspect of the popsicle world to answer you. Ask back in a few months.

Bits and pieces: my molds are small too. And the DH has asked me to make the coconut recipe into ice cream which I will do today. I would think that it's too much coconut for ice cream. I also make some with Tequila in them. Very nice. I did not notice the dairy content, but you are right. Have had no off taste to date.

Hmmmmm I notice you don't mention how they TASTE. My mouth is squinched up in trepidation as I type these words thinking about vegetables and chocolate ganache.

All good points, Lisa. The turtles in this case are all to be different shades of green so that color mutation would not be a problem. However, as the color would go, thus goeth even more so the flavoring. However, in this case again, not really a problem. Kids are eating these in the end I expect, and they'd eat straight sugar pops with no flavoring and not care. The other point which I hadn't mentioned is that these pops were done by the microwave procedure. Like falling off a log and very fast. I'll have to try the remelting in the microwave to see if it works. Also the microwave recipe is written for a limited amount and produces only a limited number of pops. And these pops are larger than I originally thought...the legs and head make up the difference. So I have to either bump the quantities up considerably and see if some changes in the directions will work without too much trouble...or go back to the original and traditional on the stove recipe. It makes for some interesting experimentation just as soon as I have some free moments.

Well then, I'll try it and see what happens. Tomorrow...or the next day. I remember something about the heat lamp idea. Lost in my personal archives for now. As for making a new batch...that's the best idea. They cost so little to make and take so little time that it's not a problem. Thanks.

I've never tried bacon with chocolate and it still doesn't appeal to me, but your chocolates are lovely. Good going!

I should say that my intense interest is more theoretical than practical. These 6 lollipops don't matter at all. I just realize that I don't know if there is a way to fix them. As for remelting and reforming...can this be done with hard candy? I know it can be done with caramel...have done it? But hard candy? I suspect that Chris is correct. That's it's game over for this bunch. But hey! we tried. And the sugar did sort of rescue them. And if I had cared, I could have used green sugar. And they would have been acceptable. My problem now remains that the pops must be bagged and put into containers before they leave me. The Turtle Trauma Centre had offered bagging and ribboning to relieve me of this task, but I can see that this isn't going to work out simply.

Two days ago I forgot to take care of the sample turtle lollipops I had made for the regional Turtle Trauma Center. Left them out uncovered all night on a plate. Very bad. Very stupid. Fortunately, only 6 pops. Not the 200 they want. So in the morning I had sticky turtles. Put them on a grid up in front of a fan. Boy, that sure didn't work. Of course not, idiote. Tried a dehydrator next. Where was my brain? Then into the fridge. Wait a second...you can't put hard candy into a fridge. Last step was to immerse each pop into granulated sugar. They were by then so wet and sticky that each pop was immersed three times before the sugar stopped going transparent in just a few seconds. OK. Into little plastic bags and into an air-tight container. Well, duh. Too bad you didn't do this in the first place. This morning, the final coat of white sugar is still mostly visible. It worked well enough. I know what I was supposed to do. I know in my limited way how hygroscopic ingredients work. What I don't know is how to fix a mistake. Is there a way?

So then I realized that the fridge was not an answer...too much humidity. Looked all through eGullet for answers. Lots of answers to prevent hygroscopic problems...but none as to whether you could reverse the problem once encountered. Finally dipped the pops in sugar...three times...then bagged them and put them into an airtight container (where they belonged in the first place). Tomorrow morning, I'll unveil the lollies and see what state they are in.

I'm with Pistolabella...Roasted ratatouille. I made it in a pot for years until one day I roasted it instead. Love it this way. In fact we had it for lunch today. Jaymes' Calabacitas sounds great. I might just make it for the sake of making it. But lazy as I am, I'll probably just roast everything which is roastable.

You'd be surprised at how those turtles pick up after a lick or two. As for the humidity...like a great big stupid, I left the pops out over night and now I have sticky turtles. I've had them in front of a fan for several hours now and that is having no drying effect on them. Perhaps I'll try a dehydrator next? Does this make sense? Or should I just scratch them? It's only 6 lollies.

It seems to me that part of good cooking habits is to make the procedures into 'habits'. Never, ever taste from the spoon you are cooking with. Then you don't have to keep track of who is going to eat your food. An easy answer to the problem is a container full of teaspoons designated for tasting only sitting near where the cook is working. One taste and into the sink they go. And make sure the spoon bowl is down and the handle up. I took some cooking classes recently and was stunned to see the spoon container with the bowl pointed up. I think this is particularly important for folks who work with chocolate. It's so tempting to lick the spoon, lick your fingers, etc. You must be ruthless about NEVER doing this. (Well, IMH (or not so H)O.)

I found the one reference (Item #33) to cutting everything in one's hand in the other topic. I don't do it and can't do it, but don't consider it a horrific habit. Our daughter's BF is from a Caribbean island, from a small village...they probably didn't have cutting boards...and he learned to cook from his Grandmother and she cut everything in her hand with a paring knife. He is one amazing cook. He cooks every day for the homeless and down and out islanders in Toronto. In fact, he's downright awesome to watch. I sous-chef for him when they visit and he does most of the cooking for us. I think he lives to cook. Horrific habit? Never!!!