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Darienne

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Posts posted by Darienne

  1. Just found this topic and am very interested in it.

    My own ice cream making started with Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla and went from there, with the help of my ice cream mentor, paulraphael. Now I make mostly cornstarch-based ice creams and have just last week switched to using coconut cream instead of milk.

    OK. Now to follow the above advice and incorporate fruit seriously, not just as an inclusion.

    I opened a can of soursop with no idea of what I would find and it's not suitable for an inclusion, but could be further pulped (or not) and made into ice cream. Maybe. ...just deked into the kitchen for a further taste. It's a bit bland for an ice cream flavor. I also opened a can of attap (palm nuts) and think I'll go for vanilla ice cream with attap and nuts as inclusions this time around.

    I'm interested in whatever 'exotic' fruits folks have incorporated into ice cream. My favorite to date is candied kumquat bits.

  2. I regularly have it frozen in ice cube trays for use in my morning smoothies. I also quite often buy coconut water, also for use in smoothies (in lieu of juice).

    Hmmmm...now that's a brilliant idea, freezing the coconut milk. I have been using it in a variety of ways recently, including ice cream. Put it into a creamed red bell pepper soup a couple of nights ago.

    Am still going to collect more varieties of cream and milk. Found another one in our bulk food store, but its brand name...already forgotten...put me off bothering. Not to mention that it was 3x the price I usually pay. ...might go back and get it next time anyway...

  3. So many wonderful places to eat and wonderful things to eat.

    I guess my secret favorite would have to be the outdoor Navajo Flea Market in Shiprock where for $1.98 you can buy a Navajo Fry Bread deep fried in some strange 'cooking thing' full of boiling hot oil, topped with sugar or honey and cinnamon. We get one every year on our way from Moab to Gallup. Totally without nutritional value. Love it. :wub:

    Best Mexican food I ever ate was in a little place called Lucy's in Carlsbad which was gone the next time we went there.

  4. After recent buying binge, listed with fat from highest to lowest:

    1. Savoy Coconut Cream : 1/2 c/ 90 g = 200 calories; fat 31%; coconut cream 70% & water, preservative (best for ice cream according to Mr. Minh)

    2. Mae Ploy Coconut Milk: 1/3 c/80 g = 160 calories; fat 26%; coconut extract & water; preservative; mentioned on eGullet

    3. Aroy-D Coconut Milk: 1/2 c/ 90 g = 170 calories; fat 26%; coconut milk (70%) & water; preservative

    4. Phoenix Barge Coconut Cream: 1/3 c/ 80 g = 160 calories; fat 24%; coconut cream & water; no preservative

    5. Phoenix Barge Coconut Milk: 1/3 c/ 80 g = 160 calories; fat 12%; coconut milk & water; no preservative

    6. Globe Coconut Milk: 1/2 c/ 90 g = 40 calories; fat 5%; 1st ingredient water, then coconut milk (24%); preservative

    7. Tomi Coconut Milk: 57 g = 167 calories; fat 5%; coconut milk & water (99.99%); preservative

    8. Rooster ?: 1/2 cup = 100 calories; coconut milk (no % given); fat 5 gm - did not transcribe complete info before consumption

    OK. So it doesn't make any sense to me. How can #4 and #5 have the same caloric value with differing fat content?

    How can #6 and # 7 have the same fat content with such differing caloric values?

    No real need to answer. However, for those of you who like puzzles, am I missing something?

    Notice that storekeeper (Vietnamese) says #1, highest fat, is best for ice cream. I'll have to ask him again which # he said was best for curries.

    Then of course, there is KTC Pure Creamed Coconut, which gives no ingredient values. You mix 200 g with 450 ml for coconut cream and add an extra 150 ml for milk.

    Now to use them all... (I must have too much time on my hands. :raz: )

    Oh, made ice cream using #3 (fat 26%) and #6 (fat 5%). Ed said it wasn't rich enough. So...that one is obvious.

  5. OK. Made the reservations for the weekend of the 6-7-8 at the Red Roof which takes dogs. Gasped at the rates. We usually travel west and south where the rates are MUCH, MUCH lower. Oh, the joys of living in the east??? :raz:

    You are correct about making reservations now. They had only one room available with what we needed. Plumbers and platers the receptionist said.

  6. We can do the later weekend. Not as well, but it's doable.

    We wouldn't be staying in a hotel as we have to bring our two dogs. Don't worry, they won't interfere at all. We'll have to find a dog-friendly motel. And we can stay further afield if necessary.

    ps. If things are going to change, they should be settled ASAP so that we can book our accommodation. Thanks.

  7. The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession by Adam Leith Gollner...fascinating stories of fruits I have never heard of. Had no idea that there were so many different fruits in the world. This is the one food-oriented non-cookbook I am reading.

    I love reading cookbooks. I have a good number that I have not managed to read through from one end to another. And I borrow cookbooks from our two local libraries to thumb through them and read the stories about the food. I do love a cookbook with stories.

    Another thing I do is to read cookbooks from one end to the other to my DH on our long trips across the USA. That's a good way to assimilate the necessary information in a new field of endeavor for me. I have read to Ed the entirety of Andrew Garrison Shotts, Making Artisan Chocolates, my first real chocolate book, Michael Recchuiti Chocolate Obsession and Peter Greweling, Chocolates and Confections and that is one HUGE book. He likes to listen and I learn by reading.

  8. Putting the squares into cocoa...bad idea. Too much gets on and too much work taking it off again.

    How exactly does one 'dust' with cocoa?

    Yes, to meet us and all the others...so exciting! I might even bring a box of finished Enstrom goodies. By then I would have it perfected for certain.! :rolleyes:

  9. Darienne, I just checked out the recipe-looks easy as pie. Some questions:

    1. you score and then break and then dust in cocoa powder?

    2. The you brush with tempered chocolate to make a foot?

    3. Then you dip the whole thing in tempered chocolate?

    4. Then you sprinkle with nuts? Which ones? roasted? raw? chopped or crumbled? Since you have made them a few times...

    thanks!

    Sorry, I did not get back at once. Just so overwhelmed by the fact that we might actually meet.

    1. Yes. except that next time, I'll flip the entire thing, scored, before I break it to wipe it more easily.

    2. I am going to this afternoon.

    3. Yes

    4. Finely chopped almonds. Don't have to be roasted or roasted slightly.

    Yes, I have made it a few times, and each time have done one additional mistake.

    * Earlier, we did not score it, but broke it after the chocolate was put on. The chocolate did not stay well.

    * Then we scored it, dusted with cocoa...Kerry's suggestion...and the chocolate stayed better.Then we broke it easily and some of the chocolate stayed and some didn't. Used too much cocoa on one side. Hard to remove excess 'dust' on such a big surface.

    * now I have scored it, broken it, and then discovered that flipping it and de-oiling it would have been better before I broke it...which it does very nicely.

    * now I am going to put it right into the cocoa, and then into a sieve with vigorous action.

    * then a sort of footing...not a really careful one as in truffles.

    * and then dipping.

    I haven't decided whether to go to the nut stage or not.

  10. they look fabulous-yum

    If you have never tried them, you just have to. I am NOT a chocoholic (contrary to the beliefs of some) nor a candy freak...but...that toffee is SO good. Too good. I'm giving it all away tomorrow. I'll find the URL: Enstrom's Toffee Recipe

    The only change I make is to use tempered dark chocolate instead of chips and to dust with cocoa. Oh, and this time to score and break into pieces. I've been to the Enstrom's factory but they weren't making when we were there. Oh, and it's very expensive to buy...very...and not that cheap to make with an entire pound of butter per batch.

  11. Thanks Heidi and djyee100 for all the information.

    We live near a small...east central Ontario to be exact...unexciting city. The very phrase: east central Ontario breathes stability and lack of excitement! Never a kumquat to be had. Now that's a level of excitement. Still starting the next time we are in the city, I am going to note which brands are available in which stores...buy one of each...try them all. Maybe I can find some of the better brands. I am trying to replace dairy with coconut milk where I can.

    On the other hand, next time in Toronto, I'll no doubt find exactly what I need.

  12. i'd dust in cocoa powder prior to coating.

    Thanks. I'll report back on how it works. Last batch made was dusted in cocoa powder, but I wasn't careful enough on one side to dust it lightly enough and the chocolate didn't adhere well. It will be easier to remove any excess cocoa this time.

  13. Like Bruce, I use this brand and type most often. It needs a shake if you want a cream, or a pass in the fridge or freezer if you want it to separate out more- getting cream on top and a dilution on bottom. It also freezes well. Many a soup has been saved...

    When you say it freezes well, Heidi, do you mean the leftover that you don't use that day...or something made with coconut milk...?

    What do you mean by many a soup has been saved...forgive my lack of understanding...saved from what? Not good enough to eat? Some cooking problem?

    Thanks.

  14. Back to making the Enstrom Kopy Kat Toffee. Made the toffee. Poured it out onto a silpat lined rimmed cookie pan. Scored and wiped the excess oil out of the cracks. Broke the pieces very nicely.

    cut in the pan.jpg

    Uh oh. The silpat was slick with butter and so were the backs of the individual pieces. Probably should have flipped it first and wiped it and then broken the pieces.

    cut pieces.jpg

    Eventually the pieces will be laid out and brushed on one side with tempered chocolate. Then when the chocolate is hard, I'll dip them, chocolated side down, into the chocolate bowl.

    But what to do next with the greasy pieces? Wipe each individual piece? Wipe and dip into cocoa or cornstarch or a mixture and then shake excess off in a sieve? Other?

    Thanks. (BTW, you know how it tastes. :wub: )

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