Thursday, July 22, 2004
I am making blueberry ice cream even as we speak. With my old Donvier manual ice cream maker - you remember, the ones that you chill the cylinder ahead of time and then turn the little handle a couple of times a minute for 20 minutes? I'll let you know how it comes out - I'm not sure I got the proportions right. That is, I cut a much larger recipe down to one pint, but I'm not sure some of those things should be cut exactly in proportion to size. We shall see.
More precisely, it's ice-evaporated-skimmed-milk, rather than ice cream. Which does make a major difference in the fat content, and the sodium content as well. The sodium content in dairy products can vary wildly. I was looking at cans of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and filled evaporated milk, and noting a huge difference. Most of the sweetened condensed milks are 45 mg sodium per 2-tablespoon serving, of which there are about 10 to a can. Which means if you make a pint of ice cream using one can, it's got about 450 mg of sodium in it. That's a lot if you eat it all yourself - please be responsible and share your ice cream! Evaporated milk, on the other hand, has only 30 mg sodium per 2 tablespoons - no idea why the difference; if anything, I would think the addition of sugar to the sweetened milk would make it lower in sodium overall, but that's not the case. With evaporated milk, add your own sugar to the mix.
While I don't know yet how this blueberry ice cream will turn out, here's a recipe that's worked for me for years. This is for about a pint and a half.
Banana Ice Cream
1 ripe banana- doesn't have to be brown, just reasonably soft enough to mash
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, or the equivalent in bottled lemon juice
1/4 tsp grated lemon peel (dried is OK)
1/8 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup small pecan pieces (chips/crushed/chopped fine)
Mash the banana (hi, potassium!), then blend everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor or blender. Doesn't have to be completely liquified, just reasonably pureed. Chill mixture for half an hour in the refrigerator. Then, if you don't have two cups yet, add milk or cream to get up to 2 cups of mix. (Use skim milk for lowest fat; use heavy cream for creamiest taste, or whatever point in between on the milk-cream spectrum suits your diet. I use 2% milk.) Then add the chocolate and nuts. Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the directions that come with it. This makes a little under a pint and a half. If you have a larger ice cream maker, say one that makes two quarts (half a gallon) at a time, double everything EXCEPT the lemon juice and lemon peel.
More precisely, it's ice-evaporated-skimmed-milk, rather than ice cream. Which does make a major difference in the fat content, and the sodium content as well. The sodium content in dairy products can vary wildly. I was looking at cans of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and filled evaporated milk, and noting a huge difference. Most of the sweetened condensed milks are 45 mg sodium per 2-tablespoon serving, of which there are about 10 to a can. Which means if you make a pint of ice cream using one can, it's got about 450 mg of sodium in it. That's a lot if you eat it all yourself - please be responsible and share your ice cream! Evaporated milk, on the other hand, has only 30 mg sodium per 2 tablespoons - no idea why the difference; if anything, I would think the addition of sugar to the sweetened milk would make it lower in sodium overall, but that's not the case. With evaporated milk, add your own sugar to the mix.
While I don't know yet how this blueberry ice cream will turn out, here's a recipe that's worked for me for years. This is for about a pint and a half.
Banana Ice Cream
1 ripe banana- doesn't have to be brown, just reasonably soft enough to mash
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, or the equivalent in bottled lemon juice
1/4 tsp grated lemon peel (dried is OK)
1/8 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup small pecan pieces (chips/crushed/chopped fine)
Mash the banana (hi, potassium!), then blend everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor or blender. Doesn't have to be completely liquified, just reasonably pureed. Chill mixture for half an hour in the refrigerator. Then, if you don't have two cups yet, add milk or cream to get up to 2 cups of mix. (Use skim milk for lowest fat; use heavy cream for creamiest taste, or whatever point in between on the milk-cream spectrum suits your diet. I use 2% milk.) Then add the chocolate and nuts. Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the directions that come with it. This makes a little under a pint and a half. If you have a larger ice cream maker, say one that makes two quarts (half a gallon) at a time, double everything EXCEPT the lemon juice and lemon peel.
