TWD: Honey Peach Ice Cream

Hmm. How to make ice cream when one does not have an ice cream maker. That was my dilemma.

Not to worry...plastic baggies, check...salt, check...ice, check. Honey Peach Ice Cream, here I come.

The directions I found online says to use one gallon and one quart bags, but I didn't want to make this in two batches and had one and two gallon bags. So, that's what I used.

I filled the larger bag about a third to half-way with ice. Sprinkled in about one cup of table salt (didn't have nor could I find rock salt - they're the same thing anyway). Plopped in the bag filled with the custard and start to shake, shake, shake.

It worked!! Didn't take very long either, about 10-15 minutes. I had to work quickly in transferring the frozen custard to containers and making it freezer-ready. It was still very soft and the mixing in of the small peach chunks wasn't helping the custard's soft freeze state.

Ahhh...ice cream. It's a beautiful thing.

Next time, I would decrease the amount of honey. I will also skip adding in the diced peaches mid-way through the freezing process. Instead, I would just sprinkle it on top before serving.

Next time, I will also "redesign" my freezing equipment and use a stockpot and a plastic container. I think that will be easier and less messy. The baggie method was pretty fun, though. Everyone should try it at least once. :-)

If you do decide to try it, make sure you wear gloves. The bag gets very cold. It might also be a good idea to shake the bag over the kitchen sink. Have fun!

Thank you to Tommi of Brown Interior for this week's selection.

Last Gasps of Summer

Around this time each year, a countdown suddenly begins in my head, and I feel a quiet desperation.  I get this sudden urge to buy every piece of fruit I see, especially peaches and watermelon.  Now that I think about it, I get the same urge with berries in mid-summer...you should have seen the blueberries I hoarded!

Anyway, just yesterday I bought two baskets of peaches from the Greenmarket at Union Square.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I can't possible consume all of it before it starts getting brown, icky and inedible.  They're all sitting in my fridge right now which helps to keep it longer but I'll have to figure out what to do with them.  There are only so many peach cobblers, upside down peach cake, arugula salad with peaches, grilled cheese and peaches and prosciutto with peaches and balsamic vinaigrette I can take.

   

Here's my dinner from the night before when I used up the last of the two kinds of watermelon I got last week.  I chopped up some smoked salmon (inspired from the appetizer I had at Tabla), sprinkled on some Kalamata olives, and drizzled some lemon vinaigrette.  Not my best attempt...perhaps, some sea salt would have helped or maybe feta.  There was something (or maybe many things) missing.  I'll have to work on this one.