tuesday night = pizza night.

so we've decided that every tuesday will now be pizza night, where we make our own pizzas (well, store bought dough, but maybe when we have more time...)

tonight:

shrimp, bacon, and leek pizza.

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10/7 Dinner

the menu:

Edamame Hummus

Cheddar Ale Soup w/ Leeks Vinaigrette


Plum Crumble with Ginger Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce

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the verdict:

Delicious!

perfect ginger ice cream

I love ginger ice cream, and ever since I received an ice cream maker a few years ago, it was one of my top recipes to try. So the first time I made ginger ice cream, about a year ago, it was a bit of a trial. It was the first time I ever made ice cream the "custard method" and it was... well, not bad but not good. Really, it just wasn't as good as the time it took should have been. Oddly, it wasn't gingery enough - the vanilla extract the recipe called for overpowered, making it more like a slightly tangy vanilla ice cream. Not really what I was going for.


So tomorrow, to entertain a friend of Hilary's, we are making dinner, the desert being a plum crumble with ginger ice cream and salted caramel sauce. So, once again, I got to try the elusive perfect ginger ice cream.


The recipe (from http://www.mytartelette.com/2010/09/dark-chocolate-brownies-ginger-ice.html)
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
1 cup (200gr) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons freshly and very finely grated ginger


In a large saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, sugar and ginger. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium low heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let steep as it cools to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight. Strain if desired.
Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's intructions.


My adaptations:
first, I did strain it. String bits of grated ginger in my ice cream just didn't seem appealing. I used organic sugar, which didn't really change anything except maybe the color a little bit. Then chilled it overnight.
second, about five minutes before it was done freezing, I added about 2/3 a jar of candied ginger, for texture and because, well, it's fun.


The taste:
perfectly gingery, without going over the top. very rich and creamy, despite just using milk and cream and not the custard method. yes, it still needs to rest in the freezer ("ripen" as it were), but it's pretty incredible just as it is.


tomorrow, I'll post about the dessert as a whole...

this week, we're going to use one of our wedding shower presents: our new slow cooker. for the inaugural meal: cheddar ale soup (from the better homes and gardens slow cooker recipe book).

been terrible about posting, lots of stuff to post about... this week? wedding planning and other peoples weddings have kind of taken over so... yeah...

until the next entry: