“Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli”

Posted on February 1, 2012 by ministryofpie

Fresh cannoli from Groppi’s Food Market in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

 

 

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Not Your Mamma’s Mascarpone

Posted on January 27, 2012 by ministryofpie

I bet you didn’t know this but there are about 3.67 million ice cream recipes on the internet.  Yes, I counted them.  About 68% of which are some variation on chocolate. Now, I like chocolate as much as the next girl but I really wanted something different… such as mascarpone! I’m not a fan of Tiramisu, for which mascarpone is traditionally used, but I love it in other things.  So why not ice cream? I found a great recipe with a standard custard base and set up shop!

This seemed like a good inaugural run of my 1950′s General Electric Betty Crocker stand mixer, a $24 Gypsy Caravan find from last year, and it worked perfectly!

The finished product is as rich, if not more so, than frozen custard and has a slightly different texture than standard ice cream, but it’s oh so good!  We put most of the batch directly into the freezer after the ice cream maker, the photo below was taken just prior to this step so it still looks like soft-serve.  Then we whipped up some fresh blueberries, blueberry preserves and lemon juice on the stove and folded it into the remaining ice cream still in the machine.  It was equally divine and a lot more sweet!

 

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Never Desert Your Dessert in the Desert

Posted on January 26, 2012 by ministryofpie

Last week I went to Taos New Mexico for the first time.  It was stunningly beautiful and immediately obvious why such greats as Frida Kahlo, Dennis Hopper and G. P. Wayman, loved the area. The sky was the blue-est blue I’ve ever seen. The desert was brown and the grass along the Rio Grande, bright red. The snow was, of course, white and cold.

Lest you get the impression this trip was only about hiking, snowshoeing and shopping, feast your eyes on this… Cheryl and I made impromptu, no recipe required, banana rum bread pudding.

Take some bread, a banana (the more ripe the better), half/half, eggs, cinnamon, brown sugar. Heat up the liquids/spices, temper the eggs, pour it over the bread and banana in a large ramekin and bake until nice and crispy on top.  Heat up some rum and brown sugar for a sauce.

It’s as easy as… bread pudding.

P.S. Special thanks to CJH for the post title. He’s “too clever by half.”

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