red bean ice cream

As just posted, I made red bean paste. To that I added 1 ½ cups coconut milk, 2 tablespoons tapioca flour, and 2 tablespoons sugar. I cooked that until it was thickened, added a half teaspoon almond extract and chilled it overnight. I then froze it in an ice cream maker, and here it is:


This was rich, creamy, and well-balanced. The azuki beans have an earthiness that goes perfect with coconut. And it's vegan!

full-on summer, pt. 1

Asparagus (soufflé, and tips in salad).


Strawberries (ice cream, and macerated).

cantaloupe sorbet

Melon sorbet with borage flowers.

Another experiment with the ice cream maker (some friends who had one and got another as a gift passed the gift on to me).

I had two watermelons and a cantaloupe from the CSA last week. This was inspired by Jane Grigson's recipe for watermelon sorbet as her melon sherbet has egg whites and all sorts of things in it.

• one cantaloupe, seeded and puréed
• one star anise (maybe two next time?)
  
• 1½ c. water
• one cup sugar (I might use a bit less next time)
• juice of one lemon
  

Make a syrup of the last three ingredients. Boil for ten or twenty minutes. Cool and strain out the star anise. Add to purée, cool and freeze. (This ice cream maker either moves too fact or doesn't get cool enough so I put in back in the freezer for half an hour and then turned it back on).

It's a bit sweet, but not overly. Very melony. As with the lemon kefir ice cream, I think a bit of alcohol would keep it from freezing solid. Something neutral like vodka, two tablespoons, might be good. I didn't have any either way.

Lemon Kefir Ice Cream (for Marcy)

My friend Marcy sent me this recently:

Lemon Kefir Ice Cream

• 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) kefir
• the zest from a large organic lemon
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice
• 130 grams (1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) agave syrup (I used sugar)
• a good splash of limoncello (or rum, or cachaça) (optional) (I used a bit of rum)

Makes about 1/2 liter (1/2 quart).

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Cover, refrigerate for an hour until well chilled, and churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve with thin butter cookies, a handful of berries, and/or candied violets.

I'd be good with buttermilk as well. I added maybe 1 - 2 Tbs rum and it keeps the ice cream from freezing too hard. It's super simple, and really good. Considering the kefir was "low-fat," this didn't have that disappointing flavor and texture that most frozen yogurt has. It's very rich, and smooth, and has that nice tang of the kefir.

Garnished with miniature edible marigolds called "Lemon Gem."