frozen

It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Union Square green market and during my absence, the south side of the park has exploded with summer berries, fruits, and veggies. One of my finds was a delightfully fragrant basket of small blueberries.

Blueberries are loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals that have been associated with lowering the risk of cancer, preventing Alzheimer’s, lowering blood pressure and preventing urinary tract infections. As good as they are for you, I’ve never been a huge fan except in baked goods and pancakes, but this basket looked so tasty I decided it’s high time I give this underutilized berry a chance to be something more than a mere afterthought.

Helen over at Tartelette made some blueberry swirl ice cream the other day which looked absolutely phenomenal, thus an idea was born. Not wanting to be unoriginal and wanting to preserve some of the healthiness of the blueberries (ok… now that’s a total lie because this is by no-stretch of the imagination healthy), I decided to go with a gelato base (which uses no egg yolks and less cream). L has been drinking this blueberry tea that always smells fantastic so that’s where the tea idea came from.

This is quite possibly the best churned frozen thing I’ve ever made. It’s not quite as simple as the custard-less varieties I’ve posted about here, here, and here, but since it doesn’t use egg yolks it’s somewhat simpler while being ultra creamy and velvety smooth. The combination of the creamy tea and tart floral blueberries was what really shone and made me wonder why no-one uses teas other than matcha for ice cream? I’m thinking combo’s like Earl Grey and lemon curd, or strawberry jasmine, or even mugicha (roasted barley) fudge would be sublime.
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I’d like to call for a moment of silence for Tastespotting………………………….

When I first saw they shut down at midnight this morning, I could hardly believe my eyes. “Was this some kind of cruel joke?!” Then came anger “Why did some jackass have to go and nail them with DMCA horseshit and ruin it for all of us”. Now I’m just sad more than anything… I keep checking it every few hours to see if it’s magically come back to us.

In all seriousness, I think it’s become like an addiction to both bloggers trying to promote their posts and foodies just looking for some inspiration. That’s why I’ve decided to pick up where Tastespotting left off and launch a new service for sharing your glorious food photos (hopefully without the legal issues). Look for an announcement in the coming weeks.

In other news, Grace from A Southern Grace has given us a Blog of Distinction award. Thanks!

I’m going to be in Oregon for a few days attending a graduation, so I won’t be posting, but I’ll be back before you know it. Here’s a quick little something to tide you over until then:-)

This isn’t a recipe so much as an idea for a wonderfully refreshing summer beverage. The strawberry lady told me the season was wrapping up, so I bought a few cartons on Tuesday and washed, stemmed and froze most of them. While they’re great to make jam and pies out of, my favourite use is to turn them into blended beverages.

Instead of adding ice, you just add the frozen strawberries and some liquid (I used a mix of buttermilk and water) and you have a wonderfully cooling beverage. To make it even more refreshing, try adding lemon juice or mint!

frozen strawberries
water
buttermilk
sweetened condensed milk

Add some frozen strawberries to a blender and pour half water half buttermilk until the strawberries are sumberged. Add some sweetened condensed milk, blend, then add some more if it needs it.

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