~ Sweet Heat: Strawberry & Guajillo Chile Ice Cream +Strawberry & Guajillo Chile Sauce! Cha-Cha-Cha! ~
Over the past 14 years, my husband Joe has managed to turn a few strawberry plants, that used to yield a pint or two every year, into a full-blown strawberry patch, that yields several quarts. In the beginning, that pint or two rarely made it anywhere except into our mouths. Nowadays, I actually make plans for strawberry season, knowing that they will all ripen at about the same time, and, like peaches, once picked, will be over-ripe in a very short period of time, 2-3 days maximum. Before I yield to making strawberry jam, I always fit a batch or two or three of my strawberry-buttermilk ice cream into my strawberry cooking agenda!
I'm no stranger to ice cream making. Thirty-some years ago, Joe and I purchased a White Mountain hand-crank machine. We lived in a house with a brook in the backyard. I would make the ice cream base and Joe would place the machine on the picnic table and watch our three kids take turns cranking... one cranking while two played in the water. It was a great way to give mom a much needed afternoon off!
About 15-16 years ago I invested in an expensive, Italian-made, Simac gelato machine, bought several cookbooks dedicated to ice cream making, and, even took an ice cream making class. This is a very substantial piece of equipment that has its own freezing mechanism. Once I prepare my custard (ice cream base), in about an hour, it does everything short of scooping it out for me. I won't lie, I love this machine and it has a permanent place of honor on my kitchen counter. I can, however, attest to the fact that when it comes to ice-cream making, it is all about the recipe, not the machine, because both of our machines, one very basic and one very extravagant, when the manufacturer's instructions are followed, turn out delicious ice cream!
Cooked Custard Ice Cream Base vs. No-Cook Shortcut Base
I'm not going to lie, when it comes to many of my ice cream recipes, I will never stray from making the custard from scratch because, simply stated: it's richer tasting. This is not a hard process, but it does require the understanding of how to whisk and cook an egg custard on the stovetop, strain it, plus a pre-chilling process. From beginning to end this takes a few hours. One of the things that came with my Simac machine was a 54 page recipe book with detailed recipes for preparing: ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt and frozen drinks. Included in the ice cream section are a few pages dedicated to "quick" ice cream, in which you simply sitr all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl (or, depending upon the recipe, puree them in a food processor), then freeze it in the machine!
My shortcut method for making strawberry ice cream, and:
My inspiration for this "sweet heat" recipe!
Two days ago I posted my recipe for ~ Sweet Heat: Strawberry & Guajillo Chile Sauce ~, which you can find by clicking into Categories 6, 13, 20 & 22. Back in the latter 1980's, while in Anaheim, CA, Joe and I stopped at a small cafe for lunch. When I saw "Strawberry Chicken Quesadilla" on the menu, I had to order it. Sandwiched inside of a perfectly grilled flour tortilla was a mixture of grilled chicken, sauted onion, black beans and queso fresco cheese. Drizzled over the top was a chunky strawberry sauce, and, to my surprise: it was spicy... the kind of spicy that can only come from chile peppers. Sweet heat! It was immediatly apparent that this delicious sauce would be great on all sorts of sweet things too, like waffles and ice cream for instance. Then the revelation occurred to me: Add some guajillo chile powder and a pinch of cayenne to my strawberry ice cream recipe, then serve it topped with a bit of my chilled strawberry & guajillo chile sauce! In the event you are not adventurous enough to add "the heat" to either of these recipes, worry not. Minus "the heat" you're left with eating creamy, delicious strawberry ice cream topped with a superb strawberry sauce!
16 ounces coarsely chopped/chunked, fresh strawberries, about 3 cups (Note: I like to use very ripe strawberries to make strawberry ice cream.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon guajillo chile powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon strawberry extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, not imitation
2 cups well-chilled heavy or whipping cream, or, 2 cups well-chilled half and half
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
~ Step 1. Prep the strawberries as directed, placing in a large bowl as you work. Add the sugar, chile powder, salt, optional pepper, lime juice and extracts. Using a large rubber spatula, stir until thoroughly combined. Set aside, at room temperature, for 30 minutes. The strawberries will be in a thick, drizzly, syrupy mixture.
~ Step 2. Using a vegetable masher, smash the strawberries into smaller chunks and pieces.
~ Step 3. Fold in the cream (or half and half) and buttermilk. You will have 5 cups of pretty, pastel pink ice cream base.
~ Step 4. From here on out, follow the directions that came with your ice cream maker. Because my ice cream maker has a built-in freezing system, I am simply transferring all of the ice cream base to the work bowl of my ice cream maker.
I'll turn the machine on and let it churn/freeze for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Voila:
Sweet Heat: Strawberry & Guajillo Chile Ice Cream +Strawberry & Guajillo Chile Sauce! Cha- Cha-Cha!: Recipe yields 1 quart of ice cream and 2 1/2 cups of sauce.
Special Equipment List: cutting board; chef's knife; large rubber spatula; vegetable masher; ice cream maker; ice cream scoop
Cook's Note: For another strawberry recipe (which I posted last June for Father's Day), read my recipe for: ~ It's a Dad Thing: My Dad's Strawberry Soup ~, in Categories 6, 11 or 16!
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2012)
Great -- send me a free machine and I'll develop some recipes for you.
Posted by: Kitchen Encounters | 10/27/2014 at 08:32 PM
Interesting story. Here at SpacemanUSA our focus is to manufacture the highest efficiency commercial frozen yogurt machines, frozen beverage machines and more.
Posted by: Zack Arzu | 10/27/2014 at 05:56 PM