Buttermilk ice cream バターミルクアイスクリーム

Since my wife started making heirloom buttermilk, she has been exploring recipes to use the buttermilk she makes. One of the reasons is that since this is "heirloom", the prior batch is used to inoculate and make the next batch. She was worried if she does not make the next batch in a reasonable amount of time (few weeks??), the inoculant may get too weak to make the next batch. So she is trying to use the buttermilk at a regular rate. She made several varieties of buttermilk panna cotta. This time, she made buttermilk ice cream.

She topped the ice cream with peach puree. The ice cream was very good with a nice mild buttermilk flavor and the peach puree went well with it. (the original peach was too hard and the puree was much better).

We mentioned our old (then) ice cream maker with a compressor (self-freezing) in a blog in 2017. After that post, we again completely forgot about the ice cream maker until now. We got it out of the basement. I first tested it with just water to see if the compressor still worked. Amazingly, it did! The bottom of the chamber got cold and formed ice in a few minutes. Then, I tested the churner. It worked as well. This machine must be close to 30 years old and we are amazed that it still works. In any case, my wife was “good to go” for making buttermilk ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3 Tbs. (20 g) cornstarch
1/8 tsp. (0.5) Kosher salt
2 large eggs (100 g). I used pasteurized eggs.
1 cup (225 g) heavy cream
1 1/4 cups (285 g) buttermilk

Directions:
In a sauce pan mix together everything except the buttermilk. (I used a double boiler to reduce the risk of having the mixture curdle.) Keep stirring on medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken. According to the instructions, when the mixture starts to bubble keep stirring for at least a minute to neutralize the starch-dissolving enzyme found in egg yolks. Remove from the heat and strain the mixture to remove any lumps that may have formed. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature stir in the buttermilk. Refrigerate the the mixture until it is about 40 degrees. (I used an ice bath to reduce the temperature of the mixture.) Churn the mixture according to the instructions for the ice cream maker. The final product is shown in the following picture.

This was a wonderful ice cream. It was smooth and creamy. It had a nice bright flavor with an interesting tanginess (from the buttermilk ?) that kept it from being cloying or boring. It also had a somewhat vanilla flavor (even though no vanilla was added). Unlike most recipes for buttermilk ice cream, some of which call for as many as 6 egg yolks, this one contained only two whole eggs. The recipe said that the addition of the cornstarch replaced the need for so many egg yolks to achieve its smooth creamy texture. Having replaced the egg yolks with cornstarch we would like to think that this ice cream was better for us than the other egg yolk based recipes. (Although, in all honesty we would have to admit that the amount of heavy cream used may negate whatever “brownie points” we may have gotten in the health department for the reduction in egg yolks.) Even though, as I have mentioned before, in general, I do not like buttermilk, I had absolutely no trouble eating more than my share of this ice cream. And again, I am astounded that the ice cream maker still works. 

Blueberry oatmeal muffin オーツ麦入りブルーベリーマフィン

This is my wife's continuing muffin project. We got fairly good blueberries. Since she has made quite few kinds of blueberry muffins, she wanted to do something different. She found this recipe for a blueberry muffin made with rolled oats.

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 Ml) milk
1 cup (80G) old fashioned whole rolled oats. (Steel cut oats, quick oats, or instant oats won’t work)
1 1/4 (156 g) AP flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (115 g) butter melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup (120 ml) honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (190 g) blueberries

Directions:
Combine the milk and oats. Set aside for 20 minutes for the oats to soak up the milk. Mix the dry ingredients from the flour through the salt in a bowl then set aside. Whisk the wet ingredients from the butter through the vanilla together in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Add the oats and any remaining milk and stir to combine. Fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into the heavily greased muffin cups. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking an additional 15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in a center muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before taking them out of the pan.

The oats seemed to completely incorporate into the overall texture of the muffin which was very tender. (You wouldn’t know oats are included if you weren’t told.) The cinnamon flavor is not something I usually associate with a spring/summer dish (more a fall flavor). So that made these blueberry muffins very different from the usual. The blueberries are in season and were very good. They truly “made” this muffin. 

Corn pudding (bread/cake ?) コーンプディング/ケーキ

This is the season for fresh corn. We got a large batch that was very sweet. After making our usual fresh corn dishes we still had some left so my wife found this recipe on the internet. Corn pudding seems to be a staple dish in the south. Most of the recipes involved frozen corn and packaged corn bread mix. This was one of the few that didn't involve those components so my wife decided to try it. It really accentuates the sweetness and taste of corn and is much easier to eat than corn-on-the-cob. 

 

Ingredients:
2 cups of corn (1 cup to puree, 1 cup raw corn = 3/4 cup puree) (1 cup to add whole to the batter). Cooked and removed from the cob. There is flexibility in the amount of puree you use. See 2X below)

8 Tbs. (115 g.) butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste
3/4 cup (180 g.) sour cream (or 3/4 cup ricotta cheese results in a firmer cake. We prefer this texure) or (1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup ricotta cheese this results in a softer cake; more like a mixture between pudding and cake)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbs. (20 g,) granulated sugar
2 1/4 Tsp. baking powder
7 Tbs. (55 g.) AP flour
6 Tbs. (55 g.) cornmeal

Ingredients X2
2 cups of pureed corn (I made this with 1 cup of puree. Because I miscalculated and that was all I had and it came out just fine)

16 Tbs. (2 sticks) or (230 g.) butter 
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste
1 1/2 cup (360 g.) sour cream (or 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese results in a firmer cake. We prefer this texure) or (1 cup ricotta  and 1/2 cup sour cream this results in a softer cake; more like a mixture between pudding and cake)
 4 large eggs
3 Tbs. (40 g,) granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tsp. baking powder

14 Tbs. (110 g) Ap Flour

12 Tbs. (110 g) cornmeal 

(use medium sized pyrex baking dish) 


Directions:
Take 1 cup of the corn and puree it in a food blender and set aside. (if you are not going to use the corn right away heat it to boiling in a pan to kill any potential bacteria. )Brown the butter in a sauce pan. Reserve 2 Tbs. of the browned butter and set aside (to be put on the pudding once it is cooked). Mix the pureed corn, whole corn, butter, salt, pepper and sour cream together. Let cool. Once cooled whisk in the eggs. Then the baking powder, flour and cornmeal. Pour mixture into a greased 6 X 10 inch pyrex baking dish. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Pour the reserved Tbs. of browned butter over the top.

With all the butter, sour cream and eggs this is not the most dietetic dish but it sure is good. It is more like a moist corn bread (cake?) than a pudding. The sweet corn flavor permeates. The whole corn gives a nice crunch and an additional burst of corn sweetness. Hard not to eat the whole thing in one sitting. 

Mint panna cotta ミントパナコタ

 Now that my wife is making buttermilk she has to come up with ways to use it. It is an heirloom culture so it can be used over and over again but it has to be used every week or so to stay healthy. So she is experimenting with different variations of dessert panna cotta. Or as she refers to it “variations on a theme by Paganini*”. No hardship for me. Keep them coming.  

*  This expression refers to a work by Johannes Brahms based on the caprice No. 24 in A minor by Niccolo Paganini. The work consists of two books. Each opens with the theme Paganini’s caprice No. 24 followed by fourteen variations. Hence variations (of panna cotta) based on a theme. 

Ingredients:
1 tsp gelatin
1 1/2 tsp water
1/2 cup 4 % milk
1 cup fresh mint leaves bruised with a meat pounder or torn into pieces (to release more flavor)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh mint bruised
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Bloom the gelatin in the water. Add the milk and mint to a sauce pan and gently heat to infuse the milk with the mint flavor. Continue gently heating until mint flavor is to taste (as shown in the second picture). Strain the milk mixture and put it back in the pan. Add the sugar and gently heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let the milk mixture cool to room temperature. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Distribute to the serving jars. Chill in the refridgerator until the mixture is firm.

For the sauce:
Put the water and mint in a sauce pan. Heat until the the water has a mint flavor to taste. Drain and return liquid to the sauce pan. Add the sugar and heat the mixture until the sugar has melted. When it has reached room temperature top off the serving jars with the mint sauce.

Again, this a very nice dessert. It is very creamy in texture. The mint flavor infuses throughout and very refreshing. Another good way to finish a meal.

Strawberry panna cotta いちごパナコタ

 My wife is into making panna cotta in some small jar we cam across recently. The amount is perfect for us as dessert. This time she made strawberry panna cotta. When we get fresh strawberry, I usually wash the strawberries, hull, cut into small pieces (small one quartered and large ones quartered and then halved). I place the strawberries in a sealable container, add some sugar (depending  on how sweet the strawberries are) and and triple sec  to taste. Then marinate them for a while in the refrigerator. This makes even not-so-good strawberries palatable and we eat as is or add it to the yogurt.  She used these marinated strawberries for panna cotta.

Ingredients:
1 tsp gelatin
1 1/2 Tbs. water
1/2 cup 4 % milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup strawberry puree (marinated strawberries as described above pureed)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Sauce;
Strawberry puree to top off the jars

Directions:
Bloom the gelatin in the water. Warm the milk and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Use the hot milk mixture to temper the bloomed gelatin until it is completely dissolved then add it back into the warm milk mixing to thoroughly combine. Add the strawberry puree and vanilla to the buttermilk and stir completely. When the milk sugar mixture has cooled to room temperature add the buttermilk mixture. Distribute to the serving jars (or containers). (Fills about 6 of the small jars). Put in the refridgerator until it becomes firm. When it is firm top with the rest of the strawberry puree.

This is a lovely refreshing dessert. The texture is very creamy. The bright slightly sweet strawberry flavor completely infuses the milk mixture and is very nice with the slight tang of the buttermilk. A perfect way to end a meal.