Ice cream | Mommie Cooks!

The Perfect Dairy Free Ice Cream Base

August 26, 2013 By Julie 2 Comments

I simply couldn’t let summer come to a close without taking one honest to goodness stab at dairy free ice cream. And I’m not talking about a stab that kind of sort of tastes like ice cream but still makes me long for the real thing. I’m talking about the “holy mother of Mary that’s the best dang ice cream I’ve had in a long time and I demand proof to the contrary that it’s dairy free” kind. That’s what I aimed for. No less would suffice. And honestly? I’m still pinching myself to make sure I’m not crazy, but dag gone it, I think I’ve done it. This one’s a winner. You know you’ve done something right when your child who can still eat dairy actually requests that you brew up another batch of the milk free version.
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Avocado Grapefruit Ice Cream (Dairy Free)

April 19, 2013 By Julie 16 Comments

Let me start by saying that, when I first heard of avocado ice cream, I was a bit skeptical about the whole idea. After all, in this house avocados are for guacamole and pretty much solely guacamole. Sure, the occasional slice may make it on a sandwich or get dropped into a salad, but the majority of the time it’s “green sauce”, as my seven year old Alex affectionately calls it, for this family.

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Caramel Apple Strudel

April 23, 2012 By Julie 19 Comments

Round two of culinary boot camp at the local cooking school began this past weekend. The first five weeks focused on learning proper technique in the kitchen and now the subsequent four will be putting said techniques to good use. We intend to do just that whilst eating our way across the country in true Johnson and Wales fashion. This past Saturday focused on the foods of New England. Think seafood, seafood and more seafood. We steamed up a clam bake, boiled a live lobster and created the ultimate crock of baked beans. We pressure cooked a fabulous boiled dinner of corned beef with cabbage and, of course, we made chowder. Four kinds of chowder. There was the classic New England, the Manhattan tomato based “chowda”, Maine chowder which incorporates a splash or two of half and half and Hatteras (not New England but done for comparison none the less) which is simply broth based – no cream or tomatoes….

Blueberry Mascarpone Sherbet

September 2, 2011 By Julie 17 Comments

Blueberries are one of my all time favorite fruits, so when my sister-in-law visited a couple weeks back and brought with her a gallon sized ziplock of the fresh harvest she picked at the local orchard, I was thrilled to say the least.

Andrew couldn’t resist giving the bag a bit of a poke to make sure we did, indeed, have a gallon of the tasty blue orbs.

Left to my own devices, I could unabashedly munch the entire bag away, but that wouldn’t be very generous of me so I spared a few cupfuls to whip up one last summer time dessert before the heat leaves us for good.

I love colder weather fare; soups, stews, hearty meats and potatoes are some of my favorites. But this late summer sherbet has earned a place on my menu and is welcome back anytime (well anytime the mercury is topping at least 80 degrees that is). While Labor day isn’t the official end to summer, it is a strong signal that Autumn is right around the corner and if you want to eat your ice cream, you better do it pretty darn soon. Point absolutely taken. Let’s spin up some ice cream, shall we?

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Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream

July 22, 2011 By Julie 24 Comments

Summer definitely made itself known this week. The heat peaked at record levels in many areas around the country and trying to stay cool became the name of the game. Seeing as I am a frosty weather kind of girl, this swelter can, in my most humble of opinions, take a much needed hike straight outta town. I prefer a sweater to a swimming suit any day of the week but that’s just me. Needless to say, I live in an area that is guaranteed to be steamy this time of the year so I need to create ways to make it through until the cooler weather reappears.

One of my favorite approaches to this is through the creation of homemade ice cream. Seriously, why buy the pre-made stuff with gosh knows what’s in it when you can easily create a delicious, you control your own destiny, homemade version that is not only healthier but tastes miles better. With cherries in season and gracing the front stands of my favorite produce sections, I simply needed to create a cherry inspired dairy treat. Watch out with this stuff; it’s seriously good. You’ll find yourself doing away with the bowl in favor of a spoon and an ice cream bucket.

Start the batch going with a quick and dirty homemade cherry sauce. Add in some of those fresh summer cherries along with a little sugar, lemon juice, and water. Bring it to a boil and cook down.

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