Orange and Chocolate Chips Ice-Cream

This ice-cream is really exquisite ! It has a nice flavor , is refreshing and very easy to cook from scratch. Based on this plain ice-cream all you need more is some oranges and chocolate chips.

Grater some orange zest ( about 1 full spoon , more if you like but take care because in large quantities it makes your final product kind of bitter). Squeeze about a glass of orange juice. As the pictures are showing , you can make full use of your oranges so do not throw your halves of oranges.  

After your plain ice-cream base is ready , add the zest and the orange juice along with the chocolate chips and mix everything together.

Pour the ice-cream in a bowl then put it in the freezer. To avoid the ice formations , the ice-cream must be mixed occasionally at an interval of 30 minutes until hardens. From this quantity serves 3-4 persons a nice rich big cup each !


 If you want to impress your guests or family now is time to use your halves from the oranges. You can store them in the fridge over night and use them the next day with no problem. Add some ice-cream scoops in your halves and grater some chocolate on top !

Enjoy !

Pizza Pancake

The combination may sound weird , pancake and pizza in the same plate but it turned out a nice dish and very easy to cook. The inspiration came from Pannekoek the Dutch style pancakes , the ones topped with bacon. The dish can be served for breakfast and dinner , both hot and cold. Actually I liked it better cold !

Ingredients

 

For the pancakes you will need :

Eggs

Milk

Flour

Salt & pepper

 

For the topping you will need:

ham

onion

mushrooms

olives

tomatoes

mozzarella

( any other ingredient that you like : pepperoni , chicken, sea-fruits, corn, salami or fresh herbs etc.)

Preheat the oven !  The ingredients for the pancake are beaten into a batter of a fairly liquid consistency , thicker than the one for normal pancakes. I didn't specify the quantities because it is up to you. For three persons I  used 3 eggs, about 1 cup of milk and flour till the batter got thick. When the batter is ready pour it into the pan which was previously coated with oil.

 

Add the toppings and put it in the oven. Simple !

Bake it  for about 25 minutes on 250°C. When is ready let it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it.

 

 

 Serve it hot or cold for breakfast or dinner !

Enjoy !

Banana, Caramel and Walnuts Ice-Cream

Continuing the ice-cream series , I am adding another flavors combination. Craving for more ice-cream and having some ripped bananas I have decided to make a banana, caramel and walnuts ice-cream.

For this recipe use the Plain Homemade Ice - Cream and three more ingredients :

• Bananas
• Caramel Sauce ( see recipe here )
• Walnuts

Puree the bananas  and stir them gently with the Plain Homemade Ice - Cream .

Add the Caramel Sauce  and the walnuts and incorporate them in your mixture.

Pour the ice-cream in a bowl then put it in the freezer. To avoid the ice formations , the ice-cream must be mixed occasionally at an interval of 30 minutes until hardens. From this quantity serves 3-4 persons a nice rich big cup each !  

Before serving take the ice-cream out of the freezer by 10-15 minutes so it will be easy to scoop it. Top it with some more caramel sauce and walnuts !

Enjoy !

Plain Homemade Ice - Cream

This ice-cream recipe can be used as a base for any other ice-cream adding  your favorite ingredients and flavors. It is a very creamy rich ice-cream and here is what you will need:

 

§  3 eggs

§  300 ml whipped cream

§  about 6 spoons of sugar ( more or less depending what flavor will be added )

§  a pinch of salt

The eggs, separate the whites from the yolks. Mix the yolks with about 3 spoons of sugar.

Mix the egg whites with the remaining sugar  ( remember that if you add ingredients that already are sweet enough , there is no need to add the rest of the remaining sugar) and a pinch of salt until obtaining a very thick foam.

Mix together the whipped cream , the yolks and egg whites foam.

Now it is up to personal choices what flavors and mixes to add for this ice-cream base! Later on, I am going to add different combinations recipes ! For now you can see maybe you would like Vanilla Ice Cream with Walnuts and Dried Plums !

Pour the ice-cream in a bowl then put it in the freezer. To avoid the ice formations , the ice-cream must be mixed occasionally at an interval of 30 minutes until hardens. From this quantity serves 3-4 persons a nice rich big cup each !  
Enjoy !

Caramel Sauce

"Caramel is sugar that has been taken just to the edge of burning.   

   Caramel's color reveals the extent to  which it is cooked.

The palest form is just concentrated sugar syrup. 

 The next stage is golden, followed by amber and dark." 

Martha Stewart

 

Probably you will read lots of recipes that state "do not use white sugar", " use only heavy cream", " do not use a spoon" etc., etc. , etc. Believe me, not everything must be that strict and this caramel sauce can be done exactly with just three main ingredients and is very delicious. Here is what you will need :

Ingredients :

 

 Half cup of sugar  ( any sugar )

2 spoons of butter

4 full spoons of whipped cream

  pinch of salt

 

 

Melt the sugar over high heat. It's very important to carefully watch the stove, as soon as the edges of the pan start caramelizing, immediately lower the heat to a medium low.  

 

 

 

 

Lower the heat to the lowest setting when there are only a few remaining non-caramelized pieces. Don't let the sugar get brown, otherwise you'll get a burnt taste.

 

 

 

When all the sugar is an amber color, remove from the heat, pause for about a minute, then slowly add the butter and salt. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Do not worry when the sugar hardens and keep on stirring.

 

 

 

Bring back to the stove using the lowest setting and add the whipping cream spoon by spoon.

 

 

When all the ingredients are well mixed , stop the stove and  let the sauce cool down.

 

 
 

From these quantities you will get a jar with caramel sauce.

 

 

It can be serve hot over ice cream although it will be thin, but thickens as it cools or refrigerate it overnight or up to several days.

 

 Enjoy !