Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

I'm sure you all know this feeling ... you come across a recipe - on another blog, in a book, in a magazine, wherever - and you're utterly captivated by it.  The picture makes it look beautiful, the recipe sounds great, but then somehow it just fails to live up to expectations, leaving you feeling more than a little disappointed.

So let me tell you - this ice cream was not good, not good at all.  Was I disappointed, however? - no, on the contrary, because this ice cream exceeded my expectations - it wasn't just good, it was fabulous.  I love ice cream any time of year (case in point, it is currently the middle of winter in my part of the world), and this ice cream offered the sweet freshness of blueberries (reminding me that summer will come again), the tang of lemon, and thanks to the buttermilk was surprisingly fresh and light.

How did I stumble across this frozen scoop of joy?  Well, as those of you who visit regularly will know, I like to play along at the Secret Recipe Club.  If that's new to you then let me explain.  The club has over a hundred members, divided into four groups, and each month one member is assigned (in secret) to another member from their group.  That person then selects a recipe (or more) to make, photograph, and prepare a blog post - all in secret.  Then everyone in the group posts their recipe on the same day, and of course the secret is then out.  It's a always a thrill to find out who has posted something from your own blog, and is a great way to meet and discover some new blogs.   If you are a food blogger and interested in joining the Secret Recipe Club, be sure to check out the Join SRC page.

This month I was assigned to A Calculated Whisk, hosted by the lovely Becky.  Becky's blog features loads of creative gluten free and paleo recipes, so I knew I would have no problem finding the kind of healthy food that I like to enjoy - even treat food that is on the healthy side.  Her blog features a great recipe index, which makes finding just what your heart desires ever so easy, and her passion for food styling and photography is evident in the gorgeous images that grace all her recipes.  With her love for good healthy eating and practising yoga, Becky and I clearly have a great deal in common - it's such a shame that a great ocean divides us, as I would love to be able to roll out my mat and do some yoga with Becky, before heading to the kitchen to whip up some special post-practice treats.  But stranger things have happened and who knows when the opportunity to do just that might arise.  Until then, I can keep Becky close in the kitchen by cooking some of her recipes, and I can tell you there are quite a few that have been bookmarked for the weeks ahead:  Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Cilantro Pesto, because cauliflower is one vegetable I can never get enough of;  Zucchini Lasagne, just take a look - you will want it too;  Kale & Bacon Quiches with Hash Brown Crust, hello?! - if you're not hooked at bacon, I defy you to get past the hash brown crust;  and Lemon Cheesecake Truffles, look so utterly divine I can't wait to try them.

But in the end, being the ice cream addict I am, I couldn't go past Becky's Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream, and I was certainly not disappointed.  This ice cream is light and luscious, and in the depths of winter reminded me of the possibility of summer days ahead.  I made very minimal changes to the original recipe.  Because the buttermilk is low in fat and there are no eggs in this recipe, Becky used gelatine in her version to add a little creaminess - I didn't have any gelatine on hand, but I did have half a can of sweetened condensed milk that needed to be used up, so I used that instead and cut back the honey in the original recipe a little bit.  Becky also used some lemon liqueur which I didn't have, so I subbed in a whole fresh lemon.  I hope you'll give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I am.

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
Adapted from this recipe
from A Calculated Whisk
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon honey
1x lemon, washed
2 cups frozen blueberries (do not defrost)
2/3 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of  sea salt

Place 1/2 cup of the buttermilk into a small saucepan and set over low heat and warm gently - keep an eye on it and do not allow the mixture to come to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the condensed milk and honey, stirring until dissolved.

Cut the lemon into smallish chunks, flick out any seeds, and then put all the lemon chunks (yes, skin and all) into the food processor and blitz until very finely chopped, almost a puree.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the food processor, along with the blueberries, cream, vanilla and salt.  Process until smooth, then transfer to a jug and refrigerate for a few hours.

Remove chilled mixture from the fridge and churn in an ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's instructions.  Dive in straight away, or transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze for several hours to firm up.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peach & Blueberry Pancakes

I've been on the waiting list for about a year to join the Secret Recipe Club, a cooking group where each month we are assigned another blog from which we will choose a recipe to make and write a post about.  This is done in secret (hence Secret Recipe Club), so no one knows who is cooking from which blog until everyone puts up their post on reveal day.

Anyway, after a long wait, I was very excited to get an email this month inviting me to participate, and sending me my assigned blog ... Kudos Kitchen by Renee.  This is a fantastic way to discover some new blogs, and more importantly get to know the lovely bloggers themselves.

Renee was definitely a "new-to-me" blogger, and it didn't take me much time browsing around her blog to realise that the hardest part of this challenge was going to be narrowing things down to just one recipe to make.  Renee has a lot of recipes which really took my fancy, and which have now been bookmarked to make in the near future.  But, with the last of the seasons golden queen peaches and blueberries to use up, Renee's Blueberry Peach Pancakes seemed like the perfect dish.

I did make a few minor changes.  I roughly halved the recipe as, unlike Renee, I didn't have a big family of hungry men to feed.  This still made easily enough for two (possibly three) for breakfast/brunch.  In the original recipe, Renee used a combination of plain flour and sprouted wheat flour - in the absence of sprouted wheat flour, I used all plain flour.  I left out ground flax seed and, in the absence of buttermilk, I used a combination of regular milk and yoghurt.  Lastly, I made the most of fresh seasonal fruit in place of frozen fruit.

These pancakes were delicious, so good in fact that I have made them again, and have even managed to freeze some peaches and blueberries so that I can make them again in the winter ahead.

Peach & Blueberry Pancakes Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Makes 2-3 generous servings

1-1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large, free-range egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups milk
2/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus extra for frying
1 cup blueberries, plus extra for serving
1x large peach, cut into smallish dice (about the same size as the blueberries)
maple syrup for serving

Sift together flour, cinnamon and baking powder in a large bowl.  Add the coconut sugar and salt, and mix well to combine.

Whisk the egg lightly in a separate bowl.  Add the vanilla, milk, yoghurt, and melted butter.  Whisk lightly to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.  Add the fruit and fold in gently.

Set a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, and add a tiny knob of butter.

Add spoonfuls of pancake batter to the pan.  Once bubbles start to appear around the edges and on the top side of the pancakes (about 1 minute), flip them over and cook until the underside is golden (approximately another minute).

Remove cooked pancakes to a serving platter and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes.

Once all the pancakes are cooked, add another generous knob of butter to the pan, along with the extra blueberries.  Cook over low heat just until the blueberries are warmed through, and starting to soften and release their juices.

To serve, spoon blueberries and their juice over the top of the pancakes, and drizzle liberally with maple syrup.

Hope you enjoy the pancakes as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peach & Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa

Are you sick of me and quinoa yet?  Well, I just couldn't close the chapter on this wonderful ingredient without sharing one more dish with you.  I've got to tell you that trying this one was stepping way out of my comfort zone, but that's what Make it with ..... Mondays is all about and I'm so thrilled that so many of you have really taken the challenge over the last couple of weeks and done just that.

I came across this recipe for Warm & Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa on Heidi Swanson's wonderful blog, 101 Cookbooks.  It looked so beautiful and tempting that I really wanted to try it for Make it with ..... Mondays challenge quinoa, but I have to admit that I was more than a little nervous about it.  You see the original recipe calls for cooking the quinoa in milk and water.  Well I hate milk, and two things that really make me gag are rice pudding (or any kind of vaguely "sweet" rice dish) and porridge.  Actually I can't even be in the same room as porridge - just the smell of it nearly makes me barf!  I'm sorry, but it's true - it's completely uncontrollable - put a bowl of porridge in front of me at your own peril.

So I was somewhat scared that this dish might turn out to be vaguely reminiscent of either of these dreaded dishes, but it looked so good in Heidi's photos I decided to "man-up" and give it a try.  I used almond milk instead of regular milk, and that added a lovely sweet nuttiness.  I thought about using coconut milk, and that would certainly be an option, if you prefer.  Like Heidi, I chose a red quinoa for this, but regular would be fine.  I also happened to have some beautiful, perfectly ripe peaches and blueberries on hand, so I used those instead of berries.  The other minor change I made was drizzling at the end with honey, instead of agave nectar.  I'm guessing that rice syrup or maple syrup would also work well.

The result was wonderful - not at all like any kind of porridge or rice pudding - the quinoa has a lovely nutty flavour (enhanced by the almond milk) and retains some chewiness.  The little bit of sweetness that comes through from the almond milk and honey, as well as the cinnamon, is a nice complement to the tangy, fresh fruit.  This was flavourful, filling and nourishing, without giving that feeling of heaviness that you can sometimes get after eating other cereals.  The second day, I ate this with a combination of blueberries, apricots and plums, which was also delicious.  I think pretty much any fruit would work in this, and even stewed, dried fruit in winter would be fine. Maybe banana and shaved coconut would also be good, especially if you used coconut milk as part of the cooking liquid.  You could also experiment with different nuts here - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, macadamias would all be good alternatives.

Peach & Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa Recipe

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Gluten-free, vegan option

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup red quinoa

(rinse thoroughly in lots of running water)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 fresh peaches, cubed

1/4 chopped pecans, toasted

2 teaspoons honey

(use agave nectar, maple syrup or rice syrup for vegan option)

Put quinoa, almond milk and water into a medium saucepan, set over high heat and bring to the boil.  Turn heat down to medium-low, cover and simmer until liquid is almost completely absorbed (about 15 minutes).  (Note:  I suggest you don't walk away - the milk bubbles up a lot, and makes a horrible mess if it boils over.  I found I had to leave the lid of my pan slightly ajar, and lift it off at regular intervals.  Maybe I should have used a slightly bigger pan.)

Remove pan from the heat, and allow it to stand, covered, for 5 minutes.  Stir in the cinnamon and then the fresh fruit.  Transfer to serving bowls, top with the toasted pecans, and drizzle with honey.

Delicious while still warm, but also just as good cold the next day.  If desired, you could reheat briefly in the microwave the next day, and you may also want to add a little extra milk to loosen.

This post is a contribution to Make it with ... Mondays challenge quinoa - the linky is still open until Monday 31 January, so keep your quinoa posts coming, and don't forget to check out this week's special ingredient which is paprika.

I'm also linking this to the Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent Blog Hop and to next week's Hearth & Soul Blog Hop, also to the Fit Foodista February Blog Carnival.

Saffron & Blueberry Champagne Jelly & a "Making it with ..... Mondays" Update

I want to begin this post by thanking so many of you for your encouragement and enthusiasm for my new blog event "Making it with ..... Mondays", which kicked off this week with challenge saffron.  As I mentioned on Monday when I announced this event, I want this to be about expanding my own culinary knowledge, skills and experience, and I want to encourage you to do the same.  I want you to really explore each week's ingredient;  challenging yourself to use or try an ingredient you don't use very often;  maybe seeking out suitable alternatives, and discussing them in your post, if it's an ingredient that is not readily available to you;  or, maybe trying to come up with more unusual ways to use the ingredient if it's something you use regularly.

So, in order to really help you get the most out of this event and really participate in it fully, I have decided first of all to extend the length of time for which each "linky" will be open from one week to two weeks - so, just to be perfectly clear, there will be a new ingredient challenge announced each week and the linky for that ingredient will be open for two weeks.  I will also add the linky to any further relevant posts I put up during that time, so you don't necessarily have to try and find your way back through two weeks worth of posts to find the right linky.   I thought you might also find it useful to know what's coming up, so that you can really think ahead and maybe work these ingredients into posts you might be preparing for other events - we are all busy people and there is nothing wrong with a post that does double duty.

So, here we go, just to tantalise your tastebuds and stimulate your imaginations, this is the "Make it with ..... Mondays" schedule for the next four weeks:

Week commencing Monday 10 January - we're making it with vanilla
Week commencing Monday 17 January - we're making it with quinoa
Week commencing Monday 24 January - we're making it with paprika

Week commencing Monday 7 February - we're making it with Nutella

Thanks so much to those of you who have already posted up a link for challenge saffron - the link for this will now be open until midday Monday 17 January, and remember that you may link as many posts as you like as long as they include the special ingredient;  the link for challenge vanilla will be open 2.00pm Monday 10 January.

Now, back to challenge saffron.  As I mentioned the other day, I'm no stranger to saffron - I always have it in my pantry - but I have always used it in savoury dishes, such as risottos and pasta dishes.  So this week I've been enjoying exploring the use of this wonderful ingredient in less predictable ways.  Earlier in the week, I made this Saffron Fruit-and-Nut Bread which was a great success - the earthy saffron flavour, combined with the rich, buttery, fruity bread was intriguing and it was great to enjoy saffron in a slightly sweeter incarnation, which got me wanting to explore that a little more.  At the same time I had been playing around with some leftover Prosecco after New Year's Eve and turning it into jelly - which really got me thinking that a saffron jelly might be pretty interesting.  This is what I came up with.

Saffron & Blueberry Champagne Jelly Recipe

Serves 4 - 6

8 sheets of leaf gelatine

bowl of cold water

750ml bottle of Prosecco (or other sparkling wine or champagne)

100g caster sugar

scant pinch of saffron threads (about 10-12 threads)

juice of 1 lemon

fresh blueberries

Put about 125ml of the Prosecco into a small pot, along with the sugar, saffron threads and lemon juice, set over low-medium heat, and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is hot.  Set aside for about 15 minutes to allow the saffron to infuse - the liquid will turn a deepish golden colour.

Meanwhile put the gelatine sheets into the bowl of cold water - a wide, shallow bowl is best and the quantity of water doesn't matter.  The water won't be going into the jelly, it is purely for soaking the gelatine.

Leave it to soften for about 10 minutes.

Return the pan of champagne and saffron to the heat and bring back up to not-quite-boiling.  Remove the gelatine from the cold water - it will look like this ....

Squeeze out any excess water and add to the pan.  Whisk constantly until the gelatine has completely dissolved.  Remove from the heat, pour through a sieve into a clean bowl (or jug is even better), and allow to cool - reserve the saffron threads which will have gathered in the sieve.

Pour the rest of the Prosecco into the cooled saffron mixture, stir, and leave until it is completely cold and almost at setting point.

At this stage you can choose either to use one single bowl/mould or individual moulds, as I did.  Pour just enough of the liquid jelly to fill the moulds to a depth of about 0.5cm (1/4 inch) and set a ring of blueberries into the jelly - you are looking for just enough of the liquid to hold the blueberries in place but without allowing them to float.  You might also want to put one or two of those reserved saffron strands (tweezers are useful for this) in the middle - refer tasting notes below.  Put this into the fridge to set, keeping the rest of your jelly liquid at room temperature.

Once this has set (10-20 minutes), remove from the fridge, pour another layer of the liquid into the moulds - just enough to now cover the blueberries completely.  Return to the fridge to set - about another 10 minutes.  Remove and now fill the moulds to the desired level.

After the jelly has been completely set, you can unmould by very briefly dipping the mould into a bowl of warm water, place a serving plate over the top of the mould, and invert.

Tasting notes:  Even though I used less saffron than I might ordinarily use in a savoury dish, the flavour was still quite powerful, and initially although I thought it was interesting I can't say it "wowed" me - until I got a spoonful that had a blueberry in it as well!  The whole mouthful of saffron/champagne jelly and blueberry really worked and was a really nice combo.  Interestingly, I served this, as you can see, with some fresh mint leaves and blueberries - when I scooped up a bit of the plain jelly with one of the fresh blueberries on the plate it didn't taste as good as the blueberries which were actually in the jelly.  Also the bit of the jelly right in the middle, where the saffron strands are, didn't really appeal - it was just too intense for my palate - so, this is a pretty touch, but does nothing to enhance the taste, in my opinion.

So the final verdict - yes, I will try this again.  I think next time maybe just one or two less saffron threads, more lemon juice (I can taste the hint of lemon in here and I think a little more would really make this sing);  I would take the time to layer lots more blueberries into this;  and, personally, I wouldn't bother with those saffron strands in the middle.

The real bottom line for me, though, is that I got excited enough to explore an ingredient in a way I hadn't tried before, and I felt inspired to experiment and push my creative boundaries rather than just following a recipe.  Although it wasn't 100% successful, it was at about 85% and I don't mind sharing that, because this is the very essence of what I want "Make it with ..... Mondays" to be all about.  I want to develop the forum, the discussion, the exchange of ideas and knowledge;  so, if you have any suggestions as to how I could have made this better, I would love to hear from you.  When I posted my Saffron Fruit-and-Nut Bread a few days ago, I got a comment from Dan at The Haggis & The Herring telling me he really liked the idea and he would like dates in it - I couldn't agree more, dates would be great, especially with a bit of orange zest and juice, and so now I have another idea for a loaf of bread.  When we exchange these ideas we not only grow as individuals, but we also grow a "community".

If you have your own post using saffron that you would like to link up with "Make it with ..... Mondays" # 1 challenge saffron, you can do that at the bottom of this page, or here.

Also, don't forget about the free copy of the How to Cook Everything iPhone application which I'm giving away - full details here.  All comments and/or posts linked here automatically get an entry.