Apple ice cream

I first thought about making this when I first had a conversation with Betty. I'd mentioned that I bought an ice cream maker, so she asked if she'd have many choices of ice cream when she visits me... anyway, she said she didn't have any favorites for ice cream, so I asked her what her favorite dessert was, and she told me it was fruit custard. Since ice cream can be frozen custard (if I use eggs), it wouldn't be a stretch at all to make ice cream with a variety of fruits. Two that came immediately to mind were apples and oranges (more specifically, mandarin oranges, AKA tangerines). I guess that's kind of cliché.

This turned out better than the tangerine ice cream I made earlier (I'll have to try and improve that recipe next time).


2 Granny Smith apples
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Peel and core the apples. Dice half an apple, and purée the rest. Juice half a lemon and combine with the diced apple, then stir in a little bit of sugar. Set aside and allow to macerate.

Combine the apple purée, sugar, cinnomon, salt, and vanilla extract with a blender on low, for about 2-3 minutes to dissolve the sugar. Combine with heavy cream.

Turn on ice cream maker, and pour in the mixture, as well as the sugar/lemon juice mixture used to macerate the diced apples. When the ice cream is nearly set (20-25 minutes in ice cream maker), add the diced apples. Continue churning for another 5 minutes, or until set.

Move to container and freeze for 2-5 hours for hard set. Earlier (or none at all) for soft serve.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

Chicken nugget redux

Tonight marked my 3rd attempt at a convection-oven baked version of Taiwanese chicken nuggets (鹽酥雞). It's a slightly different recipe that I found online (plus my own changes), and in my second attempt, I added eggs as a test, and also tried some with a batter. As I expected, batters don't work well with the convection oven, as they mostly dripped away (like the fat from the bacon). Aside from that, the eggs created a texture I didn't particularly like (probably would have worked better fried). This third try turned out pretty well.


My modified recipe:

4 pieces of skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or similarly portioned chicken breasts)
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon of rice wine (FYI: 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of 5-spice powder
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
5 tablespoons of sweet potato powder (coarse)

Small pinch of salt
Small dash of sesame oil
Chopped basil leaves (to taste)
Ground white pepper
Pam cooking spray or olive oil

Create marinade mixing soy sauce, rice wine, minced garlic, 5-spice powder, sugar, black pepper, salt, sesame oil, and basil leaves. Cut the chicken into bitesize pieces, and marinate for at least 2 hours (I let it marinate overnight).

In a plate or pan, fill with sweet potato powder. Take the chicken pieces from the marinade and coat each with the powder. (Most sweet potato powder packs you get from the Chinese market should be coarse, although there are also fine varieties--I made the mistake of getting these for my second attempt, without looking carefully at the package, so be sure you check the package carefully prior to purchase.)

Brush grills with olive oil or spray non-stick cooking spray. Bake in convection oven for 30 minutes at 400°F, turning over halfway through. If, after 20 minutes, any of the sweet potato powder are still white, brush with some olive oil to get them to "cook."

(Alternatively, you can deep fry the nuggets in peanut oil, heated to around 350°F, for about 5 minutes.)

Sprinkle ground white pepper over the nuggets, and serve.