HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY SORBET— LOW-FAT AND FABULOUS

What kind of a treat do you serve at an LDS (Mormon) Young Women activity after you've had a lesson on healthy eating?

I wasn't going to make brownies or even homemade ice cream, that's for sure!


I planned to use my new Freeze & Play Ice Cream Freezer ball (that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago) to make a low-calorie, nutrition-packed strawberry sorbet. But I realized it wouldn't make enough to feed the class.
So, I pulled out my electric ice cream maker. I never thought I'd like making homemade ice cream until a few years ago.  It just seemed like a hassle, with all the mixing and pouring and packing with rock salt and ice.

But, when I did a story on homemade ice cream for the Deseret News a few years ago, I had to buy an ice cream maker. Since I was footing the bill and didn't think I'd ever use it again, I got the cheapest one I could find -- a $19.95 special.

But while doing the story I discovered it wasn't as big of a hassle as I thought. Although I don't make ice cream frequently, I've probably gotten my money's worth from the machine, and it's still cranking away.   

For me, it's most valuable in making fruit sorbets that satisfy your sweet tooth, but are fat-free and actually good for you. And I've developed a few recipes that are pretty easy to do. 

With this strawberry sorbet, you don't have to peel, pit or chop anything.  I used frozen strawberries and bottled lemon juice, which are pretty economical. You don't even have to add sugar because the syrup-packed berries and the jam add plenty of sweetness.  The pectin in the jam gives the sorbet a more pliable texture, instead of being icy like a snow-cone.  And with Independence Day coming up, the color matches the red, white and blue theme perfectly. 

STRAWBERRY SORBET

2 16-ounce packages frozen strawberries, thawed
1 16-ounce container frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, partially thawed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup strawberry jam

Puree the strawberries, lemon juice and jam in blender. You should have about 6-7 cups of sorbet mixture. Pour into the container of an ice cream machine.  Churn using the manufacturer's directions. In my ice cream machine, I place ice and rock salt around the sorbet-filled container, and allow the mixture to churn for about 45-60 minutes, or until mixture is thick and partially firm. Scoop into a plastic container and transfer to the freezer for several hours. 

Makes about 2 quarts.

PLAY & FREEZE ICE CREAM MAKER

I've been waiting to try out the Mega Ball Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker, but Northern Utah hasn't had much ice cream weather.  This is the first Memorial Day that I can remember where it snowed!

Grandson Anthony Balducci with the ice cream maker.    Photo by Valerie Phillips

The weather forced us to call off our camping trip, and our family ended up having an indoor picnic Sunday afternoon.  So it seemed a good time to try out a new ice cream gadget.

Every so often companies will send me products to try out. About a month ago, I received a big blue hard-plastic ball in the mail. It reminded me of a space ship, or a soccer ball on steroids, but it's  an ice cream maker.  You put cream, vanilla and sugar in the middle cyclinder, and surround it with ice and rock salt. Then you're supposed to "play" with the ball, pass it around, let everyone roll it or shake it, until the cream freezes.  

Grandson Anthony with the ice cream maker.     Photo by Valerie Phillips

I gave it to my 9-year-old grandson, Anthony, and my son Lonn, to move around.  They first tried kicking it, but it's too heavy  -- about 9 pounds when full of ice and cream. And there's a warning on the box not to kick or throw it hard, because the ball could break. So could your toe!

Partially frozen ice cream.            Photo by Valerie Phillips

After about a 20 minutes, Anthony and Lonn had lost interest, so I opened up the canister to check.  the cream was thickening around the walls of the canister, but still soft in the middle.  I stirred it up as the directions advised, then resealed the canister.  We rolled and shook it around for about 15 more minutes, until it was the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. We could have waited longer to see if it would harden more, but everyone was getting hungry just to try it. It tasted great; more like a milkshake.

 This is a fun novelty and a conversation starter for a party, especially when the guests ask, "What can I do to help?" 

And it would be good for camping, when you need to kids to burn off some energy and stay busy.  But since it only makes a quart (four cups) of ice cream, it won't feed too many people.  In the future,  I'll use my electric ice cream maker as well as the Mega-Ball so we'll have plenty of ice cream to go around.  

Depending on where you buy it, the Mega-Ball Ice Cream Maker costs around $20- $25. There's also a smaller version, but it only makes 2 cups of ice cream. 

Prince William's Wedding Cake and the Royal Chef

News that Prince William chose a Chocolate Biscuit Cake for his groom’s cake was probably no surprise to the chef who cooked for the Royal Family for many years, Darren McGrady. 

In fact, McGrady has a recipe for Chocolate Biscuit Cake in his cookbook, “Eating Royally” and mentions that it is also Queen Elizabeth’s favorite tea cake. In British terminology, “biscuits” are the American version of cookies. The cake is made with broken-up McVities Rich Tea Biscuits, butter, sugar, dark chocolate, and an egg.
 “Eating Royally” offers a peek into the palaces where McGrady spent 11 years cooking for Queen Elizabeth II and four years as Princess Diana’s personal chef. 

When the book came out several years ago, I took the opportunity to do a telephone interview with McGrady. He referred fondly to the princess as “The Boss,” and said that after she died, he turned down a job offer from Prince Charles and Camilla. "I think I would have forever felt Princess Diana looking down on me saying,'You are not going to cook for that woman, are you?"'

As Will and Kate tie the knot, many of us remember the last fairy tale wedding and the princess who didn’t end up living “happily ever after” with her handsome prince. 

McGrady was hired as a junior cook at Buckingham Palace shortly after Prince Charles and Diana married. When they separated, Diana offered him the job to cook for her and her sons at Kensington Palace. He found Diana's kitchen more relaxed, where William and Harry could wander in for ice cream and eat it out of the container while sitting in the windowsill.

"You didn't get that at Buckingham Palace. If the boys wanted ice cream, the Queen would call her page, who in turn would call the head chef. The head chef would call the pastry kitchen and the pastry chef would in turn call the silver pantry for some silver dishes to present it on. The ice cream would be formed into decorated quenelle shapes and placed in the silver dessert dish. Then it was off to the linen room to get the proper napkin."

The books is sprinkled with anecdotes about the young princes — their sneaky water gun attacks on the unsuspecting chefs, their attempt to make "Mummy's" her favorite stuffed eggplant, and Prince Harry’s forged note requesting pizza for dinner (his eight-year-old handwriting gave him away).

Diana's favorite dessert was Bread and Butter Pudding. "It's a cross between a pudding and creme brulee, a real nursery comfort food," McGrady said. "She couldn't resist going for seconds." A favorite savory dish was eggplant stuffed with zucchini, bell pepper, celery, onion, mushrooms, bacon and mozzarella.

He said he walked away from an earlier book deal because he wouldn't divulge "juicy gossip" of Diana's love life. "I didn't want to go that route -- never have, never will."

Indeed.  Any "juicy" references are saved for Windsor Castle's hothouse peaches or Balmoral's raspberries.

After Diana's death, McGrady decided to move "across the Pond," and became a chef for a Dallas socialite family. He also teaches cooking classes and maintains a Web site, www.theroyalchef.com.

 Profits from his book went to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. "I wanted it to be something that would make money for the causes she cared about,” he told me. “It was never about cashing in."

CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE

Prep: 25 minutes
Chill: 3 hours
Servings: 8

This recipe from Darren McGrady's "Eating Royally" cookbook calls for McVitie's Rich Tea Biscuits. They can be bought at specialty food shops or ordered through Amazon.com. 

8 ounces tea biscuits or cookies
 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
 1/2 cup granulated sugar
12 ounces dark chocolate
1 egg, beaten
1 ounce white chocolate

Lightly grease a small (6-inch) cake ring or springform pan with butter. Place on a parchment-lined tray. Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces; set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until a light lemon color.

Melt 4 ounces of the dark chocolate in a double boiler. Off the heat, add the butter and sugar mixture, stirring constantly. Add the egg; continue stirring. Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all the gaps on the bottom of the ring, because this will be the top when it is unmolded. Refrigerate, at least 3 hours.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator; let it stand while you melt the remaining 8 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler. Slide the ring off the cake; turn the cake upside-down onto a cooling rack. Pour the melted chocolate over the cake, smoothing the top and sides using a butter knife or offset spatula. Allow the icing to set at room temperature. Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where it has stuck to the cooling rack, transfer the cake to a cake dish. Melt the white chocolate; drizzle on top of the cake in a decorative pattern. — "Eating Royally," by Darren McGrady 

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

This was Diana's all-time favorite, so much so that she once had a royal reporter write that "Darren makes the best bread and butter pudding in the world."

3 ounces raisins

1/4 cup Amaretto liqueur (or 1 teaspoon almond extract plus enough water to equal 1/4 cup)

12 slices white bread, crusts removed

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

9 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla paste

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar to dust top of pudding

3 ounces sliced almonds, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Soak raisins in Amaretto, leave covered with plastic wrap at room temperature 6-8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut four slices of the bread into 1/ 2-inch dice, and spread diced bread on the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins on top of the bread cubes and pour any remaining liquid over the bread.

Cut the remaining eight slices of bread in half diagonally, and then cut each half slice in half diagonally to create 4 even triangles per slice. Dip triangles into the butter and arrange on top of the raisins, overlapping triangles slightly. Pour any remaining butter over the top of the bread.

Whisk yolks, vanilla paste and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, and pour the hot mix onto the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the warm egg mixture over the bread, making sure all of the bread is coated, and set aside for 20 minutes to allow the egg mixture to soak into the bread.

Place the casserole dish in a roasting tray filled with hot water halfway up the sides of the casserole dish, and bake on the middle rack in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top with the filling just set.

Remove the dish from the oven and roasting tray, and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Broil or use a creme brulee torch to caramelize the sugar. Sprinkle with the toasted sliced almonds, and dust with powdered sugar. Cool slightly and serve warm with a jug of cream and some fresh berries. -- "Eating Royally," by Darren McGrady