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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Going green



I never gave much thought to pregnancy cravings.  When I was pregnant with Brianna, the biggest food issue I had was actually an aversion, rather than a craving.  I didn't want much of anything to do with meat.  Any kind.  I can remember sitting in our living room on Thanksgiving (at 7 months pregnant), giving direction to Jamie and our friend Paul as they were in the kitchen trying to cook the turkey.  I had more or less told them that if they wanted turkey, they'd have to make it themselves.  It was interesting.  =)  I did have a bit of a craving toward the end, for Nestle butterscotch chips.  Normally I find them incredibly sweet, but I went through several bags over the last couple months before Brianna was born, eating them straight up (not even in cookies or anything).

With Gillian, though, I really got a taste of the whole crazy craving thing.  I was pregnant with G during a Texas summer.  So it wouldn't seem unusual that I might eat a little ice cream.  Well, it's safe to say I ate more than a little.  Not that I ate a lot at one time, it was just a scoop or so a day.  For months.  Like, about four months.  Only one flavor--HEB Creamy Creations mint chocolate chip.  It's a lovely pale green color, with the best bits of chocolate in it.  I ate that ice cream every single day for months.  I'm afraid to even think about just how many gallons of it I consumed over the summer, one scoop at a time.  Jamie would suggest other flavors once in a while, but the only one I really wanted was mint chocolate chip.  After G was born, the craving went away, and I've only occasionally eaten it in the four years since.


Now to be fair, part of that is because I hardly ever buy ice cream anymore.  It's too much fun to make my own. =)  This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe gave me another good opportunity to play around with ice cream.  Katrina of Baking and Boys picked the delicious Ganache Ice Cream for us to make this week.  I know it's delicious because I've made it several times before.  The first time was almost exactly 2 years ago, when I blogged about it as part of an event for World Breastfeeding Week.  Since then I've made it quite a few times, playing around with different additions.  I was having a hard time deciding what variation to make for this post, then I had a great idea.  Chocolate mint chip.

No, that's not quite the same as mint chocolate chip.  In this case, I added mint chips to chocolate ice cream, rather than the other way around.  The idea was partly inspired by my blogging friend Tracey.  A while back, she mentioned that she likes Guittard Green Mint Chips, but has a hard time finding them.  That reminded me that I had some stashed away in my pantry.  (I can sometimes find them here, mainly during the holidays.)  Ever since then, I've been looking for something good to use them in.  They seemed like the perfect addition for this ice cream!  The only thing that worried me was that full-size chips can be hard to eat--literally--in ice cream.  So I used a tip that I learned from Alice Medrich for making homemade chocolate chunks.  You melt the chocolate (I used 115g, or about 4 ounces), spread it on a sheet of parchment paper, and freeze it.  Then you chop the sheet of chocolate into small bits and keep them in the freezer until you're ready to add them to the ice cream.  The only other addition I made to the ice cream was a couple tablespoons of rum.  I find that most chocolate ice creams freeze very hard, and a bit of alcohol helps make it easier to scoop.


The verdict?  Mmm, we really enjoyed this flavor.  The chocolate ice cream itself has a really great texture.  (It's almost pudding-like when melted.)  Jamie said that he thought it had a nice balance between the chocolate and mint flavors.  I don't feel the need to eat this compulsively, but it won't be at all difficult to eat the rest of the quart.  Brianna and Gillian like all chocolate ice cream, and this was no exception, so I'm sure they'll help with what's left. =)

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, you can find it on Katrina's blog.  And be sure to check out this week's links to the other TWD bakers to see what fun they had with this ice cream.


11 comments:

  1. I have never seen these green chips before. How awesome!! ANd in the choco ice cream. YUM!! And thanks for the chocolate tip. Have to try that next time!! You always have such great idea.

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  2. Oh, Di, could you send some of that to my house?? That looks delicious! Mint chocolate chip is my absolute favorite (pregnant or not). May have to bring out the ol' ice cream maker . . . . . =)

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  3. Mmm, mint and chocolate are a great combo. I think I have some of those green chips stashed away, too.

    I like melting chocolate and then drizzling it in at the end of churning, it makes perfect thin little chips instead of big chips that are hard to bite. I like your way, too.

    Thanks for churning along with me this week.

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  4. What a great story, Di! I've made this one a few times before and it's a favorite around here. Your mint chips are so ingenious! I'm glad you're enjoying it and the sweet memories it brings back (well, except for the turkey!)

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  5. I love the look of the green chips. I happen to be a fan of mint ice cream with chocolate chips but I think I could easily be a fan of the reverse.

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  6. i love your story! and i want some of that ice cream:)

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  7. I really enjoyed this post, Di. I liked reading about the cravings and aversions when you were PG. So funny how the body works, isn't it? Your ice cream looks fantastic.

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  8. How very funny...... I have 2 bags of Guittard mint chips in my basement (World Market closeouts) - guess I need to put them to use. LOVE your post and the variation - who doesn't love mint chocolate??? :

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  9. I think this looks like a great idea. I also think the fact that you had the guys take care of that turkey is just awesome. It's good for them! :)

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  10. I remember the pregnancy cravings all too well. With Sabrina, it was peanut m&m's!

    I really love the tip about melting the chocolate down and breaking it up - I'm definitely going to do that next time - because the chips do freeze too hard and I'm always afraid I'll break a tooth!

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  11. I craved Subway when I was pregnant with my son and I can barely stomach it now!

    I'm behind in my reading/comments and just went through and saw we put the same chips in our ice cream! Yum!

    I love that you made the guys do the turkey. Awesome.

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