Salep Ice Cream

My girlfriend sent me this recipe saying I must must must try this ice cream. I have never tried preparing ice cream at home. But this is a Turkish ice cream that I miss dearly, and I never even knew that I could prepare it at home, so I had to give it a try.

According to Wikipedia 2 features distinguish Turkish ice cream: texture and resistance to melting. It is much tougher and chewier than that of the ice cream used in sundaes, gelato or commercially produced ice cream; the unusual texture is produced by the use of salep and mastic resin as thickening agents, together with other flavorings.

Salep is finely ground dried tubers of locally-found wild orchids which makes the ice cream chewy. It’s possible to find it on-line from Turkish markets. And the ingredient called mastic can be found at Greek or Turkish markets on-line. You can prepare this ice cream without using mastic but it makes a great difference in taste, so try to find it.

The original recipe had 1,5 cups of sugar, and I decided to use 1 cup because I don't really like dessert that is too sweet. I prefer salty over sweet anytime. But even then, this ice cream was very sweet for me. So, next time I'm planning on using maybe 2/3 cups of sugar instead of 1 cup.

If you don't have an ice cream maker you can prepare it manually, it does take some time to prepare it, but the taste is so worth it. Yummmmm:)

SALEP ICE CREAM

Ingredients:
4 cups whole milk
1 cups sugar
2 tablespoons salep
1 teaspoon of ground mastic

Directions:
Grind the mastic: Mastic is usually sold in drops of resin which can stick to the mortar and pestle during grinding. To avoid, freeze mastic for 15 minutes before using and place it along with 1-2 tablespoons of the sugar in the mortar. Grind it with a pestle.

Mix the dry ingredients.

In a pan start warming up the milk. When it starts boiling add the dry ingredients.

Keep stirring until the milk gets close to cream consistency, about 5-8 minutes.

Let cool. Keep stirring while cooling to speed it up.

If using an ice cream maker: When cooled, transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Without ice cream maker: Transfer to a metal container, cover with tightly fitting lid or foil and place in freezer. Every half hour, remove from freezer, transfer to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until frothy. Quickly place back in the metal container and put in the freezer. Repeat three more times.

If you don't have a hand mixer use a wooden spoon to mix.

Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

Coffee Ice Cream and Mexican Chocolate Sundaes with Cinnamon-Sugar Tortilla Crisps

This recipe from Bon Appetit uses store bought ice cream and just adds some extras to it.

You don't necessarily have to use coffee ice cream, but it does taste good with the crisps. And these crisps are really easy to put together and they make a great presentation.

The sauce is a lot, so if you want adjust the ingredients for it, or it makes great leftover sauce that you can use wherever you want to use chocolate sauce. I'm ok with the extra:)

Taste the sauce and see if you need extra cinnamon, I usually end up adding just a little bit more.

COFFEE ICE CREAM AND MEXICAN CHOCOLATE SUNDAES WITH CINNAMON-SUGAR TORTILLA CRISPS

Ingredients:
Sauce:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup hot water
2 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Tortilla crisps:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 8-inch-diameter flour tortillas
1 1/2 quarts coffee ice cream Fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Directions:
For sauce:
Whisk cream, 1/4 cup hot water, and espresso powder in heavy small saucepan to blend. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in cinnamon. (Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm sauce over low heat just until pourable before using.)

For tortilla crisps:
Mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl to blend. Spread butter mixture evenly over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Place wedges on 2 baking sheets, buttered side up, spacing apart. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover with foil; let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake tortillas uncovered until crisp, puffed, and golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven.

Place large scoop of ice cream in each of 8 dessert glasses. Drizzle warm chocolate sauce over. Stand 4 tortilla crisps in each glass. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired, and serve.

Makes 8 servings.