Friends Food Family

Seriously Good Premium Ice Cream - Trends in Ice Cream 2017

Meet Dr. Raymond Mis - The creator of Seriously Good Premium Ice Cream. Trends in Ice Cream 2017 - Seriously Good, Seriously Gone!

Jeff and I got to meet Dr. Ray Mis at Lee's Market in Westport, MA during a recent taste testing of his Seriously Good Premium Ice Cream. When Jeff and I arrived, we got to sample some of the new ice cream flavors. Presently, they offer 5 different flavors of ice cream; Vanilla, Vanilla Flake, Chocolate, Chocolate Flake and Coffee. Even though I am a serious chocoholic, I tasted the coffee ice cream first, which was delicious and then quickly reached for my second tasting of chocolate flake. Jeff went with his all time favorite, vanilla and then tasted the vanilla flake. He thought both were creamy and very tasty. 

So, how did we end up at this Saturday morning taste test? My story starts 10 years ago when I worked as a Senior Business Advisor for the MA Small Business Development Center. During that time, we had an innovation consultant named Elizabeth Pierotti of The Inventing Life. When we had clients who had innovative ideas they were looking to develop, we would have them book an appointment with Elizabeth. She was, and still is, amazing when it comes to bringing new and innovative products to market from concept to delivery.

Fast forward to January 2017 and I received an email from Elizabeth. She is working with Dr. Ray on his premium ice cream product. What makes this ice cream different from others on the market is the benefits. They use clean labeling, it's gluten free, non-GMO and it also contains fiber. Bet you didn't think you could get 5-6 grams fiber while eating ice cream?

Along with all natural products, one of the ingredients in the ice cream is organic agave inulin. By definition, organic agave inulin is -

"extracted from all natural organic blue agave, this powder is an excellent source of dietary fiber and acts as a prebiotic to support intestinal health."

Elizabeth knew I was a food blogger and asked if we might come to Lee's and try some of the ice cream since it is only available in limited markets. When Jeff and I were leaving they asked if we would like to take some home and give it a "seriously good" taste testing. We left with a pint of each flavor and over the past week, we have been devouring every bit. Between Jeff and I, he is more of an ice cream connoisseur than I am; he definitely ate more than me. But, I did have fun eating scoops of coffee and chocolate flake in the evening after dinner.

So, our review of the ice creams:

Jeff thought all the ice cream was delicious, he especially loved the vanilla and vanilla flake. 

"If you can create a really good vanilla, you can corner the market. This vanilla is amazing."

My son, Stephen, thought it was really good. He loved the creaminess of the ice cream.

"I liked the chocolate flake the best, the coffee was good, too."

I really liked the chocolate and coffee flavors. Anything that brings my two favorites together is a hit for me. I loved the creaminess and intensity of flavor.

We can't wait for Seriously Good Ice Creams to be available near us. I know this is a family favorite that will never be around for long. I think it took us a week to eat 5 pints of ice cream.

It truly is Seriously GOOD...with benefits!

Note: A portion of the profits directly support the education of blind children. Friends Food Family is not being paid for this review.

 

Blueberries and Cream - Blueberry Ice Cream

July is National Blueberry Month. Local farm stands and grocery stores are starting to stock freshly picked blueberries as the season has begun. We have a farm near us, C.N. Smith Farm, where we normally pick our blueberries. Next weekend, we will head over to grab a few batches for this season's blueberry recipes.

Over the holiday, we had a few guests come over for lunch and dinner. We decided to make some ice cream and Lemon Vodka Sorbet and Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream were on our list. We thought it could be the amazing pairing of two cold treats.

One of the best kitchen gadgets we purchased, in the past few years, is an ice cream maker. When our friends, Sharon and Bryan arrived, Brian thought the ice cream machine was the neatest thing. He had never seen the process of making ice cream. Because our machine is open at the top, you can taste the ice cream while it is setting. This is always fun when there are guests around...everyone gets a spoon and a taste.

The initial part of making the blueberries and cream ice cream, making the puree, was easy. I would suggest making it the night before as it takes about an hour, with cooling time, and the mixture can refrigerated overnight. Adding the cream and lemon juice and the mixing in the ice cream machine means another 30 minutes. If you can give the ice cream 2-3 hours to set in the freezer (after mixing) you will be ready to go. 

After cleaning up dinner, we sat down to finish the evening with our blueberries and cream ice cream. I was laughing as I was trying to decide on how to tell you what our friends thought. So, here it is...

Comments and Reviews: (From the first batch!)

"Amazing!", "Probably the best ice cream you've ever made!", "Better than real blueberries!", "Will you make more?"

We hope this inspires you to try making a batch of ice cream. Not only is it easy, the process is entertaining and the results are delicious! Or should I say Blueberri-lious!

This recipe was adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream Cookbook.

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries

3/4 cup of water

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place the blueberries, water and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once it has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 minute.

2. Remove from heat and allow the flavor to blend together, about 30 minutes.

3. Transfer the mixture to a food processor, blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

4. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 3-24 hours.

5. When ready to make the ice cream, add the cream and lemon juice to the chilled blueberry puree. Mix to combine.

6. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

7. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container and cover tightly. Freeze until firm.

Scoop and enjoy!

I Scream, You Scream - Double Chocolate Ice Cream

We can not procrastinate any longer.

We have made three different types of ice cream over the past few weeks and we have been slacking on the blogging. So, we wanted to get this recipes out before the weekend comes so that you can enjoy the hot temperatures with a cool treat!

Last weekend, we went strawberry picking at C.N. Smith Farms in Bridgewater. We came home with dreams of strawberry grandeur; strawberry ice cream, strawberry and rhubarb crumble as well as our favorite Visitandine with Strawberries - Better than Strawberry Shortcake. As much as I like strawberries, if we are making ice cream, we have two ice cream machines, why not make a second batch. Strawberry may be Jeff's favorite but chocolate ice cream is mine!

We have two great ice cream cookbooks, my favorite is the William-Sonoma Ice Cream Cookbook. It has traditional recipes which are great for base flavors like vanilla, chocolate, coffee and strawberry. The reason we are highlighting the chocolate ice cream over the strawberry was because the strawberry ice cream didn't turn out that great. The double chocolate ice cream was made with cream, milk, sugar, egg yolks and cocoa, very similar to a pudding or custard. The strawberry recipe (which was a recipe I found on the internet) had four basic ingredients; cream, sugar, strawberries and vanilla. When we placed the strawberry mixture in the ice cream machine it became light and fluffy, similar to frozen whipped cream. The chocolate was deliciously rich and creamy, the strawberry was light and airy, and the flavor was lacking. We should have stuck with the original recipe from the William-Sonoma book. As much as the strawberry ice cream wasn't anything we wanted to blog about...there were no complaints about either dessert as they magically disappeared at the end of two days.

Since summer officially kicked off today, I Scream, You Scream - Double Chocolate Ice Cream. It takes a bit of work, but worth it in the end!

Adapted from William-Sonoma Ice Cream Cookbook - Double Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups of whole milk

1-1/2 cups of heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Preparation:

1. In a heavy sauce pan, combine the milk and 1 cup of the heavy cream. Cook over medium heat until bubble form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes.

2. In another small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup of heavy cream with the cocoa, sugar, salt and egg yolks. Whisk until smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve.

3. Remove pan from the heat and gradually whisk 1/2 cup of the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk constantly until smooth. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the saucepan, whisking while pouring until completely blended. 

4. Over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping a low simmer on the custard, cook until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon and leaves a trail when the spoon is run through. 

5. Remove from saucepan and place in a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Strain the mixture though a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Place the bowl in a larger bowl, partially filled with ice and water. Stir occasionally until cool. Cover with plastic wrap (pushed against the surface of the custard) and refrigerate for 3-24 hours.

7. Pour chocolate custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

8. Transfer into a container, cover and freeze until firm (about 3 hours).

9. Scoop and enjoy!