Sass & Veracity

I know there’s been quite the brouhaha recently over food bloggers’ use of recipes found here and there in the creation of their own recipes, and the credit given to those sources when they post their results.  And I know it’s old news now, but it’s been bothering me for many reasons that are either directly related, or no where near being on topic somewhat related because of threads of discussion I’ve been caught up in since it all happened. I normally use my non-food blog to voice my opinions to spare the foodie world of my snarky attitude, but since this issue is food related, I decided to just let it rip.  Not sure about what I’m referring to?  Just Google Melissa & Cook’s Illustrated and you’ll have your choice of where to begin.  Or, hop on over to Serious Eats, grab a seven course dinner and hunker down for the macro hair-splitting session over this issue continuting there.

Yes, there’s a recipe today, too, but it won’t be cheese-based to go with my rant whine…

Indulge me, please.

When I cook, it is most often because I’ve seen a recipe somewhere. What a concept.  Or, my fridge is so stuffed with food we must eat or it becomes yet another science experiment on a list of others I’ve already perfected over the years of having eyeballs bigger than my stomach.  Or something like that.  I cook about six days a week with the seventh being take-out, or dinner somewhere nearby, and no, not necessarily on Sunday. Heh.  Sure we have tacos the way my family has made them for decades, and once in a while throw some pasta on the stove with sauce that comes from a jar — good sauce.  But not very often.  And rarely do I decide to make something just by experimenting, that is unless you count the fact that I almost never follow any recipe exactly the way it was written as experimenting.  But who’s going to split that hair? 

No, wait!  I nearly forgot that everyone is splitting that hair right now.  Okay, well, maybe not everyone, but still.

Now, why would I go out of my way to choose a recipe and then not follow it?  Um, why not?  My mother would say it’s because I’m just plain ornery, but she’s contrary by nature, so that doesn’t count.  I, on the other hand, actually know that it’s because it’s hard not practice what has been learned from years and years of cooking. Let’s face it.  Recipes aren’t all that different. Well, unless you’re planning on whipping up Thomas Keller’s Bellwether Farm Baby Lamb — Five Cuts Served with Provencal Vegetables, Braised Cipollini Onions, and Thyme Oil.  Like that would happen here.  Well, maybe.  You never know.  Just not today.

For the most part, the recipe is only the inspiration (some more than others), unless I’m baking. Then I’m far more attentive. And of course, I have to alter recipes because I’m lacking a particular ingredient — or five!– which is challenging for me to fathom considering the number of times I find myself in grocery stores each week.

Anyway, because of my particular cooking habits, I always credit my sources. Always. Even when I’ve altered a recipe beyond all recognition, I feel that I would not have ended up with what I cooked had I not seen the original recipe.  And because I most often use magazine recipes or recipes available on their affiliated websites, then it’s an easy link, so why not?  I suppose that there’s the outside chance that someone could email me and say, "We don’t want to be connected to you," but pigs would fly first.  Besides, my food is good.  Period.  Okay, so most of the time.

Let’s use an ice cream recipe as an platform for my nonsense today.  Or, if you’re so inclined, let’s not, and say we did.
 

Call this the evolution of MY Peach Ice Cream Recipe…with "my" being very subjective.

Step One:  I was visiting foodblogs about a week ago because a group of us had just posted our Cassatas, and I stopped by Ivonne’s of Cream Puffs in Venice to check hers out.  I found that she had posted an absolutely beautiful peach and almond tart  that made me realilze I hadn’t had peaches or nectarines once this season yet.  The horror of it all!  So on my grocery list they went (yes, I actually have a list even though this is difficult to imagine…) and I planned to actually make Ivonne’s tart.  Really.  I did.  Peach cobbler is a family favorite and although Ivonne’s tart isn’t a cobbler, I was craving warm peaches with a crust and some cream.  Oh.  My.

Step Two:  Days went by while I was baking and cooking other recipes because that’s all I do.  Ever.  I play with food.  The peaches I ended up purchasing were nearly used to make Fresh Peach and Ginger-Cream Shortcakes in the August 2008 issue of Bon Appetit to take to a family get together, but because I gave my hunkster a choice, he went with the Chocolate S’mores Cake in the August 2008 issue of Food & Wine.  I haven’t posted that yet, since I’m working on my own rendition and have plans to compare in a future post in which I will document my sources up one side and down the other of my speck in the Bloggosphere, but only if my photos turn out.  You just never know.

Step Three:  The poor peaches were beginning to look a bit tired in their unused state, and so I became desperate for something to create.  It’s summer, and everyone’s complaining about the heat everywhere (but here), and so I decided ice cream would be the way to go.  No oven.  I also had some yogurt, ricotta, and mascarpone in the fridge, so included those ingredients in my search for an ice cream recipe because I could love me some ice cream with any or all of those luscious ingredients.

Step Four:  I happened onto "No-Cook Peach Ice Cream" at My Recipes which ironically credits the recipe to Southern Living and I wondered if there’s an affiliation.  The recipe called for the use of canned condensed milk, and I wasn’t too thrilled with that idea since my cat would hate my guts if I used her milk and she’s grouchy enough as it is over the organic flea spray I’ve been using on her.  It also called for only a small amount of sugar which is always nice, and canned peach nectar which sounded very interesting.  I bookmarked it because not having to turn on a burner is always a nice option, right?

Step Five:  Then I found a Banana Peach Frozen Yogurt recipe at CD Kitchen which I thought I could adjust since I didn’t have bananas, but noticed that there was no sugar added (the bananas were providing the sweetness) and that I’d have to play around with sugar amounts. No thanks. And I didn’t bookmark it because I already have some great frozen yogurt recipes. 

Step Six:  Then I found a Peach Ice Cream recipe at epicurious that looked simple until I noticed it was connected to another recipe and I didn’t want to have to surf back and forth between the two since my printer wasn’t hooked up.  I did notice that this recipe called for leaving the peelings on the peaches.  Um, yum? 

Step Seven:  What a lovely surprise to  come across Helen’s recipe for Georgia Peach Ice Cream at Tartelette while I was searching.  I almost stopped right there, because how could I go wrong?  Helen + Peaches + Ice Cream?  I rest my case.  I did notice that Helen decided to puree some of the peaches and leave the rest in chunk form.  Nice.

Step Eight:  Then I saw a recipe for Brown Sugar Peach Ice Cream in the side bar back at CD Kitchen, and oh my goodness.  How could I not want to try that?  I had all the ingredients, sort of.  I had six peaches instead of the four called for, and not quite as much brown sugar, but did have some turbinado.  I had an orange instead of a lemon for the citrus…and a lot of heavy cream.  I was ready to go.

Kelly’s Peach Ice Cream

6 large peaches which have been forgotten for days, unpeeled, seeded, and chopped in 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 c. turbinado
3/4 c. cup brown sugar, firmly packed
juice of 1/2 fresh orange
1-1/2 c. whole milk
3  eggs, beaten
1-1/2 c. heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put chopped peaches into a large bowl and add 1/2 cup turbinado and orange juice to macerate.  Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge.

In a medium saucepan combine the milk, eggs, and brown sugar. Cook over
low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Pour into a bowl (metal,if possible) through a fine meshed strainer. Chill by either setting in an ice bath, or the fridge, stirring occasionally. Chill completely.

When chilled, place 1/2 of the peaches and their juice in a blender and puree.  Pour puree into the chilled custard, then add the remaining chunks of peaches and mix well. 

Pour 1/2 of the peach mixture into a 1-1/2 qt. bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Return the remaining peach mixture to the fridge.  When the first batch is done, scrape it into a 3 qt. covered freezer container and place in the freezer until the second batch is finished.  Combine batches.

Notes:

• Credit to my brain and its innate ability to synthesize myriad
  sources of information, supported by  years of schema related to all
  things culinary, and to further the interpretation you now see in the recipe above. You know.  In case you actually needed a technical explanation.
• You are welcome to use my rendition of peach ice cream (one of about a trillion available )and in no way need to mention my name, my blog, or make a reference such as, "the original recipe can be found here" even though the link is cool because maybe somebody will click on it, and it’s nice having visitors and people who just may want to try my recipe if they don’t like your version.  I’m just sayin’.
• If you really want to get down and dirty about plagiarism and copyright issues, try teaching Junior High English.  I can go the distance.  Here.  Let me roll up my sleeves and make a muscle.  You know.  Just for effect.
• On the ice cream:  I have two 1-1/2 qt. bowls for my ice cream maker.  So many ice cream recipes make more than 1-1/2 qts. so two come in handy — especially if you want more than one serving of ice cream for everyone over a few days.
• The peach peelings in this are AWESOME and beautiful, so thanks, epicurious!
• The brown sugar added a nice consistency to the custard base which we’re still enjoying, so thanks, CD Kitchen!  I’m now wondering how much better it would have been to have used all brown sugar.
• The chunks of peach mixed in with the pureed peaches was also a nice touch, so thanks, Helen.  I will be looking at yours next since you have less heavy cream in your recipe than the one I used.
• And thanks, Ivonne.  If I hadn’t seen your Peach Tart, I wouldn’t have ended up with Peach Ice Cream.
• I should also, at this point, thank Al Gore for inventing teh intranets, too.
• And I suppose I should also thank all those who have inspired me for continuing to discuss whether food bloggers, in the sharing of recipes, are the bottom-dwelling, mud sucking low lifers that some make us out to be.
• If you’d like to prevent further snark-ridden posts such as this one (even though it has been quite refreshing), please refer to my alter ego here.  Some days are better than others, but it’s free, yanno?
• And to all of you who just scrolled through the peach flavored food porn, thank you and never mind.  I’ll put my soap box away now.
• But seriously.  Try the peach ice cream.  It is so delicious and peachy, with a hint of tartness thrown in, and a sweetness that isn’t cloying.  Very refreshing!