by Sara Zoe
We are having a too much milk problem. A new organic grass-fed Jersey cow dairy opened up nearby, selling raw milk from the farm. In New Hampshire, raw milk can only be sold directly from the farm, giving the farmers a more limited avenue to success. And I very much want them to succeed. So we joined with some other friends, and we take turns making a weekly trip to the farm (about 30 minutes drive, although only about 15 miles as the crow flies) buying milk for the group.
The milk is delicious. But I just don’t go through half a gallon of milk every week in my two-person family, and that is the minimum quantity sold.
Last week we made fresh mozzerella using our super simple kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply. We loved it – but very soon the York Farmers’ Market will open and I like buying my cow cheeses from Silvery Moon Creamery. They are delicious cheeses, made on farm, and a really extraordinary diversity in the style of cheeses available, and I've developed a loyalty and want to support that cheesemaker. So I really didn’t need any more cheese. (Although now I’m going to order the goat cheese making kit, because I just found out about a goat farm very nearby that has an excess of raw goat milk . . .)
But I do love ice cream. And I go through copious quantities in all months but eat local challenge months. Locally made or produced, of course, but not from local ingredients. I was on the market for an ice cream maker.
The options are many. I am very serious about ice cream and was ready to take the plunge with a serious machine. We tried our few locally owned kitchen stuff establishments but no luck. But along came Cindy at just the moment I needed her, giving yet another plug for the very fabulous Perfect Scoop, an ice cream recipe book by David Lebovitz, and more importantly, mentioning almost in passing her beloved Gelato, Jr. – and providing a link. Clicky clicky clicky and now we own the Lello 4070 Gelato Junior (yes, Cindy, you are that powerful). We also shlepped down to our local bookstore to order The Perfect Scoop. (The bookstore lady told us it has already gone to a second printing, and we were lucky to get a copy without having to wait for that printing!)
A lot of ice cream recipes call for cream, which Brookford Farm is able to provide. Delicious, fresh, raw cream. Jersey cows are known for their higher fat content and the creamy yellow color of their milk. But wait – isn’t the ice cream machine to use up the milk? And now I’m buying not only milk but cream? Umm . . . . . .
The Gelato Junior arrived with its own recipe book. Lots of bloggers have mentioned David Lebovitz’s avocado ice cream recipe as being “out there.” The Gelato Junior book has avocado ice cream and then some (apparently avocado as dessert is popular in South America, at least according to Lello, the company who makes Gelato Juniors). As I set up the 30lb machine in its new permanent home, my husband read me the more interesting recipe titles – melon and prosciutto sorbet; tomato and basil; chicken soup and dill sorbet; borscht sorbet; chutney sorbet . . . .. Chicken soup sorbet???
My first vanilla batch was quick and easy as could be, and the Gelato Junior performed like a champ. Next up will be rhubarb sweetened with honey sherbet. Local as local can be.
Sara Zoe promotes eating locally on the Seacoast of NH/ME through Seacoast Eat Local
