Almond yoghurt ice cream with gooseberry ripple

I know I'm inundating you with ice cream recipes but once I take the machine out to make one batch I always think of another new flavour. I recently used fresh blackcurrants from the garden to make blackcurrant and liquorice ice cream and could really taste the difference from using bland supermarket fruit. Where possible, I like to use produce is in season and is local, which is exactly what the gooseberries I picked up at church view farm were. As soon as I bought the gooseberries I made up a quick gooseberry jam that I could store and use for scones and desserts. With yoghurt that was about to go out of date, I made this quick almond yoghurt ice cream and added some of the gooseberry jam for a ripple of extra flavour. If you cannot make the jam then you can always go out and buy some but I always prefer homemade jam as bought in jams are often too sweet for my taste.

Ingredients

250ml natural yoghurt
100ml milk
75g sugar
1 tsp almond essence
4 tblsp gooseberry jam
2 tbsp water

Method

1. Add sugar and milk into pan and heat gently for around 10 minutes, until sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool.
2. Add almond essence and yoghurt to the milk mixture and store in fridge, preferably overnight but for at least 2 hours if you are in a hurry. Follow instructions for your ice cream maker and churn.
3. Add the water and jam to a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, so that the jam loosens and is easy to ripple. Allow to cool.
4. In your storage container pour a thin layer of the ice cream then drizzle over the jam mixture, continue to add layers until all of the mixture is used up. be as messy as you like with the drizzle so that it mixes well with the yoghurt.

Blackcurrant and liquorice ice cream

I know we have not had much sun this summer but, for me, ice cream is a treat to be enjoyed all year round. As a child my mum moaned about the ice cream van coming around in the rain, " why would people want to buy ice cream when it's this cold? " she would say, the answer would always be " but I want one ". Whilst my taste for ice cream may have matured with the cheap Mr Whippy not washing with me anymore, it is still fun to eat ice cream on a blowy walk down the beach of a Sunday afternoon. It always surprises me that there are not that many ice cream parlours about but not to worry as it is always fun to make your own and experiment with flavours. My recent rhubarb, strawberry and anise sorbet went down a treat, the subtleness of the anise added a nice twist to a straightforward recipe. I wanted to try another ice cream made with anise and seeing as though the garden blackcurrants were ready to pick I decided on a retro sweet classic; blackcurrant and liquorice. I was really pleased with the results and I think I got the taste I wanted but you could always replace the anise with liquorice essence.
 

Ingredients

200g blackcurrants
4 Star Anise
25ml water
100g caster sugar
250ml double cream
50ml milk ( I used semi as had no whole)

Method

1. Place the blackcurrants in a saucepan along with the water and anise and cook for around 10-15 minutes or until skin has softened. Add in the sugar and keep on heat for a further 5 minutes, so the sugar fully dissolves and mixes with your juice. Be careful not to heat for too long as you do not want to create a jam like mixture.
2. Allow the blackcurrant mixture to cool then pass through a sieve to remove all bits ( save the anise flowers to put back in once mixed with other ingredients)  Allow to cool then mix in the milk and cream.
3. Cover your cream mixture and keep on the fridge overnight or at least 2 hours if you are in a hurry.
4. Remove the anise and then follow instructions for your ice cream maker and churn away . This is great served simply with a handful of fresh blackcurrants.

Restaurant review: Maharaja Liverpool

I started this blog with the intention to share my love of food, cooking, eating and visiting local restaurants but until now I have not written a restaurant review. The demands of a small baby has meant less time for eating out and more time to spend on my own recipes, although I have visited far too many coffee and cake shops since being on maternity leave. I have not been a total restaurant recluse, the odd babysitter now and again plus some great family friendly restaurants in Liverpool have provided me a fix of good food without the washing up. One place I have visited a few times recently is Maharaja; a Keralan restaurant on London Road, which is definitely one of the best Indian restaurants I have visited in England. I absolutely adore Indian food, it has always been the top of my list and I am always in search of more authentic recipes and restaurants. I have visited various regions of India, including southern India and can definitely say that the curry houses that we have over here rarely hit the spot when it comes to authenticity. That is not to say that I have not found good Indian restaurants in England ; UNI, Sultan's palace and Mayur ( the quail massala there is great) are all worth a visit if you are in Liverpool. After hearing good words, Maharaja had been on my ' to go ' list for a while but was one of those I did not get around to until a few months ago and now I kick myself for leaving it so long.

My recent visit was for a family meal, with nine of us tucking into a mini feast. My mum was a little hesitant about going as she is not that adventurous and was worried about the food being too hot but that is the thing about good Indian food; it is all about spices and flavours not how much heat you can take before breaking out into a sweat. The obligatory popadams were ordered, which arrived with a large selection of dips including a punchy lime pickle. The menu is quite big but not too overwhelming, with a good selection of vegetarian and fish dishes as well as meat dishes, including beef which is popular in the south of India. For starters, the Kerala Bonda was the dish of the choice for a few of us; lightly spiced potato balls fried in chickpea flour that were not too heavy and left plenty of room for mains. The others ordered chicken butter fry and chicken puffs for starters, both of which were good although the puff was a little dry. For our main meals, me and my husband shared the lamb mappas; a  richly spiced curry with ginger, chilli and garlic, and  the masala dosa which we had on our first visit and was so delicious that we hard to order again. It is very hard to get a ' proper' dosa in Liverpool, in fact Maharaja is the only place which I have found them to be like the ones you get in India. You can also enjoy traditional ' Idli ' , that can also be hard to find. The dosa, a (very) large folded pancake,  comes filled with spiced potatoes and comes with a bowl of dhal and coconut chutney on the side; to be eaten with the hand. As with all of the meals we had ( highlights included the chicken Olatha and lamb chops)  the dosa is probably a bit too much for one person if you are ordering starters, rice and bread, so I would recommend sharing a few dishes if you are in a large group and sharing the rice and breads if in a couple. 

I never have a pudding in Indian restaurants, partly as they are usually just bought in frozen desserts but mostly as I am always too full after my main meal. Maharaja do have two or three homemade desserts on the menu, as well as the ice creams, but we all enjoyed are food so much we couldn't fit anymore in. The crockery and tableware is not fancy here and it could do with a lick of paint but what is most important is the high quality food, great service and excellent value for money; two courses plus paratha, rice and drinks came to around £20 each, which is a bargain these days. If you have not tried Maharaja and want to eat traditional Indian food then give them a visit, it is not often I struggle to find flaws in restaurants but this one really does tick all my boxes.