GM "Anti-Freeze" doesn't belong in Ice Cream
A news "scoop" on Ben & Jerry's...Ben & Jerry's, the self-styled "all natural" ice cream manufacturer, has broken ranks with food giant Unilever amid controversy about GM ice cream.
The breach follows a report in The Independent on Sunday last week revealing concerns from scientists over the risk to health from a synthetically produced "anti-freeze" protein, using a GM process, which Unilever is trying to get approved in the UK.
A spokesperson for Ben & Jerry's said: "We would not dream of including anything like that in our products. One of the biggest problems is that we are affected by Unilever's actions even though they are nothing to do with the way that we behave. The fact that we are not using this GM ingredient shows that we are not following all of their decisions." - The Independent
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One way not to get "additional" ingredients is to make your own. It really is easy...and it IS Ice Cream season...Let's get "International" about it....
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
11 oz Mexican chocolate (3 1/2 disks; preferably Ibarra), coarsely chopped
3 3/4 cups half-and-half
3 large eggs
Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer; an ice cream maker
Halve vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Add chocolate and half-and-half and bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking. Remove from heat.
Lightly beat eggs with salt in a bowl, then add hot chocolate mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Transfer custard to cleaned saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard registers 175°F on thermometer, 1 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Put bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool, stirring occasionally.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until hardened, about 1 hour.
Cooks' note:• Ice cream keeps 4 days.
Makes about 1 1/2 qt.
Gourmet Entertains
February 2003
