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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JULY 2021 9 By Clare Mendez, Resident Summer is the perfect time to enjoy some fresh, cool, ice cream. Although there are several recipes on line and in cookbooks for ice cream, it is much more convenient, for me, to pick up any flavor from the local grocery store or ice cream shop. Some ice cream is made with egg (called custard- based ice cream) and some without (referred to as Philadelphia-style). While the claim that Thomas Jefferson introduced ice cream to the United States is demonstrably false, he can be credited with the first known recipe "recorded" by an American. Jefferson also likely helped to popularize ice cream in this country when he served it at the President's House in Washington. There are more than six references to ice cream being served at the President's House between 1801 and 1809; several times guests described it as being served inside of a crust or pastry which is the way it was served in France. Ice cream recipes appear in French cookbooks starting in the late 17th century and in English-language cookbooks in the early 18th century. Jefferson, no doubt, encountered ice cream during his time in France (1784-1789). In 1789 he returned from France with his chef, James Hemmings – newly trained in making frozen desserts – and a resolve to keep enjoying it. In Philadelphia in 1791, Jefferson sent to France for 50 vanilla bean pods, which he later wrote, are "much used in seasoning ice creams." He built an ice house at Monticello in 1802. Soon after, it was made and served in his kitchens for the rest of his life. Guests recalled eating the ice cream in a warm pasty. Perhaps the preamble of pie ala mode? The recipe for ice cream in Thomas Jefferson's hand is at the Library of Congress. A condensed version is found at Smithsonianmag.com. 2 bottles of good cream 6 yolks of eggs 1/2 lb. sugar Mix the yolks and sugar; put the cream on a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of vanilla. When near boiling take it off and pour it gently into the mixture of eggs and sugar. Stir it well. Put it on the fire again stirring it thoroughly with a spoon. When near boiling take it off and strain it thro' a towel. Put it in the Sabottiere (the canister within an ice pail) then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. Put into the ice a handful of salt. Put salt on the coverlid of the Sabottiere and cover the whole with ice. Leave it still half a quarter of an hour. Turn the Sabottiere in the ice 10 minutes; open it from time to time to detach the ice from the sides. Stir it well with the spatula. Put it in moulds, justling it well down on the knee; then put the mould into the same bucket of ice. Leave it there to the moment of serving it. YUMMY ICE CREAM By Sherrie Chaparro, Resident During this past year, I found myself cooking dinner seven nights a week, since we were unable to travel or go out to eat. Needless to say, the cooking routine and my normal rotation became a bit boring. I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and do my traveling in the kitchen, so I bought three cookbooks: Italian, French and Asian. Italian: I purchased Marcella Hazan's book "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." She is justly famous for her three-ingredient marinara sauce: 1 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes 1 stick of butter 1 onion, peeled and cut in half Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the tomatoes. Remove the onion or use an immersion blender to blend into the sauce. Serve it on its own over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan, with meatballs, or sauté some Italian sausage to add to the sauce. Can it get any easier or delicious? French: I've been using "French: The Secrets of Classic Cooking Made Easy." Honestly, some of the recipes have not been all that easy (especially the pastry section), but they have been very good. The most helpful thing I've learned is how to make a quick and easy pan sauce. Sauté whatever protein you want in a little olive oil and remove from pan. Chop up a shallot and cook for a minute or two to soften, deglaze the pan with a little white wine, add some herbs and maybe a bit of butter, then let it simmer down to the consistency you want. Drizzle over the protein and whatever else you are serving (vegetables, potatoes, noodles, etc.). This will elevate a simple meal to something a bit more special. Asian: I chose "101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die." This is my most recent purchase, so I haven't made too many of these, but so far everything has been fairly easy and uniformly good. The downside is slicing and dicing of vegetables is required. The most interesting thing I learned is that you can use the same protein and vegetable combinations but give dishes entirely different flavors depending on what sauces you use: For Thai, use fish sauce, chili paste, lime juice, sriracha, curry paste and Thai chiles; for Chinese, use oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and ginger; same goes for Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. Now I can scratch my itch for Asian food without leaving the house. My Culinary Travels

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