Monday, July 18, 2016

Anna Sultana’s Gelatt - Ice Cream, Maltese Style, and The Full Buck Moon

I recently posted the recipes that had been on the back of Safeway’s 2.5 Kg bags of Instant Skim Milk Powder.

If you missed the posts, the recipes were for Tuscan White Bean and Zucchini Soup, as well as Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake, and Popover Oven Pancakes.
They’re easy to make, so why not check them out?

As I said, my friends and I were used to making the recipes found on the bags, and we miss them - and the economy-sized bags - now that Sobeys has decided to discontinue packaging large bags of powdered milk.
I am sure that if Ma had been living in Canada, she would have missed the recipes, too.


About the dairy products Safeway carried… Ma would have bought the 4 litre sized buckets of ice cream that are still available at both Safeway and Sobeys.
She knew we would happily enjoy a dish of ice cream on a muggy July day.
Vanilla ice cream is always easy to dress up with different sauces and fruits.
Anything would have been better than Pop’s purchase of 576 bars of strawberry shortcake after Bungalow Bar went out of business.
Six and a half months of strawberry shortcake ice cream bars for dessert, day after day, were more than enough for us.
I mean, you couldn’t add anything to change their taste.


Every so often Ma would make Gelatt - Maltese Ice Cream.
It was easy and economical, and reminded her of the treats she enjoyed when she was a kid growing up in Hamrun, Malta.
She always mentioned that it was served at wedding and holy communion receptions, and that it would be garnished with crushed peanuts and finely chopped candied peel.
Ma's recipe made just enough for us to enjoy as dessert for a meal or two - not like when Pop bought those 576 bars!


If you’re in the mood for an alcoholic recipe, check out Carmela’s Gelato Affogato.
It means "Drowned Ice Cream" and is easy to make - ice cream covered with rum and espresso coffee.
Definitely not for the kiddies.


Hints:

If you have an ice cream machine use 300 ml water in the original mixture.
Add the candied peel and almonds to the mixture after you remove it from the freezer.
Add the unbeaten fresh cream to the mixture and follow the directions on your machine.
Ma didn’t have an ice cream machine, so she used the following recipe. 


                        Gelatt 


Roast
60 g almonds
Cool and finely chop the almonds.
Set aside.


Finely chop
120 g candied peel

Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan
250 ml water
Add the chopped candied peel.
Stir the peel around for two minutes to remove the sugar and syrup.
Drain and thoroughly dry the peel.
Mix in the chopped almonds.
Set aside. 


Pour into a medium saucepan
1 354 ml can evaporated milk
1200 ml water
Add 
90 g sugar
1 cinnamon stick (or 1 Tablespoon ground)
3 whole cloves (or 1/2 teaspoon ground)
grated rind of a lemon
Cook over a moderate heat until the mixture starts to boil.
Lower the heat and, stirring occasionally, simmer for eight minutes. 
Remove from heat. 
Add
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Stir to combine and allow to cool.
Strain it through a sieve into a container that has a cover. 
Cover and freeze it for about 35 minutes.

While the mixture is in the freezer, place in a large mixer bowl
400 ml fresh cream 
Beat to a thick consistency.

Remove the mixture from the freezer. 
Stir in the prepared candied peel and the almonds. 
Fold the beaten cream into the mixture.
Cover and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Remove the mixture from the freezer and beat with a spatula.
Cover and return to the freezer for another 20 minutes.
Remove from the freezer and beat with a spatula.
For extra smoothness, give it another freeze and beat cycle.
When ready to serve, leave to thaw for about ten minutes.
Slice and serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon.


About the sky this week, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac

July 18: The Moon and Pluto will be very close.

July 19: Full Buck Moon 6:57 PM. The visible Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. 
July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

July 24: The Moon will be in ascending node. This is the point at which the Moon’s orbit crosses, from south to north, the plane of the Earth’s orbit.

July 26: Last Quarter 7:00 P.M. In this phase, the Moon appears as a half Moon.

July 27: Delta Aquarids meteor shower. Best viewed before dawn and will last three days. The last quarter Moon should not interfere.

July 28: Saturn and Uranus will be at their highest. 

July 30: At dusk Mercury will be less than 1º from Regulus.

July 31: Moon will be at its highest.

1 comment:

  1. Boy-this sounds delicious. I made strawberry ice-cream last week. I will have to try this one.

    ReplyDelete

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