So last weekend we had some friends over, and we ended up with some leftovers. Now, I’m not talking about the little bits of prepared food which would soon be eaten (and were), but about leftover, perishable, raw ingredients such as a half-gallon of whole milk, and a couple of avocados. So, what to do? Gelato!
There really wasn’t much of a recipe, but … well, I’m going to try to document it, as it’s marvelously green, tasty, and a good use of ingredients. So here goes:
- 1/2 Gallon Whole Milk
- 16 oz Large (bubble-tea size) Tapioca pearls
- 2 Vanilla Bean Pods
- 2 Avocados, just ripe
- Zest and Juice of 10 “key” limes
- Assorted sweeteners (xylitol, honey, sugar, maple syrup) to taste
- 3 Tbsp Ginger powder
- 1 Cup Candied Ginger, chopped
- 4 Tbsp Soy Protein Powder
Soak tapioca pearls in the milk overnight.
Add Vanilla Bean Pod guts, sweeteners, and soy protein powder, then bring to a rolling simmer (doesn’t make sense unless you’ve done tapioca – in which case, it makes sense) in a pan which looks too large for the purpose (you’ll need the room, for the rolling simmer).
Simmer, stirring constantly, until you get sick to death of standing there or until the tapioca doesn’t taste raw any longer.
Remove from heat, strain out the bubble tea bits and … dispose of as you see fit, as they’re no longer needed.
When liquid has cooled to a reasonable temperature, apply your stick blender to it & incorporate the rest of the ingredients except for the Lime Zest and Candied Ginger.
Fold in Lime Zest.
Cool overnight.
Fold in Candied Ginger.
Pour mixture into your (running) ice cream machine and let it run until the dasher sticks.
Remove mixture to a suitable vessel & thence into the freezer for at least four hours.
Yes, there are some ambiguities in there. And, yes, we probably could have achieved the same thing by using the tapioca flour sitting in the pantry, rather than using the bubble-tea tapioca pearls … but we didn’t know that when we started. You see, the decision to strain out the tapioca was made after we’d been all the way through the cooking process, at which point we determined that they were … well, just too strange to want to have frozen. So, we pulled them out. It works.
The one difference in the above recipe from what we did is that I incorporated the avocado earlier in the process … and I wouldn’t recommend it, as it makes it really difficult to taste for sweetness & flavor, as hot avocado really is an acquired taste. As it was, we played it safe by holding off on adding more sweetener & more lime until we had a chance to taste it chilled, and we’re glad that we did. Hot avocado throws everything off, so I recommend adding it when your mixture has cooled somewhat. Or not, you know, ’cause it’s your freezer that’ll be full of gnarly green goo, not mine.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Okay how on earth do you eat this? Frozen? Thawed on toast? In an ice cream cone? Can you tell I’m from the country, I’ve never heard of Gelato? But it’s quite the concoction, and I’ve tried mostly everything in it but just not all mixed together!
OK, sorry, I”m sure it’s just that you’re unfamiliar with the term! It’s basically Iced Cream, but Gelato is the Italian version, which is really Iced Milk. It’s not so rich as Iced Cream, it’s a bit faster to melt, and it has less air whipped into it.
It’s usually eaten in smaller quantities, too.
Hmmm…advocado gelato. First I’ve heard of that one. How does it taste?
It tastes … well, different. I think that, in the future, I’d 1) avoid cooking the avocado, 2) use a different soy protein powder, because it tends to be a bit powdery, and/or 3) use Whey powder, because it’s milk, after all.
Tastes good, though, if a bit odd. You’re welcome to swing by & try it. 😉
you are so adventerous! i am truly inspired…perhaps not enough to make avacado gelato but still inspired to try something new and different. thanks!