Skip to main content

The Letters to Juliet #MoviesandMunchies Round-Up + Wild Huckleberry Swirl Gelato


This month, I hosted the online Movies & Munchies group and asked the crew to watch Letters to Juliet. You can read my invitation here. Our group is small and mighty, but the posts always make me hungry.

The Recipe Round-Up

Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm shared her Mushroom Spaghetti.


Wendy shared: "There was quite a bit of food inspiration.  When the film first starts Sophie is hand fed fresh spaghetti by her fiance.  When they first arrive in Verona her fiance is going to a conference about truffles and is very upset when Claire can't understand why he would want to sit in a class about mushrooms.  He corrects her, dispelling the notion that truffles are just a mushroom. Mushrooms show up again at the end of the film convincing me that I wanted to make a pasta recipe that starred mushrooms."

Terri of Our Good Life posted Letters to Juliet Inspired Mushroom Risotto.


Terri sets the stage: "A group of Italian women, Juliet's secretaries, answers each letter.  Sophie loves the idea of answering the letters and then discovers a letter tucked deep into a crevice in the rock wall. The letter is 50 years old and was written by Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) who left her Italian lover without any type of communication.  Sophie decides to answer the letter.  Sophie's fiance supports the idea, then leaves her to go to a wine auction for several days.  To find out what happens in the rest of the movie, you will need to rent it out."

Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures offered up here Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Brain.


Amy explains the tie-in of her gruesomely awesome dish - more Verona-inspired than by the rom-com: "We learned that St. Peter of Verona (also known as St. Peter the Martyr or St. Peter the Inquisitor) was an inquisitor in the 12th century.  As an inquisitor, St. Peter’s job was to denounce a lot of what people were doing, so he wasn’t a terribly popular guy.  In the end, an assassin attempted to murder him.  Some stories say St. Peter was stabbed in the head with an ax, while others say a knife.  Accounts agree that St. Peter did not die at this point, but instead began writing the Nicene Creed (“I believe in God” or Credo in Deum) on the ground in his own blood before being stabbed in the heart, resulting in his death." What delicious fun nonetheless! I am definitely bookmarking this for Halloween.

I was also inspired by the mushroom dispute and shared Risotto all'Amarone. I also shared Re-Inventing the Noodle which was inspired by the same pasta-feeding scene in Victor's kitchen.


Next month, Amy hosts the group as we watch the Halloween classic  It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

I was frankly surprised that no one latched onto the scene when Sophie and Charlie have a mini food fight with their gelato in a piazza. So, for this round-up, I decided to make a gelato with foraged huckleberries. 

Wild Huckleberry Swirl Gelato 

I have always called these huckleberries. But I read a recent article that said that we don't actually have huckleberries in my neck of the woods; so, these are actually a wild blueberry. Okay. Whatever. As I learned when I was working as a florist, common names can be confusing. 

After a quick foraging mission to the erroneously eponymous hill where these things grow, I was inspired to make a swirled gelato in honor of this month's Movies & Munchies event. 
 
Ingredients

Custard

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste
Huckleberry Swirl
  • 1/2 cup fresh huckleberries (use blueberries if you don't have huckleberries)
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or paste
  • 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Also needed: ice cream maker


Procedure

Custard

Beat the egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl until well-combined. Set them aside.  In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, whipping cream, sugar, and salt.  Heat and stir the milk and cream until gently simmering. Add a ladleful of the milk and cream mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. That way they won’t scramble when they are poured into the warm milk-cream mixture.

Return the entire mixture to the pan, then heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula to prevent it from burning and clumping.  Do not let it come to a boil, just heat it until is thick enough to coat a clean spoon without dripping off.  Whisk in the vanilla extract or paste. 

Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover with a layer of clingwrap pressed directly into top of the custard to prevent a film for forming. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours but up to 24 hours

Huckleberry Swirl

In a small saucepan, combine the huckleberries, 1/3 cup sugar, and lemon juice.  Cook over medium-low heat for about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly.  The mixture will be dry in the beginning, but as the sugar melts and the huckleberries release their juice, a sauce will form. Continue to stir and cook until it has reduced by about half and runs off of a spoon in thick drops.

Spoon the sauce through a sieve into a bowl to discard the skins. Chill the sauce until cold.

To Finish

Churn the custard according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.  Once it has reached soft serve stage, spoon about one-fifth of the mixture into the container it will be stored in.  Pour about one-quarter of the huckleberry sauce, then repeat those steps until all of the ice cream and sauce are combined.  Before putting it into the freezer, swirl with a knife.  Freeze until hard.

Let soften a bit before serving.

Comments

  1. Your gelato sounds delicious. Off to take a look at the other recipes. Thanks for hosting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading, Wendy. Yes, I loved the line-up of recipes. So much fun.

      Delete
  2. I want all of this food. The savory, the veggie side, the dessert! Sorry I missed this round.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce