Category Archives: General

A Refreshing Valentine’s Day Mocktail

Cranberry Rosemary Mocktail Brings out the Valentine’s Day Romance

There’s the glass of Champagne before the nice dinner  and then there’s some chocolate to savor. A toast on Valentine’s Day is in order when you’re spending it with a loved one.

But if you’re pregnant or someone who simply doesn’t (or can’t) drink, worry not! Mocktails are all the craze these days.

The iSi Creative Whip can help you come up with some tasty, fizzy options. Below is a recipe for a refreshing cranberry and rosemary mocktail. But the options are endless. You no longer have to stick to plain water or unhealthy, sugar-laced sodas.

Even better, the new wave of mocktails are just as creative as any cocktail. They can be sweet and herbal or bitter and fruity all at the same time. Cheers!

FIZZY CRANBERRY-ROSEMARY MOCKTAIL
Ingredients for 1 pint Creative Whip
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 cup cranberry juice
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

In a saucepan, bring water to a light simmer before adding the sugar. Stir well until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lime juice and a rosemary sprig to infuse the sugar water. Let simmer for one minute and take off heat to cool. Refrigerate until needed. When cool, combine with cranberry juice to taste and pour into a 1 pint Creative Whip. Screw on an iSi soda charger and shake vigorously.

To serve:
Dispense the drink into a glass with ice and garnish with a rosemary sprig. Serve immediately.

Recipe and post by Bao Ong.

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Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie Without the Pie

Leave the Crust in the Dust with this Pumpkin Pie Mousse Recipe

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without pumpkin pie. But that doesn’t mean you have to be boring — not at all. With the iSi Creative Whip, you can put a new spin on a classic to keep things interesting and fun during this year’s feast.

So how about considering a creamy pumpkin pie mousse with pecan-gingersnap crumble?

Once you mix together a base of five easy ingredients, you’re practically done! And for some added texture, a pecan-gingersnap crumble adds just the right amount of crunch so you’re not missing the crust.

There’s no worrying about if your pie crust is cooked through or if it’ll be done on time. You can even take this “pie” on the road without worry.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Pie Mousse
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 cups chilled heavy cream

In a bowl, combine and mix together pumpkin puree, cream cheese, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Add heavy cream and mix until smooth. Pour into a 1 pint Creative Whip. Screw on one iSi cream charger and shake vigorously. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Ingredients for Pecan-Gingersnap Crumble:
1 cup gingersnap cookies, broken into chunks
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. In a food processor, blend together gingersnap cookies and pecans until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to a bowl and mix in sugar. Add melted butter and mix until combined. Spread mixture out evenly onto a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before breaking into a rough crumble.

To serve:
Dispense pumpkin pie mousse into individual bowls or cups and garnish with pecan-gingersnap crumble. Alternatively, layer pecan-gingersnap crumble between layers of pumpkin mousse for a layered effect. Serve immediately.

Recipe and post by Bao Ong.

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They really like us. They really, really like us!

Hooray! The iSi Creative Whip Gets Positive Reviews

Thank you to all those in the blog world who have taken the time to review and share your thoughts on iSi’s Creative Whip! We really, really appreciate it.

Truly Obscure – http://www.trulyobscure.com/article/644/whip-up-some-delish-with-the-isi-half-pint-creative-whip

Lisa is Cooking - http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/mocha-sherbet-freeze.html

Life Articles – http://www.lifearticles.net/cool-appliances-that-can-make-your-cooking-convenient/

Examiner – http://www.examiner.com/healthy-foods-in-national/linda-brewer

Simply The Sweet Life – http://www.simplythesweetlife.com/

Delish Your Dish – http://delishyourdish.com

Sarah’s Blog of Fun – http://www.sarahsblogoffun.com/

Gonzo Gastronomy- http://www.gonzogastronomy.com

Habeas Brulee – http://habeasbrulee.com/

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Chocolate Stout Cake with Baileys Whipped Cream

Screen shot 2010-03-12 at 5.11.36 PM

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th with the help of your iSi Creative Whip and make desserts and treats that are an ode to Irish beer and spirits. Mix a wee bit of Baileys Irish Cream into your basic whipped cream for a simple way to add a dash of cheer.

Baileys is a liqueur, 17% alcohol by volume, made from Irish whiskey, milk from Irish farms, cocoa nibs, vanilla, and sugar. Using the Creative Whip, top hot coffee with Baileys Whipped Cream for a festive version of an Irish coffee or cap a Guinness float (stout beer and vanilla ice cream) for a quick St. Patrick’s Day dessert that is far too much fun. But for a truly rich treat, try a chocolate stout cupcake frosted with this decadent whipped cream.

There are many delicious variations of chocolate stout cake but all involve adding a dark beer, such as Guinness, to the cake batter. The result is a dense rich cake just begging to be topped with a frothy light cream. With a touch of cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and Baileys, you have a frosting for a very grown up cupcake with a whole lot of Irish spirit.

Sláinte!

Recipe for Chocolate Stout Cake

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iSi (say “easy”) Entertaining with Desserts on the Go!

Screen shot 2010-03-13 at 1.50.02 PMiSi Portable Creative Whip Helps You Bring Your Kitchen with You

The Creative Whip has always been a perfect tool for entertaining at home. Whip up delicious dips to start off a party or have a festive carbonated cocktail ready to go as your guests arrive. And of course there is dessert! Nothing tops a homemade pie like fresh whipped cream or wows your guests like a classic Tiramisu. The ingredients are simple, the prep a snap, and clean-up is next to nothing. Let the Creative Whip do the work for you and just enjoy the party!

But the fun shouldn’t be limited to your own kitchen. While the pint-sized Creative Whip is easily portable (smaller than a wine bottle!), the half-pint size was made to go. With its compact dimensions, only 3-inches in diameter and 8-inches tall, it can easily be tucked into just about any purse or bag. So for that next dinner party or quick get-together, share your creativity and take the Creative Whip along with you.

Try the classic Chocolate Mousse Express and top with candied hazelnuts or fresh fruit, or mix up the Mango-Coconut Mousse and have shredded toasted coconut or crushed macadamia nuts on hand to finish the dessert. Each recipe is less than five ingredients so they come together in a nothing flat. Best of all, you can mix and pour into your Creative Whip ahead of time. Just keep it chilled until you’re ready to go and dessert will be ready to go when you are.

Note: Many of the recipes mentioned are scaled for the pint iSi Creative Whip. Halve the ingredients to use with the ½-pint iSi Creative Whip.

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International Home + Housewares Show 2010

cookiesandcream

Which would you rather have? A cookie? Or a cookie with cream? I hope the latter: a slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside chocolate chip cookie, embellished with a cool swirl of freshly whipped cream. It’s classic comfort food – cookies and milk – simply dressed up.

My name is Louisa Chu – I’m a chef and journalist – and I’ll be this year’s guest chef at the iSi booth at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago. The show starts this Sunday but I’ve been working on recipes for months using the new Creative Whip.

At industry-only trade shows like the Housewares Show, buyers and journalists from around the world will walk miles upon miles through the cavernous McCormick Place convention center to see the newest products offered by thousands of exhibitors, some of which you’ll eventually buy for your own home.

Celebrity chefs – including Mario Batali, Ming Tsai, and Rick Bayless – will do cooking demonstrations and sign their books.

I’ve cooked at some of the best restaurants in the world, including El Bulli in Spain, where we used iSi whippers to make extremely inventive dishes, like airy “gnocchi” from potato foam – garnished with seaweed gelatin wrapped butter ravioli, finished with a roasted potato skin consomme. The dish was beautiful, surprising, and yes, delicious but not quite what friends and family want me to whip up at home.

During the show I’ll offer tastings using the Creative Whip of not only the cookies, but many of the recipes found right here on our blog, like the Cheese Wizard on mini grass-fed burgers with tiny challah buns. I’ll also introduce new recipes including Sparkling Arnold Palmers (sweet tea and lemonade) and Buffalo Style Fried Chicken. We’ll post the menu and recipes for everything we’ll serve at the show, because you can and will want to try these at home.

If you’re visiting the show, please stop by and say hi – and you can now follow us on Facebook!

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Golden Belgium Waffles

WAFFLE CREAM SYRUP
The best waffle recipes tend to involve separating eggs, whipping the egg whites into soft peaks, then folding them carefully into the batter – but your iSi Creative Whip does all that for you.
Read More »

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Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

PANCAKE PUFF

Flat as a pancake? Thanks to your iSi Creative Whip, more like fluffy as a pancake. Read More »

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Carbonated Beverages 101

How to Make Homemade Carbonated Drinks & Cocktails

Make your own refreshing, natural, and always bubbly carbonated beverages at home with your iSi Creative Whip – and far more than just sparkling water. It’s all about freshness and taste. Carbonation adds zing and zip, lightening flavors on the palate. Read More »

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Some Fancy Fried Chicken

Perry Street Restaurant Serves Up Famous Fried Chicken

In New York City they make a fried chicken so crunchy it even stands up to gravy!

Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, famous for some of the finest restaurants around the world and whom you might have seen as a guest judge on Top Chef, serves an iSi-carbonated, batter-fried chicken at his restaurant Perry St.

A few months ago Jean-Georges’s 27-year old son Cedric took over the restaurant as executive chef but promises, “I won’t get rid of the fried chicken! You don’t need to worry about that.”

The deboned and seared chicken is dipped in whipper-made batter charged with CO2 and infused with Thai chili, Schechuan peppercorns, and ginger before getting fried to super crunchy perfection. Topped off with smoked chicken gravy and fresh lemon zest, this is aint no ordinary fried chicken but it sure is delicious.

We’ll try to get Cedric to share Perry St’s extremely popular fried chicken recipe with us. In the meantime, see and hear the making and crunching of their famous fried chicken on Vimeo for The Feedbag:

VIDEO: The Feedbag makes Fried Chicken at Perry St. Restaurant

For more love and photos of Perry St.’s fried chicken, visit Serious Eats.

Perry St., 176 Perry Street, New York, NY, 10014, (212) 352-1900

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