Homemade Ice cream

No egg ice cream base:

1. Mix slurry in small bowl:
1/2 c milk
1 1/2 TBS cornstarch

2. Place 1 1/2 oz cream cheese in large bowl with flavorings and set aside.
Flavorings could be 1 TBS vanilla or 1/4 tsp oil such as fiori di sicilia, or lemon or peppermint, etc.

3. Stir in saucepan over medium heat:
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/4 c heavy cream
2/3 c sugar
2 TBS light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt

4. Heat to boiling and simmer for 4 minutes.
Mix in the slurry and return to boil.
Stir until thickened about 2 minutes.

5. Restir the cream cheese/flavorings mixture and slowly add in the hot cream mixture, whisking until smooth.

6. Pour ice cream base through a sieve into a clean container, cover and chill 4 hours or overnight.

7. Process in an ice cream maker (15-20 minutes).  Makes about 1 quart.

For chocolate ice cream, omit the flavoring in step 2. 
After finishing the ice cream base above add the following:

Combine in a small saucepan and bring to boil stirring;
1 c cocoa powder
1 c brewed dark coffee
1 c sugar

Remove from heat and stir in:
3 oz bittersweet chocolate

Add chocolate mixture to the finished ice cream base and chill as in step 6.
Process in ice cream maker as in step 7.  I do this in two batches because my ice cream maker is a 1.5 qt capacity.

Serving size is 1/2 cup.

Courtesy Lee Duberman, Ariel's Restaurant, Brookfield VT

Kaddo Bowrani (Afghan Baked Pumpkin)

For pumpkin:
1 small sugar pumpkin
1/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c sugar
Cinnamon

Slice pumpkin and remove seeds. Peel outer skin.  (Or I often used store-bought cut-up pumpkin or squash.)  Place oil in skillet and heat to medium heat. Add pumpkin. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning once.

Remove from pan and place in small casserole.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Cover tightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until soft. Serves about 6-8 people as a first course or appetizer.

Serve warm with yogurt sauce.  Often I will use as filling in little wonton wrappers and deep fry them. For the full Afghan experience I also make some wonton fillings with leeks.

For yogurt sauce, combine until smooth:
1 c plain yogurt
1 tsp fresh-cut diced garlic
Dash salt

Courtesy of Qayum Karsai, Baltimore's The Helmand