I’m sure Lorraine would like it if I did it more often though I don’t cook very much at all. I used to cook every two years though I’ve been slack for the last few years. From time to time I’ve looked at cookbooks thinking about things I could possibly cook. A while back Lorraine gave me a book to read and thought I might enjoy the challenge of making something from it. I had a good look and was semi serious about making something though there was a little issue. The book was Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Cookbook. While some of the recipes didn’t look impossible, the requirement for a fully kitted laboratory put a damper on my enthusiasm 
Fast forward to just recently when Martini invited me on my first progressive dinner. Well they invited Lorraine but she couldn’t go so I happily took her place. We started at Omerta for drinks, dinner and more drinks at A Tavola before moving along to Gelato Messina where a gelato has been specially created for us. It was a Martini flavoured Gelato. I’m not a huge fan of alcohol in desserts as more often than not the alcohol is far too overpowering, this however was nicely balanced with a distinctive Martini Rosso flavour. We finished our dinner with an espresso martini at Coluzzi Bar.
I thought that perhaps I should have another shot at some cooking though on a slightly more realistic level than trying one of Heston’s dishes. The gelato was delicious and actually realistic to create one afternoon.
Lorraine couldn’t resist taking the photo above (she was mumbling something about “rare occurrence” and me cleaning). She said it reminded her of this book which I may buy her one day to keep her off my back
It was fun cooking this though interesting to see differing styles. I was very happy to be pedantic and take it slowly waiting for the exact temperature to be achieved no matter how long it took while following the recipe exactly*. Lorraine however is a little less patient (ok a lot less patient) and kept hassling me to hurry up due to the low light and picture taking. She said that as long as it was a smooth custard base then the ice cream would work but I wanted it to be exact with the temperature. She left the kitchen muttering to herself “so pedantic…”.
* I didn’t quite follow the recipe (ok I have been accused of being lazy especially with washing dishes) and didn’t use the double boiler. I was just saving up on her washing up (just kidding! We have a dishwasher 
). Oh well it worked out though I had to be careful with lots of stirring.
So tell me Dear Reader who washes the dishes at your house?
Martini Gelato
- Milk 700 gr
- Cream 300gr
- Sugar 200gr
- Egg Yolk 200 gr
- Martini Rosso 200gr
Separating yolks
Separating yolks: doing it wrong
1. Heat up milk & cream to 70°C. Whisk in sugar and Martini Bianco. Whisk in egg yolks. Keep above 65 C for 30 min over double boiler whisking every 5 minutes (do not over heat or eggs will split).
2. Place in an ice bath and cool to 30°C. Place in fridge until it gets to 4C. Keep in fridge for at least 2 hours after it reaches 4 C.
3. Blend & churn in an ice cream machine
For biscuits:
- 10 Saviordi Buiscuits 10
- Martini Rosso 100gr
- Sugar 100gr
- Water 100 gr
1. Heat up water, Martini Rosso & sugar and simmer for a few minutes. Place the Saviordi biscuits on a tray (sugar side down) and pour the soak over until they absorb all the liquid. Let stand for 1 hour then place in fridge to cool.
To assemble:
Once you have churned the gelato, take out the biscuits and make layers like a tiramisu or trifle, using the gelato & the Martini Rosso soaked biscuits. Collect points from spouse and relax for another two years knowing that you don’t have to cook again for that time period
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58 Comments | Add your own
Hey well done Mr NQN!In my house it is a VERY rare occasion to see my bf cooking, in fact, I can’t remember the last time and he’s excuse is always “but you like cooking”. Fair enough. I don’t enjoy cleaning up as much though
Mmmhhhh, marvelous! Can i have some, please!
Cheers,
Rosa
Yum!! Looks delicious
My boyfriend *does* help with the dishes quite a bit, thankfully, but I think I still need a copy of that book . . . haha.
How wonderful you cook! More men need to be in the kitchen!
You realise, of course, that Lorraine took all those photos to make her own version of that book? Nice work, Mr NQN, thank you!
Hey! What’s with husbands and gelato?!? That’s what mine makes too!
yay! that looks great.
and we both do the dishes.
OMG a Martini gelato is brilliant.
I can drink several of them…sorry eat several of them
All the best,
Gera
Congrats on making such a yummy dish!!
haha I too am always ‘hurrying’ Mr BBB up when he cooks. He likes to follow a recipe to a ‘T’ whereas I nornmally throw in a handful of this, and a handful of that!!
My husband loves gelato – but only eating it. He does the dishes though.
My husband helps me clean the house on a weekly basis- but cooking he doesnt go there. He says very sweetly “why would I bother when you do it so well”. Hard to argue
Oooh yum interesting flavour for gelato!! My boyfriend rarely does the dishes – although he did do them last night for the first time in forever!!
Woo hoo, well done T!! That gelato just looks amazing…
And can I just say – men who cook ROCK! I’m lucky to be sharing my life with a super keen cook, I’m loving it.
Looking forward to reading more about your own culinary adventures, mate
I used to take care of the dishes all the time, with much nagging and wingeing on my part. After 5 years of “I’ll look after the meat, if you do everything else” I finally implemented the rule that we take it in turns to cook and do the dishes. So that every second night you get to relax and do nothing, its taken a lot of tension out of the relationship
Mr NQN, you cook and clean? Lorraine is a lucky lady indeed. I’m absolutely forwarding this post to my hubby!
ice cream and dessert always looks better in a martini glass
Very nice work, Mr NQN. James Bond would be proud of that martini gelato (and Moneypenny would be pleased with the cleaning up).
Teehee, a friend of mine has that book – classic! At my place, I live with a housemate, so we both wash up after ourselves straightaway to avoid issues. If she’d make me martini gelato, though, I’d happily wash her dishes!
Good to see you again Mr NQN. I’m very lucky , I have a husband who cooks & cleans, we take it in turns during the week, who ever cooks escapes the dishes ( or at least stacking the dishwasher & wiping benches etc). On weekends we experiment with breakfast and a couple of weeks ago I triumphed with a Beef Wellington from scratch…very impressed with myself!
Well done Mr NQN! The gelato looks amazing. We have a rule in the Pig Palace, who ever cooks doesn’t have to do the washing up. I always cook, so Frank is always the chief bottle-washer! (and that’s the way I like it)
This looks superb!
You had me as soon as I saw the martini glass
The progressive dinner sounds wonderful.
Mr NQN, Good on you.
Lucky Lorraine that you cooks, mine doesn’t. He only says “But you love cooking” oh well … can’t argue that.
But, he promised me to try to make pizza with me this weekend, I’m crossing my fingers here.
He does the dishes tho, most of the time. Thank God for that …
This looks delicious. I might have to share this with my boyfriend.
I’m actually really lucky, my boyfriend cooks (probably twice a week). We also have a rule in our house that whoever cooks must also clean up afterwards so that the other person can have a break, which works well.
Interesting… I was just at a friend’s house for dinner last night and they made a very delicious sherbet and I was thinking this morning to get myself an icecream maker. Then your post came up! Wonderful, Mr. NQN! Looked so delicious. Though wondering if the trifle/martini soaked biscuits are optional? Your first picture didn’t have it but the ones in the bottom do…
Yum that looks wicked!
Wish my bf would cook but he’s pretty hopeless. I make him make toasted cheese sandwiches and thats about it.
Well done, Mr NQN! Looks like you did a great job!!
Mr. NQN, you have the same sense of humor that Lorraine has, and although you don’t cook, you have (maybe inherited from her) her sense of good food.
I recently learned the hard way how important using a thermometer is when making ice cream, so hats off to you for sticking patiently to this.
Now who does the dishes? In our home, she cooks, he cleans kitchen. She makes it worth it.
Yum. This might be something my partner would try – maybe in the summer though. We have the pretty standard I cook he cleans deal.
My children do the dishes at our house. MiddleC does it because it is part of her board agreement and littlej does it because it’s fun and she’s too young to realise that it’s hard work!
This is fantastic!! So delighted you shared this dish, talent and your great humor with us.
3 cheers for you Mr NQN
LOVE to see a man cleaning up!
I’m going to go show my bf this post so he gets a big fat hint. He helps out with other things but unfortunately a recipe looks like Chinese to him.
Oh, this post is hilarious. You both same have the same wittiness when it comes to writing, which is very cool.
You’ve done one better than me already, as I’ve yet to try making my own ice cream!
Yummo, Mr NQN. “Collect point” lol
*drool*
I have that book. Thrice. Sent to me by readers of my blog.
Probably because MPS does the dishes, and we were without a dishwasher for almost 4 months AND WE WEREN’T LIVING IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!
oh mr nqn can you come to my place to show e that men really can cook – if not I will just have to sigh over the porn for women
Oh Yummy, I love gelato in any season and this one looks great with the Martini. Some people are so ingenius to come up with amazing new flavours. Congratulations to you Mr.NQN for successfully making the gelato, following the directions to a T.
I cook most of the time and the washing up is shared between myself and my two daughters. Hubby has ‘paperwork’ to do after dinner and very rarely, make that never ventures into the kitchen.
Good job Mr NQN! It’s great when you can have one person cooking and the other taking photos. Action shots really capture the moment (especially the one of you cleaning)!!
Oh very nice indeed Mr NQN! Whenever “We” cook, it always ends up being him at the stove and me at the sink washing up after him – he is very messy in the kitchen. He’s not too good at desserts though as that’s more of my forte =D
Well at least when you do cook you pull out all the stops! My hubby cooks regularly but never anything so flash – and the dishes are a shared responsibility.
Housework porn – best viagra for women ever! In our household, whoever cooks doesn’t wash up, that’s why I’m the cook!
Wow – not only cooking, but a blog post. Most impressive! Since Lorraine is my adopted daughter, I guess that makes you my adopted SIL. xoxo Mum
Excellent work, Mr. NQN! Looks delicious.
I like that cookbook too, but must confess I haven’t made anything out of it yet either!
I live alone so clean up all my own messes. This is something I am NOT unhappy about.
bravo! this is one heck of a tasty and refreshing treat. seriously, fella–well done.
and i always wash the dishes…i’m the only one who can do it correctly.
Mmm, gelati plus martinis plus someone else making them – my idea of heaven. Mind you I loved the porn for housewives book too …where can I get me one of those?
Sexy is a man in an apron! Yeah, baby, and Mr. NQN seems to have it all! I love it! But Lorraine, you better pull out that whip and at least keep him up to his once a year cooking schedule. This gelato rocks! And Mr. NQN has incredibly sexy hands, hands meant to cook! Excellent!
My husband made a deal with me: HE will never have to cook and I will never have to do the dishes (unless by some miracle he has an insatiable urge to do so, & vise versa)… I think I got the better deal here, don’t you think?
I am quite fortunate that my partner loves to cook and eat. And he washes the dishes. But I do have other chores…but we do have a dish washer… I think im losing out. hphmmmm
Lucky Mrs! I hate it when my hubs cook, it usually involves stir-fying with lots of veg.
I like the idea of eating it as an icecream tiramisu. But cooking once every 2 years… tut tut!
Alcohol-infused desserts! My favorite thing! And I don’t even drink! Nice job, Mr. NQN!
I’m delighted to report that Mr Maison Cupcake does all the washing up and ironing in our house. He’s a rather limited cook though and would never manage to make proper ice cream!
Yipee, ya yayyyyyy. Superb. I mirror Lorraine though….though I may not have used the words ‘pedantic’, I would have degenerated to something like…’you’re too slow!’. Anyway, it looks absolutely gorgeous. Hurray for menfolk, should I say menfolk cooking at home!
How wonderful to have a little cameo from Mr NQN on here! Perhaps it could be a feature more frequent than once every few years
Miss B xx
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