Scratch Egg Nog

I've only found one commercial Eggnog without Carrageenan so far, and that brand had a slight medicinal taste (eww!) DH is bringing home eggnog every time he shops, the tries hiding it out of sight in the fridge, sneaking drinks while I'm in another room (I find the coated glass, even triple rinsing won't get rid of that carrageenan residual!)

So of course my season cravings are triggered, so off to search for eggnog recipes that can be adapted to using Half and Half (since we can still find some without carrageenan, unlike most commercial creams). Oh, and without getting into the "salmonella in raw eggs is/isn't dangerous" debate, I prefer my eggnog warm anyway, so problem solved!

In a 2 qt double boiler, beat three large'ish eggs until they're mixed as possible. Add 1 pint Half and Half (I guess it's no surprise I'm not brand loyal, I just use any Half and Half I'm lucky enough to find without pain-inducing carrageenan), and at least 1/4 cup sugar or equivalent sweetening.

Alternate whisking with grating whole nutmegs over pot (DH had some powdered nutmeg he bought quite a few years ago, while I had a few whole nutmegs left from many, many years ago - I let him smell mine after I grated through half of it - he said: "wow!") I grated one entire nutmeg into it, maybe if my nutmeg were fresher I could have gotten away with half a nutmeg ^_^

Once the eggnog started steaming, I turned off the heat, added 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract, a pinch of salt (because I always add a pinch of salt to everything sweet, to prevent it from tasting hollow [quote from my mother LOL), then decided it needed a bit of butter.

Strain through a metal sieve to remove the eggy bits, I thought it was awesome, but DH is so used to commercial eggnog that he thought it wasn't sweet enough. Plus he's very particular about whether drinks are hot or cold, and he grew up drinking store-bought cold eggnog. Oh well, more for me, but next time I'll try a bit more sugar, and chill it.

6 comments:

Brian said...

thanks for the post! i recently found out i was allergic to carageenan too, so i'm definitely gonna try and make this soon.

have you made this again with more sugar? and how was it chilled?

also how much eggnog did this yield... i'm making it for 12-15 people for thanksgiving. thanks so much!

~Brian

Unknown said...

Hi Brian, I haven't made this since last year, but probably will soon, since the "season" is approaching.

Bummer about your allergy, that nasty stuff is in everything. HEB is the only chain that carries carageenan-free chicken (their store-brand), unless I buy it whole.

Back to eggnog, since I posted that, I've been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and DH had a heart attack. So we've seriously cut back on sugar. I prefer Stevia, since I was addicted to Nutrasweet about 5-6 years ago, but DH hates it, so I'll probably make it without any sweeteners, chill it, then we can individually add our preferred sweetener before drinking.

If any in your group are Low Carb'ers, they'll appreciate a sugar-free eggnog I bet ^_^

Brian said...

Oh wow, I didn't know it was in chicken too! No wonder I thought I was allergic to chicken for awhile. Guh. Stupid additives. So ridiculous.

I found a episode of "Good Eats" that they make homemade nog (corresponding directions/recipe on foodnetwork.com). However, they call for heavy whipping cream. I haven't been able to find that (or half n half) without CARRAGEENAN! I read a post that says Whole Foods carries two brands without it (Clover Farms and Straus Creamery). Also, apparently Trader Joes Organic has no additives... but no TJs near me as of yet :(

Thanks for the tip on sugar free nog. We definitely abuse sugar in this country. I don't like the taste of any sugar substitutes tho, so I'll cut sugar out of a hundred other things to make up for this eggnog ;.). Good thing the season for it only comes around once a year! Sorry to hear about your recent health problems. Take care of yourselves and happy holidays :)

~Brian

Unknown said...

I'd forgotten I ordered a lot of xylitol from Amazon, so I'm going to try it with that.

How did your dr/s figure out you were allergic to carrageenan? I don't know if I'm actually "allergic", but definitely have a sensitivity to it as far as digesting it.

Unknown said...

Houston area Walmart's GV brand Half and Half have been w/o carrageenan so far. If Daisy Sour Cream is in your area, it's free also.

Also watch commercial salad dressings and most frozen ice-cream products. I haven't bought sherbet in a while, but that used to be ok.

I live within Houston city limits, so our yard laws are that we have to get a "prescription" from an ME stating that our health dictates that we need fresh raised chickens, otherwise any chickens are banned. If an MD writes a "prescription", then only female, no roosters.

But we're allowed a milk goat without special permission. But former-farmer hubby is fighting me on that LOL. I read that although separating cream from goat milk is difficult, it can be done, it just takes longer, therefor requiring the fridge while separating.

Evaporated and condensed milk needs reading of labels. And I even found powdered non-dairy coffee creamer with it once. Oh, and lots of nut/seed milks have it too.

Unknown said...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carrageenan-Allergy-Awareness-Network/254767707875 (not very active, sporadic posts)