A little Florida sunshine today

It's quite a chilly day out today so we are warming up our hearts with some gorgeous fresh red grapefruits from Florida. These will be used in the pink grapefruit sorbet we are making today along with some ruby red grapefruit juice. These fresh ingredients are the life-force behind the sweet-tart citrus flavor so many people love. Can you feel the warm sun now? Try a pint and you'll see what we mean...

Happy New Year from Madisono's Gelato

We're excited to start this new year off right by replacing the old computer that took an impossible 60 seconds to load a page is now replaced with a current and speedy model. It takes a little time to install everything but man, it's worth it!

Installing a new computer is just a part of the fun we're having today. The other part is making some sorbet. Ruby Red Grapefruit sorbet to be specific. We developed this special flavor exclusively for Executive Chef Cristian Pietoso for Nichola's (top rated Zagat in 2011) and Via Vite restaurants here in Cincinnati. It is featured in the signature scroppino drinks served there and one patron recently reported to me that this drink is "the best alcoholic drink ever!".

If you're finished with the New Year's wine and champagne, here is a recipe for the refreshing Italian drink adapted from this recipe. We suggest you try this one and then have one of Chef Cristian's for a full taste test and report back to us later...

*to find Madisono's pink grapefruit sorbet, check our "Where to find it" page on this blog.

Ingredients

1 pint pink grapefruit sorbet

1/4 cup Prosecco or sparkling wine

1/4 cup vodka

Method
Pour ingredients into a blender, clamp on the lid and buzz until the ingredients are fully incorporated and frothy, 30 to 40 seconds.

Lunch on the land 2011

This past Sunday, September 18th, marked the third Lunch on the Land Findlay Market fundraiser. Held at Turner Farm in Indian Hill, the event was a collection of Cincinnati's finest restaurant talent and those dedicated to preserving Historic Findlay Market. Madisono's has been a participant in the event since the beginning and every year it gets better. The Tillers provided the music, Amy Tobin served as MC and the chefs provided some great food. 150 people attended the event. Scarlet Oaks culinary students helped out for service and prep. I have included several photos of the event.

This year I wanted to do something different. We have been making Madisono Mad Pops for about year so to make that anniversary, I decided to serve a Mad Pop. My direction was to look for farm related foods that could work in a pop. I settled on an apple carrot and beet pop. Niemeyer Farms provided the apples. I froze them in 3 separate stages so that each flavor could be experienced, it also added a nice stratification to the pop. Thanks to all of you who attuned this year.

Thanks for supporting Madisono's

Matt

The making of a Madisono Mad Pop

The making of a Madisono's Mad Pop. A year ago in July I started running recipe tests for a concept, real fruit pops made with simple ingredients, that tasted good. I had some pops that were purchased from a local store that were a big disappointment. They were weak in flavor and had very little fruit in them. We were already doing fun experiments with fruits and juices in the shop so why not offer them to our customers? We made them available to Madison's at Findlay and the response was fantastic. This year the Mad Pops have returned to Findlay Market and the response has been great.

We are offering Strawberry Mango, Blackberry Lemon, Orange Cream, Cherry Berry, Red Raspberry, and Cranberry Pomegranate.
The Findlay store sells them out front under the blue tent on the weekends and in the store during the week. Mad Pops are only available at 110 W. Elder St. There is another pop vendor at Findlay Market called Street Pops. They have some unique flavor concepts. We may compete for sales but anyone who makes pops is ok in my book. Our pops are sold for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. Compared to Street Pops at $3.00 ea. Madisono's is a great deal when you go for the 3 for 5 deal. Let us know what you think.

The pictures above show how they are done. We start with lemon juice, blackberries from our family farm in Adams County Ohio. They are pureed and then poured into the pop molds. One two and three. Once frozen we remove them and overwrap with an FDA approved food package, heat seal and then send them to Findlay. Thanks for supporting Madisono's

Matt

Cincinnati Ride June 2011

This is the 4th year that Madisono's has scooped up some gelato and sorbet for everyone who comes out to the Cincinnati Ride Celebration to raise money for breast cancer research. Please visit their site via the link. The event is held at Yeatman's Cove and I hear that the weather is going to be excellent. We missed out on Zoo la la last night due to the weather. It will be set for another day. Madisono's will be at the Zoo on June 23rd for Wild about Wines. We have been very busy the past weeks making gelato and sorbet. The high temps always creates a demand for something cool. We are also making a great selection of Mad Pops for sale at Findlay Market. The current flavors are as follows: Cherry Berry (dark cherries and blueberry puree) Cranberry Pomegranate, Red Raspberry, (this is crazy good!) Blackberry lemon (made with blackberries from our family farm in Adams County Ohio), Strawberry and Alphonso Mango, (the most popular so far), and Orange cream. If you are anywhere near Findlay Market they are worth a special trip. Thanks for eating Madisono's Gelato and Sorbet!
Matt

Midwest Culinary Young Chef Competition

I spent today in the company of many talented people. The Midwest Culinary Institute MCI, held the regional young chef competition. These young chefs are in the running to compete at the national level and then international level. As out of town guests, MCI offered the chefs and their families lunch featuring all local products. Wines, beers, and foods. Madisono's was invited to serve gelato and sorbet. The lunch also featured LaRosa's, Montgomery Inn and Skyline. Madisono's is a Cincinnati favorite. Each of the chefs were given a box of vegetables and fruit and the choice of leg of lamb or fish. They had to write a menu, prepare 3 dishes and do it within a certain time limit. Can you say pressure! A couple of these photos are blurry but to be honest these guys were moving so fast it was hard to keep up. They are judged on how they worked, what they saved, threw away and all kinds of things. Chef Jean Robert and Chef Chris Ropp from Kenwood Country Club were part of the judging panel. The chefs had to come up with a show plate and 3 others for the judges to eat from. I saw one of the young chefs finish with less than 5 seconds to spare. It was a great experience. Madisono's will be a part of One Night 12 Kitchens this year and we are looking forward to it. Here are some photos from the event.
Thanks
Matt

Spring flavors and a new look

The Spring flavors are finally here. I have 4 new flavors to tell you about. You might be wondering where can you buy them? Great question. All are available at Findlay Market and are making their way day by day to our retail locations throughout the city. It might take a little time but they will get there. Before I get into the details on the new flavors I want to let you know about the new packaging. We are using a clear pint container with a very firm fitting lid. It is a # 2 recycle plastic and it is great for left overs. The most important part of this new packaging is that they are extruded in Streetsboro Ohio. That means Ohio workers produce and truck them which means a lower carbon footprint.
Our new label keeps the Madisono's look alive but now you can see into the gelato from the outside. You can see the vanilla bean specs, whole fruit and the zest peeking out. All new flavors and some of the others will get the new package. Eventually all flavors will be in the new package. So what are they?

Cherries Jubilee Gelato: Escoffier’s original dessert and served to royalty, Madisono’s version starts with our Madagascar vanilla base, Michigan tart cherries and Kirschwasser. We blend the cooked cherries into the finished gelato by hand for a marbled finish that is beautiful and delicious.

Honey Lavender Gelato: What’s all the buzz about? Local honey from The Beiersdorfer family farm in Guilford Indiana, real lavender and Madisono’s neutral gelato base yields a gelato that is so creamy and smooth it could be called royal jelly.

Lemon with Candied Ginger Gelato : Imagine if you started with 2.5 gallons of neutral gelato base made from scratch. Add the zest of 10 lemons, the juice from those lemons and a whole bunch of candied ginger from the famous Ginger People. Freeze it and put it into packages where you could see all of that goodness from the outside. What would you have? Madisono’s Lemon with Candied Ginger Gelato.

Coconut with Lemongrass and Cilantro Gelato: We thought about calling this gelato Siam Dream but then reconsidered because we did not think that anyone would know what that meant or what was inside. Once you taste it though you will be dreaming. Everything always works out in the end. We use Whole Foods 365 brand coconut milk which contains no sulphites.

We will produce these flavors through May. After that we will offer up our Summer flavors and from there Fall/Winter. These flavors are also offered at The Dorothy Lane Markets in Dayton Ohio. Deliveries will start there this coming week. My goal is to continue to offer new flavors for you to enjoy. Some flavors that we have offered in the past have not been as creative. That's not to say Cookies and Cream tastes bad, but using an Oreo cookie (which contains all kinds of extra stuff) is not where we want to be. You can see in the photos that our process is small bath and hand crafted. We will continue to develop flavors that include superior ingredients, feature local sources and make the best tasting gelato & sorbet. Thanks for your support of Madisono's
Matt