>Secondly, I am looking for a recipe for (paleo) coconut-mango "ice cream"
>that would not require the use of an ice cream machine. (What purpose does
>the ice cream machine serve anyway? Does it just churn the ice cream?) Do I
>just make a puree of mango and coconut milk, then freeze it? The best
>mangoes are too expensive to experiment with, and the cheap ones are
>unpalatable IMO.

>Stacie

Ice cream machines help break up the crystals in the freezing mix so
it is
smoother. Some commercial models also pump air into the ice cream to
fluff
it up for sale.  I've never seen a home machine do this.  I have had
reasonable success in chilling it to partial solidity in the freezer
in a
bowl, then whipping the hell out of it with a sturdy hand blender,
refreezing it, and repeating the process until I get too impatient or
until
it freezes up too hard to blend. In some areas you can rent big
electic
makers (pitched to the 4th-of-July-party-in-the-park market), but
wrestling
with heavy beaters and ice and salt makes the whole process less than
appealing and more like industrial chemistry.

I used to make mango ice cream starting with pureed mango, half and
half,
and eggs - or an egg, really, as you don't want more than one egg per
quart
of misture. I cooked this into a thin custard before cooling it and
freezing it into ice cream, and it was heavenly. I have no idea if
this
would work with cocoanut milk. If you try this, beat all the
ingredients
very well before cooking. If mangoes are pricey, you might even try a
cocoanut and egg custard first. Say, that sounds appealing...I may do
the
R&D myself, if I can find cocoanut milk that's not full of sugar.

Mike

Mike