Hi all! It's been far too long. I honestly felt like I needed a little break from blogging and taking pictures for a minute. I was starting to feel like I wasn't really enjoying it anymore - I just wanted to cook and eat, and taking pictures of my food every step of the way was really cramping my style. Anyway, I'm back (and better than ever) with one of my all time favorite foods: ICE CREAM!!!!
While I do not have ice cream daily as I did for most of my life, the creamy cold treat is still a favorite of mine. My favorites range from Haagen-Daz chocolate chocolate bars to Ben and Jerry's Chunky Money to Yarnell's Mint Chocolate Chip.
I recently made a big funfetti cake with Swiss Meringue Frosting for my close friend's son's first birthday (it was my first "professional" cake and making it might have been one of the best experiences of my life... more on that later) and I was left with an excess of egg yolks. I already had some cured egg yolks and I felt like I'd made plenty of fresh pasta recently so I decided to make something I've only made once before... ice cream!
My first flavor was Roasted Strawberry and Basil. I followed the NYT Cooking recipe for the ice cream base which turned out incredibly well. I chopped up and roasted a bunch of strawberries and mixed those in, along with some strawberry preserves and chopped basil.
Next I made pistachio. Whenever I go to a gelato shop I always order pistachio and chocolate. 1. I love those two flavors and the combination speaks to me. 2. I really think you can judge the quality of gelato shop by the pistachio - is it a dull green or is it artificially neon? does it taste nutty and warm or does it have the sting of extracts and flavorings? Even Haagen-Daz, arguably the highest quality grocery store ice cream, doesn't sell very good pistachio. Again I followed the NYT recipe and this handy chart. I made my own pistachio paste simply by roasting and food processing (?) a bunch of pistachios with a little bit of water.
The last flavor I made was a super creamy and mild milk chocolate. I do not have an ice cream machine but it was actually really easy to make smooth, non-frosty ice cream without one. I did not chill mine in an ice bath - just the fridge, and I used a handheld mixer when I would take it out of the freezer.
Find the recipe below for roasted strawberry and basil ice cream. I really hope you try to make some ice cream at home - it is SO delicious and really worth it. If you're planning to spend a few hours in the kitchen, it's a pretty easy process and the result will really impress your friends and family. Let me know how it turns out!
Roasted Strawberry and Basil Ice Cream
1 pint strawberries
12 oz strawberry preserves (Bonne Maman if possible)
Small bunch basil
Chop and roast strawberries at 350 for 20-25 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet
Prepare ice cream base according to the recipe
Finely chop or julienne basil
Whisk strawberry preserves, roasted strawberries, and basil into warm, strained ice cream base
Chill
I will leave you with my original ice cream haiku...
Ice cream so tasty
Gelato, soft serve, or cone
My favorite food
