Peppermint Ice Cream

Mixing peppermint pieces into ice cream before freezer storage

Talk about tasty! There is something terribly addictive about mint (especially when it's paired with sugar and chocolate). I don't know why we only eat mint at the holidays. Mediterranean cultures are way ahead of us in this regard. The recipes in my Greek cook book call for mint on a level Italians associate with basil. (When I had wild mint growing (or invading) the creek by my studio in Colorado, I used it in abundance. (And not just for mojitos!)) Then there's Moroccan mint tea...

In the mean time here's a recipe for super tasty ice cream. I'd pour some chocolate sauce over the top, or use it to make ice cream sandwiches. This ice cream is cream colored. It will not be pink (unless you use peppermints with artificial coloring). It is best eaten within a couple of days of being made. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
14 tablespoons sugar
10 egg yolks
4 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (or 2 cups packed peppermint leaves)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup crushed candy cane or peppermint pieces (I used organic, not-made-with-corn-syrup candy canes)
1 tablespoon Drambuie or B&B

Mix cream, milk, half of sugar, and salt (and peppermint leaves if using) in sauce pan and heat to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 30 minutes. (If using fresh peppermint let infuse one hour then remove peppermint and continue).

Mix yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl. Reheat cream sauce. Add 1 1/2 cups of cream sauce slowly to yolk and sugar mixture to temper it. Pour this egg mixture slowly back into cream mixture and heat on low-medium heat to 170 degrees or until a wooden spoon comes up with a thicker custard on its back and a finger drawn through the custard leaves a clean line.

Pour through a strainer into a metal bowl which has been sitting over ice bath and stir occasionally until cooled. Add peppermint extract and mix. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Add B&B or Drambuie. Pour into frozen ice cream machine and process according to machine instructions (about  45 minutes). Once finished, mix in crushed peppermint pieces. Eat or freeze to harden.

(If making ice cream sandwiches: after processing in ice cream machine, line a baking tray with plastic wrap and pour in ice cream. Freeze. Once frozen use a cookie cutter or knife to cut into desired shapes. Refreeze then make sandwiches.)

*Recipe for Peppermint Patty Ice Cream Sandwiches coming soon!

Pairing Suggestions: Hot chocolate anyone? Make classic hot chocolate by melting dark semi sweet chocolate and adding a bit of sweetened condensed milk... and maybe a bit of (homemade) peppermint liqueur.

Peppermint Patties

Here is a not-so easy (and maybe not worth it!) after dinner treat. Of course one problem I ran into was the dough. It was quite tasty. I kept licking my fingers and then running to the sink to wash my hands. So do yourself a favor: don't even try the dough until you have finished forming the patties!

It is crucial that the patties be dry and firm when you paint them with chocolate. (If it is warm and humid you may have trouble making these.) The hardest, and most time consuming, part about this recipe is coating the patties in chocolate.

You may not think these are worth the effort--but those that eat them will think them divine.

Ingredients (Makes approximately 65)
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/4 teaspoons peppermint extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar
9 oz. semisweet chocolate
 2-3 tablespoons butter

Directions
 In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer (fitted with paddle and then switched to hook), combine condensed milk and peppermint extract. Mix in confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky. At 5 cups sugar it will become difficult to mix so start using your hands. At 6 cups it will stop sticking and become easy to knead.

Form into 1/2 inch balls, place on waxed paper, and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature three hours, turning once. 

In a double boiler melt the chocolate and butter. Place a patty on a fork. Holding the patty over the double boiler, use a silicone pastry brush and paint the top side of the patty. Flip over the patty and paint the other side (make sure to include the sides). Slide from fork onto waxed paper. (I flip the wax paper I used for drying the patties over to the clean side). Let dry until the chocolate firms up-- a couple of hours. 

Pairing Suggestions: Try with a cup of Vietnamese ice coffee (just make sure you saved a bit of that sweetened condensed milk!). You could also pair these peppermint patties with a Spanish muscatel. Or a rich Russian Imperial Stout.

What Is This?!

Walking down the street yesterday I came across a strange fruit! It's about the size of a kumquat, but it's round like a satsuma! It's the tartest fruit I've ever put in my mouth (in a good way)! It has seven very defined segments--and two seeds. The skin is thin and easy to peel, but it's not as edible as the kumquat skins I'm familiar with... any ideas? 

Maybe it's just a weird variety of kumquat.

A friend in Hawaii suggested it may be a calamansi. But this would be an over ripe one, as it's already orange. He also said that calamansis aren't tart...

Peppermint Patty Ice Cream Sandwich

I want to eat this. Will someone else make it for me?!

Peppermint ice cream sandwich. With homemade peppermint ice cream and homemade chocolate "bread."

What do you call the bread in ice cream sandwiches anyway? Cake? Cookies?

I'm guessing it will taste something like a peppermint patty, except creamy, and better!

La Fin du Monde!

As you may guess, this is a beer review! La Fin du Monde by Unibroue (Quebec) is the best beer I've tasted in a long time. If the end of the world comes, you very well may want to be drinking this beer. At 19 IBUs it is not overly bitter, and balances what bitterness it does offer with a nice malty character. It also has tasty citrus and cereal notes that make it very flavorful. At 9% ABV it packs a well-camouflaged punch (I guess that makes it a caress). This is a Triple-style Golden Ale that has a hint of sweetness and a very creamy texture. One thing to keep in mind: it is not an inexpensive beer. I paid $2.85 for a 12 ounce bottle. But I'll buy it again in a heart beat--in a 750 ml bottle next time! In one word: Yum!

Pairing Suggestions: It will go wonderfully with salmon, Asian-style dinners (I had it with a quinoa and broccoli stir fry), or with blue cheese.

Market Harvest

Purchased at the Crescent City Farmer's Market on Saturday, December 3: 10 lbs. Organic Navel Oranges, 2 bags Organic Satsumas, Goat Milk Yoghurt, Organic Tart Kumquats, Broccoli, Organic Ruby Red Grapefruit, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Whole Milk. ($36). Missing from photo: Pint of Strawberries!! ($4). No scurvy this week!

Winter Squash Risotto

With a huge Galeux d'Eysines squash to cook up, I decided to use part of it to make a risotto. This dish is fairly simple, despite the time consuming demand of constant stirring.

Well, this is the photo I have.
But the risotto tastes really good!

Ingredients
1/3 Galeux d'Eysines--seeded and stringy pulp set aside; divide into 2 pieces (or 1 whole Kabocha, Acorn, or Buttercup squash)
4 Shallots
Red pepper flakes (not a lot)
2 medium cloves garlic
fresh ground nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil
butter
2 cups Arborio rice
Pot full of squash stock (directions below)
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

Roasting Squash
1. Coat one piece of the squash (with skin on) with olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Roast one cut side down in a 375 degree oven until soft when stuck with a knife. Remove from oven. Spoon out flesh from skin. Toss the skin. Mash the squash into a puree. Add a bit of olive oil. Set aside. (Once the oven is off you can put your pumpkin seeds in and let them slow-roast.)


2. With the other piece of squash, peel the squash and cut into bite size pieces. In olive oil, butter, and a bit of white wine saute the pieces of squash. Set aside when cooked--some pieces will begin to turn to puree, but you want most of them to remain as pieces.


Make the Squash Stock
Separate squash seeds for roasting. Put remaining stringy pulp and any nonwarty squash skin (from the peeled piece--I used the skin because the Galeux has thin, orange skin. I might reconsider if using a tougher skinned squashed) into a large pot.  Fill with water and boil for 10 minutes. Strain and return liquid to the pot. Reserve.

Making Risotto
Reheat squash stock to a soft simmer. In a large pot (Le Creuset is perfect), saute shallots with salt and red pepper flakes in olive oil with a pat of butter. When just starting to change colors add garlic. Stir to coat. Add rice and stir to coat. Keep stirring until the rice becomes almost translucent. Add pumpkin puree. Stir to integrate. Add a ladle full of stock. Keep stirring until it is absorbed. Repeat process until the rice is just cooked. (This will take some time.) Add sauteed squash pieces and stir to incorporate. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano. Adjust seasoning (don't forget the nutmeg). Add parsley. Serve immediately. (Or put in a warm--200 degree--oven until ready to serve)

Pairing Suggestions: I still love Riesling with winter squash! A nice Mosel or Nahe would go wonderfully with this dish. I suggest a drier Riesling though, so go for a Kabinett level wine, or a trocken or halftrocken. Alternatively, you could opt for a red from Bordeaux if you don't want a white wine.

Winter Squash Soup

This is a recipe for a creamy squash soup. It is delicious, and will definitely fill you up on a cold day.

At the Saturday farmer's market here in New Orleans there is a vendor with an abundance of heirloom winter squash varieties.  For this soup I picked out the wartiest looking squash I've yet to see: Galeux d'Eysines, an heirloom French variety dating from the 1880s. I figure the uglier the beast, the tastier its flesh... The one I picked out was one of the smaller ones, weighing only 8 pounds--yes, I weighed it!  You could easily keep this as a decorative centerpiece on your dining table until you work up the courage to cook it (although it's not known for long keeping).

Ingredients
1/4 Galeux d'Eysines (You can substitute an entire Kabocha, sweet dumpling, or buttercup squash, cut in half and then follow directions)
2 large shallots
Whole Milk
Heavy cream
Buttermilk
4 cloves Garlic
Olive oil
Herbes de Provence
Salt, pepper & fresh ground nutmeg to taste

Roasting Squash
Preheat oven to 375. Scoop out all of the seeds and stringy insides. Rub the squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence.  Place with one cut side down. If using a smaller squash such as butternut, cut in half and put cut side down. Roast until just tender when pricked with a knife. Let cool. Scoop out flesh and toss the skins. (Once finished cooking, and removed from oven, I turn the oven off and put in the pumpkin seeds tossed with a bit of salt. They will cook slowly and be perfect to eat once the oven cools.)

Making Soup
In a large pot (Le Creuset or cast iron dutch oven type), saute saute shallots in olive oil. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the garlic just turns translucent. Add the pumpkin meat. Cook to integrate and turn the pumpkin to mash. Add milk, cream, and a small amount of buttermilk. Add water if necessary.  Add a drizzle of sherry vinegar and/or Balsamic vinegar to taste.

You can garnish this with jumbo lump crab meat if you have some on hand. Tonight I used roasted pumpkin seeds because that's what I had available.

Pairing Suggestions: My standard pairing for winter squash soup is Riesling.  I just love the way the squash and sweeter Riesling work together. Of course a dry Riesling will work just as well as a sweeter one.