I remember the first holiday my family switched over from the canned “cranberry” abomination to making our own.  It was my third year in college when I spent a lot of time watching the Food Network instead of writing papers.  Which is not to say I didnt write the papers just that I did the writing at literally the very last second before they were due, editing and printing the papers minutes before catching the bus to class.  All the while frantically praying to the goddess of procrastination,  my long time muse.  I did well in all my classes I was just much more interested my new passions born out of living alone for the first time in a big city; cooking, coffee, and beatnik poetry. 

Unfortunately my last minute writing technique was so successful that its the only way I know how to write to this day.  Which is why I often neglect this blog unless someone in my life writes me an email that basically amounts to “blog today or else...”  So if Ive been promising to write about something fabulous I fed you or told you about or a recipe you sent me to try and it isnt blogged about yet, you need to write me a kind but pressing email telling me to hurry up and write about whatever it is.  It works, promise.

Anyway somewhere along the line in the plethora of cooking shows I was watching I got the itch to make real cranberries since my brother was and still is ion love with all versions of cranberry sauce.  So I bought cranberries and enlisted my little brother to help me make them.  We just cooked the simple version off the back of the bag.  Equal parts sugar and water, the bag of cranberries and boil until the berries burst. 

We were fascinated watching the berries burst all over the pot which my mother heard from the other room and probably imagined as something much more dangerous than what was actually happening because she came to watch too.  It really is the simple pleasures in life because we had more fun making those berries than most of the rest of dinner and they were delicious, we never went back to buying the canned stuff

As the holidays went on we got creative and started adding orange zest or cinnamon and comparing them hot versus how good they were cold.  Soon my brother and I were making 3 or 4 batches of cranberries to feast on  while home for the holidays.  It became an obsession and is still a holiday tradition to make too many cranberries.  I certainly wasnt going to shun the tradition this year but since Im making a habit of making new and interesting food I knew I would have to up the ante on the creativity of the cranberries this year.

The fella and I made these for Thanksgiving and fell in love.  They are the best cranberries ever.  With brandy, pears, and walnuts how could you possibly go wrong.  Though they take a little effort they are very much worth it and will wow everyone at the table.  My family, the fella, the chef and I made these disappear very quickly.  We ate them with dinner, then a little bit after dinner, then for dessert, then on top of dessert.  They are great alone but on top of coconut ice cream they are divine.  Dip in a gluten free Christmas cookie and you may never leave the table.  Or you may become so drunk on cranberries you end up playing hours of ridiculous card games.  Either way you will be very happy.

Funny to think my cooking obsession started with cranberries and has led me to French cooking and a food blog.  From playing with food with my little brother to my brother being old enough to drink and me cooking with these two crazy lovable guys.  From living for a year in Iowa with no kitchen to making gourmet meals every night. 

Okay enough end of the year nostalgia.  Its been an amazing journey 2009 but its time to move on to frog legs and shirataki noodles.  In other words, you  havent seen anything yet.

Oh and will someone convince Jacob to share with the rest of the world what he did to the turkey?  It was the best turkey Ive ever tasted and I wasnt around to watch his secret ninja cooking techniques to find out what he did.

Pear, Brandy and Walnut Cranberry Sauce

1/3 cup, plus 2-3 tablespoon brandy, divided use

water

2 cinnamon sticks, each broken in half

8 black peppercorns

12 ounces fresh cranberries, picked over

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 medium firm but ripe bartlett pears, peeled

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

 Pour 1/3 cup brandy into liquid measuring cup; add enough water to reach 1/2 cup liquid total. Set aside. Place broken cinnamon sticks and peppercorns in center of small piece of cheesecloth or large tea bag and tie closed using kitchen twine.

In medium saucepot, combine cranberries, agave nectar and cinnamon-pepper bundle. Using large holes on a box grater, grate pears into saucepot. Stir in brandy-water mixture.

Over high heat, bring cranberry mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook 10-12 minutes, or until cranberries have burst and the mixture has combined, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Stir in remaining 2 to 3 tablespoons brandy. Let cool. Remove and discard cinnamon bundle. Stir in 7 tablespoons toasted walnuts. Transfer mixture to small serving bowl; sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Original recipe from Food 52.

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From looking at the final product you would think this was just any other bowl of delicious and totally innocent ice cream. Dont believe what you see. It is delicious and refreshing. However it wasnt so benign when it had splattered everywhere in the kitchen. Top and bottom cupboards, puddles on the counter, dripping down the front of my pants, staining the kitchen rug, the dog trying to lick at the heap of blueberry syrup on the floor. There was a lot of very creative swearing.

See I pictured this whole thing happening in my head as I was dumping the blueberry mixture into the blender and cringing, waiting for the worst possible thing to happen. Then it did. While I was tightening the blender pieces and making sure everything was put together properly to avoid disaster, it never occurred to me that the rubber disk that creates a seal in the bottom of the bowl could slip to the side and create a gap for evil purple liquid to escape from.

As soon as I poured the blueberries in the blender the chaos started. In the crevice where the glass bit of the blender meets the plastic base the liquid started spurting out. Not just drizzling or trickling. It was shooting out on the underside of the cupboard and on my arms. About a third of my precious blueberry mixture ended up on the counter. I tried to tighten the pieces hoping for the best. Crossing my fingers the whole time I blended and made a beautiful purple liquid with no other major issues.

I wrapped the blender in dish towels and added the heavy and sour cream prayed for no more spurting. And all was well until I went to pour the mixture into a bowl at which point the precarious rule of physics that was keeping the liquid from seeping everywhere left me. Half of the ice cream mixture ended up in the bowl, the other half on the floor. That any of it made it in the bowl was more than I had expected. Things were already a mess so I continued with this highly mistaken course of action, emptying the blender, putting what made it into the bowl into the refrigerator, out of my sight to cool off and began the laborious task of de-purpling the kitchen.

It didnt put up nearly as big a fight going into the ice cream maker but the whole time it was churning I was thinking “boy this better be good.” This was going to have to be awfully good ice cream to make up for the disaster.

In the end all I can say for it however is that its interesting. Blueberries work really well with the tartness of the sour cream and it creates a nice rich velvety texture. Amidst all the drama I did manage to put in too much lemon juice (which I had to substitute since I had no lime) and most of my precious berries were in a puddle on the counter so it wasnt as delicious and sweet as it probably should have been. Its quite sour which isnt a bad thing it just isnt very dessert like.

Id only recommend making this if you have much better luck than I do with blenderfuls of malevolent purple liquid. Ive learned my lesson and will be keeping my blueberry obsession to very simple recipes from now on. Which mostly means if you need me Ill be standing in front of the refrigerator gorging myself on berries straight from the container. Its safer that way.

Sour Blueberry Ice Cream

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if frozen, thaw and drain)
1/3 cup agave nectar
Pinch of salt
Grated zest of one lime
Juice of 1/2 a lime, or more juice to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream

In a medium saucepan cook blueberries, sugar, salt, lime zest and juice over medium heat, stirring, until mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 4 minutes.

Pour the berry mixture into a blender and whirl until pureed, the mixture will not be completely smooth. Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse to blend. Taste and add a bit more lime juice or agave nectar if you choose.

Pour the blend into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning into ice cream.

Original recipe from Noble Pig Blog.

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Ive been a neglectful blogger, too busy wining and dining friends and just plain drinking wine to find time to post. Tonight I discovered something while shopping that Im too excited not to share immediately. Low glycemic index coconut milk ice cream!

Three months with no ice cream is no way to live. So when I saw this peaking out of freezer case among all the other crazy and expensive frozen treats at Whole Foods I knew even at $5.99 a pint it was coming home with me. I clutched it to my chest and ran to the fella where he was peacefully shopping for vitamins and panted something about “Must...have...now...yum.” Once I got out the words “sugar free” he gladly tossed in our basket, still looking at me like a crazy person hyperventilating over ice cream.

This was worth every penny. It was the best ice cream Ive ever had which is odd considering there is nothing traditionally ice creamy about it aside from being cold. Its dairy free combination of coconut milk and hazelnuts which made is super creamy and sinful. Its sweetened with agave nectar. And its loaded with chocolate and hazelnut chunks. It is delightful. If the fella hadnt been watching there would have been little to keep me from eating the whole pint in one sitting.

Sometimes this diet and its restrictions gets me down. There are a number of days I just want to say screw it and go drown myself in a huge baguette slathered in mayo and deli meat. It would be so easy. No more complicated menus or being picky in restaurants or explaining why I cant eat such and such a thing for the millionth time. Then out of the blue I stumble upon something like this ice cream and the blind excitement of that discovery that makes it worth it. The successes are worth the work. Oh yeah and the living longer and going down two sizes isnt too bad either.

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While pouring a very interesting albeit not very enjoyable tasting of red wines from the Languedoc (they have a tendency to smell like a barnyard in the summer, not my idea of delicious) I got into a conversation about wine pairings with one of the tasters on a subject that Ive never much thought about.  She was talking about  having just gotten into wine and how shes working on cellaring some wine.  However she is both a pescetarian (a vegetarian that also eats fish) and a lover of big red wines who was trying to come to terms with the fact she would never be able to pair all these great reds with an equally great meal.

I guess the whole "red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat" rule of thumb has become a bit too entrenched in the minds of starter winos.  And I say, rules?  Who needs them.  Do what you like.  If youre in the mood for fish and a red wine dont let the guy at the wine store who insists pinot gris is the only good wine to drink with white fish get in your way.  Of course a Cabernet and tilapia in a lemony sauce is going to be a little weird.  However pinot noir with a hefty fish like salmon is amazing.

So the other night when the fella and I were making this outstanding fish steamed over vegetables I tested out the red wine with white meat with good results.  The smooth, light bodied Castle Rock Pinot Noir from Geyserville, California had the right balance of gentle tannins and berry and stone fruit flavors to compliment the halibut steaks.  The steamed eggplant with the rich thyme and stewed tomatoes gave the fish enough heft that it could stand up to the Pinot.

Tada a red wine to pair with white fish.  It can be done.  And the recipe itself has the makings of a new favorite.  It was as easy as chopping up some vegetables and stirring it every once in a while.  And I cant believe I never thought of simply steaming fish over top of the veggies at the end, so much easier and waistline friendly than pan frying the fish.  Not to mention this is an excellent recipe to use, subbing in whatever random produce you have in the fridge.

Fish Steamed Over Vegetables

3 tablespoons oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium pepper (any color), cut into inch pieces

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup black olives

1 1/2 pounds white fish steaks (we used halibut)

1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large deep skillet with a lid, over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft.

Add the zucchini, eggplant, pepper and a but more salt and pepper to the pan,  Lower the hear to keep veggies from burning and cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 to 15 minutes or until eggplant is soft. 

Add the tomatoes, thyme and olives, cook stirring occasionally until the tomatoes begin to break up and create a sauce, or about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper then place flesh side down over the pile of vegetables.  Adjust the heat so that the sauce simmers then cover pan and cook from anywhere between 5 to 12 minutes or until a knife inserted to the thickest part of the fish meets little resistance.  Thin fish will be done in 5 minutes, my medium thick fish took 8 minutes.

Spoon a portion of the veggies to a plate then top with fillet of fish.  Sprinkle with a bit of fresh basil.

Original recipe from Mark Bittmans How to Cook Everything. 

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Its been a shamefully long time since Ive blogged.

Partly because I hit a plateau in the diet; I havent lost weight in a while and weve been eating the same handful of recipes over and over again so there hasnt been much to say. The fella also disappeared to Boston for a man vacation for a couple weeks and my single girl menus were nothing to brag about. Lastly with spring has come a full social schedule which hasnt left me time to sleep let alone write. I know, excuses, excuses.

No worries, during this time Ive continued to cook a few new and interesting things and I have a bunch of wine to tell you about. Hopefully Ill have some time to write about all of this soon. First I have to tell you about my newest obsession.

Ice cream.

A little fairy (okay it was my mother) left an ice cream maker for me a couple weeks ago and I havent stopped experimenting with ice cream since. Custards sweetened with agave nectar work really well so these have been some very tasty experiments. It also helped that I discovered David Lebovitz about this same time. This man knows what hes talking about when it comes to frozen treats so Ive stuck with his recipes thus far and been very happy.

Writing about food comes with a fair amount of hyperbole and metaphor but there is none of that when I say this is the best ice cream ever created . I mean it literally. Make this ice cream and you could seduce anyone. It could get you a promotion. You could probably use it to get out of jail. Okay now Im exaggerating but it really is that good.

Not only is it amazingly sweet and rich it is super easy. These four simple components make it taste like you spent hours slaving over complex mixtures of mysterious sweet ingredients. The secret really is the saffron which pairs perfectly with the coconut milk and creates a unfathomably delicious flavor. It tastes like....something. You cant quite wrap your mind around what but its fabulous and comforting and coats all of your taste buds in a halo of yum.

Ive already made this twice. The first time I made the recipe as is (all I changed was to use agave in place of his sugar) and it was enough to share with a friend after dinner. So I had to be a bitchy foodie running around telling people how good it was but not having any proof. The next time I quadrupled the recipe and that was the perfect amount of this. It was enough for the fella and I to nibble on for over a week and share with a few people so they could see what I was talking about.

If you have an ice cream maker you have to make this, its too simple and too good not too. If you dont have a machine Mr. Lebovitz has you covered. So go, now.

Coconut Milk and Saffron Ice Cream

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup coconut milk
scant 1/4 cup agave nectar
scant 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

In a medium-sized saucepan, bring all the ingredients to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer gently for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and chill the mixture thoroughly.

Once chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers directions. Once churned, be sure to scrape any saffron threads clinging to the dasher back in to the ice cream.

Vow to never buy store bought ice cream again.

Original recipe by David Lebovitz on his blog Living the Sweet Life in Paris.

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I dont know how some pregnant women deal with being pregnant plus a highly demanding job. Im sure that my job is not nearly as tough as most and I have been struggling so much lately just making it through my days. There have been nights when I got home from work and either crashed on the couch or cried...

At the beginning of the month we ended up losing several of the employees in our department for various reasons. What this meant is that because Im one of the managers in our department Im expected to pick up some of the hours and responsibilities that those employees had. So for the past several weeks I have not only been working my job, but I am also working evenings/weekends/13 hour days/and Im back to driving the bus for doctors visits and outings. This wouldnt normally be a problem, but being in my 3rd trimester now you can imagine the toll it takes on me. Plus, keep in mind I dont really have a sit down job and am usually walking up to 4-6 miles per day. Im almost at the point where I question how much longer I can keep this up and I still have three months left for this baby to cook. Whats a girl to do? To top it all off... the state board of health made their appearance in our building at the beginning of the week which adds that much more stress to the mix. PHEW!

Anyways... the reason for the back story is to let you know Im still alive and kicking and to apologize once again for my lack of post these past few weeks. I have not felt well or had the energy to do any posts and they are backing up in my brain. Hoping to play some catch up over the weekend to fill you in on some recipes and other developments taking place in the Rhoton household...

Right now Im off to start my last 13 hour day this week... Thank you Lord!   

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Ive loved ice cream for as long as I can remember.  So it was only natural when I started cooking everything myself that I would eventually start making fabulous ice creams as well.  My fella was even awesome enough to buy me the best ice cream making book ever, David Lebovitzs The Perfect Scoop, for my birthday last year.  I started playing around with making some of the recipes with agave and fructose for the French Diet but never got around to posting about them because I was too busy licking the ice cream maker clean after each experiment.

More recently this same book has been just left sad and lonely sitting on my shelf as I did the elimination diet and found out how truly ill dairy in all forms makes me.  My body can try to deny me many things but the only thing I will not give up is ice cream.  Even if I have to buy $6 pints of coconut milk ice cream sweetened with agave nectar at Whole Foods I will neglect myself other things to afford that ice cream.  So I decided to go back to my favorite ice cream book and start cooking dairy free sugar free versions of some of David Lebovitzs recipes. 

I will not give up ice cream and I will not leave my favorite dessert cookbook to get dusty on the shelf.  So in between moving and looking for a new job in a new city across the country Im going to treat myself to homemade dairy free ice cream.  This will be the summer that I dare to make dairy free ice cream amazing.

My first experiment was with the Pear Caramel Ice Cream Id made a couple of times before with heavy cream and really enjoyed.  Its a simple recipe so I didnt have to make a lot of substitutions to make it work as a dairy free recipe.  The toughest part was playing with caramelizing agave nectar.  It is possible but it doesnt quite give the thick, dark, and slightly scorched flavor of caramelized sugar however.  But like many things in sugar free or gluten free cooking if you stop thinking about what youre missing and focus on the new flavor youre discovering its still super delicious.

Pushing the pears through a sieve is a pain in the butt, I know but it is worth it for the creamy texture the process gives you.  If you dont care then by all means eat the grainy slightly chunky mixture as it is or give it a go round in your food processor to break it up a bit.

This ice cream is even better with some raspberry topping to add a tartness to the almost overpoweringly sweet caramel ice cream.  And if youre really feeling out going this all goes great on my Gooey Hazelnut Flour Brownies.  These three things together make the ultimate dessert. But worry not the highly decadent ice cream holds up very well on its own.   I end up eating the whole batch before I even have time to turn on the oven.

When your agave nectar starts to look like this youve achieved caramel.

Pear Caramel Ice Cream

3 medium-sized ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 scant cup of agave nectar

2 cups full fat coconut milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

a few drops lemon juice

Pour the agave nectar into a heavy saucepan, cooking over medium high heat while watching it very carefully.  When it darkens and starts to look like the picture above (this will take awhile, 10 to 15 minutes) begin pushing the liquid around with a heat proof spatula so the middle doesnt burn.

When the agave is a uniformly dark color and syrupy thick stir in the diced pear.  The caramel might become hard or make scary hissing noise but dont be afraid keep adding the pears and stirring the mixture for about 10 minutes or until the pears are cooked through.

Remove the pot from the heat and add about 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and stir.  Now add in the rest of the coconut milk and a couple drops of lemon juice.  

Let this mixture cool to almost room temperature then puree in the food processor until smooth.  Press this mixture though a mesh strainer or sieve with your flexible spatula.  This will remove the tough fibers of the pear.

Chill this mixture then run it through your ice cream maker.

Recipe adapted to be dairy and sugar free from a David Lebovitz recipe in the Perfect Scoop.

Raspberry Topping

handful of fresh or frozen raspberries

drizzle of agave nectar

water, as needed

Drop the raspberries and a generous drizzle of agave nectar into the food processor and blend.  If it is too thick add a small amount of water until you get the consistency you like.  Use to top the Pear Caramel Ice Cream.  This also is a nice topping for your oatmeal in the morning.

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This is one the strangest things Ive ever made which is saying a lot considering I cooked frog legs for New Years, once spent 8 hours waiting for ox tail soup to finish cooking and made green fairy ice cream for the fellas birthday.  And that isnt to say it wasnt tasty because it truly was but in an odd am-I-really-putting-this-in-my-mouth kind of way.  First of all its so high in fat and all that naughtiness that even as someone on a low carb diet I felt weird eating it.  Secondly fried cheese and pineapple in the same dish?  Thats just crazy.  Yummy but crazy.  And like so many things, this meal is all the fault of the fella and the chef.

See the fella went through a faze a while back where he was buying a ridiculous amount of pineapples.  We always seemed to have 2 in the fruit bowl.  It was as if I would cut one up and put it in the fridge to snack on when another would appear in the house magically while my back was turned.  And I like pineapple but those suckers are labor intensive to cut up so eventually I got fed up with the pineapple and left one to languish in the bowl figuring if the fella wanted to keep buying them he could cut the freaking pineapple up himself.

You know, typically passive aggressive chick behavior towards someone youve lived with for a while and drives you crazy in the best possible ways (mostly) and occasionally drives you to perform small scale sociological experiments to find out if the other person of their volition will ever do the thing youre sick of doing when it stops magically getting done for them.  Why does this ever seem like a good idea?  It never works.

Anyway at some point the chef came over and he noticed the pathetic pineapple and in his typical fashion started dreaming up totally insane things to do with it.  I just shook my head and hoped to not encourage the behavior.  The fella then hops in with the helpful suggestion "Lets smoke it."  Which then became plans to fry it or, marinate it in fish sauce or turn into a hat rack.  Who knows by then I was in my happy place thinking about socks and puppies and ignoring them both.  When I drifted back into the conversation they were contemplating using apple wood to smoke the poor pineapple then debating whether that was kosher or not.  All this at 8AM or so.  This is my life.

It was then I  knew I would have to give up my silent pineapple cutting strike.  So being that this was during the great early winter paneer surplus I went looking for a crazy Indian recipe that would take care of the remaining paneer and the pineapple at the same time.  Imagine my surprise when such a recipe existed.  I gathered the ingredients to cook this that night before the pineapple fell into the hands of philosophical extremists.  Image how surprised I was when what started as a joke ended up as a great dinner.  The super sweet pineapple somehow works with the salty paneer to make something wonderful.

I cant make any of this up.  Its all true.  So long story short, if youre looking for a really interesting curry to impress yourself and anyone lucky enough to be eating with you, this is it.  Pineapple curry, who knew?

Paneer Bagh E-Bahar

1 cup paneer cubes (about ½ pound)

1 cup yellow or red pepper, chopped

1 cup pineapple, chopped

1 cup tomato, chopped

1/4 cup cashews

1/2 cup cream

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tablespoon tomato sauce

Cut paneer, pepper, pineapple and tomato all into 1 inch pieces.

Make a paste of cashew nuts by placing them in food processor along with a few teaspoons of water and grinding until smooth. Add the cream and process again briefly.

Heat oil in deep frying pan over medium high heat to fry garlic and chilies until browned. Mix in the cashew paste. Increase heat and stir fry pepper in cashew and garlic mixture until softened. Add pineapple and tomatoes and stir frequently until cooked through. Mix in paneer, tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Stir fry one minute longer, combining ingredients fully. Serve sprinkled with a couple tablespoons of cream.

Original recipe from Indian Food Forever.

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The fella and I were both extremely wary of this meal as we were cooking it.  Fish plus pasta seemed curious and had a likelihood to not be as tasty together as the two delicious bits are separate.  In this case the genius of the recipe won out over our doubts.  Not only is it a very yummy recipe it is also very easy.  The meaty texture of the broiled fish contrasted nicely with the pasta which then covered with the salty bits of caper and olive made a nicely balanced meal.  This recipe is going into our rotation of quick filling things to make when I dont feel like cooking.

Swordfish and Olive Pasta

6 ounces of swordfish
2/3 cup black olives, finely chopped
salt and pepper
6 ounces curly pasta (gluten free rice rice pasta works well)
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
4 tablespoons capers
1/ 2 starchy water reserved from boiling pasta
fresh parsley

Line broiler rack with aluminum wrap, rub on a little oil, set fish on top and broil 4 minutes on one side.  Turn the fish, top with olives and broil 2 or 3 minutes longer.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in the pasta.  While it cooked, saute shallot and garlic in the olive oil over low heat until they are soft, dont let them brown.  Add the herb de Provence and capers.  Slice the swordfish in thin strips and spoon the olives into the shallot mixture.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving 1/ 2 cup of the cooking water and mix the pasta in with the swordfish,adding pasta water a little bit at a time as needed to moisten the pasta in order to make a few tablespoons of sauce to cover the pasta.

Salt and pepper the dish.  Toss one last time and top with parsley to serve.

From Judith Jones The Tenth Muse.

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Ive been waiting for an excuse to make this ice cream for a while now. Every great cake needs a complimentary and equally exciting ice cream at its side so the fellas birthday was the perfect time to try it out. Especially since I happened to have a dozen egg yolks left over from making the angel food cake which was the exact number of yolks needed to double the ice cream recipe I had my eye on.

No matter how fussy they sometimes might be David Lebovitzs recipes are always spot, I go to his ice cream recipes in The Perfect Scoop again and again because they all work and turn out great even. The bonus is all the ones Ive tried so far tolerate substituting in agave nectar for sugar without changing up the recipe portions. So all the hard work of ice baths, tempering eggs, and perfectly heated cream was worth it. Okay the hardest part of the whole experience of cooking for the fellas birthday was to not start drinking the absinthe without him at 3 in the afternoon. The Libertine absinthe at Vom Fass (Ill talk about this addictive store more later) is excellent and worked perfectly in the custard base.

This made the tastiest ice cream ever. Even people who arent all that into the licoricey absinthe flavor loved the ice cream. It was a huge success if the loud chorus of yummy noises and calls for second helpings were any indication when I served the cake and ice cream. And now I have an excuse to nibble on absinthe flavored ice cream periodically whenever I need a bite of something sweet.

Absinthe Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
A pinch of salt
2/3 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

5 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons absinthe
1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate truffles or chocolate chips


Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.

Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Pour the cream into the smaller bowl set a strainer over the top for straining the egg mixture later.

In a small separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

Strain the custard into the cream. Stir in the bowl over the ice bath until cool, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight. Stir in 3 tablespoons of absinthe. Taste, and add another one if desired.

Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions. During the last couple minutes of churning and in the chopped chocolate bits.

Original recipe from David Lebovitzs blog.

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