Our friend Saket hosted an “Iron Chef” competition at his place earlier in the summer. He’d earlier held a brainstorming session to come up with theme ideas. When he’d been to a similar competition before, an ingredient had been picked and everyone had been expected to bring a dish including that ingredient. We decided to change things up and chose a much vaguer theme for this event — every dish must include either a cliche or a pun.

Matt’s and my entries included “American as Apple Pie” (apple pie shaped like a flag), “headcheese/cheesehead” (a cheeseball shaped like a head), and “toe jam” (boot-shaped cheese crackers with bacon-bourbon jam to spread on the toe). We didn’t ever pick a winner, but the highlight of the night for me was “cool as a cucumber” from Joey — ice cream flavored with cucumber and mint. It was so delicious that we decided to try to replicate it a few weeks later. Not sure if this is the same way Joey made it or not, but we thought our version turned out pretty well. A deliciously refreshing way to end a summer evening!

Cucumber mint ice cream

Loosely based on this recipe from Food52 and the vanilla ice cream recipe from Bittman’s How To Cook Everything

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 cups half and half or milk
6 egg yolks (can reduce down to 2 for a less rich ice cream)
2/3 c mint leaves, packed
1 Tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup cream or more half and half or milk
1/3 cup of chocolate chips or other mix-in (we used some chocolate “crunchies” we had on hand that are crisped rice coated in chocolate)

Puree the cucumber finely. Set aside.

In a double boiler over simmering water, heat 2 c half and half or milk and 1/4 c sugar. Meanwhile, separate the eggs and whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar until light in color. While whisking, gradually add about 1/2 cup of the simmering milk to the eggs to temper them. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk and cook over a double boiler, stirring nearly constantly, until thickened. This will take about 5-10 minutes. The custard is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon and you can run a finger through the custard on the spoon and see the “track” from your finger.

Remove from heat and add the pureed cucumber, mint leaves, vanilla extract, and salt. Let steep about an hour.

Add the remaining cup of cream (or more milk or half and half) and chill thoroughly. (Either chill in an ice bath or leave in the fridge for several hours or overnight.) Strain out the cucumber puree and mint.

Freeze in an ice cream maker. When it’s nearly frozen, stir in any desired mix-ins.

I have a weakness for the juice/smoothie case at Whole Foods, and last weekend when we stopped in to get a few things for dinner, I found a new flavor I hadn’t tried before, called Red Ginger Lime.  I can’t remember who made it, but it was delicious — a sharp bite from the ginger, a tart kick from the lime, and a little bit of sweetness from some blood orange juice (which also turned it a lovely shade of deep magenta).  I was eager to try the ginger-lime combination again, and I’ve been wanting to break out the ice cream maker, so I made sherbet a few days later.  We had some watermelon that needed to be eaten too, so I used it to cut the sourness of the limes a bit.  (I’ve got something else with the ginger-lime combo cued up for later this week…)

The difference between a sorbet and a sherbet is the addition of dairy — sorbet is generally all fruit juice, while sherbet has some milk or cream.  I wanted this to be a bit creamy, so I opted for sherbet, which I think also lasts a little longer in the freezer before becoming icy, from the extra fat I guess.  I also wanted a very tart sherbet, which I got, but it’s maybe a little on the edge of too tart.  If you don’t like your mouth to pucker, I would definitely suggest adding more sugar or honey, or a little less lime juice.

Finally, it’s not quite gingery enough, honestly, and I think this to some extent depends on how strong your fresh ginger is.  But I found that the ginger flavor seemed more muted when frozen than before, and that the tartness of the limes was more pronounced after it was frozen, so that should help guide you to add more or less ginger and honey.

A very refreshing summer treat! (more…)

I made these cookie cups from David Lebovitz‘s blog when my cousin Anne visited a few weeks ago, and served them with Clotilde’s (of Chocolate & Zucchini) Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream. You can find the recipe for the cookies here; scroll down to find it, as it’s toward the bottom of the post. I’ve always thought tuile cookies like this were so pretty, but figured it’d probably be kind of difficult to get that lacy look right. In fact, it couldn’t be simpler — you just put a dollop of the batter on a piece of parchment and flatten it a little, and it spreads out and becomes lacy while it bakes! Getting them off the pan was slightly more challenging, mostly because I don’t have a metal spatula, so I found it easiest to tear the parchment in pieces so I could pick it up and transfer it directly to the bowls I was using for a mold.

I highly recommend these as they come together in a jiffy, but they make for a very elegant and impressive way to serve dessert. Now, I just have to get my hands on a copy of The Perfect Scoop, David’s ice cream book, for some more ideas on what to fill them with. Check it out, everything looks delicious!