Hot and Sunny = Ice Cream Weather

Today felt like summer - in the "wait a minute, what happened to spring?" kind of way. So, over lunch I pulled out my ice cream bible and made an ice cream base to freeze at dinner time.  I had some lemon juice leftover from making lemon sorbet last weekend, and had been planning on making the Lemon Buttermilk Sherbet from the same book, but...When push came to shove, the minimal amount of cooking required for that recipe made the Super Lemon ice cream seem more attractive. (That, and, while I like the idea of a buttermilk-based sherbet, it takes a little mental 'working-up-to' that I just didn't have.) So, here we are. Still no Lemon Buttermilk, but with a truly Super Lemon Ice Cream that's delicious and super EASY to boot.

Just a note: I really love custard-based ice creams for their rich, creamy mouthfeel, but there are some lazy days that I just can't get myself excited about the cooking part. I always feel a little stress over whether today's going to be the day I scramble my custard, and some days the worry isn't worth it.  That's when I love recipes like this one and the Peanut Butter Ice Cream in the same book...stick it in the blender for a few seconds, and you're done.  Perfect.

Back to the how-to, pretty much straight from The Perfect Scoop:
Zest 2 clean lemon straight into your blender. Add 1/2 C sugar and blend until zest is very finely chopped. Then add 1/2 C lemon juice (freshly squeezed, of course) and blend until the sugar is dissolved. Finally, add 2 C half-and-half and a pinch of salt, blend one more time, and then refrigerate for at least an hour, or until you're ready to freeze. Easy-peasy!

I served mine with some strawberries that I chopped up and macerated with a bit of sugar while we ate dinner. I really liked the bit of sweet strawberries as a counterpoint to the rather tart ice cream.

I think this would be really good swirled together with Raspberry Sorbet, or maybe with graham cracker crust and whipped cream (or marshmallow sauce?) swirled in and then topped with the strawberries (ice cream pie, anyone?) Also, I'm thinking I'm going to try this in a decadent strawberry shortcake at some point this summer. Yup...an easy, yummy ice cream with lots of potential variations. Lovely.

New Year's Eve in review

Yes, it's the end of January, and I'm just now getting around to posting my New Year's Eve recipes.  We had a fun party at our house with several families who have kids around the same ages as ours. The first part of the evening was a family dinner complete with Minute to Win It games for the kiddos, and then at around 9, we put the kids down upstairs in a mock slumber party.

Our menu:
Jalapeno Cheddar crackers
Pomegranate Cosmopolitans
Chili
One-bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with
Magnolia Buttercream Frosting


The Jalapeno Cheddar crackers were the first recipe I had tried from my new Christmas book (from Q, of course!), Barefoot Contessa Foolproof.  They are very similar in concept to her Parmesan Thyme crackers, so I whipped them up on Christmas afternoon and put them in the freezer. Then all I had to do the day of the party was thaw, slice, and bake them.  They really are delicious.

2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
14 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/2 inch dice
5 oz extra-sharp white cheddar (Costco, bay-bee!)
1 TBSP minced jalapeno pepper (seeds and ribs removed)
1/4 tsp chili powder (I used ancho, but she called for chipotle)
3 TBSP ice water

Place the first 3 ingredients in the food processor, fitted with the steel blade, and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  The add the cheese, jalapeno, and chili poder and pulse again. With the food processor running, add the ice water all at once.  Continue pulsing until the mixture begins to come together in a ball. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a cutting board, dump the dough out, and roll into a log about 14 inches long.  I find that the plastic wrap actually helps me form the log and smoosh all the dough together (technical term). At this point, I froze the log.

Then, when we came back from Iowa the day before the party, I moved the dough log from the freezer to the fridge. All I had to do the morning of the party was slice them about 3/8 of an inch thick, place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBSP milk), sprinkle with salt (I just had kosher salt, but the recipe called for fleur de sel or sea salt), and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yum. I love having something for guests to munch on when they arrive, and it's a bonus if it's something easy that doesn't add to the "30 minutes before they get here!" rush. Check, and check.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the chili recipe...that's worth coming back for.