I know, I know, another green ice cream. While the asparagus ice cream may not be up your alley, I think this one will be a little more palatable, even to you less adventurous types. Avocados are already creamy and full of fat—truly the perfect ice cream fodder. This is by far the creamiest, richest ice cream I have ever tasted.
With this terrible heatwave through the Midwest (and much of the country) I’ve had to start my oven hiatus. The temperature inside our house has reached at least 90 every day for the last two weeks. Finally, I decided that it probably couldn’t get much hotter so I turned the oven on to roast some cherries and make Jeni’s Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Roasted Red Cherries.
Well, ten minutes into the roasting I smelled something burning. I opened the oven to see the cherries bubbling over and small fires on the bottom of the oven. The cherries ended up okay, but oven needs a good scraping and my baking dish is now candy-coated.
Oops.
While not a prevalent flavor in the United States, rose is fairly common elsewhere. Across the Middle East, particularly Iran, it is used to flavor all manner of sweets. Ice cream is the only use of rose in food that I have found palatable. Rose candy tastes like grandma’s perfume to me, and rose scones just taste wrong. But the ice cream gives a nice rounded sweetness that is just right for such a delicate flavor. The rose petals themselves are not really potent enough to stand up to the amount of sugar and cream that ice cream requires, so it’s fleshed out with rose water.
Rose water can be found at most Middle Eastern grocery stores and at specialty stores. The potency of the rose water will vary from brand to brand, so you may want to start of by whisking in one teaspoon at a time until you are satisfied with the flavor. I used Nielson-Massey, which is pretty strong.
Rose petals should be unsprayed, or organic. The best would be from a friend or neighbor, as they would be the freshest. Otherwise try natural foods stores or a florist/nursery specializing in organic flowers.
I have an addiction to buying spices. I make a trip to Penzey’s Spices every couple of months. I get their catalog in the mail and circle all of the spices I am running low on and, plus a few new ones I want to try. The pink peppercorns caught my eye, so I picked up a small jar of them. As soon as I tasted one I knew it had to go into ice cream. They are floral, fruity, and spicy all at the same time. Paired with sweet blueberry compote and white chocolate chips, this is one ice cream you will never forget.
If you’re thinking that this is an ugly ice cream, you are right. The picture doesn’t even begin to do justice to the weird, neon yellow color of this ice cream. But what it lacks in looks it makes up for in taste. The depth of toasty goodness will keep you spooning more and more into your face. The toasted coconut hits you first, followed by the mellow, smooth, warm curry. The chocolate chips add little bursts of sweetness to offset the spice of the curry. For all of you adventurous curry lovers out there—this one’s for you.
We have a peahen that kind of rules my yard. Her name is Gertie. She”s not ours, I think she belongs to our neighbor, although said neighbor has never actually owned up to it. Mostly I”ve been annoyed by Gertie. She sleeps in my garden, killing seedlings. She likes to scream outside my bedroom window at ungodly hours. Mating season is especially bad. There are no peacocks around, so she”s extra loud and desperate to get some action. A couple of weeks ago I found her nesting casino spiele in one of my perennial flower beds. She was there for a few days, unmoving, so I knew she was working on something delicious:
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With crazy things happening like people dying from cantaloupe, you can’t be too careful with your produce. The best option is to grow it yourself, or buy it locally. The next best option is to buy organic…especially when it comes to the Dirty Dozen. Of course, organic isn’t always available, affordable or appetizing (organic produce flown overseas, then stored in a warehouse and truck over a 3-week period isn’t exactly my idea of delicious). Luckily, there is a fairly effective and cheap way to clean your produce: vinegar. I love vinegar. It is single-handedly the most versatile thing in my kitchen. A handful of things I use vinegar for: to clean greasy windows, to brighten my white laundry, to kill weeds, to cure my sore throat, and to clean my produce. A gallon of white distilled vinegar will run you just a few dollars, and will last you a few months.
To clean your produce, you will need a small spray bottle (look in the section of the store where they sell travel-sized things) and a toothbrush. Mix half vinegar and half distilled water in the bottle. For thicker skinned produce like apples, melons, citrus fruit, potatoes, etc…spray the surface with the vinegar mix and scrub with the toothbrush. Rinse in warm water and pat dry. For more thin-skinned produce like grapes and berries, put the produce in a bowl and fill it with half vinegar/half water. Let sit for a few minutes, then rinse in a colander under warm water and pat dry. Lettuces and spinach can be sprayed, then rinsed under cold water and patted dry. Usually I do this all at once when I finish grocery shopping. It takes about 30 minutes to clean everything, and then my kids can grab an apple out of the fridge when they want a snack without getting a mouthful of pathogens.