ICE CREAM MAN!!!!!

I lived out in the country when I was young, so the ice cream truck never drove past my house.  Actually, I'm not even sure there was a ice cream truck in town.  I don't know when or where my first purchase from a ice cream truck was, but from what I remember, it wasn't ice cream, just popsicle type stuff. 

When my mom and I would go to Baskin Robbins,  I would get mint chocolate chip in a sugar cone and she would get butter pecan or coffee ice cream. I usually never strayed from mint chocolate chip.  I still love mint, mint chocolate chip, mint oreo, or vanilla bean with thin mints.  I'm also a sucker for nuts, cue the giggles and comments.  Peanuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, cashews.... 

Now that the temperatures have finally reached above 50, it's time to break out the ice cream maker. First on the list is salted caramel.  We use a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, which is a custard base with salted caramel mixed in.  I plan on making a double batch of caramel this time and swirling it through the ice cream.  My dilemma (if you can even say dilemma when referring to making ice cream) is what the second flavor should be.  I'll let you help me decided.

First option, butter pecan.  This recipe sounded the best because of the butter content.  Too many had very little butter, which was surprising since this is BUTTER pecan.  The recipe and picture are from Simply Recipes.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 6 large egg yolks
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pecans
Special equipment needed
An ice cream maker, or a Kitchen Aid mixer with an ice cream attachment

Method

1 In a medium sized heat-safe bowl (metal, ceramic, or glass), whisk together the egg yolks until well blended. Set aside.

2 Pour the cream into a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and set a medium-mesh sieve on top. Set aside.

3 In a medium thick-bottomed saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter cook it, stirring constantly, until it just begins to brown. Add the brown sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar completely melts.
4 Slowly add the milk, stirring to incorporate. It will foam up initially, so make sure you are using a pan with high enough sides. Heat until all of the sugar is completely dissolved. Do not let boil or the mixture may curdle.
5 Whisk in hand, slowly pour half of the milk and sugar mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly to incorporate. Then add the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk sugar mixture.
6 Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof rubber spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula, about 5-7 minutes.

7 Pour the custard through the sieve and stir it into the cream. Add vanilla and stir until cool over the ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
8 While the mixture is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Lay out the pecans on a roasting pan in a single layer. Bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Let cool. Once cool, roughly chop the pecans and set aside. Note, if you want an extra punch to this ice cream, brush the pecans with melted butter and sprinkle with salt before roasting.
9 Once the ice cream mixture is thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10 Once the ice cream has been formed in the ice cream maker, it will be fairly soft. Fold in the chopped pecans. Put in an airtight plastic container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving.
Yield: Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

 

The other options are:

Coffee Ice Cream


 

Mint Oreo

This Mint Oreo recipe sounded the best.  I found another that had an egg base but wasn't cooked, which didn't seem quite right.  I also considered doing a vanilla bean ice cream with mint Oreos.


Coffee hasn't been anyone's top choice, so that will probably get cut.  I know I will eventually come up with my own recipe for blueberry cheesecake, but that will wait until blueberries are in season.  I also want to make something with sugar cone pieces, maybe a nut of some kind, chocolate....that one is still up in the air.

Most of my Facebook comments have been for butter pecan or the mint oreo.  I'll let you know what I choose. 

**If you want the recipes for the coffee or mint oreo, click on the captions and they will take you to the original source.

The PERFECT Guacamole

For my Superbowl Post I talked about the secret ingredient to our guacamole.  Well I'm revealing the secret so all of you can have our delicious guacamole for Cinco de Mayo.   I have seen many recipes for Guacamole, some with garlic, cilantro, with tomato, without tomato, but this is how we like ours. Our friends like it too, there is never any left when we serve this.


Ingredients:

• 6 medium hass avocados
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced
• 1 small tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 Tablespoon Siracha
• kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Halve avocados and cut a cross hatch pattern in flesh. This will make the perfect size pieces and cuts down on mashing.  Spoon into a large bowl.
• Juice lime diectly over avocado.
• Add diced onion, tomato, and Siracha.
• Slightly mash with a fork.  There should still be chunks.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

We put one of the pits in the bowl to keep it from turning brown.  Serve with tortilla chips.
And there you have it, the Perfect Guacamole. Now I'm going to eat guacamole until I can't move.