I scream, you scream..... for Blueberry Ice Cream!

My downfall. Ice cream. That's it in a nutshell. But let's not dwell on that right now; instead, scroll down and take a gander at that ice cream color! And where else would you find this color? On my pink shirt, on my rubber spatula and on the white colander I used. Yes, blueberry ice cream reminders are everywhere. Permanently, probably. And I was was warned too.

I know everyone adores David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, but my kitchen dessert guru Maida Heatter has some marvelous ice cream and sorbet recipes in several of her cookbooks as well. I've made nearly all of them over the years and to date my favorite is Palm Beach Orange Ice Cream, with a close second going to Pumpkin Ice Cream. Maida also has a recipe for Gin Ice Cream which is quite mild and tastes divine with fruit. But it doesn't take an interesting photo; we can rave on and on about a recipe, but if the photo does not look enticing or at least interesting, nobody's going to give it a chance.  Right?

Lately, Daring Bakers have been making Burnt Sugar ice cream. It looks marvelous, but Nancy at The Dogs Eat the Crumbs says that Thomas Keller's recipe in Ad Hoc is lots better (and, from what I read, his chocolate chip cookies are THE BEST) so that recipe is next on my to-make list, once I work off the calories as a result of this posting.  Sigh.

One ice cream I'd never made was Maida's Blueberry ice cream and because she raves about how wonderful it is, (smooth/creamy/rich/deluxe/delicious are her exact words) I made it last weekend. We've had a couple weeks of 90° + weather, so summer is upon us in Florida and that spells ice cream to me.
Maida Heatter's instructions say: "the blueberries will stain both rubber and wooden spatulas; don't use anything you will feel sad about if this happens." So I have nobody to blame but myself. I didn't mind the spatula and colander, but I could kick myself for not wearing an apron, preferably the oldest one I own. Popping those hot blueberries on the side of the pan caused all sorts of trouble with my pink shirt, so be careful if you try this recipe. (I'm presoaking as I write this; I live in hope.)

The results? The blueberry ice cream was perfect. Every description Maida used was spot on. The flavor was  ambrosial. This recipe is really a keeper and the red/purple color makes such a beautiful presentation. It doesn't freeze too hard and isn't excessively sweet either. I loved it plain, but happened to have some pomegrante arils and they gave it an interesting kick. And perhaps made the photo more enticing?

Blueberry Ice Cream
From Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts

Ingredients:

2 one pint boxes fresh blueberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons kirsch, crème de cassis or brandy (I used crème de cassis)

Method:

Wash and drain the berries. Place them in a wide and heavy saucepan or frying pan. Add the sugar and stir to mix. Cover, place over low heat and cook for 5 minutes to soften the berries a little and partially melt the sugar. Then raise the heat to moderate, uncover the pan, stir until the mixture comes to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes, stirring and pressing the berries against the sides of the pan to mash them.

Set aside to cool for a few minutes, then strain through a  large-mesh stainer. Do not use a strainer that has fine openings because even with a coarse strainer some of the the fruit will not go through. ( I used a colander, unfortunately a white colander, but it worked perfectly.) However, press through as much as you can.

Place the puréed berry mixture in the freezer or refrigerator until very cold. Stir in the salt, cream, lemon juice, and kirsch, crème de cassis or brandy. If the mixture is less than extremely cold, chill it some more in the freezer or refrigerator. This is important.

Freeze in a churn, following manufacturer's directions. Because of the alcohol, this does not freeze too hard to serve directly from the freezer.

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P.S. I have a really exciting giveaway coming up for Father's Day! Stay tuned.

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother is no longer with us, but this is still her day as far as I'm concerned. Imagine I'll always feel like that...it's a day of remembering for my sister and me. We often celebrated Mother's birthday at the same time as it was also in May, on the 16th. And you'll love this: her first name was May! And she had a sister named June. And another sister named Fannie. Well OK, so maybe that one didn't work out so well....Fannie was also born in May. Anyway, my family always had a double remembrance in May. This is one of my favorite photos of my mother. As you can see, she was a really good sport about wearing those ridiculous paper hats that come in the Christmas poppers. We liked this photo so much we even put it in her funeral program. It really pleased my dad, who had never seen it before.

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought it might be fun to give you Mother's (really old) recipe for her very favorite lunch/brunch: Eggs Benedict. The two of us went out to lunch a lot and if Eggs Benedict was on the menu, she'd order it. Her eyes would light up when the plate was put in front of her. She was fussy about it too. It had to be perfect hollandaise or her nose would crinkle just a little. As she grew older, she no longer made it at home for herself, but I still have her recipe to share with you. Nothing fancy, only plain and simple Eggs Benedict. Just the way she liked it. Perhaps you could add a little fresh fruit or a lovely fruit salsa to add another element on the plate.

The dish begins with an English Muffin. Now every layer of this dish is important and Mother introduced me years ago to Wolferman's English muffins. Have you heard of them? They are hands down the best, unless you make them yourself and even then, maybe not. So I started my dish with those. (I loved having an excuse for a new order... their flavors are wonderful and I was completely out of them.)

And then, of course, you brown some lovely Canadian bacon to put on top of your buttered muffin (Nobody said Eggs Benedict was a health food.) Next, poach two eggs. Perfectly. You know, the way Julia Child says to do them. Put those on top of the Canadian bacon and top with Mother's Hollandaise Sauce, which is perfection itself and so light it almost floats away. I've never made hollandaise any other way. After you taste this, you won't either. Some things just don't need improving.


Mother's Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cold water
Pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Method:

In a medium heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a large saucepan filled with 2 inches of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks with the cold water and salt until warm to the touch. Slowly drizzle in half of the melted butter in a thin stream, whisking constantly until incorporated. Continue whisking in the melted butter until the sauce is thick and emulsified. Whisk in the lemon juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire and serve warm. Serves 2.

Make ahead: The sauce can be kept warm over the hot water bath off the heat for 30 minutes. Whisk occasionally and reheat over hot water.

Peachy Keen

Sometimes I spend an inordinate amount of time in the Whole Foods market,  particularly their produce section. And because I do, I am frequently rewarded with a gem of a discovery. I usually only go in for one or two little things (no, really I do) and end up spending an hour or more. The other day I actually found some fresh peaches; it's way too early to find them and no doubt I paid through the nose for them, but I've been dying for peaches so I could try a simple yet heavenly dessert I saw in Sophie Dahl's cookbook. I've been drooling over it since I saw the photo. And it was well worth the buy! How many times have you taken a mouthful of something and rolled your eyes and actually said out loud: OMG? This is one of those times. Trust me: make the first batch for yourself and don't tell anyone. Do you know how Nigella sneaks to her fridge for a late night snack? That's what you're going to do with these peaches.

As I recall, the peaches were from Chile and at this time of year they would be classified as early-season peaches; in the U.S. our early season peaches are picked in June and July. And why is this important? Because early peaches cling to their pits tenaciously. Which is not a good thing for this particular dessert. The cut-and-twist method, which works well with late-season (August) peaches, is the easiest way to pit a peach. But that trick doesn't work with early peaches. You'll end up with a handful of peach pulp, juice running down your arm and the pit will stay right where it is, stubbornly stuck to the other half, with yet more pulp hanging off. I know. I tried.

I really wanted my halves to look reasonably neat, so in the end I took a sharp paring knife and cut the peach from top to bottom and then worked the knife carefully around the pit. This was NOT an easy job, but I ended up not mangling them too badly. This dish will look much prettier in August, but I wanted, no needed, to make this dessert right now! I know you've all had the identical feeling when you've seen a photo of a mouth-watering new recipe. Anyway, Sophie leaves the skin on and I did too. My guess is without the skin they'd turn to mush, but it's your decision.

I wasn't kidding about how simple this recipe is. Healthy too. Perfect summer dessert. Perfect for company. The only catch about making it this time of year is the pit problem. But don't let that stop you if you happen to see some. They get all caramelized and gooey.  And the yogurt topping? Divine. I promise not to rave on about this cookbook again, but it really is a lovely one.

Cinnamon Roast Peaches with Vanilla Yogurt

From Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl

 
Ingredients:
4 peaches, ripe but firm
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter or sunflower oil
2 cups Greek yogurt (you can use lo-fat if you want)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey
fresh mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 450°. Wash and halve the peaches, removing the pit. Place them in a small roasting pan. Sprinkle each half with cinnamon and brown sugar and dot with butter or oil.

Roast for 10 minutes (It took me 15 minutes and then I stuck them under a broiler for a bit to get them as brown as Sophie's were. All ovens are different. But this is pretty much what hers looked like, as well as her pan.)

While the peaches are roasting, stir the agave or honey and vanilla extract into the yogurt and set aside.

Serve the peaches warm or room temperature with a spoonful of the yogurt mixture and add some mint if you want to be fancy for company.

Serves 4, or  2 if you're really into these as much as I was.