It's Time for Ice Cream!

Another summer holiday weekend, another post about homemade ice cream. It's becoming a little predictable, no?! But, hey...it's a post! I had really good intentions about hitting you (the 5 readers I have left) with a bunch of posts this weekend. Posts with breakfast ideas for the long weekend, our recent trip to Paris (!) and thoughts about pregnancy as I enter my third (!!!!) trimester.

Well, you know what they say about good intentions.

The truth is, after the craziness of the last month and the craziness that is to come in the next few months, I really needed a break-- a three day weekend with no feelings of obligation. Just rest, relaxation and doing things that I felt like doing. Things like making homemade ice cream.

Previous ice cream posts have focused on seasonal fruit, but this time around we decided to do something different. I was having a hard time making up my mind about what kind of ice cream to make, so I let Jason be in the driver's seat. We perused our ice cream bible, and he picked out a recipe for tin roof ice cream, a traditional custard-based vanilla ice cream with fudge ripple and a chocolate-covered peanut mix in. I was in! We ended up foregoing the chocolate-covered peanuts-- our local grocery store is "temporarily closed" (no word on why or when it will be reopening) and we were surprised to discover that the Trader Joe's near our house does not carry such confections. So we ended up with a fudge ripple ice cream which was just as delicious.

It's going to be a good summer!

Fudge Ripple Ice Cream
Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt
1/2 vanilla bean
4 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Fudge Ripple (recipe below)

1. Warm the milk, sugar, salt and 1/2 cup of cream in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla bean to hot milk mixture. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the 4 egg yolks and set aside. Pour remaining cream in a large bowl; place a metal strainer over top of the large bowl and set aside.
3. Rewarm the vanilla mixture. Once warm, slowly add to egg yolks whisking constantly (so as to avoid scrambled eggs). Pour mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until mixture coats back of the spatula or spoon.
4. Pour through the metal strainer into the cream. Remove vanilla bean from the strainer, wipe off any bits of egg, and add back to mixture. Add vanilla extract. Chill over an ice bath. Refrigerate until cold (I let mine stay in there overnight but a few hours will probably do the trick).
5. Freeze in an ice cream freezer. When transferring to another container, alternate layers of fudge ripple and ice cream (don't stir together). Freeze until hard/ready to eat. Enjoy!

Fudge Ripple
From David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 TBL cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Whisk together sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium and bring to a low boil, whisking often.
2. Boil for 1 minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Let cool. Refrigerate until ready for ice cream. Make sure it is cold when you mix it in to the ice cream.

Summer BBQ Ideas

If Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, then the 4th of July means summer is in full swing! When I think of the 4th of July I think about fireworks, ice cream, BBQs, and anything cooked on a grill. Although we are foregoing the fireworks on the National Mall this year (last year we watched them from a boat on the Potomac River-- not sure we'll be able to top that!), I think we've got everything else covered. I've got my eyes set on a David Lebovitz recipe for blueberry frozen yogurt (check back later in the week for that) and some friends have invited us to a BBQ on Monday that should be chock full of grilled deliciousness. I've been tapped to bring dessert for this shindig and I'm currently deciding between blackberry summer cake (a variation on that awesome strawberry summer cake I made last week) or berry crumb bars.

In case you too are trying to decide what to make for a BBQ, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Pulled brisket (we're making this tomorrow!)
• Salmon burgers 
• Chicken kebabs
• Caprese bites
• Gazpacho pasta salad
• Mango slaw
• Potato salad
• Corn salad
• Summer squash ribbons
• Pound cake (great with fresh berries!)
• Summer berry pie (with homemade crust)
• Summer berry cake

Whatever you do this weekend, I wish you all a safe and happy 4th!

Helloooooo Summer

Although Summer doesn't officially start for several more weeks, the unofficial start of Summer--Memorial Day weekend-- is upon us. And we're starting things off right. First up-- iced coffee. Jason cold-brewed our first batch Friday night which means we will be having delicious iced coffee all weekend long.

Last night we took things up another notch with a very summery meal-- seared tuna with mango slaw. The mango slaw comes from SmittenKitchen and, like most recipes I get from her, is definitely a keeper. Thinly sliced mango, red pepper, cabbage and red onion tossed with a lime-rice vinegar dressing and topped with mint and toasted cashews. Um, could it get any more delicious than that?

Finally, to top it all off-- our pool opened yesterday. Nothing says summer like reading by the pool!

Mango Slaw
Adapted (barely) from SmittenKitchen

Ingredients:
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
1 medium head of Napa cabbage, halved and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 limes, juiced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 TBL olive oil
1/4 tsp chili paste
Salt
1/4 cup thinly sliced mint
1/3 cup toasted cashews, coarsely chopped

1. Toss mango, cabbage, red pepper, and red onion in a large bowl. Whisk lime juice, rice vinegar, olive oil, chili paste, and salt to taste in a separate bowl and pour over slaw.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for one hour.
3. Before serving, mix in mint and cashews.

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone out there is enjoying the holiday weekend. If you are looking for a last minute snack/appetizer/side dish to take to a bbq/picnic/etc. here is a good one for you—Caprese Bites. Basically it is a tomato mozzarella basil salad (also known as a Caprese salad) in finger food form. All you have to do is assemble—no cooking required--which is a godsend during the dog days of summer when tomatoes just so happen to be at their peak of flavor and freshness.

I saw some yummy looking yellow cherry tomatoes at the farmers market yesterday which would have been great for this. Enjoy!

Caprese Bites

Ingredients:
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half crosswise
1 container of perline mozzarella (the really tiny little balls)
10-12 basil leaves cut into thirds
1 package of bamboo skewers or toothpicks
Salt and pepper
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (optional)

1.To assemble bites, skewer one half of a tomato, a mozzarella ball, piece of basil and cap it off with the other half of the tomato. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
2.Arrange skewers on a plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
3.If you’d like you can also drizzle with olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar. Note that if you are taking this to another location, you should do this step AFTER you arrive (I learned the hard way that olive oil can leak out onto a car seat if there is even the slightest angle). I skipped this step yesterday and they turned out just fine.