Ginger Ice Cream

or Why has it taken me so long to make ice cream

or Mark Bittman, you're my hero

I've had an ice cream maker for several years. Wow! Now that I think of it... a lot of years!

I've made one or two sorbets in it and haven't been completely happy. They didn't freeze right and were really runny when I put them in the freezr and then really ice-like after sitting in the freezer for a while. Mostly, my ice cream maker has sat on the shelf.

While Veronica was teaching a voice lesson at the house the other day, I took the opportunity to sit in our third floor bedroom (our most "finished" room in the house, we've painted it, added art and shelves and plants... it's our guest room/workout room, but I rarely just spend time there). I ate my lunch and looked at cookbooks... one of which was Mark Bittman's "The Best Recipes in the World." We got this cookbook as a wedding gift and with a billion other things going on at the time (as you can imagine), we didn't get to cooking out of it straight away. This was actually my first time cracking it open... of course, straight to the desserts section.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but found this recipe and decided then and there to try it. It was a few days later that I brought the cookbook downstairs and Veronica started looking at it and we decided to begin our own "Julie & Julia" sort of blog... only... us and Mark Bittman. The tagline on the cover of the book reads "More than 1,000 International Dishes to Cook at Home." We both love food and enjoy international dishes so this seemed perfect. Add to this a growing desire to make more food (preferably from local ingredients) rather than buying packets of chemicals and the timing for this was right. The "local ingredients" part will be an ongoing challenge... a goal rather than a rule... but I'm looking forward to this.

OK... too much... on with the recipe:

Ginger Ice Cream (Southeast Asia)

Makes: about 1 pint

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling and freezing time

2 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cups milk or half-and-half

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup minced candied (crystallized) ginger

1. Combine the ginger and milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring just to a boil, stirring. Cover and let set for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, with a whisk or an electric mixer, beat the youlks and sugar together until thick and slightly lightened in color.

2. Strain the milk, then stir about 1/2 cup of it into the yolk mixture and beat. Stir the warmed egg mixture back into the milk and return to the pan. Heat, stirring constantly, until thick, 10 minutes longer. The mixture is ready when it thickly coats the back of a spoon and a line drawn with your finger remains intact.

3. Cool in the refrigerator, then stir in the candied ginger and freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions.

Truth time: I made this through step two the first time and got a bit concerned. I used a mixer with the whisk attachment to beat the yolks and sugar and maybe there was too much air in them... maybe I heated it too fast... long-story-short... it curdled... and I decided that it was trash... and I hate throwing away food.

On attempt number two, it was looking nice and creamy until it reached a boil on the stove. It started to look like it could curdle, so I pulled it off of the heat right away and stared to cool it down. It was quite thick the next evening when I put it in the ice cream maker and I think the refrigeration was key to the ice cream making part. By the time I had scraped the bowl into the freezer bowl, it had started freezing to the sides. Bittman mentions before the recipe that this is very rich (and I made it with the half and half... first time... it's dessert... why not?) and that you can add some additional milk or half and half before freezing, so I drizzled in a bit more.

Next time: I'll make it with 1 cup milk and 1 cup half and half... or maybe 2 cups half and half and 2 cups milk and just double everything. :)

Rating:

Veronica - 9.8

Jason - 9.6