White Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches.

These white chocolate peppermint ice cream on traditional american weed brownie sandwiches were conceptualized a while back, and what better occasion than the new year/decade to actualize them and revel in the excess they represent.
The first step was to bake the brownies, but before the brownies could be baked the weed oil had to be cooked. We turned the herb into a powder buy running it through a food processor (less volume, more surface area.), making sure not to run the machine so long as to heat the herb. Next I took the half cup of oil that was called for on the back of the box and put the oil along with the weed into a large frying pan. The grass was allowed to cook in the oil on a very low flame for about ten minutes. Once the oil had cooled it was added to the box of brownie mix along with two eggs and some water. The brownies were baked according to the box, in a 9x9 pan. We thought this would allow for eight nice sized sandwiches.


Next we got to work on the white chocolate peppermint custard. As usual a custard was prepared using eggs, milk, and sugar. I reduced the amount of added sugar considerably to compensate for the sugar in the white chocolate pieces. While the custard was being prepared the chocolate was melted in a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. The hot custard was then strained into the chocolate and thoroughly blended together. It was looking a little too viscous, so I mixed about half a cup of heavy cream into the mixture and stashed it in the fridgerator to cool.

Once everything had cooled I added a very small amount of vanilla and a rather large amount of peppermint extract to the mixture along with more cream. This mixture was then put into the ice cream machine and I set to work splitting the brownie in half while the machine did its thing. This was a little more complicated than I was expecting it to be, and would have been simpler if I had allowed myself enough time to let the brownies completely cool before slicing them, but I gave myself a deadline and I set to work anyway. Scoring the edge of the brownie was simple enough. I used a chopstick to measure a halfway point and scored the perimeter of the brownies. However once I had begun slicing all the way though I realised that the brownies were still a little moist in the center. But I got the brownie separated and reassembled the spotty bits as best I could.
After I had my two slices of brownie I crushed a pair of candy canes that were found laying around from christmas. I took the bottom slice of the brownie and put it back into the 9x9 pan it was cooked in. The crushed candy canes were sprinkled all over the bottom slice.



As the ice cream approached completion a good amount of white chocolate chips were added. A few moments later the chips were distributed and the custard frozen. I removed the completed ice cream onto the candy cane sprinkled bottom slice of weed brownie. I was able keep a pint of the ice cream off the sandwich, so I would estimate a pint to a pint and a half of ice cream were used in the sandwiches. After I had dealt with the custard the top slice of brownie was added and the sandwich was put into the freezer to firm up.


The next day I took the sandwich out of the freezer and, in an effort to remove the sandwiches from the pan, wrapped them in a kitchen towel I had soaked in hot water. Then, using a knife, I seperated the edge of the sandwich from the pan and fliped it out on to a rack and then over again onto a cutting board. The 9x9 brownie was cut in half one way and in quarters the other. Eight brownies were made and seven were put back into the freezer. I ate one and wraped the others up.
Hours later my limbs were very heavy and my mind quite relaxed.

Clementine Sherbet.

I've never made a sherbet and I am not one hundred percent certain what constitutes a sherbet. Wikipedia says that sherbet is just an american term for sorbet, which seems to be what I would call an Italian ice, or what the Italians call grenita. American sherbert is a frozen fruit desert with less than 3% milkfat. I'm pretty sure my sherbet is more than 3% milkfat, as I used a healthy amount of heavy cream. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is; I'm not really sure what to call this other than fucking delicious!
The first step was to make a simple syrup. Once the syrup had cooled I got to work and juiced about fifteen clementines and one lime. this was fun, the fruit was all at room temperature and they gushed abundantly.



I added about half a cup of simple syrup and one quarter teaspoon of vanilla to the juice, then topped it off with heavy cream. I poured this mixture into the machine and in about twenty minutes I removed some of the most delicious and rich frozen fruit desert I had ever made.


This was especially fun to make because it required no cooking (except for making the syrup) and no room for error that can come in with the eggs. I also assume this is considerably healthier than my regular iced creams, some people care about that.

A Tip Of The Hat To Elvis.

Banana ice cream with peanut butter squirts. Daniel D said he would be into a banana and peanut butter ice cream. He's a pretty cool guy, so I made him some. A standard custard with yolks, milk, and sugar. Blah blah blah. Earlier, I had whipped four ripe bananas into a smoothish liquid. There were still considerable lumps. I mixed the bananas, custard, and a bit of vanilla all together and stashed it in the fridgerator.


In an effort to make the peanut butter pipe better I whipped it up, and added a pinch of salt and some honey for good measure. The whipped peanut butter was put into a bag. The cooled custard was mixed with heavy cream and put into the machine. When the ice cream was frozen I squirted the peanut butter into the cups, alternating with scoops of the ice cream.


After last months garlic ice cream it was nice to see pints finished.

Roasted Garlic.

Another collaborative effort, this time the impetus and assistance was from Jen. I got a head start by throwing 5 heads of garlic into the oven on Wednesday as some squash was being roasted for thanksgivings soup. After about an hour I pulled the garlic out and, once they cooled, squirted the roasted cloves out of their skins and into a container to be fridgerated until it was time to make the custard.

As usual we made a pretty standard custard with milk, egg yolks, and sugar.With hopes to add a bit more flavor one 1/4 cup of the regular white sugar was substituted with brown sugar. After the custard had cooled we tossed the roasted garlic and approximately one cup of cream into the blender and tried to get it all as well pureed as possible before making garlic whiped cream. The puree was then passed through a strainer into the custard. More heavy cream was added until we had our 4 cups.


That shit was put into the machine and we listened to the first side of Season Of Glass as it did its thing.
I'm not sure if I like it. I noticed Jen only had a spoonful. It is a sweet, creamy, savory ice cream, it just tastes like garlic. Obviously I expected it to taste like garlic, in fact it tastes better than I expected. I'm just not sure I ever need to taste it again. I am very excited to share this ice cream with Blaine, she is one of the biggest garlic lovers I know. Hopefully I can get some to Cousin Brian as well, but DC is far away for a pint of ice cream.
Much love to these brave souls.




"Garlic has been regarded as a force for both good and evil. A Christian myth considers that after Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic arose in his left footprint and onion in the right"
-David Pickering

Gingerbread.

So, Autumn rules. The leaves change, I get to wear sweaters and flannel, girls wear sexy boots, novelty seasonal bullshit, slow food, etc....
I can't say I eat too much gingerbread, but it seemed like a fun thing to try. I assembled all the ingredients; milk, egg yolks, brown sugar, molasses, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, heavy cream, and candied ginger.


Kate helped out with this one and she grated the ginger root, while I separated the eggs and grated the nutmeg. The usual custard was made using brown sugar and molasses. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and strained ginger juice were added to the custard and the mixture was then strained and allowed to cool.


Hours later I added the cream to the chilled custard and poured the mixture into the machine. Once the custard had set up I added the candied ginger and allowed the machine to mix the pieces throughout.




"How could one be in this world without feeling dismayed by it? Even if one paints flowers and gingerbread."
-Gerhard Richter

Cherry Vanilla Coke Custard.

We started by reducing four cans of cherry coke over a medium heat.
The custard was then prepared with six egg yolks and one cup of milk. The milk was heated and the eggs tempered. We beat the yolks in an electric mixer before and during the tempering. We feel this adds a smooth and light, yet still rich, texture to the custard. The egg and milk mixture then went back onto the stove for a few minutes.

Two teaspoons of vanilla were added to the reduced soda, and subsequently mixed into the custard. Enough heavy cream was added to make about four cups of liquid, the mixture was then frozen.

A day later I shared it with some friends.

Honey Drippin' Beehive.

"Why was honey considered an aphrodisiac, anyway? Honey is rich in B vitamins needed for testosterone production, but could people have known that in ancient times? Could it be that the scent of honey resembled the smell of urine due to the presence of phenylacetic acid in both, and that smell of urine just so happened to bring to people's minds images of genitalia? Bois de Jasmin's Victoria writes: "Phenylacetic acid in extremely low concentrations has a luscious honey and animalic malt odour; however, in large doses, it becomes distinctly urinous" -pink manhattan

We kept it simple this time.
6 egg yolks, milk, vanilla, heavy cream, and honey.


The milk got heated and the honey disolved into it. That mixture went into the eggs and then back on the stove for a few minutes.
I put that shit through a strainer and stashed it in the fridge for a few hours, mixed in the heavy cream, got out the machine and froze the custard.

This custard came out pretty good. Ralph was really enthused about the texture, and enjoyed that it wasnt too sweet.
Personally, I was a little disappointed in how mild the honey flavor was. I guess I have to spend some time investigating more local honey before I try this one agin.

"flaming ruby heart
pee on my naked thigh
shiny wet behind
I get hard and I cry"
-G. Bataille