September 15, 2009
Two-Fig Ice Cream
A favorite from the archives, this post was originally published on October 23, 2007.
Fig season is upon us and produce stalls boast plentiful trays of purple figs, soft at the hips and oft leaking a drop of sap from their, um, bottom. Of course, they cost an eye -- figs are a luxury in Paris any time of the year -- but the fig fanatic in me is willing to make any sort of monetary sacrifice to fuel my addiction.
But, lo and behold, my superma...
"Two-Fig Ice Cream" continues »
July 15, 2009
Lemon Verbena Sorbet
Fresh lemon verbena is a recent newcomer to my herb repertoire. I was familiar with plain dried verbena, a popular constituent of French tisanes, but only this spring did I come across long stalks of verveine citronnelle, bushy with feather-shaped leaves, faintly sticky and powerfully fragrant. Stroke one with your thumb and it will knock you over with a floral and citrusy scent that does bear resemblance to lemongrass, as the French name point...
"Lemon Verbena Sorbet" continues »
February 25, 2009
Maple Pecan Ice Cream
I don't think of ice cream as a seasonal thing. Let me clarify: I do think of ice cream flavors as seasonal things, but ice cream, as a general and cardinal food group, is very much a year-round treat for me.
To give you an example, I have just returned from Deauville in Normandy, wherein I attended the Omnivore Food Festival, a two-day event during which new-generation chefs demonstrate their craft onstage, and artisan vintners present their ...
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October 28, 2008
Chocolate Frozen Yogurt
An estimated 62% of my cooking begins with me lying in bed, thinking about some ingredient that needs using, and not being able to sleep because my mind is awhir, trying to devise rewarding ways to do so.
These closed-eye sessions usually yield satisfactory results and, every once in a while, a plain fantastic one. I am counting this ice cream among the latter.
The challenge was this: I had a bit of a dairy glut in the fridge, and in particul...
"Chocolate Frozen Yogurt" continues »
July 28, 2008
Lemon Kefir Ice Cream
This has been the strangest July ever. Maxence and I are having our bathroom renovated, and it is far more disruptive than I had -- perhaps naively -- imagined it would be. The dust, debris, and general lack of showering implement have made our apartment rather inhospitable, and my poor little kitchen is all tarped up, to protect her (of course it's a she) from the ambient grime.
As you might infer, there has been little cooking going on aroun...
"Lemon Kefir Ice Cream" continues »
June 30, 2008
Pistachio Gelato
When it comes to ice cream, I am hopelessly predictable.
As far as I'm concerned, if the ice cream parlor, glacier, or gelateria offers dark chocolate, pistachio, and/or yogurt, he might as well not have any other flavor: I am blind to them.
I always go through the motions of hesitation, though (I scratch my temple, chew my lower lip, and hum lightly -- it's easy to fake, really), for the benefit of my ice cream companions, and because I like...
"Pistachio Gelato" continues »
February 13, 2008
Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream
My sister's husband has a passion for Nutella. When Ferrero put out a 40th-anniversary Nutella jar* of woolly mammoth** proportions, Christian bought one and actually spooned his way through it. Not in one sitting, admittedly, but still.
I love my brother-in-law dearly, so when he and my sister came to dinner a few weeks ago, I thought I'd treat them to Nutella ice cream for dessert. I considered going the classic ice cream route, starting wit...
"Super Simple Nutella Ice Cream" continues »
September 24, 2007
Glace Coco du Placard
[Coconut Ice Cream from the Pantry]
The really nice thing when you come back from a vacation, however lovely, is the fresh set of eyes you can lay on your living quarters, and all the things that make them homey and yours.
Your bed, not too firm but not flabby either, and wide enough that two normal-size individuals can stretch their legs without starting a war. Your shower handle, and its nifty flow modes that you can fiddle with to match yo...
"Glace Coco du Placard" continues »
August 21, 2007
Dark Chocolate Sorbet
So. Batch #1 in my brand new ice cream machine was dedicated to Maxence, in gratitude for such an exciting, perfectly tailored, and all-around thoughtful gift.
But when the time came to make batch #2 -- that is, the next day, as soon as the bowl had had time to refreeze -- I decided I had paid my dues, and I could now make my favorite, which, you may be un-surprised to learn, is the dark chocolate sorbet.
Chocolate ice cream is all right, I g...
"Dark Chocolate Sorbet" continues »
August 8, 2007
Sorbet Mangue
[Mango Sorbet]
La sorbetière (ice cream maker) is up there with la yaourtière (yogurt maker) in the list of appliances that were hot Mother's Day gifts in the seventies but ended up in said mother's attic pronto.
And yet, when Maxence came home with my birthday present and it was a bulky box hiding a spaceship of a sorbetière, I could not have been happier: first of all, he got the idea from a conversation we had weeks ago during which I wasn...