Beyond Ordinary In the Kitchen
Extraordinarily Different Ice Cream Sandwiches……..
Since the beginning of my cooking life I have struggles to find my place, I knew my place in my intuitive self yet I did not know where I fit into society. First I was an avid gardener, then an avid herb gardener, then and avid cook, herb expert, basically I just keep being fascinated with all things food, typically with an herbal aspect. I am self taught mostly, self taught at mostly everything and although I am proud of being able to teach myself most things and find the teachers to teach, our society doesn’t seem to place much credibility on those who are self taught. Now I have faced my doubters in this category for most my life, and I will say it again for the millionth time, it is not about your degree, your studies, how much money you spent, or where you learned, it’s the fact that you know, so if you know than do! It doesn’t matter that you learned to, it only matters that you do. That is why today I have more admiration for tradesman’s than any other job. Like my father, he just builds and that is what he does. So a cook regardless of where he or she works, and regardless of where they learned, the true depth of what they do is in what they do or what they produce. I wrote a few blogs ago about how I finally after so many years admitted out loud that I was an artist and I embrace this fact wholeheartedly still today and know that what I produce daily is creativity mainly it revolves around food but it is certainly not limited and I believe that producing an idea of the pie is also just as worthy as producing the actual pie itself. This month my creativity gave way to a challenge that I wanted to teach an ice cream sandwich class but don’t like to do things too typically so I decided to play with ideas on ice cream sandwiches and this is what I came up with!
Carrot & Ginger Cream Cheese Ice Cream Baby Ice Cream Sandwiches
Makes 20 sandwiches
Ingredients
2 large carrots
1 cup ginger Cream Cheese Ice Cream (recipe follows)
Directions
Take the top parts of the carrots and slice them in rounds thin but not paper thin, at least 1 inch wide. Arrange 10 slices of carrots on a lined baking sheet. Place a small spoon full of the ice cream over the carrot slices on the baking sheet making sure it is a small enough amount it doesn’t hang over the carrot slice. Place another (equal size) slice of carrot over the top of the ice cream and gently press down forming a tiny ice cream sandwich. Freeze for about 1 hour. Store in a zip lock freezer bag.
Ginger Cream Cheese Ice Cream
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
1 cup cream cheese
1½ cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoons orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
½ cup heavy cream
Directions
In a blender, blend cream cheese, whole milk, sugar, orange juice and zest, nutmeg and salt until very smooth in texture. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and whisk in heavy cream until combined. Chill the mixture for a few hours in the refrigerator and then follow the instructions for your ice cream maker.
Cucumber & Gazpacho Granita Ice Bites
Makes 20-25 bites
Ingredients
1 cucumber, sliced semi thin
1 cup chopped tomato
¼ cup white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
Directions
On a baking sheet lines with parchment paper, freeze the cucumber slices. In a blender combine the gazpacho ingredients; tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, vinegar, olive oil, herbs and salt. Blend until semi smooth. Place blended gazpacho on a metal baking sheet and freeze, scraping with a fork every 10-15 minutes until a icy granite is formed. Place a spoonful of the granite in-between two frozen cucumber slices and freeze again. Allow to thaw for a few minutes before serving.
Garden Tomato, Bacon and Basil Ice Cream Sandwiches
Makes 6 sandwiches
Ingredients
2 tomatoes on the vine, sliced about ¼ inch thick
Basil ice cream (recipe follows)
6 bacon slices, cooked
Directions
On a baking sheet lines with parchment paper, freeze the tomato slices. Place a spoonful or two of the basil ice cream on top of a tomato slice and smash down gently until it covers the bottom tomato. Place a slice of bacon over the ice cream and cover with antoher frozen tomato slice, gently and push down. Freeze again for a short time and allow to thaw a few minutes before serving. (omitting the bacon is a great way to enjoy these sandwiches too).
Basil Ice Cream
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
½ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
½ cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
Salt
Directions
In a medium sauce pan combine milk, sugar and basil leaves and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes allowing basil to infuse, take off heat and allow to cool. Transfer mixture to a blender and add blend until very smooth in texture. Transfer back to the saucepan and heat to medium again, whisk in egg yolks making sure that the mixture stays smooth and creamy and that it does not boil. Take off heat add a pinch of salt and whisk in heavy cream until combined. Chill the mixture for a few hours in the refrigerator and then follow the instructions for your ice cream maker.
Frozen Beet Orange Sherbet Sandwiches
Makes 6 sandwiches
Ingredients
2 medium red beets, trimmed peeled and sliced
1 navel orange
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup fresh tarragon leaves
Orange sherbet (recipe follows)
Directions
In a medium saucepan placed sliced beets, juice and zest of the orange, sugar and tarragon and heat to a low boil stirring gently. Cook beets for about 3-5 minutes until tender but still firm. Take off heat and strain. Place beet slices on a lined baking sheet and freeze. Place a few spoons of the orange sherbet on the beet sliced and gently push down forming an ice cream sandwich shape, cover with the reaming frozen beet slices and refreeze. Make sure to thaw a few minutes prior to serving.
Orange Sherbet
Makes 4 cups
Ingredients
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups whole milk
Directions
In a blender blend up all ingredients until smooth. Process in an ice cream maker using the manufacturers directions.