Gastroanthropology

Brown Bread Ice Cream

We've been a bit disappointed with the food scene in London. It's true you can get just about anything you want, but the quality and price of food in the grocery stores and restaurants often falls far from our least expectations. That being said we have found a few gems in the Big Old Smoke. One such gem, just a few blocks away from our apartment flat is Andrew Edmunds*. It's a tiny candle-lit place with tables squashed together and squeezed in corners. The food, however, is pretty darn good and on one recent visit I tried the Brown Bread Ice Cream. I had never had it and the server told me it was from Victorian times where old toasted bread was stirred into vanilla ice cream. I had to give it a go - it was delicious! I've never seen it on any other menu and haven't seen it in any ice cream shops in England so I wanted to try making it at home.

First step, make some brown bread. I wanted something moist and easy to crumble so I made my Irish Soda Bread. This is the simplest bread to make (taking mere minutes to stir together) and absolutely heaven to eat warm from the oven. Would be a perfect too for a certain holiday that falls tomorrow. If you don't have the time, energy, tools to make ice cream for the Brown Bread Ice cream you must still do the following: (1) make this bread and eat the better part of it minutes out of the oven, standing at the kitchen counter with a huge slab of softened butter; (2) save a few bits of bread to make the brown bread crumbs (recipe below); (3) stir into your favorite store-bought vanilla ice cream (softened); (4) freeze it for a bit and enjoy your Brown Bread Ice Cream.

If you do have the time, energy, and tools to make ice cream at home use this ice cream base recipe - it's basically a vanilla ice cream base, but some of the regular sugar is replaced with dark brown sugar.

BROWN BREAD ICE CREAM BASE

• 2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• pinch salt
• 6 egg yolks
• 1x Brown Bread Crumbs (recipe follows)

METHOD

Heat cream, milk, sugars, vanilla bean (scraped and leave pod in pot) and salt. Heat the mixture to a scald. Meanwhile whisk egg yolks. Temper the eggs with the hot mixture. Put everything back on a low heat to thicken the mixture so it coats the back of a spoon. Strain. Chill mixture. Spin the ice cream following your ice cream machine's instructions. Just as it is done spinning, add most of the brown bread crumbs, reserving some for garnish. Keep in freezer till ready to serve.

BROWN BREAD CRUMBS

• 3 oz (2-3 slices) brown bread
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 oz unsalted butter

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Crumble brown bread between your fingers - some should be like sand, other like small pebbles. Because my bread is so moist using your hands will be possible if you use my Irish Soda Bread recipe. If you use another brown or whole wheat bread you may need to use a food processor. Melt butter and brown sugar on low heat till sugar is melted and the mixture barely comes to a bubble. Put brown bread crumbs in a heat safe bowl and pour the brown sugar+butter mixture over top. Stir in till well mixed. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment (grease with a small bit flavorless oil) or use a silpat. Bake for about 15-20 minutes till edges crisp up. It will bake into one piece, but let it cool for a few minutes after it comes out of the oven and then crumble, leaving some bits larger than others. Do not use in the ice cream base until it is completely cooled. Reserve some crumbs for garnish.

These brown bread crumbs are pretty delicious and I can see them making an appearance as a crumble topping for lots of sweets, especially as the streusel for a coffee cake or jam tart.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day I'm joining Daily Spud's St. Paddy's Day Food Parade with this post!

*Andrew Edmunds does not have a website. The restaurant is located at 46 Lexington Street in Soho, Central London. Reservations taken only a week in advance at +44 (0) 207 437 5708.

Dutch Baby + Blood Orange Curd

In honor of Pancake Day (aka Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras...) I decided to treat myself to a Dutch Baby with silky smooth blood orange curd. A Dutch Baby is a German Pancake, but Dutch Baby sounds so much more fun, and I've got babies on the brain (less than a month till the due date!). The name is a bit confusing because the Dutch tend to make thin, crepe-like pancakes so enormous they engulf a plate and peak over the edges and a Dutch Baby is a puffed, cakey pancake. However the name came to be, the Dutch Baby is delicious. Dutch Babies bake in the oven so if you are the one who tends to man the pancake griddle while others enjoy hot pancakes, try this because the entire pancake is cooked whole and then slice into portions (you could of course bake little individual Dutch Babies in baby cast iron skillets too). 

DUTCH BABY PANCAKE

• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbs vanilla sugar, or sugar with 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• pinch salt
• 4 Tbs butter, room temp

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place your cast iron skillet into the oven to heat up. I use two 8-inch skillets for this amount of batter and this recipe serves 4 people. You could also use cake pans if you don't have a cast iron skillet.

Make sure your eggs and milk are cold. In a blender whizz eggs and sugar for a minute and then stream in cold milk. Continue to blend till frothy, add sifted flour and pinch of salt and blend for 1 minute. Make sure everything is well incorporated - the flour can stick to the sides.

If using two pans, divide butter in half. Take hot skillets out of the oven and put a portion of butter in each. It should melt quickly - swirl around the pan. Pour the batter into the skillet(s). Put in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes. The edges should be puffed and golden brown. When it first comes out of the oven it will be puffed all over and by the time you get it to the table to serve the middle will deflate.

Serve with Blood Orange Curd, recipe follows. The heat of the pancake gently melts the curd and the end result is divine.

You can also have the Dutch Baby with any sort of pancake topping - warm maple syrup, macerated berries, and fresh lemon juice with sugar are some of my favorites. If you want to go a bit savory try warm maple syrup with bits of crispy smoked bacon.

I had lots of juicy blood oranges from Italy and decided to tweak my lemon curd recipe for blood orange curd. This method for making curd is a bit different than most citrus curd recipes - read through before making. It also should be made the day before you want to serve it so it has a chance to set up to the perfect thickness. The end result is a super rich and silky curd.

 The curd looks quite pale in the picture above...in reality it is a lovely pastel pink color. 

BLOOD ORANGE CURD

• zest of 4 blood oranges
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 sheet of gelatin**
• 10 oz unsalted butter, soft 

METHOD

Zest blood oranges, then juice them. Put zest and juice in a pot with sugar and salt. Heat mixture on medium low. Meanwhile crack eggs into a bowl and gently whisk to mix together yolk and white. Also, bloom your sheet of gelatin in cold water.

When the blood orange juice comes to a simmer, take off the heat and pour into the eggs, while whisking. Do this to temper the eggs. Pour the entire mixture back into the pot and keep on low heat while moving the mixture with a spatula to thicken. Take care it does not curdle. Thicken until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and stir in - it should dissolve quickly.

Immediately strain into a food processor (use your finest mesh strainer and press through with a spatula). Turn the food processor on and drop knobs of butter until it is all incorporated. While not totally necessary I strain the mixture a second time (once the butter is added) into a clean bowl. Cover directly with plastic and chill in refrigerator overnight. 

**I much prefer using gelatin sheets (Gelita brand from Germany) to powdered gelatin. If they are unavailable to you at your local store, they are available through many online speciality food shops. If you don't want to buy a whole box, you can buy 20 sheets from King Arthur Flour. 

Cherry Clafoutis

I had the wonderful fortune of having one of those bad-ass grandmothers. Grandma lived with my immediate family for most of my childhood. Every morning she cooked us a hot breakfast and then sat with us while we ate. Grandma (with the help of Grandpa) cultivated a vegetable garden that would put most small farms to shame. She was sweet as sugar, but at the same time tough and fearless - I once witnessed her kill a rattlesnake with a shovel. What? Yes. She wanted to make sure the snake never came back into the yard for fear that it might bite us so she beat the thing to death. 

Grandma grew up on an island in South Korea, bore nine children, and was the wife of the captain of a fishing boat. She was often left alone for weeks or months at a time to raise her children (one of which was my mother) in a two room home. After my mom (the youngest girl of the lot) married my American father, my grandparents came to the States. 

While life was a bit more comfortable in the States I think my grandmother remembered the times when she went without. Fruit was a huge luxury during my Grandmother's time in Korea. We often went cherry picking when cherry season came around, and my Grandmother, bless her heart, would wear pants with the deepest pockets and slip cherries in them till they were bulging.

Grandma passed over five years ago, but she is missed and remembered by my entire family. Lots of things during my day to day life remind me of her, but when cherries come into season I always think of her and cherry picking.

We never cooked with cherries growing up - just ate them fresh. But now that it's just two at home when I have the wonderful fortune of too many cherries I have to think of different ways to use them. Thanks to some advice from my twittering foodie friends I decided to go with a cherry clafoutis. I contacted my former boss and pastry chef extraordinaire, Belinda Leong, for a tasty clafoutis recipe. She's just back in San Francisco after two years of working with the best pastry chefs in the best restaurants all over Europe. She's got something in the works you lucky San Franciscans. 

I baked mine in a cast iron skillet for no other reason than it was the perfect size, but it worked like a charm. I'd like to say I left the pits in the cherries because it is French tradition to do so, but in reality I've been cooking for the past two years without any kitchen gadgets (referring to the cherry pitter here), so couldn't be bothered with pitting. Worked great and prevented any bleeding of the cherries. Just warn your guests before they dive in and break a tooth. 

This recipe makes one clafoutis in a deep 6-inch cast iron skillet. It's the perfect amount for four, or in our case a greedy couple. You could divide the batter amongst buttered and sugared ramekins.

 

CHERRY CLAFOUTIS

• 2 large eggs
• 80 grams sugar
• 32 grams all-purpose flour
• 40 grams almond flour
• 100 grams whole milk
• 100 grams heavy cream
• 20 whole cherries (approx.), cleaned with stems off

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350F. Heavily butter a cast iron skillet. Combine the milk + cream together in a container. Combine the flour + almond flour in a bowl. Gently whisk them together to combine and break up any clumps of flour. Whisk together eggs + sugar in a medium bowl. Once eggs + sugar are combined, whisk them into the bowl of combined flours. Slowly stream the liquid into the bowl while whisking. Pour into the buttered cast iron skillet. Evenly distribute the whole cherries. Carefully place in the oven. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until the clafoutis is set and golden brown on top. Eat immediately. Absolutely not necessary but feel free to serve with a splash of fresh cream.

Hazelnut Flan + Roasted Strawberries

Springtime is all about inspiration in the kitchen. There are so many fresh ingredients in vibrant colors that you want to cook and eat everything. I was hoping to post this yesterday, but have been faced with an extreme case of writer's block. The weather is too nice to stay inside so I'm hoping to get this post out soon and close the laptop to enjoy the entire weekend of much needed sun till Monday rears its ugly head. While the ideas are struggling from pen to paper, I'm certainly not facing any pastry block. I've been furiously trying to catch up with all the dogeared recipes before the lovely produce disappears while I'm summering at the beach. Before you know it the berries and stone fruits will dry up, and root veggies return.

Unlike the aforementioned ugly step child, root veggie, nature's bounty in spring requires little to no cooking. I remember one of the best desserts I ever had was at Chez Panisse - just a simple bowl of cherries, still warm from the sun.

What could you possibly do to these strawberries to make them any better than they already are?

Well, the kitchen is my domain. It's where I get to exert all my power and my minions, strawberries in this case, have no choice but to give in to my commands. I usually don't bake with strawberries. I might toss a few in a scone, but usually they get a quick rinse and eaten fresh. One exception is my sun-riped strawberry jam (my first post!). Basically, you trim the strawberries, toss in the sugar, add a split vanilla bean, wrap in plastic and leave out in the sun to stew. Then you heat it up on the stove and jam as usual. It's absolutely the most intense strawberry jam ever. So, I realized that manipulating the strawberry might lead to something equally as good as the original thing. Inspired by my 20-hour apples, I decided to give slow-roasted strawberries a go.

These get trimmed and tossed in light brown sugar. Put a little bit of melted butter in the bottom of a non-metal, oven-safe pan. Cut 1/2 vanilla bean and scrape the pulp out and mix in with the butter. Place the strawberries trimmed side down, giving each one space. Place in a 200F oven for about 3 hours...a little more if they are large, but leave them whole. Try to pick small strawberries - I used about 4 dozen. I cut one of my large strawberries in half and much preferred the whole roasted strawberries. 

The strawberries shrivel and slump into what looks like a hershey kiss. Once they are cool enough to handle, gently remove them and set aside. Pour the roasted strawberry juices in a small saucepan and add an equal amount of Sauternes, or another sweet white wine. Reduce liquid by half, whisking occasionally. The leftover butter from the pan creates a richness and the final sauce is like liquid strawberry candy. Drizzle over the strawberries. Eat plain or with ice cream.

This got me thinking about roasting fruits I traditionally eat fresh. I came across a recipe in the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook for roasted cherries served with a hazelnut flan. Since its a few weeks till cherry season is in full-swing I thought the hazelnut flan could use some slow-roasted strawberries. Remember flan should be made the day before serving.

HAZELNUT FLAN ***adapted from Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

For the Caramel Layer -

• 3/4 c sugar

For the Hazelnut Custard -

• 1 1/2 c hazelnuts - (this is 1/2 c more than the original recipe)
• 2 c whole milk
• 2 c heavy cream
• 3/4 c sugar (scant)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 whole eggs
• 5 egg yolks

METHOD

To make the caramel for coating the bottom of the ramekins (8 - 6oz ramekins). You could also use french glass yogurt cups, which require no un-molding later! Melt the sugar with 1/4 cup water over high heat and let cook until sugar caramelizes to a deep amber color, about 7 minutes. Do not stir or walk away! Once the desired color is reached, turn off the heat and swirl the liquid sugar. Pour evenly amongst your ramekins and set aside until it hardens.

Toast the hazelnuts until gently golden, about 10 min in a 350F oven. Let cool and then roughly chop. Reduce oven to 300F.

Bring chopped hazelnuts, milk, cream, half of the sugar and salt to a scald. Cover and let mixture steep for half an hour. Reheat the mixture and whisk eggs, egg yolks, and remaining sugar together (do not whisk eggs with the sugar ahead of time - this will "cook" the eggs). Temper the eggs with the heated mixture, and thicken the entire mixture over a very low heat, constantly stirring, until it coats the back of the spoon. Strain through a fine sieve and pour evenly among the ramekins.

Place in a deep roasting pan and fill with warm water to reach halfway up the sides. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and carefully transfer to oven. Bake for 30 minutes, and then uncover and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes till the custard is set. It should giggle ever so slightly when the pan is tapped.

Once you can handle the ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, gently run a knife along the edge and un-mold onto the dish you'd like to serve it on. Serve with roasted strawberries.

Mint Chip Ice Cream

Oh, how fickle I am. A post ago I was talking up the joys of fall. Then I realized its been raining six out of the last seven days. And yesterday, it was so windy no amount of protective rain gear kept me from getting soaked. So my mind wandered, as it often does, to some place sunny and hot. Mint chip ice cream essential in my fantasy to cool me down.

MINT CHIP ICE CREAM

• 2 c heavy cream
• 1 c whole milk
• 3/4 c sugar
• pinch salt
• 3 c mint leaves, loosely packed
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c dark chocolate chips (chopped Valhrona Guanaja is my pick!)

METHOD

Heat cream, milk, sugar and salt. Just as the edges simmer take off the heat and add all the mint leaves. Stir in and cover with plastic wrap to steep. Set aside for one hour. Strain and add remaining one cup cream. Heat the mixture again (just to a scald). Meanwhile whisk egg yolks. Temper the eggs with the hot mixture. Thicken the mixture over low heat just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain a second time. Chill mixture. Spin the ice cream following your ice cream machine's instructions. Fold in chocolate chips and put in freezer. Makes about 2 pints of ice cream. Let harden a bit and eat!

This ice cream is absolutely fabulous. I love the minty-ness with the dark chocolate. A match made in heaven. Unless you use artificial coloring its hard to get the "mint green" color. I opt out of food coloring - the mint flavor is absolutely unmistakable if you follow this recipe.