Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is definitely my ice cream hero. Or I guess she's my ice cream heroine. Which does seem more appropriate because ice cream is my heroin. When I saw this recipe in her book, I was curious to see how roasting strawberries might transform them. But it didn't really do that - it just concentrated the flavor (which is a good thing, don't get me wrong). So in the end, it was a very good strawberry ice cream, but you probably wouldn't be able to tell it apart from a non-roasted strawberry ice cream. Although the buttermilk does give it a nice little tang. I don't think I'll crave it, like I do the pistachio-honey, but believe me, I wouldn't turn my nose up at a bowl.

 

ROASTED STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM

Makes about 1 quart

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/2-inch thick

1/3 cup + 2/3 cup sugar, divided

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 cup buttermilk

1.      Preheat oven to 375º F. Combine strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar in an 8" square glass or ceramic baking dish, stirring gently to mix well. Roast for 8 minutes, or until just soft. Let cool slightly. Puree in a food processor with lemon juice. Measure 1/2 cup of the pureed berries and set aside. Refrigerate the remaining puree.

2.      Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

3.      Combine the remaining milk, cream, 3/4 cup sugar and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heat-proof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

4.      Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture in to the cream cheese until smooth. Add the buttermilk and reserved strawberry puree and blend well. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

5.      Pour the ice cream mixture into the frozen canister of electric ice cream freezer and run according to directions of ice cream maker. Pack the finished ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

6.      Serve with refrigerated strawberry puree poured over the top.

by Jeni Britton Bauer

strawberries

sliced strawberries mixed with sugar

roasted strawberries

strawberry puree

The recipe doesn't say to strain out the seeds,
but I did (it just seemed like a good idea).

mixing the cornstarch/milk slurry

adding the slurry to the hot milk/cream/sugar mixture

I used brown rice syrup as a substitute for corn syrup.

softened cream cheese and salt

mixing cream cheese with hot milk mixture

adding buttermilk

mixing in strawberry puree

strawberry custard

I cooled it off in the bowl in an ice bath
(I didn't use a ziploc like the recipe says).

strawberry custard in ice cream maker

ice cream

Instead of pouring the extra strawberry puree
over the ice cream, I decided to mix some into
the ice cream (for a little extra color and flavor).

roasted strawberry buttermilk ice cream

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Buttermilk Ice Cream (and Cherry Buttermilk Ice Cream with Cherry Sauce)

I like everything about this creamy, tangy and rich buttermilk ice cream. It's like buttah (buttah-milk, that is). It's fantastic on top of warm fruit crisp or pie (and believe me, it's no slouch in a bowl all by itself). I added homemade maraschino cherries to half the batch to make cherry ice cream. And it was really good, but the flavor of the cherries overpowered the tang from the buttermilk and crème fraîche, so it tasted more like plain old vanilla. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But next time I would save the splurge on crème fraîche and just go ahead and make vanilla to start with. I also used the cherry liqueur from the maraschinos to make a beautiful cherry sauce (the jar of liquid just looked so sad, alone with no cherries bobbing up and down in it). It tasted kind of like a liquid lollipop.

 

BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM

Yield: approx. 2 quarts

2 cups heavy whipping cream

8 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup crème fraîche

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.      Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan.

2.      Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and stir constantly over medium-low heat until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 3 minutes (do not boil).

3.      Pour custard through fine strainer into clean bowl. Cool to room temperature (otherwise it will curdle when you add the buttermilk).

4.      Whisk in buttermilk, creme fraiche, lemon juice, and salt. Chill custard until cold.

5.      Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to containers; cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Ice cream can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen. Let soften slightly at room temperature before serving.

from Bon Appétit, March 2008 by Scott Peacock

egg yolks and sugar

whisking hot cream into the egg yolks and sugar

mixed

custard thickened

straining custard

whisking buttermilk/creme fraiche
mixture into the cooled custard

buttermilk custard before churning

churned

buttermilk ice cream

homemade maraschino cherries (straining)

adding halved cherries to buttermilk ice cream

cherry buttermilk ice cream

Add some chocolate chunks if you
want to make homemade Cherry Garcia.

reducing the cherry liqueur from the maraschino cherries

To make the cherry sauce, I used about 2 cups liquid +
1 tablespoon arrowroot (you can substitute cornstarch)
and simmered for about 10 minutes (it thickens
more as it sits, so try not to over reduce - although
you can always loosen it back up with more liquid).

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Steel Cut Oatmeal with Buttermilk

My friend Elizabeth recently made steel cut oats in a slow cooker and posted it on her blog. I had every intention of making her recipe, because I love the idea of waking up to a hot cooked breakfast. But then, because I have the attention span of a goldfish, I was totally distracted by this recipe. I liked the idea of toasting the oats before cooking them and the addition of buttermilk. So I made this one instead. And it was delightful. The texture was creamy and pleasantly chewy, plus the tangy buttermilk was perfect with the little touch of sweetness from the sugar.

If I can stay focused, maybe I'll make the slow cooker oatmeal next week. Of course by then my muddled brain will have moved on to something else, like whatever food is on the next cooking show I happen to watch. Or maybe the show after that. Or probably the show after that one. I could go on all day (until something else distracts me).

STEEL CUT OATMEAL WITH BUTTERMILK

Yield: 3-4 servings

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup steel cut oats

3 cups boiling water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1.      In a large sauce pot, melt the butter; add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.

2.      Mix in the salt. Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk with the oatmeal. Stir gently to combine and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.      Spoon into a serving bowl and top with brown sugar, cinnamon and remaining buttermilk.

from Alton Brown

steel cut oats

I agree with my friend Elizabeth, they look like
something you'd feed the goats at the petting zoo.

 Throw out those rolled oats in your cabinet
(actually, don't...use those to make cookies).
But if you're making oatmeal, try steel cut or
Scottish oats instead (they taste better and
they're better for you too).

The Bob's Red Mill package says they're also known as
Irish or Pinhead Oats. It also says they're high in protein.

melting the butter

toasting the oats

adding the boiling water

simmering (without stirring)

25 minutes later...adding the salt

mixing in the salt

adding the milk and half the buttermilk

mixed

10 minutes later

nicely thickened

plain steel cut oats

sprinkled with a little cinnamon and
brown sugar (actually, I used maple sugar)

pouring on buttermilk

mixing it all in

I thought it might be too loose, but it
thickens more as it sits. It was great.

creamy and delicious!

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Bluejacks (Buttermilk Pancakes)

One day an envelope arrived in our mailbox addressed to my daughter. Inside was a cute little businessman named Flat Stanley (sent by my 7-year-old nephew Hunter). He came with a note saying we should keep him for about a month and take photos of him when we go places, then return him along with the photos (a class project). I've discovered while photographing Flat Stanley around town that many of you are already acquainted with him. While clicking my camera, I often hear "Hey, Flat Stanley!" and look up to see a full grown adult with a goofy little grin on their face.

During Flat Stan's visit with us, we've realized a few things about the little guy. 1) He always has a smile on his face and never an unkind word about anyone. 2) He always dresses for success, even at the beach or pool. And 3) he loves the whole flat lifestyle, including flat foods (like pizza, crackers, bologna, cookies and pancakes). So we made these "flatjacks" to show our appreciation (we're so honored he chose to come stay with us).

Flat Stanley was very hands-on for the making of these. He even had the bright idea to mix blueberries directly into the batter...the result, as you can see, blue pancakes (oh Flat Stanley, you wild and crazy guy)!

BLUEJACKS (BUTTERMILK PANCAKES)

Yield: 12 large pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 to 2 cups frozen wild Maine blueberries (omit for plain "flatjacks")

1.      Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

2.      In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Add the blueberries and stir until your batter is a lovely shade of purple. Or you can just sprinkle the blueberries on top of the batter after you pour it on the griddle (it's way more boring, but you can do it).

3.      Heat a large non-stick griddle or skillet over medium heat. Pour about 1/3 cup batter onto the griddle. Cook until you see bubbles on the surface. Carefully flip the pancake using a large, wide spatula. Continue cooking until golden brown on both sides.

Flat Stanley mixing the plain batter

plain batter cooking on the griddle
(It's not necessary to grease the non-stick griddle.)

pancakes flipped (that one in the back was flipped a little prematurely)

nice, fluffy stack...but aren't they missing something?

the missing oomph: frozen wild Maine blueberries

You can try fresh (I do believe fresh is better),
but I can't guarantee they'll "bleed" the same color.

We could see right away that something exciting was happening.

Even more beautiful than Flat Stanley had anticipated!

bluejacks cooking

bluejacks flipped

bluejacks with pure maple syrup

Go ahead, have another one...they're only a little flattening!

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