Ginger Ice Cream with Honey-Sesame Brittle

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently made an Ethiopian dinner for friends. While I was planning the meal, I realized I couldn't think of any classic Ethiopian desserts to make because there are none. Ethiopians traditionally don't eat dessert. But I knew my table full of robust Americans (I can say that because I was the most robust of them all), would enjoy a little something sweet. So I thought maybe an ice cream using one of the flavors from the meal would be complimentary. It was right on the money. My guests really enjoyed the assertive kick of the ginger with the sweet, crunchy sesame brittle. It's probably not going to win over the kids, but that's why we keep chocolate ice cream in the freezer (yea, that's right, for the kids).

 GINGER ICE CREAM WITH HONEY-SESAME BRITTLE

Yield: 1 quart

Ginger Ice Cream:

3 1/2 oz. unpeeled ginger root, cut into long strips

2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (or cornstarch)

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2/3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons honey

Honey-Sesame Brittle:

2 tablespoons honey

3/4 cup sesame seeds

zest of 1/2 orange

1.      Place ginger strips in small saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the ginger and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Drain the water.

2.      Mix tapioca starch with 1/4 cup of the heavy cream to make a smooth slurry. Add the salt and mix. Set aside.

3.      Combine ginger, milk, remaining 1 1/4 cups cream, sugar, and honey in 4 qt. saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil at medium high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in tapioca starch slurry.

4.      Return mixture to a boil and cook, stirring until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

5.      Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc bag or 1-quart container and store in fridge for at least 12 hours. If you like a stronger ginger flavor, let it sit longer.

6.      Make the brittle: Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with silicone mat or aluminum foil. Pour honey into a small saucepan and warm, just until liquid. Remove from heat. Add orange zest and stir. Add sesame seeds and mix together until seeds are well coated. Pour mixture into pan and spread to about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, checking after 15 minutes (you want the seeds to turn golden brown). Take care to not over cook or the bottom will be dark (and not taste as good). Let brittle cool. Break into small, pea-sized pieces while ice cream is churning, ready to add to ice cream. (I use about 3/4 cup for the ice cream, but use more or less depending on your preference.)

7.      When ready to churn ice cream, pour the ice cream base through a fine sieve to strain out the ginger. Churn ice cream until thick and creamy. Add in small pieces of the brittle while putting finished ice cream into storage container. Freeze ice cream in the coldest part of your freezer for at least 4 hours.

barely adapted from food52 (by Jef)

ginger knob

sliced ginger in boiling water

ginger, milk, cream, sugar and honey

mixing tapioca starch slurry

whisking in the slurry

cooled ginger custard in a ziploc

Do yourself a favor and steady your ziploc in
a bowl before you start pouring (you just
know I learned that lesson the hard way).

orange zest

honey

heating the honey and orange zest

stirring in the sesame seeds

raw sesame brittle spread out

baked sesame brittle

breaking up the sesame brittle

I made it the day before and
stored it in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

straining the ginger custard the next day

ginger custard before churning

ginger ice cream

stirring in some sesame brittle

ginger ice cream with honey-sesame brittle

on a spoon
(white on white - great idea for a photo)

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Sesame Cookies

Everything about these Italian butter cookies is delightfully understated. The anise and sesame flavors are mild and delicate. A very mature, not-too-sweet cookie that goes great with coffee or tea. And if mature just isn't how you roll, I'm sure you can frost them a gruesomely nauseating shade of green and make them look like disembodied fingers for Halloween.

AUNT ANNE'S SESAME COOKIES

Yield: 4 ½ dozen

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

2 teaspoons anise extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup raw sesame seeds

1.         Preheat oven to 350º F.

2.         In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and anise extract until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well incorporated. If you are using a stand mixer, let the dough mix for another minute to add lightness to the dough. The dough will be soft, but will hand roll easily.

3.         Pinch off pieces of dough slightly smaller than a walnut, and roll them into small logs. Roll in sesame seeds. Place cookies ½-inch apart on a cookie sheet (cookies will not spread very much).

4.         Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until bottom and sides of cookies are lightly toasted. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

barely adapted from Aunt Anne’s Sesame Cookies by DianeF at allrecipes.com

butter and sugar (evaporated cane juice)

butter & sugar creamed

adding anise extract

egg added

flour added

dough ready

I made mine about as long as my pointer finger.

rolling in sesame seeds

covered in sesame seeds

The original recipe called for dipping in milk first, but as
you can see, the sesame stick just fine without that step.
If you want to try making the dough ahead of time and
chilling, then you might need to dip the logs in milk first
because the dough probably wouldn't be as sticky.

ready to bake

baked

sesame cookie inside

stacked into a pyramid

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Sesame Balls with Red Bean Paste

Riding high after successfully making moo shu pork, I thought I'd tackle my favorite dim sum treat. For those of you who have never gone out to a Chinese restaurant for dim sum, let me tell you about it. It's fun, like a party. The waiters wheel around carts filled with tiny dumplings and other scrumptious bite-size goodies. Each one like a perfect little work of art. You can pick and choose only the ones you want and share with your friends. Some are savory and some are sweet. Which leads me back to my favorite...sesame balls. They're sweet (but subtly, like many Chinese desserts). They're crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. You can make them without the sweet bean paste, but personally, I'd be sad if there was no prize inside.

SESAME BALLS (ZEEN DOY)

Yield: 48

1/2 cup sesame seeds (or as needed)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 - 1 1/3 cups boiling water

3 cups glutinous rice flour

1 cup sweet red bean paste

vegetable oil, for frying

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1.      Spread the sesame seeds over a piece of wax or parchment paper. Place a small bowl of water beside the sesame seeds.

2.      Dissolve the brown sugar in 1 cup of the boiling water.

3.      Place the rice flour in a large bowl. Make a "well" in the middle of the bowl and add the dissolved sugar and water mixture. Stir until you have a sticky, caramel-colored dough, adding as much of the remaining 1/3 cup of boiling water as needed (don't add the water if not needed).

4.      Pinch off a piece of dough roughly the size of an average golf ball (about 1 tablespoon).

5.      In a wok or deep-sided, heavy saucepan, pre-heat the oil for deep-frying to 350º F. Make sure that there is at least 3 inches of oil in the wok.

6.      Push your thumb into the dough to make an indentation. Roll 1 level teaspoon of sweet red bean paste into a ball. Place the red bean paste in the hole, and shape the dough over the top to seal. Make sure the red bean paste is completely covered. Continue with the remainder of the dough.

7.      Dip a ball into the small bowl of water (this will help the sesame seeds stick to the ball). Roll the ball over the sesame seeds. Repeat the process with the remainder of the balls. Deep-fry the sesame seed balls, a few at a time, in the hot oil.

8.      Once the sesame seeds turn light brown (about 2 minutes), use the back of a spatula or a large ladle to gently press the balls against the side of the wok or saucepan. Continue applying pressure as the balls turn golden brown and expand to approximately 3 times their normal size.

9.      Drain the deep-fried sesame seed balls on paper towels. Serve warm. If preparing ahead, refrigerate and then re-heat the balls until they puff up again.

from food.com

glutinous rice flour (aka mochiko, sweet rice flour)

brown sugar dissolved in boiling water

pouring sugar/water into rice flour

sesame ball dough

ball of dough flattened into a disk

sweet red bean paste

dough with sweet red bean paste ball on top

wrapping the bean paste with dough

dough balls ready (all filled with bean paste)

ball dipping in water

rolling in sesame seeds

rolled and ready to fry

fried sesame balls

In Chinese restaurants, they sometimes snip the
sesame balls with scissors to cut them in half (so
you can easily share). So I gave that a try.

No wonder they do that, it works nicely.

inside

SWEET RED BEAN PASTE

Yield: 2 cups

8 oz. dried adzuki beans, soaked overnight in water

3 cups cold water

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup canola oil (or other neutral oil or lard)
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1.      Drain beans and place in a heavy, medium pot with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2.      Drain the beans through a fine strainer. Set the strainer over a medium pot. Using a rubber spatula, press the beans against the strainer into the pot (discard the skins). Add the sugar and oils and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture forms a thick, sweet paste, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Store in the refrigerator.

adapted from Emeril Lagasse

adzuki beans soaking in water

soaked adzuki beans starting to cook

ready to strain

pressing against the strainer

mostly skins left

cooked with sugar and oil and thickened nicely

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