The Vegetarian: The KitchenAid Stand mixer, along with its pasta maker and ice cream maker attachments, had been on my wish list for years. I finally got my very own mixer for my wedding a couple of years ago. As happy as I was to finally have this dream gadget, I never used the ice cream maker. While that may seem trivial, to me, the apathy I felt towards my shiny red mixer and its attachments was a symbol of the lack of joy I felt in my marriage. A wife who loves to cook but finds no joy in cooking for her husband is not a happy wife. The marriage has since ended and while I wait for my divorce to become final I feel the joy returning to my life, a little more every day. So many things that were part of who I am, like cooking, were pushed aside and are now, thankfully, coming back to life. So, in this context, the ice cream maker's coming out of the cupboard party was no small thing.
I'm not sure how the omnivore and I decided on lavender ice cream but it was a quick and unanimous decision. We looked up recipes online and chose two that sounded good. We ended up choosing the epicurious recipe because 1) it had a higher ratio of heavy cream to half and half than the other one and we feel ice cream should never be a low fat food and 2) it asked for a more reasonable amount of lavender flowers. We made the right choice. The texture of this ice cream is creamy and perfect and we have decided it will be the base of any future flavor we try out. The lavender, honey, and vanilla were a perfect combination, enhancing each other without any one flavor being overwhelming. Our first try at ice cream was a success!
So, what about that pasta maker? Well, the next meal I have planned for me and the omnivore (she doesn't know this yet....) will include rosemary focaccia and homemade pasta (to be tossed in the omnivore's delicious pesto). Yum.
To cooking! To life! To joy!
Recipe (slight variation on an epicurious recipe):
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
2/3 cup mild honey
3 heaping tablespoons dried edible lavender flowers
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Bring cream, half and half, honey, and lavender to a boil in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, for 30 minutes.
Pour cream mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.
Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 5 minutes (mixture should be at about 170-175 degrees). Do not let the mixture boil.
Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, for at least 3 hours (we recommend ensuring the mixture chills throughout by placing the bowl in an ice bath and placing it in the fridge).
Transfer ice cream to ice cream maker, churn for 30 minutes, then transfer to air tight container and freeze overnight.
* Custard can chill up to one day before freezing
* Ice cream keeps for one week
* Please be sure to do what I never do which is read instructions. The ice cream maker we used has to be put in the freezer for at least 15 hours before churning
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