The Funky Kitchen

Our house is one hundred and two years old this year. We have had it for just under a year, and have been living here only since Christmas. Yay for renovations! Less than 1% of the time this house has been standing has it been ours. I wonder about the people who were here before us often.

Did they love our awesome little house as much as we do now? Have any previous occupants been as scared of the basement as me? What were they thinking when they drywalled over the window in the bathroom?

We find hints about previous people living in our house often. When Mister checked out the attic we found a stack of ladies magazines from the 50′s (recipes from which will one day follow). Someone at our house must have enjoyed a game or two of marbles, because when we pulled off the deck, which was in a mostly decrepit state, we found a gaggle of marbles underneath. Mister jackhammered out and pulled up the cement sidewalks around our house, because they all channelled water towards the house rather than away, and we found some very interesting objects used as rebar, including two chairs, a trailer hitch and electrical stove elements. The people who lived here before us certainly were resourceful, but also must have been at least a little bananas. Drywalling over windows, partially converted knob and tube electric systems, amputations to support beams and patio stones sandwiched between layers of concrete using furniture for support have not made fixing up the house easier, that’s for sure. What were they thinking, who were they, where are they now?

It was a stupendously hot day the day that Mister and a few friends got most of the sidewalk removal done, so I got out our ice cream maker and made them a treat. This is a recipe from the veritable ice cream queen and fellow intrepid culinary adventurer, Trish.

Banana Ice Cream

(recipe from Trish)

3/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 bananas
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 Cups coffee cream

• In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, salt and lemon juice.
• Peel the bananas and cut them into one inch pieces.
• Force the banana, a few pieces at a time, through a fine mesh sieve using the side of a metal spoon. This will be a laborious process, but it is very worth it.

• Scrape the banana puree from the underside of the sieve into the bowl, mixing to combine it with the sugar mixture.
• Add the cream, stirring to blend.
• Pour directly into an ice cream maker and freeze until desired texture is reached (~20 minutes).
• Place in the freezer for about an hour in a resealable container, so that it will harden up a bit for better scooping.

This is not just a vanilla ice cream.

The freckling of real vanilla suggests a familial relation between vanilla ice cream and this ice cream, but this one is far more grown up than her little sister. Vanilla ice cream would peak into this older sister’s make up drawer, mystified by the distance a few years separation would put between them.

Where vanilla ice cream is pure and simple, sweet frozen vanilla custard, this ice cream is more complex, with almost a cheesecake quality, a cultured flavor that fills the mouth. The vanilla is still there, this flavor is a fair bit more grown up.

What’s the secret ingredient? Sour cream. The addictively good, creamy sour cultured taste makes this ice cream special. Mostly you get the extra creaminess, a more rounded out flavor, but at the end of each spoonful you can feel that infinitely small sour cream pucker around the edges of your mouth. A hint of lemon lends to the puckering effect and also acts as a foil to the gorgeously fragrant vanilla. I’ll be making this again toute suite.

Sour Cream Ice Cream

4 egg yolks

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup milk

1 Cup coffee cream

½ a vanilla bean

juice of ½ a lemon

16 oz sour cream

• In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
• Add the milk and coffee cream, whisking until the liquid is uniform.
• Scrape out the contents of the vanilla bean with a knife and whisk the vanilla into the cream mixture.
• Whisk in the lemon juice and sour cream until combined.
• Chill the ice cream batter thoroughly and then run it through your ice cream maker.

This ice cream stays reasonably scoopable after having spent time in the freezer, which is always a plus for a home made ice cream. Also, as home made ice cream goes, this recipe is really awesome because it is no cook and comes together in a matter of minutes. It was especially tasty with strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar.

Mister’s rating: “There is definitely a sour cream tone to the ice cream. It is rich and creamy like a custard. The real vanilla bean is essential, you can taste the difference between it and vanilla extract.”

Coffee and I are not friends.

I’m told by my mum that we haven’t ever gotten along with each other. While she was pregnant with me the smell of coffee would set her retching.

Not consuming coffee is fine with me. I wake up rather chipper and don’t need the caffeine, and tea suits me rather well when it comes to the warm beverage department. The sore tummy just isn’t worth it, so I avoid coffee and coffee flavored things. I don’t know how to use our coffee maker, or the more complicated espresso maker that lives beside it. Sometimes, though, a person just can’t help giving in to a mocha cake or an iced cappuccino. I rarely finish my serving before the sore tummy sets in, but Mister the coffee addict is all to happy to polish off what’s left.

That is what happened with this ice cream. I made it because we were having people over for dinner and everyone seems to be in love with coffee: Mister, his family, my mum, our friends, my classmates…. Everybody but me seems to be involved in this dark roasted love affair. To tell the truth though, even though it didn’t get along with me, it is one tasty ice cream.

Coffee Ice Cream

(another recipe from the kitchen of the veritable Trish!)

2 eggs, room temperature

2 2/3 Cups coffee cream

1/2 Cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp Kahlua liqueur

1/3 Cup very strong coffee or espresso

• Beat the eggs well and set aside.
• Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with vigilance.
• Add the sugar, still stirring, and keep heating until it the contents of the saucepan begin to bubble around the edges.
• Temper the eggs, and then add them to the saucepan.
• Stir the custard, still vigilantly, until it is noticeably thickened.
• Strain through a sieve to catch discernible chalaza or membrane pieces.
• Mix in the salt, vanilla, liqueur and coffee.
• Chill the ice cream for several hours, or overnight, to develop flavor. (It’s still cold enough outside that I can use the front porch as a freezer.)
• 
• Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s specifications.

This ice cream recipe is pretty backwards, I know. In fact, it’s written right into the copy of the recipe I received. But it works, and everyone quite liked it. Also, as a plus, this ice cream remains scoopable in the freezer, which is a nice trait for an ice cream to have.