Looking at back at some of these entries when I put in the links for years past always surprises me. I never know what memory is going to pop up. For example on May 3, 2005 Alex wrote about a particular dish from Grand Sichuan in New York City that included a ham bone served with a straw sticking out of it. I had to laugh when I saw it because when it arrived at the table that night I thought he was going to kill me. It was not the most relaxed meal ever and having to swallow down a straw-full of bone marrow did not excite him at that particular moment. Thankfully it, and almost everything that came with it, was good and we were able to enjoy the meal and laugh about it later.
We're working on cheese this week and Alex asked me to make a camembert ice cream. I kind of knew that request was coming and so I already had an recipe forming in my head. This ice cream is sweet enough to be dessert and flavorful enough to be a cheese course. Versatility is always a good thing. I used the entire cheese, rind and all and so you have all of that flavor permeating each cool, creamy bite. Here served it with tomatoes but I was also thinking that it would be lovely served with a salad of strawberries, basil and aged balsamic vinegar. Of course you can serve it with anything you wish.
Camembert Ice Cream
140 grams/ 5 ounces camembert cheese (1 MouCo Camembert)
260 grams/ 1 cup milk
275 grams/ 1 cup + 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
200 grams/ 1 cup sugar
1.5 grams/ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Preheat a circulator or CVap or pot of water to 180F/82°C
Dice the camembert and put it in the blender with the milk and the cream. Puree for 1 minute until completely smooth. Add the egg yolks, sugar and salt an puree on low for 10 seconds until smooth. Seal the base in a vacuum bag. Cook for 20 minutes in the water bath or CVap. Cool the ice cream base in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions.
Years Past
