A brief culinary interlude: Coconut vanilla ice cream with strawberries in it

I know dessert is not paleo. Sadly, we can’t all be Kurt Harris! (I mean that, I would love to be Kurt Harris.) This is for special occasions. 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 can full fat coconut milk (13.5 oz)
• 1 can light coconut milk (13.5 oz) – I find that the inclusion of light coconut milk helps create a more scoopable texture if the ice cream is not all to be consumed at once. If you and yours will consume all the ice cream as soon as you are finished making it, or if you have the forethought to take the container out of the freezer a half hour before you plan to eat some, or if you don’t mind nuking the whole shebang in a microwave for 20 seconds, feel free to go with 2 cans of full fat coconut milk.
• 2-5 egg yolks (This is an arbitrary number of egg yolks. I’m sure the lecithin helps add richness and mouthfeel, but I just do it for the lovely golden color.)
• Sweetener to taste (I used 8 packets of Truvia, but no doubt a bit of honey or soaked, pulverized dates would work well and be more paleo)
• Pinch of salt
• 3-4 TBSP vanilla extract
• A cup of chopped strawberries, possibly sprinkled with a bit of wine vinegar or lime juice, if you’re feeling sassy

Method:

• Whisk the eggs for a minute or so
• Add the sweetener and salt and whisk until eggs and sweetener are combined
• Add the coconut milk to the egg-sweetener mixture, as you continue to whisk
• Add the vanilla while whisking away
• Adjust the amounts of sweetener and vanilla to suit your taste. When the mixture tastes good to you, pour it into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
• When the ice cream maker signals that it is done, use a spatula to incorporate the strawberries into your ice cream
• Serve and enjoy!

A brief culinary interlude: Lavender vanilla ice cream

I’m fully aware that dessert is not a paleo concept. In any case, here’s another recipe. 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• Sweetener to taste (I used about 8 packets of Truvia, powdered in a coffee grinder, but I’m sure a bit of honey or soaked, pulverized dates would work well and be more paleo)
• Pinch of salt
• 3-4 TBSP vanilla extract
• A few drops of food grade lavender essential oil OR 2 TBSP dried edible lavender

If you are using the essential oil:

• Whisk the eggs for a minute or so
• Add the sweetener and salt and whisk until eggs and sweetener are combined
• Add the egg-sweetener mixture to the cream, whisking all the while
• Add the vanilla while continuing to whisk
• Add the lavender essential oil (a drop or two at a time – it’s very strong stuff), while – you guessed it – whisking away
• When the mixture tastes good to you, pour it into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

If you are using the dried lavender:

• Heat the cream, sweetener, salt, and lavender over medium heat until just simmering
• While cream is heating, beat the eggs
• When the cream is simmering, take a half cup of it and slowly pour it in a very thin stream into the eggs, whisking all the while
• Very slowly, pour the egg mixture back into heated cream while continuing to whisk
• Switch to stirring with a wooden spoon! (Didn’t see that one coming, did you?!) Stir the mixture over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon (google “custard recipe” for more info on how to do this). Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil, or it may curdle.
• Once the mixture thickens, take it off the heat and strain it into a bowl to get rid of the lavender flowers and any bits of solid egg
• Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature
• Stir in the vanilla
• Pour the cooled mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Notes:

You can separate the egg yolks from the whites and just use the yolks. You can also add more egg yolks.

You can use lemon juice instead of lavender, if you are in the mood for lemon-vanilla ice cream.

This ice cream freezes pretty solid once it has been in the freezer for any amount of time. If you plan to eat some, take the container out of the freezer a half hour beforehand, and allow it to soften a bit.

A brief wondrous interlude: Recipe for Lamb Sausage Patties

Lamb Sausage Patties

Ingredients:

• Roughly 1 lb. of ground lamb
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1.5 tbsp fennel seeds
• A few shakes of hot red pepper flakes or cayenne, if that floats your boat

Method:

1. Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands until the seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the meat.
2. Form into patties. If you are a bitter, single person like me, you can wrap some of them in wax paper and place them, in a freezer bag, in the freezer.
3. Heat some butter in a frying pan on medium heat until the butter foams up and then subsides.
4. Fry the patties until done on one side (a couple of minutes, depending on the size of the patties).
5. Flip the patties, and fry them until the other side is nice and cooked.
6. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe is more of a blueprint. Try it once, and adjust the seasonings to your particular taste. Feel free to post any suggestions!

Father’s Day Panna Cotta

Thankfully, this was a success. I’ve made successful egg custards in my life (mostly en route to making ice cream or custard pie), but I thought I’d try something new for Father’s Day. This was, in fact, incredibly easy and quick to prepare (not including chilling time).

Adapted from the one on David Lebovitz’s Site. Shameless, I am.

Father’s Day Panna Cotta (serves 6. We are but 3, but we have leftovers.)

– 4 cups organic heavy cream or coconut milk
– 1/4 cup honey (or 1/2 cup xylitol [powdered in a coffee grinder] + stevia to taste)
– 3 tsp of vanilla extract
– 1/2 tsp lemon oil (or replace the 6 tbsp of cold water with 6 tbsp cold lemon juice)
– 2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
– 6 tablespoons cold water (or lemon juice, if not using oil based flavoring)

1. Heat the heavy cream or coconut milk and honey or other sweeteners in a saucepan. Once the sweeteners are fully incorporated, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and lemon oil (if using).

2. Get out your custard or serving cups. If you intend to unmold the panna cotta onto plates, oil your custard cups with a neutral tasting oil. I didn’t bother. I just chilled everything in the serving bowls and avoided unmolding at all costs. That’s a zero for presentation, but I covered with sliced strawberries and toasted pecans.

3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water or lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. (The gelatin must be sprinkled evenly over the entire surface area of the liquid to enusure that all the granules dissolve evenly.)

4. Pour the very warm cream mixture over the gelatin and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the mixture into the prepared cups and chill until firm (at least two hours)

6. Garnish as desired. I would have made a balsamic vinegar reduction for the strawberries, but dad is not a balsamic reduction man. Serve!