Coffee Ice Cream (withOUT eggs)

When Mother's Day rolled around this year and the present my 3 year old handed me was the ice cream maker that he'd told me about the week before, it was something of a challenge. I was determined to make my favorite ice cream (coffee). Before I tackled that, though, I tried out the basics and got ahold of a base mixture that would work for me: one without eggs. This turned out to be:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

Everything else was a matter of flavoring. Add vanilla for vanilla ice cream. Cocoa powder for chocolate. Matcha powder for green tea (haven't tried this one yet).

So, what about coffee?

The issue was that not a single recipe I found online left out the eggs! Look, I know about the egg debate. If you're someone who willingly uses eggs in uncooked food, good for you. My neuroses, however, restrict me from any such daredevilry.

I could just leave the eggs out of the recipe, but I didn't want the texture to be off. Get the milk to water/coffee mixture wrong, and you'll have sorbet with some cream thrown in.

So, how do I add flavoring from something like coffee without adding more water? Answer: steep it.

My husband is a big one for tea. As such, he has these paper envelopes he uses for loose tea.

Making tea involves combining 3 variables: the temperature of the water, the ratio of water to tea leaves, and the quantity of time you steep the leaves. Take away from one of these three pillars of tea (temp, time and ratio), and you need to add somewhere else. Have less tea? Increase the time you steep. Need it faster? Make the water hotter.

With all this in mind, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you put your coffee in one of those fancy schmancy tea bags and steep the coffee in that milk overnight?"

So that's what I did.

And it WORKED!

So, here's the recipe:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp espresso

Pour whole milk into a container (preferably with a cover). Measure espresso into tea bag and submerge in milk. If you have a cover, leave part of the tea bag outside of the cover for ease of removal.

Put milk into refrigerator to steep overnight (less time might be possible: say 6 hours or more). Combine milk with cream and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture into ice cream maker. Use according to your maker's instructions.

Once finished, put in freezer to "ripen". The longer it sits, the better it will taste.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can switch out just about anything for that espresso: chai, Earl Grey, Thai tea...you name it! I hope to be trying them all.

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Asparagus Treats

Yesterday was Farmer's Market time again and I really made out this time. Picked up some yummy asparagus for one of our favorite treats. Asparagus is a hard texture for toddlers and it has a very distinct taste. I could never get my son to try it until I prepared it this way. Start by doing your usual wash and snap routine. Then dice them into about 1/4" pieces. They should be about the size of a skittle. I toss them in a cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper just until they get a little browned. Then put the whole pan in the oven at 375 degrees for about 7-10 minutes.

Dump them immediately into your serving dish and squeeze the juice from one medium lemon and throw in a handful of freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan. Toss it together and this is the easiest, most wonderful way to eat asparagus. My son LOVED it. The small pieces made it much easier to chew and the lemon brings a real freshness to the dish. It's also great on top of some crusty garlic bread. This dish is so great because it's tasty hot or room temperature. Perfect for picnics or outdoor dining. Read more!