Father's Day Recipe Roundup

Happy first Father's Day to Hoosband!

The Setting: Not too pretty, but not too gloomy either. I'll take it!

The Soundtrack: Any Man of Mine. Shania. A little antipodal to today's theme...but it's all good.

Steaming up the Oven: Pizza.

The Scenario: This Father's Day, give the dads in your life a special treat made with love.

Here are a few of Hoosband's favorites:

Both savory...

• Corndogs
• Irish Nachos
• Fried Okra
• Redneck Tacos
• Bacon and Eggs Pizza
• Beer Cheese Pizza

And sweet...

• Hoosband Cookies
• Sky High Milk Chocolate Bark
• Kona Stout Ice Cream
• Tennessee Whiskey Tipsy Cake
• Coca-Cola Cake
• Peach Cobbuckle
• Key-Lime Pie

And a special shout-out to some of my favorite fathers:


To all you dads...

Step-dads...

And fathers-in-law...

Wishing you love and thanks...for everything!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

At Home with Jeni's...Part Two: Kona Stout

The Setting: A bit brighter inside than out, but if the thunderstorms hold off, I'll be happy.

The Soundtrack: Birds chirping, children playing.

Steaming up the Oven: Brownies.

The Scenario: More incredible ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Come have a scoop--and invite your dad!

One of the many cool (minor pun intended) things about JSICAH is that Jeni organizes her recipes by season.

In the spring, for instance, you might try "Passion Fruit Frozen Yogurt" or "Toasted Rice Ice Cream with a Whiff of Coconut and Black Tea." Autumn might be filled with scoops of "Gorgonzola Dolce Ice Cream with Candied Walnuts" or "Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream," while winter might dish up "Black Walnut Divinity Ice Cream" or "Banana Ice Cream with Caramelized White Chocolate Freckles."

But right now it is summer (whether the solstice has decreed it so or not), and Father's Day is on the horizon.

Jeni says her Kona Stout Ice Cream, flavored with dark-roasted Kona coffee beans and deep, malty Russian Imperial Stout, pairs perfectly with chocolate cake, barbecue, whiskey, and "your dad."

That sounds like the making of a pretty happy Father's Day (or any summer grill-out) to me.

And after receiving the "When can we have this again?" seal of approval from Hoosband, Kona Stout Ice Cream will definitely be making an appearance at this and future Father's Day celebrations at casa de Crumm.

...In fact...I'm growing so in love with it myself, we might have to keep it on hand for my favorite daily celebration: dessert.

Kona Stout Ice Cream
"Roasted malt and coffee beans impart a chocolaty nose to this rich, refreshing ice cream."

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons dark-roast Kona coffee beans, coarsely ground
1/2 cup Barley's Russian Imperial Stout or other very dark stout I have used both Old Rasputin Imperial Stout and Sam Adams Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, both were excellent

PREP  Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Make sure the cream cheese is fully softened--microwave for 10-15 seconds if necessary--otherwise whisking it is nearly impossible, and it could cause your ice cream to be clumpy.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK  Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the coffee, and let steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the milk mixture through a sieve lined with a layer of cheesecloth. Squeeze the coffee in the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid as possible, then discard the grounds. The second time I made this ice cream I didn't have any cheesecloth. Instead of grinding the coffee beans, I very coarsely chopped them with a knife (some remained whole) so that the pieces would not be small enough to pass through my sieve. To compensate for the decreased surface area of the beans, I doubled the amount of beans and increased the steeping time to 10 minutes.

Return the cream mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL  Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the stout and blend well.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. You could refrigerate the mixture overnight at this point if desired.

FREEZE  (Snip the corner off your Ziploc bag and...) Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes about 1 quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Malibu Mojito Float

The Setting: A warm and breezy Dallas day.

The Soundtrack: Oia, who has learned that a ball and a cup are all she needs to form a one-woman band.

Steaming up the Oven: Beer-Caramel Pretzels.

The Scenario: A simple twist on Jeni's mint ice cream takes it from the backyard to the beach...somewhere between Malibu and Miami.

As much as I love Jeni's Backyard Mint ice cream all by itself (or with a drizzle of warm chocolate ganache), it's been hard to shake the craving for some accompanying lime and rum on these hot summer days.

Maybe it's because I miss Miami or maybe it's because rum with muddled mint and lime is summer in a cup.

Either way, I simply had to make another batch of Backyard Mint, this time mojito-style.

The plan was to add a bit of rum to the ice-cream base and include the zest of a couple of limes along with the handful of mint in the steeping process.

I eagerly poured milk, cream, and sugar into a pot on the stove, and then it hit me: my arsenal of alcohol was back in Notre Dame.  Besides a couple bottles of Texas red, my Dallas kitchen was as dry as a Baptist convention center.

And, as I discovered when I went to make a quick rum-run, the rest of my new town was, too.

Unwilling to venture into wet territories without the help of MapQuest or Hoosband (I have no GPS, and my phone is app-less, map-less, and hapless), I returned home to make mint-lime ice cream.

Remaining fully committed to my ice-cream-mojito dreams, I swerved into a liquor store a few days later when driving through the smuttier part of town and picked up a bottle of coconut rum.

It might not have made it into the ice cream, but it would certainly make it onto the ice cream.

"Hold up," you might be tempted to say. "Coconut rum is not traditionally used in mojitos."

Well, that's where the Malibu part comes in (though, technically, this time it's Parrot Bay...).

I tend to buy two kinds of rum: Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum and coconut rum (generally Malibu). I don't have much use for plain white rum in my kitchen since most of the things I'd use it for taste even better with a hint of coconut, mojito floats included--of course, that's just me.

To make the float, just scoop some mint-lime ice cream into a lowball glass, pour a couple capfulls (or more, to taste) of coconut rum over the top, and serve with a spoon. To make it even more of a float, top with club soda, spoon optional. To serve frozen-drink style, blend until smooth and serve with a straw (little umbrella optional).

Check out Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books) for Jeni's Ohito Sundae and Mint Julep cocktail, also featuring Backyard Mint Ice Cream.

And be sure to stay tuned for more of Jeni's tasty ice creams, coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

At Home with Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Part One: Backyard Mint

The Setting: A lovely apartment made even lovelier by ceiling fans and central air. Oh, how I will miss these luxuries come August!

The Soundtrack: Children playing boisterously somewhere nearby. Sounds like summer.

Steaming up the Oven: Muffins.

The Scenario: It's been a long time in the coming...but finally...at long last...I present to you...courtesy of Artisan Books...Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home!

How can I even begin to express my love for this cookbook?

Hoosband and I first discovered Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Hot and Cold, a small coffee/tea/ice-cream/ice-pop shop in Nashville's Hillsboro Village.



With flavors such as Cherry Lambic, Salty Caramel, and Riesling Poached Pear (Hoosband's favorite), the artisan ice creams and sorbets had us clamoring for more with each enticing spoonful.

At first we assumed that Jeni's was native to Nashville, as most of Hot and Cold's offerings come from local artisans (Bongo Java coffee, Olive and Sinclair chocolate, and Las Paletas ice pops), but we were surprised to learn Jeni's is actually a proud product of the Buckeye State.

Whether your allegiance to Jeni's dates back to the original North Market shop in Columbus, Ohio, or you're just hearing about the deliciousness for the first time, you can now make Jeni Britton Bauer's incredible ice creams at home, thanks to this easy-to-follow cookbook that breaks down fan-favorite flavors for reproduction in the average household ice-cream maker.

What are Jeni's secrets?

There are several. Jeni is an ice-cream-science nerd, and proud of it.

She eschews the use of eggs as a thickener, favoring a one-two punch of corn (or tapioca) starch and cream cheese to keep ice crystals in check (meaning this homemade ice cream gets the green light for any pregnant mamas out there avoiding potentially uncooked eggs--woohoo!).

The main secret, however, is Jeni's focus on quality ingredients and fresh, natural flavors, as expressed in my current summer favorite, Backyard Mint, which literally derives its crisp, clean flavor from a big handful of mint leaves fresh from the backyard...or grocery store...you know, whatever works.

The Following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. My notes are in red.

Backyard Mint Ice Cream
"Bright and sweet-scented muddled mint and fresh cream--completely refreshing."

2 cups whole milk
1 T plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
A large handful of fresh mint from your backyard or farmers' market, leaves roughly torn into small pieces.

PREP  Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. If you have trouble whisking the cream cheese, microwave it for 10-15 seconds to soften it a bit more.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK  Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL  Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Add the mint. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Refrigerate to steep for 4 to 12 hours.

FREEZE  Strain out the mint. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest park of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.


Makes about 1 quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Happy National Donut Day!

The Setting: Blue skies, cotton-puff clouds, gentle breezes...am I in Heaven?

The Soundtrack: The laundry machine, punctuated with Oia's curious babbles as she "reads" her favorite books and rediscovers her favorite toy-du-jour, a plastic cup.

On the Stove-top: Hot oil and sizzling dough.

The Scenario: It's National Donut Day--let's celebrate!

You may have noticed I've been a little donut-crazy lately.

It all started two years ago when I visited Hoosband's hometown outside of Houston, Texas for the first time.

Driving around the surrounding towns and suburbs, one word dominated the signage along every street and strip-mall: DONUTS.

Is the Houston area abnormally donut-obsessed? I wondered.

Hoosband had never given much thought to the abundance of fried-dough vendors in his homeland, but even he had to admit they were shockingly numerous here compared to anywhere else he'd lived (Georgia, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee) or visited (the list goes on and on).

When we arrived in Dallas a few weeks ago, we were thrilled to witness the same phenomenon: a donut peddler on every corner.

There were more donut shops than Starbucks!

Appreciating that, along with Tex-Mex and BBQ, donuts must truly be a part of Texas food-culture, I had to dive right in and get my fingers sugary.

We took the search for the perfect-Texas-donut experience to Austin when we snuck away for the weekend, and the exploration continues in Dallas, day by day.

I have yet to (need to) venture from the streets I regularly travel, but I already have a stand-out for dream-worthy Dallas Donuts. I'll be sure to keep you updated via Tweet if there is an upset in the standings as the search rages on, but for now, here are a few of my favorites from Texas and beyond, listed alphabetically by location.

Austin, TX: Gourdough's. Not your standard donut-shop selection, Gourdough's creations start with big, fat, yeasty donuts and then amp up the excitement with toppings ranging from grilled bananas to fried chicken to cake mix. I recommend the Flying Pig and the Funky Monkey.

Dallas, TX: Donut Palace, Coppell/MacArthur Blvd. The cinnamon roll and the blueberry-cake donut here should be studied, dissected, and mastered by anyone wanting to get into the donut business.

Destin, FL: Donut Hole. In nearly 30 years of patronizing this establishment, I have never been able to leave without a Chocolate Angel, a messy powdered donut filled with whipped chocolate cream. Can you say breakfast of champions? The Donut Hole is also home to Destin's best Key-Lime Pie.

Nashville, TN: Fox's Donut Den, aka The Donut Den. Everything here is delightful, but the apple fritters are insane. I can't leave without at least one, plus some donut holes (glazed and blueberry cake).

My friend Jet at Fox's Donut Den, Nashville, TN

What are your favorite donuts and/or donut spots?

Need a recipe for your National Donut Day Celebration? Check out BeingTSI's Facebook page later tonight for a link to my 20-Minute Homemade Donuts.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.