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.

Bacon and Eggs Pizza

The Setting: There are streaks of blue vying for space amidst the clouds and birds merrily chirping outside my window. Did I wake up in a Disney movie...or better yet...Spring?

The Soundtrack: The lovely avian Disney extras.

Steaming up the (microwave) Oven: Water for hot tea, Country Peach Passion to be precise.

The Scenario: There are two things I learned in college that are more useful to me now than my bachelor degree.

1) Breakfast makes a great dinner.

2) Pizza makes a great breakfast.

This pizza is proof of both.

A simple homemade pizza dough (though you could easily substitute store-bought) is slathered with a creamy green-chili-pepper sauce and then crowned with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and bacon.

You don't need a degree to know that's gonna be good.

Morgan's Pizza Dough
10 oz bread flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 T olive oil, plus more for coating bowl
1 T honey
6 oz warm water
1 tsp kosher salt

Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, combine flour and yeast.

Add oil, honey, and warm water, mixing just until dough comes together.

Switch to the dough hook, add salt, and knead on medium-to-med-high speed (6 on a KitchenAid) for six minutes or till stretchy, smooth, and pliable.

Transfer dough to large bowl coated with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for 90 minutes or till doubled in size.

Lift up the edges of the dough all the way around and tuck back under, gently releasing some of the gas that has built up. Cover and allow to rest for another 90 minutes.

Using a rolling pin, roll to desired shape and thickness (I like to do this on a Silpat or parchment paper). Transfer to a baking sheet or pizza pan dusted with coarse cornmeal.

Creamy Green-Chili-Pepper Sauce
7 oz plain Greek yogurt (I use Fage 2%)
1 whole (everything but the stem) fresh spicy banana pepper (or green chili pepper of your preference)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Place all sauce ingredients in a blender and process till smooth.

Spread evenly over pizza dough in pan.

Bacon and Eggs
3 slices raw bacon, diced
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Fry bacon in a small nonstick skillet till fat has rendered out and bacon is fully cooked but not overly crispy. Carefully transfer bacon to a small cup or bowl and set aside, retaining as much of the fat in the skillet as possible.

Add the eggs, salt, pepper, and garlic to the skillet and cook gently over med-low heat, immediately stirring to break up the yolks and scramble the eggs. Continuing to stir, cook until the eggs are mostly opaque but still very wet, 2-3 minutes. Let sit off the heat for 1 minute.

Drop small clumps of egg evenly over the green chili sauce. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top and follow with the bacon.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes or till crust and cheese are golden and bubbly.

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