Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

Last week from my CSA with Enterprise Farms, I got a bunch of rhubarb. Honestly, All I have ever known rhubarb for was strawberry rhubarb pie. I posted on twitter for any recommendations on what to do with this stalk-y tart vegetable. Kerry from Kerry Cooks told me about her Rhubarb Chutney While I got suggestions for jams, and soups, and of course pie. I ultimately went with Amanda, from the The Kitchen Misfit 's idea for ice cream.

I have haven't made ice cream, since about the age of 7 or 8 when my sister had a barbie ice cream maker, which shockingly didn't work terribly well. But I decided to give it a go.

I used this recipe from myrecipes.com as a base recipe and then adjusted to try to make it a bit more nutritionally sound/ my taste.


Ingredients:
2.5 cups low fat milk
1 cup fat free half and half
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 packets truvia
1 bunch fresh rhubarb (chopped, about 2-3 cups)
2-3 cups strawberries (I used half fresh/ half frozen)
3/4 cup red wine (*** in retrospect, possibly too much)

1.  Combine milk and half and half over medium-high heat until bubbles form around the edge. Do not boil. 
2.  In a large bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks, and stir until pale yellow.
3. Slowly pour in about half of hot milk mixture and stir constantly. 
4. Pour egg/ milk mixture into pan with the rest of the milk mixture and heat until it reaches 160* F, stirring constantly. 
5. Place pan into an ice bath, until custard cools, stirring occasionally.  
6. In a sauce pan combine wine, rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and tuvia. heat and bring to a boil until rhubarb is tender and liquid is syrupy. 

7. Remove from heat. Wait 10 minutes to cool, then add strawberry rhubarb mixture to custard mixture and stir. (*** In retrospect, cooling the mixture more would have been better, such as refrigerating over night)



8. Place mixture into the freezer, and stir occasionally.








The results : Pretty good for my first ice cream attempt. The taste was very good. It was really sweet (which I like) you could likely cut down on the sugar/ sweetener a bit.

The texture was a bit off, and there were a lot of ice crystals. If I let the ice cream melt in my mouth it has a very smooth texture, but when eating it like normal the ice crystals were rather pervasive.

I found this serious eats article about tips for homemade ice cream making - which likely would have been useful before hand. - So my ice crystals could have been from making the recipe low fat, not chilling it fast enough, and adding too much alcohol. So, if you choose to make it, those are some aspects to consider. 

Overall though, pretty happy with my use of rhubarb!

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Soup

My last post discussed Jon and I's seasonal dinner inspired by the bounty of my CSA box.

I had made a Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Cider Vinaigrette, and he made a lovely potato and leek soup.

I generally attempt to make my recipes healthier- but Jon was only willing to do so much tweaking to the recipe...

He used:

1/2 stick unsalted butter
olive oil
2 leeks
1/4 large onion (so.. like one small one?)
3 cloves garlic, minced
~1.5 pounds potatoes, peeled (we used russet potatoes )
1 pt chicken or vegetable broth
parsly
black pepper
salt
1 cup heavy cream (Um.... I would not have chosen this. You can substitute 1/2 or all milk, or use a light cream at least)

* wash and chop leeks, garlic and onion.
* Heat a bit of butter and oil in pan (big frying pan/ wok).
* add garlic, leeks and onions. Saute until soft. Set aside.
* peel and thinly slice potatoes.
* prepare pan again with olive oil and butter, and add potatoes. You are not trying to brown the potatoes. Add a bit of broth and cover pan. Cook until soft.
* add in the leek combo, and saute. Add the rest of the of the broth and spices as desired, and let simmer.
* place a large pot over heat. Pour the soup mixture into pot.
* add 1 cup of cream (or milk).
* use immersion blender to blenderize some of the soup until reaching a creamy consistency.
*** note: Jon blenderized quite a bit, but in retrospect we think he should have left some chunks of potatoes etc. So blend to your desired consistency.





Enjoy!

We served ours with our salad and a side of french bread.

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Salad

Getting a CSA is a great way to force you to eat seasonally- and eat some what creatively. Normally I just go to the grocery store and buy whatever is on sale or looks good.

With a CSA- I get a box of random vegetables and fruits that are fresh, local and in season. It has also forced me to get more variety in my diet which is always good too.

This weeks box included:
leeks (which I had never had before last week- I had to google to figure out what they were)
cabbage
arugula
broccoli
Some leafy green (Red Chard?)
lots and lots of potatoes
apples

Jon, as per usual, was pestering me what we were doing for dinner, so I told him what vegetables we needed to use- and we went ahead and googled recipes.

I decided on the Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with cider vinaigrette, and he made a Potato and Leek soup (recipe to follow!).



For my salad I used:
1 butternut squash
3 tb dried cranberries
1 tb pure maple syrup
salt and pepper
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head romaine (I used a whole head and had lots left over.)
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tb apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider
1 shallot
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 apple
fresh parm cheese

* first pre heat oven to 400*
* peel, cut and cube squash
* Place squash on baking sheet or pan, add maple syrup, a little bit of olive oil and some pepper and salt to squash and toss. Roast for ~15 minutes.
* add cranberries after 15 minutes, mix again and continue to roast until cooked.
* add chopped shallot, vinegar and apple cider to a small sauce pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
*remove dressing from heat. Add dijon mustard and olive oil. Mix well.
* wash, dry and cut arugula and lettuce.
* cut apple (add lemon, or other citrus juice to keep from browning.

* prep plates by placing greens, apple, walnuts, parm cheese.
* once squash is done, add some to salad. (I let mine cool for a little bit first.
* add small amount of well mixed dressing to salad and enjoy!