Preserving the Season

Seasonality is one of the most important concepts of menu design; up north it is apparent that pumpkin and cranberry should dominate the menu when the leaves turn orange and crimson. Here in Florida, I can’t help but continue to crave my summer favorites because the sun is still shining and the foliage remains bright emerald green. I froze a bunch of strawberries at the peak of their season for this very reason. So today I made fresh strawberry ice cream, with the best strawberries of the year, even though the calendar tells me not to. What can I say, aren’t rules made to be broken J

 

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Yield: 2 quarts

Tools: Ice cream maker, rubber spatula, blender or stick blender

Ingredients:

4 cups	460 grams	Strawberries
1/3 cup	75 grams	Sugar
1 Tbsp	6 grams	Lemon Juice
2 2/3 cup	600 grams	Half and Half
1 each	1 each	Vanilla Bean (optional)
2 each	70 grams	Egg Yolks
1/3 cup	75grams	Sugar
2 pinches	2 grams	Salt

Method of Preparation:

1. Cut and freeze strawberries on a foil lined sheetpan, when in season. When frozen, put in a freezer safe bag and store until you crave our very berries once again! 
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine strawberries with sugar, lemon juice, and salt; allow to macerate while preparing ice cream base.                                                           
3. In a heavy saucepan, combine the half and half with sugar. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile in a heatproof, medium sized bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk vigorously until it lightens in color, about two minutes.          
4. Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about one cup of the warm cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the resulting egg-cream mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly, and place over medium heat. Stir with a rubber spatula, moving it back and forth across the entire bottom of the pan for the duration of cooking.                                 
5. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches nappé, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour over the macerated berries.                                                
6. Stir custard and berries. Use immersion blender or place contents in a stand blender to blend berries and custard and break up berry chunks into desired size. You can leave large berry pieces or blend until smooth.                                               
7. Pour cold custard into an ice cream machine and spin according to the manufacturer’s instructions until it reaches the consistency of soft-serve. Mix in the strawberries.
8. Place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for 2 hours or until set.