Muffin Top

Last year, a friend and I played hookie and made ice cream (that is what foodies do when they play hookie, I guess). I had collected, in anticipation of our (pre-planned) sick day, a slew of ice cream recipes: honey and lavender ice cream, french vanilla, maple walnut ice cream, and buttermilk ice cream, just to name a few. I rattled them the list off absentmindedly. “Buttermilk!” she clapped her hands.

So buttermilk ice cream it was. It was an adventure, having never made ice cream before. We didn’t realize the custard needed a 2 hour chilling and so we sat “idly” as it chilled. (Otherwise we would have planned a SECOND food item!) Um, and we thought the custard had to be near solid before putting it in the ice cream maker, so we stuck the custard in the freezer (not an advisable move, by the way).

And we ran the ice cream maker for an hour and a half, about three times too long, until the ice cream was hardened along the sides of the bowl. I didn’t realize at the time that all I had to was run the ice cream maker for about 30 minutes until it was a creamy slush, then allow it to harden in the freezer. That’s how I got a scratch on the inside of my ice cream maker bowl, running a metal spoon, trying to chisel the ice cream out!

But nonetheless, the tangy buttermilk ice cream was delicious. Nothing beats fresh ice cream.

I made a few more batches of ice cream–I tried out the honey lavender recipe. I’ll decrease the honey and increase the lavender next time. It was still delicious. But the ice cream maker has been at rest since last summer–and in an act of questionable intelligence, the thought of making ice cream did not occur to me until today. I mean, there’s been a heat wave, what other perfect food is there?

I collected my ice cream recipes again. Rose petal ice cream fascinated me. And so did blueberry ice cream. But again, buttermilk ice cream beckoned–maybe I’m just really lucky to have found the perfect ice cream flavor on my first try.

This time, I chilled the custard in the refrigerator not the freezer, and I let the ice cream maker run for a proper amount of time, 30 minutes. And after some subsequent chilling in the freezer, served it with strawberries and blueberries. The buttermilk in the ice cream is such a classic flavor pairing with the berries–like strawberry shortcakes! Except with the surprising cold creamy texture of ice cream alongside the fruit, instead of cake.

Try it, you’ll love it too.

BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM
from Bon Appétit
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup whipping cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cold buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:
Bring whipping cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over medium heat until custard thickens slightly, about 6 minutes (do not boil). Strain into bowl. Stir in 1 cup cold buttermilk. Refrigerate custard until cold, about 2 hours. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. (Can be prepared up to 5 days ahead. Freeze in covered container.)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

grilled lemongrass beef over cold rice noodles
Originally uploaded by c(h)ristine.

As I mentioned previously, I have an entire freezer filled with frozen meat, mostly beef. At the same time, we have been struck with an unusual heat wave here in Berkeley, the kind that makes for ubiquitous mentions of global warming and armageddon. The kind that makes cooking indoors unbearable, chasing me to our outdoor grill.

So. Infinite beef. Heat wave. Grill.

The first night of the heat wave, I made Korean bulgogi (Korean barbecued beef) for a potluck writers’ meeting. We ate it wrapped in red lettuce leaves while dining al fresco. The combination of meat and lettuce in big crunch was very refreshing, with a balance of hot and cool sensations. (We also had delicious lumpia and carrot sushi rice and other various yummy dishes).

The second night, we did the obvious: we grilled steaks marinated in Korean bbq marinade for dinner. But without getting too repetitive, what could I cook the third night using beef and a grill? (and remember, I am limiting myself to the contents of my freezer: a bunch of steaks, really)

I flipped through my recipe books, facing grilled steak recipe after grilled steak recipe. I began to lose hope–and then my eyes fell upon Mark Bittman’s The Best Recipes in the World, a huge tome of collected recipes. I’d bought it on sale, on a lark, consumed with curiosity about what indeed WERE considered “the best recipes in the world.” Plus, it actually included more than a handful of Korean dishes in the collection. So I decided to reward that–you know, positive reinforcement and all.

I had yet to cook something out of it…but it seemed like it had the most potential to provide me with an out of the ordinary grilled beef recipe. There it was: Grilled Lemongrass beef (I had just bought some lemongrass at the farmer’s market earlier that day). As I read the recipe, I imagined the flavors melding on my tongue, and then I realized there was something missing, something cool. Cold rice noodles! I scrounged up some Korean rice noodles, and cooked them up. The rice noodles cook quickly, shortening stove time ( a good thing in this heat). I rinsed them until they were cold–they were a perfect foil to the spicy beef.

“Where did the steak go?” Ari asked, when I assembled dinner.

“This,” I waved towards the bowl, “Is the steak.”

And that was the last word he spoke the rest of the meal because he (and I) got busy chowing down.

RECIPE
Grilled Lemongrass Beef (adapted from Michael Bittman’s “The Best Recipes in the World”)
Ingredients:

• 1.5 to 2 pounds beef tenderloin or boneless sirloin (I used rib eye steak)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
• 2 large or 4 medium shallots, roughly chopped (I used half an onion)
• 2 largic garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 small dried chile, or to taste (I used a tablespoon of Korean red hot pepper flakes)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice and 1 tablespoon sugar (I used 2 tablespoons of Limeade)
• 2 tablespoons nam pla (I used 2 tablespoons soy sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Freeze the beef for 30-60 minues (I chilled it in the freezer) to facilitate slicing. Meanwhile, combine all the remaining ingredients in a small food processor and blend to a paste, stopping the machine to stir down the sides of necessary.
2. When the beef is semifrozen (I didn’t wait for this it was okay), slice it as thinly as you can. Marinate it for as little as 20 minutes and as long as ovenright in the spice paste (if the paste is too thick, thin it with a bit more nam pla or soy sauce).
3. Start a charcoal or gas grill; the fire should be quite hot and the rack about 4 inches from the heat source. You can skewer the beef slices, using it as you would a needle to weave once or twice through the meat but I didn’t do it, I just threw the beef straight onto the grill. Grill quickly, about 1 minute per side, until nicely browned. Serve hot with cold noodles and some sweet chilli sauce.