Current Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

I’ve had my ice cream maker for 7 months. My strategy when I first got the ice cream maker? I thought, this is my chance to make healthy and yummy ice cream and frozen yogurt. Strawberries were just coming into season. And I tried strawberry frozen yogurt. It was ok. Not great. Then, I was visiting my dad, and he had all these great lemons growing. And I thought, “I know! I’ll try lemon gelato!” Ok. But too icy.

I’ve written about this before on this blog. One of my first encounters is posted here. I finally hit my stride when I added the fat into it. I’ve really mastered fresh mint chip and peanut butter. And my bourbon raisin isn’t too bad—depends how much you like bourbon I guess. I haven't quite mastered the fruit ice creams. Need to spend more time on that. And while I want to master the basics, vanilla, chocolate, rocky road, etc., I’m more interested in making the special flavors. Decadent flavors. Flavors I love. Flavors you can't buy in your typical grocery store.

Up until now, I’d say that Peanut Butter or Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip is probably the favorite. Even people that don’t love peanut butter love this flavor. It just works. It’s rich and creamy, and really delicious served with something or all alone.

But me personally? Fresh Mint Chip is really my favorite. None of that fake mint flavor. None of the artificial coloring. Just fresh mint flavor. It’s so good. I really think I could eat it all the time.

Well. That was until today. Now? Sorry to report, but there’s a new favorite! Crème Fraiche ice cream!!

Fall is here, and while I’ve been debating trying to make a pumpkin flavor, or maybe even gingerbread or chai flavor, I haven’t gotten to those yet. I couldn’t really get behind those flavors. Why? Because when I thought about fall, I found myself not thinking about ice cream, but about the desserts. Pumpkin pies, and gingerbread cake...bread pudding and apple pies. SO. Rather than doing an fall ice cream, I wondered, “What ice cream goes best with all of those flavors and can complement it?”

Blurry photo of a yummy homemade apple crisp and scope of creme fraiche ice cream!

Crème Fraiche! A little bit more sour and flavorful than just a plain vanilla. But not as sour as sour crème. So perfect. My first batch is pretty good—a basic recipe from Emily Luchetti’s ice cream cookbook (which has the best ice cream recipes!!)

Pastry Chefs Rejoice!

It’s funny. I love making desserts, and baking is something that is so therapeutic to me. It’s something I can do to express some creativity, and it’s also easy enough to bring into work to share, or to a dinner party. And it’s always so easy to impress people with something so simple!

But when it comes to EATING dessert, ehh. I can take it or leave it. I always want to see the dessert menu, and if I’m dining with a group of friends, I love the idea of ordering a few for the table to share. Usually a few small bites is good enough for me. But still- I do love my desserts. And they have a special place in my heart.

Well, a few weeks ago, I saw this story “Desserts Will Always Have a Place at the Table”. Phew! Desserts are not going away, and if anything, people are only appreciating the art of pastry more and more. The article says it all, and lists many yummy places I must go and check out. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some photos of some of my favorite desserts—both professional and homemade!

All from Payard Las Vegas...







The Ritz Carlton Dining Room, San Francisco





And the best of all...the homemade ones!

Good vs Bad – Bad Meal in San Diego

Although I love making sweets, I’m not the biggest fan of eating sweets. However, a do appreciate a good cupcake and am even more excited by interesting flavor combinations. My friend Jonathan told me about a place, Eclipse Chocolat, that we just had to check out. He had recently heard that they had a bacon/chocolate cupcake! It was definitely worth the trek to check it out!


To my disappointment, the night we went, the bacon/chocolate cupcake was not available. We settled for a mixed box of goodies.

We ended up picking :
- Kentucky Bourbon and Pecan Cupcake
- Lemon Dulce du Leche Cupcake
- Macadamia and Toasted Marshmallow Cupcake
- Macademia and Ginger Brownie
- Masala Chai Brownie
- Espresso Truffle
- Lavender and Sea Salt Caramel

I was really excited about the bourbon cupcake as well as the marshmallow one. The chai brownie was my pick as was the lavender and sea salt caramel.

Imagine my disappointment when we got home and started cutting into them…just to find the cupcake flavor combos weird, and the cupcake itself super dry. I’ve had a lot of good cupcakes in my time (Kara’s Cupcakes in San Francisco, Miette Cakes in the Ferry Building, Berkeley's Love at First Bite Bakery, Saint Cupcake in Portland), and these were probably some of the worst ones I’ve ever had. I'm no professional baker, but mine are even better!

I really wanted to like them. The brownies were generally better than the cupcakes. And of all of the cupcakes, the marshmallow one was ok--probably because the fluffy marshmallow in the center at least gave the cupcake some moisture.

Goes to show...don't try and be so clever with the original flavor combinations. Stick with the basics and be sure to perfect your basic cupcake before venturing out.

Meal of the Month: June

My friend Lisa was talking about her favorite 'meal of the month' earlier today, and I thought that would be a fun column for my blog! At the start of each month, I'll recap a favorite 'Meal of the Month' from the month before. The meal would be chosen mainly because of the delicious food, but also because of the overall experience. Was it something unique? A once in a lifetime opportunity? The people I was with? What made it something special and standout in my memory so many meals later? Simply put, it was a meal to remember for a lifetime. So here goes...

JUNE

I was lucky, in June, I ate my way through Las Vegas, Aspen, Lake Tahoe, and of course, San Francisco. From restaurant parties, to extravagant meals in Vegas, to outdoor grill meals, to my favorite local hot spots in San Francisco with talented chef friends. Meals ranged from nibbling my way through a party, to home cooked meals, to meals outside in the perfect summer weather, to meals consisting mainly of cocktails. :) It was a hard task to choose just one meal. Well, folks, this is my blog, my rules. Here's the top two meals from June.

1. Dessert Tasting Menu, Payard Patisserie, Las Vegas
A five course dessert tasting menu with bubbly and port pairings? A good friend enjoying it with me? Perfect.

Coffee Eclair, Milk Chocolate Mouse and Flaky Sable

2. Head to Tail Dinner, Incanto Restaurant, San Francisco
Amazing meal. Very different meal than anything I've tasted before. A great group of friends. What could be better?

Boccalone sanguinaccio, duck egg and warm oysters

Let's hope July brings just as many good meals! Tune in!

Is It Too Late for Payard Vegas?

A few weeks ago, I was in Las Vegas for a conference...and one of the most memorable experiences of my life was at Payard Patisserie. Located in Caesar's Place, we experienced a five course dessert tasting menu...and every dish was perfect. Just a few days ago, I read this post on the LA Times blog:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2008/06/payard-vegas-no.html
A couple of months ago, I wrote a story on the latest round of restaurant openings in Vegas. The best bargain I found as part of that story was the elegant buffet breakfast at Payard Pâtisserie in Caesar’s Palace — $16 for coffee, fresh-squeezed juice, as many of the exquisite morning pastries as you can eat, plus cereals, yogurt parfaits and house-smoked salmon with all the fixings. However, it seems as if the management at Payard felt that petit déjeuner was too much of a bargain. A reader alerted me soon after that the price was now $22. OK, it was underpriced at $16, but isn’t that the definition of a bargain? Still, a $6 hike seems a bit steep. In another change, the bistro is no longer serving their dessert tasting at night, which is a real shame. I guess they never developed enough of an audience.

I was disappointed to hear that the dessert tasting menu was no longer being offered. In what must have been one of their last services, here are photos and descriptions of everything I was lucky enough to eat!

Our amuse...a soy and chocolate marinaded piece of fish, a chocolate polenta with duck, and a piece of thinly sliced beef (I don't remember what was inside!)

Poached Sickle Pear with Pomegranete, Cabrales Cheese and Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream...that was amazing ice cream!!

Warm Ricotta Tart with Citrus, Mint Salad, White Balsamic Vinegar...the mint salad was absolutely perfect. And on top? Baked Parmesan cheese!

Roasted Pear with Maple Syrup and Brown Butter Ice Cream. No need for any other words...it was perfection.

Tiramisu My Way: Chocolate Mousse, Espresso Granita and Mascarpone Cream. This deconstructed tiramisu was surprisingly easy to eat (and share).

Coffee Eclair, Milk Chocolate Mouse and Flaky Sable. The Flaky Sable (essentially a crispy, thin, chocolate cookie) was amazing. I've got to learn how to make it.


Red Wine Tart with Sangria-Prune Ice Cream. The ice cream was a highlight...so good. Inspiration for me and my new ice cream machine. Oh. And yes. There are a lot of glasses in the back. We had a different sparkling, moscato, or port paired with each one! :)

Devil's Food Cake, Cardamon Pot de Creme, Chocolate Pudding and Whipped Creme Fraiche. Can you see the 'devil's horns' shaped with thin chocolate? There were yummy rice krispy like rice puffs surrounding the cake.

Peanut Butter Napoleon with Milk Chocolate Rice Krispies. Not too peanut buttery, and not too rich. This was perfect.

The classic. Warm Hazelnut Chocolate Tart with Cocoa Nibs Tuile and Hazelnut Ice Cream. Amazing. Perfect.

This amazing truffle machine in the Payard patisserie has clocks around it that shows the time at all of his locations around the world...Tokyo, New York, Sao Paolo, etc.

Making Icy Progress!

I'm finally figuring out my ice cream maker. It was a birthday present (one of the best birthday presents ever!!), and the first few tries were quite unsuccessful. I started off with a lemon sorbet. Too slushy. Then I tried a fresh strawberry frozen yogurt. Too icy. I was beginning to feel frustrated. I was following the recipes from my ice cream cookbook exactly and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

Then, a friend gave me Emily Luchetti's ice cream cookbook and everything changed. In her intro, she talks about the secret behind ice cream. The fat. There is no cutting corners. If you are going to eat ice cream, eat ice cream.

My next experiment was fresh mint chip ice cream from her cookbook. I didn't make sorbet. Didn't use yogurt. I didn't even use low fat milk. This time, it was whole milk and heavy whipping cream. I had success!! It was the best mint chip ice cream I had ever tasted.

It was so good, that I wanted to see if I could do it again. The next time? I turned my head for one second...and BAM. Scrambled eggs. It was late at night (why is it that I'm always experimenting late at night?), and yet, I was determined to do it again, despite how tired I was at that point. The only problem? I had just used up all of my eggs. The last three were now scrambled in a mess of cream on my stove top. Pissed off and in my PJ's, I headed out to the grocery store.

But the second time? Success. I was beginning to feel confident. I was getting the hang of this! The fat was the secret! Next recipe? Peanut Butter ice cream. A friend had emailed me the recipe and my friend that gave me the ice cream maker LOVES peanut butter...so I thought, what could be nicer than to make this for her? First try--BAM! Success! It was heavenly. So good. And just as I was confident again...failure. I was just too tired and too disheartened to try again. I couldn't figure it out. I didn't do anything different. :(

Tonight, the stars were aligned for me. I figured it out! I had too much 'liquid' in the ice cream maker. There wasn't the opportunity for air to get mixed in, and there wasn't enough space to churn. I divided it into two batches, and presto! Ice Cream!

Ice cream is about the chemistry and the science. Everything has to be measured and perfect. You have to be at your best, and you have to be fully engaged and paying attention. Not something you can half ass.

It made me think. If I had actual training...or someone teaching me...what would my potential be? Not just me reading a recipe and then just seeing what happens, but actual training.

Or alternatively, if I could spend all day in the kitchen, testing recipes, and trying again and again after each failed attempt, where would I be? Would I hate that lifestyle or would I thrive and actually make progress and feel like I was accomplishing something?

Perhaps in another life...I will be in whites in a kitchen somewhere!