I recently read a book called Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. This book is Nafisi’s memoir about life in Tehran during Iran’s revolution and their eight year war with Iraq. Nafisi was raised in Iran, but as a college student she studied literature in America. She returned to Iran after her studies in America and discovered that her beloved homeland was not the same as the one in which she was raised. Nafisi arrived when Iran was in the beginning stages of the revolution. She lived in Tehran for 18 years (1979-1980) before finally leaving the oppression of the Islamic Republic.

It occurred to me, while reading the novel that the terrifying Islamic Regime that gain control of Iran was essentially bullying in its most pure form. Nafisi’s husband, points out:

“They have the power to kill us or flog us, but all of this only reminds them of their weakness.”

In an Islamic Regime such as post revolutionary Iran women were reduced into shadows that moved, hopefully without notice, in their chador and veil. I say that they were

“hopefully”

unnoticed because being noticed was bad. Imagine walking down a street and a hair strays from under your veil at the same time a patrol called the Blood of God notices you. That stray hair leads to an interrogation that leads to jail where you might be faced with years in prison or execution.

How does one survive this type of existence? This type of oppression wears people down until they submit so fully that they justify their submission. In the novel, Nafisi quotes a woman that drives this point home:

“We are not with the regime in our hearts and minds…by now we should be used to all of this; these young girls are spoiled-they expect too much. Look at Somalia or Afghanistan. Compared to them, we live like queens.” “I was thinking about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, about the fact that my girls are not happy. What I mean is that they feel doomed to be unhappy.”

Nafisi says this to a friend and then adds,

“They have to learn to fight for their happiness.”

Nafisi’s “girls” are a group of young women with whom she meets every Thursday afternoon. They are women who love literature as much as Nafisi. (At one time Nafisi taught at various universities in Iran, having had these young women as her students.) These women meet to study western novels as there is really no other way in which they can freely discuss authors such as Nabokov, Austen, Fitzgerald, James and Bellow.

Those who were subjected to the evils of the Islamic Regime feel doomed to unhappiness and those in power will never be happy. It is up to the oppressed to fight out of that hole so as not to become victims. Nafisi, in another conversation with her friend, describes the oppression of the regime:

“…this regime had so penetrated our hearts and minds, insinuating itself into our homes, spying on us in our bedrooms, that it had come to shape us against our own will.”

It became easy to blame the regime for all of life’s woes. Nafisi’s friend asks,

“Because the regime will not leave you alone, do you intend to conspire with it and give it complete control over your life?”

As an American woman who cannot fathom the type of non-existence in which the women of Iran were forced to live I wonder what took Nafisi 18 years to pack her bags and leave. Why live in oppression when you can leave? But, then I reread the sentences in which Nafisi describes Iran I can feel the torture of her soul. Iran is her home and she does not want to abandon it. In the end, I am glad that Nafisi finally left Iran so that she could express herself freely. I know it was hard for her to accept that she must leave and I could feel anguish of her decision, the sadness that her Iran was no longer the Iran of her childhood, the Iran in which her imagination could shape her life publicly.

There was one particular statement that Nafisi made when she describes the theme of many Jane Austen novels

“…cruelty not under extraordinary circumstance, but ordinary ones, committed by people like us.”

It is easy to blame the leaders of warped regimes, but the ordinary people who succumb to the taste of power that enable the tyrants to control the majority are those that permit the cloud of oppression to bear down on a people.

At the Thursday afternoon meetings with her students Nafisi’s mother would serve Turkish coffee. Nafisi also likes coffee ice cream with coffee poured over it. It seems appropriate to offer a coffee ice cream recipe with this post.

Coffee Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup of espresso

Directions

1. Combine eggs, yolks and sugar in a bowl and blend thoroughly with a whisk or electric beater for about 5 minutes.
2. Heat milk and cream in a medium saucepan until it is near-boiling hot. Turn off heat.
3. Slowly pour in 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, beating rapidly with a whisk.
4. Once it is all beaten in, pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the milk mixture while beating.
5. Heat mixture under medium low, stirring constantly, for a few more minutes or until the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon when dipped in. Turn off heat.
6. Pour mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap placed snuggly, touching the mixture so a skin does not form.
7. Chill overnight or until completely cool.
8. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and following manufacturer’s directions.
9. Freeze for at least 2 hours after ice cream is done churning.

Note: If you have a book that has left you with food for thought and you’d like to be a guest blogger let us know. We’d love to hear about the book and a recipe that you feel suits the book.

Photography Data:
Today’s Featured Photographer
Hitde Light

Once in a while we just get in the mood for chocolate. As we’ve gotten older our tastes have changed. When we were younger we loved anything chocolatey, all the time. Now, we enjoy desserts with flavors that we would have spurned in our youth. But, there are those times when you crave a chocolate dessert.

Over the past two days it has become hot…sauna hot. We went from sleeping with our windows open to buttoning up the hatches and cranking the air. When craving chocolate in this weather there is nothing left to do but make chocolate ice cream. Creamy, smooth, simply delicious chocolate ice cream will be the only thing to hit the spot.

We find ourselves, again, using an Alton Brown ice cream recipe for a good basic chocolate ice cream. But, if you want to get sexy and take it to orgasmic levels then try the recipe from Bon Appetite ….it will make you scream for more ice cream.

Chocolate Ice Cream (Alton Brown)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 large egg yolks
• 9 ounces sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
2. In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added.
3. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F.
4. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. Stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.
7. Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes.
8. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

Chocolate Ice Cream (Bon Appetite)

Ingredients

• 7 ounces dark chocolate (70% to 75% cacao), finely chopped
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 large egg yolks
• 13 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Place chocolate in a medium metal bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Set melted chocolate aside; let cool slightly.
2. Whisk milk and cocoa powder in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat until mixture begins to boil; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in another medium bowl until very thick ribbons form, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add hot milk mixture to egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Add melted chocolate and whisk to blend. Stir over low heat until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 175°, about 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate custard to a large bowl and place over another large bowl of ice water. Stir until chocolate custard is cool.
4. Bring remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a small heavy, deep saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
5. Boil, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush (do not stir), until a dark amber color forms, about 5 minutes.
6. Gradually whisk in cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Whisk caramel into chocolate custard. Strain into a large container; cover and chill for 2 days.
7. Process custard in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

I grew up in New Jersery, a mere 8 miles from my Nonna (grandmother), but as anyone from the metropolitan area understands, 8 miles is a world away. And, a summer evening spent at Nonna’s was indeed a different world. I lived in the suburbs. Nonna lived in a city, in a neighborhood that was primarily populated by Italian immigrants and their families. I loved the brownstone homes, some of them attached, some divided ever so slightly by a narrow alley, but all with their windows open, hoping the evening breeze would blow through the lace curtains.

In the summer most of the Italian families in the neighborhood transformed their small postage stamp backyards into vegetable garden jungles. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, basil, parsley were planted and tended to with care. I can still recall the scent of the garden on a hot, humid evening, crickets chirping, lightening bugs glowing. During those magical twilight hours the adults sat in the yard, on old kitchen chairs, sipping a cool drink of water, discussing, in Italian, the best way to grow tomatoes. The laundry hung from the second floor window on a line tied to the cherry tree that stood like a giant in the middle of the yard. The neighborhood would be abuzz with the sounds of conversations, kids playing and faint music coming from a few houses over. The kids, well we sat on the front stoop, after playing hop scotch on the sidewalk or jumping rope, too hot to do anything more than talk as we savored a lemon ice purchased at Grillo’s.

Grillo’s was a family run lemon ice stand that resided in a small, gray shack of a building on the corner of a street that was a dead end. The building was closed up during the winter, but when it opened it nothing less than a declaration of summer arrival. The Grillo family made lemon ice, pure and simple. It was fresh, homemade and when it was sold out it was out until the next batch was ready. It was heavenly on a hot summer’s night. When we visited Nonna my father first stopped at Grillo’s just 2 blocks away from Nonna’s home and picked up the largest container (or two) of lemon ice. Sitting on Nonna’s front stoop, eating homemade lemon ice from Grillo’s, hearing the sounds of a city summer night…ahhh those were the days.
Here are two recipes: One is for lemon ice and the other is for lemon sorbet. I love them both!

Lemon Sorbet

Ingredients

• 12 lemons (I like to use Meyer lemons)
• Lemon zest from 6 lemons, reserve the other 6 lemons for the cups
• 1 cup lemon juice, strained
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups water

Directions

1. Cut off the top 1/3 of the lemons that you are using for the cups. Save the tops for the caps of the cups. Slightly cut the botton to create a flat surface so that the lemons will stand (do not cut deeply)
2. Hollow out each lemon, reserve the juice, discard the flesh. Place the cups in the freezer.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Stir in the lemon zest and bring to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes.
4. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine well.
5. Remove from heat and let cool before pouring into a bowl in which you can freeze. Let the mixture become semi-frozen. Do not freeze through.
6. Place frozen mixture into food processor and and blend until smooth. Spoon mixture into lemon cups and refreeze.

Lemon Ice

Ingredients

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest

Directions

• Combine 2 cups of the water with the sugar in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer.
• Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Stir in the remaining water and let cool to room temperature.
• Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, place a shallow metal container in the freezer to chill.
• Add the lemon juice, lemon peel, and extract to the chilled sugar mixture; stir until well blended.
• Pour into the chilled metal pan.
• Place the pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, or until ice crystals form around the edges.
• Stir the ice crystals into the center of the pan and return to the freezer.
• Repeat every 30 minutes, or until all the liquid is crystallized but not frozen solid.

We’ve all heard it. As kids we say it and as adults we think it. “I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.” We are sure that there are some folks out there who don’t care for ice cream. However, ice cream is by far one of our favorite desserts. So, as the weather continues to warm we would like to devote a post or two or three to our all time favorite summer treat: ice cream.

Let us take this opportunity to define ice cream and a few other frozen treats.

1. Ice Cream: a frozen food containing cream or milk and butterfat, sugar, flavoring, and sometimes eggs.
2. Gelato: a rich ice cream, made with eggs and usually containing a relatively low percentage of butterfat.
3. Sorbet: a frozen food made from fruit puree that is whipped.
4. Sherbet: a frozen food made from fruit, milk and less than 2% butterfat.

Of course, there is frozen yogurt, ice milk, low fat ice cream, Italian ice, etc. We love them all and will write about most of them; however we will now get to a brief history of our beloved ice cream:

According to food historians ice cream’s origin can be traced back to China as early as 3000 BC. The first frozen treat was probably more closely related to sorbet and less like ice cream. This frozen treat from the China is thought to have made its way to Italy due to the travels of Marco Polo, but there is no definitive proof.

During the 17th century a more modern version of ice cream found its way to the tables of Italy where some food historians believe it was invented. It is thought that the first ice creams were simply sweet cream or custards (more like French ice cream that is egg based) and chilling them with ice, calling it “iced creams”. Because retaining ice during warm months, before the invention of refrigeration, was something that only the well-to-do could afford, ice cream was not enjoyed by the masses during the summer months.

Once refrigeration was invented the ice cream industry took off. Today we enjoy a variety of ice cream as manufacturers continue to delight us with their flavorful sweet concoctions. Making ice cream your own ice cream allows you to create your own flavors, however if you have never made ice cream a good place to start is with a recipe for good ole’ vanilla.

We love all the fancy, complex flavors of ice cream available on the market, but there is something to be said for the creamy, rich goodness of vanilla ice cream. It is humble and inviting. Plus, it is a blank canvas awaiting any number of toppings to accompany it.

We adore Alton Brown and have used yet another of his recipes. What we like best about this recipe is his use of the peach preserves. Who would have thought to add them in a recipe for vanilla ice cream?! The preserves add to the richness in flavor, allowing it to stand on its own, no topping needed. The name for this ice cream suits it perfectly:

Serious Vanilla Ice Cream (recipe from Alton Brown)

Ingredients

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peach preserves (not jelly)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Directions

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.

Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

Photography Data:
ApertureFNumber: f/3.5
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Featured Photographer

ExposureTime: 1/40
FNumber: 35/10
ExposureProgram: 1
ISOSpeedRatings: 100
MaxApertureValue: 96875/100000
MeteringMode: 5
Flash: 16
FocalLength: 50/1

We’ve all heard it. As kids we say it and as adults we think it. “I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.” We are sure that there are some folks out there who don’t care for ice cream. However, ice cream is by far one of our favorite desserts. So, as the weather continues to warm we would like to devote a post or two or three to our all time favorite summer treat: ice cream.

Let us take this opportunity to define ice cream and a few other frozen treats.

1. Ice Cream: a frozen food containing cream or milk and butterfat, sugar, flavoring, and sometimes eggs.
2. Gelato: a rich ice cream, made with eggs and usually containing a relatively low percentage of butterfat.
3. Sorbet: a frozen food made from fruit puree that is whipped.
4. Sherbet: a frozen food made from fruit, milk and less than 2% butterfat.

Of course, there is frozen yogurt, ice milk, low fat ice cream, Italian ice, etc. We love them all and will write about most of them; however we will now get to a brief history of our beloved ice cream:

According to food historians ice cream’s origin can be traced back to China as early as 3000 BC. The first frozen treat was probably more closely related to sorbet and less like ice cream. This frozen treat from the China is thought to have made its way to Italy due to the travels of Marco Polo, but there is no definitive proof.

During the 17th century a more modern version of ice cream found its way to the tables of Italy where some food historians believe it was invented. It is thought that the first ice creams were simply sweet cream or custards (more like French ice cream that is egg based) and chilling them with ice, calling it “iced creams”. Because retaining ice during warm months, before the invention of refrigeration, was something that only the well-to-do could afford, ice cream was not enjoyed by the masses during the summer months.

Once refrigeration was invented the ice cream industry took off. Today we enjoy a variety of ice cream as manufacturers continue to delight us with their flavorful sweet concoctions. Making ice cream your own ice cream allows you to create your own flavors, however if you have never made ice cream a good place to start is with a recipe for good ole’ vanilla.

We love all the fancy, complex flavors of ice cream available on the market, but there is something to be said for the creamy, rich goodness of vanilla ice cream. It is humble and inviting. Plus, it is a blank canvas awaiting any number of toppings to accompany it.

We adore Alton Brown and have used yet another of his recipes. What we like best about this recipe is his use of the peach preserves. Who would have thought to add them in a recipe for vanilla ice cream?! The preserves add to the richness in flavor, allowing it to stand on its own, no topping needed. The name for this ice cream suits it perfectly:

Serious Vanilla Ice Cream (recipe from Alton Brown)

Ingredients

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peach preserves (not jelly)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Directions

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.

Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

Photography Data:
ApertureFNumber: f/3.5
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Featured Photographer

ExposureTime: 1/40
FNumber: 35/10
ExposureProgram: 1
ISOSpeedRatings: 100
MaxApertureValue: 96875/100000
MeteringMode: 5
Flash: 16
FocalLength: 50/1

It’s totally way past Christmas, and New Year’s, but we have snow flurries outside, and I’m still playing catch up from Christmas. At least the tree is put away and the lights are down. I wouldn’t want you thinking I lived in a broken down trailer park and was living vicariously through some red-neck. It’s always the relaxing atmosphere after the holiday rush that makes these cold, long, luxurious days even more enjoyable.

Anyhoo, growing up, I looked forward to eggnog. Not the spiked eggnog the old fogies such as Grandpa or the pot-bellied uncles used to guzzle down. But the thick, sludge-like eggnog that you would find at your local 7-11, Royal Farm store, or whatever 24-hour mart, and regular supermarkets. Well, y’all know I’m far, far away from anything remotely eggnog-ish and such, being in the other side of the world (not the boondocks, contrary to what you may be thinking) and I can’t very well have it shipped frozen. Eggnog is just something you have to have fresh, store bought fresh I mean.

So, as the story of my life goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! In my case, it’s also make ‘em and beat ‘em (since you also beat the eggs in the eggnog). I was utterly determined to make homemade nog! I found this wonderful recipe of cooked eggnog that had fabulous results. The spiced rum gave it that oh-so-special kick it needed and perfectly tied all the flavors together. Drinking it made me more appreciative of the quiet, cold evenings where snuggling combined with a wicked brew may lead to something… exciting :)

Anyhoo, there was no way that intimate Christmas guests, my beau, and I would be able to down 12 egg yolks. With my tipsy subconscious and while occasionally sipping my spiked eggnog (bliss!), I wondered what to do with the rest. I finally had a brilliant idea. Why not make ice cream custard? Who woulda thought it?! So, I put the ice cream bowl in the freezer with the leftover eggnog mixture. I took it out from the freezer the next day to get cranking! Well, actually the machine did all the work. I topped it off with Maple Syrup (a must if you ask me!), cinnamon, and of course, for food photography reasons, a cinnamon stick. And wah-lah!!! Delicious ice cream custard!

It doesn’t take much to bring all the comforts of home with you with a little ingenuity and a whole lot of rum. Besides, the saying “the home is where the heart is” has always held true for me. I have my beau, my loyal companions, my friends, and furry babies. BUT if anyone knows how to get that awesomely thick eggnog that you can buy in the stores, PLEASE let me know…

Setting up the Shot:
1. Use a used pudding jar (we got ours using a Morozoff pudding Jar, or any pudding type jar would work)
2. Garnish with a Cinnamon Stick
3. Petite Dessert Spoon

Eggnog-ish Ice Cream
Recipe Adapted from Epicurious (Gourmet)

1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups chilled heavy cream
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer; an ice cream maker
Garnish: freshly grated nutmeg

Bring milk and salt to a boil in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Remove from heat.

Whisk together yolks and sugar in a bowl, then gradually add 1/4 cup hot milk, whisking. Add yolk mixture to milk remaining in pan in a slow stream, whisking, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is slightly thickened, coats back of spoon, and registers 175°F on thermometer, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve set into a clean bowl and stir in cream, rum, vanilla, and nutmeg. Chill custard, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours. Freeze in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. Soften slightly in refrigerator before serving, about 20 minutes.

Photography Information:
Marie Cinq-Mars
Nikon D7000
Exposure 1/25 sec at F/29
Focal Length: 98mm
ISO 800
Flash: No Flash
Shutter Priority
Metering Mode: Pattern

Recently my husband and I toured the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware. After the tour and beer tasting we purchased quite a few interesting brews. Upon returning home we experienced the heat wave that hit much of the US. Scorching heat is best served with an ice cold beer for the over 21 crowd or ice cream for the under 21 crowd. Why not combine the two for an amazing (adult) summer treat.

Dogfish Head Brewery produces what are known as “craft” brews. To be defined as a craft brewer output must be 6 million barrels or less. This figure was only recently changed by the Brewer’s Association from 2 million barrels to 6 million barrels, allowing craft brewers to expand their production.

Visit the Dogfish Head website and you will be able to read about the many varieties of beer that they produce, buy for the sake of brevity I will limit my discussion to a few key points and one beer in particular. Before I continue I’d like to state that when I departed the brewery I left with the refreshing sense that the company is run in an eco-friendly as well as a people-friendly manner. I have no doubt that the feeling of community at Dogfish Head allows for the ingenuity behind its beer.

The creativity of the craft beers floored me. The names such as Namaste, Immort Ale, Midas Touch, Hellhound on my Ale and, one of my favorite names, “My Antonia”, which is a nod to Willa Cather’s novel of the same name, are fun. (I named my cat the “My Antonia” as I adopted her while reading the novel so seeing it on the label made me smile.)

The ingredients are ingenious. For example, as most wine connoisseurs understand, much flavor will come from the barrels in which the wine is aged. At Dogfish Head while there are two large oak brewing vessels there is also a 10,000 gallon vessel made from Palo Santo wood, shipped directly from Paraguay. Palo Santo means “holy tree” and “its wood has been used in South American wine-making”. The flavors of the Palo Santo Marron are testament to Dogfish Head’s cleverness.

It is hard to put my finger on my favorite beer, but for a number of reasons, I quite enjoy Theobroma. The name caught my attention, but it was the history of the beer itself as well as the ingredients that quickly made this brew my favorite. As I cannot go into the detail with much less ado than the write up on the Dogfish Head website I will simply quote:
Theobroma is “based on chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras which revealed the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. The discovery of this beverage pushed back the earliest use of cocoa for human consumption more than 500 years to 1200 BC. As per the analysis, Dogfish Heads Theobroma (translated into ‘food of the gods’) is brewed with Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs (from our friends at Askinosie Chocolate), honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). “

I truly wanted to bake using Theobroma. I had plans for breads, cookies, cakes. However much I wanted to turn my oven on and get creative it wasn’t going to happen as my need to stay cool won out. Instead, I pulled out my ice cream maker and found a recipe; however it called for Guinness, which is dark and heavy. But, I liked the recipe’s simplicity as I preferred to taste the ice cream in a pure state and then decide on toppings.

To bring out the flavors in Theobroma Ice Cream I tried 3 different presentations: (1) I rolled the ice cream into balls coated with walnuts and froze. When preparing to serve I topped with orange blossom honey. (2) I made“syrup” with ground cherries* (3) I infused a bittersweet chocolate with chili, added butter to the mixture, which allowed it to harden like “Magic Shell”.

The ice cream came out smooth and creamy. The toppings were all complimentary and each of my designated tasters enjoyed all three. The tasters flat out refused to commit to a favorite. I liked the ice cream served with all three toppings; however it was the ground cherries that I found to be most pleasing, balancing out the beer’s bold flavor.

*Ground Cherries. If you read the previous post “ slat avocado ve pri hada” which was about an avocado citrus salad you would have noted that, upon finding ground cherries at my local farmer’s market I intended on adding them to the avocado citrus salad, but I had forgotten.

Ground cherries come from the Physalis genus. The ones I was able to come by are called Physalis pubescens and are native to both north and South America. The ground cherries look like miniature yellow tomatoes and are enclosed by papery husks, which often lead them to be called husk tomatoes. They might remind you of “Physalis philadelphica” otherwise known as tomatillos, which are a close relative. The ground cherry’s flavor reminds me of pineapple without the hint of pepper that I find in pineapples. The ground cherry also had a nutty, buttery flavor. While it was not tart, it was not sweet either.

Having missed the opportunity to add them to my salad, I thought they would make a nice accompaniment to the Theobroma ice cream. I made it into unstrained syrup which I poured over the ice cream. While very unassuming in presentation, this syrup made the best topping for the ice cream. As it turns out, I’m glad that I forgot to use these little gems in the salad.

Theobroma Ice Cream

(The recipe was created by Cory Barrett, using Guinness instead of Theobroma, and found on the Food and Wine Website)
1. 2 cups Theobroma
2. 2 cups heavy cream
3. 1 3/4 cups whole milk
4. 15 large egg yolks
5. 1 cup granulated sugar
1. In a large saucepan, combine the Guinness with the cream and milk and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Gradually add the hot Guinness cream to the yolks, whisking constantly until well blended.
2. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon, about 6 minutes; do not let it boil. Pour the custard into a medium bowl set in a large bowl filled with ice water. Let stand until the custard is cold, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
3. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions (this may have to be done in 2 batches). Pack the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.