7.28.2010

Cucumber Ice Cream: The Corruptor


Confession time. I have a few bad habits.

1. I am a plate licker. 2. Very few things anger me more than overcooked egg yolks. 3. I have a substance abuse problem with ice cream. Phew. That felt good.

The ice cream issue has been weighing on me a little more than usual as of late. I typically don’t keep it in the house. I can’t. You understand, right? It might as well be a controlled substance. If left to my own icy devices, it ain’t pretty. And 8% of the year things get especially tough.

In July, the evil geniuses at J.P. Licks release cucumber ice cream. It is a gateway. It is my favorite. And I am always conflicted.

Do I invite a pint in? Allow it to get comfortable next to the frozen peas? It’s like that old friend that you see once or twice a year. You know the one. Whenever you get together for dinner it’s just like old times; you laugh; you reminisce; you wake up at 5 am on cold bathroom tile in a fetal position, reeking of whiskey and regret.

Enter cucumber ice cream: corruptive to the core. I feel compelled to stockpile it while I can. This does not bode well for my addiction (nor for bathing suit season).

Recently, I attempted to bring some order to this chaos of sugar and cream, once and for all. If I can take away the scarcity of cucumber ice cream—I reasoned—perhaps the "situation" will self correct. Round one: not too shabby. It was light, refreshing and subtly cucumber-y. The perfect antidote to the recent heat.

Rest assured, this will not be the last time I play with fire. The cucumbers are too good right now not to continue. Thank god the scientific community is still conflicted on the merits of food addiction. This buys me some time before I’m hauled off to the Betty Ford Center. Between you and me, let’s just stick to calling it a bad habit.

And what is my strategy for handling bad habits, you say? It helps to have rules.

1. I don’t lick plates on dates. 2. I don’t order eggs from a restaurant if I am in a fragile emotional state. 3. I don’t bring unsanctioned ice cream* into the house; for now, it can only enter as cream and be smuggled out via a little extra padding on my behind. And I am fine with that.

*and ice cream-related paraphernalia

Cucumber Ice Cream

5 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, cut into chunks (save the peel from 1-2 cucumbers)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 cup plus ~2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp lemon juice
Kosher salt to taste

Purée cucumber and strain out liquid, pressing the pulp with rubber spatula to extract all cucumber liquid. Set liquid aside. Heat cream and half and half with sugar and cucumber peel(s), just long enough to dissolve the sugar. (The cucumber peels will make the ice cream more green.) Add cucumber liquid and lime and lemon juice to cream mixture and strain again. Add salt. Chill, preferably overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to instructions (it should take about 30 minutes to freeze).

Makes about 5-6 cups (depending on how much you sample, ahem, prior to the freezing)

Notes:
- The ice cream was oddly fantastic with a splash of rose water and a sprinkling of smoked sea salt on top; I'd suggest adding them straight into cream mixture before freezing it.

- Also, I am not ashamed to say some friends and I experimented with topping the ice cream with ground pink peppercorns. This would be another tasty way to feed your addiction.

23 comments:

  1. Wait one moment! Cucumber is a vegetable, right? Go ahead and feed your addiction without abandon.

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  2. Wow, that flavor sounds really interesting! I've got to head over to JP Licks to try it out!

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  3. You can't go wrong with ice cream!!! I'm also addicted :) The almond coconut chip and sangria are also delicious choices from JP licks.

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  4. wait, plate licking is bad? i think it's a compliment to the chef, and if the chef is me, all the better. :)
    i have NEVER heard of cucumber ice cream, and i'm darn intrigued. i can see myself becoming addicted, and quickly!

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  5. Can't say that I've ever even heard of Cucumber Ice Cream - let alone tried it! Sounds interesting! Maybe I'll gather up some courage and try this ice cream recipe sometime. Thanks for posting it!

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  6. Great post today! Sorry about those "whiskey and regret" episodes. For the record though, most of the time it was gin.

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  7. Thanks for all the support! If I can do some intrepreting, it seems like you are all saying, "full speed ahead." And I think I will.

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  8. Sometimes plate licking is just necessary! That said, I am not at all a fan of JP Licks. I find it to be icy and not creamy and just not my favorite at all :( Though the cuke flavor sounds quite intriguing!

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  9. You are hilarious! I've never thought of cucumber ice cream but now that I do it sounds incredibly refreshing and perfect for summer. I wonder if it can be made with soy cream.. hmm I will have to try it! Thank's for the recipe!

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  10. Very interesting!!! I never would have thought cucumber in ice cream but as I read your post, it totally makes sense! ~Alison

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  11. i'll mention this to my sis, she just blogged how she has too many cucumbers! thanks! -krsta

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  12. It's amazing what you can do with ice cream. I've never tried cucumber before. Sounds super refreshing. I just made a new flavor today. I'm in love! I often tell people about my addiction to ice cream and they think 'okay, you love ice cream', 'who doesn't?' And I'm quick to tell them, I reeeally love ice cream. I mean, one year I gained *covers mouth with hand as I tell you how much* X lbs. because I couldn't get enough of Breyer's mint chocolate chip before they changed the recipe for the chips. I could eat it everyday all day. I've dreamed about it. I couldn't sleep until I got some of it. 3 ice cream makers later...I still can't get enough. So I totally understand your addiction. Maybe we could go get help somewhere together. LOL.

    Happy ice cream making!

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  13. I will HAVE to try this one. How intriguing. Just made some sage ice cream. Basil is also on the list.

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  14. I will try this out with all my extra cream! I was the freak ordering tomato icecream at the Creamery in Marlboro when I was a kid...nothing has changed ;)

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  15. Been looking for this for a long time since I tasted it at jp licks. Just tried it, I think the amount of salt in this recipe is too much, is it a typo?

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  16. Hmm. Thanks for commenting Hudson Joe. I had someone say they thought it needed more salt too. What kind of salt did you use? I use a really flaky kosher salt, so it's possible it could be the type of salt. I may amend the recipe to specify kosher salt and drop the salt down a tad. Better to be safe than overly salty! Thanks for the feedback!

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  17. thanks for the recipe! jp licks' cucumber ice cream (topped with hot fudge - seriously, try it!) was always my favorite boston summer treat. now that i've moved way too far away, i've been wanting to recreate it at home. will give this a go soon!

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  18. Thanks for the recipe! I too moved away from JP and craved cucumber ice cream. I made it using all half and half (instead of the heavy cream mix above) and it probably wasn't as creamy as the original recipe but it still worked. If I made it again I might use a tad less citrus juice to really let the cuke flavor shine. But it was wonderful! My husband was pleasantly suprised and my 3 year old begged for seconds.

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  19. Oh I'm so glad you found the recipe useful! I am ashamed to say that I never made it to JP Licks this July for their cucumber special. (But I did have some homemade stuff in my freezer.) Kudos to your 3 year old's palate! :)

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  20. This recipe tanked for me! You should specify the amount of cucumber fluid (pressed from the puree) needed in your recipe. I only pureed four cukes, but the proportion of the fluid (about three cups) to the cream base was too high, and it turned out icy and more like a sorbet upon churning. When I tried it, it tasted like I had just frozen a cucumber and taken a bite out of it; there was no creamy savoriness. :( Will try again, but with less fluid this time!

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  21. Oh I am so sorry to hear that! I completely agree that I should have specified amounts. This was in my early blogging stages and I do apologize. 3 cups seems like WAY too much ... I don't think more than 1 cup of liquid went in. I got cucumbers from the farmers' market and they were probably a lot smaller than ones you'd find in the supermarket. Thanks for taking the time to post!

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  22. Shall I take normal, long cucumbers from the supermarket or some smaller type?
    thanks!

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  23. Definitely the smaller cucumbers, about pickling length. ;)

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