Good humans are among us. I recently
started dating one.
For one, he always puts the half and half away
after making coffee in the morning. This may seem simple. But you
might want to think twice about a person willing to let your milk spoil.
He was also able to provide three concrete
reasons for getting a Christmas tree this year. The smell. The
lights. And as a meaningful adjunct to holiday cookies.
He counts his afternoon walk to Flour Bakery, for
a coffee and chocolate chip cookie, as activity points.
He is concerned about taking too many dinner
helpings for fear there won’t be lunch leftovers.
And though he doesn’t play fast and loose with
compliments, they are really something when he dishes them out.
They catch you off-guard. Like claiming you look
gorgeous after having just brushed your teeth. Or calling you a genius
for making ice cream.
You’ll find instructions for such praise-inducing
ice cream below. A version of this one. But featuring local stout aged on
cacao nibs from the Taza chocolate factory in Somerville, Massachusetts. Then
more of the same chocolate is finely shaved with a knife and added in shards
the Italians call stracciatella, meaning little tears or
shreds.
Stracciatella is often made by pouring a thin stream of
chocolate into cold, churning ice cream and served con panna, or with whipped
cream, at your request. And reminds me of the gelato I had in Rome over a
decade ago. So I borrowed on this memory, adding in some espresso for
good measure. The bitterness, balanced by dark beer and set upright by
chocolate, somehow makes the final product even greater than its parts.
And I really can’t take credit for all of
that. The praise belongs mostly to the instruction of Jeni Britton
Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid
Ice Creams. And to the fine people at Taza chocolate
and Night
Shift Brewing who did the heavy lifting, lending talent and
honoring fine ingredients.
But that’s the thing about cooking. The one in
front of the stove gathers the spoils. You can use a blueprint belonging
to someone else, selfishly add some favorite flavors, and a memory or two from
your past, and suddenly you’re the genius. The good humans who have lent
part of themselves in the way of instruction, or cacao, or beer make it all
possible though.
In many ways, this all makes very little sense.
And, yet, perhaps the best way to reconcile it is to pillage yet another
idea. A witticism from a storyteller artist and fellow human.
“There are things you do because they feel
right and they may make no sense and they may make no money and it may be the
real reason we are here: to love each other and to eat other’s cooking and say
it was good.” –Brian Andreas
To share, and to care, and to eat chocolate may
very well be the answer. Merry Christmas.
Double Taza Stout and Stracciatella Espresso Ice
Cream Con Panna
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk, divided
1½ tbsp cornstarch
1½ ounces cream cheese, softened
1¼ cup heavy cream
2/3 cup dark muscovado sugar
2 tbsp brown rice syrup
pinch of salt
2 tbsp instant espresso
80 grams (just shy of 3 ounces) dark chocolate
(i.e. Taza), cut into small shards
½ cup chocolate stout (i.e. Night Shift Brewing
Taza Stout)
Optional: ¾ cup heavy cream (for a whipped cream
topping)
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of the whole milk
with the cornstarch. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese
until smooth.
In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining milk,
heavy cream, sugar, brown rice syrup, and salt on medium-high heat, stirring
occasionally until the mixture boils. When it reaches a slow rolling
boil, continue to stir occasionally for 4 minutes more.
Remove pan from the heat and stir in the instant
espresso until it dissolves. Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl with ice and
a little water and put a smaller bowl inside the larger bowl with ice.
Return the infused espresso milk back on
medium-high heat; gradually add in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil,
stirring occasionally until it thickens (this will take a few minutes).
Remove from heat and slowly whisk some of the hot liquid into the cream cheese
until smooth. Add the cream cheese mixture to the saucepan with the
remaining liquid; add stout; whisk to combine.
Pour into the prepared bowl on ice. Let
cool for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate until fully cooled (or
overnight).
When ready, churn the mixture in an ice cream
machine for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it gets thick and creamy and pulls away
from the sides of the bowl. At the very end of the churning, add in the
chocolate shards (we are technically cheating here, deviating from
stracciatella form). Pack the ice cream in an airtight container.
Cover with parchment paper cut to fit the container and freeze for at least 4
hours.
If desired, before serving whip ¾ cup heavy cream
and top ice cream.
Makes about 1 quart.
Notes:
-Chocolate covered cacao nibs would likely be
great here too for added texture, but I'd encourage the chocolate shards
regardless, they melt ably in the mouth.
-The brown rice syrup here is a stand-in for corn
syrup, which can be used in a pinch. As can dark brown sugar in place of the
muscovado.
