Monday, August 08, 2011

chevre heaven

After a very hectic and stressful week, I was delighted to spend some quality time in the kitchen yesterday. Not only did I make my first French tomato tart of the season (always delightful), but I also gave the ice cream maker a workout.
The flavor profiles in Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home are so inspiring and creative! I am less enchanted, however, by the number of steps in the recipes. What's a cook to do? Inspired by Jeni's recipe for goat cheese ice cream, I "unvented" my own version, using the fail-safe "technique" from my cream cheese ice cream recipe. I paired it with a baked rhubarb compote, again inspired by a Jeni's recipe, but jazzed up with some citrus and ginger.


chevre ice cream

7 oz. fresh chevre (goat's cheese), softened
2 C. half and half
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 C. sugar
1/4 C. tapioca syrup or light corn syrup
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Freeze mixture in ice cream maker (I use a basic Cuisinart ice cream maker) for abut 18-20 min. Transfer to an airtight container and put in the freezer to harden (at least 2 hours). Let ice cream soften for 5 min. before serving.

NB: Pop the airtight container you're going to use to store the finished product into the freezer before you start working on the ice cream. That way it will be nice and cold when the ice cream maker is done, and the ice cream won't melt when it hits a warm container. Makes for a better, more consistent texture!

baked rhubarb compote

12 oz. (trimmed and sliced) rhubarb
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 to 1/2 C. sugar (depending how sweet you like things)
3/4 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Combine all ingredients in an 8-inch square Pyrex baking dish, stirring to mix well. Bake for 45-60 min., stirring every once in a while, until the rhubarb begins to fall apart.

NB: You can use frozen chopped rhubarb, too. My local Whole Foods carries Stahlbush Island Farms frozen rhubarb year-round (at an affordable price, to boot), and it works great! Don't bother to thaw the rhubarb first, just up the baking time a bit.

15 comments:

Kim U said...

Nice! I've been looking for a goat cheese ice cream recipe to go with fresh figs, but I agree with you re: the Jeni's version. Thanks for a simpler approach!

Katie M. said...

I think all stressful weeks should end with delicious ice cream! This looks so so good! And I think I see a tomato tart in my near future ...

Carrie#K said...

That looks soooo creamy and delicious.

Laura said...

I can see it happening in the near future: the ice cream maker arriving at my house from Amazon. Somehow, homemade frozen confections keep popping up in the things I read, and my resolve is weakening.

Thanks for the tip about the rhubarb at Whole Foods! I always mean to buy it like crazy in season and freeze it, but I never remember until it is too late.

cauchy09 said...

oh, thanks for the recipe! i look forward to trying this soon.

that rhubarb looks divine...

Chris said...

Mmmm... rhubarb...

Hilary said...

Um, WOW. Heaven sounds about right.

Lap Dog Knits said...

Yum...that looks perfect....I have rubarb and it's waiting for the perfect creation.

Thanks!!

elizabeth said...

Thank you for the tomato tart recipe! I'm definitely making it this weekend! Did you fork-prick the dough before layering the tomatoes? I've been watching old French Chef episodes and Julia always pricked her pastry dough to avoid rising (and I assume,to help it cook).

Mia said...

I need to get some nice heirloom tomatoes to make a tomato tart too.

And I was listening to the Splendid Table podcast this past weekend and the interview with Jeni of Jeni's ICe Cream. I was really surprised to hear that the recipes call for corn syrup. Goat cheese ice cream sounds yummy. Well except for all of the cream for me. Wonder how it would be with goat's milk?

Rue said...

Yum! Why do I always read your blog when I'm hungry? :)

Sharon said...

I read an article in Cooks Illustrated on how to get "real" ice cream at home, but unfortunately I took the magazine on the road with me and forgot it at my sister-in-laws house. I do remember that it wasn't easy.

Elisa said...

Thanks for the French Tomato Tart recipe. It's wonderful and has become a summer staple at my house.

barefootrooster said...

oh_my_goodness. i'm not seeing this til now because i just got home, but how did we not even really talk about food?! someone sent me a box of jeni's last year, and it was so good that it almost didn't matter that i dented my car. this looks like it was fantastic. and thank you so much for friday!

peaknits said...

My mouth promptly started watering when I read about the Tomato Tart...but then 0 Rhubarb Compote - omg - I hope my whole foods carries the frozen rhubarb, I'll be checking, thanks for the tip!