I am committed to using everything in my garden when it is ripe.   Saturday, it was a small bowl of strawberries and a few stalks of rhubarb.  Inspired by memories of fresh strawberry rhubarb pie and ice cream – it struck me!  Why not skip the pie and put the roasted fruit in the ice cream?  Neither my husband nor my mom sounded very enthused when I shared my idea, but that did not stop me!

Remove the stems from the strawberries.  Chop the rhubarb into small pieces.  Place all in a baking pan and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of sugar.  Roast at 375′ for about 30 minutes, until the fruit is soft and caramelized.  Place in bowl and chill thoroughly.

I am not sure how or when we ended up with the ice cream attachment for our Kitchen Aide mixer!  As committed as I am to using all that my garden produces, I am also (newly) committed to using the wide assortment of “I must have this”  (never used) kitchen gadgets I have accumulated.  So, last weekend the ice cream attachment went from the box to the freezer, ready for it’s first performance.

I chose David Liebowitz Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.   As I have never made ice cream before, I thought a tried and true recipe was the best place to start!  I used organic milk, sugar and cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream

About 1 quart (1l)

• 1 cup (250ml) whole milk
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the heavy cream into the bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks.  Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

6. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Add about 1/4 cup of the chilled strawberry rhubarb mixture during the last 7 minutes of mixing / freezing time.

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