by gluttonforlife
View
my 44 other recipes »
A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand Collapsegluttonforlife's Notes:
Expand
13/4 cups
heavy raw or organic cream
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
3
fat strips of lemon zest
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/2 teaspoon
fennel pollen
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1/8 teaspoon
sea salt
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2
large free-range eggs
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
2/3 cups
plus 3 tablespoons agave nectar, separated
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
3 cups
ripe strawberries, trimmed and halved
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
1 cup
strawberries, trimmed and cut into chunks
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
juice of 1/2 lemon
Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!
Combine cream, zest, fennel pollen and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and discard zest.
Ask the hotline about this step!Whisk eggs with 2/3 cup agave nectar in a bowl, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°. Do not boil!
Ask the hotline about this step!Immediately pour custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, then cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
Ask the hotline about this step!While custard is chilling, purée strawberries with lemon juice and remaining 3 tablespoons agave nectar until smooth, then force through fine sieve to remove seeds (or not, this step is optional) into chilled custard. Stir purée into custard.
Ask the hotline about this step!Freeze in ice-cream maker. About ¾ of the way through (time varies depending on your machine), stir in strawberry chunks. Finish freezing, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.
Ask the hotline about this step!Lucky you to have your own fennel pollen! I am now onto dill pollen which is great for pickles (among other uses).
Can we post some of your fennel recipes to our site? We would love to share these wonderful dishes with some of our fennel and dill clients. The more ideas, the better.
Of course! If possible, please include a credit and link to my blog: http://gluttonforlife.com. Thank you!
A&M, what brand of agave nectar did you use when you tested this recipe? Thanks! ;o)
I made this wonderful ice cream yesterday and my husband, the unofficial ice cream expert, LOVED it. So did I. Thanks!!
So glad it was a hit with you!
Can you tell me more about fennel pollen--where do you find it?
Here's a link where you can read about it and order some if you like: http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=P-FEN
Awww...you're just angling for more of that ice cream. ;-)
Really interested in trying this, but it won't be with agave nectar. (See April 15 article in Huffington Post by Joseph Mercola . . . specifically, "Most agave 'nectar' or agave 'syrup' is nothing more than a laboratory-generated super-condensed fructose syrup, devoid of virtually all nutrient value, and offering you metabolic misfortune in its place.") Plan to use maple syrup instead; will report back. Sounds like there's something about agave nectar, however, that provides an advantage in maintaining the texture of the ice cream, so this will be interesting. Stay tuned . . . . ;o)
Hey AJ, this is a great recipe but if you dislike agave nectar you may want to try brown rice syrup. I don't know the research on it but I know it is neutral in flavor where as maple syrup is probably going to over power everything in this really nice recipe.
It's been pretty easy for me to find 100% pure agave made from the juice of the plant. An interesting alternative might be yacón syrup, although I see you're having a love affair with maple syrup. Hopefully, you're using grade B...
Well, it's not really a love affair (and yes, it's Grade B). I find that maple syrup adds a mild sweetness, without a distinct flavor, in recipes where the other ingredients are themselves fairly flavorful. So it actually doesn't overpower the other flavors. What is the brand of agave nectar that you use? I'm not suggesting that they are all bad . . . but it does seem that the manufacturers of many are misleading the public into believing that the stuff they are making is actually good for you. The fact that the product is labeled "organic" apparently is not dispositive. ;o)
Read the article -- interesting that he says "many" and "most companies" but states that agave when extracted correctly and organic is at or under the index for safe (for allowed fructose levels in the body daily). Will be interesting to see what further research comes up on this and if articles like these help to regulate the controls on natural food products so that companies like the ones that he is referring to are not able to cut an otherwise natural product with corn syrup and the like....
Thirshfeld, I actually have some brown rice syrup, which I use on occasion in pecan pies. Ironically, it doesn't seem that neutral. I use both -- maple syrup and brown rice syrup -- in place of corn syrup in my favorite pecan pie recipe. I notice the brown rice syrup, but not the maple. ;o)
Just read the HuffPost piece. Sigh. I think the bottom line really is to limit all sweeteners, and especially those that undergo extensive processing. I cut out all sugars for over a month and I can't tell you how much my skin, digestion and mental clarity improved. I think I will stick to rapadura and maple syrup and raw honey, but only for an occasional treat. Thanks for the heads-up, AJ! Let me know how the ice cream turns out...
Brown rice syrup -- have never tried that -- I am making some banana bread today and I think I will give it a shot....
I like your research journey gfl! My kind of food...=)
Love, love, love fennel pollen. I have some, too, and the ice cream maker is perpetually on the counter now (canister in the freezer). Love the surprising combo of fennel and strawberry. Genius. Good luck!
Thanks, all, for your support! I tried a version of this with milk instead of cream and yacón syrup instead of agave and it was really good, though you had to whizz it up in the food processor every time it came out of the freezer.
I am going to try this out on some company over the weekend - cannot wait!
This looks amazing. I have fennel pollen on hand and am loving it. Congrats on making the finals!
I'm so excited to have a new ice cream to try! Congratulations on being a finalist.
I've been experimenting with ice creams that use something other than processed sugar for a few months and so love your use of agave nectar here. I'll definitely make this one this week it looks so interesting. Many congrats for being finalist this week!
I almost never use sugar any more unless it's rapadura; honey also works well and I've recently discovered yacón syrup...
I've been using honey with great success, but I'm going to experiment with agave nectar next starting with your ice cream! Haven't seen yacon syrup, but will look for that too. Is it similar?
Yacón tastes something light a light molasses or a caramelized sugar. It's made from a tuber and is high in fructooligosacharides, which do not increase blood sugar.
Congrats! This looks really good. I have been wondering where you have been. Raw milk, lacto-fermentation and ancient grains aren't to far out for me. I actually am always looking for new recipes for lacto-fermentation. I have two 10 liter crocks for sauerkraut and pickles, make my own kimchi etc etc so post away.
Would love to see your recipe for pickles!
wow, what an idea! congrats!
Called it! ; )
Clever girl!
Yum! I actually have some fennel pollen and can't wait to try this (with my raw cream...yes, I drink raw milk, too).
Hey, do you just use a spoon to skin your cream? How thick does it get?
I get my raw milk in 1/2 gallon glass jars and there's usually 1-1.5 cups of cream on the top. I just pour it off if making ice cream; otherwise, I shake everything up before using it...I'm not a "drink milk by the glass" person, but I have it in my smoothies, tea, coffee, recipes, etc. I don't know if the cream is thick enough to whip, though; actually have never tried...usually buy Ronnybrook dairy (local, all natural) cream if making whipped cream, etc.
Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot are the founders of the culinary consulting business Ideas in Food.
photo 1 of 31
Cream, lemon, eggs, fennel pollen, strawberries and agave nectar.
photo 2 of 31
photo 3 of 31
photo 4 of 31
Merrill hulls the strawberries.
photo 5 of 31
photo 6 of 31
photo 7 of 31
Lemon zest, fennel pollen and salt infuse the cream.
photo 8 of 31
Cream going into the pan.
photo 9 of 31
This is what scalded cream looks like -- bubbles form around the edge. Take if off the heat... now!
photo 10 of 31
photo 11 of 31
Merrill measured the agave nectar to whisk into the eggs.
photo 12 of 31
There she goes whisking!
photo 13 of 31
Eggs and agave, post-whisking.
photo 14 of 31
Whisking the scalded milk into the egg mixture.
photo 15 of 31
A watched custard never thickens, and an ignored custard always curdles. Find a happy medium!
photo 16 of 31
Chilling the custard in an ice bath.
photo 17 of 31
Agave nectar.
photo 18 of 31
Merrill purees the strawberries, agave and lemon juice.
photo 19 of 31
photo 20 of 31
You can strain the strawberry puree to make it like silk. Or you can do like we did, and quit halfway through because all the seeds are clogging up the sieve.
photo 21 of 31
Hahahaha! Amanda is SO funny. (Heh.)
photo 22 of 31
Strawberry puree, meet custard. Make friends.
photo 23 of 31
Sweet! Time to pretend it's a French cake!
photo 24 of 31
Well that was fun.
photo 25 of 31
Now, for actual mixing.
photo 26 of 31
photo 27 of 31
Once the ice cream begins holding a shape, you add the chopped strawberries, which we chopped fairly fine.
photo 28 of 31
photo 29 of 31
Kristen and our little friend (who matched her clothing with the ice cream) join us for a tasting.
photo 30 of 31
It comes out of the machine like dollops of meringue.
photo 31 of 31
No sharesies.
This is a stellar recipe. I used fresh fennel pollen from my garden. To get the pollen pick the flowers from your fennel plant before the pollen gets blown from them. Be sure to leave about 5 to 6 inches of stem when cutting. Use a brown paper bag to shake out the pollen from the fennel flower by hitting it against the sides of your bag. Enjoy!