Honey Lavender Ice Cream

Remember that restaurant in the old Palomino spot? Yeah, me neither. But I do remember celebrating a birthday there over lunch and having lavender ice cream for dessert! It was unusual and savory-sweet. I wanted to recreate it. I got this recipe from "Homesick Texan":

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups half-and-half

2 tbsp dried edible lavender flowers (Adrienne's note: I got mine at R. Field, Foodland Beretania)

1/2 cup light honey

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

-->Cook the half-and-half and cream on medium heat until warm. Do not let it come to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the lavender to the pot, cover and let steep for half an hour.

-->After flowers have steeped, strain the liquid and discard the flowers. Add to the liquid the honey and heat on medium low until honey has dissolved. Again, do not let the liquid come to a boil!

-->Beat the egg yolks with the vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Stir into the eggs a half cup of the warm liquid and then add the eggs to the pot.

-->Heat this on medium low for five minutes or until it gets slightly thick. You'll know it's ready when it coats the back of your spoon. Cool in the refrigerator for four hours.

-->Freeze and churn according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

-->Yield: 1 quart

Batido de Guanabana (Milkshake with Soursop Fruit)

When we lived in NYC and visited Puerto Rico now and then, Willie introduced me to the wonderful world of batidos: thick, Caribbean-style milkshakes often made with exotic fruits. He likes batidos de mamey; I like batidos de guanabana. The guanabana is a freaky, reptilian-looking fruit. When cut open, it has meaty white flesh strung through with fibers and studded with large, smooth, dark seeds. Here are Willie's thoughts on eating guanabana: "A guanabana doesn't taste how it looks. You think it would be creamy and vanilla-ish, but it isn't. When you bite into it, you experience an explosion of tropical flavors"-- a mash-up of banana, strawberry, lilikoi, and citrus. To make a batido de guanabana, throw the following into a blender and mix until smooth: 1 cup guanabana pulp; 1/2 cup cold milk; 1/4 cup sugar; and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy! Recipe credit: http://www.food.com/recipe/batido-de-guanabana-guanabana-shake-120818

Enoki butter

When I was 18 and in college, I worked at Sharaku, a Japanese restaurant in the East Village in NYC. They served a grilled mushroom dish called "Enoki Butter." It was a simple preparation but so delicious. Oh, hey, dirty little secret about Sharaku circa 1993, 1994-- if you dined there and didn't eat your leftovers and didn't ask for a doggie bag, the reason why it took me forever to bring you your check was because I was eating your food back in the kitchen. Okay, I feel better now coming clean.

I found a recipe for Enoki Butter from the blog Kirsten's Recipes. If you click on the link, you'll also see a nice candid photo of Kirsten and her friends in Las Vegas with Suge Knight! (???) I'm kinda scared of Kirsten! Here's her (adapted) recipe:

Cut off the spongey ends of the enoki mushrooms. Toss enoki mushrooms with 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp ponzu shoyu (just mix ponzu with shoyu), salt and pepper. Place in foil. Put a 1 tsp to 1/2 tbsp knob of butter over the mushrooms. Seal up the foil pack and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

http://homecookkirsten.blogspot.com/2007/07/roasted-enoki-mushrooms-izakaya-style.html