MITCH IN THE KITCHEN

i scream, you scream

Diana (photo taken from here) and I made nectarine and raspberry ice cream in her kitchen on Saturday. Hurray for our first collaborative batch!

And then I went home and made some coffee ice cream using custard from a previous failed batch. If you ever want to see me in my most dejected state, by the way, come find me right after I’ve produced un-frozen ice cream, flat gougères, or overcooked steak. I salvaged the custard from Friday and thought long and hard about what could’ve gone wrong during my first-ever attempt at making ice cream. After picking up some tips from D, I was rewarded with a pint of homemade ice cream made with Peet’s delicious coffee. I loosely followed this recipe.

So based on attempt #1, do NOT do the following when making ice cream:

• store the custard anywhere but the coldest part of your refrigerator (the back)
• stop and chat with whomever else is in the room, even for 5 seconds, after you’ve removed the mixing bowl from the freezer
• overfill the mixing bowl (I’m wary of pouring anything beyond the halfway mark at this point)
• cook a full meal on the stove right next to the ice cream machine
• take the freezer bowl out of the package and, in your excitement, attempt to make ice cream before the bowl has been in the freezer for at least a few days (and be sure to let it re-freeze properly between batches, for 24 hours… thanks to kind commenter Sylvie for these tips)

While there are lots of sciencey things about ice cream that are also important, I tend to have problems with simply following directions (remember what I said about being bad at measuring things for baking?). Lesson learned.

cold-brewed iced coffee

I had a very vivid dream recently (a nightmare, really) about ordering lunch at a small Chinese fast food restaurant. The people behind the counter kept forgetting my order, then ended up getting it completely wrong, hours after my dining companions had finished their meals. Exasperated, I asked the server to cancel my lunch order and just get me an iced coffee. I watched as she reached for a hot pot of brewed coffee and a cup of ice. That was the last straw. I stormed out of the restaurant, determined to find a properly prepared glass of iced coffee before class (which I was already late for).

Cold brewed coffee, as this article expresses in many more words than I will, tastes different from (and much better than) hot coffee that has simply been cooled down. It is also very easy to make; all you need to do is mix ground coffee with water in a ratio of about 1 cup coffee to 4 cups water, and let it sit for at least 12 hours. I like to use a cleaned 1-quart glass juice bottle. When it’s ready, simply strain the liquid through a coffee filter (I have one of these, but you could also use paper filters, a fine-mesh sieve, or a French press), pour over some ice, and add milk if you’d like. The result lacks the bracing bitterness and acidity that you might find in hot coffee. Further reading and detailed instructions here, here, and here.

We also received some especially delicious coffee beans from our friends Mooni and Jake, who are currently visiting from San Francisco. If I seem really wired this weekend, this is why.