Prep Day and Strawberry Explosion
I’m was out of veal stock, and I was hungry. So Savenor’s sold me some really nice veal bones, and I made a nice batch of dark veal stock. That took most of yesterday. I also made dinner:
- roast chicken
- string beans
- cream biscuits
- green goddess salad
After dinner, we whipped up some strawberry ice cream for tomorrow. Like the demi-glace for which the veal stock is destined, the strawberry ice cream has several intermediate components:
- crème anglaise, made from half-and-half, sugar, and egg yolk
- heavy cream
- sliced and macerated strawberries
This was already complicated, because it turns out that eGullet has an extensive and scholarly discussion of strawberry ice cream. This will tell you everything you need to know about strawberry ice cream, except how to make it. It turns out that there are many different schools of strawberry ice cream constructions. Some like to base it on a custard, others use only cream, and some think everyone is barking up a wrong tree and strawberry sorbet is the answer.
Everything went off swimmingly, right up until the ice cream started to freeze. Then, it seemed like the ice cream machine might perhaps be a little bit full. We watched. It was a bit full. Yes, some ice creams was spilling onto the rim. That was not a problem. Some was dripping over the side. That, well, a small waste is not a disaster. Quite a bit seems to be spilling. That is why we have counters that are easy to clean.
The night of the strawberry ice cream explosion. One for the books.
Today: more veal stock, roux, espagnole. Pistachio brittle. A grilled beef tenderloin. And plenty of Web design.
Note: The recipe for pistachio brittle in Alinea, p. 89, gives the wrong final temperature. Fortunately, Carol Blymire got it right. She suggested smoking the pistachios, so I did; we'll see how it turns out.