Candied Bacon Ice Cream

I decided to try an ice cream including one of my favorite ingredients, bacon. I checked a few recipes and decided to adapt them to my own tastes using the best of two or three of them and making my own version.
It began with candied bacon as the impetus for the flavor profile and the rest was a standard custard-style recipe using egg yolks and cream as well as half and half for the base. I start with the bacon being cooked in the oven on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and lay 5 or 6 slices of thick sliced bacon on it, sprinkled with Sugar in the Raw and a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and then flip the bacon and sprinkle with the sugar and pepper and cook for another 15 minutes. Set the bacon on a rack to cool and finely chop.
Start with:
3 T salted butter
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
2 3/4 Cups Half& Half
5 Large egg yolks
2-3 teaspoons Bourbon
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
Combine the 1/2&1/2, Sugar, Cinnamon and Vanilla in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until hot and the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot 1/2 & 1/2 mixture to temper the eggs and then return the yolk mixture to the saucepan, beating constantly and cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 175 degrees F or coats the back of a spoon. Don't let it boil.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and add the Bourbon, letting it cool and chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
Place in an ice cream machine and process according to the mfrs. instructions.
Add the Bacon in the last 5 minutes and process until thickened.
Place in freezer containers and freeze for 2-3 hours, then serve and enjoy!
Tim

Dark Chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon Ice Cream

I have been playing with various ice cream recipes lately and finding some very fun combinations as I experiment with them. My latest trial is combining my love for dark chocolate with my love for red wine. It has resulted in a fine ice cream.
Here is the recipe I came up with:
2 1/4 Cups whole milk
2 1/4 Cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/8 Cups granulated sugar
1 1/8 Cups Dutch process cocoa
2 Large eggs
2 Large egg yolks
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 oz. Cabernet Sauvignon wine
In a large saucepan, combine the whole milk and heavy cream over medium-low heat.
Add the vanilla and bring to a bare simmer and remove from the heat.
In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa, eggs, and egg yolks and beat until thickened similar to the consistency of mayonnaise. mix 1 cup of the milk/cream mixture into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream to temper the egg mixture.
Stir the chopped chocolate into the saucepan with the milk mixture and then the egg mixture into the milk mixture in a steady stream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the consistency resembles a chocolate pudding,(170 degrees). Transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the mixture and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 3 hours.
Pour the chilled custard into the freezer bowl and process until thickened, about 25-30 minutes and transfer to containers into the freezer to harden, about 2 hours.
This stuff is awesome!
Tim

Double Chocolate Stout Syrup

Tonight I experimented with a recipe I heard about on the Food Network shoe Diners, Drive-ins and Dives which I think is my favorite show on television. I get so many ideas from the show and I find it a good challenge to try to replicate the dishes I think I would like and see how they come out.
This week showcased a local restaurant in Duluth, Mn called Chester Creek Cafe and the recipe was for a beer syrup made from a local Oatmeal Stout made by Lake Superior Brewing Co. here in Duluth. I chose to try my hand at it using one of my favorites, Young's Double Chocolate Stout. I have made other things with this stuff and it is very versatile in it's uses. Anyway, I started with 1 cup of Light corn syrup, 1 cup of Light brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 fifteen oz. can of the chocolate stout.
I combined the sugar and corn syrup in a non-stick saucepan and cooked them over low heat until the sugar was dissolved, then added the cinnamon and the stout and brought the mixture to a simmer and cooked it for about 15 to 20 minutes, testing along the way to see how it tasted.
I had originally started with 2/3 cup of corn syrup but ended up adding another 1/3 cup to temper the bitterness of the stout. That seemed about right so I took the pan off the heat and let it cool enough to pour into a plastic bottle to store in the refrigerator.
The syrup tastes quite nice, with an ever-so-subtle hint of bitterness and a nice cinnamon finish to it. I look forward to trying this syrup on a thin buttermilk pancake or two very soon.