Out of season

We have had some glorious afternoons lately...

Lambs are arriving thick and fast..

The garden is in the final throes of winter..

So it does seem like an odd time to be thinking about strawberry ice cream.

We were given three large punnets of strawberries by some visitors recently and although I probably should have made jam, for some reason the ice cream gods were speaking.  I've never made strawberry ice cream before so I did a bit of research and this is what I came up with.

STRAWBERRY AND VINOCOTTO ICE CREAM - makes about a litre

For the strawbs:

About 3 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and cut in half

1 tblsp castor sugar

2 tblsp vinocotto, to taste

a squeeze of lemon juice

Put the berries into a frying pan with the sugar and the vinocotto and cook over a gentle heat, stirring, until the strawberries have softened and the juices released.   

Squeeze over some lemon juice to taste.  You can add more vinocotto if you wish. Allow to cool.  Keep about 1/2 cup aside and chop into smaller pieces (only if you would like some strawberry bombs throughout the ice cream) and puree the rest.  I did this in a jug with my stick blender, but they can go in a food processor or blender.  Refrigerate.

For the ice cream:

2 eggs and 3 egg yolks

3/4 cup castor sugar

a vanilla bean, cut in half

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups cream

Put the milk in a saucepan with the vanilla bean and bring to the boil.  Remove from heat and allow vanilla to infuse for a few minutes.  Scape out seeds and add to the milk.

Beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes until pale, then gently pour in the milk whisking.  Return the mix to a clean saucepan and stir continuously until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Do not allow it to boil.  Cool slightly then refrigerate until cold.

Add the cream, strawberry puree and strawberry bits and churn in an ice cream machine.

Other things to come out of the kitchen lately include these yummy lamb ribs, marinated with garlic, mint and rosemary with a yoghurt dipping sauce. 

For the dipping sauce, combine the zest and juice of one lemon, 1 tblsp chopped mint, 1 tblsp honey, 1 tblsp olive oil and 1/2 cup yoghurt.

An oldie but a goodie...parsnip puree with breadcrumbs..

Mum used to make this and it is great for winter:  boil some parsnips, mash (best done with the stick blender) with butter, a tablespoon of cream and salt and pepper and put in an ovenproof dish.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and dot with butter, then cook in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.  This photo does it no justice at all.

And finally, the newest member of the family...Twiggy...