Blue cheese & honey ice cream

OMG PROPS TO US: THIS IS POST #100!

Katie: it's a pleasure being your co-blogger, in addition to your friend. I love seeing the things you cook, and learning about the way you think about food and cooking. I'm so glad we do this together.

For Christmas, which seems like long ago, I gave my friend Tim a list—what a gift! On the list were four choices of ice cream flavors that Tim could choose from: wonderful, magical choices like roasted cinnamon, salted caramel, pineapple ginger sorbet. The fourth choice, roquefort and honey ice cream, was interpreted by Tim as a dare and, not being one to back down from a challenge, especially a challenge to his eating skills, that is what he chose. So here I am, with an admittedly weird ice cream combination of blue cheese and honey that looks like a regular ice cream.


I thought it would be nice to share my utter defeat in the first round of making the ice cream when, while stirring the milk and egg yolks over medium heat, the custard completely curdled, leaving me with this:


If that happens to you, it means: start over. (Full disclosure: I was feeling like a custard-making hotshot and was over mostly-high heat instead of medium. Lesson = learned.)

What does this thing taste like? Well, it's creamy, for one. And it made me want to think about the idea of savory ice creams and custards more—like a mustard ice cream I had over a salad this summer. I think the trick is to not think of the ice cream as a dish in itself and, instead, to think of it as more of an accompaniment. This specific combo may be a bit much because it is, after all, blue cheese, and that's not a subtle thing, but I'm going to make some of those poached pears from last week and hope that, together, they will be a success. Otherwise, it might be great on top of a cracker that has a nice piece of salami or other cured meat on it.


Blue cheese and honey ice cream
Adapted from the Fantastic Mr. Lebovitz

2 c. whole milk
4 egg yolks, whisked together
4 oz. blue cheese
6 tbsp honey, warmed
fresh ground pepper

In a pot, warm the milk up—not to boiling. Add 1/4 cup of the warm milk to the egg yolks. Then, pour the egg yolks into the pot full of milk, while stirring.

Over medium heat, stir yolks and milk constantly until it coats the back of a spoon.

Put the blue cheese, crumbled, into a bowl. Pour warm milk/yolk through a sieve into this bowl. Stir the cheese-milk mixture until the cheese is mostly melted. Stir in honey, add a few grinds of fresh pepper. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Ice cream make it!