SUMMER FINALE: ICE CREAM

 

Cold and sweet, olive oil ice cream with almond milk and honey.

I can’t let summer slip by without indulging in a last cold, sweet scoop of ice cream. This unusual ice cream was inspired by an open carton of almond milk that needed to be used. 

Almond milk is already unconventional for ice cream, so I decided to go further—honey in place of sugar and extra virgin olive oil in place of dairy cream. This made a gorgeous ice cream that made me think of Christmas turrón, nougat candy that is made with almonds and honey. 

I’m not a honey connoisseur. I used local honey, a multi-floral with a thyme-y inflection. I also used local extra virgin olive oil, a multi-varietal oil. Choose your best extra virgin for the ice cream as it contributes to the flavor. The oil gives the ice cream richness that usually comes from dairy cream.

The basic recipe admits variations. For a vegan ice cream, thicken the milk-honey-oil cream with cornstarch instead of egg yolks. Citrus complements the flavor of olive oil. But the ice cream can go in completely different taste directions. Try chocolate mocha (unsweetened cocoa powder and instant coffee); mango pulp with ginger and cardamom; figs with vanilla. 

Use an ice cream churn if you’ve got one. I don’t, so I use a two- or three-step procedure, partially freezing the cream, beating it smooth with a blender, returning it to the freezer and once again beating it smooth. 

Once the cream has frozen hard, remove it from the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before serving to soften enough for scooping. (Tip: If the ice cream will be served a few portions at a time, it's convenient to freeze them in individual cups so you don't have to soften the whole container of ice cream.)

I served the ice cream with fresh raspberries and salted almonds. It would also be good alongside a peach tart or apple crumble. Or pour hot fudge sauce over it.

Salted almonds complement the honey-sweet ice cream.

Dairy-Free Olive Oil Ice Cream

Helado de Aceite de Oliva sin Lacteos

No dairy in this ice cream--almond milk, olive oil.

Serves 6.

1/3 cup honey

3 cups (unsweetened) almond milk

3-inch strip of orange peel

Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)

Place the honey in a saucepan on medium heat just until it becomes fluid. Whisk in the almond milk, orange peel and salt. Heat, stirring, until bubbles begin to rise around the edges. 

Stir the yolks together in a bowl. Use a ladle or cup with a pouring spout to scoop up 1 cup of the hot honey-milk. Whisk it very gradually into the yolks. When combined, gradually stir the yolk mixture into the milk in the pan. Over medium heat, cook it, stirring constantly, until the milk is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. 

Strain the mixture through a sieve, discarding the orange peel. Cover the surface with plastic film. Cool, then chill the mixture 8 hours.

Soft-freeze, beat smooth.

Use a hand-held beater or immersion blender to beat 1/3 cup of the oil into the milk mixture. Pour the mixture into an ice cream churn and process according to manufacturers’ directions. Or, if ice cream maker is not available, pour the mixture into a metal bowl and place in the freezer until it is partially frozen. Use mixer or blender to beat it until smooth and return it to the freezer. 

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, orange juice and rum, if using, to the soft-frozen ice cream. Churn again or beat it into the cream and return the bowl to the freezer. If desired, cream can once again be partially frozen and beaten before being allowed to freeze hard.

To serve, allow the ice cream to soften 5 to 10 minutes before scooping.

Variations on the ice cream theme, both sweet and savory:

Watermelon Ice.

Watermelon Ice.

Meringue Milk Ice.(Leche Merengada)

Coffee Granizado.

Quince Sorbet.

Sorbet of Moroccan Mint Tea.

Lemon Ice Cream.

Prune-Sherry Ice Cream with Burnt Sugar Sauce.

Saffron Ice Cream with Pine Nut Praliné.

Fruit Ice Cream with Yogurt.

Tomato Ice Cream (sweet).

Gazpacho Sorbet with Black Olives.

Cucumber Granita.

Avocado Ice Cream with Red Pepper Swirl.

Not ice cream! This is why I needed the carton of almond milk: a quickie version of Ajo Blanco con Uvas, Malaga's white gazpacho with almonds and garlic. Combine almond milk with stale bread crumbs, garlic, olive oil, salt, and sherry vinegar and blend until completely smooth. Serve it chilled garnished with grapes. Not as good as made with almonds I picked and shelled, blanched and skinned, and ground up, but for easy, not bad!

STUFF IT, CONT.

 

Green frying peppers are filled with potato-egg tortilla mixture, then gently fried until peppers are tender and filling is set.  

Maybe because I adored my grandmother’s stuffed peppers (ground beef and rice, baked in a tomato sauce), but I’m crazy for stuffed stuff. I’ve been wanting to try a trending Spanish recipe, pimientos rellenos con tortilla, green peppers filled with potato tortilla. With the garden sending up too many green frying peppers, now’s my opportunity. 

Peppers with a tortilla stuffing may sound a little odd, but they are sensationally good. Serve them, one per person, as a starter or all three as a main dish accompanied by rice and a fresh tomato sauce. Or slice them and serve with toothpicks as an appetizer.

Green Peppers with Tortilla Stuffing

Pimientos Rellenos de Tortilla

If possible choose peppers that are more or less straight. The kinky ones are harder to fill. They can be any length. After the peppers are fried, the blistered skins can be removed if you wish.

Makes 3 stuffed peppers, 18 slices.

3 medium potatoes (12 ounces)

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped onion

1 ounce chorizo (optional)

2 eggs

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 (5-inch) green frying peppers

1 tablespoon flour

Bread to accompany

Tomato sauce to serve (optional)

Peel the potatoes, cut them in quarters and slice the quarters thinly. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the potatoes. Lower heat to medium and cook the potatoes, stirring frequently, until they are tender, but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add the onion. Remove casing from the chorizo and chop it. Add to the potatoes and fry 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat. Either skim out the potatoes, onions and chorizo, reserving the oil, or tip the potatoes into a sieve placed over a bowl and let the oil drain.

Spoon filling into pepper.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes. Mix well and let them set 15 minutes to soak up the egg. 

Cut the stems off the peppers and shake out the seeds. Place a pepper upright in a glass (or hold it in one hand). Use a teaspoon to fill the pepper with the potato-egg mixture. Place the pepper on a plate while filling the remaining peppers. 

Return 3 tablespoons of the reserved oil to the skillet and heat it. Dip the open end of each pepper in the flour then place it, floured end down, in the oil to fry. When flour is browned and the opening sealed, place the peppers on their sides and continue frying them on medium-low until they are lightly browned on all sides and the skin blistered in places, about 20 minutes. Remove the peppers. If desired, the skins can be removed.

Serve peppers whole or sliced.

Serve the peppers whole, one per person, or slice them crosswise and serve on a plate with toothpicks. Accompany with bread. If desired, they can be served with tomato sauce.

It occurs to me that this recipe would be really speedy if the tortilla mixture was made with potato chips instead of frying potatoes. See the recipe here.

More ways to stuff peppers:

Meat-Stuffed Peppers with Chunky Tomato Sauce.

Peppers Stuffed with Tuna.

Microwave Stuffed Peppers.

Piquillo Peppers with Mushroom Stuffing.

Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp.

GAZPACHO WITH NO TOMATOES?

 

Campesino, Mijas, 1968.

Gazpacho in one form or another is nearly as old as these hills, although it was not always the red tomato concoction so well-known today. 

Gazpacho evolved as summer sustenance for laborers working in the fields and olive groves. They mixed it in a large wooden bowl, thinned the bread-water-olive oil mixture with fresh spring water, and added whatever fresh ingredients were on hand—chopped cucumbers, onions, lettuce, figs, oranges. Field hands gathered around and dipped right into the communal bowl. 

In rural areas throughout Andalusia are found various sorts of rustic, peasant gazpacho with no tomatoes and no blender required. From Córdoba comes ensalada de caldo, “broth” salad, made with chopped lettuce, oil and vinegar, sometimes with the addition of raw fava beans, to which water is added. In Almería, gazpacho pobre, “poor gazpacho,” is simply chopped cucumber and onion, oil, salt and vinegar, diluted with water. And bread of course. Sometimes the bread is mashed up with garlic and olive oil; sometimes it is simply broken into bits and added to the soup. A “winter” gazpacho, from the Guadalhorce Valley (Málaga province), is popularly made with oranges, for which this valley is reknowned, instead of summer’s tomatoes. 

I’ve been making plenty of classic gazpacho with garden tomatoes, but, in honor of the cucumbers and a basket of fresh figs, here is a refreshing green gazpacho, the one called “poor.”

Gazpacho was traditionally made in a large wooden bowl.

"Poor" gazpacho of cucumbers is not so poor with fancy garnishes.

Peasant gazpacho of cucumbers, onions, figs, and bread is garnished with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and shrimp.

Peasant Gazpacho with Cucumber 

Gazpacho Pobre de Pepino

Best for gazpacho is day-old country bread, crusts removed. Traditionally, the bread is mashed with garlic and olive oil in a dornillo, a wooden bowl. But blending makes a more refined soup. Adding luxury ingredients such as shrimp takes it out of the peasant category!

No tomatoes in this gazpacho!

Serves 4.

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1-2 cloves garlic

 ½ cup water

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional to finish

1 (8-ounce) cucumber

¼ cup chopped scallions

1 cup very cold water

Shredded lettuce

Chopped fresh figs

Mint sprigs

Croutons or bread to serve

Crushed ice (optional)

Cooked, peeled and chopped shrimp (optional)

Finely chopped green peppers (optional)

Chopped tomato (optional)

Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl or blender container with the garlic and ½ cup of water. Let it sit 10 minutes until the bread is softened. Add the salt, lemon juice and oil. Blend to make a smooth paste. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate the mixture.

Crushed ice adds sparkle.

When ready to serve the gazpacho, place the paste in a serving bowl and add the cold water. Peel the cucumber if the skin is very tough. Cut the flesh into ¼ -inch dice, discarding any seeds. There should be about 1 1/3 cups diced cucumber. 

Add the cucumbers to the bowl with the scallions, lettuce and figs. Garnish with sprigs of mint and drizzle with additional olive oil. Serve into shallow bowls accompanied by croutons. Add as desired crushed ice, shrimp, peppers, tomato.  

More recipes with cucumbers:

Chilled Cucumber-Yogurt Soup.

Cucumber-Almond Gazpacho.

Cucumber-Melon-Cheese Salad.

Salad with Purslane, Watermelon and Cucumber.

Cucumber Granita.

Country Gazpacho (tomatoes)

FISH DINNER FOR TWO

 After the houseful of visiting family and planning meals for a crowd, it’s been a quiet week cooking for two. I bought two lovely lubinas de ración, single-portion sea bass (each weighing about 1 ½ pounds) and had them opened up a la espalda—“on their backs”—or butterflied. I cooked them in no time on a gas grill and served them with an aliño of garlic, parsley, and olive oil.

Whole sea bass, one per person, are butterflied, grilled and served with a garlic-parsley sauce. 

A butterflied fish is quick to cook, whether on the grill or in the oven. At my local market, the fish vendor is accustomed to clean and cut-up the fish in any way you wish. I can shop at the vegetable stall while she does the messy work. 

If you’re doing it yourself, here’s how. Use a sharp boning knife or kitchen scissors and trim off the fins and the tail. If the fish is going to cook on the grill, don’t scale it. Scales protect the flesh from flare-ups and prevent the skin from sticking to the grill rack. (But if the fish is to be grilled on a plancha or roasted in the oven, scale the fish.  Place the fish on a sheet of newspaper. Scrape the scales off with a dull blade from the tail to the head. Roll up and discard the paper with the scales.) Use a heavy knife or cleaver to split open the head of the fish without severing the two halves. Place the fish on its side. With the sharp boning knife kept flat against the spine, cut the top fillet away from the bone, working from head to tail. Leave the fillet attached along the back. Open the fish “like a book.” Clean out the viscera but leave the spine in place until after the fish is cooked. 

Grilled Sea Bass

Lubina a la Parilla

2 whole sea bass  (each about 1 ½ pounds), butterflied 

Salt

Pepper

Lemon wedge

Garlic-Parsley Sauce to serve (recipe follows)

Smashed Potatoes to accompany (recipe below)

Hinged grill rack makes flipping fish easy.

Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and let it come to room temperature. Preheat gas grill or light charcoal. Wipe the grill rack with the lemon wedge. A hinged grill is useful for turning the fish. Lay the  fish open “on its back,” skin-side down, over the flame or coals. Grill about 5 minutes. Flip the fish (easy with a hinged grill) and grill the reverse side briefly. The fish is done when you can easily lift the spine from the flesh. 

Discard spine. Serve the fish, one per person. If grilling a larger fish, serving two, after discarding the spine, lift the fillets away from the skin and serve one fillet per person. Spoon the garlic-parsley sauce over the fish.

Simple sauce of fried garlic and parsley complements the fresh fish.

Garlic-Parsley Sauce for Fish

Aliño para Pescado

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced

Red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons vinegar

Salt

Sauce for fish and potatoes.

Heat the oil in a small skillet and gently fry the sliced garlic until it begins to turn golden. Add the red pepper flakes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the parsley, vinegar and a pinch of salt. Stir the sauce before spooning it over grilled fish or vegetables. 

Smashed Potatoes

Patatas Aplastadas

In Spain, these small potatoes are marketed as patatas de guarnación, or “potatoes for garnishing.” 

Small potatoes

Olive oil

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Garlic-Parsley Sauce (aliño)

Cook the unpeeled potatoes in salted boiling water until they are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Place them on a work surface and with the palm of the hand or the bottom of a tea cup, press them gently to split the skins and flatten them slightly. (They can be cooked and smashed in advance.)

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and brown the potatoes on one side. Place them on a plate, browned side up, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the garlic-parsley sauce on them to serve.

More ways to grill fish:

Plancha-Grilled Fish with Caper Sauce.

Grilled Trout Wrapped in Grape Leaves.

Grilled Corvina with Escalivada.

Grilled Albacore Tuna with Ponzu Sauce.

Plancha-Grilled Squid with Red Chile Sauce (Mojo Picón)

Grilled Sardines with Cornbread.

Grilled Swordfish Brochettes.

COOKING FOR A HOUSEFUL

This year my extended family spilled over the boundaries. Counting beds and heads, we realized we needed to rent additional space for all—sons, grandsons, the grandsons’ girlfriends, inlaws. We had a nearby step-grandmother too, with extra beds. At least once they all gathered at my house for a meal. 

Table is set for seven, awaiting the arrival of son, Daniel, and his inlaws, Juana and Jorge, who have just completed a week walking the Camino de Santiago. They picked up Daniel's wife, Eli, and their son, Lucas, who just flew in from Atlanta. My other son, Ben, returned from a day's work at Puerto Banus. 

I grilled four small chickens in the late afternoon and will serve them room temperature, accompanied by homemade mango chutney and garden salads. 

Green beans from the garden, canned kidney beans and corn kernels for one salad. The other is patatas aliñadas or potato salad with dressing on a platter with tomatoes from the garden, torn basil leaves and pieces of fresh goat cheese. (Recipe for the potato salad is here. How-to for grilled chicken is here.)

I de-boned the leftover chicken and added it to a spicy Moroccan stew with garden zucchini, carrots and dates to serve with couscous for another meal. (Recipe for Couscous with Vegetables and Dates.)

One morning the whole gang meets for breakfast at the casa de jubilados, the senior center in the pueblo, where elders like me get a 15 percent discount. Everybody ordered a serranito, a sandwich with griddled chicken breast, ham and green peppers on a small bun or whopper viena roll. (Recipe for serranito is here.) 

Gathering of the clans! Twelve for dinner on the terrace.  For starters I served salmorejo, a gazpacho alternative, with a topping of grilled corn kernels, avocado, scallions and green peppers. (Salmorejo recipe here.) 

We grilled pinchitos, small kebabs with spicy marinade (recipe is here, although the kebabs pictured above are of turkey, not lamb). 

The pinchitos were served with pita bread and tahini, cucumber raita, saffron rice, and zeilouk, a spicy Moroccan eggplant salad. (Recipe for zeilouk is here.)

And, always, a jug of gazpacho in the fridge. Perfect after a day on the beach. Those tomatoes and peppers are from the garden. We like gazpacho thinned to pouring consistency and served in drinking glasses. It's also terrific in bowls with garnishes of chopped vegetables and croutons. (Classic gazpacho recipe here.)