Bacon Ice Cream => Appetizer

As promised I've completed the testing for my Scallops & Bacon appetizer.  Again, this dish has been designed to complement an array of high end bourbons & whiskeys.  I actually started conceptualizing this dish in anticipation of a new promotion that my General Manager is working on...He's going to call it "Bubbles & Bourbon" and will feature bourbons, whiskeys & sparkling wines.  I figured we (the kitchen crew) could put together appetizers each week that would complement or contrast the two.  This promotion is not entirely ready (Joel, my GM, is still putting together the material and working on the packaging) but that's not gonna stop us from preparing and testing our ideas.  So here's the rundown...

The Finished Dish:

Seared Georges Bank Scallop & Applewood Bacon Ice Cream

shaved celery, spice roasted green apple, hedgehog mushroom & orange-chipotle gastrique



The Ice Cream:  As a stand alone item the ice cream is very weird...that's probably the best way I can describe it.  I wasn't sure if I hated it or I loved it.  I could not decide but I also could not stop tasting it.  The final product was technically sound...excellent texture, sweet to salty ratio was on the money and it did carry the taste of bacon without being overbearing which was a major concern of mine in creating the recipe.  The one thing that I may do differently in the future is to double the weight of bacon in the initial cream infusion in order to coax more bacon flavor into the ice cream and then I would not garnish the ice cream with "bacon bits".  The chew of the bacon once the ice cream has melted on the palate is awkward as a stand alone product.  However; that chew of the bacon garnish did work well in the finished dish. 

The accompaniments on the plate (the shaved celery salad, mushrooms & roasted apples) were chosen as they all work well together and serve to complement both the scallop/bacon flavors and the excellent nuances of many artisanal bourbons & whiskeys.  When pairing to a bourbon I look to draw on the smokey, oaky, earthy tones as well as some of the underlying fruit notes.  The key is that the dish needs to have enough body to stand up to a bourbon.



The orange-chipotle gastrique really tied the dish together, it had excellent acidity which mellowed the ice creams sweetness and allowed the bacon flavor of the ice cream to shine and thus scallop and bacon were the primary flavors on the plate (as intended).

We did document the process of making the gastrique with photos.  I'll put this together and post it soon.





This dish was a success, and we may be using it soon with the upcoming "bubbles & bourbon" events.  Next week I'll likely work on a "bubbles" pairing.



Bacon Ice Cream

I'm working on an appetizer to pair with a high-end bourbon and I want to tinker with a classic...bacon wrapped scallops.  In brainstorming ways to give a scallop dish enough body and character to stand up to a full bodied bourbon I began to toy with the idea of a "savory" ice cream, in fact something that I've wanted to mess with for years...Bacon Ice Cream. 

Day 1 (the base):

first I infused my milk and cream mixture with apple wood bacon and spices. 

I have to be careful with my "cream" mixture and used more milk than cream, as I must control the

fat content carefully considering the fat content of the primary flavoring ingredient, bacon. 

   Ingredients for Bacon Ice Cream:

 bacon & spice infused cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar & ice cream stabilizing mix

I'm using a stabilizing mix because this is a savory ice cream which means I'll be using much less sugar than

typical for an ice cream and thus I'll use things such as powdered glucose to provide the texture required 

without the proper amount of sugar, which traditionally provides the proper texture. 

The bacon infused cream mixture is brought to a simmer.

the infused cream mixture is then added to the yolks, sugar & stabilizers in thirds to temper the egg

the mixture is then returned to the heat and slowly warmed to thicken the mixture

once complete the mixture is cooled with an ice bath, I've essentially got a bacon anglaise at this point.

The mixture is then allowed to mature overnight. 

Day 2 (Churning):

The matured base is added to the ice cream machine

within about 35 minutes, the ice cream is nearly ready

the ice cream is at a soft serve stage now, ready for finishing...

I chose to fold in some crispy bacon bits for added flavor & texture in the finished product

Now the ice cream will be placed in the freezer for a minimum of 6 hours to harden.

I'll let you know soon how this has turned out, early intel is very positive.

to be continued...



The Aftermath:

Happy Holidays to everyone!  They are finally over.  I love the holidays, I'm not a grinch, I swear.  The problem with the holidays in this business is that you're not left with a moment to spare.  If you're not working, you're shopping or wrapping or cooking, etc...  Needless to say we've had NO time to do any testing for tasting menus in the past 2 weeks.  But the Holiday season is over and so Brian got to work yesterday, commenting that nothing had been posted on the blog for a while...my apologies.

Here's what Brian made and my critique of the dish:

Celeriac Soup with hedgehog mushrooms & lobster froth

The Soup:  Celeriac, Butter, Water, Kosher Salt, White Pepper

The Lobster Froth:  Lobster Glace, Cream

the hedgehog mushrooms were beautifully cooked and the texture of the soup was terrific, extremely smooth, yet a bit too thick, it simply needed to be thinned a touch, easy fix.  

The end result, however, was that Brian over did it with the white pepper!  The soup was over seasoned with the pepper to the point where it overtook the palate and didn't allow for the other ingredients, which were nicely done, to pronounce themselves.

Four things that Brian must do to perfect the dish. 

1.) take it easy with the white pepper

2.) lose the micro green garnish, it's not necessary

3.) adjust the consistancy of the soup

4.) Stabilize the lobster foam with some lecithin, this will increase his yield, stabilize the foam & provide a better mouthfeel

At the end of the day he (Brian, a.k.a. monoblanco) did a nice job, fact is that if he hadn't over seasoned the soup with pepper, I'd probably have very little to criticize.