Royal Foodie Joust: Coffee, Black Peppercorns & Honey

Sounds like a movie title for a group of New York Twenty-somethings, right? Well, its actually this month's competition over at FoodieBlogRolls. Each month they give us a list of ingredients and see what all of the food bloggers can come up with. Here is my entry:

Fried Morning-After Ice Cream

The ice cream:
1/2 C. Brandy (dark rum or cognac would work fine as well)
1 T. Black peppercorns (I mixed with szechuan which was very good)

Warm the brandy in the microwave or stove top (don't boil), and add freshly ground peppercorns. Give it a quick stir, cover and set for a few hours or overnight.

2 C. Cream
1 C. Milk
1/2 C. Coconut Palm Sugar (or sub light brown sugar)
1/4 C. Honey
1/2 t. Freshly Grated Nutmeg
2 Eggs

Warm the milk and cream with the sugar and nutmeg to a simmer. Whisk until sugar is complete dissolved. In small bowl, whisk the eggs and honey with a pinch of salt. Add a quarter cup of the hot milk into the eggs whisking well, then return the egg mixture to the larger milk mixture and cook, whisking until it slightly thickens. Don't boil, just get it to 175F if you have a thermometer. If you don't, just let it thicken a bit. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover with saran touching the top of the mixture so no skin forms, and let chill overnight (at least 6 hours).

Freeze the ice cream in your ice cream maker. Once its thickened we need to freeze it hard in the shape that you want to deep fry it. I perfect 2 or 3" ball is ideal, but find something that won't have edges melt off. If you can't find anything round, try a highball glass. Line it with saran, pour the ice cream into it, and freeze until hard. If you have trouble getting the ice cream out, fill a bowl with hot water, set the glass in it for a few seconds and the ice cream filled saran should lift right out.

Fill a sauce pan with veg or canola oil and bring to 375F. Make a quick tempura batter using 1 egg, 1 C. ice cold coffee, 1 C. AP flour. Whisk egg, add coffee, and finally flour. Prepare a bowl of panko (of if you want to be really decadent, dried, ground brioche). Take your ice cream block/ball and dip it into the tempura, then the panko and carefully set it in the oil until its a nice brown - maybe 30 seconds. Its a scary fizzy, mess so don't panic. Remove the ice cream from the oil and set it on a paper towel to drain. Plate and eat! I made a coffee reduction with lots of butter and sugar for my plating along with some pizzelles.

This was a very good dish, albeit larger than I would have liked to make. Good thing I have our employee, John, who will eat anything I throw at him. I hope someone gives this a try - its fun!