Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Orange Blossom and Pistachio, An Ice Cream Bouquet


  I don't know about you, but I love, love, love, floral scented foods. Cooking with flowers was not something I grew with since most of the stuff that managed to survive in our foggy San Francisco garden was liberally doused with Bugetta. I can still hear that jingle in my head, "Bugetta Bugetta Bugetta, Bugetta kills snails!"
   Then came California cuisine and the liberal use of all sorts of exotic ingredients, including flowers. The trendy restaurants that I ate in in Los Angeles featured Nasturtiums among other things. I would see them in their pricey little plastic boxes at Whole Foods and Gelsons where I shopped, my Italian cheapo gene would kick in, and I couldn't bring myself to buy them. Then I'd be driving home from a meeting at the studio and see them blooming absolutely free by the roadside on PCH. It was all I could do to keep myself from pulling over to the side of the road and grabbing a fist full! Not wanting to be the centerpiece of a Sigalert, I never did. I'm telling you all this just to get my bona fides straight. I love flowers in my food. Really.
   Another thing I love, especially after an Indian feast when I'm too tired to fix anything else and want something light, is a nice floral ice cream.
   A little over a year ago I posted a recipe for Orange Blossom Ice Cream with pistachios. When I served it at my Kerala dinner last week, I mentioned it here and had some requests for this easy, tasty recipe. All you need is an ice cream machine. Here's what you do:


Orange Blossom Pistachio Ice Cream




 In a bowl whisk together:
3/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of milk
 When the milk and sugar are well blended add in:
 2 cups of whipping cream
 2 Tbs of orange blossom or orange flower water
 Whisk it all well then pour it into the bowl of your ice cream maker and follow instructions.
 While the ice cream is whirling around in the machine, roughly chop about 1/2 cup of raw unsalted pistachios.
 5 minutes before your ice cream is done, dump the pistachios into the mix so they can be blended in.
  Try to make the ice cream at least 2 hours before you're planing on serving it so that it has time to set up in the freezer.
   
So there you have what I call The Orange Blossom Special. Catch it while you can, 'cause it goes really fast.

18 comments :

  1. Two of my favorite ingredients put together in an ice cream. That's almost like a dream. I don't knw what it is but I'm seeing to many ice cream posts lately and I have already put ice cream maker on list of things to buy before the year end. I just cant wait now!

    Adding one more recipe to use up the fabulous ORange Blossom

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  2. Haha...I'm just enjoying a bowl of ice cream right now but am attracted to your ice cream. Your look very flavourful. I would love to try and make. Thanks for sharing your lovely recipe.

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  3. I like pistachio anything now with orange my mouth is salivating amazing! nice job!

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  4. yum, two of my favorite ingredients in a third! this sounds heavenly - wish i had some right now!

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  5. I am also in the floral scented foods club. Thanks for posting this delicious recipe.

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  6. I bet this is terrific. I love smelling like orange blossoms, so why not eat them?

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  7. I've always wanted to make pistachio ice cream. Orange blossom sounds really good too. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. This is just a lovely ice cream! Love the idea of orange with pistachio! Orange blossoms are one of my favorite scents - so intoxicating.

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  9. Yummmm...I can almost smell the fragrance in my mind! What a beautiful dessert, Kathy!

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  10. We always purchase the orange blossom honey when it is in season. I'll bet this ice cream version is incredible in it's own right though! Beautifully done, Kathy!
    (PS... I remember my dad using so much bugetta that we probably should have taken stock in it! Luckily currently we have a little rodent called Chip - some sort of squirrel - who takes care of ours organically!)

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  11. Oh woooow! Two of my favourite flavours combined into one of my favourite desserts! This sounds too good to be true. Must make this asap!

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  12. Nice floral ice cream. I like this very much.

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  13. It sounds divine! There's just nothing quite like homemade ice cream.

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  14. This looks fantastic. Unfortunately, they used so much rose flavoring when I lived in Lebanon that it's tainted my view of flowered foods. This though....I'd be willing to try!

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  15. This ice cream is so intriguing. The combination of the floral orange blossom and nuttiness of the pistachios sounds like a wonderful way to finish off a meal.

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  16. This recipe does sound wonderful. I guess I will be pulling out the ice cream maker one more time!

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