Durian Ice Cream

My mom has always loved durian.  With a few good Asian supermarkets around us, she's able to taste her favorite fruit from time to time.  She would probably describe it as unique, rich, tropical, pleasant, and sweet. This large and spiky "King of Fruits" however, is notoriously stinky.  Its taste and smell have been described by my family (and confirmed by the population at large) as similar to: gasoline, excrement, and rotting pineapple, with a texture like baby vomit.  This is why in some of my earliest memories, she is eating durian in the garage, on a stool, next to the car, by herself.  She was not allowed to enjoy her favorite fruit inside the house.

This year, I figured there would be no better homemade gift than to make her several pints of ice cream, starring her beloved durian.  No one in my family made me go outside like we used to make my mom, but I do warn against making this recipe while it's 30-something degrees out.  When I cut into the grand, sharp thing, it let out a "ppffftttt" and began releasing its intense odor.  Suddenly, I had a family of drama queens running around, opening every door and window, forcing me to make my ice cream while shivering in my winter coat. But as my younger daughter said, "You made our whole house stink! You really love Popo (grandmother) don't you".

The recipe below was adapted from this recipe, and uses the flesh from a whole, large durian. It is less sweet just like my mom would prefer, so add more sugar if you like a more conventional sweetness.  Just taste the custard before allowing to cool and add more sugar if you like.  Makes about 2.5 quarts or about 5 1-pint containers.  *Most ice cream freezers only spin about 1.5 quarts.  This recipe makes 2 batches.

Durian Ice Cream

1 whole durian
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups light cream
3 cups whole milk

Cut open durian and remove segments of flesh.  Remove seeds.  Puree in a food processor.  Press the puree through a sieve to strain out the stringy fibers.  You will have about 2 cups of smooth durian paste.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks with vanilla and sugar.

Bring milk and cream to near boil over medium heat.

Reduce heat to low.

Ladle about a cup of hot milk mixture and whisk into eggs.  Pour egg mixture into milk mixture on the stove.  Stir constantly until thickened, a few minutes.  Do not let the mixture come to a boil.

Allow custard to cool, then chill in refrigerator or in a large Ziploc bag set in an ice bath.

When very cold, pour half the custard into ice cream machine.  Add half the durian paste and spin until frozen. Remove to freezer-safe container to ripen in freezer.  When ice cream freezer bowl is completely frozen and ready to use again (usually in 24 hours), spin second batch of custard and durian mixture.

Beef, bison, lamb, goat, and turkey jerky

As some of you might know, each year, my husband, sister, brother-in-law and I do a secret Santa gift exchange (which almost never happens at the holidays).  The only catch is that the gift has to be homemade.  I originally thought it'd be an awesome deal for me because it would significantly reduce the number of gifts I would need to think up to give my husband.  

Except for the fact that I keep drawing his name year after year - grrrr!! 

This year, I decided to try my hand at making jerky.  But not just beef, I made all the variations below:

• Bison with wasabi teriyaki (store bought marinade)
• Beef with a smoky classic marinade (worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, onion powder, liquid smoke, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes)
• Turkey (soy sauce, honey, sesame oil)
• Goat (red wine, white vinegar, mint, onion, hot sauce, soy sauce water, olive oil)
• Lamb (onion, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, curry powder, cardamom pods, tomato paste, salt, water)

Everything but the kitchen sink in these marinades

The basics of making jerky:

1. Slice meat along the grain about 1/3 inch thick, as evenly as possible.  Partially freezing your meat first will make it easier to cut nice even slices.  
2. Marinate your meat overnight.
3. Drain marinade and pat meat strips dry.
4. Dry on highest setting (about 160F) for about 6-8 hours.  Meat should be leathery and pliable, but will be dry, chewy, and stringy when pulled apart.  

Store in an airtight container and use within a month or two (though I assure you it will be long gone by then!).  

"Ugh, more of Wendy's homemade crap"

This was a gift of apple pie filling.  The card included photos of the apple picking, peeling, pie making.  This was given mostly to family because the adorable family photos seemed too obnoxious to give to anyone else.  It also included a variety of great recipes to include the pie filling in.  

When I was driving to my talk at the Library of Congress the other day, I was thinking about the jars of canned foods I like to gift to people - my strawberry margarita jam, my habanero pepper jelly, my sweet plums.  I was thinking, boy, I hope people don't think - "Ugh, this homemade crap" and throw my stuff out.  Canners know that a lot of time, love, and money go into making these jars of homemade things!

This was my first homemade gift.  Bruschetta, evoo, melba toasts, sparkly star shaped lollipops.  

As I was driving and in my own head the other day, I was thinking about the pickled cherry tomatoes that I'd just canned and would like to give away to a few select people in my life.  I mean, the cost of the jars, the ingredients (champagne vinegar is not cheap!), the fact that I sweated it out all summer watering those tomatoes...  I lovingly started the seeds in March - spritzing the seedlings daily, regularly adjusting their habitat under the best grow lights.  And the garlic clove?  I planted that garlic last fall, having carefully stored the bulbs from the previous spring!  I could keep going back...

Sometimes I calculate these gifts in monetary terms - a la The $64 Tomato.  Just to see.  So I also add to the cost of supplies, my hourly cost of labor.  I take my hourly wage - which is relatively decent, then I give myself a little raise because having to work full time means my spare time is even more valuable.  All that totals... a hefty sum for the jar of triple berry jam one may receive.

This was a berry jam.  Tea, chocolate, and scone mix.

So for all the people out there who have ever received a homemade treat from anyone, believe me, they are NOT crap.  If you receive a homemade jar of something, consider yourself a special friend - one that is worthy of the sweat, labor, time, and thought that has gone into the giver's gift.  It's a big deal.