Herbs forward - sage, oregano and thyme

[cdh]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

Thyme ice cream and sage ice cream.

Interesting.  What complementary flavors are in them, or is it just herb, sugar and dairy?  A just thyme ice cream scares me a bit, as I find that too much thyme in anything ends up with an industrial cleaning solution aroma that I just can't find appetizing.  I'd bet browned butter solids would really make the sage ice cream flavor pop. 

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, paulraphael said:

Thyme ice cream and sage ice cream.

I like!

 

58 minutes ago, cdh said:

Interesting.  What complementary flavors are in them, or is it just herb, sugar and dairy? 

I'm also curious about that.  I'd kinda like to try them on their own but a quick perusal of my cookbooks shows several ice cream recipes pairing honey with the thyme and maple and/or pumpkin with the sage. Also roasted pineapple & sage and blackberry & sage.  Sage and walnut or hazelnut sounds appealing to me, too.  Edited to add:  Also found quite a few recipes for lemon thyme ice cream.  Some started with lemon thyme but others were actually lemon + thyme.  I might start with that latter one.

 

After getting a recommendation for it, I bashed up a batch of this Sage Pesto from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook.  

The book gives weights of 1/4 oz for the fresh sage leaves, 2 oz for the walnuts and 1 oz for the Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

Judy also has you gently warm the chopped sage with a little of the olive oil and instructs to bash everything with a mortar and pestle, starting with the garlic and a pinch of salt, then adding the warmed sage leaves, then the nuts, cheese and remaining olive oil.   I added the zest and juice of half a lemon.  Not sure why I linked that recipe as it seems like everything I did was different 🙃

The header notes say that stuff is good as a garnish for soups, stirred into white bean purée, or polenta.  Pasta, of course, with charred tomatoes or sautéed zucchini. 

 

I made some crostini topped with a walnut-ricotta sauce from David Kinch's At Home in the Kitchen and added a dollop of the sage pesto and a fried sage leaf to each:

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by blue_dolphin (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'll put in a plug for the bay ice cream from @lesliec

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/144764-bay-laurel-seedsfruit/?do=findComment&comment=1914049

[paulraphael]

On 11/9/2021 at 10:49 AM, cdh said:

Interesting.  What complementary flavors are in them, or is it just herb, sugar and dairy?  A just thyme ice cream scares me a bit, as I find that too much thyme in anything ends up with an industrial cleaning solution aroma that I just can't find appetizing.  I'd bet browned butter solids would really make the sage ice cream flavor pop. 

 

My favorite is just straight thyme. I first had it in Paris in 1990. My dad took us out to the fanciest meal I'd ever had, at a restaurant called Taillevent. This place has gone down the tubes since then, and the proprietor has died, but back then many people thought it was the best restaurant in the city. Courses piled on top of courses, including the desserts. One of them was simpler than the others—a small quenelle of thyme ice cream, alone and unadorned.

 

I'd just left my first after-college job as the manager of a homemade ice cream shop in Colorado. I thought I knew something about good ice cream. This little scoop of thyme nearly took off the top of my head. It was so good. The flavors were almost 3-dimensional, and it wasn't as sweet as most ice cream. Perfect texture. The pastry chef was a guy named Gilles Bajolle, who I haven't heard much about over the years. He was the first chef I ever stole ideas from. Herb ice cream was one. His chocolate marquise was another. 

 

I've experimented with thyme, lemon thyme, sage, basil, peach-basil, and mint. Mint is the most conventional, but is by far the hardest to get right. I'm still working on it. The dream is to get the flavor of fresh mint and not candy canes / mouthwash. All these flavors work well in a creme anglaise also. I like mixing a fruit and an herb, like peach and basil, apple and rosemary, blueberry and lavender, cherry and sage, raspberry and thyme, etc.  These kinds of ideas are all over Bajolle's menus, and also Pierre Hermé's

 

I know what you mean about how thyme can be overbearing. It hasn't been a problem in ice cream. Thyme infuses nicely into dairy, and isn't especially delicate or prone to overextraction or to giving bitter or vegetal flavors. I can see how it could come on too strong if you infused into alcohol. 

[FlashJack]

Does anyone have a suggestion for rue?

 

It's a beautiful plant and I have one growing very nicely in a pot. I picked it up at a market in memory of my old friend Joe (he would have been 101 next week). We spent many happy hours in his shed making grappa, some of which was flavoured with rue. Yes, rough grappa with rue is ... bracing.

 

I found a Thomas Keller recipe where rue is a component of the sauce. It's not a recipe that appeals but I'm otherwise coming up blank.