An Inspired Cook

It’s Hatch season and I just picked up my first green chiles of the season.  I’ve had this recipe in mind for such a long time and waiting on chile season to try it out.  I have a cookbook from The Museum of New Mexico Foundation, “Dulce, Desserts from Santa Fe Kitchens”.  In it there is a recipe for lime ice cream with caramelized green chiles.  Every time I flip through it I wonder how this combination will taste.  You might think it sounds like an odd combination but I can vouch that it’s really quite tasty.  Think of candied jalapenos paired with cream cheese. . . yummy huh!  Well, this sweet and hot combination tastes like frozen key lime pie with some chile jelly on top.  It’s sweet with a back heat that tempts your taste buds and leaves you satisfied.  Now you could go with a mild green chile, but the hot chile is tamed considerably by the sweet syrup.  And to top it off I added some crystallized lime zest which added another layer of sweetness.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

For the lime ice cream you’ll need 6 egg yolks, a can of evaporated milk, a pint of heavy cream, lime zest and juice, sugar and salt.

In a small food processor, combine 1/2 cup of sugar, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of lime zest.

Pulse several times until sugar is fine and zest well combined.

In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the sugar and zest mix with a can of evaporated milk.  Stir the pot while the mixture heats up.  When it begins to simmer and steam, turn off the heat and place a lid on top.  Let steep for 1 hour.

In another sauce pan, heat the remaining sugar and 1/4 cup lime juice.

Over medium heat stir the sugar and juice until the sugar dissolves.

When the sugar has dissolved, bring just to a boil.  Turn off the heat then place a lid on the pot and let steep alongside the milk and sugar.

The egg yolks have been in the fridge during the steeping process.  Just before you heat up the milk mixture again, get out the egg yolks and whisk together.

Once both pots have steeped, combine them together and reheat the mixture back up to a simmer.

Ladle the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks a spoonful at a time, whisking all the time to temper the eggs. Pour at least half of the milk mixture into the eggs.

Add the egg and milk mixture back into the sauce pan and heat over medium heat.  Continue to stir the mixture until it coats the back of a spatula.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Place a medium bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice.  Pour heavy cream into the bowl.  Strain the cooled custard mixture into the heavy cream.

Add 1/4 cup of reserved lime juice.  Stir to combine, place a lid on top and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

While the custard is chilling out in the fridge, time to make the candied Hatch chiles.  You’ll need 5 – 6 roasted chiles, some sugar, salt and water.

Roast the chiles over an open flame or under the broiler until charred.  Place in a plastic bag for 20 minutes to steam.  Run the chiles under running water and the peel will easily rub off. Remove the stem and seeds, then cut into thin slices.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Combine the sugar, salt, water and chiles.

Continue stirring while the mixture begins to thicken.

Continue cooking (about 10 – 12 minutes) until the mixture becomes syrupy.  Turn off the heat and let cool slightly.

Pour the chiles through a strainer.  You may keep the syrup if you wish.  Joe used it to pour over his ice cream.

Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a cookie sheet and spray cooking spray to make it easy to remove the chiles later.  Lay the chiles on the oiled sheet and place in the freezer 3 hours or overnight.

When your custard has sufficiently chilled, get your ice cream freezer ready.

Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.

Beginning to freeze and become fluffy and creamy.

At this point the ice cream is soft serve.  Freeze in the freezer for several hours or overnight.

For those who don’t want candied chiles on top, a little crystallized lime zest makes a pretty decoration on this ice cream.  Tastes yummy too!

But for those with an adventurous palate add a few frozen candied chiles on top.  I promise you’ll love it!





Lime Ice Cream with Candied Hatch Green Chiles

1 cup sugar, divided
1 (12 ounce) can Evaporated Milk
1 pint Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons Lime Zest
1/2 cup Fresh Lime Juice, divided
6 large Egg Yolks
Pinch of Salt

Candied Hatch Green Chile (adapted from Dulce: Desserts from Santa Fe Kitchens)

5 – 6 Hatch Green Chiles, roasted
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Water
Pinch of Salt

Crystallized Lime Zest

1 tablespoon Sugar
Zest of 1 Lime

In a small food processor combine 1/2 cup of sugar, salt and lime zest.  Pulse several times to process into a fine mixture. In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat pour the sugar mixture and add the can of evaporated milk.  Stir the mixture until it begins to steam, then turn off the heat, place a lid on top and let steep 1 hour. Bring the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of lime juice to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Bring just to a boil, remove from heat and let steep alongside the other saucepan.

Combine the sugar/lime juice mixture into the steeped milk and reheat until it begins to steam.  Remove from heat.  Whisk the egg yolks together and begin to ladle the heated milk into the eggs.  Whisk eggs to temper.  Continue to ladle a spoonful at a time whisking all the time until you have added half of the milk.  Return the tempered egg mix to the saucepan and reheat over moderately low heat.  Stir the pot until the mixture becomes custard like and coats the back of a spatula.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Fill a large pan with ice.  Place a medium bowl on top of the ice and pour the heavy cream.  Strain the custard into the heavy cream and add reserved 1/4 cup of lime juice.  Stir together, place a lid on top and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Pour custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer instructions.  Scoop ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze.

To make Candied Hatch Green Chile:  Roast chiles over an open flame or under the broiler turning often until chiles are charred on all sides.  Place in a plastic bag to steam for 20 minutes.  Rinse peel off under running water, remove stem and seeds.  Slice into 1/4 inch strips.  In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, salt, water and chiles.  Heat over medium heat stirring occasionally until mixture thickens and becomes syrupy.  Process will take 10 – 12 minutes.

Strain chiles.  Place chile strips on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper that is lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Place in freezer 3 hours or overnight to freeze.  Place a few frozen strips over a scoop of ice cream.

To make Crystallized Lime Zest

Combine zest of 1 lime with 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Let sit for a few minutes, then sprinkle over ice cream.

Makes about 1 quart