Ice Cream for Breakfast

This is the story of how I ended up having bacon and ice cream for breakfast on a Sunday morning.

I moved into a new apartment a couple of weeks back, then, after unpacking the kitchen, I discovered (while trying to make a meatloaf) that the oven was broken (toaster oven to the rescue!). It was fixed shortly thereafter (I have a good landlady), and I was ready to delve back into the wonderful world of food. So, I invited some friends over and got ready to make a pointlessly fancy dinner. Since I happen to know that these two particular girls are very fond of their ice cream, I decided to make a fancy blueberry sour cream ice cream that I've seen in the little ice cream maker my little sister gave me for Christmas. So far, so good.

Then my plumbing decides not to function anymore. Ok, no problem, I'll call the plumber. Plumber comes over, can't fix it, guess we're waiting until tomorrow. Dinner party cancelled, evacuation to my friend's house for the night. 8AM rolls around and my landlady informs me that the plumber has decided not to return, so she's finding a new one. 8:30, the new one calls, says they'll be by in an hour. I drag myself out of bed (I am not a morning person) and head home to wait. I'm waiting... waiting... waiting. Sigh. Hunger.

Hrm, well, I had started to make the ice cream last night in my dinner prep process, but it hadn't solidified properly so I just stuck it in the freezer when I left. Let's see what it's like now. Oh hey, it's frozen... Let's let it thaw out just a touch and churn it some to make it a nice, even consistency, and see how that goes. It worked! Victory is mine.

Now that I have the ice cream, I want to eat it, obviously. Still, I'm not traditionally a sweets-in-the-morning kind of a girl, so I'm going to have to balance it out. What is this? Ah ha! Bacon left over from my most recent chowder. Perfect. Into the toaster oven you go to broil.

The end result? Well, it's a little weird and I'd trade it for an extra several hours of sleep in a heartbeat, but it definitely hits the spot.

Hopefully my plumber will get here soon and there will be a happy ending to this, my tale of woe.


Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
(originally at Joy the Baker... and she got it from Baking: From my home to yours)

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if frozen, thaw and drain)
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime, or more juice to taste (I had a super juicy lime and that was a *good* thing)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream

1) Put the blueberries, sugar, salt, lime zest and juice in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 3 minutes (though it took mine longer, so don't worry if it does).

2) Pour the berry mixture into a bender and whirl until you have a fairly homogeneous puree, about 1 minute. (It will never be completely smooth, and that’s fine!) Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse to blend. Taste and, if you’d like, and a squirt more lime juice or a tiny bit more sugar.

3) Transfer the custard into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning it into ice cream. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL. Give it a few hours, things off of the stove take time to cool down.

4) Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Eat it soft-serve style or pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Then... apparently, eat with bacon for breakfast.