Brown Butter and Peanut Brittle Ice Cream

I've mastered the basic flavors of ice cream: chocolate, vanilla, french vanilla, strawberry. I was ready to try something EXCITING. Actually, I was just looking for something to use up egg yolks because I had made some scrambled egg whites over the weekend and had a lot left over. I guess this is the summer of high cholesterol.

Browning the butter over medium-low heat

I'm going to make a cardiologist very rich one day. And an orthopedic surgeon (because I keep running around in heels).

After about 6-10 minutes, the butter will look like this. JUST DON'T BURN IT!

This would be egg yolks

Straining the butter

And blending it all up...

I found this peanut brittle at Kalustyan's in Curry Hill. I actually scoured Whole Foods, Max Brenner, Trader Joe's, and the stores by my apartment for peanut brittle, and none of them had it! Fail Whole Foods! FAIL! You can buy it prepackaged for something like 3 for a $1.00, but I bought the one they had under the register for something like $2.99 a pound (I think I got a 1/4th of a pound).

Ice cream for two!

Brown Butter and Peanut Brittle Ice Cream, found on epicurious.com, and originally from Bon Appetit from January 2008

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter (about 3/4 of the stick)
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped peanut brittle (I just broke it into pieces with my hands)

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat for about 6-10 minutes, when it is a dark amber color (as you can see in the photos above). Pour this through a strainer into a small bowl.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, simmer the milk and the cream.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, both sugars, and salt together. Add the brown butter and whisk to blend. Gradually mix in the cream/milk mixture to the egg yolk/butter mixture, and then return the entire mixture to the large saucepan. Stir this mixture over medium heat for about 5 minutes (This is where the eggs cook to avoid salmonella. I'm not scared of salmonella! Less gym time, right?)

Strain the custard into a large bowl, and then put that bowl in a ice water bath. Continue to stir as the mixture chills. I let my mixture sit in the bath for about an hour while I watched TV. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour this into your ice cream maker and churn per its directions. In the last few minutes of the churning process, sprinkle in the peanut brittle. You could freeze this mixture, or serve immediately, though it might be a little less than perfect frozen ice cream at this stage. "Serve" could also mean lick the paddle and canister clean while you scoop it into tupperware.

I'll be honest - I'm not sure if I could pick up on the brown butter base taste...it tasted like vanilla. Maybe my taste buds aren't refined. Regardless, it was fun to try something new and the ice cream was fantastic! NOM