The Fourth of July was lovely this year! I mean, probably. I stayed inside all day like a nerd and missed the 500 different bands and parades that Atlanta has to offer. But it wasn’t all for nothing! I migrated Knuckle Salad to WordPress, and as you can see, it’s better now. So long, Blogger. Thanks for all the fish… um… the… fish recipes that you let me post.
Anyway, I’m still way American and everything. Jenny came over late in the day and we went out and bought giant steaks to eat. And potatoes. And we came back here, all full and sleepy like real Americans, and played Mario Party. Mario is like the most American thing in the whole world (shut up Japan and Italy, I can’t hear you, you’re too far away), so it was already taking all our energy to keep from marching around the apartment singing Yankee Doodle Dandy by the time the fireworks started. We pressed our faces against the upstairs windows to watch the tippy-tops of the highest fireworks over the trees. And then there actually was some marching and singing. I don’t know, we might’ve been steak-drunk.
Here’s the all-American dessert I made to finish off the day: Peanut butter ice cream with dark chocolate syrup. It may not be red, white and blue, but it definitely tastes the way I hope my freedom would taste if I could taste that.
This is only a slight adaptation of this recipe from Saveur. My adjustments make it possible to put it together without one of those newfangled ice cream makers, so you can make yours the way our forefathers did — using nothing but an electric mixer, a refrigerator-freezer, and a tin pot held over a campfire.
Peanut Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- 1 cup almond milk (soy milk or cow’s milk are both okay)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup salted, roasted, shelled peanuts, chopped
- Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just hot. Meanwhile, beat sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick and pale yellow.
- Gradually whisk hot milk into egg mixture in bowl, then pour milk-egg mixture back into saucepan. Return saucepan to medium-low heat and cook custard, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in peanut butter.
- Strain custard into a large bowl, let cool briefly, stirring often, then stir in cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold (a few hours should do).
- Place the chilled ice cream into the freezer. When the edges begin to get firm, take it out and whisk it up. Put it back into the fridge for 30–60 minutes, then whisk again. Repeat until the ice cream is set, stirring in the chopped nuts right about at the point at which you think you might have only one or two more rounds of stirring left before the ice cream is set.
- Freeze until hard. Serve ice cream topped with nuts, pretzels, and/or chocolate syrup.
