Battle 2: vs. Haagen, Anh, Dazs (Creme Anglaise) 3v1!!!!

On the Course of the Chef, sometimes it involves taking the DC Metro! On tonight's journey, the Quinja encountered two cheery travelers from Minnesota who were artfully disguised as Hawaiians - they most definitely fooled me! Good luck on your mission at NIH... the Ninja Institutes of Health!

Inspired by The Trombone Ninja (hmm... I bet you have some culinary knives hidden within your instrument) and his mom, the Quinja is going to take on the threesome ("trois") of Haagen, Anh, Dazs in Ice Kream Kombat!

This battle is dedicated to you and if you or your mom are reading, drop me an email and I'll send you a Cooking-Dojo t-shirt... no need for disguises when you look this good!

 QuinJa vs Haagen, Anh, & Daaz!

TALE OF THE TAPE:

QUINJA:  1-0-0

Haagen, Anh, Dazs:  0-0-0

Haagen, Anh, & Dazs are fighting out of Oakland, California.  They were born at Bronx, New York in 1961.  "Weighing" in at approximately 410 mL each!  (Yes, I realize I just gave weight as volume but I do not know the density of ice cream to make the conversion!)

Entourage: 
Creme Anglaise (Base for Ice Cream):  2 cups of whole milk (16 fluid oz), 5 oz of sugar (by weight), 6 egg yolks, splash of vanilla extract

Basil: Add a package of basil leaves (to taste).

Mint Mojito (Alcholic):
Add 2 shots of dark rum (4 oz), zest from 3 limes, and a package of mint leaves.

Fig N Goat Cheese:
Add a small amount of goat cheese (Chevre) to taste, one package of dried figs, crushed walnuts (optional as garnish), Fig Newtons (optional as garnish).

QuinJa Techniques: Mixing

Battle Time: 2-2.5 hrs; 30 minutes for Mise En Place, 10(!) minutes for pasteurization, 60 minutes to chill the mixture, 30 minutes in chilling/mixing phase.

Ninja Tip: When working with herbs for ice cream, do not cook the herbs as they will get damaged by the heat.  Add right before or during the chilling/mixing phase with your ice cream maker!

1. Add the sugar (5oz) to the 6 egg yolks and mix thoroughly until you can "hear or feel" sugar at the bottom of the mixing bowl.
2. Heat the milk (2 cups) in a saucepan until boil.
3. Add heated milk to the sugar-egg mixture slowly while whisking.
4. Add a splash of vanilla extract.
5. Put this mixture back into the saucepan and simmer over super low heat!  Stirring constantly!
Ninja Weakpoint:  It is very easy to overcook and produce "scrambled eggs."  Watch the end of my video to see this catastrophe in action!  When you get scrambled eggs, there is no recovery (even for ninjas) so go slow!!!
Signs that the mixture is done cooking...
     A. The foam subsides and is only on the sides.
     B. Part the mixture with your spoon and the "bottom" of the Red Sea should hold for an instant.
     C. Lift your wooden spoon and trace a horizontal line with your finger.  The mixture should not
     run down and connect.

6. Place the heated mixture in the freezer (about one hour) to chill it.
7. Put the chilled mixture in ice cream maker (about 30 minutes) or creamy.



BASIL ICE CREAM
6a. Fine chop basil leaves and put into mixture before putting into freezer.  Save basil leaves to garnish the ice cream.

Fighting Tip: You garnish with a key ingredient to emphasize and remind your guests of what the primary ingredient in the dish is!  Yes, some may argue that ninjas should not telegraph our next attack; however, I would argue that ninjas do not care as our enemies cannot stop our juggernautian attacks are "unstoppable."

Taste: Awesome combination of sweet and savory!  The basil is from the mint family!

   

MINT MOJITO

6a. Add the zest of 3 limes.  I added no lemon juice because I was afraid (wait, ninjas do not know fear, replace "afraid" with "concerned") that the milk would curdle!

6b. Add a package of finely chopped mint (to taste).

6c. Add a shot (2 oz) of dark rum (to taste).

Ninja Weakness: Note that freezing of ice cream will dampen flavors.  I had to readjust by adding another shot of rum (total of 4 oz) to the ice cream mixture the following day. 

MINT MOJITO ICE CREAM

Garnish with Mint Leaf

Taste:  If you like mint mojitos (or rum), you'll...

FIG N GOAT (CHEVRE) CHEESE ICE CREAM

Bonus Khallenge: The Quinja has never eaten a raw fig (Fig Newtons do not count!) or chevre ever!  Tasting the dried figs, they were very sweet and tart.  I decided to cook them with an acid (lemon juice) to balance out the flavor.  The Quinja is not a fan of goat cheese and was surprised that it was many times softer than brie and my trusted blade had problems cutting through its melted butter consistency.

Note: This taste kombination khallenge was posed by the Amber Ninja who had some training from the Cornell Dojo of Hotel Administration in New York State, USA.

1a. Chop the dried figs and add the juice of two lemons to a saucepan.

Fighting Tip:  The dried figs (skin included) absorbed a lot of lemon juice so burning of the figs was a concern.  I added red wine (more acid) and it did not help.  Since I was aiming for a jam/preserves consistency, I decided to put the figs in a blender and added orange juice (more acid).  The blender was an effective weapon!

6.5 Add the fig "jam" to the mixture before putting into ice cream maker.

6.5a Add the chevre to the mixture before putting into ice cream maker.

Fighting Tip: Since the chevre was melting at room temperature, I did not want to cook it so I put about 1/2 of the amount (see picture) into the chiller/mixer ice cream maker.

Ninja Weakness: After 30 minutes of chilling/mixing, I noticed that there were two clumps of frozen chevre - I removed them!  The Quinja learned that chevre is very susceptible to changes in temperature!

FIG N GOAT CHEESE ICE CREAM

Garnish with Fig Newton and add Walnuts (Not Pictured)

Taste: You taste the figs and then you get a hint of chevre aftertaste.  I highly recommend adding nuts, like walnuts to balance of the flavors and to add another texture!

Victory, defeat, and a tie for the Quinja!  While the final results are very tasty... I did overcook one of the batches of ice cream (see the video), and ice cream battles are difficult because you are using the elements of FIRE (during the slow heat pasteurization), and WATER (cold)... these elements will change the taste of your final product so it's very difficult to taste at every stage.

BONUS FOOTAGE:

Through two Ninja Tales, the Quinja talks about the importance of salt and why taste, taste, and taste is the most important "combo" that you need to learn as a cooking ninja!