Order our field guide while you still can!
We're running low
Two weeks ago, I told you about our first Midwesterner field guide: Marika Josephson’s Aromatic Wild Herbs and Spices of the Midwest, produced in collaboration with Marika’s Small Letters Press.
I told you supplies were limited, and now I’m following up to say that we only have sixty copies left—and I don’t know when or if we’ll be printing this again. This isn’t artificial scarcity. We’re printing, cutting, and binding each copy by hand, and we can only produce so many books that way. To order your handmade pocket guide, click here. We’ll be shipping next week.
Marika Josephson’s “Vanilla” Custard Ice Cream From The Aromatic Wild Herbs and Spices of the Midwest
Makes about 1 quart
I consider this to be one of the most powerful examples of what we can make with plants found right here. When you serve this over shortcake and dress it with strawberries, you’d never know that it wasn’t vanilla ice cream. On its own, though, you can savor the subtle background notes—the herbal sweet clover and marshmallow-y hickory bark—and appreciate our forests and fields just a little bit more.
Ingredients
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup hickory bark simple syrup*
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp. dried yellow sweet clover
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
Preparation
In a small pot, bring milk, cream, and syrup to a gentle simmer. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk egg yolks.
Whisking constantly, pour a third of the heated cream mixture into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the cream in the pot. Add sweet clover, sugar, and salt. Heat for 30 seconds to about 170 degrees, or until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Remove pot from heat, cover, and allow the sweet clover to steep for 30 minutes.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Cover tightly and chill in a refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
*This recipe is in the book. For now, try this recipe or order hickory syrup from one of several commercial producers.