Sweet Corn Ice Cream

The hospital where I work hosted a 5K yesterday. It was a beautiful location right on the marina, but it was cold. And wet. And threatened rain. This is not what August is supposed to be like in the Midwest. August is supposed to be like June was — hot, humid, and otherwise miserable. Unless you’re on the beach or indoors.

As I was driving home from the race, I was thinking how it’s already the middle of August and summer is coming to a close. We may have 1-2 more beach weekends (sad), college football starts in 2 weeks (yay!), summer produce is starting to phase out (sad), pumpkin recipes will soon be littering the internet (yay!), and I then realized…we haven’t had corn on the cob on the grill yet this year (WHAT?). Jaw…floor. I know. I am rectifying this situation immediately. I refuse to fail as a Midwestern and American.

It’s not that I haven’t purchased corn, because I have. And I made ice cream (it was awesome). I also made a summer barley risotto (that’s coming soon).

What I think happened is that our meal time veggies have been supplied by our CSA and have included everything except corn. We’ve had potatoes, kale, jalapenos, bok choy, squash, zucchini, lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, cabbage, parsley, mint, salad peppers, and a few things I’m forgetting, I’m sure.

Mr. Prevention and my father-in-law refused (politely) my Sweet Corn Ice Cream. No sweat…more for me! 😀

My mother-in-law played along and she liked it! Obviously I liked it, too…a lot. It’s different, in all the right ways.

I compared a few recipes as both Cooking Light and Eating Well featured sweet corn ice cream recipes last month, so I chose the one that was  lower in calories and fat. It also contains buttermilk…mmm. Enjoy!

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Sweet Corn Ice Cream from Eating Well

1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
1  Tbsp water
2 cups corn kernels (about 3 ears)
2 cups 2% milk
1 (14 oz) can nonfat sweetened condensed milk
3 large egg yolks
1 cup low fat buttermilk

Directions:

Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl; let stand while you prepare ice cream.

Combine corn and milk in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until steaming. Whisk condensed milk and egg yolks in a large bowl until combined. Gradually pour the hot milk and corn into the egg yolk mixture, whisking until blended. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and, using a blender or immersion blender, puree the custard. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve or cheese cloth into a clean large bowl; press on the solids to extract the liquid; discard solids. Whisk the gelatin into the custard until melted. Whisk in buttermilk. Transfer to the refrigerator until chilled, at least 2 1/2 hours and up to 1 day.

Whisk the ice cream mixture and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. If needed, freeze to harden before serving. Store in freezer.

Yield: 10 servings (1/2 cup each)

Nutrition Information (per serving): 189 calories; 3.0 g. fat; 74 mg. cholesterol; 92 mg. sodium; 32.6 g. carbohydrate; 0.3 g. fiber; 6.9 g. protein

Result: This was quintessential summer — summer’s ice cream, if you will. The corn adds a unique flavor and texture along with a rich, milkiness. I love that pale yellow color, too. If you think outside the box and give this a go, I can’t imagine you’d regret it. Enjoy!

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 My friend from Chicago is coming up with her son today. 🙂 I need to grocery shop and do a TON of laundry. Boo. Sunday Blues are a comin’, I’m sure.

Be well,