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Bacon Float Is The Cat's Meow

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

We are childless parents of six furry babies, feline and canine alike. But little things like retirement and becoming elderly invalids concern us. Who will take care of us when we can no longer feed ourselves? More importantly, who will cook for us so that we are not relegated to a life of Armour heat-and-eat processed frozen dinners?

Our only choice was to teach one of the "kids" how to cook.
Fisty Joe, the youngest of the clan, was attracted to the sights, smells and flavors of the kitchen almost upon birth. On many a day, we would find him perched on the kitchen counter, face first in a fresh-from-the-oven roasted chicken cooling for that night's dinner, or grazing gently from the crisp leafy greens of arugula tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette waiting to be brought to the supper table.

Oh, sure, there was a lot of yelling at first, and a lot of calls for take-out to replace partially eaten chicken carcasses covered with cat spit. Eventually, though, we realized Fisty was not just some cat sneaking a tender morsel. He genuinely appreciated the entire process.

He would sit in his "safe corner" and intently watch everything we would do. Stirring, sauteing, and chopping, it was all music to his highly attuned little ears.

We have now learned that if we give Fisty a sampling of whatever the day's creation is, he will not take it upon his feline self to sneak a taste when our backs are turned. So far, his only displeasure is limes. If there is pork or cream anywhere in the dish, he'll eat with the fury of a lion. So, you can only imagine his excitement when Daddy (Greg) taught him how to make Maple Bacon Ice Cream.

Ice cream is actually VERY easy to make, and you do not need an ice cream maker or opposable thumbs to get the job done. Any food processor will do the trick. For this recipe, the taste is a cross between custard, bacon, pancakes and AWESOME!

We just couldn't resist the bottles of root beer in the fridge, or the not-yet opened bottle of Maker's Mark in the bar. The Maple Bacon Ice Cream Bourbon Root Beer Float was born and, no, Fisty did not drink any bourbon. What kind of parents do you think we are?

You can make any flavor of ice cream you wish with the basic process of this recipe; just substitute the maple, miso and bacon with your flavor of choice.

MAPLE MISO BACON ICE CREAM BOURBON ROOT BEER FLOATS (Inspired by David Lebovitz's Candied Bacon Ice Cream)

For the bacon:

6 strips of bacon (1/4-inch, center-cut works best)

1/2 cup light brown sugar (a little more or less, depending on the size of your bacon)

4 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons white miso

1 quart heavy cream

1 vanilla bean - split

1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

12 egg yolks

Maker's Mark bourbon
Root beer
Place the bacon strips on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so that the strips do not touch, then cover liberally with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool, then chop.

For the ice cream:

Over medium heat, slowly whisk the maple and miso in a small pot, until combined.

Place the cream and vanilla in a pot over medium heat until steaming, about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the Turbinado sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and beat them like you should have done to the wrestling team back in high school, that time they caught you walking alone at night. ... Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm back.

When the cream is steaming, gradually add 1/4 cup to the egg mixture; stir very well. Repeat this with another 1/4 cup. This is called tempering the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the pot of cream and stir - don't stop, even for a second, or you'll get scrambled eggs - until the mixture begins to thicken, about 3-4 minutes.

Strain the mixture into a bowl, then pour the mixture into as many shallow dishes or baking pans as can fit into your freezer and will hold the entire amount. Place this into the freezer for 2-4 hours, until the custard is completely frozen.

Working in batches, use a spoon to scrape thin shavings from the custard and place them in your food processor. Then, pulse the custard in the food processor until it's creamy. Move the custard from the food processor to a bowl, and repeat with the remaining custard.

Finally, fold in the candied bacon bits; place this mixture into an airtight container and return to the freezer to harden, about 2-3 hours.

The custard is now ice cream, so put some Maker's Mark in a glass, add some root beer, and top with a couple of scoops of the ice cream.

Greg Baker is a classically trained executive chef with more than 20 years of trendsetting restaurant experience. Greg and Michelle are co-owners of Cooks & Company Personal Chef and Catering. Go to www.cooksncompany.com or www.culinarysherpas.com.

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