NuM NuM

• 7 ounces sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice, approximately 2 to 3 pounds oranges
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups very cold whole milk*

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor combine all of the ingredients except the milk and process until the sugar is dissolved, approximately 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and whisk in the milk. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F or below, approximately 1 hour.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream. You may serve now or transfer to a lidded container and place in freezer until firm, approximately 3 hours.

Lobster brought a huge box of blueberries home the other day so I played Iron Chef with my secret ingredient. My first thought was blueberry muffins, but for some reason or another my mind shifted to dessert and this sorbet was born. Although the recipe states it's frozen yogurt - it has the consistency of a sorbet more than a fro-yo, so that's what we're callin' it! Sorbets are always so refreshing after a heavy meal and feel more like a palate cleanser then a glutinous dessert to me. It's scary how I can justify things in my mind.

Since the sorbet is made with yogurt it's more figure friendly then some of my other non "ass-friendly" creations like this and this and this. The only downfall of this sorbet is that is freezes rock solid. But I guess it's a good thing since it prevents me from eating out of the container with the freezer door open. Bon appetito!


Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes 1 1/2 quarts

3 cups plain yogurt or greek yogurt
1/3 cup to 1 1/2 cup sugar (depending how sweet you like it - I used 1/3 cup)
¼ tsp salt
6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tbs vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon

Cook berries, salt and sugar in saucepan over medium heat until berries get soft and dark juices run out of them about 5-10 minutes. Push through strainer then mix with extract and the lemon zest and chill in the fridge for one-two hours.

Freeze in your favorite ice cream maker per their instructions. Enjoy!

Bacon and ice cream? Disgusting right?! Wrong! Well...maybe. There was a hung jury on this one. IMO I have come to the conclusion that bacon and desserts should not go together - exclamation point! Since I'm a sweet and salty freak, I thought hands down, guaranteed, without a doubt, I would love this ice cream! Alas, I knew it wasn't a winner when I had no desire to lick the mixing arm of the ice cream maker. Woe is me. BUT, all was not lost because Lobster went nuts over this! He even deemed this his favorite ice cream of all time....strange man that Lobster is. Needless to say I was very surprised since we usually have similar tastes when it comes to food. Well, since I wasn't a fan he gets to hoard the entire batch for himself. I guess it's a blessing in disguise since I've been clogging my arteries lately with the ridiculous amount of sweets I've been consuming. Slowly my blog is turning into a dessert blog. I need to make a new food category on the NuM NuM labeled "ass friendly." Perhaps that will motivate me to cook healthier! In the interim, give this ice cream a try and see whatcha think.


Brown Butter Candied Bacon Ice Cream
Recipe from David Lebovitz
Makes about 3/4 of a liter

For the candied bacon:
5 strips bacon
about 2 tbs light brown sugar

For the ice cream custard:
3 tablespoons (45g) salted butter*
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar (170g), light or dark
1 1/4 cup half & half
1 1/2 cup 2% milk
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons dark rum or whiskey (I omitted)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional (I added)

1. To candy the bacon, preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, shiny side down.
3. Sprinkle 1½-2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon.
4. Bake for 12-16 minutes. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet. Continue to bake until as deep brown. Watch closely towards end of baking since these burn quickly. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a rack.
5. Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces about the size of rice grains.

Brown Butter Ice Cream:
6. To make the ice cream custard, melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and the half-and-half. Pour the milk into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top.
7. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
8. Cook over low to moderate heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens.
9. Strain the custard into the milk, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add liquor, vanilla and cinnamon, if using.
10. Chill the mixture until completely cool. Once thoroughly chilled, pour into ice cream maker. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.

*I added a little less then 1/8 tsp of kosher salt to my unsalted butter

For Lobster's birthday I served this ice cream along with a Chocolate Almond Meringue Cake. Little did I know this combo would be a match made in heaven and one of the tastiest desserts of ALL TIME! The ice cream by itself is yummmmay, but with the addition of the sweet and salty caramel sauce and popcorn, time stands still for a moment and you're in utter bliss. Okay, maybe I'm being the tiniest bit dramatic - but seriously this ice cream is LEGIT and one you should run or roll and make. Get your happy dance on!

Popcorn Ice Cream

Adapted from Almost Bourdain

1 1/4 cup 2% milk
1 1/4 cup half-an-half

Pinch of salt

1 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup prepared buttered popcorn (kettle corn or Cracker Jack's would be a great substitution)
Salted butter caramel sauce (*recipe follows)

Method

1. Heat the milk, half-an-half, popcorn, salt and half of the sugar in a saucepan until it's just below the boiling point and starts to bubble. Remove and sit for 30 minutes until the popcorn has thoroughly infused its flavor into in the cream mixture.
   

2. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.
3. Whisk together the other half of the sugar, vanilla and egg in a bowl to a ribbon stage.
4. Still whisking, pour the cream mixture into the egg mixture and pour this back into the cleaned-out pan and cook till a velvety custard.
5. When it's thickened, pour into a bowl and let it cool
6. Churn in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
7. Serve with salted butter caramel sauce and popcorn.
   

Salted Butter Caramel Sauce Recipe
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup + 1 tbs half-and-half
1/2 tbsp salted butter
pinch fleur de sel or coarse sea salt (or to taste)

Method

1. Spread the sugar in an even layer in a large metal pan. Set over moderate heat and cook without stirring, until the sugar near the edge just starts to liquefy.
2. Using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, begin gently stirring, encouraging the melted sugar around the edges toward the center and delicately stirring up any sugar melting on the bottom as well. The sugar will start to look pebbly as it cooks, but keep going; it will melt completely as it turns amber.
3. Continue to cook until the sugar turns deep brown and starts to smoke. (Don't worry about any large chunks of caramel.) The darker you can cook the sugar without burning it, the better the final sauce will taste. It's ready when it's the colour of a well-worn centime, or penny, and will smell a bit smoky.
4. Remove from heat and quickly stir in about a quarter of the cream. The mixture will bubble up furiously, so you may wish to wear an oven mitt over your stirring hand. Continued to whisk in the cream, stirring as you go to make sure it's smooth. Stir in the butter and salt. Serve warm. If you like your sauce a bit thinner or less rich, add 1 tbs water.

Storage: The sauce can be made up to one month in advance and kept refrigerated. Rewarm the caramel in a small saucepan over low heat or in a microwave.

Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Just imagine a mad scientist in his lab celebrating after inventing a cure for all of man kind. Now, imagine that scientist is ME and I successfully made ice cream with tofu. That's right - your eyes are not deceiving you......TOE....FOO! When I thought of the idea, I thought there would be no way it could work. But since I've wanted to try this recipe for a while now, I thought - what the heck.

Well friends, let me tell you - this ice cream is O.O.C. - out of control!!! This is the kind of dessert when you take a bite your eyes instantly get BIG because it is the BOMB! I'm glad lobster wasn't around when I made this because I was hovering over the kitchen sink licking the mixing arm of the ice cream maker. Then, something terrible almost happened. Thankfully I caught myself before the event took place, but, I was literally inches away from licking the bowl of the ice cream maker until genius here realized it's frozen metal and my tongue could possibly get stuck to it. I imagine that would be very difficult to explain to lobster and the paramedics.

I'm so glad my little experiment was such a success! Lobster could not detect the tofu whatsoever. The inspiration for the tofu is due to the fact that lobster and I are trying to eat healthier so I thought I'd make a "healthy" ice cream. Don't think you can have those two words in the same sentence but - anyway, instead of heavy cream I substituted Silken firm tofu and swapped 2% for whole milk. That automatically makes the ice cream healthy right?! Let's just pretend the other half of the recipe is not made with sugar. Baby steps I say! I'm so glad I made this to celebrate the day of my birth many, many sad moons ago. This just softened the blow of aging another year. Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEE :D

Other recipes to sneak in tofu:
Lemon "Cream" with Fresh Raspberries
Lighter Eggplant Parmesan
Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Tofu "Egg Salad" Sammie


Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz
One generous quart (liter)

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but be sure to use good salt. I use fleur de sel, but if you don’t have it, a mild-tasting sea salt will do in a pinch, such as Maldon, fine gray salt, or kosher salt. Don’t use ordinary fine table salt; it’s far too harsh.
Because of the caramel in this ice cream, once churned and frozen, it’ll remain nice & creamy (as shown in the photo.) To make it firmer, crank up your freezer a bit or store it in a shallow pan.

For the caramel praline (mix-in)
1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, such as fleur de sel

For the ice cream custard
2 cups (500 ml) 2% milk, divided
1 1/2 cups (300 gr) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 gr) salted butter*
scant (no more then) 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 10 oz package silken tofu, firm
5 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. To make the caramel praline, spread the 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan: I use a medium size non-stick pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil.
2. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.)
Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn. It won’t take long. (I stopped when it became a dark auburn color)
3. Without hesitation, sprinkle in the 3/4 teaspoon salt without stirring (don’t even pause to scratch your nose), then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.
4. To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it. Remove tofu from container and drain out liquid. Add tofu to a blender with 1/4 cup of milk and blend until completely smooth.
5. Spread 1 1/2 cups (300 gr) sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, using the same method described in Step #2.
6. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in all of the tofu mixture, stirring as you go.
The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in remaining 3/4 cup (250 ml) of the milk.
7. Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).
8. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.
9. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
10. While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about 1/2-inch, or 1 cm).
11. Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm. (I churned my ice cream for 25 minutes then added the caramel pieces and churned for an additional 5 minutes)

*I add 1/8 tsp kosher salt to 4 tbs of unsalted butter to make salted butter

Note: As the ice cream sits, the little bits of caramel may liquefy and get runny and gooey, which is what they’re intended to do.

Variations: Add some strong liquid espresso (or instant espresso powder) to the custard to taste, prior to churning the ice cream to make Coffee-Caramel Ice Cream.
Other options might be some of the mix-ins in The Perfect Scoop, like gooey Dark Chocolate Truffles, crackly chocolate Straciatella, or Oatmeal Praline folded in at the last minute.
This is also excellent served with warm Mocha Sauce (page 166), although it’s also excellent melting over sautéed apples or alongside a wedge of apple pie or tarte Tatin for a caramel double-whammy.

Happy dance alert! Happy dance alert! Now, you must imagine me saying it like the Weinerschnitzel commercial, "weiner dude alert, weiner dude alert!" But no weiners involved here - just yummy ice cream. This dish will definitely make you do the happy dance! Ever heard of Butter Pecan Ice Cream? Well, say HELLO to his little friend Salted Butter Almond Ice Cream. This is a new and improved "grown-up" version since it's rich, sweet, and dreamy...oops, I meant creamy and kicked up a notch with some Fleur De Sel sea salt. Butter Pecan is one of my favorite ice creams but since I get to control what goes into my homemade version, I knew I wanted to turn it into a sweet and salty combo. The Fleur de Sel enhances all those sweet flavors and takes you into OMG Ice Cream HEAVEN! If you've never heard of Fleur de Sel, it's a salt you use to finish a dish and it adds a fresh, smooth, salty bite that is quite palatable on the tongue. Since it's not as harsh as table salt it's a nice compliment to any dish - especially sweet desserts. I highly recommend splurging and buying some.

I made this ice cream in celebration of our country's National Ice Cream Month. Who knew there was such a thing? If only we could celebrate National Ice Cream month everyday. Well, maybe we'll just have to start a new tradition in the house of the NuM NuM! I know others will be pleased since it means I'm one step closer to calling myself an AMERICAN! (That's a shout out to my lobster and C.G.W.M.)

NOTE: This ice cream was quite cumbersome to make and I did run into a few hiccups along the way but the end product was SUPERB! The recipe below is my adapted version and I put my notes in parenthesis, but if you want the original recipe just click on the link.


Salted Butter Almond Ice Cream
Adapted from All Recipes
Makes two quarts
1/2 cup = 210 calories

• 3/4 cup whole almonds
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, not packed down*
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups fat free milk
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. In a medium sized heat-safe bowl (metal, ceramic, or glass), whisk together the eggs until well blended. Set aside.
2. Pour the heavy cream into a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and set a medium-mesh sieve on top. Set aside.
3. In a medium thick-bottomed saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter cook it, stirring constantly, until it just begins to brown. Add the brown sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar completely melts.
4. Slowly add the milk and half an half, stirring to incorporate. It will foam up initially, so make sure you are using a pan with high enough sides. Heat until all of the sugar is completely dissolved. (I don't think my sugar completely melted so it got hard once I poured in the half an half and milk. If this happens to you, just be patient and the sugar will automatically release from the bottom and dissolve into the liquid) Do not let boil or the mixture may curdle. (mine ended up curdling but I continued with the recipe)
5. Whisk in hand, slowly pour half of the milk and sugar mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly to incorporate. Then add the warmed egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk sugar mixture.
6. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof rubber spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula, about 5-7 minutes (my entire liquid ended up curdling and almost ended up looking like scrambled eggs and never thickened but I continued onward)
7. Pour the custard through the sieve and stir it into the cream. (since my liquid curdled I pushed most of the liquid through the sieve and left a lot of the curdled bits in the sieve and threw it away - the cream/custard mixture was very liquidy before I put it into the machine but once it churned it was fine) Add vanilla and stir until cool over the ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
8. While the mixture is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Lay out the almonds on a roasting pan in a single layer coat with some melted butter or butter PAM spray and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until lightly toasted and fragrant. Let cool. Once cool, roughly chop the almonds and set aside.
9. Pour chilled cream mixture into ice cream maker and churn for 25 minutes or to desired consistency. Add chopped almonds and churn for another 5 minutes. Eat right away or put into air tight container with plastic wrap touching the ice cream so crystals do not form on it.

*You could probably get away with using 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar I imagine - but I didn't try it

Hey yoooo...it's fro-yo!! Oh my, I am just getting cheesier and cheesier the more I blog. Anyway, who knew basil and strawberries could be such a good combo. This fro-yo is not only tasty but it is good for you! This is the one time it is indeed pleasure on the lips and NOT forever on the hips. The entire recipe is only 505 calories. That means you could eat the whole thing in one sitting and not get fat. But don't do that - that would just be disgusting...or would it?! Don't worry I won't judge. Go ahead pick up the bowl and lick it clean.


Strawberry Basil Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from My Gourmet Connection
Makes about 3 quartz

3 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup sugar (see note)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tbs high quality balsamic vinegar
1 lb strawberries, washed and roughly chopped
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

In a large bowl, mix the Greek yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and balsamic until well combined.

In a small food processor, pulse the strawberries until pureed. Add the basil and pulse until chopped, but you can still see pieces of the green. Add the strawberries to the yogurt mixture and refrigerate for at least an hour until chilled.

Transfer the mixture to the ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. (Mine took 20 minutes) Transfer to a container and freeze for another 2-4 hours before serving.


Note: I only used one tablespoon plus one tsp of Splenda and it was sweet enough. I think I only needed to use a small amount of sugar b/c I used a really good quality balsamic vinegar that added sweetness and tartness to the mixture.

Hazelnut Chocolate Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!!! Wow, say that five times fast. This ice cream is heaven in a bowl!!! OMG...it's soooooo goooooood. What does it mean when you're licking the bowl?

So I finally caved and bought an ice cream maker. After making this, I don't know how I've gone this long without one. It's so fun making your own ice cream!!! I was literally jumping and prancing around the kitchen while the ice cream was churning - I was THAT excited. I really was a little kid in an ice cream store.....my own ice cream store as a matter of fact :) I cannot wait to see what other creations I can make with this contraption. Stay tuned!


Hazelnut Chocolate Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Makes one quart

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (Decaffeinated Hazelnut Hawaiian coffee beans from Henry's Market)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground coffee (press grinds through a fine mesh sieve)
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped fine

Method
1. Heat the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is quite warm and steamy, but not boiling. Once the mixture is warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set on ice over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.
3. Reheat the milk and coffee mixture, on medium heat, until again hot and steamy (not boiling!). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 5-10 minutes.
5. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Then discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and finely ground coffee, and stir until cool.
6. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. In my ice cream maker I churned it for 25 minutes then added the chocolate chunks and churned for an additional 5 minutes. Eat right away or transfer ice cream to an air tight container and cover ice cream with plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming.

*Home made ice cream becomes very hard when frozen so leave it out at room temperature for a bit before serving
**Sprinkle Fleur De Sel over your scoop of ice cream and it takes it to a whole new level!

Since today is officially the second day of summer, I am kickin' things off with some homemade Fro-Yo! This is the healthiest "ice-cream" EVER and tastes fantastic!!! Granted, I won't be swearing off my favorite store bought ice creams "Butter Pecan" and my new fave "Americone Dream," (SO GOOD) but this is a great substitute when you want something cold and sweet on those hot summer nights that'll soon be approaching. Try this recipe with your favorite fruit combination and you too can enjoy Fro-Yo in the comfort of your own home.


Frozen Strawberry Yogurt
Adapted from No Fear Entertaining

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of whole fat plain yogurt
1 cup of pureed strawberries (cut up and pureed in your blender or food processor)
Honey to taste (I used 1/3 cup)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturers directions until frozen
Scrape into a sealable container and freeze for about 2 hrs or until firm enough to scoop.
OR just put yogurt in container and chill in freezer until firm.

***This could easily be adapted to any fruit you have and can make into a puree...think raspberry, blackberry, cherry or even banana!!!

***Total calories for the entire Fro-Yo is less then 600 calories....WOW!

When life gives you figs, make some sorbet! Lobster brought home a few dozen figs the other day so I had a lot of experimenting to do. I sliced them and ate them with Greek yogurt drizzled with some honey, stuffed them in a pork tenderloin with some blue cheese wrapped in bacon and then finally made some sorbet. As you can see since there's no post for the pork, it didn't make it on the NuM NuM. But the sorbet was surprisingly tasty and refreshing. Who knew it was so easy to make your own sorbet at home! No fancy ice cream maker required - although I am trying everything humanely possibly to justify why I don't need another appliance in my kitchen. Anyway this sorbet was a nice ending to a meal on a hot summer night. I imagine you could swap out the figs for any kind of fruit and it would be just as delicious. Bon Appetit!


Fig Sorbet
Adapted from here
Makes about 6 cups

10 figs (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 lemon (untreated, you will need a clean peel)
1 1/2 cup water
Balsamic vinegar

1. Cut the ends (and stem pieces) from the figs, and cut into large chunks (keep the skins on). Add the 1/4 cup water to the fig pieces in a medium frying pan or saucepan and zest the lemon directly into the mix. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the sugar and one turn of your hand around the pan with some balsamic vinegar and stir with the lid off until they start to break down and get “jamlike.” Remove from heat and let cool. Puree the mixture (I used a mixer) and slowly incorporate the 1 1/2c. water while blending. Taste and add more water and/or lemon juice if necessary.
3. Pour into a freezer-safe dish and freeze for several hours (or use your ice cream machine). (I used a Pyrex glass dish) Set out for 5-10 minutes before serving to soften.