Looking for the ID of that mysterious fruit, I just found these recipes for
one of my favourite shrubs, Aloysia triphylla. It used to be known as
Lippia citrodora and is commonly known as Lemon verbena. I knew it could be
used to flavour a sponge cake by putting it in the bottom of the cake tin or
as a tea infusion but ice cream....?!
Poached Fruit in Lemon Verbena Syrup
1? cups water
? cup Sauvignon Blanc
? cup sugar
12 white peppercorns, lightly cracked
4 apricots, seeded and
quartered
1 cup cherries, halved and
pitted
48 lemon verbena leaves, torn
Combine the water, wine, sugar and white peppercorns in a medium saucepan.
Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer just until the sugar is
dissolved, about 1 minute.
Add the apricots, cherries and lemon verbena leaves. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes,
just until the fruit is almost tender yet still firm.
Remove the mixture from the heat and pour into a heatproof glass bowl. Let
cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Serves 4
to 6.
Lemon Verbena Ice Cream
1? cups milk
1? cups whipping cream
1? cups lightly packed small lemon verbena leaves
4 egg yolks
? cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
In a saucepan over low heat, bring the milk, whipping cream and lemon
verbena leaves to a full simmer. Remove the mixture from the heat, pour into
a glass bowl and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate
overnight.
The next day, strain the milk-cream mixture into a saucepan (discarding the
lemon verbena leaves) and heat to a simmer.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the egg yolks and sugar
until thick and lemon colored, about 1 minute.
Pour a third of the hot milk-cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture and
stir to blend, then pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan.
Heat and stir over medium heat until the custard begins to thicken and just
begins to bubble around the edge, about 3 minutes.
Remove the custard from the heat and pour it into a metal bowl. Set the bowl
in a larger bowl filled with ice water. Let the mixture stand, stirring
occasionally, until the custard is chilled. Whisk in the lemon juice.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer¹s directions.
Spoon the ice cream into a chilled glass bowl or loaf dish and freeze until
ready to serve.
Serves four to six.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'