Flavors for the Fourth

   The Fourth of July is the common name for Ice Cream Day. Not many people know this, but it's a fact. Everyone knows it's America's birthday, but a select few realize that the greatest way to celebrate America's forthcoming is to make and eat ice cream.



   Every year Grace Life Church of the Shoals holds a Fourth of July picnic (even if it's not on the 4th). This pleasant gathering is accented with blow-up items for the kids, Swamp Johns catered food, music, and wholesome family fun. But what brings the whole night together are the tables off to the side laden with buckets and buckets of homemade ice cream.

   Ah, the cold, creamy joy that is held in each bin can be felt as 6:30 approaches slowly, and the lines begin to form well in advance. This year, Shireshack made it's first appearance (last year I had the help of one of my partners, Austin Shirey, and we went under the alias 'Shirey Bros. Ice Cream Co.') Same ice cream, different name, different flavors, better quality. I took it upon myself to make two batches for the special occasion because I wanted to get my flavors out there, and also because I've had raving feedback about them and more and more people have been anxious to try it ("be anxious of nothing...except ice cream", I think it says.) The two flavors were a celebration unto this country, despite not having any patriotic colors or names. I used my favorite food ingredient: the peanut. Peanuts are widely and bountifully grown in the great state of Alabama, so I took advantage of them heartily.

1. Yellow Brittle Road - vanilla malt ice cream paved with homemade peanut brittle.

   I've been developing this flavor mindfully for sometime now. I've had Ben&Jerry's and Haagen Daaz's versions, but they left me in want for something greater, something tastier that would do the old, classic snack justice. My Grandpa used to make his own peanut brittle, and, as a kid, I ate some much of it that it made me sick one night. I hadn't eaten it in nearly 10 years. Couldn't stand the thought of it. Since then I've matured and wisely began eating it again. I missed out for a long while.
   Peanut brittle is elementary to make, but difficult to perfect. This was my first time testing it out. I had been talking over its inclusion into ice cream with my counterparts, and we decided that a unique way to introduce it would be to crush it into small pieces, so that it resembles Butterfinger in texture (not taste). And this is what I did. To facilitate this, as if it (the peanut brittle) knew what I intended to do with it, it came out slightly softer in form than the normal peanut brittle. Usually it is like a brick, and can crack a tooth. Mine, after it had hardened, had the crunch, but chewed like hard taffy. This worked perfect for what I wanted to do.
   I chose a malt base because vanilla alone was too simple, and plain. But vanilla malt added another element of flavor that would not complex things; rather, it would intensify them by creating a canvass in mild taste and flavor. It worked perfectly. I have to tweak a few things, like its inclusion amount, to make it a flavor I would sell in a scoop shop. The peanut brittle was the star of the ice cream with its huge crunch (a highly desired aspect for me) and bold taste, but it was supported by a brilliant base.

2. Roasted Honey Nut - extra-salty peanut butter ice cream ribboned with caramelized honey folded with roasted peanuts.

   Peanut butter is my favorite ice cream. Now that that is out there, we can proceed, and you can get an idea about why and how I do what I do with the amazing nut.
   Over the years I have grown tired of tasting pints of candy ice cream, and ending with dissatisfaction. By candy ice cream I refer to their "fake" taste fostered by their usage of liberal amounts of sugar. So, I chose to counter this commercial mistake by adding salt to my ice cream. You might be saying to yourself, "Hey Reese, there's already a bunch of salt in peanut butter." Well you're right, but not enough. Not enough for ice cream, that is. You see, ice cream contains sugar, it has to, or it would be tasteless cream. I add extra salt, and lots of it, to not only counter-balance this sugar effect, but to enhance the peanut flavor and to over-balance that sugar/salt scale so that it weighs down onto the salty side as opposed to the opposite outcome. If you had the pleasure of trying this one, you'll then know what I am talking about. It's salty. And it's good. It's the best ice cream I've ever had. Not to toot my own horn...but "Toot, Toot."

   I caramelize the honey by pouring an entire jar into a pan, heating it to boiling, and allowing it to cook there for several minutes. This does magical things to honey. Its color deepens to a dark amber; its flavor ripens and intensifies to a richer, sweeter, more powerful taste, which is recognized when it begins to aromatically release in warming waves from the stove top. That is when you have achieved greatness with honey. To this I had home-roasted and salted peanuts, and let them cook for a bit with the honey to let the flavors seep in and out.
   This ice cream is the essence of salty and sweet. That was the hope, and that is the outcome. Very salty counteracted with very sweet. It lights the taste buds up. It tricks the mind, and as a result you are rewarded with unparalleled tastiness.

   I had great, positive feedback about the flavors. Thanks to all who tried them out, and to those who were to afraid of them and settled for the bins of icy, plain, in-the-box, eggless, vanillas and chocolates, then I am sorry, and I urge to you take a step of faith and reach out toward greater things.
   This weekend my Research Director in NYC comes home to the Shoals, and together with our eldest brother, who is in charge of design, we will be churning out magic. Call us Wizards of Ice Cream if you want. Check back later this weekend for details, thoughts, and processes of our churn outs. Thanks for reading.

Eat more ice cream.

-Reese O'Shirey Esq.