Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Frozen Dinner

This is time of year for ice cream - for dessert or for a snack. Not for dinner. However recently it was incorporated in a full six course meal. It was not six variations on sundaes and splits. Meats and veggies were actually served with it. To top it off dessert was ice cream as well.

This was the subject of an interesting article in the New York Daily News (which has some really good foodie articles from time to time) news reporter Irving DeJohn.The dinner was served at the Roger Smith Hotel as part of its ' Edible Conversations and was inspired by NYU adjunct. Prof.Laura Weiss; book Ice Cream :A Global History. The meals started off with Guinness Float shot which features vanilla iced cream and Stout. This is nothing new. Stout ice cream is popular right now in Manhattan ice cream bars.

It does get odder with the main meals. However the combinations do work. There was salmon crostini with horseradish ice cream that rendered the fish to almost like sushi.It was followed by beet carpaccio with a goat cheese flavored one. Pea soup was also served,topped with yogurt iced cream. The biggest surprise was the tastiness of a seafood ceviche paired with a lime sorbet. It worked well together and according to deJohn tasted like a fishy margarita. There was also a loin of venison with lingonberry iced cream which was no surprise. Oftentimes deer meat is served with sweet lingonberry jelly to balance out the gaminess. The meal ended with a bitter chocolate gelato, sprinkled with sea salt, caramel and pretzels.

Is ice cream for dinner the next big thing?It would be perfect during these hot days however
it;s better relegated to dessert. There's nothing like finishing up a meal with a frozen ball of chocolate, vanilla or fruity goodness.

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