Duck Egg Decadence
The one tried and true method of breaking me out of a food rut is to ONLY cook something I'm craving. Such was the case one midsummer, when, to my children's greatest delight, I spent three weeks making a whole lot of ice cream. My small garden was cranking out 1,000 zucchini every day and little else. It was too hot and humid to cook inside our 175-year-old farmhouse. And my children couldn't hide their despair as I lit up the grill, pulled out the chicken breasts and made foil packets of zucchini, garlic and butter AGAIN.
About this time, our new four-quart ice cream maker arrived. My Pinterest board overflowed with ice cream recipes, and I was going to try them all! At first, I tried making a couple of the eggless recipes. They were fine—even good—but not worth the cost of the ingredients.
So, I girded my loins and set about cooking my first custard base for ice cream. It turned out to be much simpler and more doable than I had imagined. And this ice cream made with custard and cream was downright dreamy. I was hooked! For the first go-round, I pulled local strawberries out of the freezer and made the freshest treat I had ever tasted.
This was the same summer that my runner ducks began to lay. These little waterfowl clowns are an adorable addition to our farmyard and pastures. I love watching them comically toddle around upright, quacking happily as they go. They are prolific layers of delicately green eggs that are rich and delicious. They are also really awesome at hiding their nests, so I have turned the children into duck stalkers to discover where they bury these treasures.
Ice cream in the summer is not a revolutionary idea. I know. But what was revolutionary to me was when, because I was making so much ice cream, I ran out of chicken eggs and had to substitute duck eggs. It was a food epiphany! Duck eggs are known for their richness because of their larger yolks. Since the ice cream base is a custard made from egg yolks, they make the ice cream next-level decadent. Ridiculously delicious. The chocolate duck egg ice cream was so rich and silky I shed a dramatic tear while I cried, “Oh my God, this is sooooo goood!”
This summer, our meals will be filled with grilled fresh veggies and meats and sometimes salmon fresh from our smoker. But some nights we might just have ice cream for dinner and call it "summer." It’s become a tradition, and we’ve taken to it like ducks to water.
