Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli – Eating House
Serves 8
Cream Cheese Sauce (make ahead):
½ c half & half
1 c cream cheese
2 oz sour cream
2 oz condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Keep the sauce refrigerated until ready to use.
For the Guava Ice Cream (make ahead, or purchase commercial):
1 c guava purée
2 c whole milk
½ c sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1 c heavy cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
1. Combine guava with milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until steaming, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks in a medium bowl until smooth.
3. When the guava mixture is steaming, slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.
4. Return the milk and egg yolks to the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Watch it carefully or the custard will curdle!
5. Pour the heavy cream into a separate bowl and set a fine mesh sieve on top. As soon as the custard is ready, remove it from the heat and immediately pour it through the sieve into the cream. Using the back of a spoon or spatula, press the guavas pulp against the sieve to push through as much juice and flesh as possible. Remove the sieve and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours (and overnight if possible), then churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
For the Maduros Foster:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 ripe plantains (Maduros), peeled and sliced in half crosswise, then in half lengthwise (yielding four pieces per plantain)
2 mini-bottles of Bacardí Oakheart Spiced Rum
½ tsp finely-grated lime zest
8 bowls, each with one scoop of guava ice cream
1. Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over low heat.
2. Add brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg and stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Add one mini-bottle of Bacardí Oakheart Spiced Rum and bring the sauce to simmer.
4. Add plantains and cook for 1 minute on each side, carefully spooning sauce over plantains as they are cooking and taking care not to mash the fruit.
5. Remove the plantains from pan to a serving dish and have a tablemate divide them among ice-cream filled bowls.
6. Bring sauce to a simmer and carefully add the second mini-bottle of Bacardí Oakheart Spiced Rum. If the sauce is very hot, the alcohol will flame on its own. If not, using stick flame, carefully ignite and continue cooking until flame dies out, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
7. If sauce is too thin, cook for 1 to 2 minutes until it is syrupy in consistency. Add lime zest and stir to combine. Immediately spoon the sauce over Maduros-guava ice cream.