A twist on a classic: Balsamic potatoes and sherry ice cream

BALSAMIC POTATOES

Serves 8, or more

Ingredients

1.3 kg large potatoes

150ml olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Salt and pepper

150ml balsamic vinegar

Fresh rosemary

Method

You’ll probably need to cook this in two batches. Slice each potato in half (vertically) and cut each half into wedges. Fry the potatoes in a non-stick frying pan (for best results), in a half or a third of the olive oil, depending on how many batches you’re doing. You need to have a lid for this frying pan.

Once the potatoes have started to brown, add the appropriate amount of garlic, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar, as well as some rosemary. Cover with the lid and cook until the potatoes are tender.

Remove the lid and cook on high to crisp up the potatoes and let any residual liquid evaporate. They should be a really dark colour and tender and very tasty. You can transfer them to a serving dish and if necessary, give them a blast in the oven before serving.

RAISIN AND SHERRY ICE CREAM

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

200g raisins

100ml sherry (use any sweet one you like)

700ml cream

300 ml milk

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 egg yolks

100g caster sugar

Method

Soak the raisins in the sherry for an hour or longer. You can do this while you make the base and give it its first blast in the freezer. Line a bowl suitable for putting in the freezer with cling film and set aside.

Heat the cream, milk, cinnamon stick and vanilla until nearly boiling and then remove from the heat to infuse while you beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. This should take at least five minutes with an electric beater. Add a generous ladleful of the hot cream mixture to the eggs and then add another one while whisking. Pour this egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the hot cream and cinnamon stick. Heat gently until it thickens and really coats the back of a wooden spoon. Take your time with this because you do need some genuine thickening from its initial state. But don’t let the mixture boil. When it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon – as opposed to running off it like a runny liquid – pour it through a sieve into the clingfilm-lined bowl. The sieve will catch the cinnamon stick and any little shards of anything resembling solidified egg.

Cover with the clingfilm and freeze this for about three hours. Then add the raisins and sherry and mix around so that they become evenly dispersed. Cover again with clingfilm and freeze for six hours or so. To serve, use the clingfilm to pull it out of the bowl and on to a nice plate. Serve with plum pudding, or on its own.

Food cooked and styled by Domini and Peaches Kemp