Father's Day 2023

Ann set up a dinner with Rob and Dyce on Father's Day in which she planned to make risotto-stuffed poblano peppers. I love it when she cooks. Rob and Dyce volunteered to bring some cheese and wine to kick off the evening. I ended up making a Margarita sorbet for dessert. All in all, a great evening.

Ann's Risotto Stuffed Poblano with Lime Crema

Rob and Dyce went way overboard with the cheese, including artfully arranging the three cheeses on a board with grapes, figs, dried apricots, Marcona almonds, a jar of chutney, and three types of crackers. The three cheeses were a Comte, a locally smoked Cheddar, and the star of the show, a super runny Quinta from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company. This is a bloomed rind cheese similar to Vacherin Mont d'Or and was so ripe that we sliced the top off and scooped out all the yumminess from inside.

Rob and Dyce's Cheese Board

Poblanos, Peeled, Seeded and Ready to Stuff

Early in the day while Ann was out, I torched the poblanos, then peeled and seeded them. The procedure for this is outlined in a post from a few years back. Also, I sliced some fresh corn from the cob for Ann's risotto. Later in the day, Ann took over in the kitchen and made the risotto base, then stuffed the poblanos, and readied them for the oven.

Kitchen Queen Making Risotto

Once the risotto base was done, she stirred in some fresh corn kernels, a bit of chipotle adobo, and a big handful of grated pepperjack cheese to make the filling for the poblanos. The peppers got a sprinkle of cotija cheese on top before going into a hot oven for 40 minutes, followed by five minutes under the broiler to brown a bit.

Poblanos Rellenos Just Out of the Oven

After dinner, I started up the venerable ice cream machine on a Margarita sorbet base that I made earlier in the day, recipe below. I have never made such a sorbet before and took a wild guess at how to make it. The end result was awesome, so I wouldn't change a thing. It is somewhat expensive to make, however, requiring a lot of fresh limes and most of a bottle of tequila. The results though!

It Takes a Lot of Limes to Make Sorbet

My Venerable Musso Ice Cream Machine

Part of the reason for the success of the sorbet was that I made a different one each night at the restaurant and so I have a lot of experience at it. But a bigger part of the success is down to the machine in which I made it, my 20-year old Musso machine from Italy. Weighing in at nearly 70 pounds, this beast is barely portable from the garage where I store it to the kitchen where I use it. It will knock out a half gallon of sorbet in about 20 minutes and will keep doing it all night long, witnessed by its use in the restaurant where it ran for the better part of each night, churning out intermezzo course after intermezzo course for over a decade.

The Margarita sorbet recipe follows. I have divided it into two parts for ease of explanation.

Tequila Simple Syrup

The following recipe yields about 2 liters of syrup, a bit more than you will need to make a 2-liter batch of Margarita sorbet. Save any leftover tequila syrup for your bar where you can use it in tequila and mezcal cocktails. I have specified a liquid volume of sugar because I am lazy: I use a single one-liter measure to measure the sugar, then the liquid ingredients, limiting the amount of dishes that I have to wash.

500 ml reposado tequila
1500 ml water
500 ml granulated sugar

Add the three ingredients to a 3-quart or larger saucepan, stir well, and bring to a slow boil. Once all the sugar is incorporated into the syrup, turn off the heat and let the syrup cool before using. Syrup can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days. For longer storage, I put it in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator.

Margarita Sorbet

This is a base recipe for 2 liters (basically a half gallon) of sorbet. 

juice of a dozen limes (about 500 ml)
enough tequila simple syrup to make 2 liters (about 1500 ml)
one shot of Curaçao (about 50 ml)

Mix all the ingredients and taste for sugar-acid balance. I like mine on the tarter side. Add more lime juice or tequila syrup as you see fit. Refrigerate until cold before putting it in your ice cream machine. Adding the bit of alcohol in the Curaçao will help to lower the freezing point of the mix and will help ensure a smoother sorbet with smaller ice crystals. It will also extend the freezing time by a bit (in my case, 25 minutes versus 20 minutes). You can transfer the sorbet to a freezer for a half hour or so to fully firm up.

Hatozaki Small Batch Whiskey

We finished the evening with a nightcap of Hatozaki Small Batch whiskey. I'm a devoted Scotch drinker, but recently I have been branching out to taste malts from other part of the world. I find this whiskey, like almost all Japanese whiskey, smooth and mellow. I prefer rougher and tastier Scotch, but it is no real hardship educating myself on the worldwide differences in malts. Happy Father's Day to me!