This recipe uses an ingenious no-waste ingredient to top off a creamy peanut frozen custard. Coffee vinegar came to be in fashion in a way that many things do at Montgomery's Restaurant, from thoughtful observation and creative culinary problem-solving. The restaurant used a large coffee machine when it first opened and brewed much more coffee than Kim Montgomery and her husband and co-owner, Guy Rawlings, needed. Not wanting to be wasteful, Rawlings stopped thinking of it as coffee and more as a flavourful liquid and turned it into vinegar. Each day when they had extra coffee, they'd top up their coffee stash, before letting it ferment and age for nine months. It became a really complex sour liquid much like a barrel-aged stout. They've since invested in a smaller brewer, but still make coffee vinegar for the restaurant.
Peanut frozen custard
500 grams milk
500 grams cream
130 grams honey
100 grams sugar
100 grams roasted peanuts
26 grams brandy
4 grams salt
5 egg yolks
In a pot, over medium heat, add the cream and milk, and, stirring often, bring to a low simmer, approximately 176F.
While the dairy is warming, set up a double boiler, filling a pot with 2 inches of water. Bring the water in the pot to a simmer. In a metal bowl that fits on top of the pot, but doesn’t touch the water, add the egg yolks — but don’t put it over the heat yet.
When warm, whisk one third of the dairy over the yolks. Stir until incorporated, then add the rest of the dairy. Transfer the bowl with the dairy and egg mixture to the double boiler. Stir this mixture constantly until it reaches 161F. Once this temperature is reached, remove the bowl from the pot and place in a cold water bath and then in the refrigerator until chilled.
Once completely chilled, place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a strainer into to a bowl. Place the mixture back into the refrigerator and chill again at least eight hour (up to 24 hours). Chilling the custard mixture allows the protein and fat structures to change and results in a better-quality ice cream.
After resting the mix, churn the custard mixture in an ice cream machine.
Coffee vinegar jelly
500 grams coffee vinegar
250 grams sugar
5 grams agar
In a pot over medium-low heat, cook the sugar until it turns into a dark caramel. While the sugar is caramelizing, heat the vinegar in a small pot. Once the sugar has caramelized, slowly add vinegar, being careful as it can bubble up and burn you. Once all the vinegar and sugar is fully incorporated, whisk in the agar and bring it to a simmer. Pour this liquid into a container with a large surface area. Let the jelly cool to room temperature before moving it to the refrigerator. After a couple hours, pop the jelly out onto a clean cutting board and chop into very small pieces.
To serve, scoop the ice cream into and bowl and top with chunks of coffee jelly.
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