A Summer Treat from Chef Nathan Lyon

Today I have very special DBS Obsession for my readers! Read on and you’ll be rewarded with a delicious treat…

Several years ago I started working with Visit San Luis Obispo County and Sunset Magazine to provide social media support to SAVOR the Central Coast, hosted at the Santa Margarita Ranch. Working on this exciting event is always a great time, and it has allowed me to meet a number of incredible chefs who have presented at the event.

The amazing barn at Santa Margarita Ranch, that serves as the home for all press activity at Sunset SAVOR, as well as the location of the main stage, where many of the chef presentations take place.

Chef Lyon on the Main Stage at Sunset SAVOR.

During last year’s event, I had the pleasure of meeting cookbook author and Emmy nominated culinary host, Chef Nathan Lyon (of Next Food Network Star fame), and his lovely partner-in-crime Sarah Forman (or as he refers to her, Super Sous). The two of them are a joy to be around, with smiles constantly on their faces. However, more pertinent to this post is the fact that Nathan is an INCREDIBLE chef.

Nathan and Sarah, aka Super Sous.

Kayaking the LA River.

I could go on and on about Nathan’s culinary history and many accolades, but I’ll just point you to his website for more information on him and his book: chefnathanlyon.com.

If you don’t see everything you want to there, not to worry, because this duo is behind a rare chef social media presence, done right. So often, the online presence of chefs come across as forced and inauthentic, but that is far from the case here. With content-rich profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Chef Nathan Lyon is nailing it in the social media realm, with a constant stream of drool-inducing images to fill your newsfeed.

Some downright delicious images from Chef Lyon's Facebook page.

As mentioned earlier, in addition to being a chef, Nathan is an author! I picked up his book, Great Food Starts Fresh, and am in love with it. It is no wonder that it made it onto The Washington’s Post’s ‘Top Cookbooks’ list. There are so many recipes that allow you to utilize the abundance of ingredients that we find in the farmer’s market throughout the year. I highly recommend this one.

Ok, enough with all of this food talk and no actual food! Chef Nathan Lyon was awesome enough to put together a delicious summer recipe, using my personal favorite brand of all things cheese, Cowgirl Creamery. Take a look at this tasty recipe that just screams SUMMER!

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Strawberry Crème Fraiche Cobbler Ice Cream
by Chef Nathan Lyon

Yield: Approximately 4 pints

1 pound hulled strawberries

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided

2 cups half-and-half

½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped out with a butter knife

6 egg yolks

1 cup Cowgirl Creamery crème fraiche

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

Cobbler (recipe below)

Place strawberries and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a blender. Blend until smooth, about 3 minutes. Strain the strawberries through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside.

Heat the half-and-half, ¼ cup sugar and vanilla bean and its seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Using a spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan, stir continuously until the liquid reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat, remove vanilla bean and set aside.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks and remaining ½ cup sugar on medium speed until the mixture is canary yellow in color, thick, and doubled in volume.

Reduce the speed to medium-low and very slowly stream in 1 cup of the hot, sweetened half-and-half mixture to the whisked egg yolks.

Pour the mixture into the original medium saucepan with the rest of the warm sweetened half-and-half. Pressing a spatula gently against the bottom of the pan, stir slowly and continuously and cook over medium-low heat until the custard thickens slightly and just reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Take your time.

Immediately remove from the heat and pour liquid into a wide medium bowl.

Stir in the crème fraiche, Grand Marnier and strawberry puree.

Place this bowl into a slightly larger bowl that is filled ⅓ of the way up with ice and water. Slowly stir until it is cool to the touch. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 8 hours. Cooling the mix before churning will give a smoother texture. Make the cobbler while the ice cream chills. Refrigerate the cobbler until needed.

Pour the chilled mixture into the ice cream machine and churn until a soft-serve consistency is achieved.

Transfer to a large container, stir in the cobbler - about 1 cup of cobbler for every 15 ounces of ice cream base you churn.

Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap to the surface of the ice cream, and freeze until very firm, at least 5 hours.

Cobbler:

Yield: approximately 3 cups

½ cup old-fashioned oats (not instant)

1 cup raw almonds, chopped roughly

1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

5 tablespoons butter, melted

Set an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the oats, almonds, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt in a medium bowl.

Pour the melted butter over the oat mixture. Mix to combine well.

Transfer cobbler onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and spread evenly on the pan.

Bake, until nuts are toasted, approximately 20 minutes.

Let cool and refrigerate until needed.