Kurt's Homemade Huckleberry Ice Cream (From Hill's Resort)

By Hklbrries

[Also see recipe in collection for English Toffee (From Hill's Resort)]


"Huckleberries and Hill's have been deliciously intertwined since the Priest Lake, Idaho, resort opened more than 50 years ago.

'My mom made so many huckleberry pies in the early days, she can't eat them to this day,' said Scott Hill, one of the chefs in the busy resort kitchen where huckleberries are the key ingredient in everything from a wine sauce for grilled lamb to frosty daiquiris.

These tart, tiny wild berries are gathered by local pickers from prickly bushes near meadows and on hillsides. Gleaned from secret and not-so-secret spots (off Lamb Creek Road and near Kalispell Creek, Hill said), more than 600 gallons of huckleberries are typically purchased by Hill's each year.

The berries freeze well, and are used throughout the year to prepare some of the resort's most popular menu items.

One of the best sellers in the lakeside dining room is a quintessential summertime treat - homemade huckleberry ice cream.

A longtime cook during the summer season - Kurt Stauber, who's now chefing at the renowned Oyster Bar near Bellingham - came up with this crowd pleaser three years ago.

'It's different from a lot of ice cream recipes because you cook the berries to concentrate the flavors,' said Hill, a 20-plus year veteran of Hill's kitchen, who spends winter months working at Colorado ski resorts.

The depth of flavor can also be attributed to using brown sugar to season the berries ('it just adds another interesting component,' Hill said) and letting the ice cream base cool overnight.

'You could put it in the ice cream maker right after you cooked it, but it will take a little longer,' he said.

The berry mixture is combined with a mixture of scalded milk, half-and-half and cream. Some of the huckleberries pop during the cooking process, releasing their distinctive dark juice, but many berries remain whole so the ice cream has an interesting texture as well as a lovely lavender color.

The ice cream alone would surely elicit satisfied sighs, but Stauber took the treat to a whole new level of 'mmmmmm' by adding chunks of Hershey's bars and serving made-from-scratch English toffee on the side.

'The toffee might sound complicated, but it's really easy to make,' Hill said.

Sliced almonds are browned in a mix of sugar and corn syrup before being smoothed on a flat surface and topped with chocolate chips. Those chips melt and are spread over the sweet almond mixture. Chill and break and you've got candy.

That candy goes just dandy with Kurt's Homemade Huckleberry Ice Cream, which you might sweet talk your server into scooping a la mode on a piece of huckleberry pie."

Leslie Kelly / Staff Writer

Ingredients

• Ice Cream:
• 3 cups milk
• 2 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 6 cups cream
• 1/2 gallon huckleberries (available at area farmer's markets late summer)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 6 Hershey bars, broken into pieces

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

Scald milk, white sugar and salt over medium-high heat, until bubbles just begin to form on the surface. Remove the milk from the heat and combine with the half-and-half and cream. Saute huckleberries with butter to release the juices. Add brown sugar and simmer for 10 minutes. Chill huckleberries. When cold, combine with cream mixture. Chill that mixture overnight or place in ice cream maker with rock salt and ice. After 20 to 30 minutes, remove the ice cream and fold in Hershey bars. Chill in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

["Saute the huckleberries in butter and then add the brown sugar. By gently boiling the berries,the flavor is concentrated. While that's cooking, scald the milk with the white sugar, which ensures that the sugar dissolves... Cool the berries and then add to the milk mixed with the cream. Refrigerate the mixture overnight for the best flavor... Process the ice cream base in an ice cream maker. Chef Scott Hill recommends adding more rock salt and ice during the 20 - 30 minute cycle. When the motor sounds as if it's slowing down, that's a signal that the mixture has made the transformation to ice cream... Add Hershey bars, broken into chunks, and chill for at least 2 hours in a covered container. 'We've thought about going with a more upscale chocolate, but kids just love those Hershey bars,' Hill said."]

Nutrition Information:
Per (1-cup) serving
518 calories
31 g fat (19 g saturated, 53 percent fat calories)
58 g carbohydrates
106 mg cholesterol
2 g fiber
161 mg sodium