Orange Blossom and Pistachio, An Ice Cream Bouquet

  I don't know about you, but I love, love, love, floral scented foods. Cooking with flowers was not something I grew with since most of the stuff that managed to survive in our foggy San Francisco garden was liberally doused with Bugetta. I can still hear that jingle in my head, "Bugetta Bugetta Bugetta, Bugetta kills snails!"
   Then came California cuisine and the liberal use of all sorts of exotic ingredients, including flowers. The trendy restaurants that I ate in in Los Angeles featured Nasturtiums among other things. I would see them in their pricey little plastic boxes at Whole Foods and Gelsons where I shopped, my Italian cheapo gene would kick in, and I couldn't bring myself to buy them. Then I'd be driving home from a meeting at the studio and see them blooming absolutely free by the roadside on PCH. It was all I could do to keep myself from pulling over to the side of the road and grabbing a fist full! Not wanting to be the centerpiece of a Sigalert, I never did. I'm telling you all this just to get my bona fides straight. I love flowers in my food. Really.
   Another thing I love, especially after an Indian feast when I'm too tired to fix anything else and want something light, is a nice floral ice cream.
   A little over a year ago I posted a recipe for Orange Blossom Ice Cream with pistachios. When I served it at my Kerala dinner last week, I mentioned it here and had some requests for this easy, tasty recipe. All you need is an ice cream machine. Here's what you do:

 In a bowl whisk together:
3/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of milk
 When the milk and sugar are well blended add in:
 2 cups of whipping cream
 2 Tbs of orange blossom or orange flower water
 Whisk it all well then pour it into the bowl of your ice cream maker and follow instructions.
 While the ice cream is whirling around in the machine, roughly chop about 1/2 cup of raw unsalted pistachios.
 5 minutes before your ice cream is done, dump the pistachios into the mix so they can be blended in.
  Try to make the ice cream at least 2 hours before you're planing on serving it so that it has time to set up in the freezer.
   
So there you have what I call The Orange Blossom Special. Catch it while you can, 'cause it goes really fast.