I have an old college friend who, like me, has a food blog.  Hers, however, is a global eating adventure; she visits restaurants all around New York City, tasting food from different cultures.  Seeing as this is New York and we have the world at our fingertips, this isn’t like “Mexican this week, Italian next week.”  She goes to the farthest reaches of the globe while staying right here in the boroughs.

We get together for dinner every few months, and I suggested that our next dinner date be a field trip for DeeDee’s Food Adventures.  We decided to go to Africa Kiné, a Senegalese restaurant where I enjoyed the national dish of Thiebou Guinaar.  The food was great, the service was atrocious.  But, we had a good time catching up and sharing stories.

The next day it dawned on me that our dining choice was quite appropriate as Senegal is currently going through an important, albeit rough, election process.  In commemoration of these global politics and to complement my friend’s blog post, I researched Senegalese desserts.  Senegal claims to be the peanut capital of Africa, if not the world.  So, I opted for a very interesting Peanut Ice Cream (Crâme Glacée d’Arachide).  The cool thing about this is that you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this dessert, so homemade ice cream is within reach of everyone.

This ice cream is slightly less smooth and creamy, but more filling than your normal store-bought ice cream.  Also, it freezes pretty hard so pull it out of the freezer a few mintues before you intend to eat or serve it.

Senegalese Peanut Ice cream
Crâme Glacée d’Arachide
Adapted from:  Celtnet

12 oz evaporated milk
3 T lemon juice
1/3 c sugar
2/3 c creamy peanut butter
7 oz condensed milk
3 T whole milk

• Immerse the tin of evaporated milk in boiling water, cover and continue boiling for 20 minutes. Remove from the water and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Put your mixer’s whisk attachment in the refrigerator as well so it is nice and cold when you need it.
• Using the chilled whisk, whip chilled evaporated milk until light and frothy. Add the lemon juice and sugar and beat until combined.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine the peanut butter, condensed milk, and whole milk.    Make sure the peanut butter is well incorporated.
• Carefully fold the two mixtures together and mix until smooth.
• Pour into molds or one large dish and freeze.

Serves: 8  (depending on dish size, of course)
Calories: 340