Bonus Episode - Cigar Ice Cream with Rian Johnson

In this bonus episode, writer-director Rian Johnson tells Ruthie about the time he infused ice cream with tobacco, as well as debating the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

Ruthie's Table 4, made in partnership with Moncler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You were listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I got really into making ice creams around twenty fifteen
or so, ten years ago. Yeah, and so I have
this great just Italian, you know, one of the big
with the compressor inside it that can freeze anything, which
is great because it takes away you know, you don't
have to be that good at making your if your

(00:24):
customer isn't right on, it'll still freeze it. And yeah,
I love I mean I went off and did like
I got into doing like infusions in the ice cream.
I tried and infusing tobacco and then ice cream once
it was delicious, and I thought that that was like arsenic.
I thought that was poisonous. But I read a recipe
where it was like, no, if you just do it

(00:45):
it just for a bit, and so.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
How you did it?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah, I literally just took pipe tobacco, which which
I had some of, and it was just like ten
minutes infusing it in the custard base. And there's other
arians where you can add liquid, smoke and stuff, but
this gave like a really it was a cigar ice cream.
But honestly, end of the day, I just if you
can pull off just a terrific terrific, just like French

(01:12):
vanilla or terrific fresh strawberry ice cream. Yeah, I mean
there's nothing like the basics. I think.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
More and more like vanilla ice cream at the end
of the meal. I just love too the vanilla. You know,
we use the vanilla pods and you scrape them and
you have the right amount of vanilla. We've also found
a variance of the type of vanilla pods about a
Gascar has vanilla pods. They're expensive, yeah, but they're crucial,
you know, to have the right vanilla. But I love
a vanillaska. Also, I think we're doing Francis Coppola. You know,

(01:43):
he's living in London now and so he's.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Coming listen to your podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
And he when he comes, we absolutely have to have
chocolate sorbet.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeahs a superficial.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
I think a lot of people like the lack of dairy.
I don't know if we have it on the menu tonight,
I'll give you some.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think. Actually I think I had the chocolate sorbet here,
and what surprise me about it is how like if
I didn't know it was sorbet and not a gelato
or ice cream. I don't know if I would have told,
because it's equally as rich and almost as like it's
like the equivalent of a flowerless chocolate cake. But like, yeah,
it's really good.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I was in Spain last weekend and they made a Nemesis,
you know, the chocolate cake that we do, And when
I saw it in the tin, I said, how are
you guys going to get this out? Because it was
so completely big and they scoop it out like an
ice cream, a different way of eating Nemesis all but
I love it.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
I love it, like the massive cherum asu that they
just like to take it out. That's fantastic. Wow.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
But you make sorbets as well with that.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I've dabbled in sorbets, but it took me a while
to get my custard game just right. And once I
kind of got the hang of that, that just guarantees
like a perfect creamy, delous like impressive ice cream and
so and you can obviously then make any flavor combo
you want. You know, you can do. There's so much
to go from there, and I personally don't don't have

(03:10):
a problem with dairy, so I usually just default the basics,
because yeah, I'm trying to think of the last time
I made a sorbet.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
No, it was the last time you made an ice cream.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well it's been a bit, but but I've been baking cookies.
A friend gave me as a gift a great book.
I think it's called Crumb and it's it's regional cookie
recipes from like across the world, and it's just really basic,
like traditional cookies, but it's really fun, just like trying
the Swedish gingerbread cookies versus like the Mexican coachilla like

(03:42):
that you do like in the in the forum, in
the shape of a little pigs and like, I don't know.
It's so I've been on a cookie jag.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Recently we found the greatest recipe for chocolate chips. Okay,
because that's hard. Well, everybody has a different I like
some very thin and crisp. Some people like them really
During COVID, I tried to what's your favorite? I like
a thin one. I kind of use this I think
it was from Originally it's from the New York Times,

(04:08):
the one on the back of the toll house chocolate chips.
That's a classic one. But I quite like them like
one of the ones that you can also buy in
a packet. I don't know what they're called.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
It's the margarita pizza. It's like nothing to hide behind.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
It like I do, like I really do like to
end a meal with an ice cream rather than a cake.
And I do like vanilla. Yeah, sometimes an espresso over it.
It's quite nice.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Thank you for listening to Ruthie's Table for in partnership
with Montclair