B.B., Obama, and Sugar Free Butter Pecan Ice Cream with Lucilles

Like the President, he favors butter pecan ice cream, like millions he tests his blood sugar every day, but like no other he is the most recognized bluesman on the planet. The son of Mississippi Delta sharecroppers, Riley B. King, was born in 1925 and with the help of “Lucille” has influenced virtually every electric guitar player of his generation and beyond.
Leaving the Delta behind, the 21 year old no longer wanted to pick cotton with his mother for $10 a month. But he took with him, that soulful and bluesy field song rhythm. Singing allowed him to overcome his childhood stuttering and was his ticket to the big city. As a Memphis singer and DJ, he gained the nickname,"Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "B.B."
King was playing an Arkansas dance hall in 1949 when two men got into a fight and knocked over the kerosene heater, causing an explosion. He escaped but went back into the burning building to retrieve his beloved $30 guitar. The next day, King learned the fire which killed two people started with a fight over a woman named Lucille. He named that first guitar and all successors, Lucille, as a reminder never again to do something as stupid as run into a burning building or fight over women. To this day, Lucille is the mistress to B.B. King.
They say to play the blues you have to understand pain," says B.B. King as spokesman for painless diabetes testing and management products. He has lived with Type II diabetes for over twenty years and is a passionate spokesman in the fight for a cure.
He uses the same work ethic that established him as a Hall of Famer to stay in the best possible health. And he does all of this while maintaining a grueling tour schedule that this year will take him across the US and Europe. Diagnosed 25 years ago, he admits at first he knew little about this disease that had claimed both his parents. He soon learned that he could control it by testing and taking medications and decided that diabetes was something he could live with.
The King of the Blues has played in excess of 15,000 performances, released over 80 albums, traveled to 90 countries, and shared the stage with artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Eric Clapton, U2, Stevie Wonder and John Lee Hooker.
The high school dropout has received honorary doctorates from Yale University and the Berklee College of Music. He’s been inducted into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And like the President, he still finds butter pecan ice cream hard to resist.

Creamy and Sugar Free Butter Pecan Ice Cream

3/4 cup pecans ; 1 ½ tablespoons butter; 2 cups heavy cream; ½ cup milk ; ¾ cup DaVinci Praline sugar free syrup; 1/3 cup Splenda; 1/8 teaspoon sea salt;3 large egg yolks ;1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coarsely chop pecans. In a skillet melt butter over moderate heat until foam subsides. Toast pecans in butter, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Cool pecans and chill in a sealable plastic bag. Buttered pecans may be made 3 days ahead and chilled.

In a heavy saucepan mix cream, Splenda, milk, praline syrup, and salt; bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. In a bowl beat yolks until smooth. Add hot cream mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170° F. Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Stir in extract. Chill custard, its surface covered with plastic wrap, at least 3 hours, or until cold, and up to 1 day.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to a bowl and fold in chilled pecans. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

Lucilles
3 tablespoons DaVinci Praline Sugar Free Syrup
Additional chopped nuts for garnish
½ cup pecans, toasted
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup oat flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ pound (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into ¼ inch chunks
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a food processor, grind up the nuts to a coarse powder, pulsing on and off to ensure that they don’t become over processed. Add the flours, butter, spices and salt; pulse until evenly combined to a cornmeal-like consistency. Add 3 tablespoons of the syrup and mix with a fork just until the dough begins to hold together. Do not over mix. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4” and cut into small guitars or stars. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush the cookie tops lightly with additional syrup and sprinkle with additional chopped nuts. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until crisp and just brown on the edges. Cool on a rack.

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