Fresh Mint Ice Cream

With each bite, I feel like this is what rich people eat. It has a feel of decadence in my mouth. The mint flavor is familiar to me somehow. I'm not sure from where. Did they used to make things with real mint when I was a small child? Who knows. The mint flavor is cleaner than with mint extract. It also has deeper peppery notes that are a sort of aftertaste. Then sometimes I ate this ice cream and thought "It's good but nothing special. I might like the fake mint better." I guess that's why it's taken me so long to post this. I have no idea what my opinion of the mint ice cream is. I was inspired to make this from this post and this post and this post and this post. I've made my own version. Some of the other versions also added some chopped fresh mint when you add the cream and vanilla. I think I'll do that next time. I was using caution, because I know that fresh mint can end up having a toothpaste flavor when it is too strong. Also I didn't want to over pick my mint and I'd already taken plenty off the plant for this ice cream. Oh, you can't tell in the picture, but the ice cream has a slight green color that comes from the mint, not food coloring.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 c milk

1 c mint (loosely packed)

3 egg yolks

1 c sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c cream

3 1/2 oz dark 60% chocolate, chopped (I used a bar of Hershey's extra dark)

Heat the milk and mint leaves until they reach a slow boil. Cover and steep for 30 minutes. Pour the milk through a strainer to remove the mint leaves. Press on the mint leaves to get all the milk out of them. Whisk the egg yolks until pale yellow and increased in volume. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time. Over a double boiler, begin whisking in the mint flavored milk. Continue whisking or stirring until the mixture thickens slightly and it coats the back of a spoon. Refrigerate for at least three hours until cold or overnight. Whisk in cream and vanilla and freeze as directed by your ice cream maker. In the last few minutes, add the chocolate pieces. Preferably freeze half a day before serving. This gives the ice cream enough time to go from soft serve consistency to hard ice cream consistency.