Mint Ice Cream

For several years now, I've grown an herb garden. I have had things such as echinacea, horehound, feverfew, lavender, sage, bay, chives, valerian, and of course mint. My husband has made fun of me in the past for how little I've actually used the products of the herb garden, though I counter that they are as useful in just being attractive and good for local wildlife as they are for human consumption. Still, I decided this year I should make better use of the herbs I do plant. So far, the one I've made the best use of is the mint.

If you've never planted mint, take care. I'm convinced that all the Mentha species are actually invaders from the planet Kudzu, whose sole goal in life is to take over all Earthly garden spaces. While their free-ranging and easily-spreading habits are great when you want to naturalize an area, or when you find them growing wild along streams and springs, it's not so great when you're trying to keep a somewhat orderly herb garden. As a result, both my Peppermint and Spearmint plants are growing in containers this year. I see their little shootlets growing around the edge of the pot, seeking a way to escape and conquer the rest of the bed, but I'm faster than a growing plant and can nip them off before they get away.

And nip I did. I just harvested a cup of fresh leaves for my first ever batch of homemade ice cream. (While my husband came into our relationship with an ice cream maker, he never used it before we started dating, and we've never used it in the almost 8 years since. First time for everything!)

FRESH MINT ICE CREAM

* 2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
* 5 large egg yolks
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/4 tsp table salt
* 1 cup chopped dark chocolate or mini chocolate chips (optional)

Put the mint leaves and sugar into a food processor, and process until the mint is finely ground and blended with the sugar. It will look kind of like green wet sugar at that point. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender, or a mortar and pestle.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, cream, and vanilla bean (pod included) on medium heat. Stir to keep from sticking.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they are smooth. Add the minted sugar mixture and combine until smooth.

When the milk mixture steams (do not let it simmer), take 1/4 cup of the hot milk and whisk it briskly into the egg yolk/sugar/mint mixture. Repeat with another 1/4 cup. This is an important step, as it warms and tempers the egg yolks so that they do not scramble on contact with the hot milk. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and slowly pour the mint mixture back into the hot milk mixture, stirring briskly until completely combined.

Return the saucepan to the stove and cook over medium heat. Add honey and salt. Cook and stir until the custard becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon well, 5-10 minutes. (Do not allow to boil.) The custard should hold a line when you draw your finger through it on the back of a spoon.

Set the saucepan into a large bowl filled with ice water, and stir well for several minutes to quickly cool the custard. Cover, and refrigerate until completely cool, at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Pour the custard mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the mint leaves and vanilla bean bits. Add chocolate chips if desired. Churn in your ice cream maker according to the directions on the machine. Eat. Whine because there's not enough. Make another batch.