Basil Ice Cream - a little taste of heaven

As promised, I made some Basil Ice Cream this weekend. A perfect pairing with the amazing 70 degree weather. I'm convinced this has climbed high up on my list of favorite ice cream flavors. Definitely battling Pistaccio for first place. Anyways, it was so refreshing, light and flavorful. My family absolutely loved it, they ate all of it!! (sorry to my foodie friends who didn't get to try some. I will make more this week!)


Many thanks to Chef Edgar for the recipe. He got it from Bravo.com - Top Chef Masters - Chef Michael Charello recipe

So far starters, here are the ingredients:

1) 1.5 cups of goat milk
2) 1.5 cups of heavy cream or milk
3) 3/4 cup of sugar (put a little less)
4) a pinch of gray salt
5) 1 vanilla bean (i used 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract)
6) 6 egg yolks (yes i know, it's a lot)
7) Fresh picked basil

First combine: goat milk, cream, sugar, gray salt, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stir occassionally to melt sugar. [THE NEXT STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT] remove 1/2 cup of mixture and let it cool a little, then add it to the 6 egg yolks. [MAKE SURE IT IS NOT PIPING HOT OR ELSE YOU'LL COOK YOUR EGGS!!] Whisk together and add egg mixture back into the milk/cream mixture. Heat until it's slightly thickened and slowly runs off your spoon. Remove from heat and Strain the mixture through a sieve. Let it fully cool.

Next, Blanch your basil in boiling water for 5 seconds, then place in an ice bath. It is very important to drain and wring the basil dry. I use a towel to sqeeze it dry. Chop the basil. Put the ice cream base and basil in the blender. Blend until it's smooth and light green. (I found out yesterday that my blender broke, so I had to use a food processor...not quite a blender but it still worked. It actaully didn't change color until after I was done freezing it). After blended, strain the mixture if you dont want basil specs in your ice cream.

Chill basil ice cream mixture in the refridgerator for 1 to 2 hours. Then pour into ice cream maker. Let the ice cream maker work its magic for about 25 mins, then scoop out ice cream into a bowl and freeze until ready to serve!! (I mixed some fresh strawberries with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and sugar...SO PERFECT!!)