Years ago, my good friend D introduced me to the mojito and I fell in love. Unfortunately, it isn't very often that I find a place that serves mojitos due to the fact that fresh mint is only sporadically available here - if at all.
Finding a mint plant was easy. The garden shops have a good supply of a few varieties, spearmint, chocolate mint, ordinary mint. Growing it is not so hard. It doesn't do well in our full Caribbean sun. It seems to prefer filtered light and doesn't like it when the soil dries out. Water well. It bounces back easily from periods of drought i.e when you have forgotten to water it.
Why then is this a post about ice-cream and not a highball glass, beaded with condensation from a lovely cold mojito? In short, dear friends, I do not own a muddler. In the event that you even care about my mojito dilema let me describe one for you. As much as I am tempted to use the term to describe a particular Minister who sought to defend his Ministry's purchase of a 2 million dollar flag - a muddler is not a politician. Even if said politician attempted to clarify for the public that the flag itself only cost $18,000 and the design and engineering of the pole could not be considered to be part of the cost of the flag, but was a separate cost entirely. Mr. Minister further muddled the issue by suggesting that citizens should not protest the asstronomical cost (not a typo). Instaed we should rejoice with the national pride that this flag was meant to inspire. Befuddled are we?
Let me clarify.
This is a muddler
Yes you may consider gifting me with one. (D are you listening?)
This is NOT a muddler (though it may behave like one)
As much as one is tempted to think otherwise - a muddler is in fact a doohicky that one uses to bruise the leaves to releases the oils of the mint into your drink. In my quest to become my own mojito barrista, I discovered that processing mint leaves in a blender does not work. Also, your loved ones will not tell you that you have leaf bits stuck between your teeth, preferring instead to make jokes to get you to smile even more.
Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice-cream
2 1/2 cups light cream, half-and-half or milk (whole or skim), or a combination
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 cups of fresh mint leaves (not stems), rinsed, drained, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 quarter cups chocolate chips
1. Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with 2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk, in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat until just steaming (do not let boil), remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming add the sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.
2. Strain the milk cream mixture into a bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a wooden spoon to get the most liquid out of them. Return the milk cream mixture to the saucepan. In a bowl, blend cornstarch with remaining 1/2 cup cream, half-and-half or milk; there should be no lumps. Add cornstarch mixture to pot. Cook, stirring, until it starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. Immediately reduce heat to very low and stir for 5 minutes or so until thick. Stir in vanilla extract.
3. If mixture has lumps, strain it into a bowl. Chill until cool, When cooled, pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add chocolate chips according to the manufacturers instructions - usually in the last 10 - 5 mins of churning.
Yield: 1 generous pint. ( A pint is only 2 cups!)
Okay so for the ice-cream I consulted with my BIFF (Best Internet Friend's for life) Mark Bittman, David Lebovitz and Elise Bauer. Awwright, Awwright so these people don't actually know that I exist but I visit their sites often enough. Funny how social networking has legitimized stalking. Anyway my BIFFS inspire me with their recipes and I am in awe of their curiosity about and skill with food. These guys have such a large following of fans, that I am a little bit afraid to be anything less than adoring. Still, friends tell friends the truth don't they? So here is how our conversation went....
Elise says, "The taste of the ice cream using fresh mint really is out of this world, so if you can get your hands on fresh mint, I highly recommend using it for this ice cream."
Wizzy: " Elise, now you know you are my girl and fresh ingredients are usually best but in this instance I prefer my home-made not gourmet so it's peppermint oil for my ice-cream the next time.
Dav-ee-d says: Strain the mint-infused mixture through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan (the milk will be a lovely shade of emerald.)
Wizzy: Dav-ee-d. Mah boy! I hope jewlery is not on your signifiant other's christmas list! No it doesn't.
David: W - ee -zy, I don't want to say that you are culinary challenged but maybe maybe your mint was just a little bit chlorophyll challenged.
Robin Lee : It couldn't only be for me that eating fresh mint ice cream killed the desire to eat the regular stuff that I grew up on ever again.
Wizzy: Girlfriend, I tried to go there with you and Dav-ee-d. You are my BIFF after all. Sadly it was not to be. Fresh mint tastes like grass. Fresh minty grass but there is the unmistakable grass flavour which in my very unimportant opinion ( only have 45 followers ) while you no doubt have thousands. is just so wrong in any dessert.
Wizzy: Marcos, your cornstarch recipe liberated me from the drama that was pudding. thanks but I'll not be taking you up on that offer for ice-cream at your house. Your cornstartch recipe has made me a star man but a pint cannot be descibed as generous. It's just two cups, man.
A muddler I need a mojitoegineering of the pole and twhea dohicky used to here Such was my love for the drink that I decided to for months after I ( maybe in part due to insobriety)I'll admit but I was smite to the point where. Yes I decided to ot due to insobrietyin love (n but One major difference between love and hate appears to be in the fact that large parts of the cerebral cortex – associated with judgement and reasoning – become de-activated during love, whereas only a small area is deactivated in hate.. Why do I grow my own mint?
