Lebovitz's Mint Ice Cream

I finally let Michael eat the last scoop of ice cream this week. Mid August, I warned him I needed one scoop to photograph for the blog and he reluctantly put the tub back in the freezer and went for vanilla instead. He reminded me a few times that I needed to take photos so he could eat it, and I reminded him that I needed good light for a good ice cream photo. I also needed to be home before 7 with nothing else to do on a weeknight to make this happen. August was a busy month.

I tried a new recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I think he is currently traveling around San Francisco and I'm resisting the urge to stalk him. I might have to visit Smitten Ice Cream soon though because he gave it a pretty good review on his blog... ice cream via liquid nitrogen. hmm.

I chose real mint ice cream. Why would I do such a thing you ask? Well, I have a garden now... you could say I'm developing a green thumb, and I'm growing mint. Mint is an easy plant even if you have a black thumb. Just beware as it is likely to take over areas of your garden unless confined to a pot. My mint is weird. It has smaller leaves and when it gets tall the leaves start to turn purple (this may mean my window box is too small). I used it anyways, even some of the purple, and it turned into a very refreshing ice cream. I added chocolate chips of course because mint needs the best flavor companion possible and I was a bit nervous about the strong fresh mint taste. If all else failed, at least the would be chocolate.

I liked it, I think Michael liked it too. He ate most of it anyways with bits of leftover cake that I didn't make into cake pops. My preference is still peppermint extract flavored ice cream, but this one was nice for a change, and nice to be able to use something I've grown in a recipe.

Mint Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz

 1 C whole milk
1/4 C sugar
2 C heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
2 C fresh packed mint leaves
1 C roughly chopped chocolate (mini chocolate chips work well too) my addition

Heat milk, sugar, and 1 C cream in a heavy bottom saucepan. Add the mint leaves and steep for one hour. This means stir them up and cover with a lid. Go do some sit-ups since you'll be eating this later, and and strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Make sure you push leaves against the strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Lebovits says your cream will be a lovely shade of emerald, but mine was barely green. Warm this mix back up on meduim heat.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Once the milk is warm, slowly add the milk, whisking constantly, to the eggs and then return all of this to the pot and continue to heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir constantly and try not to let anything burn to the bottom.

In another bowl (more dishes please!) add the remainder of the cream and set the mesh strainer on top (remove leaves). Pour the minty custard through the strainer again to eliminate scrambled eggs in your ice cream and stir into the cream. Place over an ice bath to help cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least four hours. You can add green food coloring now.

Prepare the ice cream according to your machine manufacturer's recommendations. Be sure you've frozen your bowl for as long as required or your ice cream will never get thick. Freeze again for a few hours until it's scoopable, about 4 hours.

Ice cream takes a while, so it's best to plan ahead if your're making it for an event!

Happy Churning!

Rosemary Focaccia

I recently planted an herb garden in window boxes on our deck. We get fantastic sunlight in our neighborhood and there were some leftover hangers begging me to use them. (If you didn't know, San Francisco has crazy microclimates and it can be foggy in one neighborhood and two blocks away really sunny.) Finding boxes that were the correct size was quite a feat. I think it took me two trips and M one trip to find one that fit the width and length of the ancient hangers. I planted Rosemary, Italian Parsley, Cilantro, Sage, Thyme, Mint, and Oregano all from little starter plants. So far I have only managed to kill the Oregano and I'm crossing my fingers on the rest which are no where close to plant death. I also planted basil from seeds and they are beginning to sprout!

While M's parents were here they also helped us clear out the backyard (shared by 4 units and not actually used by anyone) and build a raised bed. This is going to be an interesting learn-to-garden experience. At most, I've grown peppers and tomatoes in pots, and helped my grandpa harvest tomatoes when I was little... maybe this previous experience will inspire my green thumb.... 

Our yard was really really overgrown. One side has pavement and tons of leaves, the other has a mixture of weeds, overgrown shrubs, and hidden flowers. The weeds and grasses were reaching almost 18 inches in height. We would have received a "notice" if living anywhere where the backyard was visible to the public... thankfully we have an 8' fence surrounding us! Oh, and I should mention we just rent so maintaining the yard is technically not our responsibility! So, while my in-laws were digging around in our backyard, they found a healthy, mature rosemary plant (among other treasures I'll share later). This is where the rosemary for the focaccia came from.

I know I posted about Rosemary Focaccia once before, but that was long ago when I was new to the blogging world. I actually used the same basic recipe as before, but changed the ingredients slightly. I'll add the new recipe to this post. I can't wait for more fresh herbs this spring/summer. Do you have any great recipes for herb bread? Or herbs of any kind, I'm hoping to have enough to share. 

Rosemary Focaccia
adapted from a recipe by John Ash, From the Earth to the Table

1/4 C olive oil - good quality (plus more for the top)
1 1/2 C warm water (110˚-115˚F)
1 T + 1/2 tsp yeast
3 3/4 C a.p. flour
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 T chopped Rosemary

Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large bowl. Let it stand for about 5 minutes until it gets bubbly. Mix in the oil, flour, and salt. Knead until smooth (about 10 minutes). Coat another clean bowl with olive oil and coat your dough too. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm area for 1 1/2 hours (or doubled in size). Punch down the dough and prepare a 12x17 pan with olive oil. 

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Stretch the dough across the entire pan making sure to keep it even. Dent the dough with your fingertips and cover with a tea towel. Let it rise again for about 15 minutes. Dent the dough again and add about 1/2 C more olive to the top making sure to spread it evenly. Use a pastry brush to spread the oil if you need. Pooling in the dents is welcome, your rosemary will have a nice hot tub. 

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle the rosemary on top. Bake for 10-12 more minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Enjoy warm! 

Additional topping ideas: Sliced black olives (one of my favorites in Italy), Rosemary + Garlic, Kosher/Sea Salt, Pizza Sauce, Golden Raisin, Green Onion