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basil ice cream

10 years ago

Thursday night I taught a "Cooking With Herbs" class -- this was dessert -- basil ice cream with bitter chocolate sauce from one of Noel Richardson's (Of Ravenhill Herb Farm fame) cookbooks.

It was the hit of the evening -- there wasn't a spoonful left!

Comments (9)

ntt_hou
10 years ago
Yum... looks good. I've heard about it but have not tried it yet.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
10 years ago
That sounds wonderful.

I have made mint ice cream, but not basil. I will give it a try when my basil are up.

dcarch
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Make a cocktail!! I'd boil water, dissolve some sugar, turn off the heat and throw the basil in, let it steep, strain, then add vodka or rum and freeze it in an ice cream maker. If you're not a drinker, maybe frozen lime-basil iced tea or sorbet instead. Some additional ideas: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/dessert/recipe-basil-or-mint-sorbet-010353 http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0713115023484.html
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I have a wolfgang puck ice cream maker that has a built in compressor. I love it. I bought if off of ebay and it was cheaper than buying the cuisinart model that had the compressor. One word of caution. They are quite heavy and really shouldn't be moved around very much, especially not tipped or tilted. If that happens you have to wait a day or two, for the machine to stabilize before using. Other than that it works great, and you can continuously make ice cream in it. Claire de luna, I found this article online and saved it. The poster claims that it's not the cooking process but the eggs that affect the ice cream. The woman's ice creams are supposed to be amazing. I am going to try this the next time I make ice cream. I am making an olive oil basil ice cream for work with a strawberry balsamic glaze for the topping. (its a contest we have monthly). Anyways here's the post I saved. "We followed the recipe for her vanilla bean ice cream, adding some chopped flakes of dark chocolate while churning. Here are our thoughts: The texture of this ice cream was amazing!! It was soft, rich, and creamy. Where our eggless ice creams are usually icy and hard, this was incredibly soft and velvety. The process of simmering down the cream and whisking in a little cornstarch was much easier and faster than our usual custard process. We did overcook the cornstarch a bit; you can see how thick our "pudding" was. This gave the ice cream a little too much flavor of cornstarch. But this wasn't too noticeable; our taste testers raved over it. The addition of cream cheese for scoopability and softness is brilliant; it gives the ice cream just a slight tang, but not a noticeable flavor. It does seem to affect softness a lot. Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe by Jeni Britton This exceptionally creamy ice cream relies on two unexpected ingredients: cornstarch (to help thicken it) and cream cheese (to make it more scoopable). 2 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons) 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 2/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt Directions Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and the vanilla flavors the milk, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the salt. Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes. Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturers instructions. Pack the ice cream into a plastic container. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Freeze the vanilla ice cream until firm, about 4 hours. " Shelley S.
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Teresa_MN
10 years ago
I am trying to imagine what basil ice cream would taste like.

I guess I don't know anything about you Linderhof. Are you a teacher by trade? Or is this something you do on the side? Either way it sounds like fun! Do tell us more!

Teresa
sally2_gw
10 years ago
It sounds intriguing. Recipe?

I record episodes of Chopped, and yesterday I watched one in which one of the ingredients they were required to use was Olive Oil Gelato. That's one I just can't quite imagine, either. The chefs were excited about it, though.

Sally
doucanoe
10 years ago
I love basil so I would definitely like that ice cream!

Yes, please share the recipe!

Linda
Linderhof1208
Original Author
10 years ago
Oops -- thought I had!!! I intended to. Got it from one of the Ravenhill Herb Farm cookbooks and it was TDF.

But actually, I think you could take any ice cream recipe and if you heat the milk, steep basil in it for 10 to 15 minutes and proceed as you normally would for your ice cream.

I think you could also buy a jarred hot fudge product to pour over if you wanted to simplify your life.

Teresa -- I write food/lifestyle column that is published in two newspapers and I also freelance some. I have a blog (lflinderhof.com) and do teach cooking classes just because I want to and I so enjoy it. But my favorite are the herb classes -- for my passion is cooking but my love is herbs and half my back garden is herbs -- sadly, we have four seasons and during winter there are slim pickings from the garden.

Going to a derby party today -- am making "mint julep cookies" -- last year I made them in rounds but this year I remembered I have a "Maker's Mark" cookie cutter and I am going to try using that and drizzling red dyed white chocolate over the neck of the cookie. If I'm successful, I'll post -- if you don't see a post, you know I wasn't successful! (LOL!)

Here is the basil ice cream recipe.

Martha

BASIL ICE CREAM WITH BITTER CHOCOLATE SAUCE
(Makes 2 - 2 1/2 c.)

2 c. milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 c. basil leaves
4 egg yolks
1 cup sugar

Bring the milk, vanilla bean and basil to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Pour the milk and basil mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Whisk well.

Pour into a saucepan and cook over low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 5 to 7 minutes. Strain and cool. Freeze in an ice cream maker following the manufacturerÃ¢ÂÂs direction.

Bitter Chocolate Sauce
Makes 1 cup

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 T. butter
2 T. white corn syrup
6 to 8 T. sugar
3/4 c. milk
pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate and butter over hot water. Blend in the corn syrup and sugar. Add the milk and salt. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve warm or cool on ice cream.
Teresa_MN
10 years ago
Martha - I did a quick search as I am not that familar with your moniker - Linderhof1208. I see you have only posted a few times since last summer.

I took a quick look at your blog and it looks interesting. I intend to take a longer look after I get my cleaning done this afternoon. :-)

I look forward to seeing more of you here. Welcome to the forum!!

Teresa
Teresa_MN
10 years ago
Martha - I passed your basil ice cream recipe along to a friend. She plans on making it for her birthday party.

I can't wait to try it.

Teresa
sally2_gw
10 years ago
Thanks for posting the recipe. DH, Jerry, loves to make ice cream. I've copied and pasted it, to show him.

Sally

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