Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 3 cups of fresh spearmint leaves, rinsed, drained, packed
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 6 egg yolks
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate, chopped fine, keep in the freezer until used

Directions

1. Combine the mint leaves, 1 cup of milk, and 1 cup of the cream in a heavy saucepan. Warm the mixture just until you see steam rising, but don’t let it boil. Take the pan off the heat, cover it, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Warm it again until it’s steaming, then remove it from the heat and let it steep for 15 more minutes.
2. While the mint is infusing, get the remaining cream ready over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, then nestle that bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water, with lots of ice. Place a mesh strainer over the bowls and leave it there for later.
3. Pour the minty milk and cream through a sieve into a separate bowl, using a rubber spatula to press firmly on the mint leaves so you get as much liquid from them as possible. Transfer that milk cream mixture back into the saucepan. Stir in the sugar and salt, then heat it until it is just steaming again and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Add the hot milk cream mixture slowly, whisking the whole time, so the yolks warm up gently instead of scrambling. Once they’re tempered, scrape the warmed egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan.
5. Set the saucepan back on the stove and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom as you go, until the mixture thickens enough to cling to the spoon and a line drawn through it with your finger stays put. This can take about 10 minutes. If the custard base slides right off and does not coat the back of the spoon, it needs more time. When it does coat the spoon and the line you make with your finger does not run, it is ready; take it off the heat right away and pour it through the sieve over the ice bath to stop the cooking.
6. Pour the custard through the waiting strainer and stir it into the cold cream in the ice bath so the cooking stops.
7. Chill the mixture completely in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or keep stirring it in the bowl set over the ice bath until it is thoroughly cold, 20 minutes or so.
8. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
9. When the ice cream is finished churning, it should still be quite soft. Fold in the finely chopped chocolate gently.
10. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze it for at least 1 hour, preferably several hours. If it has been in the freezer for more than 1 day, you may need to leave it at room temperature for a few minutes so it softens before serving.
11. There is no alcohol in this recipe. A few teaspoons of spirits like rum or bourbon can help homemade ice cream stay softer over several days, and even the alcohol in vanilla extract helps. Without any added alcohol, homemade ice cream is best eaten quickly, within 1 day or 2, because after that it can get very very hard.