Fresh mint is steeped in milk and cream with natural color and chocolate shavings. Fresh peppermint is beginning to sprout in my garden and is peeping through a thin layer of snow. I’m ushering in Spring and St. Patrick’s Day with this natural green refreshing garden mint ice cream
In a saucepan, add cream, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and kosher salt. Heat mixture until bubbles begin to form around the edges. Remove from heat add fresh mint. Cover and allow to sit and steep for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, strain milk/mint mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard mint. OR you can skip the process of steeping the fresh mint and add peppermint extract after the mixture has cooled.
When the milk has reheated and has come to a low simmer, pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg mixture stirring constantly. Add an additional 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture and stir to combine.
Pour the hot mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Of course, you can pass on the spinach juice and add a few drops of green food color OR forget the color altogether. White mint chip ice cream is perfectly acceptable.