Last year I planted three kinds of mint–apple, lemon, and lime–in the hopes that it would spread and keep weeds down. It’s doing quite well, especially the apple mint, which is now beginning a war with the day lilies. (Sometime this year I’ll add peppermint and/or spearmint to the collection.)
So we have a lot of mint available. Some of it got used in a mint chutney from the Joy of Cooking, which I used on leg of lamb. A bit got turned into mint juleps Saturday for the Derby, which I won’t bother with again next year (not a bourbon fan to begin with).
This weekend I made mint ice cream, which seems to be the best use for the mint so far (though I’ll probably have tea far more often). All the recipes I found online required egg yolks, so I just adapted the standard vanilla recipe into…
Fresh Mint Ice Cream
2 large handfuls fresh mint leaves
2 cups milk
.5 cups sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Put the mint, milk, and sugar in a sauce pan. Heat it over medium until warm but not simmering. Let it steep for several minutes, stirring often, until the sugar’s dissolved and the milk tastes minty.
Pour into a bowl through a strainer. Press all the liquid out of the mint leaves and discard. Refrigerate the milk overnight.
The next day, add the cream and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. Let the magic happen.
Being near the mint capitol of the world, St. Johns, MI, we will have to try this. Would Splenda work as well as sugar?
I didn’t know there was a mint capitol! You’re very lucky.
And I don’t know anything about Splenda, but I would guess it would work. I don’t think the sugar does anything structural to the ice cream. (BTW, this is about half the sugar the recipe originally called for.)