Hello Friends, iam back!!!
Can't believe its been more than an year since my last post. Those of you on FB knows that we recently welcomed the arrival of our daughter to the family. With an grown up and an infant, life has become more busier than ever. I felt very sorry that i had abandant this little space of mine for a very long time.
But seriously there was no time to cook or click. Now as the baby is growing, i can have some time of my own.
When priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes started an event called Shhh cooking secretly challenge, i used this event as an opportunity to revive this blog. I was paired with Padmajah of
Seduce Your Taste Buds
for the challenge. The secret ingredient she gave me was basil and chocolate. I decided to make a basil ice-cream with some chocolate chunks. Basil has a very strong flavor and using a few leaves goes a long way in the recipe. If you are a basil lover give it a try and you will never be disappointed.
Basil Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
15 large basil leaves
a handful spinach leaves
3 oz semisweet chocolate bar, chopped
Method:
In a small pan, combine milk and sugar, bring to a boil over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
In a small pan, combine cream, and basil, bring to a simmer over medium heat, remove, cover and allow it to steep for at least an hour.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds and then pour into a bowl filled with ice water to stop them from cooking further. Squeeze the excess water from spinach and place it in a blender along with the milk mixture and blend well.
Pour the mixture through a strainer and extract the liquid. Also strain steeped cream through the strainer and stir to combine. Cover and freeze the ice-cream mixture in a deep baking dish.
Check the mixture after 30 minutes, as it starts to freeze near the edges pull it out of the freezer and using a whisk or a spatula ( i used my blender to beat the mixture ) stir until the frozen bits are broken and mixed up well. Cover and return to the freezer.
Check the mixture every 30 minute and beat well as it freezes until the icecream is completely frozen.It will take 2-3 hours to be ready.
Add chocolate chunks to the mixture when the ice-cream is almost frozen, stir well to combine.
Notes
- i used spinach purely to get the green color, you can also use green food coloring .
- if you have an icecream machine churn your mixture after letting it cool overnight in the refrigerator.
- instead of using chocolate chunks you can also drizzle some melted chocolate over the almost frozen mixture and mix.
