Pumpkin & Spice Cookie Ice Cream

What to do with a leftover pumpkin may not be a huge ordeal for most people, but this was the first time I had to make such a decision.  Pumpkins are not something I normally purchase - but this year I caught the pumpkin bug.  How could I not, with the entrance to every supermarket flooded with them? And so  I purchased one!  My intention was never to carve it; I just wanted it to add a little bit of Halloween ambiance to my kitchen. However, the day after Halloween I could not rationalize disposing of it, being a firm believer that everything has more than one purpose.

Somewhere between making the decision to put the pumpkin into my shopping cart and being determined not to discard it, I turned it into my fall/winter version of "cookies and cream" ice cream.  Great decision!

Pumpkin & Spice Cookie Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup Muscovado sugar, or brown sugar

1 tablespoon coffee spice mix

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 egg yolks

1 cup pumpkin purée*

1 teaspoon bourbon, or vanilla 

1 cup spice cookies, crumbled

Preparation

Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl and nest a smaller bowl inside it.  Set a mesh strainer over the top.  Heat the cream, milk, sugar, spices and salt in a sauce pan until it almost boils, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to low.  Add 1/2 cup of the cream mixture to the egg yolks to temper them.  Stir and add the eggs to the sauce pan.  Cook at low heat without boiling until slightly the cream mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in an ice bath.  Stir until cool; then chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.  When chilled, whisk in pumpkin pureé and bourbon.  Pour into the bowl of your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.  Add crushed cookies the last 5-10 minutes of freezing. To serve, garnish with more crushed spice cookies.

*You can use canned pumpkin purée in the recipe, but it is very easy to make especially if you have a spare pumpkin hanging around your kitchen.  For easy to follow instructions, try this recipe by The Pioneer Woman:  Homemade Pumpkin Purée

Fig Walnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Recently a neighbor stopped by, gave me a few jars of preserved figs and a bag of walnuts and said,  "Do something with these."  And so these items sat on my kitchen counter for a few days while I pondered...

Given the 100 degree plus temperature we've been experiencing the past few weeks, it didn't take long for me to decide to turn (or more like churn) my little gift into ice cream.  It was the right decision. The combination of the figs, walnuts and chocolate chips (I added) are a marriage made in ice cream heaven!  
 And since I always have neighbors just dropping in to see 'what's cooking,' I invited another neighbor to taste my creation.  A man of few words, his comment was: "The delicate flavor of the figs comes through beautifully, and the texture of the chocolate chips and walnuts is to die for.  Those B&J guys would be envious."  I couldn't have said it better.

Fig Walnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe
(Makes about 1-1/2 quarts)

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups whole milk

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 cups chopped figs, (fresh or preserved)

1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preparation

Put milk, and 1 cup cream into a med saucepan and heat over medium heat until slightly bubbling on side of pan, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Combine egg yolks, sugar, remaining 1/2 cup cream and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth.  Gradually 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture to temper; then add egg mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 4-6 minutes.  Do not let boil. 

Strain through a sieve, into a bowl. Place the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice and water.  Stir occasionally to cool.  Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skim from forming.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.  Add figs, chocolate and walnuts after the custard is nearly frozen - about five minutes before removing from the machine.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze until firm.

Mint Pistachio Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

If you have an herb garden and you grow mint, then you understand my dilemma!  Mint can quickly take over a garden.  So that is why I found myself pruning and about to throw away a basketful; when it occurred to me that there just might be another purpose for this fragrant weed, other than adding flavor to my decaffeinated unsweetened iced tea.  With summer (too) rapidly approaching, ice cream seemed like the obvious choice.  And since it didn’t seem right to let the mint alone steal the show, the pistachios and chocolate chips added the perfect balance. This is guaranteed to help keep you cool this summer!

Mint Pistachio Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe

Makes 1-1/2 quart

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup mint leaves, packed*

4 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla, optional

pinch, salt

1/2 cup chocolate morsels (mini chocolate chips)

1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Put milk, 1-1/2 cups cream and mint leaves in a medium saucepan; and heat over medium heat until slightly bubbling, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes.  

Combine egg yolks, sugar, remaining cream and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth.  Gradually whisk into to mint-flavored mixture and return to saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 4-6 minutes.  Do not let boil.  Strain through a sieve, into a bowl, pressing on the mint with the back of the spoon.  Place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and water.  Stir occasionally to cool.  Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skim from forming.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.  Add chocolate and nuts after the custard is nearly frozen - about five minutes before removing from the machine.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze until firm.

*(For a less powerful minty flavor, use half the amount of mint leaves.) 

Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

I have  a neighbor, Terry Bibeau, who makes some of the yummiest desserts you have ever tasted.  Last weekend - amid our over 95 degree temperature - I received a telephone call from a different neighbor summoning me to Terry’s house. My first thought was that there was some sort of crisis. I get there only to find him pigging out on ice cream - with a strong suggestion that I might want to blog about it.  (I just love having my very own scouts)!  After a little independent research of my own, I deemed this recipe worthy of passing on.   You’ll be interested in the unusual technique  used - which calls for whipping the ingredients in a mixer - prior to freezing the custard.  Thanks Terry - and keep those recipes coming!

Homemade Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream Recipe

Blueberry Swirl

Ingredients: 

1 quart fresh blueberries

1/4 cup lemon juice

 5 tablespoons corn syrup

 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preparation:

Wash blueberries, drain and pat dry with paper towel.

Place blueberries and corn syrup in medium size saucepan.  Over medium heat bring mixture to just below boiling.  Add sugar and lemon juice.  Reduce to low heat, cover and allow to simmer for 25 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat and allow mixture to cool for 15 minutes.

Place mixture in blender set on medium high setting and puree for 20 seconds.

Place mixture into glass measuring cup and chill for 3 hours.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

1-1/2 cups half and half

3 cups heavy cream well chilled

1-1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk until all sugar is dissolved. Whip ingredients with electric mixture on low setting for 1 minute (no longer). Immediately place mixture in an ice cream machine that is ready for use and has 1/2 gallon capacity.

Churn mixture for 25 to 35 minutes or until firm.  Refer to manufacturers suggestions.

Place approximately 1/5 mixture in appropriate freezer container.

Pour approximately 1/5 blueberry mixture in spiraling concentric circles over first layer of ice cream.

Repeat process making layers of ice cream and spiraling circles of blueberry mixture until all ingredients are used.

Place finished product in freezer for 4 hours or overnight until firm.

Makes 1/2 gallon