Jalapeno Ice Cream

Nearly every night after dinner, Mr. Devilish Dish asks, "What's for dessert?" And nearly every night after dinner my reply is, "You don't need dessert."  And then he pouts and eats the candy that I keep in the candy dish for company.  Last Saturday happened to be too cold for golf, so I planned a big, complicated Mexican feast to keep us busy in the kitchen all day.  The finale was Jalapeno Ice Cream.  All I'm gonna say about that is, "Don't knock it until you've tried it."  It tasted like a really good homemade vanilla ice cream with a twist.  The little bits of jalapeno were almost like gummy candy.  An unusual, but tasty treat.  The next time someone asks you, "What's for dessert?" tell them, "Jalapeno Ice Cream!"  Which reminds me of a joke...What does the nosey pepper do?  Gets jalapeno business...I know I know.  Stick to cooking, not comedy.

DON'T knock it til ya try it!

Just a few ingredients
til homemade ice cream goodness!

Bring milk, heavy cream and sugar
to a scald.

Slowly add hot cream mixture
to egg mixture.

Return mixture to pan and cook
until slightly thickened.

Allow mixture to cool completely.

Add diced jalapenos and
simple syrup.

Freeze according to your
ice cream maker's instructions.
Transfer to freezer and
allow ice cream to freeze until firm.

Enjoy!

Hahahahaha

Jalapeno Ice Cream

2 jalapenos, seeded and diced very small
1 cup water
1  3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
9 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons jalapeno simple syrup (see below)

Place the diced jalapeno in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add water and 1 cup of sugar.  Stir until sugar dissolves.  Bring to a gentle boil and let mixture boil for 10 minutes.    Remove from heat and let stand at least 4 hours at room temperature.

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Stir well until sugar is dissolved.  Bring mixture to the scalding point.  (You just want little bubbles appearing around the edge of the pan, do not let the mixture come to a boil.)

Meanwhile, whisk together remaining sugar (1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons), egg yolks and vanilla.  While whisking this mixture, slowly add the hot cream mixture a little at a time, so that the egg mixture gradually warms up. (This is called "tempering"  If you pour the hot mixture in all at once, you'll wind up with scrambled eggs.)

Return the combined mixture to the saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan.  The mixture is done when it is thickened slightly and coats the back of the wooden spoon.  (This is called "nappe")

Strain the custard mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl.  Nestle this bowl into a large bowl of ice.  Stir occasionally until mixture has cooled completely. 

Strain the jalapenos through a fine sieve.  Add jalapeno to custard mixture and approximately 6 tablespoons of the "syrup" the jalapenos were cooked in.  (I kept the rest of the jalapeno simple syrup.  I'm going to play around with some snazzy cocktails!)

Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm.

Prep Time:  Approximately 4 hours    Cook Time:  0 needs to freeze