Black Pepper Ice Cream

Black Pepper Ice Cream

Makes about 2 cups:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely cracked

Pinch of salt

1 cup heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

Directions:

Warm the milk, peppercorns, salt and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan.  Pour the remaining 1/2 cup cream into a large bowl with a strainer set on top.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warmed mixture into the egg yolks whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.  

Stir the mixture constantly over a medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer. pressing the peppercorns gently to extract as much flavor as possible.  Discard the peppercorns and stir the custard into the cream.   Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instruction. 

The Perfect Scoop  pg. 102

Perfect pairings:  

Icy cold melon in Lemon-lime syrup.  Zest 2 limes into a small saucepan.  Add 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the syrup is reduced to 3/4 cup.  Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, and chill thoroughly.

Peel, seed, and cut a cantaloupe or honeydew melon into 1 inch chunks, and add them to the syrup.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Then serve the melon pieces with some of the syrup alongside the Black Pepper Ice-Cream.  Garnish with a few grains of cracked pink peppercorns.