Category: mint

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ice cream mint

mint choc chip ice cream

mint choc chip ice cream

Ice cream: everyone has their favourite. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, lemon… when you get me in front of an ice cream vendor there’s only one choice for me: mint choc chip ice cream. The freshness and the bitter dark chocolate is a sensational combination.

Did you know July is national ice cream month? Given how hot it’s been it’s not like we’ve needed the excuse! But here’s my version of mint choc chip ice cream, but be warned it’s not toothpaste-zingy, it’s sweet and herby – a very grown-up flavour.

This is made using the Sage by Heston Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker. I’ve been using this for months and it’s one of the best gadgets I’ve ever owned. Ever!

This one does it all. It doesn’t have a separate bowl that you pre-freeze, and can prepare a range of desserts from gelato to sorbet to ice cream. You can set it off to get cold before you add your custard base so that you start churning from a chilly -30°. This means your ice cream sets faster and therefore smoother. Setting to a firm ice cream takes around 60 minutes if the machine is already cold.

Here’s a video of the machine around the end of it’s cycle:

Sadly I didn’t capture the best bit: when the machine is finished it twinkles a little tune just like your ice cream van plays. So cute!

It’s a beast of a machine and makes a noise when it’s working, and it’s not cheap. But it really is a top-class gadget and if ice cream is as popular in your house as it is in mine, then it’s a worthy investment.

If you don’t want to make it in an ice cream machine, you can pour the custard into a container and mix with a fork every hour or so.

Thanks to Sage by Heston for the machine, and they also helped buy some ingredients.

Buy the Sage by Heston Smart Scoop from Amazon

Want more ice cream goodness? Check out Kavey’s BSFIC!

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mint choc chip ice cream

Course Dessert
Servings 1.5 litres
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 60 g mint leaves picked
  • 300 ml double cream
  • 600 ml whole milk
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 100 g dark chocolate melted

Instructions

  • Bring the mint leaves, cream and milk to a simmer and once hot turn off the heat. In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Pour the minty cream over the egg slowly, whisking all the time.
  • Strain off the mint leaves into a blender and whizz until pureed. Add back to the cream and put back over a gentle heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it coats the back of the spoon.
  • Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn until done. In a container, add a few tablespoons of melted chocolate, then top with ice cream. Repeat the layering, lasagne-style until all the mix is used up. Freeze for a further hour so the chocolate is set.
Categories
chocolate food mint

after dinner mints

When food ideas strike me, I can’t let them go. Such as my idea to make After-Eight style mints. The experiment was pretty good, but of all things to get wrong, I got the chocolate wrong. I used some of Willie’s 100% cacao and it was just too bitter for the mint. Find a piece where the chocolate was wafer-thin and it was great, so it was nearly there. Just stick to a 70%er.

After dinner mints (makes a giant slab the size of your baking tray):

200g dark chocolate

1 egg white

200g icing sugar

1 tablespoon peppermint essence

A few drops green food colouring

  1. Melt half the chocolate in a bain marie. While it melts line a baking tray (roughly 15cm x 25cm) with greaseproof paper and pop in the freezer. Once the chocolate has melted pour in a thin layer across the paper and pop back in the freezer.
  2. Make a fondant by mixing the egg white and sugar into a paste. Add the peppermint and taste to see if it needs a little more. Stir in some food colouring to give it a very faint hue. Pour this mixture over the chocolate.
  3. Melt the remaining chocolate and pour that over the top of the mint. Allow to set in the freezer for at least an hour, after which time you can store in the fridge. Allow people to snap off a piece as they like. Goes great with strong coffee.
Categories
burger chilli lamb mayonnaise mint reviews

red hot lamb burgers

There’s no shortage of burger recipes on this blog, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one more.

I was sent a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce in the post. It’s not a condiment I usually use but after a little taste I found it really interesting – very hot of course, but with a very pleasant fruity taste. I thought it would work really well at cutting through the richness of lamb in these burgers, and if it all proved too much then the mint mayonnaise rushes in at the end to put out the fire. A great combo, and I’m definitely converted to hot sauce!

PS. I’ve been pointed to this bonkers competition of Frank’s, where you can win a “massive” TV. 

Red hot lamb burgers (makes 4):

400g lamb mince

1 tablespoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1 tablespoon mint, finely chopped

200g mayonnaise

1 beef tomato, sliced

4 soft rolls

  1. Combine the mince with the sauce and a good pinch of salt. Form the lamb into 4 patties but try not to compress them too much – you want to keep a nice loose texture.
  2. Preheat a frying pan to pretty darn hot. Add a splash of oil and fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes each side.
  3. While the burgers are cooking mix the mint and mayonnaise together. Lightly toast the rolls.
  4. When the burgers are browned on both sides, slam into a bun, layer on a tomato slice, slather with minty mayo and gobble up.
Categories
carrots lamb mint mustard potatoes tomato

spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy

 

 

I thought I’d tried all the Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals that I wanted to, until the photo-ninja Nga commented about the spring lamb recipe… I couldn’t believe I’d missed it! So I tore off to try it.

It’s a relatively simple recipe, with seared & roasted lamb, and a big bowl of pots ‘n’ veg boiled up. But it’s a great way to multi-task without actually too much effort, and the result is dis-proportionately good. If you’re at all skittish about whether you can manage the 30 minute thing or not, give this one a whirl as it’s not too busy (I should point out that Jamie did a fondue in with his full recipe but that was simply microwaved chocolate and chopped fruit). Well worth a go.

Jamie recommends rack of lamb and neck fillet here. I find rack of lamb really hard to find now, hardly anyone stocks it and it’s very expensive when you do. Lamb chops aren’t as fancy but very tasty. A rack of lamb is a cut of meat from the rib section of a lamb. It is made up of a row of bones with meat on the top and sides. The rack of lamb is a popular choice for roasting and grilling but can be pricey.

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Spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy

A refreshing yet wholesome dinner.
Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Keyword quick
Servings 4
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the lamb:

  • 4 lamb chops
  • 3 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • White wine vinegar
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes on the vine

For the gravy:

  • 4 rashers smoked bacon
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • ½ glass red wine

For the veg:

  • 400 g baby new potatoes
  • 4 carrots
  • Stalks from a bunch of mint
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 300 g fine beans
  • ½ Savoy cabbage

For the mint sauce:

  • ½ a lemon
  • Leaves from a bunch of mint
  • 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Instructions

  • Get the oven on 220C, a frying pan and saucepan over high heats and get that kettle a-boilin'.
  • Add some olive oil to the pan. Season the lamb all over and pop it in.
  • Wash the potatoes, chop the carrots into nice chunks and add to the saucepan. Cover with boiling water and toss in the mint stalks and stock cube.
  • Turn the lamb well and make sure it's browned all over. While it's finishing bash the garlic and rosemary together in a mortar and pestle. Season, add the mustard and spread the lot over the  lamb. Transfer the lamb to a roasting dish with the tomatoes and slam in the oven for 9-14 minutes until done to your liking (for me, internal temp of 55°C before resting). Keep the frying pan on the heat and add the bacon, chopped.
  • Re-using the mortar from before, add the mint leaves with vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt and a splash of water from the veg pot. Mix it together for the mint sauce.
  • Add the red wine to the frying pan to deglaze the pan, scraping around. Add the flour and rosemary to the gravy pan, and stir for a minute to coat everything in flour. Add a few ladles of cooking water. Cut the Savoy into thin wedges and add to the boiling pot with the beans.
  • The lamb should be done about now, so get it out of the oven to rest for a minute while you sort out the veg. Once the beans are tender, drain the lot and return to the pot. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper and the juice from the lemon. Toss well and serve. Cut the lamb into chops, check the gravy for seasoning and get stuck in!

Notes

The lamb can be any cut of lamb you like that fries quick, or would work pretty well with beef steaks - though the mint sauce wouldn't work for me then. It's your dinner though!
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