Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves (no stems)

1 cup granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

4 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate cut into small chips

Preparation

In a large saucepan, add the milk, cream and mint. Bring the mixture to a simmer over med-low heat and then turn the heat off. Let the mixture steep for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and return to the saucepan. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining sugar and egg yolks until the mixture is slightly thickened and light in color. Slowly, add 1/4 cup of the milk mixture to the eggs while whisking constantly. Continue adding the milk to the egg mixture 1/4 cup at a time until all the ingredients are combined.

Prepare and ice bath in a large bowl and place a medium bowl in the ice bath. Place a fine mesh stainer over the bowl.

Transfer the cream mixture to a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard into the bowl and allow to cool.

Refrigerate the custard until cold or overnight.

Pour the custard into the freezer can of an electric ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is the consistency of soft serve, add the chocolate chips and allow to blend. Transfer to an airtight storage container and freeze.