We all scream for strawberry basil ice cream

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I bought a lot of strawberries at the farmers market with no real plan in mind. Ate a bunch just by themselves, mixed some with basil then figured I'd use the rest for ice cream. Instead of regular old strawberry ice cream, not that there's anything at all wrong with that, why not strawberry basil ice cream? Exactly, why not! So I pulled out my copy of Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream and used that recipe for Strawberry Ice Cream with the addition of basil. Let me show you how I did it.

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First off, I used a potato masher to crush the strawberries in a bowl, it just seems easier to me and I've done it before, works every time. I don't always have whole milk on hand so I used 1 cup 2% milk along with the 2 cups of heavy cream. I cooked the cream, milk, remaining tablespoon of sugar and pinch of kosher salt over medium heat as the recipe states, whisking and removing from the heat just before it comes to a boil. At this point I stirred in about a ¼ cup of sliced basil leaves and let the whole mixture just steep on the counter until it was cool enough to transfer to the refrigerator. I let the basil infuse over night and that gave the base a really nice subtle basil flavor. 

The next day when I was ready to make the ice cream both the cream base and crushed strawberries were well chilled after a night in the fridge. Perfect conditions for making ice cream. Before adding the cream base to the strawberries you need to strain out the basil. Once the base is strained add it to the strawberries, stirring to combine and you're ready to get churning.

For churning, follow the directions for whatever ice cream maker you have. Don't be tempted to over churn, I've made butter ice cream a few times, not good. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container and cover tightly. It'll take, like the recipe says, at least 4 hours to firm up. Maybe my freezer is set to arctic blast, I should probably check that, but the ice cream gets rock hard so you're going to want to set it out for a while and let it soften a bit before you try scooping it. So get out there, get some strawberries, some basil, make some ice cream. It's really easy and you won't be sorry when you're sitting there with a bowl of creamy, refreshing strawberry basil ice cream.

Sunday ... Feeling the Best of Summer Vibes

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It's Memorial Day weekend, the weather is warm, not hot, and there's a breeze, ahhhh. I savor days like this because I know the heat of summer is coming. I'm not a summer in Southern California kind of person where it can get so hot the only thing to do is stay inside with A/C. I'd much rather have the windows open and a nice breeze blowing through the house than run an air conditioner. Such is life. For now I'm basking in this beautiful weather outside with a bowl full of strawberries from the Farmers Market and little basil from the garden. Feeling the best of summer vibes on a late spring Sunday.

Here's a quick, seriously quick, strawberry & basil how to:

Get yourself some perfectly juicy, sweet and ripe strawberries, slice them up. Chiffonade a couple basil leaves, toss that together with the berries in a bowl, and let them macerate for about 20 to 30 minutes. All that's left to do is eat them. If you're using a lot of strawberries you'll need a little more basil, you get the idea. If you want to fancy it up a bit, add a drizzle of good aged balsamic vinegar.