It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. Life has been busy.
We live in an area where the economy and tourism work on high season and low season. We are still in high season. Which is good for the economy, tourism, and my social life. Not so good on my nightly hours of sleep. That means that I am a tad behind in cooking and photographing. Lately all I’ve been doing is liking other people’s pictures and wishing I had the time to keep developing my skills. That time will come soon, and then I’ll probably be bored and miss all the partying.
Never happy.
That brings us to this ice-cream that I made a few weeks ago for a friend. Her dad was visiting and she asked if I could make him pistachio ice-cream. The last time he visited she asked me the same; unfortunately, there was no whipping cream in all of Playa del Carmen for the two weeks surrounding his visit. No joke. So this time I promised I would make sure he got some.
The pistachio. One of my favorite nuts. If only they were cheaper.
I think I enjoy how long they take to eat. I feel like I am eating a lot more than I really am. Shelling and dividing those salty nuts, a past-time I could spend hours on. I am aware that where you live you can probably buy a bag of shelled pistachios. That would be detrimental to me. I probably would end up pouring them down my throat. That and the macadamia nut. I would live in Hawaii just for them.
This ice-cream is creamy and perfect for pistachio lovers. But do yourself a favor and buy the pre-shelled ones, saves a lot of time (and snacking).
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup pistachios
DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor, grind 1/2 cup of pistachios with 1/4 cup sugar just until finely chopped.
In a large saucepan, bring milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar to a light boil. Pour pistachio/sugar mixture into cream mixture and allow it to re-heat to a light boil, whisking regularly.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the yolks. Temper the eggs by pouring about a half cup of the hot mixture into it, whisking constantly. Gradually add the egg mixture back into the pan. Cook over low heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon until liquid coats the back of the spoon, about 5-7 minutes. Turn off heat. Cover with a lid and let steep for about an hour.
Pour liquid through a mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Press hard to remove any remaining liquid from the sieve. Add the vanilla extract to liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from refrigerator and pour into ice-cream machine as directed. In last 5 minutes of churning, add remaining chopped pistachios. Freeze until hard.
ORANGELOLLS 