Pistachio Ice Cream

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while but a lot has been going on the past few months. All good stuff though! One of those good things is a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment KStead gave me for Christmas. For my birthday he gave me a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream recipe book. Who's a lucky girl?

The first recipe I made from the book was actually the blondie brownies. I incorporated macadamia nuts and brought them to a football watching party. They were an absolute hit! I'll probably have to blog about that another time. The ice cream recipe I made was pistachio ice cream. This wasn't in the recipe book but I used the sweet cream base which is the staple of a Ben and Jerry's ice cream. When I was cooking the base on the stove the last ingredient was vanilla. As soon as the vanilla hit the heat I knew it was going to be a good ice cream. It smelled so deliciously good!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3/4 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Finely grind 1 cup pistachios and 1/4 cup sugar in processor. Bring milk and ground pistachio mixture to boil in heavy large saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in vanilla extract.
2. Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return custard to saucepan. Cook over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Strain into large bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours.
3. Stir 1 cup whipping cream and chopped pistachios into custard. Process mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to container and freeze. (Ice cream can be prepared 3 days ahead.)