Week Fourteen - Pistachio

As I sit here by the computer painting my nails a pastel green, I just realized that I never posted this past week's flavor. In a week where I made three ice creams in five days...and then ended the week by going to see my fabulous sister-in-law and her husband kick out the jams Friday night, worked Saturday morning then went to see the Queen tribute band (whoa!), and spent the day Sunday at the hospital MEETING MY NEW NIECE (!!!!!) this post just slipped my mind. Stay tuned for more on my niece...for now, my nails are done and I have a few minutes to spare so let's go!

I believe I was 23 or 24 years old before I tried anything pistachio-flavored, the nut or otherwise. I'm not entirely sure why I avoided it for so long. Green is my favorite color and I love most other nuts. Those seem like good enough reasons to try one, right? Wrong. Something about pistachios always seemed weird to me. Maybe because I associate them with the lame five pound burlap sack of nuts my dad always gets at Christmas from a client. That stupid bag would sit in our house for months before finally we'd just throw it away. It was a nuisance and I wanted nothing to do with it! Little did I know how truly delicious that dumb bag's contents were. If only I could motivate myself to pick it up and open it those many years ago, I might be leading a very different life these days. Alas, my tastebuds missed out until one fateful day when I decided to taste (read: steal) my husband's Pistachio & Honey ice cream from Jeni's. "What's this?" I thought to myself. "Pistachios aren't the gross old-person-only flavor I had imagined in my mind; pistachios are TOTALLY AWESOME!"

A new day had dawned, friends. And I'm delighted to be able to share that with you here today. Feast your eyes on this:

Pistachio Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup pistachio paste (I bought mine at Whole Foods)

1. Pour the milk and heavy cream into a saucepan and heat over medium high until bubbles start to form around the edge.

2. In a food processor (or the super convenient mini food processor attachment to your immersion blender!) combine the pistachio paste with a couple tablespoons of water. Pulse, adding additional water, until smooth.

3. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk to combine.

4. Add a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Once combined, slowly pour egg mixture into the milk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid curdling. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

4. Pour through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down directly on top of the mixture. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

5. Transfer cooled mixture into bowl of ice cream maker and churn. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze.