If I had to pick a desert island herb to grow – just one – I think (right now, anyway) it would be spearmint. It’s so versatile and it has that fantastically fresh, cool taste that elevates everything, be it sweet or savoury.
Best, it requires no gardening prowess. Not only will it flourish despite you, it will take over your whole yard if you’re not careful. Planting it in a pot is therefore a better idea, whether you keep the pot on your porch or embed the pot in a garden bed (in which case you’ll have it forever, since it’s a perennial).
Cultures the world over have incorporated mint into their cooking – Greeks freshen up their salads with it (it goes beautifully with feta) and Asians add it to soups and stir-fries. It’s a good friend to lamb and to chocolate and it makes fantastic tea. My most-memorable-ever cup of after-dinner tea was at a lovely eatery in Chelsea, Quebec, and involved only a pot of boiled water and a heap of mint leaves from the restaurant’s garden.
Homemade mint jelly; mint pesto; mint tossed with freshly-shelled peas, butter, shaved parmesan and lemon zest; mint with grilled eggplant, red wine vinegar, garlic and a drizzle of olive oil; homemade mojitos. Have I tempted you yet?
If not, consider the following recipe for homemade mint ice cream. It has a freshness that the store-bought green stuff just doesn’t deliver.
I’m going to include just the recipe for the ice cream here, but if you think like I do, you’re probably wondering how you can incorporate some chocolate. I don’t recommend stirring in chocolate chips because they always get waxy and flavourless in ice cream. Instead, whip up a fudgey homemade sauce to pour overtop or make it into ice-cream sandwiches with some rich chocolate cookies. (A cookie with a more cake-like consistency would be preferable since it stays softer when frozen).
Lastly, a word about ice cream machines. Most of you probably don’t own one; I bought one last summer and have never looked back. They can be had for well under $100 and you can make frosty drinks and frozen yogurt and all kinds of dreamy things in there. I’ve also seen a very cool and fairly inexpensive ice-cream making gadget out there called the Play and Freeze that would be great for kids – Google it up.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the custard into a bowl, pop it in the freezer, and pull it out every 30 minutes or so to whisk it up vigorously. You’ll get the same results as a machine, more or less, in two to three hours.
This recipe is from the queen of homemade herself, Martha Stewart. It makes about three cups.
Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream
1. Prepare an ice water bath. Cook mint in a small saucepan of boiling water until bright green (about one minute). Using a slotted spoon, transfer mint to ice-water bath. When cool, drain and squeeze out excess water. Reserve ice-water bath.
2. Puree mint and milk in a blender until mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a medium saucepan, add cream, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium bowl.
4. Gradually whisk 1/3 of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, then pour egg-cream mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it’s thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (about eight minutes).
5. Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing on mint to extract liquid. Set bowl in ice-water bath and let cool completely, stirring occasionally.
6. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, about four hours.
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