Friday, February 27, 2009

Pistachio ice cream

Pistachio ice cream

Two things this week have convinced me I should trust my instincts more often.

I saw a teaser for “The Wrestler” many months ago and thought “this is my kind of film”. A director a deeply admire – Julia Roberts got all the awards that year, but they should have gone to Ellen Burstyn – working with an actor from one of Alan Parker’s finest moments (one of my all time favorites. Can’t tell you how much I love that movie).

All I can say is thank you, Mr. Aronofsky. Thank you for one of the greatest films I have ever seen. Thank you for 2 hours of drama, poetry and all sorts of emotions. And thank you for NOT letting Nicolas Cage get the part.

The other nice surprise I had was food related. When I saw Ana Elisa’s pistachio ice cream I knew I had to make it - it had my name written all over it.
I finally made her recipe early on this week and the result was an ice cream I simply cannot resist. Absurdly delicious.

Ana, thank you. Thanking you 100 times would not be enough. :D

Pistachio ice cream

Pistachio ice cream

1 ½ cups (200g) raw, shelled and unsalted pistachios
3 ¾ cups (900ml) whole milk*
4 egg yolks
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (180g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt

Place pistachio and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil; reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to keep the foam from overflowing. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
Pour the pistachio-milk mixture into a blender. Cover with the larger lid and remove the central one. Place a folded kitchen tower over the remaining lid and blend the mixture until smooth – removing one of the lids will release excess steam from inside the blender and the towel will keep the mixture from splashing. Be careful when blending hot liquids.

Line a fine colander with fine muslin or cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Pour the pistachio mixture over the cloth and set aside for about 10 minutes.
Gather the cloth ends and squeeze out over the colander until you get as much liquid as possible – you should get about 2 ½ cups (600ml) of pistachio milk.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Heat the pistachio milk once again until it almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour about ¼ of the mixture over the egg yolks, whisking well until smooth. Pour the remaining liquid, whisk and then return it all to the pan.
Place it over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 76 to 79ºC/170 to 175ºF on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil).

Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, add vanilla and salt and mix well. Refrigerate it half-covered for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker, transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, about 4 hours.

* I had some heavy cream in the fridge begging to be used (it was about to expire), so I replaced 1 cup milk for 1 cup cream.

Makes about 1 quart (950ml)

Pistachio ice cream

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had an incredible pistachio ricotta ice cream at a place called Scoops in Los Angeles that I've been meaning to recreate. This seems like a good base recipe to start from, thanks!

Peter M said...

Whoa, this is outstanding, right down to the spun sugar!

The Food Librarian said...

This is so lovely. All those flavors sound fantastic and the spun sugar is so beautiful!

Erin said...

I've always fantasized about making spun sugar. This looks very much like it belongs in a Fairy Tale.

Snooky doodle said...

The pistachio ice cream looks delicious and the sugar looks like gold. woww

Anonymous said...

Wow! That looks amazing!

Pistachio is one of my favorite ice cream flavors. This sounds so good right now that we're in the 80's F in AZ.

Anonymous said...

Love your touch of spun sugar. I've always had problems making spun sugar at home in my cramped kitchen, so I envy others who can do it in theirs. Lovely photos!

Lisa Smiley said...

So delicious looking! Beautiful! I soooo wish it was summer here!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

My boyfriend would LOVE this! His mom always makes him a pistachio ice cream cake for his birthday!

Anonymous said...

The ice cream looks wonderful with its spun sugar garnish -- so elegant!

Elyse said...

Just goes to show that you should always trust your gut--and your gut did you well here! That pistachio ice cream looks awesome. Looks like the perfect treat to stick in a bowl and munch on during an awesome movie.

Anonymous said...

That sugar is beautiful! Mmm, pistachio.

pam said...

I've bookmarked this! Sounds fantastic.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

i adore adore pistachios so i have to try this!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE pistachio ice cream and gelato. I am lucky (or maybe not depending on how you look at it..) to live across the street from a gelato place with wonderful pistachio gelato. I really need an ice cream maker for the times of year they are closed!

KJ said...

My you really are giving your ice cream maker a good workout. Fantastic!!!! This one looks especially good. Pistachio is one of my favourite flavours.

Emily said...

Ooooh, that ice cream looks delish. And I love the artsy caramel on top.

Anonymous said...

I made pistachio ice cream to go with this month's Daring Baker challenge. The recipe is quite similar - and I agree, the results are wonderful!

Anonymous said...

this is my favourite ice cream flavour!!! mmmm..looks so good and the spun sugar is very pretty! x

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Oh, wonderful! I've been looking for a good pistachio ice cream recipe. Your spun sugar is gorgeous! I'm in awe of your sugar artistry.

Peabody said...

Look at you going and getting all fancy on us. Looks lovely.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Brittany, I'm intrigued by the idea of adding ricotta to ice cream, but if you say it was good, I believe it!

Pete, thank you!

Food Librarian, thank you!

Erin, you are far too kind, darling, tks!

Natalie, thank you!

Joy, I'm a sucker for all things pistachio, too. :D

Cynthia, it was kind of difficult to make, I have to admit it. :D

Lisa, thank you! We've been having pretty hot days over here lately.

How to Eat a Cupcake, thank you for all your comments!
Make some for him, will you? :D

Lydia, darling, thank you!

Elyse, you are so right. ;D

Anna, thank you!

Pam, I hope you try it!

Meeta, I love pistachios, too!

Elly, I'm sure your ice creams will be even tastier than the ones from the shop! :D

KJ, I have been using it like crazy - worth every dime! :D

Emily, thank you, sweetie!

Michelle, really? I must have missed it. I'm glad to know you like it!

Diva, I'm glad to hear that! :D

Lynn, I hope you give it a go, darling.

Pea, you are just too sweet.
xx

RecipeGirl said...

This is just plain gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

My hubby's favorite ice cream! This looks delicious, Patricia!

Katie said...

I love pistachio ice cream, and this one looks beautiful and your sugar work is gorgeous!

Sarah said...

Mr. Aronofsky came into my restaurant the other day...
I loved the Wrestler, too. Great movie. But I may love pistachio ice cream more. I mean, I REALLY love pistachio ice cream. This may be the next batch I make.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Pistachio ice cream is divine as is that pic you took!

Anonymous said...

I've been searching for a Pistachio Ice Cream recipe to try. This look more like a Gelato recipe because it has less cream. It looks great. I will definitely try this one.

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