Homegrown Mint Chip Ice Cream

Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)

  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)
  • Nick Morgenstern’s Edible Schoolyard Salad (Ice Cream)

NOTES

This recipe requires an ice cream maker and a candy thermometer to complete. We added fresh sorrel to our batch, but the recipe that follows is for the classic mint chip. Feel free to add some sorrel to the mix if you like that extra tang.

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the milk and the cream to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop the mint finely and mix together with the sugar and salt.

Add the sugar/mint mixture to the milk and cream in a non-reactive saucepan and heat to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Strain the mixture and prepare in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturers recommendations.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

EASY

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SERVES

4

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PREP TIME

60 MINS

Ice Cream

  • 4 
    cups 
    whole milk
  • 4 
    cups 
    cream
  • 2 
    cups 
    sugar
  • 3 
    bunches 
    fresh mint, stems removed
  • 1 
    cup 
    bittersweet chocolate chunks

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the milk and the cream to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop the mint finely and mix together with the sugar and salt.

Add the sugar/mint mixture to the milk and cream in a non-reactive saucepan and heat to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Strain the mixture and prepare in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturers recommendations.

Chef Nick Morgenstern loves to garden, and it shows in the food he makes at his two restaurants, El Rey and GG’s, and his Lower East Side ice cream parlor, Morgenstern’s. At El Rey, you will always find a few tiny red-veined sorrel microgreens on top of your plate, and in the back of GG’s you can wander the vegetable garden with its raised beds. So, he was an obvious contributor for the Edible Schoolyard NYC benefit last month. The event featured every big name New York chef (April Bloomfield, Alex Raij, Camille Becerra…), and of course, Nick provided the ice cream.

Nick and I met at the Edible Schoolyard NYC in Gravesend, Brooklyn where we picked herbs for a very special salad-y ice cream. If you don’t know the Edible Schoolyard NYC project, check them out. A project originally pioneered by Alice Waters, Edible Schoolyard NYC partners with public schools to build gardens and kitchen classrooms where children can engage in hands-on learning. They provide students with the knowledge, skills and environment required to make healthier choices and change the way they eat…for life.

Nick Morgenstern in His Own Words

JS: How did you get involved in the Edible Schoolyard event and what did you serve for the gala?

NM: Christine Muhlke from Bon Appetit magazine reached out and asked me to participate. I was so excited to be asked, and we worked with Edible to develop a flavor for the event (Edible Schoolyard Mint Chip).  This flavor is on the menu at the ice cream parlor for the rest of the summer, and it is already one of the top 5 sellers!  We also served the Salted Strawberry Sqirl, Labne Sorbet, Salted Chocolate, Sesame Caramel, Chocolate Oat.

JS: It occurred to me that we should bring the sorrel-mint ice cream back to the garden for a REAL taste test with the kids?

NM: I would love to set that up!  We should totally bring the flavor out for them to taste, I’d love to hear their reactions to it!

JS: When and how did you start the garden at GG’s? Does it have a particular focus? Do the herbs and produce go to all your restaurants, or do they mostly stay at GG’s?

NM: The GG’s garden was started when we were running Goat Town starting in 2011.  We have been running the garden out of there with expansions every season since then.  There are now 18 raised beds producing herbs and vegetables for GG’s, El Rey and Morgenstern’s!

JS: How does the day-to-day of the garden function? Is it open to the public? Can people help out if they want to?

NM: We are always open to volunteers!  Just shoot an email to info@ggsnyc.com!!!

Julia Sherman:  You are a trained pastry chef. Of all the sweets, why ice cream?

Nick Morgenstern: Yes!  I have always loved ice cream, its the perfect medium for expressing flavor and texture combinations!

JS: Does watching adults lick ice cream cones ever get old?

NS: Never!!!  It’s the perfect guilty pleasure at any age!

JS: Tell me about your flavor collaborations. What is the process for developing those specials? Have you ever had to turn a suggestion down? Or are you open to pretty much anything?

NM: We start out by finding creative people that we really want to work with, and the process usually just moves from there.  We usually have a conversation        about the flavors that are inspiring to the chef or creative we are working with.  We discuss the different flavors and textures that we feel like we can realize, and then I go back to the shop and test the flavors until I have something that we feel good about.  We then name it, and get it on the calendar!

JS: When and how did you start the garden at GG’s? Does it have a particular focus? Do the herbs and produce go to all your restaurants, or do they mostly stay at GG’s?!

NM: The GG’s garden was started when we were running our restaurant Goat Town starting in 2011.  We have been running the garden out of there with expansions every season since then.  There are now 18 raised beds producing herbs and vegetables for GG’s, El Rey and Morgenstern’s.

JS: You mentioned you have your eye on New Orleans. What brings you there of all places (besides crawfish, Mardi Gras, jazz music, brass bands, Sazeracs…)?

NM: Top secret!