381210 Wed Mar 14 20:35:15 -0700 2007 4 31 Home Cooking 0 2387087 I'm making mint ice cream this weekend. Since it's St Paddy's Day and kids will be attending- ice cream needs to be green. I really hate the idea of adding artifical food coloring. I'm afraid that spinach water might result in altered taste. Any ideas for ways to color ice cream? Should I try avocado? If so how much? This is the recipe I will be using: Mint Chip Ice Cream Yield: 1 quart 1 1/2 cups of fresh mint leaves, preferably peppermint 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (non-ultra-pasteurized) 2/3 cup sugar, divided 4 egg yolks 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate (stored in freezer until use) 1 teaspoon vanilla Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with the milk. Bring to a bare simmer, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain the milk into a bowl and reserve. Clean the saucepan. Combine the heavy cream, 1/3 cup of the sugar and salt in the clean saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Whisk the yolks with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl. When the cream is hot, very gradually pour it into the yolks and sugar, whisking vigorously at the same time so the yolks don't curdle. When all the cream has been added, return the whole mixture to the saucepan. Heat slowly just to 170 degrees (or when it coats the back of a wooden spoon). Pour into a large metal bowl and add the reserved, mint-flavored milk. Cool over an ice bath and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 hours. Churn in an ice cream machine according to instructions. As the churning finishes, add the cold chocolate chips. Freeze 4 hours or overnight. Wed Mar 14 20:35:15 -0700 2007 63093 YumTum 1 2387112 Here's something for avocado ice cream: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_32237,00.html You can see that the avocado is used a partial substitute for some of the cream, so if you add avocado, reduce the amount of cream. A blender may be easier to do for this. I was also thinking maybe match greeen tea powder if you wouldn't mind the green tea taste. And wouldn't you be able to blend the cream with the milk, let it steep and then strain through a chinois, that way the mint-green may slightly dye it, but I'm not sure. Good luck on the project. Wed Mar 14 20:43:00 -0700 2007 2387087 58855 digkv 1 2387116 Oops, I meant put the cream and mint in a blender. Have a nice St. Patrick's Day. Wed Mar 14 20:44:11 -0700 2007 2387087 58855 digkv 1 2387266 How about wheat grass juice? It's healthy...If you can't find it independently, hop over to a Jamba Juice store or a health store that may have it.... KQ Wed Mar 14 21:58:58 -0700 2007 2387087 11934 Kitchen Queen 1 2388038 You will get a very slight green tinge, I think, from the fresh herb itself, but if you it to be all kid-friendly and stuff, I'd suggest using the blender method mentioned above. Scald your milk without the mint in it, off heat add your mint, let sit several minutes as you would tea. Transfer in small batches to blender and blend with some blanched off and very well dried spinach leaves. Strain immediately. Spinach should give you color without flavor. It is used in a surprising amount of european confections, and I've never really gotten the spinach flavor upfront. When steeping the mint in your milk, be wary of direct heat and over steeping. Most herbs and especially mint can take on an unpleasant, grassy quality when over heated, and you will lose the fresh bouquet you want your ice cream to exude. 30 minutes seems way too long to me, and I would just taste it every ten minutes or so until the flavor was where I wanted it. Covering the milk while steeping will help this process. Good luck and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Thu Mar 15 08:05:31 -0700 2007 2387087 11225 rabaja