Strawberry and Black Pepper Ice Cream
3-1/2 heaping cups fresh, whole strawberries
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp freshly ground black pepper (coarse or fine)Puree the whole strawberries with the salt and lemon juice in a processor. This should yield about 2-1/3 cup of puree. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened. Set aside.
Bring the half & half to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot half & half into the eggs & sugar mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan over low heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens slightly. Do NOT let the mixture boil, or the eggs will "scramble."
Remove from heat and pour hot custard into a large, clean bowl. Allow this to cool slightly, then stir in 2 cups of the strawberry puree (reserve about 1/3 cup), cream, vanilla and 2 tsp of the pepper (reserve 1 tsp). Cover, and refrigerate until cold or overnight. Add the remaining 1 tsp pepper to the remaining 1/3 cup strawberry puree and 1/2 cup chopped strawberries and refrigerate separately.
Before using in your ice cream machine, stir the chilled custard. Use in machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.
In the last minute or two of the machine's cycle, add the remaining chopped & pureed strawberry/pepper mixture to the machine so it doesn't blend, but will remain as a "ribbon" in the finished ice cream.
Finished ice cream will be soft-serve texture, so freeze for at least 2 hours more for hard ice cream. Enjoy! You can remove the pepper for a fabulous strawberry ice cream recipe.