Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

My girls are home all week for Spring Break, so I've been cooking their favorite meals...tacos, bbq, hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream.  I thought it would be nice to make something green for them in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.  This mint chocolate chip ice cream is so refreshing with the peppermint flavoring and rich with the chocolate chips! 

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (I used 2%)
3/4 cup sugar
dash salt
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring
1/2 to 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, whisk together the milk, sugar, and salt.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low.  In a glass bowl, lightly beat 3 egg yolks, then whisk in 1/4 cup of the warm milk mixture to tempur the eggs.  Slowly whisk the eggs into the sauce pan and cook until custard is just thickened, whisking constantly.  Be careful not to bring to a boil. 

Pour thickened custard into a chilled glass bowl and refrigerate until cool, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.  Note:  If there are any lumps in your custard, strain through a fine mesh sieve into the chilled glass bowl.

Prepare your ice cream machine.  Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract to the cooled custard.  Stir in some green food coloring until you get a pretty light green.  Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine.  After 10 minutes, pour the chocolate chips into the ice cream machine.  Continue to freeze according to your ice cream manufacturer's instructions.  Mine usually takes about 25 minutes total.  

Pour the soft serve ice cream into an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.  Enjoy!