Black Pepper Ice Cream

This is a lower calorie version of David Lebovitz's recipe that I got off a blog he posted. It sounds like a crazy combination, but the pepper is more of a background flavor, a tingle in the back of your throat, if you will. It is one of the best ice creams I've ever tasted and I LOVE ice cream!

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 1 quart

Ingredients

• 2  cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1  tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
• 1  tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2  cups half-and-half
• 3  large  egg yolks

Directions

1. Warm the milk, sugar, peppercorns, salt and 1 cup of the half and half in a medium saucepan. (I heated it until it almost boiled.) Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for one hour.
2. Rewarm the peppercorn-infused mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the yolks, then pour it all back into the saucepan.
3. Quickly rinse the bowl, pour the remaining half and half into it, and set a mesh strainer on top.
4. Stir the custard constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula until it thickens. Pour the custard through the strainer, pressing the peppercorns gently to extract as much flavor as possible.
5. Discard the peppercorns and stir the custard into the cream.
6. Chill thoroughly (4-6 hours, or 2 hours over an ice bath).
7. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions.