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Cook the Book: Fresh Mint-Chocolate Speckled Milkshake

Posted by Caroline Russock, July 1, 2009 at 1:15 PM

I consider myself lucky for the fact that my childhood dentist's office was located in very close proximity to an ice cream parlor. When it came time for my brother's and my twice-yearly dental exams my mother decided that we should forgo lunch and have milkshakes instead. In hindsight, I assume she thought that if we had a liquid lunch then the dentist wouldn't find any nasty pieces of sandwich residue in our teeth. Even in my seven-year-old mind this plan didn't make the most sense, but I looked forward to going to the dentist, so I guess it worked like a charm.

My choice was always a mint chocolate chip shake and to this day it's my favorite. When I stumbled upon this recipe for Fresh Mint-Chocolate Speckled Milkshake in Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes, happy childhood memories came flooding back to me. Any recipe that recalls positive memories of the dentist should be taken to heart because I am not sure that many of us have happy ones. I guess that the moral of the story is that a milkshake makes anything better, even going to the dentist.

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Fresh Mint-Chocolate Speckled Milkshake

- makes one 16-ounce milkshake or two 8-ounce milkshakes -

Adapted from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes by Bobby Flay.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves plus 4 whole mint leaves and additional Sprigs for garnish (optional)
2 tablespoons sugar
11 ounces premium vanilla ice cream (about 1 3/4 packed cups)
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate bar (don't use chips), melted and kept warm

Procedure

1. Combine the milk, chopped mint leaves, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Strain the milk into a bowl.

2. Pour 1/2 cup of the mint-flavored milk into a blender (reserve the remaining 1/2 cup milk for another shake), add the whole mint leaves, and blend for 5 seconds. Add the ice cream and blend until almost smooth, about 7 seconds. With the motor running, slowly pour the melted chocolate through the feed tube on the lid of the blender and blend for 5 seconds. Serve immediately, garnished with mint sprigs, if desired.

Adults: Add 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) crème de menthe to the blender when you add the mint-flavored milk.

Chocolate-chocolate mint shake Substitute chocolate ice cream for the vanilla ice cream.

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Tags: beverages, Bobby Flay, Bobby Flay's Burgers Fries and Shakes, chocolate, Cook the Book, ice cream, mint, shakes