Coconut Ice Cream with Cilantro Syrup

Ingredients:

Coconut Ice Cream

1 cup plus 1 TB coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp sugar
3 TB simple syrup
2 TB rum

Cilantro Syrup

3/4 cup (roughly) simple syrup
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Step 1:

First make a simple syrup: Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Turn off heat and let cool. Reserve 3 TB for the ice cream.

Step 2:

Throw in 1/2 cup cilantro and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Strain and add the syrup back to the pan without the leaves, and reduce until mixture is as thick as maple syrup. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Step 3:

For ice cream: bring coconut milk, half and half, sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and put in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Step 4:

Let come to room temperature, then mix, cover the surface of the mixture with plastic wrap, and refrigerate a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours. When ready to make the ice cream, mix in the simple syrup and rum, and make in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Freeze until ready to use.

Step 5:

Dish up the ice cream, top with a very generous amount of the syrup as the ice cream isn't very sweet (and it has kind of a weird fluffy texture, like snow, so it will absorb the syrup) and top with toasted coconut as desired.

This is strangely good and refreshing, and the syrup, while tasting of cilantro and not very good on its own, pairs really well with the coconut. It tastes more like an herbal mint than straight up cilantro.