Richard Blais' Recipe for Violet Ice Cream

May 4, 2012— -- Chef Richard Blais, most recognized for his stint on the competitive cooking reality TV show, "Top Chef, Season 4" and "Top Chef: All Stars," has a passion for being very forward-thinking in his dishes.

For his violet ice cream recipe, Blais used equal parts cream base and liquid nitrogen.

"I think great food is about great ingredients," he said. "It's about cooking it well, it's about technique, just about making delicious food."

Blais, who operates multiple Atlanta eateries, including Flip Burger Boutique and HD-1, shared his recipe for the "Nightline" Platelist series.

Richard Blais' Recipe for Violet Ice Cream

Ingredients:

Preperation:

1. Combine the milk and heavy cream together in a large pot.

2. Split and scrape the vanilla beans and their pods into the pot.

3. Gently heat the milk and cream, whisking in the vanilla.

4. Stir in 2 fl oz. of the Golden Syrup and the salt.

5. Bring the liquid to a boil, then down to a simmer.

6. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar.

7. Temper the liquid into the eggs.

8. Add the tempered mixture back into the liquid; using a spatula to continuously stir the liquid until it thickens slightly or reaches 175F.

9. Cool the liquid in an ice bath.

10. Once cool, add the violet extract and chill the ice cream base for a couple of hours or overnight.

11. Wearing safety goggles and gloves, lay out a kitchen towel on a cutting board.

12. Open the bag of dry ice and put some of it on the towel.

13. Cover the pieces with another towel and with a rolling pin smash the ice into a powder.

14. Pour half of the ice cream base into a kitchen mixer with the paddle attachment.

15. Working very quickly, with the mixer on low to medium speed, add the powdered dry ice one spoon at a time.

16. Add more once it dissolves into the cream and the vapor disappears.

17. Continue this until the base thickens, then transfer to a container to freeze for a couple of hours.