dark and strong

today it was fantastic skiing. and i know it's childish, but when i got on the lift i noticed right away that i was in chair 70 on the #1 line, so i went ahead and took a picture.

and i skied longer than i should have, so i'm tired and weepy and i hurt.

but it was still good.

the thing i want to tell you about, though, is the ice cream. saturday i made dark chocolate ice cream and never you mind why. it's awesome, though, if you like your chocolate dark. i used only enough sugar to take the astringent feeling out of it. and because i'm working by feel and not from a recipe, my instructions here are only an approximation, but you can probably replicate my results without trying too hard.

of course you should use the best quality chocolate available to you. and they always say to use fresh-brewed coffee in recipes, but since i never make coffee, i use instant. it's probably be better with an equivalent of high-quality fresh brewed, but i use what i have.they say coffee intensifies the taste of chocolate.

and my eggs come from a guy i know and not the store, so blast if i know what size they are. kind of smallish, but regular-size looking yolks. there's so much chocolate in the recipe that you need egg yolks to stabilize it. quite frankly, there's just enough cream to hold the chocolate and that's about it.

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar more or less according to taste
a tablespoon or two instant coffee

3 egg yolks, whisked

about 2 cups cream. add enough so that the chocolate stays in the mixture without falling out. you kind of have to do this by feel.

heat the everything but the eggs and cream on low heat until the chocolate melts in completely, whisking frequently. if you need to turn the heat up to let it simmer, you can do that. when it just about comes to a simmer, add a little of the mixture to the whisked egg yolks to temper them and then add them into the mix. when that's just below a simmer, add the cream and whisk it until it's smooth.

this is the part that requires the most guesswork: there's a good custardy consistency you're looking for where the yolks thicken and smooth the mix but not too thick and there's enough cream to carry the chocolate in emulsion.

then chill the mix and when it's cold, either toss it in the blender or use an immersion blender until it's really, really smooth. or if you like little flecks of unsweetened chocolate, until it's almost smooth. both ways are good.


then toss it in the tank of your ice cream maker and do whatever you usually do. it'll be awesome. no, you don't have to share if you don't want.