Culinary THROW DOWN: Fire!

It's been two weeks since Troll announced the topic for today's Culinary Throw Down and I haven't been able to get this out of my head since.



So, anyway.

Here's my Fi-wah Recipe:


No, not just ice cream. Moi's Red Chile Chocolate Ice Cream. What? You scared of a little fire with that ice? Don't be. It's delicious and the perfect way to end a festive holiday meal.

What:
Makes 8 1/2 cup servings:

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons red chile powder, preferably from Chimayo chiles

How:
Place the chocolate in a food processor and chop until fine (or chop by hand on a large cutting board with a very sharp chef's knife). Combine chocolate with milk and cream in a heavy duty saucepan over medium heat and cook until the mixture almost boils and all chocolate is melted, about 5-10 minutes. Stir often to prevent from boiling, sticking, or scorching.

Reduce heat to low.

Beat egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl until light yellow and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Beat in cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and red chile powder until incorporated. Add a quarter cup of the hot chocolate/milk/cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture in a slow, thin stream and whisk until combined. Then, gradually and in a very thin stream, add the eggs yolks to the chocolate/milk/cream mixture, whisking quickly the entire time to prevent the egg mixture from curdling.

Turn the heat to medium low and cook mixture, stirring continually, about five minutes or until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let boil.

Remove from heat and cool completely, either overnight in the refrigerator or buy placing saucepan in an ice bath, stirring occasionally until mixture is thoroughly chilled.

Once mixture is chilled, pour into the freezer bowl of an ice cream maker (I recommend this one by Cuisinart – I've had mine for 10 years and it's the best), turn machine on and let run until mixture is thickened, about 25-30 minutes. Scrape into a freezer safe container and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a cookie of your choice. I like mine with Biscochitos, but any cookie will do.