COUSCOUS TRADITIONAL MOROCCAN : A CULINARY JOURNEY TO MOROCCO

 

During the recent lockdown, I found myself dangerously low on chocolate. Luckily, the owner of a neighborhood bakery generously gave me a big bag of chocolate to bake with. (I didn't mention that most of my "baking" chocolate ends up being snacked on.) I insisted on paying for it three times, but he finally said, "Just bring me something you make with it." When he saw the panic in my eyes at the thought of bringing my homemade goods to his lovely French bakery, he reassured me with a smile, "Daveed, don't worry about it. C’est pas grave," gently letting me off the hook.

After the lockdown ended, I've been busy clearing out my kitchen, using up everything I can find. Instead of buying arborio rice, I used a quarter-bag of regular round rice to make a pot of risotto. (Romain said it was the best risotto he'd ever had. So there!) A few jars of sun-dried tomatoes were transformed into a unique pesto, and the remnants of a jar of zhoug were blended with extra herbs and olive oil to make a tasty pasta sauce. I also turned some milk chocolate that had been sitting in my pantry into this Milk Chocolate Chip-Amaro ice cream.

Milk chocolate often gets a bad rap. "It's not real chocolate!" some people say, which is technically true—it's milk chocolate. However, not all milk chocolates are created equal. In the U.S., milk chocolate only needs to contain 10% cacao solids (cocoa bean mass), while in Europe, it must have at least 30%. Recently, some U.S. chocolate makers have started producing "dark" milk chocolates with similar percentages to those in Europe (24-40%), and I highly recommend using one of these for this ice cream.

I decided to give a batch of this ice cream to the bakery owner, who has kids, so I left out the amaro in theirs. But for us adults, the bitter amaro is the perfect counterpoint to the creamy, milk-rich chocolate. Amari vary widely in flavor, ranging from somewhat sweet and fruity to intensely bitter, with no standard definition (known as amer in French). Having a friend who literally wrote the book on Amaro, I’ve tasted many of them. However, it's tricky to determine how much to add since each bottle is unique. Therefore, in the recipe's headnote, I provide guidance on how to adjust the amount of amaro based on what you have. (You can also leave it out entirely if you prefer.)

To create those delightful little chips in the ice cream, I use an Italian technique called stracciatella. This involves drizzling melted chocolate into the churned ice cream, where it hardens into tiny chips. Since the opening of my ice cream machine is quite small, it takes careful aim and a bit of patience to drizzle the chocolate slowly through it.

If your ice cream maker has a larger opening than mine, you can drizzle the melted chocolate directly in while the machine is running. (If the chocolate starts to cling to the dasher, pause the machine and scrape it down.) Alternatively, you can layer the freshly churned ice cream in a container, drizzling chocolate over each layer and stirring to create small "chips." Be sure to work quickly to prevent the ice cream from melting. Most importantly, avoid using the same spoon for both dipping in the melted chocolate and stirring the ice cream, as this can introduce moisture to the chocolate and cause it to seize.

would you taste a Milk Chocolate Chip Ice Cream : 

Recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop by Ten Speed Press.

For the ice cream base:

• - 8 ounces (230g) of dark milk chocolate (around 30% cocoa solids)
• - 1 cup (250ml) of whole milk
• - 1/2 cup (100g) of sugar
• - A pinch of salt
• - 4 large egg yolks
• - 2 cups (500ml) of heavy cream
• - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• - 2 to 4 tablespoons of mid-strength amaro (like Ramazzoti), adjust to taste

For the chocolate chips:

- 5 ounces (140g) of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

Instructions:

1. Chop the dark milk chocolate into small pieces and place them in a medium-sized bowl. Set a mesh strainer over the bowl.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat the whole milk, sugar, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Gradually pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

4. Cook the custard over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, until it thickens enough to coat the spatula. Be cautious not to overcook or boil.

5. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl with the chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate is fully melted. Then mix in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and amaro. Chill the mixture thoroughly.

6. Before churning, taste the mixture and adjust the amount of amaro if needed. Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

7. For the chocolate chips, chop the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and melt it in a small bowl placed over simmering water. Ensure no water or steam gets into the chocolate.

8. When the ice cream is ready, either drizzle the melted chocolate slowly into the churned ice cream while it's still churning, or layer the ice cream into a chilled container, drizzling chocolate between layers and breaking it into bits with a spoon or knife as you go. Be careful not to mix utensils that touch the chocolate with those used for the ice cream mixture to prevent the chocolate from seizing.

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