Stracciatella Gelato is kind of like American chocolate chip ice cream, except completely different. Instead of the chips and sometimes chunks you find in American product, Stracciattella has fine bits of chocolate throughout, which results in a smooth texture with just the slightest crunch in every bite. This is achieved by drizzling in a thin stream of melted chocolate during the final stages of churning, which hardens on contact and gets broken up as it churns. My two previous gelato recipes, chocolate and pistachio, were Sicilian style gelato, which has no egg or cream and is thickened with a crema rinforzata made from milk, sugar and cornstarch. Here, for a little variety, I went with a Northern Italian style vanilla gelato, made with an egg based custard.

Stracciatella Gelato Recipe

Prep time: 45 min | Total time: 45 min

Makes About 1 Quart

2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1. Stir the milk and sugar together in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add the vanilla bean. Heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat and steep for 15 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly whisk the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks and transfer the mixture back to the sauce pan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, 8 – 10 minutes and remove custard from heat.
3. Pour the cream into a large bowl and place a mesh strainer on top. Pour the custard through the strainer, discarding the vanilla bean, and stir it into the cream. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
4. Remove custard from refrigerator and process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. While ice cream is churning melt chocolate in a sauté pan over low heat or in the microwave. Drizzle a very thin stream of the chocolate into the gelato during the last few minutes of churning.

When I decided to add this blog to ItalianChef.com, I thought it would be a good forum for occasionally writing about other types of food.  The main focus will always be Italian cuisine, but I do branch out and would like to share my experiences with cooking in general.  My wife, Sandy, is Portuguese and since we have been together I have been exposed to a lot of great dishes from a culinary tradition I did not know much about before we met.  Continuing the grilled chicken theme from last week, I thought I would share one of my favorite Portuguese grilling recipes, Grilled Chicken with Piri Piri Sauce.

Piri Piri Sauce is named after the very hot chile that is the main ingredient, the piri piri pepper.  The pepper, also known as malegueta is kind of hard to find here in America, so you can substitute any small hot pepper.  Bridgeport, Connecticut where Sandy’s family is from has a few Portuguese specialty food stores where I am able to find the jarred maleguetas from Brazil that I use.  You can adjust the heat to your own taste by increasing or decreasing the number of chiles.

Grilled Chicken with Piri Piri Sauce Recipe

12 piri piri or other small hot chiles, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, cut into eight serving pieces

Prep time: 15 min | Cook time: 30 min | Total time: 45 min

Serves 4

1. Combine chiles, garlic, salt, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar in a jar with a tight fitting lid.  Cover, shake well and let rest in refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The sauce will keep for about 1 month.
2. Place chicken in a baking dish and  pour half the piri piri sacue over. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator for 4-6 hours, turning chicken once.
3. Start a fire in a charcoal grill, or pre-heat a gas grill to medium-hot. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the charcoal on one half of the bottom of the grill and leave the other half empty for indirect cooking.  If using a gas grill once the grill is pre-heated,  turn off the burners on on one side of the grill.
4. Place chicken on grill directly over the fire and cook for 5 minutes, turning once.  Move chicken to the side of the grill that is not directly over the fire, brush with piri piri sauce and cover the grill.  Cook chicken covered over indirect heat,  turning occasionally and basting with remaining piri piri sauce, for about 20 minutes, until the juices run clear.  Serve warm.