Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 11 oz Mexican chocolate (3 1/2 disks; preferably Ibarra), coarsely chopped
• 3 3/4 cups half-and-half
• 3 large eggs
• Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer; an ice cream maker

1. Halve vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a 3-quart heavy saucepan.
2. Add chocolate and half-and-half and bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Lightly beat eggs with salt in a bowl, then add hot chocolate mixture in a slow stream, whisking.
5. Transfer custard to cleaned saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard registers 175F on thermometer, 1 to 5 minutes.
6. Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl.
7. Put bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool, stirring occasionally.
8. Freeze custard in ice cream maker.
9. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until hardened, about 1 hour.

vanilla bean, chocolate, eggs, salt, thermometer

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/mexican-chocolate-ice-cream-107766 (may not work)