Super Fantastic Ice Cream

This recipe is based on one from Joy of Cooking.  I used half and half instead of cream first because that's what I had but mostly because I intended on adding a lot of candy to the finished product and I thought a lighter texture cut the richness maybe just a little.

beat together

3/4 cup sugar
2-3 egg yolks

depending on how much egg yolk you use, you might not get the ribbons that you would normally look for when combining egg yolks and sugar because there may not be enough yolk to fully dissolve the sugar.  At the very least mix it until it is combined and a pale yellow.

Add:

1 1/2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
pinch salt
one vanilla bean split down the middle

whisk together and then put over a low heat and, stirring constantly, slowly heat until the temperature reaches 175.  It's very important to get to that temperature because that's the temperature needed to kill salmonella.  Don't let it get hotter than that.  Remove from the heat and strain.  Don't skip the straining step because ice cream needs to be perfectly velvety and not have any stray bits of egg white floating about.  It's best to strain the mixture right away because it's at its thinnest when its hot.  Add the vanilla bean back to the strained liquid.  Let it cool and then refrigerate.  I always refrigerate ice cream overnight.

The next day assemble your ice cream freezer.  Remove the vanilla bean and add the custard to the freezer along with

2 cups half and half

Freeze until just soft serve and then add

crushed candy or cookies

You need to work out for yourself what kind of and how much cookies or candy to add.  I used about a dozen girl scout cookie thin mints and the same number of these dark chocolate, almond, and dried cherry clusters we got at Costco.  I thought that worked out OK.  Reserve some of the candy/cookies to decorate the top.  Turn the ice cream freezer back on until combined.  Remove to a container and freeze until solid.

bon appetit!