ICE CREAM!

I browbeat my dad into buying me an ice cream maker last summer at... Costco. OF COURSE I need an ice cream maker. Of course. I've tried a few recipes, and this is by far the best one yet.

Vanilla Bean Gelato
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean
* the original recipe calls for 1 cup heavy cream, which I didn't use, and substituted milk instead. I threw in a few tbls of cornstarch to thicken the mixture after the eggs/milk were combined

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow and thick (or throw in the stand mixer).

Combine the milk and vanilla bean (sliced in half lengthwise) in a saucepan. Heat the mixture just until it starts to bubble along the edges. The recipe says do not allow to boil. I never pay attention enough to milk and it always boils. Nothing bad happens (so far). Remove from the heat.

Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife. Add the seeds back into the milk mixture. Let the vanilla bean shell dry out and throw it in with some sugar to make vanilla sugar, for coffee, tea, or whatever other use you might have for vanilla-flavored sugar. A scone topping perhaps?

While whisking the egg mixture (or having it in the mixer) add in about a cup of the warm milk mixture and combine together. Then add in the rest of the egg mixture to the milk. This process prevents scrambled eggs in hot vanilla flavored milk. Heat the mixture slowly to 175 to 180 degrees F. I have no idea whether I got it to this temperature. I don't have a thermometer. The original recipe said "Do not allow the custard to simmer." I let it boil. Oops! This is a good time to throw in some cornstarch if you used milk instead of cream. Maybe 2 tbls. Sprinkle it in and whisk. The custard should be thickened and coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, which gets out the weird egg proteiny bits, as well as any cornstarch that globbed together, cover, and refrigerate until well chilled. When chilled (or at least not hot), throw it in the ice cream maker and process according to directions. I didn't add anything, but you could probably throw in whatever your heart desires.