Hazelnut-praline and vanilla bean ice cream

Janette's favorite ice cream of all time, and probably the best one I can make.  This one is rich, close to eggy, and the pralines have a wonderful burnt sugar flavor that just makes this fantastic, if I do say so myself.

With all the eggs in the custard, it's easy to scramble them with too much heat.  It takes constant attention and care using the lowest heat possible, OR you can use a double-boiler. When we make this, we use a makeshift double-boiler consisting of a stainless steel bowl that fits snugly in a stockpot of gently simmering water.  The bowl doesn't have to be deep in the water.  That approach works great and pretty much guarantees a smooth, creamy custard.

You can, of course make the vanilla ice cream without the hazelnut pralines.  Without them, it's an exceptionally rich, almost eggy vanilla ice cream.

Remember that ice cream takes awhile for the custard to chill before freezing (overnight, ideally), and the hazelnut pralines also have a long cooling time before you add them during churning.  

Makes about 1 quart.

INGREDIENTS

Hazelnut pralines:

• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 4 tablespoons sugar
  
• ½ cup hazelnuts, crushed
  

Vanilla bean ice cream:

• 1 cup sugar
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• 7 large egg yolks
  
• 1½ cups half-and-half
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• 1 most vanilla bean, split
  

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the hazelnut praline:  Melt the butter in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat and stir in the sugar.  Carmelize to a light golden brown color, then add the hazelnuts and stir until coated.  Spread out on wax paper, and let cool overnight (or put in freezer for 4 hours).

Prepare the ice cream:  In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar and salt into the egg yolks until thickened and pale yellow.  Set aside.  

Bring the half-and-half to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan.  Slowly beat the hot half-and-half into the eggs and sugar.  Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and place over very low heat or in a double boiler.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it thickens slightly, coating the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from the heat, and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl.  Allow the custard to cool slightly.  Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the custard.  If your vanilla bean is fresh and pliable, you can add it to the custard, to be removed later (if it's dry, making small pieces that will be difficult to remove later, don't add it).  Cover and refrigerate until cold, preferably overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.  When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat.  For firmer ice cream, transfer to a container and freeze for at least two hours.