1stalk of good quality vanilla beans(if it's a small think stalk, use two stalks)
1 ½cupsof half and half
1 ½cupsof heavy cream
1cupof sugar
4egg yolks
Instructions
In a medium to large pot, add in half and half along with sugar. Bring to a gentle boil and then lower the heat to simmer
While waiting for the half and half mixture to simmer, use a very sharp knife to slit the vanilla beans open in the middle. Carefully scrape all the beans out and put it into the half and half mixture. Throw the stalk of vanilla bean you just scraped in there too, there is still lots of flavor in that stalk. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes
In a mixing bowl, separate yolks from the egg whites (save the white for other use). Use a whisk to beat the egg yolks until they are smooth and light
IMPORTANT STEP: scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot half and half mixture and VERY SLOWLY pour this into the beaten egg yolks while the other hand keep on whisking the yolks. This step is call tempering the eggs, to bring the eggs temperature higher and so when you cook them later, it won't turn into scrambled eggs in your ice cream. Once you done this. pour the egg yolk mixture back into the pot you're simmering the half and half in. Keep on stirring on low to medium heat until the mixture turn into the consistency of thick and smooth custard
Pour the heavy cream in another large mixing bowl. Once you get the thick and smooth custard consistency above, pour this mixture into the heavy cream and use rubber spatula to stir and mix everything. Cover with plastic wrap and chill this prepared ice cream mix in the refrigerator for the next 12 hours (yes...12 hours at least, but no more than 24 hours). This mixture will be poured into the ice cream machine to be churned. You need to make sure the ice cream machine bowl has been placed in the freezer for chilling for at least 24 hours too or your ice cream will not be firm and too soft. Once you've chilled the prepared ice cream mixture for at least 12 hours and the ice cream machine bowl has been freezed long enough, pour the mixture into the ice cream machine bowl and let it churned according to the instruction on your ice cream machine, mine is about 30-40 minutes
After churning, place this ice cream into a storage container to freeze further so it will be firm enough. You can have it right away too, but I find it too soft right after churning
Notes
Once you scoop the ice cream out to eat, they get soft pretty quickly, and that's normal because we don't have any preservative or other stuff in there, all the good natural stuff ;) Remember to check your ice cream machine instruction carefully, most of the time the ice cream doesn't firm up properly because the ice cream machine's bowl isn't chilled enough.