Emeril's Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Emeril's Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

1 quart fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups half-and-half
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half and scraped
6 egg yolks

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Process until smooth.
2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the half-and-half and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Add 1 cup of the hot liquid to the egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Add the yolk mixture to the saucepan of liquid and whisk until incorporated. Bring the liquid back to simmer and continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries. Whisk until smooth.
4. Pour the mixture into a glass bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture. This will prevent a skin from forming while cooling. Cool the mixture completely.
5. Process the mixture according the ice cream machines instructions.

NOTE: Because there is NO guarantee everytime you make strawberry ice cream you will get the same quality of strawberries, the amount of sugar can be change accordingly. To make it has a bit more bite to it, I sometimes add lemon juice too. Once in a while when the only thing you have is frozen strawberries that maybe loose some color and maybe when you pick them they are not at their best. Well... you can always add few drops of red food coloring and use 1 tsp of strawberry essence to it. You just have to taste and taste and taste while you make. Don't forget that if you taste your mixture sweetness at room temperature happen to be just right, usually when it's frozen it taste not sweet enough. But when you taste it just slightly too sweet at room temperature, it will taste just right when it's frozen. At least that is what I experienced so far.