Enjoy an ice cream treat

Twenty years ago this September, a little show set in New York City premiered on NBC. “Friends” became a hit , and we followed the group of six through their lives. The pilot episode featured a line that became the inspiration behind this week’s recipe, which presents a local product close to my heart.
Much like the cast of the hit show, I had a wonderful group of friends while I was in college. My friends knew my family was involved in agriculture and grew cherries in the South Valley. One friend, Tony, asked me about bing cherry vanilla ice cream. I had not heard of it, nor had I ever considered it as an ice cream flavor.
Tony recounted a few lines from that first episode of “Friends.” The character Joey suggested that just like there are many flavors of ice cream, there are many women the character of Ross could date. One of the flavors mentioned was bing cherry vanilla. After that conversation, I always thought about how I would make this flavor of ice cream.
The South Valley has a very small crop of bing cherries this year, but there are still bing cherries available, so I set out to create a bing cherry vanilla ice cream recipe. After much reading and research, I decided to formulate an old-fashioned version of vanilla ice cream without eggs or thickeners.
I hit a wall during my recipe trials. After tasting my first attempt, when I used raw cherries, it seemed like the flavor was a little off. For my second attempt, I roasted the cherries, which mellowed the flavor and caramelized their natural sugar. The cherries were greatly improved and the combination with the ice cream was more balanced and complementary.
Bing Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream
Makes 1 3/4 Quarts
Ingredients
1 quart Half and Half
1 vanilla bean
12 ounces bing cherries, washed and dried
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Step 1: Pour one cup of Half and Half into a small pot. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using the back of a knife, scrape the seeds from the pod and add the seeds and vanilla bean pod to the half and half. Heat the mixture on low until it is warm, but do not simmer. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes and cool.
Step 2: Place the bing cherries in a parchment lined sheet pan and roast the cherries at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Once the cherries have cooled, remove the pits. Place the pitted cherries back on the sheet pan, making sure they do not touch, and place them in the freezer until the cherries are firm. Once firm, cut the cherries in quarters and place back in the freezer until they are ready to be added to the ice cream.
Step 3: Mix the vanilla Half and Half mixture with the remaining Half and Half. Add the brown sugar and salt, then stir until the sugar and salt are thoroughly dissolved. Refrigerate and chill at least four hours or overnight.
Step 4: Freeze the ice cream mixture according the your ice cream manufacturers directions. Once the ice cream is soft frozen, add half of it to a chilled two-quart container, followed by half the frozen cherries, then stir until cherries are well distributed. Repeat with the second half of each batch. Place the ice cream in the freezer for at least six hours or overnight until it has firmed and ripened.