FRESH BING CHERRY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Pit 2/3 of the cherries. If you have a cherry pitter or a totally awesome Cherry Chomper, I am jealous of you. Though I just cut the cherries in half with a paring knife, then carefully pried them apart and removed the pit - not too bad. Still no Cherry Chomper, though. (Update: I have since learned this method, which is way easier!)
• Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice over the cherry halves and toss lightly.
• Pit and dice the remaining 1/3 of the cherries. Cut the cherry in half, remove the pit, and then cut each half into fourths. Or, you know, cut 'em how you like.
• And then sprinkle the other teaspoon of lemon juice over the diced cherries and toss a little. We're keeping the cherries a nice burgundy so they can become a nice light burgundy. Not pink!
• Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is frothy. This takes a good couple of minutes.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and whipping cream over low heat, until the mixture is very warm - when it forms bubbles around the sides, it's about ready.
• Very slowly pour the hot cream/milk mixture into the beaten eggs, whipping briskly the entire time. You're tempering the eggs - heating them slowly and evenly so that you don't make scrambled eggs instead of beautiful custard.
• Return the milk/cream/eggs/sugar mixture to the saucepan and, stirring constantly over medium-low heat, cook until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon - about 10 minutes (sometimes takes as long as 15, but watch carefully and remove from the heat as soon as it's thick).
• Remove from the heat.
• Stir in the cherry halves (NOT the diced cherries - those go into the ice cream at the last minute).
• Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes or so.
• Stir in the vanilla.
• And then puree! I use my handy dandy immersion blender. You can also use a good old fashioned blender. Be careful, though. The mixture is still hot. Let it sit for a few more minutes if you're not sure.
• Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve.
• Let the custard cool completely. This can happen in the fridge, or you can set the container in a bowl or sink of ice water to speed up the process.
• Once it's cooled, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer instructions. I use this handy dandy Cuisinart number. It's way easy.
• When the mixture is just about frozen, add the diced cherries.
• Now you can eat it, or spread it in a container and freeze the rest of the way.
• We enjoyed this plain, and I also whipped up some dark chocolate hot fudge to try over the top. Both are equally, sinfully great.