No Churn Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

For this bimonthly Cook the Books Club, participants were invited to read Food Americana.

Here’s my review:

Food Americana: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes by David Page
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great introduction American cuisine. I debated a 3 or 4 star rating just because the author sometimes gets off on weird tangents. And there is also the current TV show, Food that Built America that in all honesty, does this better (they even share some of the same stories). However, it was an enjoyable read overall and a fascinating look that this history of American cuisine.

I especially loved the part on Mexican (and Tex Mex) and Chinese (and American Chinese) foods. the author did a fantastic job of highlighting that the Americanized versions of those traditional foods have become a culture of their own and it is not a bad thing. It also mentioned that while traditional recipe are great, even in somewhere like Mexico or China, there is great variation from region to region or household to household and even in those countries, recipes are adapting with the times.

View all my reviews

While the book was enjoyable,I have to admit that I like the TV show that does that same thing better (bad librarian! - haha!)

I nearly took my inspiration from the BBQ section, but since I very recently shared a homemade BBQ sauce, it felt redundant.  Instead, I decided to take inspiration from the ice cream section.  I have a feeling that the ice cream chapter would have a strong opinion about no churn ice cream and its air content (but they were in to super weird flavors).  However, no churn is what I have since I’m not willing to buy an ice cream machine at this time.

I’ve made several different no churn ice creams, but I've never made the classic: vanilla!

As always, no churn ice cream is silky smooth with a great punch of flavor from the vanilla bean.

No Churn Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Place the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and vanilla beans into a medium sized bowl and stir to mix.

Place the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until stiff peaks form.  

Place about one-fourth of the whipped cream into the bowl of the sweetened condensed milk and gently fold the mixture in.  Slowly fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into a loaf pan or bowl.  Cover tightly and freeze overnight.