Dulce de leche ice cream

Recipe from gourmet.com, which recommends La Salamandra brand dulce de leche, the same brand we got Uhn-nee from Jumbo in Buenos Aires. There's no custard base, which makes this a very easy base to make. I didn't flash chill as shown below, instead making the base more than four hours before putting it into the ice cream maker. I also skipped the pecans.

Makes about 1-1/2 quarts

Adapted from Mariana Crespo, Tienda del Encuentro, Buenos Aires May 2007

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb dulce de leche (about 1 2/3 cups; preferably La Salamandra brand)
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans (2 1/2 to 3 oz), toasted

Bring milk and cream just to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, then remove from heat and whisk in dulce de leche until dissolved. Whisk in vanilla and transfer to a metal bowl. Quick-chill by putting bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stirring occasionally until cold, 15 to 20 minutes.

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker until almost firm, then fold in pecans.

Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 1 hour.

Cook's note: Ice cream keeps 1 week.