Emeril's Peach Melba

Ingredients

• 4 fresh peaches
• 2 cups dessert wine or white wine
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split in 1/2 and seeds scraped
• 2 cups fresh raspberries, picked over
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, recipe follows, or good quality store bought vanilla, for serving
• Whole fresh raspberries, for garnish
• Mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions

Score the bottom of each peach with a paring knife, making an X on the bottom of each. Combine the wine, water, sugar, and vanilla bean seeds and pod in a saucepan. Add the peaches and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the peaches from the syrup and cool slightly.

Return the peach cooking liquid to high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the mixture by half, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Peel the peaches and halve each peach, removing the seed. Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid over the peaches and refrigerate until well chilled.

Combine the raspberries, 1/2 cup of the syrup, confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in a food processor and process until well pureed. Strain the raspberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, place 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream in each bowl. Top each serving with 1 peach half and drizzle the raspberry coulis over the peach. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and serve immediately.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream:

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

12 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

Combine the cream and 1 cup of the milk in a large heavy saucepan. Scrape the seeds into the cream mixture and add the bean pod. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.

Whisk the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. In a slow and steady stream, whisk 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture. Gradually whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof medium bowl.

Stir in the remaining 1 cup milk into the ice cream base and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream machine. Churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pack into an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.