Maple Valley's Ultimate Butter Pecan Ice Cream

In a heavy skillet, over medium heat, melt unsalted butter slowly until foam subsides. Add pecans and stir occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt to taste. Remove from heat and cool pecans. Once thoroughly cooled, store in a resealable plastic bag kept in the fridge.

In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, bring cream, milk, maple syrup, and salt just to a boil, stirring occasionally.
In a medium bowl beat egg yolks until smooth. Add hot cream mixture to yolks in a very slow stream (to avoid cooking the egg yolks), constantly whisking. Pour mixture into a medium saucepan and cook custard over low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170° F.
Pour custard through a sieve (or cheesecloth) into a clean bowl and cool. Stir in extracts. Cover custard with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours, or until cold.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker, then ransfer to a medium mixing bowl and fold in the chilled buttered pecans. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden or "ripen."