Pecan Pralines

Makes about 3 dozen in 40 minutes

3/8 lb (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup, packed, light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Assemble all ingredients and utensils before starting to cook. You will need a large heavy-bottomed pot with deep sides, a long-handled wooden spoon, a candy thermometer (to test doneness, see below), two teaspoons, and two lightly-buttered cookie sheets.

Be careful not to get any of the mixture on your skin as it sticks and can cause serious burns.

Melt the butter in the pot over high heat. As soon as it's melted, add the sugars and cream. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Add the milk and chopped pecans. Cook 4 minutes more, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking and whisking 5 minutes. Add the pecan halves and vanilla and continue whisking and cooking until done, about 15 minutes longer. If the mixture starts to smoke toward the end of cooking, lower the heat.

Remove pan from heat. Quickly and carefully drop the batter onto the cookie sheet by heaping teaspoonfulls, using the second spoon to scrape the batter off the first. Each praline should form a 1-2 inch patty about 1/2 inch thick. Cool and store in an air-tight container.

Doneness: To judge doneness, use one or more of the following guides:

1. Candy thermometer at 240oF.
2. When done, the batter will begin forming distinct threads on the sides or bottom of the pan.
3. Near the end of the cooking time, make a test praline every few seconds. The early-test pralines will be somewhat runny, very shiny and somewhat translucent. The ideal praline will have progressed past that stage -- it will not be runny and will be less shiny; when cooled it will be opaque, lusterless and crumbly instead of chewy.
4. Near the end of the cooking time, drizzle spoonfuls of the mixture across the surface of the mixture. When ready, it will form a neat thread across the surface.