Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Made for my Pop-Pop, this ice cream was sweet, salty, and delicious

adapted from Epicurious

Butter Pecan Ice-Cream

 

Ingredients 

2 cups pecans (1/2 lb), finely chopped - I used roughly chopped pecan halves.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 large eggs

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast pecans in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven until fragrant and a shade darker, 7 to 8 minutes. Add butter and salt to hot pecans and toss until butter is melted, then cool pecans completely (they will absorb butter).

 

 

Whisk together brown sugar and cornstarch, then add eggs, whisking until combined. Bring milk and cream just to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat, then ADD TO THE egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly, and transfer custard to saucepan.

Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175°F on an instant-read thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes (do not let boil).

Immediately pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in vanilla, then cool, stirring occasionally. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold, at least 3 hours.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker until almost firm. Stir together ice cream and pecans in a bowl, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

 

 

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butter-Pecan-Ice-Cream-107380#ixzz1NYRuUFkb

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 lb. (16 oz.) andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick pieces

1 medium onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and Pepper

4 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons chili powder - you can cut that if it gets too spicy

Squeeze of lemon juice

4-8 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 cups long-grain white rice

1 pound medium shrimp (about 30), peeled, deveined, and tails removed - I used as much as I had, didn't measure so I'll leave Martha's measurement

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

nom nom nom

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes. 

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic

Season with salt and pepper. 

Cook. Stir in paprika and chili powder.

Add tomatoes, rice, and about 4/5 cups water to skillet; cover, and simmer over medium heat 

until rice is cooked and has absorbed all water, about 15 minutes. 

Add shrimp to skillet, and cook, covered, until shrimp are opaque throughout.

Remove from heat; season with salt and pepper, as desired. Serve hot, garnished with scallions.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream deliciousness with Fudge Swirl and Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I got my ice cream machine and my bikini in the mail today; hmmm...which one to send back?

This ice cream is the most delicious thing, I think, I have ever created - it's decadent and rich and creamy and so good.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

adapted from Baked Bree

Read more: http://bakedbree.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-ice-cream#ixzz1MqQQn1Tr

Ingredients 

1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 jar of hot fudge sauce - I melted it in the microwave for easy layering
bag of chocolate covered pretzels

yum:

In a medium saucepan, melt the peanut butter over medium heat.

Add the milk.

Add the cream.

Whisk in the sugar.

Add in the vanilla.  Whisk the ice cream until the mixture comes together.  Chill the mixture.

After the base has chilled, pour the mixture into your ice cream machine.

Add in the crushed chocolate covered pretzels.

Layer the ice cream with the hot fudge sauce in freezer safe container.

FREEZE!

Banana Bread

I hate bananas! hatehatehatehate, mostly the smell.  So to stick to my diet and to continue baking - I made banana bread in the hopes I wouldn't eat the sweets - didn't work, this banana bread was good enough for even this banana-hater to lick a few spoons and take a few bites.

Banana Bread
adapted from Betty Crocker 

This recipe makes 2 8x4 loaf cakes so I halfed it

Ingredients

1/2 + 1/8 cups sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 mashed very ripe bananas

1/4 cup buttermilk - I didn't have any so I used milk and a squeeze of lemon

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nut, if desired - I left this out and added CHOCOLATE CHUNKS and I definitely added more than a 1/2 cup 

Mix it:

Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. 

Stir in eggs until well blended. 

Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. 

Beat until smooth. 

Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts or CHOCOLATE. 

Pour it: into greased loaf pan

Bake it:

The oven should be pre-heated to 350 degrees 

Bake for about an hour - If that 

Blueberry Muffins

mmmm muffins. These muffins were very moist, a little bland but very moist due to the yogurt/sour cream.  I shouldn't have left out the lemon but I think this recipe would make a great base for lots of flavor muffins - I love the thickness of the batter, just needs more flavor - or a pat of butter when serving.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

5 tablespoons softened butter - I'm a bad baker and always use salted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt - I used 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt and 1/4 cup sour cream because its what I had
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest - I left this out, I regretted leaving it out :(
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon  baking soda
1/4 teaspoon  salt
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. 

Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray - I used a regular cupcake pan and got 12 cupcake sized muffins out of the batter

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. 

Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. 

Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter - I'm also a terrible baker that doesn't sift

Mix until combined. 

Add blueberries. 

The dough will be quite thick and yummy fill tins 3/4 full

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes

 

serve!

Chicken Enchiladas

I am just awful at keeping this blog updated, here's what I made for Cinco de Mayo.  These enchiladas were just delicious, my brother had 3!  I don't know how authentic they are but who cares if they're super yummy.

adapted from Martha Stewart

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

Chicken breast cutlets - I used 3

Cooking oil - I used olive oil

Garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 to 2 tablespoons minced canned chipotles in adobo - I used 1 whole chipotle from the can, minced and more than 2 tablespoons of the liquid, which made it too spicy so I added:

Tomato Paste - about a 1/4 cup probably? I don't know, half of the smallest can from the supermarket

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth

8 whole-wheat flour tortillas (6-inch)

Re-fried  beans

Cheese to top, why give a measurement, the more cheese the better

Additional add-ins: cilantro, lime, oregano 

The sauce:

Heat oil over medium heat and add garlic.

Add flour, cumin, and chipotles in adobo; cook, whisking, 1 minute. 

Whisk in broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. 

Reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly

Season with salt and pepper.  (after the too much chipolte mishap, I added the tomato paste)

I also added oregano, cayenne pepper, and a squeeze of lime - I probably added something else out of my pantry but eh, I don't remember so just add spices to taste.

The Chicken:

In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring 1 inch salted water to a boil. 

Add chicken. Cover until cooked, letting chicken steam. 

Transfer chicken to a medium bowl; shred with two forks. Toss with a cup of the sauce

The assembly:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup sauce into bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish

Slightly heat tortillas 

Fill each tortilla with about a tablespoon of the heated re-fried beans and the chicken mixture

Roll up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, in baking dish. 

Cover with remaining sauce, and top with cheese. I added some chopped cilantro also!

Into the oven it goes and bake until hot and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Delicioso!