Frozen Treats Week #2: Ice Cream S'mores Cups

I stumbled across this quick, super kid-friendly, brilliant recipe while searching for s'mores related treats and printed it immediately.  It's such a simple idea, but one that was a huge hit at my house.  A perfectly puffy golden-brown marshmallow sits skewered atop your favorite flavor of ice cream with a sprinkling of chocolate and a quick graham cracker crust.  It begs the question....why haven't I thought of this before?

 Ice Cream S'mores Cups

Adapted from Rachel Ray via Food Network
Serves 4

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
4 scoops vanilla or chocolate ice cream
1 bittersweet chocolate bar, or equivalent in chocolate chips
4 large marshmallows, or more

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press 1/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of 4 dessert cups, lining the sides and bottom of each cup. Fill cups with vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Shave curls of bittersweet chocolate over cups using a vegetable peeler, or scatter chocolate chips on top. Thread marshmallows on to a metal skewer. Hold the skewer over a burner at high heat and toast the marshmallows. Top each cup with a toasted marshmallow and serve.

 

Notes/Results:  I think this is a fantastic treat that is extremely quick, kid-friendly, and delicious.  However, I do have a few suggestions.  First, and most importantly, I think you should make this with fresh homemade graham cracker crumbs.  Don't bother with the crumbs that are sold in canisters.  Secondly, in a traditional s'more, the chocolate gets all melty and therefore I think this recipe benefits from a little chocolate sauce or melted chocolate poured on top. Lastly, while both vanilla and chocolate ice cream are good options for this, I do think a good chocolate marshmallow ice cream would be best.  I  love how fun, quick ,and delicious this was and plan to make it again. 

I'm submitting this to Saturdays with Rachel Ray over at Taste and Tell. 

Mozzarella and Chili Crostini

Over the past few years, blogging has brought me so much happiness.  Not only do I get to indulge in food, but I get to do so while meeting some wonderful people.  So many of you I consider as friends and would love to get the opportunity to meet and hang out.  This recipe is for my friend Heather, who has had a rough week.  I wish that Natashya, Deb, and I could show up on your doorstep with good food and a good bottle of wine (or two).  It was with you in mind that I chose this recipe because it has so many of your favorite things: bread, cheese, garlic, and heat.  Wish we could share them together!

Mozzarella and Chili Crostini

Adapted from JamieOliver.Com

Tear 3 x 150g balls of buffalo mozzarella into quarters, then top each of your hot crostini with one of the quarters. Deseed and finely chop a fresh red chilli and sprinkle this over the mozzarella. Add a little seasoning and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Lovely with a little fresh basil torn over.

Notes/Results:  This is an amazing appetizer with wonderful contrast in texture and loads of flavor.  I just love the crunchy bread with the smooth and creamy mozzarella.  I also love the idea of using diced chili in place of tomato for that extra spicy kick.  Jamie's recipe didn't call for garlic, but I chose to rub each crostini with a garlic clove before topping them.  I think these need a little sprinkling of salt too, but that's just me. Absolutely delicious!

Theme: Potluck

Frozen Treats Week #1: Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Last summer was the Summer of the Popsicle. We enjoyed all kinds of homemade popsicles last summer, most of them fruit-based.  This year, we simply couldn't commit to making only popsicles.  We decided on frozen treats so that we could include another one of our favorites: ice cream.   So, just for the next 6 weeks or so, we are going to be having a weekly celebration of frozen treats.

We've been making this strawberry cheesecake ice cream for years and I can't believe it's never made it's way onto my blog.  Much to my surprise, this is probably my family's favorite recipe for ice cream.  Most of the time we are going for chocolate ice cream, or other variations of chocolate, but this strawberry cheesecake ice cream is so thick, creamy, and luscious....it's just amazing! Give those pesky custard-based ice creams a break and try this easy recipe containing cream cheese.  I bet you'll love it too!

 Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Adapted from Food.com

Serves 4

  8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup fresh pureed strawberry

1 cup half and half or cream

 

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Chill ingredients for about 1 hour, or until cold.Turn on ice cream machine and set it to chill the freezing/mixing bowl for 5 minutes.Spoon the cooled mixture into the freezing/mixing bowl of machine. Set the freezing timer to the 30 minute maximum setting. Push start button.

Notes/Results:  We love this thick, fruity, extremely creamy ice cream with a passion.  It's very rich and dreamy and you really only need one scoop to satisfy your cravings.  Not to mention, this recipe is almost too easy.  A quick blend of 6 ingredients and a quick chill in the fridge and you're ready to make ice cream. A real favorite that the whole family enjoys!

Killer Cookie Dough Brownies

When my friend Kathleen, of Gonna Want Seconds, posted these brownies last week I knew I would have to make them.  It was just a matter of time, and the right occasion, of course.  My daughter was invited to a Last Day of School party at the neighbor's house and it seemed like the perfect occasion to make these brownies, eat one, and pass them on.  Lord knows I have to be careful when it comes to sweets, or else I end up strapping on my pig nose, and eating them all (more on that later). 

These brownies are so fantastic I can't even begin to tell you!  Both the adults and the kids went absolutely crazy for them.  How can you go wrong with chocolate chip cookie dough sandwiched between a smooth and creamy chocolate layer and a chewy brownie layer?  Oh my gosh, it was just perfection!

 Cookie Dough Brownies

Adapted from Kathleen at Gonna Want Seconds (who got the recipe from Farm Girl)

Brownies:

4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
(I added 1/4 teaspoon of instant coffee to deepen the chocolaty-ness and it was great)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, optional

Filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Glaze:
2 cups milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cups walnuts, optional

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil and sugar. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, coffee and salt; gradually add to egg mixture. Stir in walnuts if desired.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until brownies toothpick test done. Cool completely.

For filling, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Spread over brownies (works best to just press out with clean hands.); chill until firm.

For glaze, in a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until smooth. Spread over filling. Immediately sprinkle with nuts, pressing down slightly. Yields 3 dozen.

Notes/Results: Awesome, awesome, awesome. We absolutely love this recipe and look forward to the day when we make them again.  Thanks to Kathleen for such a tasty treat!

These brownies will definitely make you want to strap on your pig nose!

Asian Shrimp Noodle Soup with Homemade Shrimp Stock

Much to my family's chagrin, I've been saving all my shrimp shells for over a month now waiting for the day when I had enough shells to make my very own shrimp stock.  Along with the shrimp shells, my freezer was packed with corn cobs, chicken carcasses, and other various things that seem like waste to those who "just don't get it."

Thankfully I don't have to explain myself to you.  I know you understand all my kitchen shenanigans and what's even better is that I also know that you're up to some kitchen shenanigans of your own.  It's these things that make me love you that much more!  Well, that and the fact that I don't have to explain myself to you, which, let's face it....I quit explaining myself several years ago when I turned thirty.  After all, there should be some rewards in getting another year older every year.

Speaking of rewards, shrimp stock smells like heaven and is ultimately rewarding.  I couldn't wait to use it in a recipe and wanted to put it to use right away for fear of forgetting about it in the vast confines of my freezer.  When I saw Jamie Oliver's recipe for Asian Chicken Noodle Broth in his Food Revolution book, I immediately knew I wanted to make a shrimp variation using my homemade shrimp stock.  Here it is in all it's glory....and I will say that it was pretty glorious.

  Asian Shrimp Noodle Soup

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution/Asian Chicken Noodle Broth

Serves 2

1 quart shrimp stock (*recipe below)

1 cup of shrimp (peeled & deveined)

2 teaspoons five-spice powder

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger root

1/2 - 1 fresh red or green chile, to your taste

4 ounces rice sticks or vermicelli

a handful of snow peas

1 -2 radishes, sliced thinly

6 fresh baby corn or 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels

2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more for serving

juice of 1 lime

a small handful of spinach leaves

cilantro, for garnish

Put a large saucepan on high heat.  Fill the saucepan with the shrimp stock, heat until very hot, and put a lid on it.  While this is happening, season your shrimp with the five-spice powder and a good pinch of salt and pepper and stir.  Add a little olive oil to a saute pan and saute the shrimp until cooked through, tossing every now and again.

While the shrimp is cooking, peel and finely slice your ginger and slice your chile.  Take the lid off the pan with the shrimp stock and add half the chile, all the ginger, your rice sticks (or vermicilli), snow peas, asapargus, and corn with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  Bring it to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring.  Halve the lime and squeeze in the juice.  By the time the rice sticks (or vermicelli) and veggies are done, the shrimp will be cooked.  To serve, divide the spinach leaves between your bowls and pour over the broth, rice sticks, and vegetables.  Divide the shrimp over the soup and scatter with remaining chile and cilantro. 

Michael Symon's Homemade Shrimp Stock

Adapted from Live To Cook

Makes About 1 quart

Shells from 1 pound of shrimp

1 onion, quartered

1 Two inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, sliced

1 carrot, thickly sliced

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Combine the shrimp shells, onion, ginger, carrot, coriander seeds, bay leaf, salt, and 2 quarts cold water in a pot.  Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, skimming away any impurities that rise to the surface.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, continuing to skim impurities as necessary.  Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the solids.

Notes/Results:  I am a huge fan of any Asian-inspired noodle soup and this one was one of my favorites.  Spicy, vegetable-packed, full of noodles, and with wonderful flavor from both the shrimp and the shrimp stock, it was a truly wonderful and fragrant meal.  You can bet that I will continue to save all of my shrimp shells from now on and I urge you to do the same.

Theme: Something's Fishy

@ Kahakai Kitchen

Summer Corn Fettucine

My friend, Brenda of Brenda's Canadian Kitchen, and I have been happily serving up Rachel Ray's recipes from Look + Cook for more than a couple of months now.  One thing that I have learned during this time is that Rachel's recipes really deliver in the flavor department.  I also love that while none of them are 30 minute recipes, they are in fact easy and simple, which is right up my alley.  I loved the last recipe, Creole Meat Loaves with Trinity Sauce, so much that I got a jump start on this month's recipe right away.  For this month I chose Rachel's Summer Corn Fettucine, which is in every sense, a true summertime pasta.

Rachel's recipe for corn fettucine begins by making a corn cream, a mixture of cream and fresh corn kernels blended into a very thick pale yellow cream.  Bacon is cooked until crisp and mixed with sauteed peppers, shallots, more corn, herbs, hot sauce, and cheese and then blended with the corn cream and tossed with pasta.  It is rich from the cream, flavorful from the bacon and veggies, spicy from the hot sauce, and herbaceous with the parsley and basil.  I loved this unique blend of ingredients combined with pasta and definitely think it's worth a try when fresh corn is in season this summer.

 

 Summer Corn Fettucine

Adapted from Rachel Ray's Look + Cook

Serves 4-6

Salt

1 pound fettucine

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling)

6 slices smoky bacon, chopped

6 ears corn on the cob, shucked

3 shallots, finely chopped

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used a green pepper)

Black pepper

1 cup half and half or cream 

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (I omitted)

1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine

A few dashes of hot sauce or a pinch or two of cayenne pepper

A couple handfuls of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh sweet basil leaves, or chopped tarragon

Heat a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.  Salt the water and cook the pasta to al dente.  Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium to medium-high heat.  Add the bacon to the pan and cook for a few minutes to crisp the bacon and render its fat.  Place a small bowl inverted in a large bowl, steady the corn cobs on the smaller bowl, and scrape the kernels off the ears.  Add three quarters of the kernels and the liquids to the bacon.  Add the shallots and bell pepper to the corn mixture and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Cook until tender, 5-6 minutes.  Add the remaining corn to the food processor and puree with the cream.  Stir in the thyme and the stock or wine into the corn mixture in the skillet, reduce for a minute, then stir in the corn-cream mixture.  Reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, to thicken.  Add the hot sauce or cayenne pepper and adjust the salt and pepper.  Drain the pasta, then toss with the sauce, parsley, and a couple handfuls of cheese, about 1/2 cup.  Top with basil or tarragon and pass the remaining cheese at the table.

Notes/Results:  I've seen so many recipes combining corn and pasta and was curious to try it for myself.  I really liked Rachel's idea of blending the corn kernels into the cream sauce and thought it was a super tasty and veggie-packed pasta with a slight kick from the hot sauce.  Another great pasta dish!

You can find more Rachel Ray dishes over on Deborah's site every Saturday for her Saturdays with Rachel Ray feature.  

April & May French Fridays with Dorie Roundup

The months of April and May are extremely busy for me and I didn't manage to make all of the FFwD recipes, but I did manage to squeeze in 5 of the 8 or 9 recipes planned.  Lately I have been finding it increasingly harder to fit in the FFwD recipes, but I really don't want to give up on the project because I've been so pleased with the recipes and I've learned quite a bit along the way.  The following recipes are no exception.

 Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak

Okay, first up is this gorgeous Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak and let me tell you, I made this over a month ago and I can still remember taking every luscious bite of it.  I didn't even know that a supermarket fillet could be this good.  Wow!  Dorie's recipe uses a fillet cut which is pressed into cracked pepper, pan-seared, and covered in a sauce of Cognac and cream.  Worth every calorie.....

Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli

On the side I served this wonderful side dish, which I could totally make into a meal by the way, Dorie's Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli.  Holy cow...I think I inhaled this.  I really did!  I absolutely adore broccoli and Dorie's recipe left the broccoli perfectly cooked with a good bite to it.  Of course, it was those amazing garlicky breadcrumbs that had me going back for more and more.  The recipe indicated that this dish didn't keep, or reheat well, and I needn't have worried about that.  We devoured it!  This recipe was probably my favorite of all the recipes I tried in April and May and I will definitely make broccoli this way from now on.

Quinoa, Fruit, and Nut Salad

I keep trying and trying to like quinoa.  Really I do.  This is the third time I've tried quinoa and I was really hoping that Dorie's recipe for Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Salad would make me a believer.  It didn't.  The recipe came together well and I really loved the idea of adding all the dried fruit and nuts,  but I guess I don't like quinoa and most likely never will.  I should point out that plenty of others tried this recipe and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

I love my greens, so there was no way I was skipping Dorie's Spinach and Bacon Quiche.  Didn't matter to me if no one else in house was interested in eating this or not, I was definitely making it and I'm so thrilled I did.  Dorie's tart dough comes together so easily and bakes up so buttery and flaky.  A beautiful filling of sauteed spinach, crisp bacon, onions, garlic, egg, and cream is topped off with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to create an amazing breakfast or brunch treat.  I had no problem eating a slice every day until it was gone. 

Cardamom Rice Pilaf

The last dish I made was Dorie's Cardamom Rice Pilaf.  Cardamom pods are bruised in order to release the tiny seeds inside which contribute both flavor and aroma to the plain white rice.  I made half of the recipe, which called for 1/2 cup rice and about 3 cardamom pods.  I think the flavor of the cardamom was subtle, yet recognizable.   I really enjoyed this rice with Dorie's Spiced and Buttered Glazed Carrots (which also have cardamom) and thought both of these dishes paired wonderfully together.  I will definitely pair both the cardamom rice and the buttery spiced carrots together again!