Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Is winter an odd time to be writing and posting recipes for ice cream?  Oh well.  I had a reader tell me that more ice cream is consumed in the winter than the summer.  I don't need proof, I am going to believe it because it is convenient for me. HA!

 

Remember Bess, my lunch buddy at our favorite Chinese restaurant?  Well, we have another lunch friend in our posse as well, her name is Dee!  She is one of those ladies, you just love being around, she is happy, positive, loving, caring, kind...I could go on and on.  She has a beautiful family and we all love our lunch visits!  On my birthday Dee brought me the cutest ice cream serving dishes shaped like cones!  I decided I had to do a recipe for her favorite ice cream which she informed me was Butter Pecan.  (I always used to think Butter Pecan was for the over 80 crowd) I am obviously wrong! HAHA!  I wanted to use this darling set for a photo as soon as I could because I LOVE it!  Thanks Dee, for your friendship, your kindness and pure goodness you bring to our lives!

Note: The ice cream cones, had to take a background position due to photographing the ice cream on an almost 70 degree day in FEB, and it melting REPEATEDLY on me.  Nothing more can be said.  Grrrr!

This is an easy recipe.  It is so rich, but oh so delightful.  This recipe will make exactly 1 quart of ice cream. 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 14ounce can, sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter

In a bowl, whip your heavy cream to stiff peaks.  Set aside.  In another bowl combine, condensed milk, brown sugar, pecans and cooled melted butter.  Using a hand mixer combine thoroughly.  Using a spatula cold the heavy cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture.  When all is combine, put into a plastic container with a lid and freeze for at least 6 hours.  Overnight would make it even better. 

As you can see by my photo, I couldn't wait any longer.  And with the heat on, it got a little melty, but you know what???  Ice cream is supposed to drip, right?! teehee

Enjoy this, maybe even on a piece of PIE! OOHHH!!

"Pits"tachio Pudding Pie

PANIC!

Yes, that is what I did when I realized I needed a dessert last night for company.  I wanted something green.  This is what I pulled from my cupboard.  I think we can all appreciate a semi-homemade convenient dessert in times like these, can't we?

When I decided to make this I had to name it.  Well when I was at my  parents over the weekend, we were going through old photos and boxes of "stuff".  (I have a craftier word for it).  We found this little project my sister Patty did in probably 3rd or 4th grade.  She was to write about her nickname, an embarrassing moment, a trip, getting lost, etc.  We laughed so hard at the things she wrote, and it reminded me that as a kid one of our uncles always called her "Pits".  Since her birthday is on St Patrick's Day and her nickname was "pits", what...that sounds horrible now.  Who wants to be called PITS?  I am sorry Patty, I am sorry you had to endure a childhood of being called after one of the smelliest parts of the human body.  We never thought of it like that then, but as an adult, my sincerest condolences!!  Here is the birthday girl herself with our mom.

So as I mentioned this is one of those throw together pudding pies, I just happen to like this one I made, ALOT.

1- 9 inch graham cracker crust  (feel free to make your own)
2- 3.4 boxes of Pistachio pudding
1- 7oz. container of Marshmallow Fluff
1 1/4 cups cold milk

Combine pudding, marshmallow fluff, and milk in a blender.  I find a blender way easier when it come to sticky marshmallow fluff.  Blend until a smooth consistency is achieved.  Pour into your prepared graham cracker crust and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours. 

Top with cool whip or fresh sweetened heavy cream!  (1 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsps. powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract)

ENJOY and Happy St. Patrick's Day my friends!  Bottoms UP!

Gougeres

My husband is more hooked on cooking shows than I have ever been.  I have just not ever been a HUGE fan of them, accept Anne Burrell.  She is the epitome of passion in the kitchen to me!   Anyway, Geo was watching some Internet cooking show and these "gougeres"  were prepared.  He thought they looked amazing, found the recipe that was used and I adapted mine from that (Food and Wine).  I took out the nutmeg, I suppose that is a HUGE no-no in the French cuisine world but I did it.  I make the rules in my kitchen after all, right?  I also think nutmeg is completely overrated and if I see it go into one more cream sauce I am going to turn inside out!

These are easiest to describe as little savory cream puffs with cheese.  How can that be bad?  I envision these cracked open and filled with a little chicken salad, or caramelized onions or something of that sort as an appetizer. 

I hope you enjoy, these are easy, but so impressive and delish!

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
large pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated ( you can definitely substitute just plain Swiss here)
black pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. F.  Lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil.  Add the flour and stir it in with a spoon until a smooth dough forms and the dough starts pulling away from the sides.  It should take a minute or so. 

Transfer your dough into a bowl.  Let cool for 2 minutes.  (I put mine into my stand mixer bowl).  Beat your eggs in, one at a time.  Make sure each egg is COMPLETELY incorporated before adding the next egg.  Add cheese, a good pinch or grind of pepper and mix again until it is incorporated. 

Place your dough into a pastry bag.  Cut the tip of the bag so you have about a 1/2 inch diameter opening.  This isn't like, written in stone, so just eyeball it.  Pipe about a tablespoon size amount of dough,  Make sure they are about 2 inches apart.  Bake for approx. 22-25 minutes.  Let cool a couple of minutes before serving!

Chris's Old Fashioned French Toast

How many times have you heard, "Oh I make the best French toast", or "everyone always wants me to make French toast"?  The entire time you are thinking, "Yea, yea, yea, none of you have EVER had mine".  OK, well I am.  French toast has been one of my breakfast specialties for a long time. 

French toast is a lot of people's specialties.  I mean let's be honest here.  You add about anything you want for flavor and texture and all kinds of goodness.  Maybe I just use the secret correct measurements.  Think?  Yes, I am arrogant about mine, because it is mine.  If you are going to be arrogant about something at least be able to share it with others!

I make this for dinner, lunch, breakfast, brunch, after the bar closes, (jk) but you definitely could!  It is easy and seriously it is likely no secret, but I wanted to share even the easiest of recipes, because there are people out there, who have never made it.  I hope they pick my recipe to try for the first time!

This will make about 12 pieces of toast.  I use the Texas toast in a bread bag, not the frozen stuff. 

4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. butter

Whisk all ingredients very well.  Heat your griddle or skillet and melt in 1 tbsp. butter.  Dip bread into egg mixture, flipping it a couple of times and place into your skillet.  Fry on medium until golden brown and flip, frying again until golden brown.

Serve with butter, syrup, or powdered sugar.  Maybe some sweetened, whipped, heavy cream?  Oh YES!

Cracker Barrel Copycat- Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

I can't be the only one who lusts after these unhealthy things, right?  I mean, they are just so tasty, you can't help but wonder why they don't offer seconds!

This prompted me to try a copycat recipe.  I tried a couple and they were way out of the park, I mean like, WAY off.  I have read so many of these recipes and some are so completely different I wonder which one is out of their MIND and which is close!  I have heard they use Colby, no they use cheddar, no they use Velveeta....well guess what?!?!  I took my own ideas with a few hints from these other recipes and though I wouldn't say it is "OMG, EXACTLY" on, I would say it is the closest I have come. 

I am using a cream soup in this bad baby.  If you have a recipe for a cream soup, go with it, I am using it for the sake of time, and yes, even the flavor.  I would venture to say you could change cream of chicken out for cream of mushroom as well.  Sometimes I used canned cream soups, sue me.  I don't necessarily enjoy the fact they are processed and sodium laden but hey, sometimes, a girl wants that kind of thing in her food.  You have choices, just use them if you don't groove on it. 

This is really easy and even if it isn't EXACTLY like Cracker Barrels, it is really good and such an easy side, especially for a crowd!

You will need
2lbs (or just under) frozen hash brown potatoes, THAWED
1 can cream of chicken soup (reg size small can)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups shredded Colby cheese
1/4 cup mild cheddar, shredded
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a large bowl, combine ALL ingredients and stir.  Better yet, wash your hands well, or use gloves and do it with your hands, because this is serious mixin' kids.  Pour into your 9x13 pan, which you have sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, spread out evenly and bake 50-60 minutes.  They will be golden and bubblah when you take them out!

Please let them cool a minute before you serve, nobody needs to lose mouth skin here.  And let's face it, everything tasted better in my mom's very old 9x13 she gave me. 

Ho Ho Cake

Do you have ANY idea how juvenile my husband and I can be?  Oh, yea, we can be.  We just do it in the privacy of our own home!   Can you imagine the names we came up with for this cake?  I could get into detail but I will spare you the ridiculousness. 

I had never made a cake roll and it has been just screaming at me to do!  So here it is, the first one ever, that I have done.  I know a traditional HOHO or SWISS CAKE ROLL probably doesn't use a milk chocolate ganache, but can I just tell you how AH-MAZEBALLS it was on this cake?  Notice I use the past tense, because this baby was shared, and devoured!  I wanted to just experiment and give this a go, and low and behold, it was so easy.  You may get discouraged by the length of the directions.  It is a few more steps, but NOT at all hard in any way.  Just prep work to make it turn out as lovely as you had hoped! 

You can choose to just dust it with powdered sugar or cocoa.  You could eve just drizzle it with some chocolate or leave it plain.  That is all in your hands, you decide, but my HOHO Cake had to be as close to the read deal as I could get!  Now get to it!!

CAKE:
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Sift together flour and cocoa powder into a bowl.  Set aside.  In a heat safe bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until combined.  Place over a pot of water water and whisk until it begins to warm the mixture.  Switch to an electric mixer and continue to beat constantly until it has tripled in volume (or close to it!)  Remove from the heat, and gently fold in the flour/cocoa mixture. 

Prep your pan, a 12x16 jelly roll/cookie sheet pan.  Spray with nonstick spray, lay a piece of parchment on the bottom to cover the entire bottom and then spray again.  Spoon mixture into the pan and smooth until even.  Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the cake springs back in the center when slightly pushed in.  Remove and let cool 5 minutes.

While it is cooling, lay out on your counter or table a lint free dish towel.  Dust with cocoa powder and flip the cake out until the towel.  Carefully roll the cake up in the towel.  Flip the end of the towel over the end of the cake and roll.  Leave in the towel and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

FILLING:
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Whip with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer until stiff peaks.  I like to over beat it just a few seconds.  I like super stiff peaks!

ASSEMBLY:
Remove cake from the fridge and roll out carefully on the counter.  It is OK if it won't flatten all the way.  That means it won't crack when you roll it back up! YEAH for you!  Spread the whipped cream all over leaving about a 1/2 inch border all around.  (you may have some cream leftover, just keep it to serve along side!). 

Now roll the cake back up using the towel to help push it along.  Place it on a platter seam side down and prepare your ganache!

GANACHE:
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. butter

Warm heavy cream until fairly hot.  Put chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the top.  Add butter and vanilla let it sit for 1 minutes.  Whisk until all ingredients are combined and the chocolate is melted. 

Place cake on a piece of parchment paper (I used foil) or cooling racks.  Pick up carefully and dip each end in the ganache and let it drip off.  When both ends have been dipped, place the cake back on the racks and slowly spoon over the ganache until it is all covered. 

If you have extra ganache you can do two coats, let the first one set in the refrigerator first.  OR, you can let it cool, whip it with your beaters and have the best frosting for cupcakes, EVER!

It is not difficult, just a few steps to this fantastic, DELISH, GIANT, HO HO cake!  Enjoy!

Geo-Normous Breakfast Casserole

And GEO-NORMOUS it is!  Ok so it is Ginormous but since this is hubby's recipe, he gets to call it Geo-normous!

He has been telling me "you don't have a breakfast casserole on your website", because, I guess he trolls my website for hours at a time and checks on these things! ROFL.  Seriously, do you guys know how fun and hilarious this guy is?  Anyway, so he said, just make something easy that anyone could make and that will feed a ton of people.  My response was "Ok, give me an ingredient list and I will work it out".  I guess he didn't realize how easy a breakfast casserole would be to make!  He gave me his list, and I picked it up.  Now fast forward to today, when I finally made it.  SO good, so perfect for a crowd.  SO PERFECT for making ahead, so perfect for...everything!

You might shriek at the ingredients.  Keep two things in mind, 1) a man requested this and these ingredients, and 2)this should feed a good 8 people.  I would serve this with some bread and some fruit and call it breakfast!

Heeeeeeeeeeere we go...............!!

14 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. pork sausage, browned
1 lb. bacon, fried crispy and then cut into small pieces
2 cups cheese (your choice, I went with cheddar)
1 pkg (just short of 2lbs) shredded hash browns.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  In a frying pan, brown sausage, when it is done, remove and place on a paper towel lined plate.  In the same skillet, crisp up your bacon well.  Crumble or cut into smaller pieces when cooled and drained of grease.  Now brown off your hashbrowns, in 2 or 3 batches.  When they are done, place them in the bottom of a 9x13 (ish) pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil.  Spread them out evenly and sprinkle on the sausage and bacon.  Now in a bowl combine the eggs, milk, onion powder, salt and pepper and whisk well.  You could even use a hand mixer to incorporate a little more air into these eggs.  Gently pour over the ingredients already in your baking dish, top with the cheese  and bake 30=35 minutes. 

Now, put on the coffee and dig in!