Chocolate Ice Cream

I have been experimenting with some ice cream recipes in preparation for our Relief Society Ice Cream Freeze-Off next month. Dad's favorite is the lemon ice cream from his Dad's recipe. I have made strawberry, peach, chocolate chip and now this is what I made tonight. YUMMY!

Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

5 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract (I used Kirkland brand from Costco)

Of course, chocolate is not really chocolate unless you add nuts. I added chopped almonds.

Combine cream, milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until mixture almost boils and chocolate is melted, about 5-8 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Meanwhile beat yolk, sugar and vanilla extract in a small bowl until light yellow and smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add 4 Tbs of warm cream/chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Gradually add egg yolk mixture to warm cream/chocolate mixture, stirring continuously to prevent the eggs from curdling. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes. Cool completely (either overnight in the fridge, or chill over an ice bath for 30 minutes). Stir gently and pour into the ice cream freezer bowl and follow the instructions for your freezer (I have the Cuisinart that you freeze the mixer bowl before you put the ingredients into it). This makes about 2 quarts.

Next recipe I'm trying is Key Lime Ice Cream. I'll let you know how it turns out.

So I got this recipe from my wonderful mother-in-law, Jane. And SHE got it from HER mother-in-law. I am always skeptical when a veggie is inserted into something sweet, it just doesn't seem right, does it? Well let me tell you...at least in this case...it is oh so right! I may have eaten about half the cake by my self while all my men ate the rest. Yes. Jim absolutely LOVED it and raved at work about it and now they either think he's nuts, or want a piece to try for themselves. It was originally called Zucchini brownies, but it's more cake-like. Anyways, try it. It's YUMMY!! Oh. I used the best chocolate icing recipe in the world...my dads, which is below.

Zucchini Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granualated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 Tablesppons cocoa

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa. Add the egg, vegetable oil, vanilla, zucchini, and nuts. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

You can frost with frosting that you purchase or the following recipe:

DAD'S ICING

10 T. butter
2 T. light corn syrup
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt
4 C. powdered sugar
1 C. hershey's cocoa
1/2 C. milk

In bowl beat butter, syrup, vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk.

Orange Fennel Pasta

Ben loves pasta. I do not love tomato-based pasta sauces. So my tradition on Valentine's Day has been to try out new pasta recipes that do not involve tomatoes. This recipe has subsequently been made over and over again.

ORANGE FENNEL PASTA
one box (~14oz) of pasta, cooked (I usually use penne or bowtie)
2T olive oil
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 t freshly grated orange peel
1/2 t fennel seeds
2t balsamic vinegar

Heat oil over medium low heat. Add salt, pepper, and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Turn off heat and stir in orange peel, fennel, and vinegar. Mix with the pasta. Serve hot or room temperature, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Garlic Lime Chicken

This comes from my ward cookbook. I think I've made this at least once a month since the first time I made this recipe.

GARLIC LIME CHICKEN
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves added to the hot oil)
1/2 tsp onion powder (don't have any so I've left it out)
1/2 tsp thyme (I'm out, so I've made it with oregano instead and it's still tasty)

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1/2 C chicken broth
4T lime juice


Mix the spices together and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute chicken until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes on either side or until chicken is cooked through. Push chicken to the edges of the pan and add broth and lime juice. Increase heat to high until the sauce has reduced a bit. Cover both sides of the chicken with sauce and serve.


I often serve the chicken on leftover brown rice and pour the remaining lime sauce over steamed vegetables.

Blueberry Apple Crisp

Apple crisp usually reminds me of the Fall, but this recipe is perfect for summer when there are plenty of fresh blueberries around. It is so so yummy.

The recipe suggested not using apples that are too tart. I used Fuji apples and they worked well. This recipe is from Baking Bites

Blueberry Apple Crisp

4 medium-large apples
1 cup blueberries
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking (or old-fashioned) oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350F.
Peel apples and remove their cores. Halve the apples, then cut each half into 6-8 thin slices.
Arrange apple slices in an even layer over the bottom of an 8×8-inch square baking dish. Add blueberries on top of the apples.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, egg and melted butter (make sure butter has cooled!) until smooth. Add in flour mixture and stir to incorporate. Using a spoon, drop batter in small clumps over the top of the apple slices. Try to create a roughly even, if rustic, layer. It does not need to be smooth and it is ok if there are gaps.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until apple slices are tender when pierced with a fork, berries are bubbling and topping is golden brown.
Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Serves 6-8

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

We love pancakes, and these are my absolute favorites. I first saw the recipe in my King Arthur Flour cookbook and tried the mix, and then I saw my friend Danilee had adapted the recipe a bit and liked her version better.

This is a mix (sort of like Bisquick) that you can keep in the fridge or freezer and then whip up a batch any time you feel like it. A few notes:
-When I use whole-wheat flour, I swear by King Arthur white-wheat flour! It has a much lighter taste but the same health benefits. I find it at Walmart.
-the 2 cups ground oats is what it sounds like, not 2 cups of oats, ground. If that makes sense. You can grind them in any blender.
-If you don't have buttermilk on hand when you want to make a batch, you can use buttermilk powder which lasts a long time in the fridge.
-the recipe mentions the mixture will look thin but thicken as it stands. I like my pancakes pretty thick so I usually add extra mix, or just dump some extra oats in the batter.

Enough said. Make these! They are delicious!

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

*Makes 10 cups of dry mix

3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups ground oats
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup canola oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (you probably won't need more oil). Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make the pancakes: whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup buttermilk, and 1 egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don't break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side.

*1 cup of mix will make about 6-7 4-inch pancakes.