Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups, Chocolate Chunks, Chocolate Covered Peanuts, and Fudge

Pin It Now!

See that fudge?

If you have been reading this blog, you will note that I have quite a lot of entries for ice cream.  This is because it is summer, and we relish something chilling and refreshing when we feel as though we were living inside an oven on hyper-drive.  Though of course we never like to repeat the same flavors, since it is fun to experiment a little.  I say a little because we can never branch out from our favorite ingredients.  Delectable peanut butter, chocolate morsels, cocoa powder, chocolate covered nuts, and fudge ....  We love them all in our ice cream.

This time however we were a tiny bit greedy.  I say just a tiny bit because we wanted fudge, chocolate morsels, and chocolate peanut butter cups all swirled into chocolate ice cream.  And paired with just a tiny sprinkling of chocolate chunks.  Yes, that is a lot of chocolate I know, and I can just say that the overabundance of chocolate was much appreciated.

Recipe
Chocolate Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups, Chocolate Chunks, Chocolate Covered Peanuts, and Fudge
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 1/2 cups 2% or whole milk
3 cups cream
3 tsps vanilla extract
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
8 oz. fudge
1/2 cup chocolate covered peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter cups

Mix cocoa powder, sugars, milk and cream in a large bowl until sugars have fully dissolved.  Add in vanilla extract.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it refrigerate overnight.

Transfer to the ice cream maker bowl and let it churn for about 30 minutes.  About 5 minutes before the end of churning, slowly fold in the chocolate chunks, fudge, peanuts, and peanut butter cups.

Freeze and enjoy!

Steamed Chicken

Pin It Now!

Salt Chicken

Steamed Chicken marinated in salt and white wine.  This is such an easy dish that it has become a life saver whenever we are in the mood for more substantial savory snacks.  Or, it can easily serve as a main meal if paired with bread and/or vegetables.  It really consists of salt, white wine, some garlic cloves, and that's all.  Nothing fancy, just spartan simplicity of a good kind.  In fact, it has become such a staple around here that we make batches of it and eat it quite often.

It is quite light and refreshing.  Hence perfect for a hot summer day.  The dog days of summer seem to be upon us again, as the temperatures have been reaching into the upper 90's recently.  It is quite unfortunate, since we have had some much welcomed respites.  Well, one can't possibly make ice cream all the time to relieve oneself of the heat, or can one?  Sometimes one just needs to add a hint of protein to not ruin one's summer meals, no?

Recipe
Steamed Chicken
8 chicken drumsticks
1 TBSP fine sea salt
1 cup dry white wine
3 cloves of garlic, already chopped and sautéed

Marinate the chicken drumsticks in the salt, wine, and garlic mixture for at least one day.  Steam the chicken for about 25 minutes.
See, I told you it was easy!  Enjoy!

Three Bean Chili

Pin It Now!

Three Bean Chili

You might wonder why we are eating chili in the heat of the summer?  Why, you ask, when it has been hovering around the mid-90's?  Well, we had one day of perfectly pleasant weather, and we had a sudden craving for chili.  That delectably simple dish to make, full of beans and beef, the ubiquitous absorber of all kinds of vegetables and meats.
We like our chili with a bit of everything, with an assortment of beans, accented by the sweetness of corn.  We like it with beef, turkey, or chicken.  We have never tried lamb or buffalo, but that doesn't mean that one day you won't see those featured here.
We paired the chili simply, with a nice Black Russian Bread Roll, which we procured rather than made.  Being a bit lazy this summer, one self-made dish per meal is fine with us.

Recipe
Three Bean Chili
1 lb ground beef
1 TBSP oil
3 TBSP + 2 TSP chili powder
1 onion, chopped
2 TSP ground cumin
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (We like Cento)
3 cups beef stock
1/2 TSP dried oregano
1 15.5 oz can navy beans, rinsed and dried
1 15.5 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and dried
1 15.5 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and dried
1 15.5 oz can of corn

Heat the oil in a pot and add the onions until the onions are translucent.  Add the cumin and cook for about 1 minute.  Brown the beef in the pot.  Stir in tomatoes, stock, and chili powder.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the beans and corn and simmer partially covered for about 20 minutes.

Now it's time to sit back and lounge around while sipping on a nice bowl of hearty chili.  Perfect for a movie evening, or for retreating to a comfy corner to read while noshing.  Enjoy!

Chicken with Peppers, Olives, and Capers

Pin It Now!

Chicken with Peppers, Olives, and Capers

Ahhh olives and capers.  Two of our favorite combinations.  We had a package of chicken drumsticks that has been sitting in the freezer for a while now, and we were debating how to cook them.  The weather has been unforgiving again, and the heat has not made meaty dishes too enticing.  Unless paired with vegetables, of course.

This dish was delicious!  The chicken was tender, and the olives and anchovies added a nice robustness/richness to the tomato sauce.  Every flavor combined well into a harmonious whole.  It is a dish for both summer and winter, with a nice crusty bread to sop up the sauce at the end.  Needless to say this chicken did not last us long, oh about 2 days?

Recipe
Braised Chicken with Peppers, Olives, and Capers
adapted from Williams & Sonoma
8 chicken drum sticks
salt + pepper to taste
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBS minced fresh rosemary (we used about 1 1/2 TSPS of dried rosemary)
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 1/2 cup of chopped pancetta (we used ham)
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
1/2 TSP red pepper flakes
1 14 1/2 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 TBSP capers, rinsed

Pat chicken dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, warm the oil.  Add the rosemary and chicken.  Brown the chicken, about 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.

Add the bell peppers, onion, pancetta (ham), and red pepper flakes to the pot.  Season with salt and black pepper and sauté until they soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, wine, olives, and capers and bring to a boil.  Return the chicken to the pot, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes.  Uncover and simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 15 minutes more.  Return the chicken to the sauce and simmer to heat through.

Enjoy!

Nectarine Crumble Cake

Pin It Now!

Nectarine Crumble Cake

Summer is the season of stone fruits.  Apricots, nectarines, peaches, cherries.  They are abundant and sweetly ripe.  We were overly greedy and bought too many nectarines.  Well, we're left with cake as a solution, even though I don't much like cakes.  The key to this cake was the buttermilk.  Be sure to use whole milk buttermilk, for it lent a richness of flavor that low fat or regular milk could not add.  I also added the crumble topping because I thought it would add a "crunch" and I used some cornmeal flour to make this cake a bit "cornbread-y."

Cake Resting

The result was a moist cake, full of nectarine flavor.  The cornmeal added a rustic texture that was appreciated by all.  It was not overly sweet, but just right, so that you could eat this for breakfast and still feel as though you were eating fruit rather than cake.

See the nectarine wedges in there?  They really lent a nice flavor to the cake.  Of course, the color and texture of the cake were accented by cornmeal flour.

Recipe
Nectarine Crumble Cake

For the Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole cornmeal
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar plus more for sprinkling
3 nectarines sliced about half an inch thick
2 nectarines chopped
1/4 cups oil
1 1/2 cups whole buttermilk
2 eggs
3 tsps vanilla
2 TBSPS good fruity wine

For the Topping
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Make the topping by combining all ingredients in a bowl.
To make the cake
Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and sugar.  Mix well.
Combine vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk.  Whisk well.
Mix the flour mixture and the wet mixture.
Slather the chopped nectarines with wine and sugar.  Fold the nectarines in with the batter.
Pour batter into a 9 inch cake pan.  Lay the sliced nectarines on top of the batter.  Bake for about 1 h 18 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Enjoy!

Stuffed Rainbow Trout

Pin It Now!

Trout Stuffed with Lemon, Herbs, and Peppers

Rainbow trout.  Such a versatile fish.  You can pan fry it, roast it, grill it, and it will taste refreshing and delicious.  Not too fishy, not quite yet "melt in your mouth" like the Chilean Sea Bass, but still wonderful all the same.  It's an everyday fish really.

I like stuffing mine full of lemons, herbs, and red bell pepper strips.  Of course, you can't leave out the garlic.  In reality you could stuff whatever you wish inside, and the fish will turn out wonderful.  We really are more of a fish/seafood household than a meat household.

Recipe
Stuffed Rainbow Trout with Herbs, Lemon, and Red Bell Pepper
2 rainbow trouts
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
1 lemon, sliced thinly
salt + pepper to taste
a splash of good white wine
1 TBSP of thyme
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Dry the trout with paper towel.  Drizzle and rub the surface with olive oil.  In the cavity of the trout, place lemon slices and sprinkle with garlic.  Rub with thyme, salt, and pepper.  Stuff red bell pepper strips and parsley.  Splash with wine.  Bake for 25 minutes or until trout is cooked through.
Enjoy!  Look at how "bursting" the cavity is!

Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate Morsels & Cookies

Pin It Now!

Cookies & Ice Cream

Oh ice cream again.  Summer provides the perfect excuse to eat ice cream, to sample as many varieties as you possibly can stomach.  What can be better than to feel that refreshing cold on a blazing summer day?  Add some cookies to the mix for a more "substantial" treat.

These are chocolate chip cookies; of course, you can use any kind of cookies you like.  I always use chocolate chip cookies since they are quite standard, and pair well with any ice cream flavor.  These are vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups & chocolate morsels.  Of course, you can substitute with any kind of ice cream you wish.  I merely wished to experiment, although my samplings never venture far from anything having to do with peanut butter or chocolate, since I enjoy them both.  And, I am also a firm believer in aggregation, especially when it comes to tasty treats!

Recipe
Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate Morsels
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/3 cups turbinado sugar
3 cups heavy cream
3 TBSP vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter cups
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  Mix in the cream and vanilla extract.  Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn for about 10 minutes.  Slowly add in the chocolate chips and peanut butter cups.  Churn for another 10 - 25 minutes.  Freeze and enjoy!