Butterscotch Ice Cream

I’m pretty much obsessed with my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment. Before I was even done with the first batch of ice cream, I was dreaming of making a second batch. One of my new favorite past times is just browsing ice cream recipes. I’ve made homemade caramel before, so when I came across this recipe for butterscotch ice cream I knew I’d want to try it. Basically the difference between caramel & butterscotch is that butterscotch uses brown sugar while caramel uses granulated sugar. I love desserts with brown sugar in them, so there were pretty good odds I’d like this!

I was able to use restraint when it came to making the ice cream. I held off for a couple weeks. Finally I gave in to my frozen dessert desires & made it. Let me tell you, all that restraint went right out the window once I tasted this. It was smooth, creamy, rich, and most of all, absolutely & incredibly delicious. The buttermilk ice cream I shared with coworkers, but I got greedy with this butterscotch flavor. This batch was consumed in a mere 6 days I think. LESS THAN A WEEK! Granted, this batch made a little bit less than the last batch, but it was still a nice amount! Also, this time, The Boy was an active eater of the ice cream. I was really glad he liked it too. I like having a partner in my calorie consumption.

I must admit though, I screwed up a little when making this. I didn’t “temper” the eggs correctly, and probably brought the heat too high. When I strained the custard through a fine mesh strainer I ended up with what looked a lot like little chunks of scrambled eggs. I was a little grossed out, and very discouraged. I went ahead and strained all of it, and put it in a bowl to chill in the refrigerator while deciding what I should do. I asked for some advice on a cooking board, and I googled it. I went against the advice on the board, but found some other advice online that said you can go ahead and churn it, it just won’t be as smooth, and may have a “weird mouth feel”. I hate wasting ingredients so I just thought, rather than dump it, I might as well churn it first to see what I’d end up with. It ended up churning beautifully. I honestly could not tell a THING wrong with this ice cream. I’m so glad to know that I can screw something up, and it still turn out awesome! So, don’t be intimidated by custard-based ice creams. As I’ve said before, if I can do, you can do it!

Butterscotch Ice Cream

from Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 cups half-and-half (light cream)
6 large egg yolks

Directions:

In a 1- to 2-quart pan over medium heat, stir brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until butter is melted, sugar is dissolved, and mixture is bubbly, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup whipping cream until smooth; remove butterscotch mixture from heat.

In a 3- to 4-quart pan over medium-high heat, combine remaining 1 cup whipping cream and the half-and-half; bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat egg yolks to blend. Whisk 1/2 cup of the warm cream mixture into egg yolks, then pour egg yolk mixture into pan with cream. Stir constantly over low heat just until mixture is slightly thickened, 2 to 4 minutes. Immediately remove from heat.

Pour through a fine strainer into a clean bowl and whisk in butterscotch mixture. Chill until cold, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours; or cover and chill up to 1 day.

Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve softly frozen, or transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 1 week.

*PS. It tastes great with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Syrup drizzled on! Thanks for the help Boo!*

**Edit** D’oh! I can’t believe I forgot that I was planning on submitting this to Joelen’s Tasty Tools event for June, the tool featured is Ice Cream Makers! You might remember I also submitted the Buttermilk Ice Cream! Be sure to check back to see all the other ice cream flavors people submitted. I can’t wait to see the round-up and get more ice cream inspiration!

Bookmark/Share

12 Comments

Roasted Beet Hummus

As I mentioned previously, I’m sharing a CSA share with a coworker. With this share, we get a full share, every other week. We decided that we would take turns picking it up. This was our second box, and my first time picking it up.

Pretty nice bounty, eh? While at the East Nashville Farmer’s Market to pick it up, I stopped by the Provence Bread tent to sample beer bread made with Yazoo beer, Dos Perros. I tried it with their tapenade, and then with an intriguing bright purple dip. I’m always drawn to bright colors in food, so when I was told it was beet hummus, I knew I had to try it. Wow. It was SOOO good! I twittered (tweeted?)* at Provence asking for the recipe, as I received beets in my box and really wanted to try to make it myself. He tweeted back and said he would be glad to give it to me the following week. Unfortunately, I knew I’d be unable to go to the Farmer’s Market that week. So I did some googling, and found a recipe.

I didn’t stray from the recipe, but next time I’d like to use even more beets, and more garlic. I’d want to use more beets to have a deeper color, and more garlic, because I like my hummus garlic-filled. Still, it was great! I just wished I’d made it before I ate all the Yazoo beer bread. You can dip veggies in it, chips, or crackers. I think this would be a great dip to serve at a pink/purple themed party.

Roasted Beet Hummus

from Food Fascination

Ingredients:

1-2 medium beets (if you’ve got roasted beets already, this is a great place to use them.)
1 can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped finely
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup tahini or sesame paste (this is a paste of seasame seeds, most likely found in the “ethnic” section of your grocery store or an oriental / near eastern grocery store.)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large roasting pan covered with foil, roast the beets for 40-70 minutes, or until smooth when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then peel and cut into small chunks.

In a small frying pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.

Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.

In a food processor, chop the beets, onions, garlic, and chickpeas together until smooth. Add the tahini and cumin, and process again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then replace the lid. While the blades are running, slowly add the lemon juice and olive oil mixture until the hummus is at your desired consistency.

Makes 2-3 cups hummus

**I mentioned that I twittered, yup, I gave in to the cult. I don’t twitter as ME, but as ErinsFoodFiles. With the prodding of my adopt a blogger, I finally joined. It’s a lot of fun actually. I mainly follow other food bloggers, so what I see on my feed is lots of conversation about food! It’s a fun, growing community that’s embraced me. I’m still learning the ins & outs of it all. But if you twitter, follow me, and let me know if you’re a reader, so I know for sure to follow you too!

Bookmark/Share

23 Comments

Broccoli Slaw

I received broccoli in my CSA and just assumed I’d steam it and serve it with fish or chicken. Well, we decided to grill out one Sunday and invited our friend over with his teenage kids. I began to browse my bookmarked recipes for side items. I quickly zeroed in on this recipe from TheKitchn, as a different way to use the broccoli. Like the original author, I too, remembered a crunchy broccoli slaw in my past and yearned for a healthier version. I ended up changing a couple things from the original recipe. Instead of currants, I used tart, dried cherries. And I made mine even healthier by using a combination of light mayonnaise, reduced fat sour cream, and nonfat greek yogurt instead of just mayonnaise. I really liked the tang the sour cream and greek yogurt gave it. If you don’t have easy access to greek yogurt, feel free to just use sour cream. Or, if you prefer, all mayo. And I used red wine vinegar, instead of rice wine vinegar because I had that on hand.

We all loved the slaw. It went great with our Mojo grilled chicken (thank you Publix marinade), grilled sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, and cocoa brownies with peanut butter chips. The leftovers disappeared pretty fast too! I can’t wait for another cookout opportunity to make this. It just might be my new signature salad dish! The combination of the crunchy chopped almonds, crunchy broccoli, tart & sweet cherries, and the tangy dressing was truly a harmonious union. Uptown Girls, expect to see this on 4th of July!

Broccoli Slaw
adapted from TheKitchn

3 heads broccoli
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dried cherries (I recommend the bigger, plump ones, not craisins)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
3/4 cup chopped whole almonds
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

Chop broccoli, red onion, almonds, and dried cherries and combine in a large bowl.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if needed. Allow to sit for 30 minutes (or an hour in the fridge) so the flavors can mingle.

Bookmark/Share

12 Comments

Spinach, Mushroom, Turkey Bacon, Feta Quiche

I’ve been wanting to make a quiche for quite some time, and I’ve had an extra whole wheat pie shell in my freezer for too long. A quiche is a great meal because it’s really adaptable to what you have on hand. I couldn’t really find one specific recipe I wanted to follow, so I used this Health magazine recipe as a guide. If you check out that recipe you can see I didn’t follow it too closely! I’m not one that’s big on making up my own recipes, because so often I’d rather follow one, and have a little more confidence that it will turn out right. But I’m really glad I went for it with this recipe. If you’re like me, and timid with your skills, a quiche is a great dish to experiment with. Step out of your comfort zone, and try it! Or, if you’re not ready for that just yet, follow this recipe, because I can assure you, I wouldn’t change a thing about it! This one’s a keeper.

The flavors in this went very well together. Feta has a great salty flavor, and the spinach and mushroom have an almost savory sweet taste. Both The Boy & I love turkey bacon, and it’s all we eat now. I wasn’t sure how well the flavor would stand up in this dish, but I think it was pretty pronounced. A perfect combo. YUM!

(PS. I think it’s really funny that the Health magazine recipe calls for Wholly Wholesome pie shell, that’s the exact kind I had. They’re made without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or additives, hydrogenated fats, oils or trans fatty acids, refined sugars or synthetic sweeteners, bleached or bromated flour. And I really like that. Plus, they taste awesome! I always use them in my Caramel Apple Crumb Pie.)

Spinach, Mushroom, Turkey Bacon, Feta Quiche

Ingredients:

1 store-bought frozen pastry shell, such as Wholly Wholesome brand
5 slices turkey bacon
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 eggs
3 egg whites
2/3 cup half & half
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Bake pastry shell for 8-10 minutes or until browned. Remove shell from oven, and set aside. Leave oven on.

Chop turkey bacon and saute in a skillet over medium high heat until slightly crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat oil over medium to medium high heat. Add onion, saute 2-3 minutes until tender. Add mushrooms & spinach. Saute 4-5 minutes until spinach is soft. (Mine got a little watery, so I kept it on heat until most of the moisture had cooked out.) Add turkey bacon back to the pan and stir to combine well.

In a bowl beat eggs, egg whites, and half & half (I did this in my Magic Bullet Blender, and then poured it in the bowl). Season with salt & pepper. Add in veggie/bacon mixture and stir to combine. Add feta, stir to combine, and pour into pie shell.

Bake 20-30 minutes or until completely set, and slightly golden & crispy on top.

Inspired by: Health Magazine

Bookmark/Share

9 Comments

Buttermilk Ice Cream

Lust. It’s such a strong word isn’t it?

I lusted after an ice cream maker for SO long. I kept seeing posts all over the food blog world about homemade ice cream. Finally, I caved in, and bought one, sneaky-style as a last second bid on eBay. When it finally came in I knew I wanted to make a simple and delicious ice cream, without crazy flavors or a lot of mix-ins. Then I saw this post for Buttermilk Ice Cream in Smitten Kitchen‘s blog. The idea of a buttermilk ice cream was something I’d never tried before. I was intrigued, and decided it would be the inaugural batch of ice cream!

I used real a vanilla bean, and also followed her tip that you didn’t need to use the twelve egg yolks the recipe originally calls for. I used 6 yolks, and still felt it was super creamy. Churning the ice cream was a truly magical experience. I was so excited when it finished. The custard really did churn itself into ice cream! It was soft serve at first, but after a little bit of time in the freezer, it hardened into a scoopable treat. The Boy, believe it or not, isn’t a huge ice cream fan. I did convince him to try the ice cream and he thought it was good, but I guess it wasn’t enough to tempt him to eat a bowl of it. What a weirdo. But I do have him to thank for targeting the flavor. The buttermilk gives it a sweet tartness. He’s the one who first described it as almost like cheesecake! I think this ice cream would be great with graham crackers crumbled up, or topped with blueberry syrup.

Or, if you’ve got GREAT FRIENDS who share with you their homemade freezer jam made from fresh picked strawberries, then you are very lucky. I just happen to be that lucky. My good friend Jamie made me some jam. When she told me she really enjoyed it best on ice cream, I knew instantly that I would use it as a topping on the last tiny little bit of this buttermilk ice cream I had remaining in the freezer. I had rationed the ice cream to save enough for a picture as I never got around to photographing it! Inspired by Jamie’s jam, I pulled out the ice cream, scooped and stacked it up, topped it with the sweet jam, and took it outside for a little photoshoot. I must say, for my first photoshoot with ice cream, I’m pretty darn proud of myself.

After the photoshoot I stuck it back in the freezer, and later on that night I ate it. Wow… The tart ice cream, plus the sweet jam, is such a good combination. If I didn’t already have 25 ice cream recipes bookmarked, I’d be veeeeery tempted to make this again just to be able to enjoy it with the rest of Jamie’s jam.

I’m submitting this in Joelen’s Tasty Tools event for June, which is featuring ice cream makers! Be sure to check back at the end of the month for her round up of all the recipes submitted. And check out her other fun foodie events!

Buttermilk Ice Cream

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoon vanilla or half a vanilla bean, scraped and simmered with the cream
Pinch of salt

Directions:

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream and one cup of sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.

Remove the cream mixture from the heat and drizzle a small amount into the yolks, slowly, and whisking constantly to keep the eggs from curdling. Do this a few more times to warm up the yolks before pouring the yolk mixture back into the cream, whisking constantly.

Cook over low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture and whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and salt. Cool completely and freeze according manufacturer’s directions.

Bookmark/Share

5 Comments