Homemade Ice Cream

My in-laws gave us an ice cream maker a couple years ago for Christmas, and for the last year or so we have been making ice cream a few times a month.  We usually make plain vanilla and then dress it up when we eat it.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

• 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
• 5 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I usually use 2% milk and half-and-half instead of the heavy cream.  If desired, you can add 3 cups of fruit pieces. 

Lasagna

I have always considered lasagna to be a basic dish...noodles, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, meat (if desired) and a little fennel seed (if desired).  Mix and layer....no recipe needed.  I stumbled upon this recipe when I was pregnant with Jenna, and it had such rave reviews that I figured that I would perhaps make lasagna using a recipe and see how it was.  I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee.  I am so glad that I decided to make this...it was the best lasagna that I have ever eaten!!  I like a lot of sauce in my lasagna, so I double the recipe for the sauce, used a bit more than called for when assembling everything, and then froze the rest. 


Here's a list of what you will need...

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

	In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
	To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
	Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Bruchetta

BRUCHETTA

 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 French baguette

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

 

	Preheat the oven on broiler setting.   In a large bowl, combine Roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper.  Allow mixture to sit for 10 minutes.  Cut the baguette into 3/4" slices and arrange the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Broil for 1-2 minutes until slightly browned. Divide tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices; top tomato mixture with mozzarella cheese.     Broil for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Balsamic Filet Mignon and Cider Cheese Fondue

Balsalmic Filet Mignon

2 (4 ounce) filet mignon steaks
freshly ground black pepper to taste
sea salt to taste

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup dry red wine
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp brown sugar

Allow steaks to rest for an hour at room temperature before salting & peppering. Broil until done to your liking, then remove them from the oven and allow to rest again. While the steaks rest, combine the ingredients for the balsalmic glaze in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low to low-med and allow the glaze to reduce until thickened (about 10 minutes).  Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the steaks and serve. 

Cider Cheese Fondue

1 cup apple cider or apple juice **

2 cups shredded or cubed Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded or cubed Swiss cheese

1-2 cloves crushed or chopped garlic

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cubed

 

In a large saucepan, bring cider to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic. Toss the cheeses with cornstarch and pepper; stir into cider. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Transfer to a small ceramic fondue pot or slow cooker; keep warm. Serve with bread cubes, sliced apples and/or the Balsamic Filet Mignon.

**  I prefer to substitute this wine for the cider/juice. 

Sticky Buns

I've posted one recipe each of the last two Sundays, so I figure that I might as well make it a weekly thing for now and see how long I can stick to it.  Below is a recipe for the fantastic sticky buns that my grandmother used to make.   (Yeah...a sticky bun recipe after I typed my fingers to the bone earlier about organic and natural...)

The story with this recipe is that my grandmother somehow got it like 60 years ago from a then-famous pastry chef from NYC who spent summers in the town where my grandmother lived.  No one really knows how or why she was given the recipe, but she kept it under lock and key for years and years.  About 10 years ago I was going through some boxes belonging to my father, and I found a large envelope of my grandmother's things.  Among them was an index card with a very faded recipe for sticky buns.  My father claims that he didn't know it was there, and as far as we know, the recipe remained a secret until that point.  Looking at the recipe, it looks so basic that it's hard to believe that it was ever a secret...

GRACE'S STICKY BUNS

Buns:

2 packs of dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oleo

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

5 to 5 ½ cups of flour

Add yeast to warm water plus 1 tsp. of the sugar.  Set aside and let bubble.

Scald the milk, shortening and remaining sugar.  Cool to lukewarm.  To the cooled milk mixture, add 2 c. flour.  Beat at least 100 strokes by hand or 2-3 minutes with electric mixer.  Beat in eggs and stir in yeast mixture.

Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Knead dough 8-10 minutes on lightly floured surface.  Don’t skimp on kneading time.  Place dough in a greased bowl.  Turn once and grease the top. Cover and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size.  Punch down; let rest 10 minutes.

Cut dough in half.  Roll each half out to about 16” x 18”.  Cover top with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar (don’t get butter or sugar on edge that you’ll want to seal).  Roll lengthwise as for jelly roll.  Seal edges.  Cut in 1” slices.  Place cut side down in sticky mixture in 8” x 8” x 2” pan pr 9” pie pan.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Sticky Mixture: 

½ c up butter  -  1 cup brown sugar  -  ¼ cup milk  -  chopped nuts optional

Combine ingredients in small saucepan, boil 2 minutes.  Add nuts at end.   

Baked Ziti

I posted this recipe this week on a rainbow mamas FB group, and I thought that I would post it here.  It is super quick and easy...and always delicious!

BAKED ZITI
1 box ziti                                                          

1-2 jars Prego spaghetti sauce                           

32 oz ricotta cheese

8-16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg (optional) 

1/2 to 1 pound ground beef or sausage (optional)

Cook ziti as per package and drain.  Add ricotta, sauce and egg.  Mix.  Add mozzarella and mix thoroughly, leaving some to sprinkle on top of desired.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges.   (I have thrown this together without cooking the ziti noodles; I add 1/2 to 1 jar of water to my sauce/cheese mixture when I do this.  You just have to play with it a little bit to get it the way you like it!)

 

Grilled Chicken with Strawberry Salsa

I was looking through my online cookbook at allrecipes.com trying to figure out what to make for dinner, and I thought that it might be fun to share some recipes with you all every once in a while. 

I found this recipe about two years ago, and first made it when I was pregnant with Gracie.  It has become a favorite!!!  It can also be found here. 



GRILLED CHICKEN WITH STRAWBERRY SALSA

 

Chicken and Marinade

4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

salt and pepper to taste

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

 

Salsa

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

1/3 cup minced red onion

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

 

1/4 cup sour cream

 

 

	Pound the chicken breast halves with a meat mallet until 1/2 inch thick. Season with salt and pepper and place into a resealable plastic bag or small baking dish. Whisk together 1 serrano chile, garlic, chili powder, and 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil until incorporated, then pour the marinade over the chicken breasts, squeeze out excess air, and seal. Place into the refrigerator, and marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
	While the chicken marinates, toss the strawberries with the mint and sugar in a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate 1 hour, then fold in the remaining serrano chile, red onion, and 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the salsa stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
	Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
	Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Cook the chicken on the grill until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Serve with the strawberry salsa and a dollop of sour cream.