8/28/2011

Ice Cream Sundae Pie

Preparation time: 45 minutes plus freezing
Yield: 8 generous servings

Ingredients

Crust:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Rocky Road Sauce:
1 package (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows or 24 large marshmallows, cut in fourths

3 pints vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Maraschino cherries
Chocolate sprinkles, optional


Directions

For crust, line a 9-inch pie plate with a 14-inch round of aluminum foil, extending foil beyond rim of pan. In a heavy saucepan, melt 3/4 cup chocolate pieces and butter, stirring constantly. Add cereal and vanilla, tossing to coat cereal completely. Press into bottom and up sides of prepared pie plate; chill until firm, 30 minutes or freeze 15 minutes.

For Rocky Road Sauce, melt chocolate in heavy saucepan; stir in sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and salt. Cool to room temperature; add marshmallows.

To assemble, soften half of ice cream. Remove chocolate crust from pie plate by gently lifting foil edges. Carefully peel foil from crust; replace crust in pie plate. Spoon slightly softened ice cream into crust; smooth top and spread with half of Rocky Road Sauce. Place pie in freezer 30 minutes or longer to allow ice cream and sauce to firm. Repeat with remaining ice cream and sauce. Freeze at least 30 minutes longer.

Shortly before serving, whip cream until stiff peaks form; add sugar and vanilla. Pipe around edge of pie and mound in center. Top with maraschino cherries; garnish with chocolate sprinkles if desired. Makes 8 servings.

NOTE: I don't think I've ever had this topped with whipped cream. That might actually be too much. You can also make this in a 9x13 pan, which makes it a more reasonable thickness and easier to cut 12 or 16 servings instead of 8. Just to make the calculation easier for you, there are 4 pints in a half gallon, so you use not quite a half gallon in the recipe, but if you do it in a 9x13, you might get away with just using the whole container without making it too thick. If you're feeling daring, try mint chocolate chip or another flavor besides vanilla.

Original recipe by Julie Baker, published in the Deseret News.

8/19/2011

One Chocolate Chip Cookie

How to Make a Single Chocolate Chip Cookie - wikiHow

This is just the right amount to cook as a Skookie. Just undercook it slightly and serve with ice cream on top if you choose to make the Skookie.

1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate chips
1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking soda
5 tablespoons flour

Preheat the oven to 350.

Measure all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix and mash thoroughly with a fork. It's easier if the butter is slightly softened rather than using a hard-brick.

Add the mixture to the center of a pre-greased cookie sheet. To make it easier to bake evenly, smooth the mixture out as a thin layer.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. Bake for an additional 1-2 minutes if the cookie is too soft or gooey.

Let cool on a plate and enjoy. It's that simple!

8/13/2011

Grilled Potatoes

I have made these twice now and the kids cheered the second time I made them. This recipe is also from Real Mom Kitchen.

Grilled Potatoes

4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp smoked paprika (I was
out of paprika so I just used salt and pepper.)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat. While the grill preheats, cut potatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. This is easy using a mandolin, but if you don’t have one a knife will do the job too.
Place the potatoes in a gallon sized freezer bag. Add the oil to the bag and seal closed. Toss the potatoes around in the sealed bag until well coated with the oil.
Open the bag and sprinkle in the smoked paprika and salt. Seal the bag again and toss the potatoes until the salt and paprika are nice and even distributed on the potato slices.
Remove the potato slice from the bag and place directly on the grill. Cook for about 5 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them so they don’t get overcooked. You want them tender on the inside when pierced with a fork, but slightly crisp and golden brown on the outside.
Remove from grill and serve immediately. Serves 4-5.

She made them with a BBQ dipping sauce. But I haven't made that yet. Last night I put grated cheese over them when they came off the grill to make cheese fries if you will. They were delicious.


Zucchini Muffins

My kids love the banana muffins so much that Dave posted. I came across this zucchini muffin recipe on Real Mom Kitchen. I had to try them and the did not disappoint. Here is the recipe as it was posted.

Zucchini- Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder (I upped it to 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely shredded zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional, I didn’t do the nuts)

Position rack in middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper liners. Spray the paper liners with nonstick spray. (This is key, or the muffin will stick to the liner)
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar to blend them smoothly. Whisk in the oil and vanilla until blended. Use a large spoon to stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Stir in the zucchini, then stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using) until evenly distributed.
Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each paper liner.

I didn't add walnuts but them would be delicious. I made them in mini muffin tins just sprayed with Pam and baked them for 12 minutes. I increased the baking powder like she did, but I don't know why she did that.

8/10/2011

Grilled Eggplant

Cheryl wanted me to post this recipe from the other night on here.  I don't buy eggplant on a regular basis, but these came in our Bountiful Basket so I looked up a recipe.
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 pinch each thyme, basil, dill, and oregano
salt and freshly grated black pepper

Preparation:
Heat grill. When grill is hot, slice eggplant about 1/2-inch thick (I sliced it different than what is shown in the picture). In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the oil and vinegar mixture.

Place eggplant on the hot preheated grill. Grill about 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.