Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken tikka masala is one of the most widely eaten Indian dishes in Britain and probably one of the most recognized worldwide.  I've made this wonderful dish many times, but just recently got around to taking some photos.  This recipe is another winner from Jamie Oliver.  I said I was making my way through his curries, so another one down!

Chicken, onions, a fresh chile, fresh ginger, curry paste, and cilantro are cooked together, and then diced tomatoes and coconut milk are added to make a creamy sauce.  Simmer for 20 minutes and serve over basmati rice with a dollop of natural yogurt, some sliced almonds, cilantro and a little lemon squeezed over.  Fabulous!!! 

We can't get enough of this dish.  As mentioned, I've made it countless times.  It's quick enough that it makes a great after work supper too.

Serve some homemade naan, chutney, and a nice cold beer on the side - perfection!

Enjoy!

Chicken Tikka Masala
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4 skinless chicken breast fillets
2 medium onions
1 fresh red chile (I used a jalapeno)
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
a small bunch of fresh cilantro
peanut or vegetable oil
a pat of butter
1/2 cup tikka masala or mild curry paste, such as Patak's (I used Patak's Tikka Paste)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can of coconut milk (I prefer the full-fat coconut milk with this as it makes the sauce creamier)
1 cup natural yogurt
a small handful of sliced almonds
1 lemon

Slice the chicken breasts lengthways into 3/4-inch-thick strips.  Peel, halve, and finely slice the onions.  Finely slice your chile.  Peel and finely slice the ginger.  Pick the cilantro leaves and put to one side, then finely chop the stalks.

Put a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of oil and the butter.  Add the onions, chile, ginger, and coriander stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden.  Add the curry paste and the strips of chicken.  Stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes and the coconut milk.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on.  Take the lid off and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When the meat is tender and cooked, taste and add a bit more salt and pepper - please season carefully.

Serve with basmati rice and a few spoonfuls of yogurt dolloped on top.  Sprinkle over the almonds and cilantro leaves and serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over. 

Serves 4 - 6.

Source:  Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

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Pork Lover's Tamale Pie

I'm wondering if I'm the only one here who's never tried tamale pie before.  Well, I've obviously tried it now, but until I made this last week, I was a tamale pie virgin.  From what I gather, it's classic American comfort food, a quintessential American pot luck dish....and it's been around for decades.  I grew up in the States and somehow managed to live there 19 years without ever trying this dish.  Huh. 

It gets worse though.  I've never even eaten a tamale before.  Sigh............... 

Because of my tamale ignorance, I have absolutely no idea if this casserole even remotely resembles the taste of an actual tamale, but I do know we loved it.  This ridiculously easy (and delicious) recipe is from the March 2012 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray.  It's made by cooking ground pork, bacon and chorizo (hence, "pork lover's") together and then adding chili powder, herbs, onion, garlic, and tomatoes, and then covering with golden polenta and shredded cheese. 

This dish exceeded our expectations.  We really loved the polenta topping here as opposed to a cornbread topping (which I'm sure is also scrumptious).  I served this with some sour cream and guacamole on the side which I definitely recommend.  Yum!  Without a doubt, I'll be making this dish again. 

Enjoy!

Pork Lover's Tamale Pie
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1 cup milk
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups boiling water
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon honey
1/3 pound Mexican chorizo (raw) or chopped Spanish chorizo (cured)
4 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1 small onion, chopped
3 - 4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup beer
1 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes with chiles, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Cilantro leaves and sliced scallions, for garnishing

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk. Whisk in the cornmeal, then whisk in the boiling water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the butter and honey.

Preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, in a large ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the chorizo and bacon and render the fat for 3 minutes. Stir in the pork and cook, crumbling the meat, until browned, about 8 minutes. Season with the thyme, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes to soften. Stir in the beer to deglaze for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes to heat through.

Spoon the thick cornmeal over the pan and spread evenly. Top with the cheddar and brown under the broiler for 2 minutes. Serve from the skillet, garnished with the cilantro and scallions.

NOTE:  I didn't put this under the broiler, I baked it at 400F for about 10 or 15 minutes instead. 

Makes 4 servings.

Source:  Every Day with Rachael Ray - March 2012

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Seafood Sushi Wraps

I'm always excited to share recipes with you, but sometimes I get really excited.  Once in a while a recipe comes along that I just can't wait to post.  Like this one.

As you probably know, the Oscars air next Sunday, February 26.  Every year I host a small Oscar party.  I usually make a bunch of appetizers and munchies to enjoy while rooting for our favourite movies, actors, and actresses.  While searching one of my favourite recipe sources, Life Made Delicious for some inspiration, I came across these intriguing little Seafood Sushi Wraps.  Instead of wrapping the sushi in seaweed, it's wrapped in whole-wheat tortillas. Hmmmm.......interesting! Since this is a house of (mostly) sushi lovers, I decided I had to try them.  I wanted to try them out this past weekend and if they were a hit, I would make them again next weekend.  Well, they were such a hit, that even though I made a batch last night (which were literally devoured in minutes), I'm making another batch tonight and honestly, I can't wait!!

At first glance, they seemed a bit more involved than they actually were.  It really took no time at all to make them once the rice was cooked and cooled.  You trim a whole-wheat wrap into a rectangle.  Spread with garden vegetable cream cheese and then cover with the sushi rice (medium-grain rice - I used President's Choice).  After that, you make a row of carrots, red pepper, pollock (imitation crab) and green onions.  Fold up the tortilla and pull it back down, while pushing the rice into a roll.  Roll it tightly and wrap in saran wrap for at least an hour.  When you're ready to serve, trim off the ends and slice, then serve with a delicious sauce of fresh garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and chili paste. 

I honestly didn't know quite what to expect but we were all seriously wowed.  These are SO GOOD!!!  The recipe makes 24 and as I mentioned, they were all gone in the blink of an eye.  With the sticky rice, veggies, pollock, and dipping sauce, these really do taste very much like sushi.  My husband, who is the only one in the family who's not a sushi lover, actually said he preferred these over the real thing. 

These appetizers would satisfy both the sushi and non-sushi lovers in your house.  For more party appetizers and inspiration for your Oscar party, head on over to Life Made Delicious!

This is also the perfect time to catch some of those Oscar-nominated movies as this month, General Mills and Cineplex are teaming up once again to offer you Free Movie Offers! Look for them on specially marked General Mills products in stores right now.

Enjoy!

Disclosure: I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

Seafood Sushi Wraps
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3/4 cup uncooked sushi (medium-grain) rice
1 cup water
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
3 large whole wheat flour tortillas (10-inch)
6 tablespoons garden vegetable cream cheese spread
1/2 cup shredded carrot (I finely chopped my carrot instead of shredding)
1/2 cup  finely chopped red bell pepper
6 to 8 (about 1 oz/28 g each) refrigerated imitation crabmeat sticks
3 green onions, trimmed to 8-inch length, halved lengthwise

Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger root
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons roasted red chili paste*
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup 2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

*I happened to have some chili-garlic sauce in my fridge so used that instead.

In 1 1/2-quart nonstick saucepan, heat rice and water to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed and rice is tender. (I needed to add a bit more water).  Meanwhile, place 15x10-inch pan with sides in freezer to chill.

Drizzle rice vinegar over rice while lifting and fluffing rice; spread rice in chilled pan. Place in freezer for 5 minutes to cool completely.

Trim 1 1/2-inches from top and bottom of tortillas to form rectangles. On work surface, place 1 tortilla rectangle with short sides at top and bottom. Spread 2 tablespoons cream cheese over entire surface of roll-up. Spread 3/4 cup cooled rice over cream cheese, leaving 1 1/2 inches of top short edge free of rice. Starting 1 inch from bottom short edge, arrange narrow row of carrot, row of bell pepper and row of crabmeat crosswise over rice. Above crabmeat, place 2 onion halves, alternating ends so there is one green end and one white end on each side. Press all layers into rice.

Bring bottom edge of tortilla over fillings to top edge of rice; pull bottom edge of tortilla back toward bottom, scraping rice into roll and fillings to make a firm roll (be sure there are no air spaces). Roll up, letting cream cheese seal the roll. Wrap in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining ingredients, making 2 more rolls. Refrigerate rolls 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix dipping sauce ingredients. To serve, trim ends of each roll; cut each roll into 8 slices. Serve with dipping sauce.

Kitchen Tips:  To prevent the cooked sushi rice from becoming sticky, lift and fluff it while adding the rice vinegar.  Spreading the rice on a cold pan helps cool it quickly.

Makes 24 sushi wraps.

Source:  Life Made Delicious


Per Serving: (1 Sushi Wrap)

Calories 70
Total Fat 1 1/2 g
Saturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g            
Cholesterol 5 mg
Sodium 320 mg
Total Carbohydrate 11 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 2 g
Protein 3 g

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Mock Sourdough Bread

We love sourdough bread in our house, but I don't even begin to have the patience for it.  Feeding the starter, keeping it going, etc. is just not my thing.  I can't even keep plants alive, never mind a sourdough starter.  I had given up on providing my family with homemade sourdough bread until I found this recipe recently.  The bread is made with 2 cups of yogurt instead of a sourdough starter so it's not true sourdough bread, although you could have fooled me.  This bread is phenomenal and yes, it does have that sourdough tang to it.  It's delicious!

I made this last weekend and we literally devoured the entire loaf in one day.  I originally made this bread to serve these herbed ricotta bruschettas and assumed I'd have about half the loaf left over, but we were just cutting thick slices of this bread warm from the oven and slathering the fresh ricotta on it and inhaling it.  And that was before I even made the bruschettas, so by the end of the night, one entire loaf of bread was gone.

Needless to say, I was thrilled with how this bread turned out and I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.

If you have an oven-safe pot or dutch oven, you can bake the bread right in the pot like I did (instructions below).   This is the second time I've made bread this way and I just love how it comes out.  By baking the bread in a covered pot, you get the surrounding heat of a professional oven, and in the covered pot the bread itself supplies the moisture needed to produce a great crust.  You don't have to bake it that way, feel free to bake the bread on a baking sheet too.  Either way, you're going to love it.

Enjoy!

Mock Sourdough Bread

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2 cups plain yogurt
1 tablespoon yeast (I used instant yeast)
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon oil
4 - 5 cups flour, divided

Heat yogurt just to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in yogurt, honey, salt, oil and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining flour just to make a smooth dough.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. (If using a heavy duty mixer, let dough knead for 7 minutes.)

Place dough in a greased bowl; turn once and leave greased side up. Cover and let rise until double, about one and a half hours.

NOTE:  I used my bread machine for the above instructions.  I used instant yeast and didn't bother dissolving the yeast in the water.  I just placed all my ingredients in the bread machine for the kneading and first rise, then removed the dough at the end of the dough cycle and continued on as below.

Punch down. Shape the dough into one large round loaf on a greased baking sheet. Let rise, covered, for 30 minutes. (If using an oven-safe pot/dutch oven to cook your loaf, place dough to rise on a greased sheet of parchment paper set in a pie pan.  This will help it retain it's shape and make it easy for you to place dough in pot. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 450F with pot inside, without lid.)

For non-pot method: Heat oven to 375F.  Brush loaf  with cold water and bake until it sounds hollow when tapped, about 45-50 minutes. Brush or mist with water every 10 minutes to get a crisp crust. Cool on a wire rack.

For pot method: Once pot has heated for 40 minutes in the hot oven and the loaf has risen, carefully remove the pot from the oven (using pot holders!) and gently place the dough inside using the parchment paper as a sling. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and let the loaf cook another 10-15 minutes or until browned. Remove pot from oven, carefully removed bread and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

 Makes 1 large loaf.

Source:  Slightly adapted from 101 Things to Do With Yogurt


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Black and White Cookies

When I told my kids this past week that I'd be making black and white cookies, I received the exact same response from each of them.  "There was an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry ate a black and white cookie and it made him sick."  Sigh...................thanks for your vote of confidence.  I remember that episode, actually, "The Dinner Party."

Well, thankfully I ignored the less than enthusiastic response and went ahead and made them anyway, and I'm pretty sure these scrumptious cookies won't be making anyone sick (I hope....).  This was my first time ever trying a black and white cookie, never mind making one, and I totally get why these New York City classics are so famous.  These cookies are truly amazing! 

The soft, cake-like cookies are half vanilla-glazed and half chocolate-glazed and are absolutely to die for.  This particular recipe comes from my cookbook, Baked Explorations, which was written by the owners of the bakery, Baked, in Brooklyn.

Just a couple of notes.  My cookies actually didn't come out as nicely round as pictured.  I found the dough was a bit sticky and once I plopped it down on the cookie sheet, it wasn't moving.  When the cookies came out of the oven, they were more like an oval and some (most) were just plain shapeless, which would be fine if I wasn't putting them on my blog.  Not so photogenic.  While they were still warm, I cheated and used the mouth of a beer glass (once again, the perfect size) to cut these into the perfect round shapes so they'd look better for my blog.  Of course, then I had all those cookie scraps that had to be eaten.....  The lengths we go to.

I frosted the cookies on the bottom, the flat part, although you can frost either side.  The chocolate frosting also stiffened up a bit while I was applying the white frosting and if that happens, no worries, just add a teaspoon of water at a time, while whisking, until you get the consistency back to the way you want it.

The recipe states that because the cookies are more like little cakes, they're best eaten the day they're made.  I can vouch personally that they're just as delicious today as they were yesterday when I made them. 

Frosting these cookies did take a bit of time and patience but it was all worth it in the end when I had my first bite.  Black and white cookies are famous for a reason.  We loved them!

Enjoy!

I'm sharing this post with:

Cookbook Sundays at Couscous and Consciousness

Black and White Cookies
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3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool but not cold (1 3/4 sticks)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

Frosting

3 3/4 cups icing/powdered sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons whole milk
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa (this may seem like a lot but make sure you use it all - the chocolate frosting is wonderfully chocolatey)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating briefly after each addition.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, and mix on low speed for 10 seconds.  Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts (end with the flour mixture).  Scrape down the bowl; add the vanilla and lemon zest, and mix on low speed for a few more seconds.

Using a ¼ cup measure, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. You should be able to fit 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake the cookies for about 17 minutes, rotating the sheets between the oven racks halfway through the baking time, until edges are golden brown and the tops spring back when gently touched.  Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, cream, and vanilla.  If the mixture is too thick, add milk by the teaspoon until the desired consistency is reached.  Pour half of the frosting (about 3/4 cup) into a separate bowl and add the cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon water.  Stir to incorporate the cocoa powder.  The chocolate frosting should be about the same consistency as the "white" frosting.  If it is too thick, keep adding water by the teaspoon until you get the right balance.

Using an offset spatula, spread the white icing over one side of each cooled cookie. Let stand until almost set, about 20 minutes.  Clean the spatula and use it to spread chocolate frosting over the unfrosted half of each cookie (If the frosting thickens up while you are working, whisk it until it loosens).  Let the frosted cookies set completely, about 1 hour, before serving them.

Black and White Cookies are essentially little cakes, and they taste best eaten the day they are made.  However, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

Makes 12 to 18 cookies (I got 18).

Source:  Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

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Herbed Ricotta Bruschettas (with Homemade Ricotta)

Have you ever made your own cheese?  If not, it's something you have to try (and once you do, you'll be hooked).  It's easy, I promise, and loads of fun, not to mention incredibly satisfying knowing that you're eating cheese that you made.

It's funny because I once said to a close friend of mine, and not all that long ago, that I didn't think I would ever bother making my own cheese.  A lot of fellow food bloggers have posted about making their own cheese, and it just wasn't anything that necessarily appealed to me.  But then last year I bought Ina Garten's How Easy Is That cookbook, and lo and behold there was a recipe for homemade ricotta.  It looked so easy and foolproof that I kept thinking, hmmmmmm...........  I finally decided to try my hand at making ricotta last weekend and I was blown away by not only how easy it is, but how GOOD it is. 

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'd ever bother buying ricotta again, it's that good.  All you need is whole milk, heavy cream (35%), kosher salt, and white wine vinegar.  You bring the milk, cream, and salt to a rolling boil, turn off the heat, stir in the vinegar and let sit for at least a minute (I let mine sit for 10 minutes).  Then pour the mixture into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and let drain.  The recipe says to let drain for 20 to 25 minutes, but I let mine drain for about an hour (if not a little longer) as I wanted a thicker ricotta.  I then put the cheese into a bowl and put it into the fridge for a few hours and it thickened up even more and was the perfect consistency.  Also, note that the cheese was quite yellow when I put it in the fridge and ended up nice and white after chilling for a few hours.  Don't ask me why, I'm sure there's some scientific reason behind that, but I have no clue.  All I know is it looked much more appetizing and attractive after being refrigerated for a bit.

This homemade ricotta was soooo creamy and delicious.  Really delicious.  Eat by the spoonful delicious.  I mixed in some fresh herbs and served it over homemade mock sourdough bread (recipe coming soon) which had been brushed with olive oil and grilled.  Wow!

This makes a fantastic appetizer or serve with a salad and glass (or two) of wine and you have a lovely lunch or light supper.

My first attempt at making cheese was a resounding success and next on my list is cream cheese and cottage cheese.  Stay tuned and...

Enjoy!

I'm sharing this post with:

The Gallery of Favorites with The 21st Century Housewife

Herbed Ricotta Bruschettas (with Homemade Ricotta)
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2 cups ricotta, store-bought or homemade (recipe follows)

3 tablespoons minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 round sourdough bread

Good olive oil

1 whole garlic clove, cut in half

Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals or turn a gas grill to medium-high heat (I used my grill pan on the stove).

Combine the ricotta, scallions, dill, chives, 1 teaspoon salt (taste first to see how much is needed - I didn't need a whole teaspoon), and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside. Cut the bread in half and cut each half into 6 thick slices to make 12 slices total.

When the grill is hot, brush the bread with olive oil and grill on each side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the grill and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread with the herbed ricotta.

Homemade Ricotta

4 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons good white wine vinegar

Set a large sieve over a deep bowl. Dampen 2 layers of cheesecloth with water and line the sieve with the cheesecloth.

Pour the milk and cream into a stainless-steel or enameled pot. Stir in the salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Allow the mixture to stand for 1 minute until it curdles (I let mine sit for 10 minutes). It will separate into thick parts (the curds) and milky parts (the whey).

Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined sieve and allow it to drain into the bowl at room temperature for 20 to 25 minutes, occasionally discarding the liquid that collects in the bowl (I let mine sit for about an hour). The longer you let the mixture drain, the thicker the ricotta. (I tend to like mine on the thicker side, but some prefer it moister.) Transfer the ricotta to a bowl, discarding the cheesecloth and any remaining whey. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The ricotta will keep refrigerated for 4 to 5 days. (Note that your ricotta will thicken up and turn whiter in the fridge so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth).

Makes approximately 2 cups.

Source for both recipes:  Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?

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Ben & Jerry's French Vanilla Ice Cream

Yesterday I posted a homemade chocolate sauce to drizzle on your ice cream and today I'm posting a delicious homemade French vanilla ice cream to go with that chocolate sauce.  This recipe comes from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, which I bought right after I received my Cuisinart ice cream maker, about 18 months ago.  Now considering what a cookbook fanatic I am, I'm even surprised myself that this book is still the only ice cream cookbook I own (not counting the booklet that came with my Cuisinart).  The recipes are so out of this world delicious, and there are so many fun flavours that I feel like I need to work my way through this book before purchasing another.

For all the wonderful recipes in this book (Orange Cream Dream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cherry Garcia, Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl, etc.), last week I just felt like (boring) vanilla.  When I went through the book to see if they even had just plain vanilla, I came across this French vanilla recipe.  French vanilla is generally richer and creamier than plain vanilla because of the addition of egg yolks and it's also a deeper shade of yellow than traditional vanilla (because of said egg yolks). 

This recipe does contain raw eggs, as do all the recipes in this cookbook.  I personally don't have a problem with that, but if raw eggs are a concern for you, then you can use pasteurized eggs, and some people even use Egg Beaters in place of the raw eggs.

I've made about 4 or 5 of the recipes from this book so far and all have been outstanding, including this French vanilla.  It's so fantastically rich and creamy that I just want to keep eating it and eating it and eating it.  This is why ice cream is a rare treat in our house......

On a side note, if you're considering purchasing an ice cream maker, I definitely recommend it.  I literally haven't bought ice cream from the store once since receiving my ice cream maker back in 2010.  There is nothing like homemade ice cream and there's something so incredibly satisfying from making it yourself.

Enjoy!

Ben & Jerry's French Vanilla Ice Cream
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2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk the eggs in a bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, and continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more.  Pour in the cream, milk and vanilla and whisk to blend.  (I used my hand-held mixer so the sugar would be completely mixed in).

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes 1 quart.

Source:  Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Cookbook

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Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Sauce

Happy Valentine's Day! 

This isn't necessarily a Valentine's Day recipe, I know, but to be honest, I'm not really into Valentine's Day so didn't have any plans to make anything Valentine-ish.  I happened to make Ben & Jerry's French vanilla ice cream last week (post coming tomorrow) and made this wonderful chocolate sauce to go with it, so decided to throw a few hearts on there and wait until today to post it.  Lame, I know, but I really prefer Easter, Halloween, and Christmas baking over Valentine's.  Hey, at least it's chocolate!

Even though I'm not really into Valentine's Day, I decided to use the holiday as an excuse to buy myself a present last week.  I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit I bought yet another cookbook.  That's two new cookbooks in two weeks.  What can I say, I love cookbooks.  My new book is Chef Michael Smith's, The Best of Chef at Home (Canadians will recognize him from Food Network Canada).  What a gorgeous book.  It's filled with beautiful photographs and so many recipes I can't wait to try.  I decided to start with this chocolate sauce first as I had just made the ice cream, and what could be better for homemade ice cream than a homemade topping?

This sauce is oh so good.  It's dark, fudgy, and bittersweet.  It takes only minutes to prepare, and you have a sauce for your ice cream that's far better than anything you can buy in the store.  This is more along the lines of a hot fudge sauce rather than say Hershey's chocolate syrup, which pours easily.  This will firm up on ice cream and will thicken right up in the refrigerator so to use it, simply spoon some into a microwave-safe bowl and just heat it up for a few seconds.

Not only does this taste good on ice cream, but it's pretty darn tasty eaten with a spoon right out of the jar too.....

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Sauce
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1 cup heavy cream (35%)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (you can substitute with semisweet if you want)*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*Do not use chocolate chips, as they have a lower cocoa butter content than regular chocolate to help them keep their shape in baking. This affects their ability to melt.

NOTE:  I halved the above recipe to make 1 cup of sauce.

Pour the cream and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla, pour into a jar and refrigerate.

For a sophisticated grown-up taste, you may substitute any of your favourite liqueurs: rum, brandy or cognac for the vanilla.

NOTE:  Sauce will firm up in the fridge and can be easily and quickly reheated in the microwave for a few seconds.

Makes 2 cups.

Source:  Chef Michael Smith's The Best of Chef at Home: Essential Recipes for Today's Kitchen

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Mark Bittman's "The Ultimate" Banana Bread

I'm pretty sure just about everyone has a favourite banana bread recipe.  My "used to be" favourite was one by Mrs. Fields of Mrs. Fields Cookies fame.  Her banana bread is studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips, which I remember thinking at the time (years and years ago) was odd, but once I tried it, there was no going back to my non-chocolate chip banana bread days.  If you've never tried chocolate chips in banana bread, you really need to.  Trust me.

Then last week, after my success with his Naan Bread, I decided to try Mark Bittman's recipe which he claims is the ultimate banana bread.  Is it the ultimate?  Well, that's impossible to say, but I can say it's very very good and I personally loved it.  I'm not a lover of nuts in my baked goods so I substituted the nuts with semi-sweet chocolate chips (what else?), and what I especially loved about this recipe was the addition of 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut.  Obviously, if you're not a coconut lover, you'll be leaving that ingredient out because yes you can taste it, although it's by no means overpowering. While Joe does like the flavour of coconut, he's not a fan of shredded coconut, and wasn't overly thrilled with the coconut in this bread.  I think he would have been quite happy without it, but I, however, am a huge coconut fan and really loved the addition of the shredded coconut. 

This bread was moist, flavourful and as Mark suggested, it's really good the next day toasted and then spread with peanut butter.  I'm just sayin'......

Whether or not it will be your ultimate banana bread is impossible for me to say.  I can say I enjoyed it very much, and it's become my new favourite banana bread.  I just need for Joe to start liking coconut a bit more so I don't have to eat the darn thing all by myself!

Enjoy!

Mark Bittman's "The Ultimate" Banana Bread
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8 tablespoons butter, plus some for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts*
1/2 grated dried unsweetened coconut (don't use sweetened)

*I omitted the nuts and added 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips instead

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

Mix together the dry ingredients. With a hand mixer, a whisk, or in the food processor, cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas.  Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, just enough to combine (it's okay if there are lumps).  Gently stir in the vanilla, nuts, and coconut.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread will come out fairly clean, but because of the bananas this read will remain moister than most.  Do not overcook.  Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Makes 1 loaf.

Source:  Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything

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Homemade Naan

As promised on yesterday's post for Jamie Oliver's Pork Vindaloo, I'm sharing a recipe for a wonderful homemade naan.

Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread from north India, typically served hot or warm and brushed with butter (or ghee).  It's the perfect accompaniment to Indian food and we love using the naan to scoop up our curry. 

As much as we love naan, I never really thought it would be something I'd be able to make at home, mainly because I don't have a tandoor oven, and for some reason I thought it would be complicated.  I did find a few recipes that looked promising, however, and set out to make homemade naan.  The first attempt was a "throw all the dough in the garbage, why did I even bother trying this" attempt.  I found a recipe on Allrecipes and it was a disaster.  Now I do realize the disaster could have been (and most likely) was me.  Somehow, somewhere I probably screwed up.  Then I tried a different recipe I found in one of my cookbooks.  It was...............okay.  I guess.  I'm trying to remember if we even ate it and I'm pretty sure we ended up eating the "back-up naan" I bought from the store instead.  So I'm thinking it wasn't even okay.  At least that batch actually got baked before being thrown into the garbage.

Third attempt - YES!  I love you Mark Bittman!  I recently purchased Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything cookbook.  I've seen this cookbook everywhere and finally decided I had to have it.  Thank goodness, because I finally got my naan recipe.  When I saw this recipe, I decided ONCE MORE to try and make naan and it was a resounding success.  Okay, I'm not great at shaping the naan into a teardrop shape (as you can see), but I'll get there eventually, I'm sure.  The taste?  Phenomenal.  This exceeded all our expectations.  Let's face it, no one in the family had very high hopes and yes, I did buy some back-up naan.  Just in case.  Guess what?  It only got eaten (grudgingly) when my homemade naan was gone.

This recipe is ridiculously easy and is so much better than the store-bought stuff.  In fact, I'm making it again tomorrow night for supper to have with Jamie's Chicken Tikka Masala (which I'm making for the second time in a month and which I'll be posting soon).  The naan is super-soft, it's chewy, it's heavenly eaten with a wonderful, homemade curry. 

I baked my naan on my hot pizza stone in a 500F oven.  You can use a baking sheet, but if you have a pizza stone, I suggest using it.  Not quite the same as a tandoor oven, but it'll have to do.

It only cooks for a few minutes each side so keep an eye on it.

I'm thrilled to have such an easy, delicious recipe for something that I typically would just purchase from the grocery store.  No more!

Enjoy!

I'm linking this post to:

Cookbook Sundays at Couscous and Consciousness

Naan
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2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoon plain yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for rolling out the dough
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
Neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn for the bowl (I used canola)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and still warm

Stir together the yeast, milk, yogurt, and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the flour, egg, and salt in a food processor.  Turn the machine on and add the yeast mixture through the feed tube (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer instead of a food processor as my food processor is quite small).

Process for about 30 seconds, adding 1 1/2 cups of water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch.  If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds.  In the unlikely event that the mixture is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round ball.  Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours.  (You can cut this rising time short if you are in a hurry, or you can let the dough rise in the refrigerator for up to 6 or 8 hours).

Put a baking sheet (or preferably, a stone) on a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven; heat the oven to 500F.  Punch the dough down and, using as much flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the board or your hands, roll it into a snake, then tear the snake into 12 equal-size balls.  Let them rest for 10 minutes covered with plastic wrap or a damp towel.

Roll out one of the balls into an oval roughly 6 to 8 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide.  Open your oven door, grab the dough, one hand on each end of the oval, and give it a little tug with one hand to shape it into a teardrop, then toss it onto the baking sheet or stone.  Close the oven door and flip the naan after 3 minutes.  The naan is ready when it's puffed, mottled, and browned around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes in total.  You can cook as many naan as will comfortably fit at once.

Wrap the freshly baked naan in a kitchen towel to keep them warm and pliable.  Serve as soon as possible, brushed on one side with melted butter. 

Makes 12 naan.

Source:  Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

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