Basil Ice Cream with Balsamic Strawberries

This is Springtime in a bowl.  Fresh, light, cool and delicious!  If I'm going to the trouble of making homemade ice cream it has to be something special that I can't just run to Wal-Mart and buy.  This is one you definitely will not find at Wal-Mart!

Ingredients:  milk, heavy whipping cream, sugar, eggs and fresh basil.

Scald half of the milk.

Remove from the heat and add the fresh basil.

Cover and steep for about 20 minutes until the basil is wilted.

Blend the mixture for about a minute until it is as smooth as it will possibly get.

Then strain the mixture into a bowl and discard the solids.

This is the basil concentrate.  It will be a pretty shade of light green and smell phenomenal!

Cook remaining milk, whipping cream and half the sugar until just bubbly, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar for a few minutes until light yellow and smooth.

Temper the egg yolk mixture by slowly mixing in about 1/4 of the hot cream mixture.  Then slowly mix all of the tempered egg mixture into the rest of the hot cream mixture.  Mix in the basil concentrate.

 Cook the batter over low heat to thicken, until it will coat the back of a wooden spoon.  You should be able to run your finger down the spoon and make a trail.

Give the mixture one more strain to remove any curdles.

And there's the batter!  Pretty...

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably over night.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, hull and quarter some strawberries, toss in balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with sugar.  Let this mixture set at room temperature until ready to serve.

Mmmmm.  Hello Spring!

Link to printable recipe:

Basil Ice Cream

Source:  Southern Living

Sweet Potato Tots

If you live near a Sonic and eat there frequently, like I do, then you know they have recently come out with sweet potato tots and they are TO DIE FOR.  When I found out they were only going to have them for a limited time I decided that wouldn't do for me; I needed to have access to these at all times, for the rest of my life.  So I adapted my favorite homemade tot recipe and they were incredible!



Ingredients:  sweet potatoes, flour, seasoned salt (I accidentally took a picture of kosher salt - but I used seasoned salt), pepper and canola oil for frying.

Peel and dice the sweet potatoes.

Cover the diced sweet potatoes with cold, salted water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 10 or 15 minutes until they are fork tender.

Drain.

Return to the hot pot and mash with a potato masher or fork.

Then add the seasoned salt and pepper to taste and 2-3 tablespoons of flour.

Scoop them into little balls.

And fry them in the canola oil until they are golden brown, crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  I must have been drunk when I was doing this because I forgot to get a picture of the finished product!  But you don't need a final picture to see that these are out of this world!!  I also made a little mixture of mayo and sriracha hot sauce for dipping.  Delish!

Link to the printable recipe:

*substitute sweet potatoes for regular potatoes

Tater Tots

Source:  Pioneer Woman

Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

Mmmmm.  Risotto.  Sun-dried tomatoes.  These are a few of my favorite things.

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe but I made it using a Barefoot Contessa cooking technique that makes any risotto recipe extremely easy and fail proof.  I ate it for lunch.  And an afternoon snack.  And breakfast the next day.  I'm addicted to risotto!

Ingredients:  butter, olive oil, onion (I used a leek just because I had one leftover from another recipe and wanted to use it up), garlic, Arborio rice, sun-dried tomatoes, dry white wine, chicken stock or broth, salt, pepper, parmesean cheese and heavy whipping cream.

Chop up the leek or onion and mince the garlic.

Add the oil to a pot and cook the leek and garlic for a few minutes until soft.

Then add in the rice and all but 1 cup of the stock.  Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice the butter, mince the tomatoes and shred the parmesean cheese.

When the rice comes out of the oven it should have absorbed all of the liquid and it will be tender when you bite into it.

Add in the remaining stock, wine, butter and cheese and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Then add in the sun-dried tomatoes and a splash of cream.

Mix it together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lunch is served!  If you have some fresh basil on hand you can add a little.  I didn't :(  But it was simple and delicious on it's own!

Link to the printable recipes:

Pioneer Woman Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

Barefoot Contessa Easy Risotto in the Oven

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

So...I'm ashamed to admit that I got a little carried away this weekend and made two desserts.  Oops ;)  It turns out they were both INCREDIBLE (check out this post for the other).  I can't decide which was my favorite.  They were both so dang AMAZING.  I love a good icebox cake and this one is now my favorite.  Chocolate chip cookies?  Espresso?  Kahlua?  Heavy cream?  Yes please!!

Ingredients:  heavy cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar, Kahlua, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, vanilla, and crisp chocolate chp cookies such as Chip's Ahoy (or Great Value if you shop at Wal-Mart ;) ).

Add the cream, mascarpone, sugar, Kahlua, cocoa, espresso powder and vanilla to the bowl of an electric mixer.

And whip it...whip it good!  Until soft peaks form.

Then layer the bottom of a springform pan with the cookies.  Break them up if you need to make them fit.  They don't need to be pretty - you won't see them once they are layered in between the cream.  You can use any chocolate chip cookies you want just as long as they are crisp.  They will soften from the cream and you don't want them to end up soggy.

Then spread over a smooth layer of the cream.  An offset spatula works great here if you have one.

Repeat, alternating cookies and cream.

Until you've used up all the cream.  I think I ended up with four layers but it will vary depending on the size of your cookies and your springform pan.  I should mention that the whole point of using a springform pan is so you can remove the cake and it will keep its shape.  But you can put this in any dish you prefer.  I store it in the pan, so in hindsight a pretty rectangular server would have been a better choice for me :P

Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.  When you take it out the next day the cookies will be soft and cake-like and it will hold it's shape.  You can also garnish it with shaved chocolate or sprinkle it with cocoa powder.  However, I completely forgot to do this because I was so eager to dig in!

O. M. G.  This was so, so good.  Cool, light and fluffy but deeply flavored with coffee and chocolate.  Perfect desert for warm weather!

Link to the printable recipe:

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Source:  Barefoot Contessa

Spicy, Creamy Baked Mac & Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is hands down my favorite comfort food.  I have several different recipes I like to make.  I even love the cheapo boxed kind.  This recipe is great because you can make it ahead of time and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake it.  And you don't have to make a pan sauce, which makes it ultra convenient!  It's very creamy and very well seasoned.

Ingredients:  elbow pasta, sharp cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, Monterrey pepper jack cheese, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg, sour cream, egg, heavy cream, half and half and onion.

Start by cubing all of the cheese except 1/2 of the cheddar, which needs to be shredded and reserved.

Mix the flour and spices in a large bowl.

Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese and pasta.  Use a fine cheese grater to grate the onion.  You won't notice it in the dish because it will be super fine but it really brings out the flavors in the other ingredients.

Whisk it all together.

Cook the pasta until it is slightly underdone and add it to a baking dish with the cubed cheese.

Then pour the cream sauce over.

And top with the reserved shredded cheddar cheese.  You can also top it with croutons, bread crumbs or sliced tomatoes.  But I like mine cheesy, creamy and simple :)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until melted and bubbly.

Hello lover!

Link to the printable recipe:

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese

Source:  Sunny Anderson