peanut butter chocolate ice cream

One of my favorite ice creams is peanut butter chocolate, a chocolate ice cream with peanut butter in it.  Baskin and Robbins carries one that is not bad.  Tillamook Dairy makes one that is quite good but you cannot find it where we live.  You can find it in Oregon.  After my success with the vanilla, I decided to give it a try.  I got The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz from the library and used his chocolate ice cream recipe as a base.  Then I used his ideas of peanut butter patties for the peanut butter bits.  I think this is the best peanut butter chocolate ice cream I have had and the chocolate is much better then Blue Bell!

I think the only issue was the number of bowls it used and how fast it disappeared!  Very happy bellies!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

Note:  Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz The Perfect Scoop

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa power

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (you can use bittersweet but I thought this was plenty rich enough), chopped or chips

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/16 teaspoon salt

5 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

One recipe peanut butter bits (tomorrow)

Warm 1 cup cream with the cocoa in a medium sauce pan.  Whisk throughly to blend the cocoa.  Bring to a boil and keep at a boil for 30 seconds (I counted), whisking constantly.  

Remove from heat and add the chocolate.  Stirring until smooth.  Add the remaining cup of cream.  Pour into a large bowl, scraping the as much out of the pan as possible.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Slowly, pour your warmed milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Pour back into the saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.  The mixture will thicken and remove from heat when it coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the custard (yolk) mixture through a strainer into the chocolate in the medium bowl.  There will be bits of cooked egg probably that you do not wish to be in your ice cream that you are straining out.

Mix together.  Stir in the vanilla. Pour into a large pyrex, cover, and stick in the freezer.  Stir with a wooden spoon every couple hours until frozen.  After about four hours, when the ice cream is about the consistency of a milk shake, mix in the peanut butter patties.  I waited another two hours and gave it one more good stir an left it alone.

This makes for happy tummies!  I did not give the peanut butter bit recipe today because we were eating it like candy.  Not just for ice cream.  I will post it tomorrow.

feeling fuzzy

I got home from work yesterday with a migraine.  My head hurt so bad that I feel asleep early and have felt fuzzy all day today.  It is why I did not write last night.  If I had written, you would have wondered what I meant!

I did get some weaving done.  It was frustrating because the upper selvage edge broke and my warp came loose.  I almost took my weaving down and made a placemat of it but I decided to keep going.  I fixed the warp so it is functional but not right.  I got another 1/2 inch woven today after working in the garden.  I will finish it.  I just need to make many mistakes on this weaving so the next one will be better.

I did get more scrubby cloths crocheted while we were watching Pie in the Sky.  I am using a heavy cotton string.  They are very stiff and hopefully will work well doing dishes.  Maybe they will hold up better then the ones I have already made.

If I feel better tomorrow, I will type out another ice cream recipe.  My head is still hurting.

because we got spoiled on vacation

While on vacation, we stumbled upon an ice cream shop in the Pearl District of Portland.  Cool Moon Ice Cream.  The ice cream is so good that it left us speechless and it raised the bar for what we are willing to eat.  This happens in our life.  For example, I do not order anything off a menu that I make at home because it will not be as good as what I make at home.  Every.  Single.  Time.  It can be frustrating when you wish to go out or when you are out, nothing is appealing on a menu.  

When we got back home, I decided I needed to start making vanilla ice cream again.  I am sometimes sensitive to eggs but I find it is the commercially raised chicken eggs I have problems with.  If I pick them up from Mr. Hatterman, the egg man at the farmer's market, I can eat them.  

I did some research on line, knowing I liked David Lebovitz The Perfect Scoop.  I actually went to his web site and there was a vanilla ice cream recipe.  I tweaked it just a touch and I will have to say the ice cream I made was very close to Cool Moon's.  The recipe on his website and in his book (finally got it from the library) are just a bit different but both will work.  This is something that will need to be a staple around here.  I will also have to experiment with different flavors.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Adapted from David Lebovitz's website.

1 cup whole milk

a pinch of salt (about an 1/8 of a teaspoon or less)

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla paste

2 cups heavy whipping cream

5 egg yolks

Over low heat, heat the milk, salt, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved.  

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

 Strain the custard into the heavy cream.  Pour into a large coverable pyrex and put in the freezer.  Stir with a wooden spoon every couple hours until frozen.

Welcome to yumminess.  It is good plain, in a malt, and with chocolate sauce over the top.

My Beloved liked the pattern he made when he scooped the ice cream!

red beans and rice

The Wednesday we left for Oregon, there was an article in the Food section in the New York Times about cooking beans.  It was just a good homey article about the soaking, bubbling, and eating.  I usually use a slow cooker but I did not have a slow cooker with me while we were camping.  So I boiled beans.  I  made red beans and rice.  On a Monday.   Way too New Orleans there but there are times I miss that town.

Red Beans and Rice

Note:  I would start with the smaller amounts off all the spices.  I have add beans to dishes to calm them down and it is much easier to start out slower.  If you ever wish to hear that story, just let me know.....

2 cups small dried red beans

water

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 to 1 onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 bell pepper (colors are cool), seeded and chopped

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ancho chile ground (optional)

1/4 teaspoon chipolte chile ground (optional)

1/4 teaspoon paprika (optional)

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1 to 2 teaspoons salt

4 sausages, I prefer Italian

cooked rice.

The day before you wish to eat, put your beans and rinse.  Get all the dirt, stones, and debris off.  Cover by a couple of inches with clean water.  Let soak over night.

The next morning, pour the water off the beans.  Pour more water over the beans and cover by an inch or two.  Turn the heat on under them and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to low and simmer.

In another pan, add olive oil and heat.  Add the onions.  Let the start to get brown.  Add the chopped peppers and let brown.  Add to the beans.  Add all the spices but the salt to the beans.  Cover and let cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let the beans sit.

About a half hour before you wish to eat (or when you start the rice), put the beans over a medium heat and add the salt.  Let simmer gently.  

Heat a skillet over medium high heat, start browning the sausage.  I find it helps to cover the sausage while cooking.  It also saves cleanup due to splatters.

To serve, put some rice on a plate or bowl.  Put the sausage next to it.

This is just simple good food.  A bit slow because it just bubbles away but nothing fancy.  I tell my Beloved it is easy and he laughs and says "for you!"

just for me

Every time I turn around, I cannot seem to find a bag for my shopping.  Sometimes I even need more then one!  With all the bag making going on, they have been earmarked for other tasks.  I decided I was going to play with a new design and it would be for me.

I pieced many square together.  I hand quilted the pocket.  I have a new bag!

One side is very sedate.  For those times that I need to be business like.

The other side is bright and busy.  I used a dragonfly fabric on this side of the handle.  I really like it.  It is like the baby quilts I make.  I never quite know how they are going to look but always have interesting patterns and combinations.  

My Beloved and I decided that yesterday's peach pie needs to metamorphosis into a peach crisp.  Do not be surprised if you see that soon!