From The Good Life

Lemon Cream Ice Cream

Last week I shared with you the first recipes I tried one of my newest cookbooks, Mozza. In addition to the amazing Mozza cookbook, I received Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.

I love homemade ice cream and am always in search of the best recipes. Jeni's book is featured in almost all of the lists for 2011's best cookbooks. I've been making homemade ice cream for years. Jeni's recipes are different than any I've made before. She uses cornstarch for thickening, cream cheese and no eggs.

I had one Meyer Lemon remaining from our trip to California, so I chose Lemon Ice Cream as the first recipe to try. I've read some great reviews of Jeni's ice cream. This ice cream did not disappoint, it was creamy, tart and so smooth! I also felt it kept better in the freezer than any recipe I'd made before. You know how some ice creams freeze way too hard? Not this one, it stays a nice frozen consistency even after a week or so. I can't wait to try another one of Jeni's recipes.



Jeni's Splendid Lemon Cream Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Lemon Syrup:

2 to 3 lemons

2 tablespoons sugar

Ice Cream Base:

2 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 1/2 ounce (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

2/3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Zest of 2 lemons (reserved from above)

1. Prep for the lemon syrup: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 2 of the lemons in large strips; reserve. Halve the lemons and squeeze enough juice to make 1/2 cup. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until chilled. This won't be a very thick syrup.

2. Prep for the ice cream base: Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

3. Cook: Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and lemon zest in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes -- watch it closely and stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't boil over. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

4. Chill: Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

5. Freeze: Remove the lemon zest. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and turn on the machine. Pour the lemon syrup through the opening in the top of the machine, and continue to spin the ice cream until thick and creamy.

6. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, about 4 hours.

I am linking this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday , Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Friday.

Ribs, Smashed Potatoes and Carrots - Mozza Cookbook

It's a good sign to be able to admit when you have a problem, right? I am a cookbook addict! There I said it! I need to count but I know I have over 100! Out of all of the wonderful cookbooks published last year, I was able to narrow it down to just two for my Christmas wish list. Okay, that's progress isn't it?

A couple of years ago we celebrated my son's 30th birthday at Mozza. This was one of my all time favorite meals and restaurants! For the past two years there's been talk of a Mozza cookbook. When I saw it had finally been released, I immediately put the book on my Christmas list! The second cookbook I received was Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream's at Home. I will be blogging about the first recipe I tried soon!



If my first recipes are any indication, this cookbook rocks! Being a Kansas City girl, ribs to me mean BBQ ribs. When I saw the recipe for Pork Ribs with Fennel and Apple Cider Vinegar, I was intrigued. The recipe didn't disappoint, these ribs were fall off the bone tender and delicious.
Rounding things out for an all Mozza dinner, I tried the Smashed Potatoes with Rosemary and the Roasted Carrots. Roasting has taken on a new meaning in my kitchen. My new oven has a convection roast setting. The end result is perfectly roasted veggies in less time! This is a meal I will be adding to list of recipes to prepare when we are having dinner guests. Delicious and ones that do not require a lot of hands on prep!

If you're interested in these recipes, send me an email! I am linking this to Foodie Friday.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Funny my only holiday recipe left to post about is a recipe from this week's most talked about chef, Paula Deen. While a lot of Paula's recipes are way too rich for me, I've always enjoyed and respected her as a chef. This week she revealed she has diabetes which apparently she has had for three years. We also found out she recently signed an endorsement deal with a diabetes drug company. Coincidence or not?

Christmas week I wanted to make something for my neighbors. Pumpkin is perfect for the holidays but I wanted to make something different. I searched and found Paula's recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread. The cream cheese gives the bread a more subtle pumpkin flavor. I chose to omit the nuts and raisins. It's a great spin on traditional pumpkin bread.




Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and next 5 ingredients, stirring to combine. Gradually add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture, mixing until blended. Stir in pumpkin, pecans, and raisins.
Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday and Let's Do Brunch!

Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes - MSC

I am not sure how many cupcake recipes I've made from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book but I do know I haven't made very many that I thought were real winners. January's recipe, Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes is the exception. These cupcakes are delicious and I will make again, soon!

The recipe called for bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. I love dark chocolate, so I decided to use that instead. After you make the batter, you scoop one tablespoon into the cupcake pan, put a peppermint patty on top and scoop on more batter. I didn't have peppermint patties but I did have Andes peppermint chips. They worked out as a great substitution. The mint pairs nicely with the chocolate and these are a dense chocolately "cupcake". These are more like a brownie in a cupcake wrapper. Regardless of what you decide to call to call them, give this this recipe a try! It's a keeper!



Thanks to Rebecca of The Baking Sisters for choosing a winner! You can find the recipe on Martha's website and links to all of the MSC bakers here!

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday!

Asiago Breakfast Bake

It's always fun when you run across a blogger who lives in the same town you do. Early in 2011, I ran across the blog You Go Girl. While checking out Susan's recipes, I realized she lives in Omaha, too. Of course, I commented. Susan sent me an email and asked if by chance I was related to Mike. As it turns out her daughters attended the same high school as Mike and she's good friends with the Mom of one the boys from Mike's soccer team. I continue to follow her blog and often bookmark her recipes.

This one particularly caught my eye. I am always looking for make ahead breakfast recipes, especially those that are good for company. I decided to make this for Tim and I for New Year's Day. We stopped at Panera to pick up Asiago Bagels and unfortunately they were out. The asiago bagel bins at Hy Vee were also empty. While debating whether to use plain bagels or make the recipe another time, I spotted Asiago dinner rolls. I decided to give them a try, they worked fine. This is a delicious make ahead breakfast dish. The next time you have company or want to make something special for Sunday morning breakfast, give this one a try!




Asiago Bagel Breakfast Bake

8 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp fresh chopped tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried
1/4 tsp paprika
freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 oz Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated
6 oz. Asiago cheese, grated
4 Asiago Cheese bagels

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, tarragon, paprika and season with pepper. Grate and mix the cheeses in another bowl. Cut the bagels in bite-size pieces. Grease a 2 qt casserole or souffle dish. Starting with the bagel pieces, alternate layering the bagel pieces and grated cheese into the dish. Pour the egg mixture evenly over everything. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350 and bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour til eggs are set and top is golden brown.

I am linking this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday.

Drunken Smokies

When Tim and I began looking for a house in the neighborhood we moved into last October, one of the things I really liked about it was the real community it is. We have a very active homeowners association and lots of neighborhood activities. I was thrilled to find there is a monthly BUNCO group. I played BUNCO years ago with a great group of girlfriends in Kansas City, if you haven't played it's what we always called an excuse game. An excuse for a bunch of women to get together and talk!

I joined our BUNCO group the first month after we moved in. I was welcomed with open arms, everyone is so friendly. This just reconfirmed what I already knew, Tim and I made a great decision moving to Riverside Lakes. December BUNCO was a pot luck and a yankee gift exchange. I was lucky enough to draw number one! I got to choose from all of the gifts, or at least the ones that hadn't already been stolen twice. I chose a high heel cake server!

It so happens Gayla who brought the cake server for the gift exchange also made a delicious appetizer, Drunken Little Smokies! I made these for Tim and I for New Year's Eve. They're a fun change from the typical BBQ Smokies.



DRUNK BACON & BROWN SUGAR LIL SMOKIES
one pack Lil' Smokies
one can cola
one cup brown sugar
spiced rum
one pack of bacon
Toothpicks

1. Cut bacon into 2-1/2 to 3 inch strips.

2. Wrap Lil smokies in bacon; Place toothpick through center.

3. Place cup of brown sugar, Cola and rum in a saucepan over medium-low heat (until sugar has dissolved). Reduce to low heat and continue to cook until sauce thickens.

4. Preheat oven to 400°F.

5. Place Lil' Smokies on a baking sheet, brush with Sugar-Cola mixture and bake in oven until bacon is crisp.

6. Remove from oven and dip in Sugar-Cola sauce. Place in slow cooker to keep warm. ENJOY.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday.