Lemon Curd Ice Cream

I think I am in love with my ice cream maker…

I know we are not suppose to really admit things like that but I think it might be true. Check this out… It’s always there when I need it, doesn’t talk back, just listens without trying to fix everything, doesn’t leave dirty clothes all over the house, and doesn’t steal the covers at night!  But the very best thing is that I can make the most incredible tasting things out of items in my fridge that a few months ago would have gone to waste!!!  How can you not be in love???

So this ice cream experiment was Lemon Curd Ice Cream. It wasn’t the first time that I had made lemon curd ice cream.  Last month for the Daring Baker’s Challenge we were baking a Bakewell Tart and I really messed up a batch of lemon curd that I was going to use in it.  Instead of throwing it out I decided that because of all of the egg and everything in it that it should make a pretty good ice cream.  I was right.  So on my second batch of lemon curd I realized that I was going to have quite a bit left over.  I thought I might make pop tarts again, or just use it on toast.  Time got away from me and I didn’t have any pie crust and no desire to make it and all the toast I have had around has been cinnamon raisin.  Not the best with lemon curd huh?

So ice cream it was…

Lemon Curd Ice Cream

1 1/4 cup lemon curd
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk (I just used 1% as that’s what I had)

Stir all of this together in a bowl and taste it for sweetness.  I didn’t add any sugar to it at all but that could just be personal preference.  Pour into ice cream maker following your manufacturers directions.

Also thanks to the folks at Recipe4Living for sending me out a really cool ice cream scoop that I won from UsefulThings.com !!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Lemon Curd and Pop Tarts

I love lemon.  Anything made with lemon will soon turn into my favorite thing.  I love lemon cakes, tarts, muffins, pies and now even Pop Tarts!!!  For our monthly Pot Luck I made another Limón cello Cheesecake but this time I made a delicious Lemon Curd to go on top.  There was a ton of lemon curd left over but I just knew I would come up with a good use for it.

Then over the weekend we were in Costco and the girl’s saw some Pop Tarts and asked if they could have them.  Once I finished laughing and told them no I realized that they had given me a great idea!!!  I would use some leftover Lemon Curd to make them Homemade Pop Tarts. 

Fresh Lemon Curd (Meeta at What’s For Lunch, Honey? with a lot more info on making lemon curd!)

Ingredients
Printable version of recipe here.(link directly to Meeta’s site)

4 organic lemon, zest and juice
110g unsalted butter, cut into pieces (1/2 cup)
4 eggs, beaten
450g fine granulated sugar (2 1/4 cups)

Method

1. Set a fine strainer over a medium bowl, then set aside.
2. In a medium sized saucepan whisk together the grated lemon zest and juice, sugar and eggs until incorporated and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Place the saucepan over medium heat and gently cook the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon, until steaming. Make sure the curd does not boil. Stir frequently and continue to cook until the curd has thickened and the curd coats the back of the wooden spoon - approx 3-7 minutes.
4. Take the curd off the heat and then add the butter, stirring to incorporate it to the curd. Pour the curd mixture through the prepared strainer to make sure there are no lumps in the lemon curd.
5. Pour into warm sterile jars, cover and seal. Allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate.

This lemon curd was simple and delicious and I will definitely be making it again.  It was perfect on top of the cheesecake as well as on bread and toast!!!

Homemade Lemon Curd Pop Tarts (adapted from Bake Me More and several other blogs that she has mentioned!)

Ingredients:

• Pie crust, refrigerated or your favorite homemade pie crust
• lemon curd (or any jam or jelly you like)
• Glaze or Egg Wash
• Sparkling Sugar 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (Laurel went by the temp setting on the box, the original recipe calls for 450.  I did what she did)

Unroll one of the pie crusts and square the edges. Cut into rectangles. Place 1 tsp of jam in the center of a rectangle and top with another piece of crust. Crimp all four edges. Repeat until all of the pie crust is used. I also took the rounded edges that I cut off and rolled them together to form more pop-tarts.

Bake the pop-tarts for about 7 - 8 minutes or until slightly brown. Once cool, pour glaze over and decorate with sugar. If you don’t want to add extra sugar with the glaze, you can use an egg wash on the tops  with some white sugar.

To Make the Glaze:

• 1 cup powder sugar
• milk to thin

Place powdered sugar in bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistency of really thick syrup.  Drizzle over the cooled Pop Tarts.

These were so incredibly good.  I have no idea how they stack up against real Pop Tarts because I haven’t tasted them but these will be made again and again. 

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Easy and Fast Apple Crisp!

A quick and delicious weeknight dessert!

My kids like dessert and snacks. Okay, they LOVE dessert and snacks and you know what? They get it a lot. I buy a very minimal amount of processed foods. I make our bread, all of our food, and most of their snacks.

There really are several reasons that I do this. The first being for our health. When I make them the food they are eating I know exactly what is going into their little bodies! I know they aren't getting High Fructose Corn Syrup, Red Dye #40, any of the other dyes and no artificial sugars! Are they always getting "healthy" desserts and snacks. Hell no! They have cookies, cakes, quick breads, turnovers, and whatever else I feel like making them during the day! These are some lucky kids huh?

The other night I was going out for dinner with a friend of mine and I made sure that the family had leftover pizza for dinner but I also quickly threw together a really quick apple crisp with some poorly neglected apples. I was inspired to do this after reading Kelly's post here about a very elegant Maple Oat Apple Crisp that she had made. This one needed to be quick though. So this is what I threw together...

Easy and Fast Apple Crisp (I have no idea where this is from I have used it FOREVER)

5 cups peeled, sliced apples, pears or peaches
2 - 4 Tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup regular Quaker Oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

• Pre heat oven to 375°
• Place fruit in a 8 X 1 1/2 " round baking dish (or any other small dish that you choose), stir in the 2 - Tbsp brown sugar.
• For the topping, in a mixing bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Cut in butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. I usually use my fingers to do this. It seems to mix it faster.
• Sprinkle topping over the fruit.
• Bake in a 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is a nice golden color.
• This can be served warm with ice cream.

This recipe is incredibly versatile but the basic one I follow. Here are some changes I make

• Throw in some dried fruit
  
• Use a different shaped pan or dish
• Add some neglected pears or berries
• Make it smaller or larger
• Add more crumb topping
• Add different spices (cardamom, cloves etc.)

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Chili Nachos!

Chili Nachos with cheddar, onions and fresh jalapeños!

It was lunch time and I was HUNGRY!!! I looked in the fridge and there were a ton of possibilites. Leftover chili, tuna salad, veggies, salad...I didn't want any of it though. Then my eyes lit up and I knew what I had to have!!!

Venison Chili Nachos:

I used the recipe that I posted a couple of week ago for Confessional Chili (posted below). This time though I followed the recipe completely except for the fact that I used ground venison not beef. This was only because it's what I had on hand right then. Venison is a very lean meat with a stronger flavor than beef. This is a great recipe to use it in as the spices and herbs used help to cover up the different taste!

I took out a handful or more of tortilla chips, topped them with cheese, preheated chili, onions and fresh jalapeños. I broiled this just until the cheese was melted. Made for a great lunch!!!

Confessional Chili (New York Cookbook by Molly O'Neill)

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large onions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 to 4 small Indian green chilies, chopped, or 4 jalapeno chilies, chopped (including the seeds), or 3 tablespoons extra-hot ground dried chilis
3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 pounds lean chopped sirloin (used ground venison)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
2 cans (28 ounces each) imported Italian whole plum tomatoes (I used Muir Grove chopped tomatoes and I have to say they were incredibly delicious!)
4 bay leaves
2 cans (16 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch cilantro or Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, rinsed and chopped.

Directions:

1. In a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, saute the onions, garlic, and chili's in the oil until the onions are translucent, 5 minutes.

2. Crumble the chopped sirloin over the top of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper; stir in the coriander, cumin, thyme, and oregano. Cover and cook until the meat is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

3. Pour the tomatoes into a small bowl and coarsely crush with your hands. Pour the tomatoes and juice on top of the chili mixture. Stir in the bay leaves. Cover or leave uncovered, depending on the consistency you prefer (a covered pot with yield a thicker chili), and simmer until the flavors are well married, about 30 minutes.

4. Stir in the pinto beans and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve at once.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Happy Friday!

Some weeks definitely feel longer than others! This was one of them. Not sure why and it's not even in a bad way that it's felt long. Anyway, I made us some cookies!

Remember the Pumpkin Butter that I made? Turns out a little goes a long way. Even after everyone snacking on it and all there was still about a cup leftover and it looked like everyone had had their fill.

I Googled "recipes using pumpkin butter". I was amazed by all the options I had. I settled on cookies. Fast, easy and a guaranteed hit.

Pumpkin Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe adapted from Muirhead Recipes)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup pumpkin butter (homemade or store bought)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups oats, uncooked
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and Pumpkin Butter. Beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in flour mixture, oats, and raisins. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and flatten dough if desired. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool several minutes on cookie sheet and move to wire rack. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

This was an excellent way to use up the leftover pumpkin butter and I think these are going with me to our 2nd monthly Friday Potluck Event...now to work on the pumpkin puree!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

So what did I do with the leftover cream cheese mixture?

Cream Cheese and Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Turnovers!

Sunday afternoon was pretty lazy around here. We put in the garden and then I sat outside and read while the girls and the dogs swam. One of those really nice days where all seems right in the world.

But then I got hungry, and I remembered the leftover cream cheese and chocolate chip mixture from the cupcakes that I made for the Baking for Breast Cancer Awareness Event. I had gotten some pretty good suggestions as to what to make but it was a lazy Sunday...

I popped some frozen puff pastry out of the freezer and let it thaw and I cut the sheet in quarters and filled them with the mixture and sealed them up nice and tight. I gave them a little egg wash and sugared the top, popped them in the oven and ate them up. Nah, not really I shared with everyone. But these were so good that I did momentarily think about keeping them all to myself!


So remember, don't throw out your leftovers. They can be made into some pretty incredible things!!!

I am sending this over to Ivy at Kopiaste... for her Sweet Pies Event!


As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

My Mexican Style Chicken Soup!

My Mexican Style Chicken Soup with Rice and Pico de Gallo!

I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner and I found 2 chicken carcasses frozen and just waiting to be made into soup. It's still pretty hot here and I never want a heavy soup so I decided to make my Mexican Style Chicken Soup. It is just a light chicken broth soup with some chicken added to it.

I put the frozen chicken bones in a pot and added some onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro and let it simmer away all day. Just before dinner I strained the bones from the soup added the chopped up chicken and cooked some rice. I had made pico de gallo earlier so a nice simple dinner was born!

This is so incredibly simple and can be simmered all day in your Crockpot if needed. The trick to this is to freeze your bones from the roast chicken that you had. When you are ready for a nice pot of chicken soup you have the bones all ready to go!

Update on T's Dad: He had his eye surgery on Monday. They are still waiting for the results of the culture taken. The only thing is nothing is growing yet so they are starting to wonder if it was a blood clot???? He has been coughing up some blood to top everything else off and they had to biopsy his heart valves for the staph and fungus. Still nothing conclusive except for MRSA! We are well into his second week in the hospital...I think we should have more answers by now!

As Always...

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Marmalade Curry Chicken???

I have been told to never make this again...it doesn't look that bad does it?

Does it really sound that bad? You should have seen T's face when I told him what we were having for dinner. Funny thing is I don't really like curry or Indian food (see this post) but I thought that it sounded pretty good (and would be using up several things in my fridge that I needed out...see the plan here?), and it would be using my Crockpot which I sort of have a love/hate relationship going with!

I was at the girl's school this morning for the first time as a volunteer so that was kind of fun and I had a brief meeting with the "gifted" coordinator to find out how far along we had gotten with my oldest daughter's paperwork. So I needed something quick and that didn't require too much attention from me. This is where the Crockpot comes in to play. I guess the reason that I don't like it all that much is that most of the things that I come across to cook in it have Cream of Mushroom Soup in it????!!! Are the 2 things made by the same company? Is Rival somehow linked to Campbell's? Whatever.

Anyway I came across this when I was looking for something to do with the marmalade and chicken. This recipe, although it is for in your Crockpot, has no cream soup of anything in it so I decided to give it a whirl!

Before the recipe though I want you to check out Stephanie's Blog. Stephanie likes me. I mean really likes me and even blogged about it. Pretty cool huh?

Marmalade Curry Chicken (adapted from Allrecipes.)

Ingredients:

• 8 boneless, skinless, chicken cutlets
• 1 Cup flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 (12 ounce) jar orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  
  

Directions:

1. Mix the flour with the next 5 ingredients. Dredge the chicken through the flour and place the chicken in the slow cooker. Whisk together the marmalade, chicken stock, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl. Pour over chicken breasts.
2. Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 5 to 7 hours. Make sure to flip over the chicken breasts once during cooking.

This meal didn't turn out so well and although it was really simple for me to throw in and not worry at all about for the day, T. has made me promise to not ever make it again! I didn't think it was all that bad but then again I got hit with a monster of a cold this afternoon and can no longer smell or taste anything. I guess that's a good thing from what the kids and T. said!!!

What it used up in from my fridge and freezer:

frozen chicken cutlets
jar of reduced sugar marmalade that tasted like crap
some left over chicken stock from another recipe last week

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

What to do with all the bits and pieces?

I was having a bit of a dilemma. My fridge was full. My freezer was full. I knew I needed to start taking some drastic measures! Actually eating what I had and not buying more or wasting any leftovers. Just from the challenges that I did last week I had crumb topping, chocolate cream puff filling, and chocolate sauce. I actually emailed my friend Jenn and she suggested a cake or pudding but that seemed like too much work and I may have had to get off of the couch earlier. But regardless this stuff was not going to go to waste.

Strawberries with an Oatmeal Crumb Topping

I threw the chocolate cream filling in the freezer and poured some cut up strawberries into a pie plate and topped them with the crumb topping and baked them in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes or until they were hot and bubbly. Yanked them out of the oven. Used the chocolate cream filling as ice cream and served it all together topped with chocolate sauce.

Strawberries with oatmeal crumb topping, neopolitan ice cream and the chocolate sauce from the Daring Baker's éclairs!

OMG...Yummmmm! I used some regular ice cream for the girls and they just loved it as well! And now I found a use for all of that stuff...

What to do about the freezer?

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

It was Sunday Soup Day again!

Nice, fresh, earthy tasting soup using quinoa

So I guess you can tell that we had soup again. Trust me though not 2 pots of soup I ever make turn out the same. I use the soup to help clean out all the produce from last week and make room for the new stuff on Wednesday! This week I had no bones once again so I used some organic, free range chicken stock that I bought at Costco and added to it some onion tops that I had leftover and saved, a turnip, some carrots (yellow and orange), garlic and an inion. I put the soup on about 10 and then we headed out for the day. On our way home I thought we would stop at Ada's (like a Whole Foods) and pick up some chicken for the soup. So we bought some chicken and some other stuff but I was really excited because in the bulk room they had organic quinoa. I bought a couple of cups of it.

When we walked in the soup was smelling good. We decided not to use the chicken but to just add about 3/4 cup of quinoa to the soup. I also had some red chard and romanesco to get rid of so it all went in the pot to cook right down. T. had made some "Creamed Leeks with Smoked Gouda" (I will post this recipe tomorrow) yesterday that he wanted to eat with the soup and some bread we had bought. so we decided that that was enough.


This soup turned out really good. I had never had quinoa before but have heard so many excellent things about and now that I have tasted it I will try and use it more!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Farmer's Market Leftovers...and what I made!

Dinner! Grilled radicchio, sauted shitake mushrooms, sauteed dandelion greens and swiss chard

It seems like so long ago that I went to the Farmer's Market and came back with bags (earth friendly reusable - of course) of fresh veggies and boat shrimp. But it has really been less than a week. I went through the refrigerator yesterday and got out all of the food that remaining from last Wednesday's trip and knew that was about to be dinner!

Sauteed dandelion and swiss chard

Organic Shitake Mushrooms

We had some dandelion greens and swiss chard that I sauteed with olive oil and garlic, shitake mushrooms that I sauteed in butter, tomato and mozzarella (fresh from Paesano's), and a head of radicchio which T. grilled and we ate with balsamic vinegar. Mozzarella and Tomato Salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fancy olives

The radicchio was my absolute favorite. I love the flavor anyway but once it was grilled it seemed not quite so bitter but still with the crunchy, sharp taste! If you haven't tried it before I would have to say it is a must try!!!

My fridge is now empty and just waiting for my next visit to the market!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com