Chef Lisa

I love ice cream. It’s one of my go-to comfort foods. The kids, of course, love it too. That’s why I asked my mom for an ice cream maker for my birthday. My birthday isn’t until August, but she got it for me now. I also picked up the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cookbook. Oh goodness, the recipes in there look absolutely delicious, and I’m looking forward to working my way through it.

Below is the recipe as I did it.

Peach Ginger Ice Cream

 
2 cups peaches, chopped fine
1/2 cup sugar
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp grated frozen ginger
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk

Combine the peaches, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. After the first hour, add the ginger.

After the two hours are up, drain the peaches, reserving the juice. Put the peaches in a bowl, cover, and return to the fridge.

In a large bowl, whisk the two eggs until light and frothy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the 3/4 cup sugar, a little bit at a time, until well combines, then whisk for another minute or so. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk until blended. Add in the peach juice and whisk until well blended.

Pour the liquid into the ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Two minutes before the ice cream is done, add in the peaches. When finished, transfer to an air-tight container and put in the freezer for at least a couple of hours.

It’s very important to make sure all of your ingredients are cold, otherwise the ice cream maker won’t chill the mix properly, and you’ll get a yucky mess.

I found this recipe last week at Rachael Ray’s website. It’s not one of her recipes, but from one of the blogs she hosts. It looked good, and the kids were enthusiastic about it, so I made it.

I think the cake was a bit too dry, and that make have been due to the peanut butter I used. It was the Meijer brand organic peanut butter. I find that it’s a bit “drier” than regular peanut butter – not as smooth and creamy as, say Jif.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Streusel Cake

 
2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º F. Butter a 13×9x2 inch metal baking pan. (I used a glass pan)

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat on low speed until the mixture is blended and crumbly. Transfer 1 cup of the mix, lightly packed, to small bowl and reserve (this will be the streusel topping). Add eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda to remaining flour mixture in large bowl. Beat at low speed until evenly moist. Increase speed to medium and beat until well blended, scraping bowl occasionally, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle with reserved 1 cup streusel topping and remaining 1 cup chips.

Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack.

I’d like to thank everyone who stopped by last week with my first Menu Plan Monday contribution.

As a reminder, my menu week usually starts on Saturday.

Saturday: burgers, salad (I bought jalapeno burgers and a fajita burger from Milan City Market and grilled them. Very yummy!)

Sunday: baked tilapia (seasoned with jerk seasoning), almond rice and raw baby cut carrots.

Monday: Spaghetti Day!

Tuesday: Lime Ricky Chicken and Almond Rice Pilaf

Wednesday: from scratch mac & cheese

Thursday: Chicken Meatball & Tortellini soup

Friday: Eat Out

I love Eggs Benedict. My mom has made it for years. I remember, as a kid, watching her go through the complicated ritual of preparing everything so that it all came out at the right time. My brother and I started out with just the toasted English muffins with ham, and then when we were ready for it, we got the whole thing. It was our special occasion breakfast – birthdays, Christmas, when we had visitors.

With all that said, I woke up with a craving for it this morning. It’s not the first time this has happened, but I’ve never attempted it before because of the Hollandaise sauce. A regular recipe makes way more than a single person can eat, and the sauce simply doesn’t reheat well at all. But the internet came to the rescue. A quick Google search turned up How to Make a Quick Low-Carb Hollandaise Sauce with your Microwave. It turned out pretty good, though next time I might use a little less butter – go with 2 teaspoon rather than 1 tablespoon because the mouth feel was a bit greasy for my liking, but the taste was good. The recipe didn’t call for any salt, and I think it needs it. Just the barest of pinches would do it.

Eggs Benedict For One

 
1 English muffin
butter
white vinegar
2 slices thinly sliced Black Forest ham (I used Black Forest Turkey this time)
2 eggs
1 batch of Hollandaise sauce

Preheat your broiler. Put enough water in a skillet to cover the eggs when yuo poach them. If you’re not using a non-stick pan, be sure to spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray before you put the water in. Put half a teaspoon of white vinegar into the water – this will help prevent the egg from spreading out all over the pan when you put it in the water. Heat the water to a simmer.

While waiting for the broiler and water to get to temperature, separate the English muffin into two halves. Lightly butter each one, then arrange a slice of ham on each so that it makes a kind of nest to hold the poached egg. Put them on a broiler safe pan.

When the water is the right temperature, put the muffins under the broiler and put the eggs into the water.

While the eggs are cooking, make the Hollandaise sauce.

When the eggs are done, turn off the heat and remove the muffins from the broiler. Put the muffins on a plate. Remove the eggs from the water using a slotted spoon, and let as much water as you can drip off before placing the egg on a muffin (one egg per muffin half). Top with the Hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.

Matt was out of town yesterday, and I wanted to make a quick and easy meal for supper. The last time we were at my in-laws’ place, we had nachos with meat and cheese, and the kids loved it. I decided to make that.

It’s really not all that difficult. Prepare some ground beef as if you were making tacos, using your favorite spice blend (packed or scratch doesn’t matter as long as you like it). Put a layer of tortilla chips on a microwave safe plate or in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle 1/3 to 1/2 (depending on whether you’re doing two or three layers of chips) of the taco meat on the chips. Sprinkle sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend of cheese over that. If you want to put salsa in, put little dots of it over the ships. You don’t want to do too much salsa or the chips will turn into a soggy mess.

Put on another layer of chips, and repeat with meat and cheese (and salsa). If you’re doing three layers, repeat the process a third time.

Once your nachos are assembled, put them in the microwave or oven until the cheese has melted. If you want, you can then garnish it with finely sliced green onions, cilantro, or whatever else floats your boat.