made by Emily My husband and I eat ice cream out of the Ben & Jerry's pints at least a couple nights a week (a naughty habit that started during my first pregnancy, but "baby wanted it". And he had sympathy cravings...which all led to a lot of exercise later). I don't make my own ice cream often because B & J's just does it so right. But if I was to think outside the carton, this is a pretty damn good combination that Ben & Jerry should really consider. It's my rendition of a dessert we love from our favorite restaurant in Jersey City. It's an ice cream sundae called German Chocolate Cake because of the ingredients, but minus the cake. I guess we could just call it German Chocolate...
For two good size servings, you'll need:
A pint of your favorite chocolate ice cream (we like Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry's)
For Toasted Coconut & Nuts:
1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/4 cup total of combination of chopped walnuts and almonds (I used sliced almonds)
In small frying pan, let the nuts cook for about 2-3 minutes on medium, then add coconut (since this cooks faster). You want to cook until nuts and coconut are just looking toasty light brown. Remove from heat and let cook in a bowl set aside.
For Whipped Cream:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp sugar (powdered or white granular sugar)
Pour heavy cream in kitchen-aide mixer and add 1 tsp sugar (powdered or white granular sugar works) and whip about 5 min or so with wire whisk attachment until soft peaks form.
For Butterscotch Sauce:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
NOTE: Usually I'm all for subbing but in this case, don't sub anything or you may sacrifice the thick sticky texture that makes this sauce great. I have made it a few times with salted butter, 1/2 & 1/2 instead of heavy cream, and light brown sugar, but it just isn't the same.
Combine ALL ingredients above in small/medium sauce pot on medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes and then let it cool on stove til you are ready to load on top of your sundae. Pour the remains in an airtight container and store in the fridge. (3-4 days I'd say, but I have not tested this)
To assemble, top a few scoops of chocolate ice cream with your homemade whipped cream, butterscotch sauce, and toasted coconut/nuts and "guten appetit!"
By Emily We recently had this dessert at Pastis, a well-known French restaurant in the meatpacking district of NYC. It was so good, so I went home and went thru cookbooks and online to find out how it was made. This recipe is a collaboration of a couple I found, but mostly comes from a cookbook that advertises cooking with kids, with a couple changes I made according to my taste (salted butter, vanilla, etc). Although, I must say this recipe is not quick and easy (only because there are a lot of steps, and hot sticky toffee sauce) and I cannot imagine wanting to attempt baking this with my kid: Sticky Toffee Toddler anyone? But, it IS delicious.... little moist cakes ("puddings") drenched in warm toffee sauce. Yum... It's a dessert for a special occasion.
You'll Need:
Pudding "Cakes":
1 8oz container of Medjool dates, or 1 c. (take the pits out)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
5 TB butter at room temp
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Toffee Sauce:
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
2 c. sugar
1/3 c. corn syrup
4 TB butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream for serving
To Make Cakes:
Preheat to 350F
Butter a 12 cup muffin tin.
Combine the dates and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer until most of the water is evaporated. In a food processor or blender, puree the mixture until smooth and creamy looking (at least 1-2 minutes).
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and baking soda and set aside.
In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for at least 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and fully incorporate. Scrape down the sides as needed.
Add the flour mixture slowly until just incorporated, then add the date puree slowly and mix thoroughly.
Spoon the batter into the buttered muffin cups. They should be 3/4 full so they don't get too big. Bake for 20-23 minutes (check with a toothpick). (and start the toffee sauce while they bake) Once finished baking, let cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
To Make Toffee Sauce:
In a Saucepan over Medium heat, combine 1 1/4 c. of the cream and the rest of the ingredients minus the vanilla. Cook approx 40 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk often, until the mixture becomes a dark brown caramel color. You may need to change the heat, I had to keep it Med/Low compared to the original recipe I was following. It should stay at a constant slow bubble.
Once finished, remove from the heat, add vanilla extract, and let cool for 15 minutes.
Once the sauce is finished and the muffins have cooled, slice off the top of the muffins (just a thin slice so they lay flat when plated upside down). Then slice each cake thru the middle. Spoon about 2 Tbs of the sauce in the bottom of each muffin cup. Return bottom cake layer back to the muffin cup on top of the sauce. Spoon 2 more Tbs of sauce on top of this, then top with other half of muffin and cover again with more toffee sauce so they are soaked. Muffin tin will be messy and maybe overflowing with sauce, so I put the tin under a large piece of wax paper for easy clean up. Repeat until all muffins are returned to tin and covered in toffee sauce. You can wrap the muffin tin and refrigerate for 3 days. When ready to serve, you can reheat at 400F for about 10 minutes.
Pop out the cakes from the muffin tin, inverted onto a plate using a little spatula or a similar utensil, careful not to burn yourself from the hot toffee sauce.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.
By Rachel I have made this dinner 3 times now because my husband claims that it's the best thing I have ever made! It has great flavor due to the sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil - not to mention the super creamy sauce and homemade pasta...ok fine EVERYTHING about it is pretty awesome - give it a try! I separated out the ingredients so you can make just the Alfredo Sauce if you want. I made the homemade pasta first, then tossed it in the Alfredo Sauce, then topped it with Basil Grilled Chicken, minced sun-dried tomatoes, fresh chopped basil, and fresh grated Parmesan. This sauce would be delicious on it's own, but is super delicious with those toppings! Serves 4 Alfredo Sauce Ingredients: 1 pint heavy cream 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Freshly cracked black pepper (regular pepper is ok if you don't have fresh) Prepared Pasta (any thick pasta will do - click here for the homemade pasta recipe!) Grilled Basil Chicken Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, each sliced in half (lay the chicken breasts flat and slice horizontally so you have four thin/flat pieces to grill)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Olive oil (enough to coat the chicken and make the basil stick)
Salt and Pepper (preferably cracked pepper)
Toppings:
Sun-dried tomatoes, about 1/4 cup after chopped really small/fine
Fresh Basil, about 1/4 cup after chopped
Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated over top of each plate of pasta
To make:
First, marinate your chicken in olive oil, salt and pepper and the 1/2 cup of chopped basil. I use a LOT of pepper - the mixture of cracked pepper and basil make a crusty coating when the chicken is grilled. I like to marinate for at least 20 minutes before cooking.
Chop your sun-dried tomatoes and basil and grate your cheese while the chicken is marinating.
Grill your chicken. While your chicken is grilling, cook your pasta and prepare your Alfredo sauce.
To prepare Alfredo sauce:
Heat heavy cream over low-medium heat in a deep saute pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese and stir. Your sauce should thicken slightly - if it does not thicken enough to your liking, add more cheese. Be sure to keep stirring so the cheese and cream don't burn. Season with freshly cracked black pepper.
Add your cooked pasta to the pan with your sauce, gently tossing to coat the noodles.
Slice your grilled chicken and serve each plate with noodles, grilled chicken and a sprinkle of sun-dried tomatoes, basil and fresh Parm. Mmmm!
Recipe by our Mother, made & photographed by Rachel This recipe comes from our one and only Chachi Momma (as we lovingly call her). I have put it into my own words, because she knows this recipe so well she can make it with her eyes closed! Her version still always come out better than mine, but mine is pretty darn good. This recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you will need a very large pot, or you can do what I do and use two different ones. I made this for our 1st Anniversary dinner and it was fabulous - Ed even said that the meatballs were the best he'd ever tasted...sorry Mom, I took all the credit that night! I served this with regular old spaghetti since the sauce is pretty much a one-man-show, and this great semolina bread recipe that Miranda sent me a while back, that I broiled for a couple minutes with olive oil and fresh grated Parmesan. And of course, we had to have dessert, so we followed this dinner with insane three layer brownies.... Shopping List:
Fat Back or Salt Pork: about four 1/8 inch thick slices. If your butcher or grocery store does not carry this you can substitute olive oil for it.
Two cloves of garlic; cut up the garlic in thin slices, pour a teaspoon of salt on it and smash it up with a fork and set aside.
Two pounds of ground beef: You can use less meat if you want fewer meatballs, the thing to remember is for each pound of beef you need 1 egg to make the meatballs
Italin flavored bread crumbs: you will only need enough to soak up the egg, if you are using 1 pound of meat it's about 1/2-3/4 cups and if you use 2 pounds of meat you will need about a cup of bread crumbs.
Eggs; 1 egg per pound of meat that you are using for the meatballs
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
Two 46oz cans of tomato juice
One 46oz can of whole or crushed tomatoes
One cup of water
Italian seasoning; my mother uses about 3 teaspoons, I use about 5 teaspoons
Parmesan cheese; anywhere from a 1/2-2 cups, depending on your taste, I use about a cup
One carrot, peeled and uncut
Two big onions, chopped/diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions:
Heat the fat back in a deep fry pan until the fat begin turning to liquid. Remember, if you couldn't find fat back/salt pork or you don't want to use it, you can use about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
In a large bowl, mix the smashed garlic clove/salt mixture with the egg (s) and just enough breadcrumbs to create a wet looking, mushy consistency. Add the ground beef to the egg/breadcrumb mixture and mix together well (I use my hands to mash it all up - it's gross but it works the best!). Form small, golf ball sized balls, with your hands, being careful to not pack them too densely, otherwise the sauce will not be able to cook through them.
Add the meatballs to the pan of fat back/salt pork or olive oil, whichever you are using, and brown them on all sides. Once they are browned on all sides, take them out of the pan and set aside.
After all of your meatballs are browned, scrape the pan to loosen up the brown bits left from the meatballs. Add the chopped onions to the meatball pan and cook until onions are tender, stirring often.
While the onions are cooking, fill a large, deep pot with the tomato sauce, tomato juice, whole/crushed tomatoes, water, Italian seasoning, parsley, and carrot. Bring this mixture to a boil.
 *I had to split mine up in 2 pots since my largest pot wouldn't fit everything...it spits and spatters a lot, so try to resist cleaning until it's done cooking! Once the onions are cooked and the sauce mixture is boiling, add the onions and meatballs to the boiling sauce. Simmer for about three hours, uncovered. The sauce will cook down/thicken over time. Stir every once in a while to ensure the sauce it not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Towards the end of the three hours, add the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Remove the carrot and serve.
Notes:
The carrot is added to cut down on acidity, remove it when you are finished cooking the sauce. When my mother learned how to make this sauce, the Italian woman named Stella who taught her would brown a few pork chops along with the meatballs, and cook them in the sauce as well, which also adds a lot of good flavor. Another meat my mother has often added it sweet and hot Italian sausages. If you want to use sausage, simply brown them as you would the meatballs, and add to the sauce when the instructions have you add the meatballs.
The real Italian way to serve this is to take out all the lumps before serving, by either pureeing or pouring the sauce through a mesh strainer after cooking. Our family usually keeps the lumps and pieces in the sauce for a thicker, heartier sauce.
Have fun and make it your own, after, of course you try it our mother's way!
I am all ready trying to get ready to host my first Thanksgiving this year and am trying to make as much as possible ahead of time so I am not freaking out on the actual day. One of my two go-to canning books, "Complete Book of Home Preserving" had a recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, so I thought I would give it a try. The sauce turned out so delicious, a lot sweet and a little tart. I am so excited to use homemade sauce on Thanksgiving rather than the regular old jelly mold from a store bought can!
What you'll need:
4 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
Directions:
If you are canning, follow your normal routine to prepare your jars, water bath and lids.
In a large sauce pan, combine the cranberries and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and continue to boil over medium heat until the skins on the cranberries burst. Add orange zest. Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes. Working in batches, transfer the cranberries, zest and water to your food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and add sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil hard until the sauce thickens to coat a cold, metal spoon. (If you put a cold, metal spoon in the sauce the sauce should slowly fall off the spoon in large pieces/chunks - this is how you know it's thick enough).
Save in your fridge, freeze or can the cranberry sauce.
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