Total Fail

I have completely failed at my blog lately. I have been slacking in the kitchen which means I am slacking on here! My goal for the next few weeks is try to perfect a few of the recipes that I have already tried and also try some new things that I have a bit leery of. Here is a list of the items I would like to either improve upon or try making for the first time...

Improvements:
Chicken Tequitos
Mac and Cheese

New Recipes:
Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Spicey Shredded Pork
Scones (probably either chocolate chip or cherry vanilla)
Vanilla Ice Cream
Soft Pretzles

Hopefully some of these will turn out well!

Espresso Ice Cream

Mark and I are having some friends over this evening so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to use my new ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid. I have only used it one other time so I was very excited to try out a few different recipes. Yesterday I made both rocky road ice cream and espresso ice cream. I will save the rocky road for another post but today you will get my espresso ice cream recipe. I am a little frustrated with my ice cream maker at the moment though because I cannot use it without making a royal mess. I don't know if it is a flaw in the design or if I am just going about it the wrong way, but as a result of this, I spent a long time yesterday cleaning my kitchen. But, like most good things in life, it was worth the work. Both ice creams came out very tasty! Here is the recipe for the Espresso Ice Cream...

Espresso Ice Cream
Ingredients:
3 cups half and half
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 1/2 T ground espresso coffee beans
1 T Kahlua
1 t vanilla extract

Directions:
Heat the half and half over medium heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks, sugar and salt until fluffy. Add the half and half to the egg mixture VERY slowly (so you don't make scrambled eggs). Wipe out the pan and pour the entire mixture back into the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 10-12 minutes, until it has thickened and the cream coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Pour the cream through a sieve into a bowl. Add the ground espresso beans, Kahlua and vanilla and refrigerate until completely chilled. (Overnight works great.)
Pour the espresso cream into an ice cream maker and follow the directions provided by the manufacturer. Return to a container and freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.

Notes: The ground espresso beans can be replaced with just regular coffee from the can but I think the freshness from the espresso beans is worth the extra trouble. Also, the finer you ground the beans the better. The larger coffee grinds leave an odd texture and get stuck in your teeth easier, and that is just not attractive.

Enjoy!

Chicken Parm Sandwiches

First, I was told that my mom has started reading this, so, Hey mom! Welcome!

Ok, now onto the food. Lately Mark and I have been eating these sandwiches pretty often. They aren't exactly easy or quick but they are ridiculously tasty. I usually serve them with fruit or a Caesar salad.

Chicken Parm Sandwiches (makes two sandwiches)
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast or 6 chicken tenders
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 Kaiser rolls
Garlic Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 370 degrees.
Trim the fat and tendons from the chicken. If using the breasts, pound until very thin and cut in half, creating 4 pieces. If using the tenders this is not necessary.
In three separate bowls place the following: bowl one - flour and salt and pepper, bowl two - egg with a splash of water, bowl three - breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Heat a skillet over medium heat with enough olive oil to just barely cover the bottom of the pan.
Take the chicken pieces, one at a time, and cover them with flour, dip in the egg wash, and roll generously in the breadcrumb mixture. Place into the hot skillet and repeat with remaining chicken.
Flip chicken after about 3 minutes and cook until both sides a nice, goldeny brown.
Remove chicken from skillet and place on a roasting pan. Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes.
While the chicken is baking, cut the kaiser rolls in half and sprinkle with garlic salt.
Remove chicken from oven and switch on the broiler. Toast the kaiser rolls to desire crispness.
To assemble the sandwiches take the bottom of a kaiser roll, spread on some tomato sauce, place as much chicken as desired, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on it and more tomato sauce and top with the remaining half of the kaiser roll.
Ta da! You are done. Now, this takes a while to prepare, anywhere from 30 minutes to 40 minutes, depending on how many times you have done it, and it will be gone in about 5 minutes. It is so worth it though! They are like a big Italian meal all squished between two awesome pieces of bread. Enjoy!

Porcini Mushroom Tortellini

I would love to say that I spend hours making my own pasta and filling for these amazing tortellinis but I must not tell lies. They are ready made from the HEB frozen section. They are Central Market brand and they are divine!! Mark and I eat them at least once every two weeks and often once a week. I boil them as directed but then I saute them in olive oil and garlic to finish them. No other sauce is needed; actually, other sauces hid the awesome flavor which was a crime. I usually serve them with a ceaser salad, nothing fancy. This meal, start to finish, takes about 20 minutes and is my favorite go to meal! It feeds Mark and I and leaves left overs for my lunch at work which is great because I am SO tired of sandwiches and goldfish. So yes, today is quite a boring post, but it is one of my favorite dinners so go try it!!

Dried Cranberry and Almond Cookies

I made one of the variations of these at Christmas but I have since tried a few others. The original recipe was Dried Cherry and Almond cookies but I quickly learned that my grocery store only offers one kind of dried cherries, and they are $16.99 a pound!! That is a little expensive for our budget so this time I tried dried cranberries. They were just as good and actually much easier because there was no chopping necessary. Here is the recipe for what is currently my favorite cookie!

Dried Cranberry and Almond Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
1/2 cup, plus 2 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds
handful of dried cranberries (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Directions:
In a larger mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon and salt until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the flour gradually and beat on the lowest speed until just blended. Stir in the almonds and cranberries.
Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a skinny, long log. About 12-14 inches long and about 1 to 1.5 inches diameter. Wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This dough can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the log crosswise into 2 halves. Put one half back in the fridge so it doesn't get warm while you are making the first batch. Cut the remaining half into 1/2 inch slices. Transfer the dough slices to the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake about 14-17 minutes, until the edges are golden, almost brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and repeat with the other half of the dough.

The original recipe had an icing that I will post the recipe for but I found that I prefer them without the icing. They are plenty sweet without the icing and I think it over powers the flavor of the actual cookie. I do not recommend using it, but to each their own.

Icing:
Put 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar in a bowl. Whisk in 1 teaspoons vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of water. Add more water as needed until the mixture becomes a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies and let them sit until the icing has hardened. Here is what the final product looks like with icing...

Immitation Ice Cream

Among my many food loves is ice cream. I like it from an ice cream parlor, the freezer section at the grocery store, homemade, a restaurant...you name it, I will eat it. The only problem with this love is that ice cream is not very healthy in massive quantities. I have tried to trim the calories, the fat, the sugar...just about everything that makes ice cream good. Nothing tastes like the real deal though and then I just feel bad for putting chemicals and artificial flavors in my body. There really is no substitute for ice cream but I have found something that is frozen and delicious and has the texture of ice cream that is....wait for it....healthy! Here is a recipe for One Ingredient Ice Cream...

One Ingredient Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Bananas, ripe but not overly brown

Directions:
Peel the bananas and break into 2 inch chunks.
Freeze chunks until frozen.
Place chunks in food processor and pulse until the substance looks like pie crust dough (kind of balled up).
Use a spatula to smooth out the puree.
Done!

It tastes very banana-y but it has a great texture and it a great dessert. I mixed in some Nutella and it made it divine!! Took away some of the healthy factor, but it was very good. I plan on trying to mix in some frozen strawberries next time to see how that tastes....I will let you know!

Queen Bed Frame for Sale

So I am taking a short break from food posts to try and sell our Queen bed frame. Mark and I are upgrading to a King size Tempur Pedic bed, yay!

The bed is from Star Furniture and is called the Artisan Leather Platform bed. It is dark cherry wood with a leather, padded headboard and wood railing all the way around. It is only 7 months old and looks brand new. Here is the link to the website...

http://www.starfurniture.com/Catalog/Product/290-199.aspx

Here are actual pictures...

We are asking for $450 (brand new from Star Furntiture is $599) but I am open to negotiations! If you are interested, leave a comment or email me at elkinjr@yahoo.com.