Grandma Watson's Happy Birthday Ice-Cream Cake

No recipe with this.  I think it's pretty straight forward. Enjoy!

JD

P.S.-I'm taking an official "hiatus" for the next six weeks.  I'll be back at the beginning of September.  If it's too much to bear, just watch all of the super old episodes at the bottom of the page!  See you soon!

Silky Peppers

From "In Julia Child's Kitchen With Master Chefs", by Julia Child.  


George Germon and Johanne Killeen have a fantastic restaurant in Rhode Island called Al Forno.  We actually made a point of eating there on our one trip to the area, and it was awesome.  I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Providence.  Their chapter in Julia's book is, hands down, my favorite.  I've made every dish in their section.  This recipe is the easiest, and the most popular, among the people I feed.

6 to 8 red bell peppers (Substitute an orange or yellow pepper or two if the season allows.)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon (firmly packed) brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley

1. Wash and dry the peppers.   Halve them lengthwise, seed them, cut each half into thirds, and remove the inner ribs.

2. Toss the peppers in a 12-inch skillet with the vinegar, brown sugar, and salt. (I mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt together in the pan with a whisk before adding the peppers.)  Cook at the barest simmer until they have softened but still retain their shape-10 to 12 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon to a serving dish, leaving the cooking juices in the pan.

3. Increase the heat under the skillet and let the juices reduce almost to a syrup for several minutes, scraping up any bits adhering to the pan.  Stir in the olive oil, thyme leaves, and parsley, heating just to warm the oil.  Pour over the peppers; while they are cooling and marinating, a half hour or more, they will soften and absorb flavor.  Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers in a screw top jar (anything will do), where they will keep nicely for several days.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, cores and seeds removed
• 4 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon of recently purchased garlic powder)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 2 hours until the tomatoes are concentrated and begin to caramelize. Allow the tomatoes to cool to room temperature.

All-in-the-Pan Chewy Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Butter Icing Cake

From Regan Daley's "In the Sweet Kitchen", an awesome baking book with lots of great recipes.

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. natural unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cups cool water

1/4 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 to 3 Tbsp milk or water
2 TBSP natural unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350- degrees F. Sift flour into an ungreased, unfloured 8 inch squarebaking pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add this mixture to the flour in the pan and stir well with a fort of small whisk to blend the ingredients.

With the back of a teaspoon, make three indentations or wells in the dry mixture: one large, one medium-sized, and one small. In the large well, our the vegetable oil. In the medium well, add the vinegar. In the small well, add the vanilla extract, and then pour the water over everything. With a for, stir the mixture until well blended, making sure you reach into the corners and sides to catch any dry pockets. Do not beat this batter, but just mix enough until most of the lumps are smoothed out, and there are no little patches of overly thick or thin batter. A few lumps are fine.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean & the top feels springy when lightly touched. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool the cake completely before frosting.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cups of the confectioners’ sugar until butter is well distributed. The mixture will be very dry and powdery. Stir in 1 Tbsp. of milk or water, then sift the cocoa powder over the mixture and cream to blend. Mix in the vanilla then add the rest of the sugar. Add as much of the remaining liquid as needed to make a thick and creamy frosting.

Meatloaf Shepherd's Pie

If you’re bored, play the “Spot Reggie” drinking game with this episode.  One drink every time you see him.  Two drinks if you see him eating or drinking, and three drinks if I refer to him by name.

As for the recipe?  A great way to use up leftover meatloaf!

Prepare...

1 recipe of mashed potatoes (using two pounds of potatoes.)

Add...

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Chop up...

2 carrots

1 onion

8 oz. mushrooms

1/2 of a 2 lb. recipe of leftover meatloaf

Saute carrots, onions, and mushrooms in a 12” nonstick skillet until lightly browned.

Add 2 tablespoons all purpose flour.  Stir until no more traces of flour are visible.

Add the meatloaf, and stir to combine.

Add...

1 3/4 cups of stock or broth (any kind will do.)

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 cup frozen peas

1 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Pour into a 9x13 baking dish (or similar.)

Top with mashed potatoes.

Bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is beginning to brown.

Let rest five minutes, then serve!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

A quick, easy, and delicious appetizer.

Toast...

1/4 cup walnuts

...in a skillet on top of the stove for five minutes, never taking your eyes off of them.  Put them into your food processor with...

2 slices of good quality whole wheat bread

Pulse until crumbly.  Then add...

1 large (12 oz. or more) jar of roasted red bell peppers (or 2 small jars)

1/4 cup of pomegranate molasses

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pulse until just blending together.  Then add...

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Continue to pulse or run until it reaches a slightly chunky consistency (like chunky salsa)

Don’t over blend!

Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.