Fast Rum Ice Cream

Ever crave a bowl of ice cream but find you're out of it? Bummer. I know.
I was there just yesterday. I do own an ice cream maker, but you need to let it freeze for at least 16 hours.

But then I remembered hearing about "Ziploc bag ice cream".
It's sounded simple enough, I decided to try it out and to, of course, create my own version of it.

I was rummaging through my extracts in the pantry and came across a bottle of rum.
You know where this is going, right?

Rum ice cream. Oooohhhh yeah.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of COLD heavy cream (you can also use coconut cream, soy milk, almond milk, etc)
• 2 tablespoons of honey 
• 3 tablespoons of rum or 2 tablespoons of rum extract
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 sandwich-size Ziploc bag
• 1 large freezer-type Ziploc bag
• Ice and 1/2 cup of coarse or table salt

The EASY steps:

1. Mix cream, vanilla, rum and honey. 
2. Pour into the smallest Ziploc, and seal it. MAKE SURE IT'S SEALED. lol 
3. In the larger bag, fill about half of it with ice. (I used 4 full trays)
   
4. Pour the salt over the ice, and quickly drop in the small bag containing the cream. Seal.
5. Shake whatcha mama gave ya, for about 10 minutes. You'll notice that the ice in the bag is melting. The coldness of it is being transferred to the cream mixture, consequently, hardening it.
   
   
6. After using all the elbow grease you have, check it. It should be slightly runny. You can eat it right now, or store it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.**
   
   
   
7. 20 minutes later, it's now ready! You can top it off with whatever you want, or eat it as is. I chose to add some chocolate chips and pecans. Yum!**

          

That's it! Easy, right? This is perfect for when you're in a pinch! Enjoy!

** Make sure to rince the Ziploc in cold water to get rid of the salt. Otherwise you'll have some pretty salty ice cream. Been there, done that ;)

Sweet Strawberry Pie -The Godfather-

No, this is not inspired by Al Pacino or James Caan.
It's inspired by my Godfather, who is no gangster/murderer. At least... I don't think he is...

Moving on.

This one is sweet and fresh. It's very cheerful and summery. It's also sugar-free. (Bonus!)

The ingredients:

• About 20 medium size strawberries, washed and sliced.
• 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup of splenda, or 1 tablespoon of agave or honey
• Pie crusts (2) or make your own (click here for an easy recipe, under "crust-cracker")

And the steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F, poke holes (using a fork) in one of the two pie crusts, and bake for 10 minutes. Reserve.
2. In a large frying pan, over medium, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.
3. Add the strawberries and stir.
4. Add the sweetener, mix well. Lower heat.
5. Let cook for about 5 minutes.
6. Fill the baked pie crust with the strawberries.
   
7. Using the unbaked pie crust, make holes using a cookie cutter. This will prevent the liquid/juice from leaking from the sides, while baking.
8. Place crust on top of strawberries, pinching along the side. 
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust looks golden and crispy.
   
   
   
   And that's it. Easy as pie! ;)
   
   
   This would go great with a scoop of your favourite vanilla ice cream.
   Give it a try!

Spiked&Spiced Apple Pie -The Dad-

Ahoy readers!

Spring is FINALLY amongst us! It puts me in a very good mood, how about you?
The sun, the snow melting away (my favourite part), the birds chirping...

Winter always puts me in a bit of a blue mood. My creativity tends to hibernate.
In order to boost my creative mind and find new motivation for this blog/project/book, I decided to let myself be inspired by those around me.

I will be creating recipes for my friends and family. About them, inspired by and for them.

Today I am sharing with you 2 pie recipes.

Easter was last weekend, and instead of buying the traditional chocolate bunnies, for my father and godfather, I decided to make them pies. Cause, why not?!

The first one is, "The Dad" aka the Spiked & Spiced Apple Pie.

Your ingredients:

• 5 apples, peeled and sliced
• 2/4 tablespoon on cinnamon
• 2-3 teaspoons of cayenne powder
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• about 1/2 cup of Jack Daniels (you can use any whiskey you have on hand, or even rum)
• Pie crusts (2) or make your own (click here for an easy recipe, under "crust-cracker")
• 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine

The steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F, poke holes (using a fork) in one of the two pie crusts, and bake for 10 minutes. Reserve.
2. In a large frying pan, over medium, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.
3. Add the apples and stir.
4. Add the cinnamon and cayenne. I advise you to add the cayenne little by little and to taste along the way. That way you can adjust the "heat" to your liking.
5. Drop in the Jack Daniels, and stir. Lower the heat. Cook for about 3 minutes. The whiskey and sugar will create this caramel-like sauce.
   
6. Taste, want more Daniels? Add a bit, tablespoon by tablespoon.
7. Fill pie baked pie crust.
8. Using the other unbaked crust, create bands, about half an inch wide, and place them in chequered  manner on top. Making sure to pinch each extremity.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust looks golden and crispy.
   

And voila!

According to my father (who tested it, of course), it's good enough to eat in one seating! (sorry dad, I had to share lol)

You'll have that classic apple pie taste, with a spicy flavorful kick, in every bite! 

Try it and let me know what you think! 

Crêpes Cake

Here is the 2nd recipe from last night's dinner for my grand-parents.
The desert. Which I'm having right now, because it's just so darn good.

Being that my grand-father and mother can't consume sugar, I've made this completely sugar free.

It consists of layers of thin crêpes, with a cream cheese frosting and a strawberry and rum compote. Oh yeah, it's as good as it sounds.

You'll have to excuse the bad picture, I forgot to upload them good ones. So using my trusty IPhone, I've just photographed my left over. lol

The ingredients

Crêpes:

• 4 eggs (or any substitute)
• 1/2 cup of melted butter, or margarine
• 1 cup of milk (cow, soy, almond)
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/3 cup of splenda 
• dash of salt

Strawberry compote

• 2 cups of diced strawberries
• 1 1/2 cup of dark rum
• 1/2 cup of splenda 
• 2 tablespoons of margarine

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 block of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of splenda

Here we go!

Crêpes: 

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except the flour, and whisk well. 
2. Little by little, add the flour, whisking constantly. We don't want clumps!
3. Store in the fridge for at least one hour. 
4. (Make cream cheese frosting and compote)
5. In an 8" inch non-stick frying pan, over medium-high, drop in a tablespoon of butter (or margarine, even cooking spray) and let it melt, making sure it covers the surface.
6. Scoop some of the batter and pour it in the pan making a very thin layer. Flip. Cook and plate. They cook very fast, so make sure not to burn them!
7. After every crêpes, spread some of the cream cheese frosting. Stack 'em up! 
8. Let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting (while batter is cooling): 

1. In a bowl, using a hand-mixer of a stand-mixer, whisk all ingredients together. 
2. Done.

Strawberry compote (while batter is cooling):

1. In a sauce pan, over medium-high, melt margarine. 
2. Add the strawberries and splenda. Stir.
3. Add the rum, stir and let everything simmer for about 20-25 minutes on low. 

When all the crêpes have been stacked with the delicious frosting, slice it like you would a cake, and pour some of the warm compote on top. 

Eat and demand seconds.  :)

Cordon Bleu and Cornish Hens

Ahoy kids!

How are you doing on this amazing Monday? On my part, I'm quite exhausted. Leaving the details out, I've been very under the weather these passed few days. But don't you worry, it didn't stop me from attending a very interesting and awesome class at Le Cordon Bleu! Knife skills, watch out!

I had been waiting for it for months! I'm not sure how to describe the experience to you...  Imagine you were inside the Food Network, watching one of your favourite chefs show you the "how-to's". Mix that with being at one of the most prestigious culinary schools, in the world, with amazing kitchen-classes and foodies all around.

I went in thinking about Julia Child. Little did I know that I would come across this gem. I was starstruck.

Julia Child's diploma! (excuse the quality, I tried to sneak the picture)

We learned about every technique there is when it comes to knife skills. Granted, I need a lot of practice. But that's the kind of practice I have no trouble with. We used our new acquired skills on vegetables and a Cornish Hen. For you animal lovers out there, I'm sorry. We got to take it back with us. And I saw it as a perfect opportunity for me to test out a few recipes. 

I invited over my grand-parents. Like me, they love food and they had been looking forward to trying some of my stuff. 

So, for them, I made roasted Cornish Hen with a berry Merlot sauce with simple green beans and caramelized leek-onion rice. 

And for desert? Crepe Cake. (look for it later)

For the hens, here is what you need:

• 1 to 2 medium size hens (or 1 large chicken), quartered—2 supremes, 2 thighs each
• 1/2 cup of margarine
• 1 tablespoon of rosemary 
• salt and pepper

Berry Merlot Sauce

• 1 cup of dices strawberries
• 1 cup of raspberries 
• 1 1/4 cup of Merlot
• 1-2 tablespoons of splenda (you can use sugar)
• 1/2 cup of fresh, chopped basil 
• salt and pepper

Leek rice

• 2 cups of cooked basmati rice
• 1 cup of chopped leek
• 1 cup of diced onions
• Margarine
• Olive oil

And the easy steps 

Hens: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 425.
2. Mix in margarine, rosemary, salt and pepper and cover the pieces of chicken, over and under the skin.
3. Place the chicken in a oven-dish and pop in the oven. 
4. Cook for about 30 minutes, depending on your oven. (30-45 minutes)

Sauce:

1. While the chicken is cooking, over medium-high, in a sauce pan, pour the wine and add the berries.
2. Let it come to a boil then add the splenda and turn down the heat to medium-low. 
3. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes then add the salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Add half of the basil, and again, let it simmer 20 minutes. Stir.
5. Add the rest of the basil, turn the heat to low and leave it for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Rice:

1. For the cooked rice, follow the instruction on the package. While it is cooking, in a frying pan, over medium-high, put in the margarine and oil (about 1 tablespoon each), let melt a little bit.
2. Add the leeks. Cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the onions, stir. Lower the heat.
4. Cook everything for about 10 minutes, until the onions get golden and soft. 
5. Mix in the rice and take off the heat. 

For the green beans, 2 handfuls, I only blanched them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. 

Here is the final product: 

The sauce is so good. It would be delicious over ice cream, or yogurt. Even on waffles or toasts! 

Try it, and let me know! :)

Tequila Lime Chili

Heya!

I know, I know! It's been way too long. Every time I tell myself I need to post more often is a time where a gazillion things happen all at once! But no more excuses!

'Tis a new year, a new leaf. Let's get the show on the road!

While I haven't had an official "tasting" in a while (working on it) I still kept busy with quite a few recipes.
The first one of the "series" is a deeeelicious Tequila Lime Chili. Hell. Yes.

I'm big into cooking with alcohol lately. Especially chili. So stay tuned for another one soon, Tipsy Chili. Hint, it'll have beer and maple in it. 

But for now, let's all focus on this one. It takes about 10 minutes to prep and 1 hour to cook/simmer.

Here are your ingredients :

• 3 oz of  Tequila
• the juice of 2 limes
• 1/3 cup of fresh, chopped cilantro 
• 1 large can of Diced tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of Chili powder
• 1-2 tbsp of red Tabasco (adjust to your liking)
• 1/2 tsp of ground jalapeño
• 1 1/2 tsp of cumin 
• 1 1/2 cup of dried soy protein (note: you CAN use ground meats for this, if you want to. About 1 pound)
• 1 large can of red kidney beans, rinsed  
• 1 tbsp of Cajun seasoning
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• dash of salt and pepper  
• margarine

And the extremely easy steps:

1. In a large sauce pot, over medium high, melt margarine and drop in the onion. peppers and garlic. Saute for about 2 minutes. 
2. In a separate bowl, mix the soy protein with the tequila and lime. Let soak for about 3-4 minutes. 
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the rest of the ingredients, except the soy, and stir well. (add the Tabasco little by little, and taste as you go, that way you can "spicify" it to your liking. Yes, I made up a word)
4. Now add the soaked soy protein and the remaining of liquids into the pot. 

5. Stir well and let it simmer, on low, for about an hour. The colour will darken and the sauce will thicken. 
6. Remove from heat, let rest for 2-5 minutes, depending on how hot you want, and serve! Garnish with a little fresh cilantro and BAM! 

The reason why I made this with the soy protein is because it's dehydrated. Soaking it in the Tequila and lime, lets it absorb all the delicious flavours.  That way, when it's mixed with the rest of the ingredients, you get that kick every time you take a bite!

The texture and the look is pretty similar to ground meat; Meat eaters won't know the difference ;)

Creamy Shitake pasta

Hey guys.

How you doin'?

On my part, I'm pretty great. I'm not down from the Taboo Eats high just yet. I've some updates on this event and let me tell you, the next event?  it's going to be awesome! I'm not sure I can share with you just what it will be yet, so you'll have to wait! I know, I'm tease.

Speaking of which, this week I had to make the Decadent Tart for work. I think it was loved by everyone. A little birdy even told me she had 9!

Anyways! Enough about the Tarts!

I'm here to tell you about an unplanned recipe that popped into my head last night. I wanted to make a quick dinner for myself, something comforting and warm. Oh, and obviously delicious!

I made some sort of Creamy Shitake Alfredo sauce that I poured over whole wheat spaghettini. It was divine!

I don't have an actual official name for it. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Ok, here are the ingredients:

• 1 handful of spaghettini (you can use any pasta that you have in your pantry)
• 2 handfuls of shitake mushrooms
• 1/4 cup of thinly diced red onion
• 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1/3 cup of grated mozzarella (optional, but delish)
• salt, pepper
• margarine and oil for cooking

1. Start your boiling water and cook the pasta according to the packaging. 
2. remove the stems from the shitakes, and julienne them.
3. In a deep frying pan, over medium-high, drop in 2 tablespoons of margarine and 1 tablespoon of oil. When it's melted and bubbling lightly, add the onions and shitake. Fry for about 5 minutes, or until onion are translucent.
4. Pour in the cream with a dash of salt and pepper. Lower the temperature to medium-low and mix well. Keep stirring, it will keep the cream from burning and sticking to the pan. 
5. Drop in the Parmesan cheese and mix until melted and the cream has thicken. You can add cheese if you think it's not sauce-like enough, or cream if you find it too thick. 
6. Cook for about 2 minutes. 
7. Drain the pasta and pour them in frying pan containing the sauce. Mix, making sure the pasta is getting covered in sauce. 
8. (now this part is optional) Set the oven to broil. Pour everything in an oven-proof bowl, sprinkle the mozzarella and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. 
9. Take out, let stand for 5 minutes and serve. 

YUM!

(excuse the photo, I only thought about taking it once I had dived into my dish)