Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

by The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

1 cup sugar

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla

3/4 c. milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

crumbled Oreo cookies

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Set aside.

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the egg will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cheese custard through a strainer into a large bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the the cream. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in your ice cream machine according the manufacturers instructions (my machine took 30 minutes), adding the crumbledOreos to the machine when the ice cream is semifrozen. We like a lot of Oreos in ours. Allow the machine to mix in the cookies. When finished the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 2 hours.

Baklava

It's the time of year for a loved dessert in our house: Baklava!


Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped walnuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup + 2 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup corn syrup

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon and 2 tablespoon sugar. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and corn syrup. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

It's delicious!!! It always tastes so much better the next day, too! Enjoy!

Crispy Chicken Fried Chicken (with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and garlic bread!)

Place 4 thin chicken breasts into 2 cups buttermilk.


(If you don't have buttermilk on hand, put 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a bowl (not a metal one!) and add enough milk to make 2 cups.)


To the buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic.


Let the chicken soak in the buttermilk for a few hours. Overnight is best.


Next, we'll prepare the breading. For a quick and easy breading ingredient, with tons of flavor, instead of buying bread crumbs, I use Mussos Garlic and Cheese Toast, because I use them for other meals throughout the week, not just for breading.


So, the breading is:


8 - 12 pieces of toast, finely crushed (I use my food processor for this.)
3 - 5 big handfuls of Lays Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Chips, finely crushed, enough for 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 to 1 teaspoon onion powder (depends on your preference)
Just a smidge more than 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground, of course!
1 teaspoon garlic salt


You can put only the bread and the chips in the food processor, and blend until fine, or you can put everything in together, ensuring that the spices and flour are evenly distributed throughout the breading mixture.


*
Now it's time to take the chicken out of the buttermilk, one by one, and dredge in the breading, and carefully lay it in a pan with about 1/4 inch of super hot butter, crisco, coconut oil, or peanut oil, whichever you have handy/prefer/like to eat. :)


Let it fry for just a minute or two before flipping over. Place them in the oven, either in the pan you fried them in {oven safe, of course!} or place them in a glass casserole dish to bake for about 20 minutes @ 350 degrees.


Now, you can add to the pan you fried them in to make gravy. Whisk in butter and flour to make a roux and stir in some chicken stock, garlic, onion, parsley, black pepper, and some salt to taste, and there's your gravy! The mashed potatoes are of course easy as pie, so I am not going to tell you how to make them. :)


Fresh green beans and a homemade loaf of garlic bread, a french baguette, or just some bread make this a complete, and oh-so-delicious meal and it's really pretty simple. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Gravy

6 Servings Prep time: 15 min. + chilling Cook time: 1 hour Ingredients 1 broiler/fryer chicken (3-1/2 to 4 pounds), cut up 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup all-purpose flour 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper Oil for frying GRAVY: 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1-1/2 to 2 cups water Salt and pepper to taste Directions Place chicken in a large shallow dish. Pour buttermilk over; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Drain chicken pieces; add to flour mixture, one at a time, and shake to coat. Shake off excess; let stand on waxed paper for 15 minutes before frying. Heat 1/8 to 1/4 in. of oil in a large skillet; fry chicken until browned on all sides. Cover and simmer, turning occasionally, for 40-45 minutes, or until juices run clear and chicken is tender. Uncover and cook 5 minutes longer. Remove chicken; drain on paper towels and keep warm. Drain all but 1/4 cup drippings from skillet; stir in flour until blended. Gradually add milk, then 1-1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add remaining water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken. Yield: 6 servings. Originally published as Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Gravy in Taste of Home April/May 1994, p37

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

• 1 Cup of butter
• 2 Cups of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of baking powder
• 1 1/2 Cups of sour cream
• 5-6 Cups of sifted flour (Start with 5 cups, and add until you like the consistency of the batter. Save the rest for flouring the rolling pin and rolling surface.)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and sour cream (I think it is the sour cream that makes the difference. I used Knudsen sour cream; not low fat, but regular sour cream). Then mix in the dry ingredients. I started with 5 cups of flour and used the rest when I actually rolled them out. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle your smooth countertop (or rolling surface) liberally with flour. I rolled out half the batter at a time. It was easier for me to work with. With a well-floured rolling pin, roll out the cookie batter to about 3/8 inch thickness and use floured cookie cutters to cut your shapes. I put them on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets and baked them for exactly 8 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before you frost them and make sure that your family IS NOT allowed to eat them all before they are frosted! This recipe will make about 30 small to medium circle-shaped cookies. With Christmas shapes, the recipe will make fewer, so keep that in mind.

Make popcorn in the microwave

Just came across this awesome way to pop traditional on-the-stove kernels in your microwave:

Place ½ cup popcorn kernels in a large microwave-safe bowl with 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil. Cover with a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high (power level 10) until the majority of the kernels have popped, 3 to 5 minutes.

Garlic Chicken and Gravy

This family favorite--chicken and gravy--can be prepared in less than 30 minutes using just a skillet.

         {Photo from Taste of Home}

4 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken broth, divided
• 1/2 cup white wine or additional chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, cook
• chicken and garlic in butter over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or
• until browned. Add 1/2 cup broth, wine or additional broth, basil
• and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 7-9
• minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
• Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and keep warm. In a small bowl,
• combine flour and remaining broth until smooth; stir into pan
• juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until
• thickened. Serve over chicken. Yield: 4 servings.

This simple six ingredient recipe makes the most decadent, delicious bar cookies.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 pkg. two layer chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped pecans OR coconut
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and cake mix in large bowl. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over bottom of 15x10" jelly roll pan and press to form crust. Sprinkle with semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and pecans or coconut.

In microwave on medium power, melt milk chocolate chips for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Stir sweetened condensed milk into the melted chips. Spread milk mixture evenly over nuts in jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars. 48 bars

Yet another sugar cookie recipe

This is thanks to {All Things Thrifty}


Ingredients:


3 sticks of salted butter softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 cups of all purpose flour

Tip #1: Don't use margarine. Use the good 'ol fattening BUTTER. I like to use salted butter.
Tip #2: Don't use the microwave to soften the butter. Let it sit out on the counter at room temperature until it is softened. If you use the microwave, you may melt it too much, which will impact the texture of your dough and make it too sticky.

Directions:

*Cream the softened butter and sugar together until it is nice, smooth, and fluffy.

*Next, add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture. I use a hand mixer on low for this.

*Add the vanilla. 

*Gradually add the flour and baking powder. I use my hand mixer for this also. Make sure that all the flour is mixed into the dough.

*Chill dough for 1-2 hours to stiffen up the dough. (very important step)

*When your dough has been chilled for the alloted time, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

*On a clean counter top, generously sprinkle powdered sugar (yep...not flour) onto the counter and begin rolling the dough with a rolling pin. Make sure to add some powdered sugar to your rolling pin and to the top of the dough to prevent it from sticking. (Keep adding a little powdered sugar as needed throughout this process).

Tip #3: I roll out about a third of the dough at a time so that I can carefully gauge the thickness of the dough. I like mine to be on the thick side (about 1/2 inch thick).

*Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes and set them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make sure there is at least 1 inch or so in between each cookie.

*Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes depending on the size of your cookies. As you can see in my pictures, my cookies were extra large (almost as big as the napkin) so I cooked them for 8 minutes.

Tip #4: Do NOT overcook. They may not look done, but they are. 


CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
1 stick softened butter (1/2 cup) Tips #1 and #2 apply
1 brick softened cream cheese (8 oz) Tip #2 applies
Mix butter and and cream cheese until soft, add 2 tsp vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.
Add 4-5 cups powder sugar, one cup at a time, (I use 4 1/2 cups). Beat until smooth. Add your favorite food coloring to tint it your desired color. 

Rosauers Shortbread Cookies

Rosauers Shortbread Cookies
{Courtesy of Melissa K @ A Time For Everything}

1 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cornstarch

Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat at medium speed until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to slow and add the flour and then the cornstarch. Mix until incorporated.

Divide the dough into 4 balls, flatten them into disks, and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 300. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4" thick. Keep lifting the dough, sprinkling with a little more flour if it sticks to the surface. Cut shapes of dough and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Place back in refrigerator to chill, about 15 minutes.

Place cookie sheet in middle of oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until only slightly colored.

Cool completely, glaze, and let the kids go crazy with the sprinkles.

{Notes: Yes, that's a pound of butter. Yes, only 300 degrees. No, I didn't forget to list the eggs.}

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies {supposedly from the granddaughter of the founder}

Lofthouse Cookies:
2 eggs
2 C. sugar
2 C. cream
2/3 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 C. shortening (Lard)
Vanilla to taste
Enough flour to form a soft ball (She told me that the key to making soft, fluffy cookies is to add a lot of flour. But she didn't tell me how much. )

I assume that you just mix all of the ingredients together because there are no special directions listed. Bake at 350º (again no specified time) and the cookies need to stay white.

Icing:
1 pkg. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 can condensed milk (for spreading)
1 tsp shortening
1 tsp butter 

French Baguettes

Click image for image credit

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place 1 cup water, bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start.
2. When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.http://allrecipes.com/Cook/1819125/

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Click Here For Image Credit

Put chicken into the crock pot, with


-chicken broth
-2 whole carrots
-a few stalks of celery
-a whole onion, chopped
-2 tbs parsley
-a bay leaf
-about 4 tablespoons minced garlic {or two to four whole cloves of garlic}
-salt and fresh ground pepper


Let it cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. Then when it's done, strain the broth into a stock pot, shred the chicken into the stock pot, and discard everything else. Add salt and pepper as needed to make it taste better, you can also add more garlic if needed, parsley if needed {since it's been strained out} and any other spices you like, then, bring it to a boil, and add about 4 chopped carrots, 2 or 3 chopped celery stalks, and homemade egg noodles {recipe found below}. Voila! You have the best batch of homemade chicken noodle soup you'll ever eat! :)




Egg Noodles


6 eggs
3 cups flour
itty bitty pinch of salt
splash of milk {not always needed}


Mix the eggs into the flour and salt, by hand works best, but you can use the dough hook on your kitchen aid if you prefer. I don't muck it up for noodles... it's easiest to do it by hand.


If the dough is to dry with the eggs, flour and salt, add a little bit of milk to moisten it up a bit, and knead it, like you do to bread, until it's smooth and not sticky. If you're using it later, put it into a zip lock bag. If you're using it now {or in 10 minutes} let it rest on the floured surface it was just rolled out on.


Roll it out as thin as you possibly can {much easier said than done! It's stretchy!} and then once you have it maybe 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick, cut it into long noodles. They absorb moisture as they cook, so they will be a bit larger when they're finished. 


They only need to boil for a few minutes! About the time when you're ready to cut the noodles, add your carrots and celery to the boiling chicken broth. Then by the time you're done cutting the noodles into strips, you add them, just a few at a time, so they don't stick together, to the boiling chicken broth. It's important you have almost TWICE the amount of broth in your pan, because they will absorb a lot of the broth. Add any salt and pepper if needed, although usually at the end, all I need is pepper in my bowl, and that's because it's my favorite way to eat chicken noodle soup: lots and lots of fresh ground pepper.


We do chicken noodle soup with homemade French bread {or on fast/lazy days, store bought cook-at-home rolls or baguette}. :)

Italian Breaded Pork Chops

Image courtesy of sanzoe

Ingredients

3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 pork chops


Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. In a separate small bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.

Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Remove garlic, reserving for other uses.

Dip each pork chop into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place coated pork chops in the skillet, and brown abut 5 minutes on each side.

Place the skillet and pork chops in the preheated oven, and cook 25 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Sydney's Spaghetti Sauce

Cook about 1 tablespoon minced garlic in 2 tablespoons {make sure it's hot!} olive oil in large sauce pan.

Add to that:

1 tablespoon of butter, one 15 ounce can tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, just under 1 tablespoon italian seasoning, 1 bay leave, 1 tablespoon white sugar, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper. 

Let simmer for a few minutes, stirring every so often. You want it hot and bubbly! :)