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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Blueberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate

A couple days ago I received a message from Facebook letting me know that fans of my Bake It and Make It With Beth page wanted to hear from me. I'm sorry to all the people (and I know there are so many of you) I have disappointed by not posting in so long, and I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me! The email from Facebook made me realized that it had been 3 weeks since I had posted a new recipe on the blog. Wow, time sure flies.

Things have been busy as usual. I started two summer classes in early June, little Wendy is taking less naps during the day, and the home renovations are still a work in progress. Wendy is so much fun these days. She is laughing up a storm and talking a lot, and I wish I knew what she was saying! Greg is convinced that she was saying "I love you" to us the other night. I'm pretty sure she was saying "oooh oooh ahh," but I pretended that I believed she was saying it too, just to humor him.

Even though I haven't posted in awhile,  I am still doing lots of cooking. I've been cooking a lot of my old favorites and a couple of new things too. This ice cream is a new favorite in our house. I made it for the first time when Greg's parents came to visit in May. I've made it a couple times since then and I will most likely make it again very soon. Since blueberries are in season they taste wonderful and they aren't too expensive. You'll love the sweetness of the blueberry and the richness of the dark chocolate in this delicious summer-time treat. Enjoy!

Recipe for Blueberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate 

INGREDIENTS:
4 ounce bar of semisweet chocolate, such as Ghirardelli
1 pint of fresh blueberries
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar
1/16 tsp. of salt
1 1/4 cup of whole milk
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Break the chocolate up into squares and put into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until chocolate is chopped into desired sized pieces (not too finely so that it is a powder, but not too chunky). Put chocolate into a sealed container and set aside.

Put the blueberries, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Then reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes.
Put the milk and cream into a large metal bowl. Add in the cooled blueberry mixture and stir well. Cover the bowl and put into the fridge for at least 4 hours or put into the freezer for 30 minutes. After chilling, stir the lemon juice into the ice cream mixture. Make the ice cream according to ice cream maker manufacturer directions. Add in the dark chocolate pieces about 5 minutes before the ice cream is done. For soft ice cream, serve immediately. Put into a sealed container and store in the freezer for a couple hours before serving for harder ice cream.

Recipe makes approximately 8 servings. 

Recipe Adapted from: Driscoll's 

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Delicious Cauliflower Burgers (that don't taste like cauliflower)!

Cauliflower burgers - you never knew that cauliflower could taste SO good! 
Yeah, so I know what you are thinking. Cauliflower...in a burger? Yes, it's a thing and it's a totally awesome thing. I came across the recipe for cauliflower fritters on the vegetarian food blog Oh My Veggies. This recipe is an adaptation of those fritters. I was a little skeptical of it but I thought it was worth a shot after reading all of the glowing comments from readers who had already tried the recipe. I am so happy I tried them!  I've made them twice in the past couple weeks and bought another head of cauliflower the other day so I can make them again this weekend. Greg was definitely skeptical too when I told him that there was cauliflower in the burgers I was making. He has never liked cauliflower before, and after eating a couple of the burgers, he said that he never knew that cauliflower could taste so good! I agree. I have never been a huge fan of cauliflower either and I am now looking forward to trying more fun recipes with cauliflower!  These burgers are easy to make and take about 1 hour or less from start to finish. They are a great vegetarian meal where nobody will miss the meat. Don't forget to add the spicy mayo! Enjoy.

Recipe for Delicious Cauliflower Burgers
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of baby carrots, chopped into matchstick sized pieces
2 cups of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. of kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. of Panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. of finely grated Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup of Italian parsley leaves, stems removed and torn
Olive oil or olive- canola oil blend, for frying

Fixings: 
Spicy Mayo: In a small bowl, mix together 4 Tbsp. of mayonnaise, freshly ground black pepper, 1/8 tsp. of garlic powder, and a couple pinches of cayenne pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
6 Lightly Toasted Buns
Baby Spinach Leaves

DIRECTIONS:
Bring a pot with 4 cups of water to a boil and add in the chopped carrots and cauliflower. Cook for 4 minutes. Drain well. Transfer vegetables to a cutting board and chop more finely (it doesn't have to be perfect, you can have some bigger pieces and some smaller pieces)! Gather vegetables in paper towel and press down try to get out as much excess water as possible. Transfer to a large bowl. Add in the flour and stir well to coat. Add in the garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, Panko bread crumbs, grated cheese, egg, and parsley leaves and gently mix until ingredients are well incorporated.

Heat 1 - 2 Tbsp. of oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop up mixture and then tap it onto the saute pan. Press down with a spatula to shape into a patty. Cook for about 3 - 4 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Carefully flip and cook the other side until it is browned. Transfer to a plate. Continue this process until there is no more batter left. Then sprinkle each one with salt and pepper. If desired, place patties on a baking pan and heat in the oven at 225 degrees for a couple minutes while the buns are toasting, just to warm them back up a little.

Toast the buns lightly in a toaster oven. Put mayo on each side of the bun, add on the patty and a few spinach leaves. Serve with your favorite sides. We served them with baked beans and potato chips!

Recipe Adapted from: Oh My Veggies

Recipe makes 6 burgers (unless you nibble a bunch on the burgers while making them...)