Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

Simple vanilla ice cream. No fancy stuff. Good, though.

• 1 cup whole milk, well chilled
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk milk & sugar until sugar is dissolved. Then, stir in the heavy cream and vanilla (I always add more vanilla).

Turn on your ice cream machine and run that joint. Usually takes about 25 minutes.

Creme Brulee

It's everyone's favorite thing to get at a fancy restaurant, but you can do this at home with very little effort. You just need the equipment. Namely, ramekins & a torch. You can buy a set of ramekins for like $5. Really. As for the torch, save yourself the trouble and skip buying a kitchen torch. Mine runs out of butane so fast that it really takes the fun out of it. Alton Brown suggests just using a regular blowtorch. I concur. The process is exactly the same. You don't need a kitchen one. Now, to buy a blowtorch...

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp plus 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use good vanilla, it will make a difference)

Preheat oven to 300 & prepare some boiling water.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and 2 tbsp sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles appear around edges of the pan, 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and vanilla until smooth & light. Pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended. The instructions said to strain it through a sieve at this point but I did not. It's your call.

Next, divide among 4 ramekins & arrange them in a baking pan & fill pan with boiling water to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with foil and place on the middle shelf of your preheated oven.

Bake until the custard is just set, about 25 minutes. Then chill them in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

When you're ready to serve, take them out of the fridge, and sprinkle each with sugar evenly over the top. You really don't need that much.

With a torch, move the flame over the ramekins in a circular motion until sugar melts & becomes golden brown & bubbly.

Shallot Butter

Random, I know. But this can go on so many things so I wanted to share it. Also you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. You may drizzle it over steak, try mixing it with rice or serve it with lobster instead of regular drawn butter.

• 1.5 cups butter (you can use less, I did)
• 1 cup shallots, finely chopped (about 6oz)

Combine butter & shallots in a small saucepan.

Stir over low heat until the butter melts.

Season with salt & pepper.

That's it! Like I said, make it a day ahead and pop it in the fridge. When you're ready to use it, just stir over low heat until butter melts. You can also add basil or marjoram or any herb you like, re-chill it in the fridge and slice it up cold and add to finish a dish.

Apple Sausage with Roasted Seasoned Vegetables

Made this up one day trying to use up some leftover veggies and a couple of random sausages. Turned out great. Would work for any kind of sausage, and any veggies. Just drizzle with oil & bake. You could also leave the meat out for a nice veggie dish.

• 1 package chicken apple sausage (or other variety)
• tomatoes, cut into large chunks
• zucchini, cut into large chunks
• yellow squash, cut into large chunks
• sweet onions (used vidalia), also in large chunks
• spring onions, chopped
• 1 head garlic
• olive oil
• parsley (fresh or dried)
• italian seasoning
• crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Peel all garlic.

Line a casserole dish with foil.

Put peeled garlic in the dish, drizzle with olive oil roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.

While garlic is roasting, chop veggies and meat in same size chunks.

Once garlic is roasted a bit, add everything else to the dish/pan/whatever, sprinkle herbs and spices (try whatever ones you like), drizzle olive oil.

Pull the foil tight and roll it shut at the top so steam can't get out.

Bake 25 minutes covered, then 10-15 minutes uncovered.

Hamantaschen

Purim is coming up in a month or so - why not celebrate with these traditional jewish cookies? They're delicious! This is my mom's recipe and it uses prunes. You do not have to. Hamantaschen filling can be anything from fruit to chocolate to other fun stuff so try some variations!

Dough:

• 3.5 - 4 cups sifted flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla

Filling:

• 1/2 lb solo brand prune filling
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp honey

Blend the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add them to the mixture. Mix well.

The dough should be soft. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, mix together all the ingredients for the filling. Cut the dough into half or into thirds.

Roll each piece into a sheet about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into circles about three inches in diameter. A large cup or glass can be used to shape the circles.

Place a rounded tablespoonful of filling into the center of each circle. Bring parts of the circle up to form a triangle, leaving a bit of the filling showing:

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes or until delicately browned.


Makes about 3 dozen. My mom made these:

Quick & Fancy: Shrimp Sauteed in Truffle Oil

Made this up. You can throw it together in 5 minutes, even using frozen shrimp from the freezer!

• medium/large shrimp, butterflied
• truffle oil (they have it everywhere now. It's expensive but lasts a really long time!)
• parsley flakes
• butter
• lemon juice
• black pepper
• salt

Heat butter in pan over medium heat and then add shrimp.

As shrimp begins to finish (they'll curl up a bit), then add the truffle oil.

When the corners of the shrimp begin to brown, you're done. Toss the parsley flakes in, squeeze lemon juice over the top, salt & pepper to taste, and stir to combine.

Goes great over pasta or potatoes, garnished with chives.

Oven-Braised Beef with Tomato Sauce & Garlic

This recipe is perfect for beginners. If you've never cooked in your life, you can do this. It always comes out beautifully and is a real crowd-pleaser during the winter months.

• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 boneless chuck roast (3 to 3.5 lbs). Note: the type of roast makes a big difference. You need a roast that isn't too lean. Look for one with some fat on it and again, it should really be chuck.
• 2 heads garlic, peeled, but leave the cloves whole
• 1/2 yellow onion, or a handful of pearl onions (Trader Joe's has bags of tri-colored pearl onions for $2 or so)
• 2 bay leaves
• dried rosemary
• dried thyme
• lemon pepper
• you can add any herbs you like, sometimes I also include parsley, basil and oregano

Preheat oven to 300.

Coarsely chop tomatoes.

Put roast in casserole dish with lid.

Pour tomatoes over roast.

Sprinkle meat with herbs & spices (depending on how much you want in there. I think I used about a tbsp of each but I always overdo things...).

Scatter garlic & onions around the roast, and hit it with a little salt & pepper.

Braise covered until fork tender. Takes about 4 hours.