Cherry Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream

Adapted from Recipe Diaries

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup chocolate chips

2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 15 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups of fresh cherries, pitted and quartered

DIRECTIONS

In a microwave safe bowl, mix chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Microwave for three 30 second increments, stirring between sessions until chocolate chips have melted, and you have a thick chocolate ganache. Set aside to cool, then crumble.

In a large, chilled bowl, beat with a hand mixer remaining two cups of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks have formed. Add vanilla extract, and continue to beat until stiff peaks have formed. Gently fold in sweetened condensed milk, cherries, and cooled chocolate ganache crumbles.

Freeze in quart sized container of your choice for a minimum of 4 hours, and then serve away!

So, I have never been a fan of cherries that aren't cooked or processed to heck. Maraschino Cherries, Cherry Pie, Cherry Flavor… those are my jam. Regular cherries? Not so much. Then add in the fact that I HATE chocolate chunks/chips/whatever in ice cream, and it makes you wonder why on earth I would ever make a Cherry-Garcia-esque copy cat slash cheater recipe for ice cream. Well, the answer is: we had a bunch of cherries, and I had some heavy cream I needed to get rid of. I decided to make a chocolate ganache to replace the chocolate chunks, because I didn't want to risk breaking my teeth. I am an ice cream chewer. My Grandma Alice really enjoyed this recipe, and I hope that you all will too!

Cranberry Apple Pie

adapted from A Bountiful Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

7 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup fresh cranberries, washed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
dash salt

2 9-inch pie crusts

Egg wash

Sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place rack on bottom third of oven.
Place bottom crust onto 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.
Place apples in large bowl and mix with cranberries. Add rest of filling ingredients and mix well. Fill bottom crust with apple cranberry mixture.

Place other half of dough on top of filling in pie plate. Crimp edges. Make slits on top of pie for steam to escape.

Brush with egg wash if desired, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
Place pie onto foil lined cookie sheet (important, this usually bubbles over a bit.
Bake for about 60 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if pie is getting too brown.
Continue baking for about 10-15 minutes or until pie is bubbly and golden.

Remove from oven and let sit for at least four hours. This will prevent the pie from becoming a gooey mess, and help to keep it's shape when cutting and serving.

Chicken in a Pan

recipe from The Morris Family
INGREDIENTS
5-6 chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup apple juice
1 box stove top stuffing
3/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, mix cream of chicken soup with apple juice until well blended. Set aside.

Layout chicken breasts evenly in a 9x13" baking dish. Top with cheese, and then with soup-juice mixture. Spread the dry stuffing mix evenly over the top, then top with melted butter.

Baked covered with foil at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5-10 minutes longer.

I grew up a home where we never ate casseroles… like, ever. So just the idea of all that cheese, and butter and the cream of whatever soups would gross me out like there is no tomorrow. And it still does, so when my friend, Karli was talking about this recipe, which her family affectionately calls, "Chicken in a Pan" I was thoroughly disgusted by it. Thankfully, Karli is as determined as they come, and let me know that the next time her family has it, I WILL be over for dinner, and if she has to, she WILL forcefully feed me this dish. So when the time came for me to come over, I was hesitant, but from the first bite, the to last bite of my second serving, I was in Mormon-Relief-Society-Arms Heaven. Seriously, this dish is SO good, it has me converted to the gospel of casserole dishes.

Tortilla Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS
1tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, small dice
1 tsp minced garlic
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 23-oz box chicken stock
2 cups water
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can sweet corn
1.5 lbs shredded chicken*
1 16-oz tub of sour cream
Shredded colby-jack cheese
Crushed tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

Sauté diced onion in canola oil over medium high until fragrant, add minced garlic and continue to sauté until onions are translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, and spices. Stir continuously while cooking for at least a minute. Add chicken stock, water, black beans, corn and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil for one minute, then turn heat down allowing soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, add sour cream, and stir until sour cream is fully blended into the soup.
Serve with crushed tortilla chips and colby-jack cheese, and enjoy!

For my shredded chicken, I cooked up some boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a tiny bit of canola oil in the pot I was going to cook the soup in. Threw them into my KitchenAid Stand Mixer with the paddle attachment and shredded the cooked chicken at the #2 setting. Perfectly shredded chicken without having the sit with a couple of forks shredding for forever!

Caramel Popcorn Balls

recipe from Ashlee Marie

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 cup karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
14 cups popped popcorn

DIRECTIONS
Bring the butter, syrup, and sugars to a boil, keep bubbling over med heat until it hits the softball stage (240 degrees - using a candy thermometer).
Add the sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla and boil for one minute.
Pour over the popcorn and stir spread the popcorn out and let it start to cool.
Spray your hands with cooking spray and portion it out into 8 sections and ball up.
Continue to check back and ball and turn until they cool enough that they stay in their ball forms

Milkiest Chocolate Ice Cream

from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home,
Recipe by Jeni Britton Bauer

INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (55% to 70% cocoa)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

DIRECTIONS
Combine 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
Chop the chocolate and place it in a medium bowl.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
Combine the remaining milk, the cream, evaporated milk, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Add the cocoa, whisking until it is incorporated, and continue to boil for 4 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the chocolate. Add the salt and whisk until the chocolate is melted.
Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon resealable plastic freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until the mixture is chilled through, about 30 minutes.
Pour the ice cream base into the ice cream maker and process until thick and creamy per the machine’s instructions.
Pack the ice cream into a resealable container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface of the ice cream, and seal with an airtight lid. Stash it in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home,
Recipe by Jeni Britton Bauer

INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Danger! This is the dry-burn technique. I don't add water to the sugar before putting it on the heat, as some chefs do. Caramelizing sugar dry means it goes faster, but you have to watch it more closely and be ready with your cream. Here is an overview of what you are going to do:

Stand over the pan of sugar with a heatproof spatula ready, but do not touch the sugar until there is a full layer of melted and browning liquid sugar on the bottom with a smaller layer of unmelted white sugar on the top. When the edges of the melted sugar begin to darken, use the spatula to bring them into the center to help melt the unmelted sugar. Continue stirring and pushing the sugar around until it is all melted and evenly amber in color — like an old penny. When little bubbles begin to explode with dark smoke, give the sugar another moment and then remove from the heat. Immediately but slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the cream and corn syrup mixture into the burning-hot sugar. Be careful! It will pop and spit! Stir until it is incorporated, then add a bit more cream and stir, then continue until it is all in.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color (see note above). Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: It will fizzle, pop, and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If any caramel flecks remain, pour the mixture through a sieve.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.

Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.