Rich, Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

After baking angel food cake, I had a bowl full of yolks that were begging to be made into some rich and creamy ice cream. When I buy ice cream at the store I usually opt for the 'double churned' and 'half-the-fat' type of versions... but for a special treat (and for the fun of making it) I am going to make the fully-leaded, real deal stuff. I make this ice cream just a couple times a year because 1) it's not a low fat treat, and 2) I don't typically reserve this many yolks at a time.


My sister-in-law, Ashley, was the first to start making ice cream in our family. Hers was so good, that both my sister and I went out and bought ice cream churners so that we could start making home made ice cream too! I was in college at the time and I had a ton of fun playing around with different flavors: cookies 'n cream, mint chip, espresso, toasted coconut, peanut butter cup, rocky road... and they all use this same vanilla base. This original base recipe came from Alton Brown, but I gotta give Ashley the credit for doing the grunt work in finding this killer recipe.


Ice Cream recipe (makes about 1 1/2 quarts (i.e. 6 cups)):
3 cups Half & Half
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 1/8 cups Sugar
8 egg Yolks
2 tsp Vanilla

First, combine the half & half and the heavy cream in a large pot over medium heat. Let this simmer and thicken for about 15 minutes.

While the creamy-mixture is simmering on the stove, whip together the egg yolks and the sugar until it is a pastel yellow color, and smooth & 'ribbony' when you drizzles from the lifted whisk.

Slowly temper the egg mixture by adding 1 cup of the hot cream at a time stirring together well in between each added cup. Otherwise the eggs will cook up/scramble if you add in all the hot cream at once.

The tempered egg-cream base will look like this:

Then pour it all back into the same pot:

And bring it up to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Do this for about 30 minutes or so until this base thickens; eventually you should be able to leave a finger streak on the spoon and it will stay there :)

Finger streak after about 10 minutes (not quite prominent enough yet):

Finger streak after about 20 minutes (this is okay, and you could stop here, but I decided to keep mine going):

Finger streak after about 30 minutes or so (finger streak is very nice and prominent and the ice cream base is nice and thick, almost custard-like:

**See how mine looks like it is starting to clump up a bit, this is because I was impatient and I turned up the heat on mine. Don't do this. It's actually fine and it will still churn into smooth ice cream, but you will get a smoother custard if you let it simmer low and slow.

Pour your finished ice cream base into a bowl and stir in the vanilla. Cover this bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight so that it can completely cool before it is churned.

I keep my freezer bowls stored in double bags so that no freezer burn or frost gets in the bowl and into my ice cream.

Assemble your ice cream machine with the frozen freezer bowl:

Turn on your machine and carefully pour your ice cream into the opening in the top of the machine.

Watch your ice cream churn and transform from a fluid base...

...to a thicker cream...

...to a 'soft serve' consistency (and it starts to expand above the level of the freezer bowl since churning it adds volume to the ice cream :)

Turn off the machine, and remove the churning paddle (be sure to get all that ice cream off of it :)

Scoop out all the ice cream with either a wooden or rubber utensil (metal utensils will scratch and ruin your freezer bowl). You can enjoy your ice cream now as soft serve...

Or freeze it until it becomes the consistency of the real deal stuff :)

We enjoyed ours over some warm brownies...mmmmm!!!!

Comforting Southern Jambalaya

This past week was 'Mardi Gras'! Mardi Gras is a large festivity in southern culture; it is a time for celebration and feasting on fatty and rich foods before it is all given up for lent. I found it as a fun excuse to make a southern dish and celebrate with a dinner party, even though I do not practice lent, nor are there any Mardi Gras parades or celebrations in Orange County :) 

Jambalaya is traditionally a spicy cajun dish made up of chicken, andouille sausage, and shrimp cooked in a pot with rice and the 'trinity' vegetables (bell peppers, onions, and celery).  My version of jambalaya is sans shrimp, but you could easily add it in (I will note in the recipe where to add it in if you wish to do so). In addition to this, though Mardi Gras is about fattening feasts, my version of Jambalaya is not such a 'fatty' one. I opted for fat free, low sodium chicken broth and a lean turkey sausage. I wanted to enjoy the rich flavor of southern comfort foods, but without all the fat. This jambalaya is fun, filling, and packed full of flavor!

Shopping List (for 4 large servings):

• 1 lb spicy Sausage (I used a lean Turkey 'Hot Italian sausage', but you could go for the more traditional Andouille pork sausage or any other sausage you wish)
• 8 Chicken cutlets (2 per person, so add accordingly if you are cooking for more)
• ground Black Pepper, to season chicken
• 1 large Bell Pepper, diced (it traditionally uses green, but I used red because it's sweeter and I like the sweet contrast in my spicy dishes-- you can use whichever you like)
• 1/2 large Yellow or White Onion, diced
• 2 or 3 large Celery stalks, sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced Garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 cups long grain Rice (I used white, you can certainly use brown)
• Grape Seed Oil, for browning and sauteeing (I like to use grape seed oil because it has a higher flash point and it is almost flavorless in comparison to olive oil, but you can use any oil you prefer)
• ***Optional: peeled shrimp, additional cayenne or red pepper flakes for more spice.

If your sausages are precooked, then you can just slice them and skip this step. If your sausages are raw, then heat some oil in your pot to brown the sausages and allow them to cook through so that you can slice them.

Add more oil into your pot and heat it up so you can continue to brown your sliced sausage.

Once your sausage medallions are browned, remove from pot, add more oil, season your chicken with black pepper, and brown the chicken in the same pot. (they will pick up some of that nice spicy flavor that the sausages left behind).

Once your chicken is all browned on both sides, remove from pot and add all your diced 'trinity' veggies. Let them saute together over medium-low heat for a few good minutes until they are sweet, soft, and translucent:

After your veggies are all done, add in the can of diced tomatoes, the minced garlic, and the cayenne pepper. Give it a good stir so that all the flavors are mixed together :)

Then add the sausage and the chicken back into the pot:

Add your 2 cups of rice, and 4 cups of chicken broth:

Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then fit tightly with a lid, turn the heat to LOW, and let it cook covered for about 20 minutes (If you wish to add shrimp, add it into the pot here during the last 10 or the 20 minutes that the rice is cooking). Then turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes with the lid ON so that the rice can complete cooking and soaking up all the yummy flavors.

After your rice is done, remove the lid and look at the beautiful, bright, and flavorful dish that you have made! 

In addition to super easy cleanup, one of the benefits of a 'one pot meal' is that none of the flavors are lost; all the flavor stays in the same pot and seasons the whole dish! The spicy sausage that was browned in the beginning successfully shared its sesonings with everything else added into the pot after it, and then the rice got to soak up all the yummy flavors while it cooked :) Hardly any additional seasoning was even necessary.

Stir it together and plate up a big yummy serving! 

Beef Bourguignon

Boeuf Bourguignon was made well known in America by the famous Julia Child. It is a comforting, warm, meaty stew whose French name translates in English to "Beef Burgundy", but is most commonly known as 'Beef Bourguignon' (half English, half French). As the name hints, the beef braises in red wine (the 'burgundy' from the Burgundy region of France) over an extended period of time. This cooking method tenderizes the meat so much that it is possible to use a very cheap, tough cut of meat that would otherwise be undesirable. Because this beef stew worked so well with cheaper cuts of meat, it was classically the "poor man's" stew in France. Now it is just a great hearty meal; perfect for a chilly day when you want to come home and make the house smell warm and yummy and fill your tummy!


Shopping List (for 3 servings)

• 1 lb raw Beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 large Yellow Onion, roughly sliced (or a large handful of pearl onions)
• 3 large Carrots, sliced into medallions
• 3 small Potatoes, cubed (or mushrooms)
• 1 teaspoon of minced Garlic
• 2 cups Beef Broth
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 1 can Green Beans, drained (or peas)
• 2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
• Seasonings of your choice: I just used black pepper and a couple sprigs of fresh thyme, and it was very flavorful, but you can add any seasonings you like; some other traditional bourguignon herbs are parsley and bay leaves.

(no added salt necessary as beef broth is already salty)

Typically, beef bourguignon starts by browning bacon and then sauteing the beef cubes in the rendered bacon fat. However, I have (obviously) skipped the bacon fat step. Instead, start by heating a tablespoon or so of oil in a wide dutch oven. When it is very hot (almost smoking), add your cubes of beef, and brown on all sides.
**Note, your oil needs to be very hot before you add the meat so that you can sear and brown the outsides and keep moisture inside that will cook tenderly as it braises in the stew later.

Add the beef broth, wine, minced garlic, and herbs/seasonings. Stir well. 

Bring to a boil, place lid tightly on pan, then turn heat to LOW. 

Let it simmer, covered and over LOW heat for 1 hour:

After 1 hour, you will have a thick, rich, flavorful base for your stew. Add your carrots, onions, and potatoes at this time:

Cover again, and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or so (until your veggies are tender):

After your root veggies have simmered and softened, add the green beans for about 5 minutes (until they are heated through):

Mix corn starch into 2 tablespoons of water and whisk into a clearing of the stew broth. Carefully stir stew all together and let it simmer for about 5 minutes so that the broth may thicken a bit.

Beautiful! And it smells SO good too!

Serve with warm crusty bread

...and ENJOY this filling, tender, warming GOODNESS!

Alterations: You can use... 

• Pearl onions instead of sliced onions
• Peas instead of green beans
• Mushrooms as an additional veggie
• Whatever else you like! -Comment below to share your ideas :)