The Great Shake 2012 ~ Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes by Adam Ried

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I am participating in The Great Shake 2012 along with several other bloggers.   I was contacted by Judy and she asked if I would like to participate and I jumped at the chance.  She sent me a copy of Adam’s book, Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes.  You may recognize Adam from American’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, or as a columnist for The Boston Globe.

I LOVE this book!  There are so many wonderful recipes that it was difficult for me to choose.  My daughter and her husband happened to be here when I was trying to decide and between them and Mr. Meat Eater we went for….vanilla milkshakes.  We will never be accused of being trend setters.  BUT ~ this vanilla milkshake was the best one I have had in years and years.  I am looking forward to trying some of the others over the summer and I will blog about them when I do.

You NEED a copy of this cookbook if you are a lover of milkshakes!!!  Be sure to join us in a twitter chat tonight at 8 pm at #GreatShakes!

Ballistic Vanilla Shake
Recipe Courtesy of Adam Ried, Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes

1/2 cup cold milk, whole or lowfat ~ I used 2%
2 tsps vanilla extract ~ use pure vanilla
8 medium scoops French vanilla ice cream, softened slightly

Place the milk, vanilla, and ice cream in a blender and pulse several times to break up the ice cream. With the blender off, use a rubber spatula to mash the ice cream down into the blender blades. Continue pulsing and mashing the ice cream into the blades (with the motor off) until all the ingredients are well blended and the mixture moves easily in the blender making sure all is well blended.

Pour into a glass or glasses and serve at once.

Happy Cooking!

Super Bowl Sundaes

This recipe for hot fudge sauce is probably the BEST I have ever eaten.  It’s easy to make and it can be made ahead so you are not standing over the stove at the last minute.  The recipe came from Epicurious originally.

Hot Fudge Sauce

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of chocolate to a boil in a 1 to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted.

Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, then remove from heat.

Add butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate and stir until smooth.

Cool sauce to warm before serving. You can put the saice in the fridge at this point and then reheat in the microwave when it’s time to serve. I think this sauce would be fine in the freezer for at least a week.

Makes about 2 cups sauce.

Happy Cooking!

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream and Grilled Chicken Wings

What a combo ~ right?

I found some gorgeous cherries at the grocery yesterday and decided to make the Cherry Garcia Ice Cream on The Farmer’s Wife Blog and it is delicious! I could not find cherry extract so I left that out and I added my chocolate chips with the cherries. You HAVE to try this one!

Before we had the ice cream, I made horseradish glazed chicken wings on the grill. I was a little iffy about these because of the heat factor ~ I can’t always tolerate spicy foods but I knew DH would love them so I made them anyway. I cheated a little and just put barbecue sauce on a couple in case I couldn’t eat the others. I was pleasantly surprised because while they did pack some heat, it was not overpowering and very flavorful. There was no afterburn either. These are definitely going into my party cookbook. The original recipe came from a book called Championship Barbecue.

Horseradish Glazed Grilled Chicken Wings

2 tbsps garlic salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsps apple cider vinegar
2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
2 tsps freshly ground black pepper
4 lbs. chicken wings

Combine all the ingredients except the wings in a small pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When it comes to a boil, remove from heat and set aside.

Place wings over a medium-hot grill and grill for about 15 minutes. Turn, and begin basting with the sauce every 10 minutes for about another 20 minutes or until the chicken is nicely glazed on both sides, cooked through and no pink remains.

Serves 6-8

Happy Cooking!

Grilled Pineapple with Vanilla Cinnamon Ice Cream

We lived in Hawaii for a few years and the pineapples were out of this world ~ and very inexpensive, too. They made ice cream out of pineapples (Dole whip for those of you who have had it) that I still think about (the Dole whips at Disney World do not do the whips in Hawaii justice). Anyway, every time I have pineapple, I think about Hawaii. I use lots of pineapple in my kitchen and am always looking for new ways to use it.

This dessert is really good after a heavy barbecue meal. Grilling the pineapple really seems to bring out the sweetness to me. Since the ice cream starts with storebought, it’s easy as well which everyone knows I love. The original recipe came from Coastal Living. This is an old picture and I’ll add a new one when I make it again.

Grilled Pineapple with Vanilla Cinnamon Ice Cream

Pineapple:
1 fresh pineapple
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Vanilla Cinnamon Ice Cream:
1 quart vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pineapple:
Peel pineapple, remove and discard pineapple core. Cut pineapple into halves lengthwise. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger and rub evenly over pineapple. Heat grill to medium-high. Place pineapple on grill. Grill, covered with lid, 5 to 7 minutes on each side. Remove from grill, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Serve with vanilla cinnamon ice cream.

Ice cream:
Stir together all ingredients. Freeze 1 hour.

Happy Cooking!