Stroganoff and Lasagna

So, we've been trying a lot of new things from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and love it. We recently made the Crockpot Curried Chicken, the Vegetable Lasagna with Mushrooms and Spinach, and the Beef Stroganoff. The Lasagna and Stroganoff were faboulous and the crockpot chicken (my first crockpot recipe) was pretty good as well. The Stroganoff calls for Filet Mignon, which was a little pricey, but it only calls for a little, so it's not that bad and it was DELICIOUS! A far cry from the very heavy, ground-beef Stroganoff I remember growing up. I've been looking for a long time for a good lasagna recipe, and we loved this one--it calls for fresh basil and the tomato sauce that they have you make is quite tasty. We froze half of it after baking as well and it reheated perfectly---I didn't notice any texture differences. Anyway, if anyone doesn't have that cookbook and would like the recipes, I'm happy to post, but wanted to let you know that they were successes.

Paella

We had a few friends over the other night to make a Paella! We, also, had bunuellos and a platter with crusty bread, fig jam, dates and manchego cheese to keep with our Spanish theme. The Paella was from the "Best International foods" cookbook--the one you should all have. We made it with Chorizo, Shrimp, and chicken and it was lovely. We decided to skip the mussels since they were expensive and a little chewy for our taste. The crust turned out beautifully in the oven. A nice dish and not too complicated to make.

Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

MMmmmmmmm! Just made these tonight from the Martha Stewart Cookie book and they're awesome! Not too banana-y, but nice and tender from the addition of the bananas, and with a little whole wheat flour too. They're fabulous! Enjoy :)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 oz. semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped into 1/4 inch chunks (or semisweet chips)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

2. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, and nuts.

3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined w/ parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 min. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 min. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp up to 2 days.

"Naughty Shelf" Ice Cream

Okay, so I think I finally have ice cream dialed in. I say that because I made up a recipe for coffee (mocha) ice cream last week and it turned out perfect ... or at least close to perfect.

Here 'tis, though I think it works well for just about any flavor. That's the good news: once you get the base right, it's easy to innovate.

whisk together:

1 cup sugar

pinch salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp instant capuccino (that stuff rocks!)

2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp corn starch

whisk in:

2 cups low fat milk (I used 1%)

two egg yolks

Heat it on the stove top til it starts to simmer, whisking it constantly so it doesn't burn. Once it simmers, turn down the heat and cook it for a couple of minutes (continuing to whisk) until it thickens up a bit. If you dip a wooden spoon in it, you should be able to draw a clean line through it with a finger.

Off the heat, add:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp vodka

Chill it over night, and then freeze it in an ice cream freezer based on whatever instructions you'd normally follow. The vodka is optional. In theory, the alcohol prevents ice crystals from forming and gives a creamier consistency, but I've seen mixed results. It seems to help, though not much. I include it here because this successful recipe used it, but you can easily omit it without compromising the final product. I think the secret to this recipe is two-fold: (1) not heating the cream, but adding it off heat, and (2) using two emulsifiers: cornstarch AND egg yolks. I've seen lots of recipes that use one or the other, though the egg varieties typically use a LOT of eggs. Using both has yielded ice cream with some truly extraordinary consistencies: dense and smooth--the way ice cream is meant to be.

Using this same base, I've made really nice cinammon ice cream. A chocolate variation (same basic ingredients though with 8 tsp of cocoa powder and no instant capuccino) is getting getting ready for the freezer as I type this. I DO NOT recommend using chocolate ice cream recipes that call for the addition of melted chocolate, regardless of quality. It really messes with the consistency. So, I'm going with Haagen Daz and trying straight cocoa powder.

Congo Bars

CONGO BARS

Despite their name, Congo bars have nothing at all to do with Africa. In fact, they are little more than blondies enriched with coconut -- an ingredient
that was exotic in years past perhaps but is far from it these days. We tried adding both sweetened, flaked coconut and unsweetened, shredded coconut
to our blondies, and tasters unanimously preferred the unsweetened. Sweetened coconut did little but make the bars overly sweet and unpleasantly
chewy. We were able to extract a bit more flavor from the unsweetened coconut by toasting it golden brown before adding it to the blondie dough. If
you have trouble locating unsweetened shredded coconut, try a natural food store or an Asian market. Keep a close eye on the coconut when toasting as
it can burn quickly.

1 cup pecans (or walnuts), toasted and chopped coarse
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces white chocolate chips (1 cup) or chopped bar, or 3 ounces each white chocolate and semisweet chocolate
chips

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on larged rimmed baking sheet and bake until
deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer nuts to cutting board to cool; chop coarsely and set aside. Toast coconut on same
rimmed baking sheet, stirring 2 to 3 times, until light golden, about 5 to 7 minutes.

2. While nuts and coconut toast, cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking
pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of
baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray
foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber
spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate, coconut, and nuts and turn batter
into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.

5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature.
Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.