basic custard recipe

This one is slightly fiddly, but comes out very well and can be customized in tons of ways. I'm putting in the basic recipe here, but you can get full info on different ways to customize here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09211/987178-107.stm

It can be used as custard for ice cream, or just as custard to go with desserts--I put it in a trifle.

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• Table salt
• 5 large egg yolks

In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup of the cream with the milk, sugar and a pinch of salt. Warm the cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes. (Add time if you're making more than one quart.)

This is where you infuse your choice of flavoring. Cover, remove from heat and let sit one hour. Taste and let sit longer if you want a stronger flavor. If not infusing, proceed with the recipe. (I didn't try infusing.)

Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water. Set a smaller metal bowl (one that holds at least 11/2 quarts) in the ice water. Pour the remaining cup of cream into the inner bowl (this helps the custard cool quicker when you pour it in later. Next time I will prepare the ice bath first, before mixing the custard ingredients. The bowl and cream will have a longer time to chill. Or skip the ice bath altogether if making your custard the night before.) Set a fine strainer on top of inner bowl.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. If you have infused the cream mixture, re-warm it over medium-high heat until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. In a steady stream, pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.

Pour the egg mixture back into the starting pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof cooking spoon or rubber spatula until the custard thickens slightly (it should be thick enough to coat the utensil and hold a line drawn through it with another spoon) -- 4 to 8 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 175 to 180 degrees at this point. Don't let the sauce overheat or boil, or it will curdle. Immediately strain the custard into the cold cream in the ice bath. If using an infusion ingredient, press firmly in the strainer with a spoon or spatula to extract as much flavor as possible. If you want to add melted chocolate and cocoa, do so now. (I italicized that because I managed to skip over that sentence at least 6 times as I was desperately rereading the recipe, trying to figure out when to add the chocolate. And my custard was never very thick, but thick enough to hold a line.)

Cool the custard to below 70 degrees by stirring it over the ice bath. To add a flavor other than chocolate, set it into the cooled custard.

Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours. Then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If using mix-ins, fold them into the just-churned ice cream. Transfer the ice cream to an air-tight container and freeze solid for at least 4 hours.

Yields 1 quart.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

1 TB vegetable oil

2 medium onions, chopped (approx 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups chopped chicken breast

3 cups chicken broth

2 TB chopped fresh cilantro or ½ teaspoon ground coriander

2 TB lime or lemon juice

3 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp dried oregano leaves

1 tsp honey

1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can (15 oz) or 2 cups of great northern beans, drained

1 can (15 oz) or 2 cups butter beans, (or large lima beans) drained

Crushed tortilla chips

Fresh diced tomatoes

Shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)

Sour Cream

1. Heat oil in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat.  Cook onions and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender. Add chicken & cook until done.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes.
3. Serve hot and garnish with corn tortilla chips, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, and sour cream if desired.

I usually double the recipe because it makes great leftovers and freezes well.

Super Yummy Beef Stroganoff

Can you tell it's been cold here? We have been eating this a lot lately, it's really nice on a cold evening. Hearty!

You need decent steak--not super expensive, but not super tough either. We've been using schnitzel steak, but you could use flank or something similar.

3/4 -1 lb steak, cut into strips
1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 medium onion diced
6 TBSP butter
pinch dried oregano or marjoram
1.5 cup sour cream
salt and pepper

Put 3 TBSP butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. Brown beef strips quickly and remove. Do not wipe out the pan. Gently saute onions til clear, then add mushrooms and remaining butter. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add back in beef, spices, and sour cream. Turn to low and simmer until slightly thickened.

This is traditionally served over egg noodles, but I like it best over mashed potatoes.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

This is in no way healthy, but it is quick and easy and people quite like it.

Ingredients:
1 package Devil's Food Cake Mix (Duncan Hines)
1 package Instant Chocolate Pudding (4 oz)
4 Eggs
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup sour cream
12 ounces semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
Confectioner's Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together first six ingredients. (Do NOT make the pudding. Just dump the powder in.) Add the chips at the last moment so they won't get too crushed. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and sprinkle top with confectioner's sugar.

Note:

I recently made this in a gluten-free version, using Betty Crocker (I think) GF Devil's Food Cake Mix. The GF box is a few oz smaller than the regular box, which made the cake lovely and fudgy, and even those of us who didn't need to be GF clamored for more. So if you know someone with celiac, you could be their new best friend!

Healthy-ish Orange Chicken

I found this online somewhere. Andrew and I like it a lot and it doesn't take too long to make. I serve it with plain rice (white or brown or whatever) and steamed broccoli. I tend to use more red pepper than the recipe calls for because I like it spicy. Also, grapefruit zest works just as well as orange zest.

• 1 lb Chicken, Breast
• 1 cup Mandarin Oranges
• 1/3 cup Orange Juice
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Splenda
• 2 tsp Orange Zest
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 3 cloves Garlic Clove

Cut raw chicken into 1" pieces. Garlic should be minced.

Combine orange juice, soy sauce, honey, splenda, orange zest, ginger, cornstarch, and pepper flakes. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 sec. Add chicken and sprinkle it with salt and pepper, as desired. Cook chicken 5 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. Add the juice mixture and mandarin oranges to the pan. Cook until the sauce has thickened, stirring frequently.

Kugel

Apparently this recipe is my entry ticket to the blog, as mandated by Rebecca, so here you go..."kugel" is Yiddish for pudding, but not like Jell-o pudding, more like bread pudding. There are different kinds of kugel - like potato kugel - and many variations of this kugel, which might be called noodle kugel or cheese kugel or dairy kugel, but as far as I'm concerned (and I've tasted a lot of them), my grandmother's is the only one worth the calories :)

Miriam Dean's Noodle Kugel

Makes 24 squares

1 large box of noodles (you want wide egg noodles)
8 oz pkg cream cheese (I recommend Philadelphia)
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
salt
cinnamon
1 c sour cream
1/2 c melted butter
crushed cornflakes
cinnamon
sugar
melted butter

Boil and drain noodles according to package directions. Set aside. In a large bowl combine and beat next 8 ingredients. (So that you don't have to count, that's cream cheese through melted butter.) Add noodles and mix thoroughly. Place in 9x13 pan. Top with mixture of remaining ingredients. Refrigerate overnight before baking or freezing. Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

NOTE: If there isn't an amount in the ingredients, it's because it wasn't listed. Also my mother says she never refrigerates overnight before baking. But I do. You can choose to serve it hot or cold - I prefer cold - no contest! You can also put raisins in it - but I don't know how many, sorry. I guess it depends how much you like raisins...I think I used a cup when I made it in Texas in July. Also, you can cut the sugar a bit. I usually use a cup (I think). Once my mom and I went to a neighbor's house and left my father to make the kugel and when we ate it, I asked him how much sugar he had used, because it clearly wasn't enough...apparently, none. He missed that line in the recipe. Anyway, it was still good, but I don't recommend omitting the sugar entirely. Finally, if you want to make this just for your family and don't actually think it's a good idea to make the whole thing because you're likely to eat the whole thing, you can put it into smaller pans, bake the ones you aren't going to eat yet for 45 minutes, let them cool, freeze them, and then when you want to eat them, defrost them and bake them for 45 minutes. But don't top them with the cornflakes (which are really optional anyway) if you are putting them in the freezer.

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Flax Cookies

I'm always on a mission to find healthy dessert recipes that work and haven't had a lot of luck in the cookie department...until now. I have finally found a whole wheat cookie recipe that works, that my kids love and I do, too.

Ingredients:
¼ cup canola oil
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup oats
1 tsp baking soda

1 cup dry cranberries
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookies sheets with parchment paper or use 2 ungreased cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl whisk together oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients (flour, flax, oats, and baking soda) separately and then combine with wet ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop rounded scoops onto cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.

(yield: approx 24 cookies)