Category — Kitchen Brands

Ice cream is a must with pumpkin pie, if I do say so.  Try this cinnamon ice cream recipe from Pure & Yummy–it would be the perfect pie accompaniment!

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Here is Yummy & Pure‘s recipe for Cinnamon Ice Cream with product suggestions by me!

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
Ten 3″ cinnamon sticks, broken up
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the cream on a medium saucepan (try the Revere 2-qt Covered Saucepan). Once warm, cover and remove from heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Rewarm the cinnamon infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and discard them. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl, whisk in the ground cinnamon (optional) and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly (try this Williams Sonoma 10″ Flat Whisk) , then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer and into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

A chicken casserole is an easy, breezy dish to throw into the oven when you don’t want to stand in the kitchen chopping, stirring and watching. This Mexican Chicken Casserole recipe is easy, delicious and super comforting!

image and recipe via How To: Simplify, suggestions by me!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 can chopped green chiles, divided
• 1 fully cooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounces) jar enchilada sauce
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• Handful of crushed tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour broth and 1 can of chiles in a saute pan and bring to a boil ( I like this Calphalon Non-Stick Saute Pan). Add shredded chicken; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove chicken from the liquid. Leave the cooking liquid in the pan.
3. Heat oil in a separate skillet and add 1 can of chiles and onion. Saute for 2 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add chopped garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute.
4. Add onion, chiles and garlic mixture into the saute pan filled with the reserve cooking liquid. Add evaporated milk, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and enchilada sauce. Cook for two minutes.
5. Stir in shredded chicken and cook for 2 minutes then remove from heat.
6. Place 4 tortillas in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray (try this Le Creuset Casserole Dish).
7. Spoon 2 cups (try this triple pour measuring cup from Crate & Barrel) of chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with the chicken mixture.
8. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips over the top and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Serve warm.

So the problem still stands–my oven is nonexistent, and the infomercial for the Euro Toaster Oven was playing one sleepless night. Look! The Euro Toaster Oven can bake muffins (or keep them warm).

Euro Toaster Oven

Apparently, the Euro Toaster Oven hold up to 6 slices of toast. If you have a large family and the piddly 2-slice toaster wont do–this might be a better option. And who can say no to pizzas!

Euro Toaster Oven TO251

Sometimes, when it’s cold out, and you have no appetite and you’re just sick and tired of eating, eating, eating, soup can pass as a meal…especially split pea soup.  It seems I’m on a roll with soup these days! This recipe for hearty Split Pea Soup from 101 cookbooks is perfection.

Recipe below from 101 cookbooks with suggestions by me:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (try this Dean & Deluca Porcini Sea Salt for extra oomph!)
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
5 cups water
juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)

a few pinches of smoked paprika
more olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside (Vollrath Wear-Ever 64 Oz. Aluminum Transfer Ladle).

Cuisinart® SmartStick® Hand Blender

Crate & Barrel

$49.95

Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot (Cuisinart® SmartStick® Hand Blender) . Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree – you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Serves 4 to 6.

It’s the holiday season… you know what that means… Turkey Time!  My family is really small–there are just three of us, so it never makes sense to make a large turkey, but we do need something substantial to remind us that it is the holiday season!  These Turkey Meatloaf Muffins from blogger, For the Love of Cooking are perfection!

Find the recipe here.  Some items you may need before you get started:

1. Skillet like this Le Creuset Cast Iron 12-Inch Skillet.

2. Muffin tray like this Faberware Muffin Pan

3. Ice cream scoop like this Crate & Barrel Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop

There are so many uses for microplanes–grating anything from garlic, fruit peels for zest, cheese and even chocolate for dessert!  Here are some of my favorites:

Microplane ® Grater-Zester

Crate & Barrel

$15.95

Microplane Premium Spice Grater, 9

Sur La Table

$10.00

Microplane Rotary Grater

Target.com

$19.95

My cousin just got married over the weekend, and it was perfect! It also got me thinking about really beautiful wedding china:

Vera Wang for Wedgwood “With Love” Toasting Flute, Pair

Kate Spade “Darling Point” 2-Piece Dessert Set

Lauren by Ralph Lauren “Hewitt Platinum” 14″ Oval Platter

If I buy a hanging wire kitchen rack, then I need to  buy all new pots and pans because they’re currently hiding in my cupboards… it would be the perfect excuse…

Brought to you by

hanging wire kitchen rack at Beso.com

Blogger, Everybody Likes Sandwiches put up a recipe for Apple & Sour Cherry Pie with crumb topping and I just about licked the computer screen. So beautiful, earthy, and screams autumn.

Here is Everybody Likes Sandwiches‘ recipe with kitchen recommendations by me!

apple & sour cherry pie with crumble topping

pie crust:
(crust adapted from Simply Recipes)
2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 t salt
2 T sugar
3/4 c unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1/2 c all-vegetable shortening
6-8 T ice water (Tovolo Perfect Cube Ice Cube Trays)

filling:
3 apples, peeled & sliced (Peel Away Apple Peeler)
2 c sour cherries
1 T rum
1/2 c sugar
2 T flour
2 t ground cinnamon
large pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves

crumble topping:
1/4 c flour
1/4 c oatmeal
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
3 T cold butter, cubed

1. Combine the flour, salt & sugar in a large bowl and give everything a good stir with a whisk. Add in the butter and use your fingers to break it down into a coarse oat-looking concoction – the largest butter lumps should be the size of small small peas. Add one tablespoon of water at a time, using a wooden spoon to start to gather the mixture into dough. Stop at 6 tablespoons (Williams-Sonoma Collapsible Measuring Cups and Spoons). Use your hands to create a ball. Too dry? Add one more tablespoon and try again. You don’t want the dough to be sticky or wet. It should be fairly dry but should hold together. Divide dough into 2 equal sized balls and wrap each ball of dough in parchment paper or plastic wrap. Flatten each dough ball with your palm into a 4 inch disc and refrigerate 2 hours. You’ll only need 1 pie dough circle for this recipe. You can use the other remaining pie dough to create another pie or freeze a well-wrapped dough for up to 3 months.

2. Preheat oven to 400F.

3. Place one chilled dough disc onto a very lightly floured silpat mat or piece of parchment paper. Place another silpat mat or parchment over top and roll out your dough. No need to flour your rolling pin (Sur La Table Rolling Pin) since your pin won’t touch the dough. When the dough is about 1.5-2 inches wider than your 9″ pie plate, stop rolling. Remove the top layer of parchment/silpat and gently grab the bottom layer and place into pie plate so that the dough is roughly centered. Remove the remaining paper/silpat and tap the dough into place

4. Using the end of a butter knife (Charlemagne Butter Knife) , create a decorative edge using 2 fingers pointing inwards to the pie and the knife end pointing out in between your 2 fingers. This creates a scalloped edge. You may have to trim your edges and patch up any tears with the remaining scraps. Or you can crimp with a fork. Place pie dough in the fridge. Phew! That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now let’s get started with the filling!

5. In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients, giving everything a good stir. Set aside.

6. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour to the cinnamon. Cut in the butter cubes and use your hands to blend the butter into the dry mixture. Create nice sized crumbs. If the mixture is too greasy, add in more flour. If it’s too dry, cut in some more butter. Set aside.

7. Remove chilled pie crust from the fridge and add in the apple/sour cherry filling. Lightly pack topping over the filling and place pie on a baking sheet covered with silpat or parchment. Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 35 minutes – cover the crust edges with foil if necessary to prevent over-browning. Reduce oven temperature to 350F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly on the edges, about 25-35 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream.

The best inventions are the ones that make my life easier.

No more smacking jar lids with the blunt edge of a knife? I’m sold!

Target One Touch Jar Opener

No more peeling apples so slowly that they brown before I finish? I’m sold!

Essential Apple Peeler

A perfectly poached egg every time? I’m sold!

Silicone Egg Poachers (Set of 6)

Does this make me lazy?