Year: 2011

Peanut Butter Fudge Ice Cream Pie

Dont forget to enter our Ella’s Kitchen Giveway to win an assortment of gourmet baby food pouches! See this post for more info.

I almost dont want to give this recipe away, it’s that easy! Whenever I serve it for dessert, my guests always seem to think I’ve patchked for hours making gourmet fudge. But the secret is out. This “fake-it-gourmet” ice cream pie is as easy as, well, pie :) If you like peanut butter, you’re in for a real treat!

Since the fudge topping is super rich, I like to use Double Rainbow Vanilla Bean Ice Cream as the filling. I’ve also used their cookie dough ice cream, as well as others. I find that simple vanilla is the best way to go, but if you really want to indulge, you can also use chocolate. To really up the ante on this recipe, use dairy ice cream, but if you are serving it after a fleishig meal, I recommend So Delicious or Double Rainbow ice creams.

I use chopped viennese crunch for this recipe, but feel free to use any topping you’d like. Sprinkles, toasted coconut, chocolate or peanut butter chips and nut crunch or brittle are all good choices.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

1 graham cracker crust
1 pint Double Rainbow Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, softened
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
1/3 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
1/3 cup peanut butter
5 viennese crunch chocolates, chopped

Method:

Spread softened ice cream into crust and freeze until firm. Mix chocolate syrup, corn syrup and peanut butter and pour over pie. Top with chopped viennese crunch. Serve with strawberries.

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Honey Roasted Figs


Fig season is in full swing, but you don’t have to save them for the shehechiyanu tray on your Rosh Hashana table. While dried figs are available year-round, there is nothing like the taste and texture of fresh figs – sweet, chewy, with crunchy seeds in the center. Figs are rich in fiber and potassium and range in color and taste. Popular varieties include black mission and calimyrna. My local produce market had brown turkey figs, a mildly sweet variety, on hand and I knew just how I wanted to make them!

Roasting fruit concentrates its flavors for a richer, sweeter taste. A drizzle of honey and a pinch of sea salt, takes it over the top for a mouthful of sweet summer goodness in each bite.

Figs pair really well with tangy fresh cheese or yogurt. You can stuff them with goat cheese, spoon them over yogurt or farmers cheese, or top off an ice cream scoop with their chewy goodness.

Honey Roasted Figs

Fresh figs
Honey
Sea salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently wash figs and pat dry. Remove stem and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a pan, flesh side up, and drizzle generously with honey. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and roast for 15-20 minutes, until edges start to brown.

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Simple Jeweled Rice

My mom has been making this yummy rice for years. I had no idea that it was a version of Persian jeweled rice, but once I learned of the traditional Persian food, I realized that it’s the absolute perfect name for this recipe. Bejeweled with sweet and delicious dried fruits, this rice turns a simple side dish into a meal fit for a king!

I don’t even want to bring up Rosh Hashana because I cannot believe that it’s almost here. Where did the whole summer go?! But, sans the nuts, I do have to say that this would make a beautiful accompaniment to your yom tov seudah. Just thinking about sweet tzimmis and honey cake is making me pine for the sweet New Year. It’s just around the bend!

Simple Jeweled Rice

2 cups white rice, cooked according to package directions (I prefer Basmati)
1 medium onion, sliced into thin half-circles
1/2 cup pitted prunes (roughly chopped, if desired)
1/3 cup plump golden raisins or currants
1/4 cup pine nuts

Method:

Cook rice according to package directions (include salt and oil, butter or margarine). Set aside. Saute onion in oil until golden. Add prunes, raisins and pine nuts and stir until dried fruit has softened and nuts have toasted. Add mixture to the rice and serve.

NOTE: traditional Persian jeweled rice varies but most include a range of spices (cinnamon, allspice, coriander, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, saffron), nuts (pine nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds), dried fruit (raisins, craisins, dried cherries, barberries, apricots) as well as orange rind, shredded carrots, crushed rose petals and/or pomegranate seeds mixed into basmati rice. Persian rice is a lot more labor-intensive than my mom’s simple recipe. For a lighter and easier version, just saute any mixture of these spices, fruits, and nuts and mix into rice.

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Baked Wonton Beef Empanadas


I had never really heard of empanadas until I married my husband. My Argentinian mother-in-law loves to cook up a storm whenever we come to visit and these meat-filled pockets are often on the menu. She whips up a batch in no time and makes it look so easy! For my husbands birthday this year, I cooked him a surprise dinner that included all of his favorite family recipes including empanadas, milanesas and mechshie. It was my first try at them, but with my mother-in-laws help, everything turned out super delicious.

I made empanadas again last week on the spare of the moment, having some defrosted ground beef sitting in the fridge. Whereas my mother-in-law throws together a batch of dough in no time, I am one to avoid any recipe that calls for home-made dough. Instead, I decided to make use of the eggroll wrappers in my freezer. I had no idea if this would work, especially since I had no intention of frying them, but I decided to give it a try. And work, it did. The wontons turned out perfectly crispy without being greasy and the filling, although not traditional, was perfectly delicious. If you don’t mind frying, go ahead and make these super golden and crispy in some hot oil!

I call these “wonton empanadas” because they are a cross between traditional empanadas (filled with ground beef, olives, and cumin) and beef eggrolls (filled with meat, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms etc.). You can call them Asian empanadas or Spanish eggrolls, either way, these meat-filled samosas are sure to please!

Wonton Beef Empanadas

1 medium onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 container mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
3/4 c shredded carrots
1/2 c sliced green olives
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
good quality dry red wine
wonton wrappers
szechuan sauce, for dipping

Method:

Saute onion and garlic till translucent, add mushrooms and carrots. Continue to saute until softened and golden. Add olives and spices and mix until fragrant. In a separate pan, saute the meat until crumbly and no longer pink. Drain the meat of the fat and add to vegetable mixture. Add a splash of red wine (about 1/8th of a cup) and cook for a few minutes.

Lay a wonton wrapper on a clean cutting board and cut on the diagonal so that you have 2 triangular wraps. Cover the remaining wrappers with a damp towel while you work so that they don’t dry out. Place a teaspoon of filling on each wrapper and fold in half to close. Wet the sides of the wrapper with some water and press down to seal edges (if this doesn’t work for you, you can try eggs, or make a “glue” with 1/2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water). Place on a greased cookie sheet. Spray wontons generously with cooking spray and and bake at 400 for about 8-10 minutes on each side, until golden.

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Cherry Yogurt Popsicles


Gone are the days when you just fill up a plastic cup with grape juice and freeze it for your kids. Homemade popsicles are all the rage right now, with lots of new popsicle books on the market, as well as a quick pop-making machine! The New York Times even ran a feature in their magazine which included lots of cool recipes for fruit, savory, creamy, and boozy pops. Who would have thought of making avocado-cilantro, fennel, or chocolate-chili ices?

Popsicles are a great way to cool down from the summer heat. Instead of store-bought varieties that are packed with sugar and food coloring, try making some at home. Here, I whipped up some cherry yogurt pops for a delicious cool and milky treat.

Cherry Yogurt Popsicles

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 cup pitted cherries, chopped
2 tbsp honey or agave

Method:

Combine yogurt, cherries and honey and spoon into popsicle molds. Freeze until completely solid, about 5 hours.

TIP: to loosen popsicles from their molds (these are from IKEA), just hold under running water for a minute or so.

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