The Perfect Scoop's Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream

So this was a calorie bomb treat, but it was sooo worth it!  The boys picked this Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop cookbook, and it was great.  We had it in a sundae, per the author's suggestion, with blondies and hot fudge, and the ice cream with the sundae was fabulous.  The ice cream is a custard base, with brown sugar for the butterscotch, and buttered pecans added in, and I added a little brown sugar to the buttered pecans to give it a little sweeter flavor.  I'll just feature the ice cream, and the other elements you can make on your own, or mix things up.  Each serving, about .5 cup of ice cream, is 293 calories, and we gave this a perfect 10, it is so delicious.  I'll be using decimals rather than fractions today, and maybe for a while, because somehow our keyboard was changed to a Spanish keyboard, and I can't find the slashes.  Somehow my baby is smarter than me, sigh...

5 T salted butter
.75 c packed brown sugar
.5 t salt
2 c heavy cream
.75 c whole milk
6 large egg yolks
.5 t vanilla
1 recipe buttered pecans

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the brown sugar and salt until well moistened.  Whisk in 1 cup of the cream and the milk, and keep warm.
Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over the top.
Whisk together the egg yolks, then temper the yolks.  Return the mixture to the pan, and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens.  Pour the custard through the sieve, and mix in with the cream.  Then add in the vanilla.  Cool, and churn and freeze in your ice cream maker.  At the end, fold in the buttered pecans.  Freeze before serving.

Buttered Pecans

1.5 T butter
1.5 c pecan halves
.25 t coarse salt
1 T brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.
Melt the butter in a skillet, remove it from the heat, and stir in the pecans, brown sugar, and salt.  Bake for 12 minutes in the oven and cool completely.

Picky Palate's Shrimp and Pasta in Tomato Cream Sauce

This was a super duper hit at our house.  Aaron, Owen and Noah all gave this a perfect 10, and I gave it a 9.  This is easy, fast, and full of flavor, and Picky Palate made another winner for us.  For 1/6 of the total, the calories were 301, and here is what I did.

1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 T olive oil
Onion powder, Garlic Salt, Basil, Italian Seasoning, and Salt to taste
3 c marinara sauce
2 T cream
1/2 lb pasta

Cook pasta according to directions.  Season shrimp to taste, then heat the oil in the pan and cook the shrimp until pink, about 3 minutes.  Add in the marinara sauce, then the cream, and cook until heated through.  Serve with the pasta.

Crockpot Zuppa Toscana

This Zuppa Toscana is a great soup.  It's fast and easy, and I love how it tastes.  Noah, Aaron and I gave it a 9, and Owen gave it an 8 because he said it was a little spicy.  This is full of flavor, and super simple.  We divided this into 8 servings, and each serving was 335 calories.  Make this on a cold night, it is warm and satisfying.  Here's what I did.

3/4 lb mild Italian sausage\
12 baby potatoes, cut in half
2 cans chicken broth
salt and pepper and Italian seasoning to taste
1 small onion, diced
1 t minced garlic
1 c cream
1 bag spinach
2-4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

Brown sausage, onion and garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning together then add to crockpot with potatoes, and chicken broth.  Cook on low for 5-8 hours, then add cream, spinach, and bacon and serve. 

Super great!!!

Left Over Soup

This is a good way to use leftovers, but it wasn't an all out hit.  I call it left over soup because I used our left over Thanksgiving food to make it.  Aaron gave it a 6, Owen gave it a 7, I gave it an 8, and Noah gave it a 9.  The problem was the broth and the ham didn't go well together.  I don't know if I should've cut up the ham into smaller pieces, ours were bite size, or what, but it wasn't great together.  Aaron and I and the boys all loved the actual soup, it was delicious, it was just the ham that wasn't quite right.  Anyway, here's what I did.

2-3 c mashed potatoes and gravy
2-3 c ham, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
4 green onions
chives
1 can creamed corn or left over corn
1/2 c or so cream
1 T tapioca

Put all ingredients except cream in a crockpot and cook on low for as long as you would like.  A half hour before serving, add the cream, stir it, turn temperature to high and remove the lid so the sauce can evaporate a little and thicken up.  Serve.

Anne Burrell's Parmigiano Flan

This was another flop for us.  Anne Burrell's Parmigiano Flan from Cook Like A Rock Star was uninspiring, but at least it was easy :)  The recipe made 6 little flans, and they were each 395 calories.  These took much longer to cook than the recipe said, and I found them very unpleasant.  They were too, I don't know, eggy, or something, but the consistency was very off-putting.  Owen gave them a 7, he thought this was good, but Aaron and Noah gave it a 4 and I gave it a 3.  Here's the super simple recipe

2 c heavy cream
4 large eggs
1 c parmesan freshly grated
salt
cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 325.
Spray 6 ramekins and set aside.  Combine cream, eggs, cheese, salt and cayenne and whisk well.  Divide the mixture between the ramekins. 
Place the ramekins in a dish, and fill up the baking dish with hot water until the water reaches halfway up the ramekins.  Cover with foil, and bake for 30-35 minutes (I cooked ours for at least 45, and they could've cooked quite a bit longer).  Remove from the oven and cool.  Serve with salad.

Potatoes with Arugula

So we had this warm kind of potato salad, and it was fabulous.  Both Aaron and I really enjoyed it, we gave it a 9, and the boys liked the potatoes, but not the arugula, big surprise there.  Noah gave it a 5 and Owen gave it a 6.  We got the recipe from Michael Symon's Live to Cook cookbook, and it is simple and delicious.

2 lbs red potatoes
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c cream
2 T coarse ground Dijon mustard
2 T butter, unsalted
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 lb arugula

Cook the potatoes in well salted boiling water until soft, then peel if desired (I didn't peel) and chop into bite size pieces.  Cook cream, chicken broth, and mustard until thickened and reduced, then add in potatoes and then add in the butter, salt and pepper to taste, and add in the arugula until wilted, then serve.

This was easy, and hopefully I didn't leave out any steps.  I'll upload my pictures soon, sorry they aren't on here yet!