Homemade Graham Crackers and a Nutella Sundae!

On twitter, I innocently mentioned that I make a double batch of breadsticks/crackers every ten days or so. Then Heather, aka @bodaciousgirl, said that I should try my hand at Graham Crackers and recommended Alton Brown's recipe. WOW, I never thought to make Graham Crackers before! How fun is that!!!

And to make this recipe even more exciting, I cut some of the crackers with a cookie cutter and some with my new Pasta Bike! More on the Pasta Bike below in my "Gadgets That Work".

Well one thing lead to another and before I knew it I had made a Nutella Sundae which was a perfect compliment for the crackers! I wish I had thought to sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the graham crackers. But I think I will make some Graham Crackers for my Christmas Cookie Baskets so will add the cinnamon sugar at that time. Then again maybe I will add some holiday sprinkles as well..you all know how I love to sprinkle!







Graham Crackers
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

8 3/8 oz or 1 3/4 c graham flour
1 7/8 oz or 1/3 c plus 1 1/2 TBL all-purpose flour
3 oz or 1/2 c dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled
2 1/4 oz or 3/8 c molasses
1 1/2 oz or 3 1/4 TBL whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place both flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the molasses, milk and vanilla extract and process until the dough forms a ball, approximately 1 minute. Press the ball into a 1/2-inch thick disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Unwrap the chilled dough and place it onto a large piece of parchment paper and top with a second sheet of parchment paper. Roll the dough out until it is 1/8-inch thick. Slide the rolled dough and parchment paper onto a half sheet pan. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and cut the dough, using a rolling pizza cutter into 2-inch square pieces, by making vertical and then horizontal cuts all the way across the dough. Trim off any excess. Using a fork, poke holes all over the top of the dough. Leave the crackers on the pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes or until the edges just start to darken. Remove from the oven, set the sheet pan with the crackers on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Once completely cool, break into individual crackers and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.







Nutella Ice Cream Sundae with Graham Crackers

Vanilla Ice Cream
1/2 c Nutella
1/4 c. cream

Topping:
Whipped Cream
Fresh Raspberries
Graham Crackers
Graham Cracker Crumbs
Fresh mint leaves

Heat the cream in the microwave about 25 seconds. Pour the hot cream over the Nutella and blend. Quickly drizzle the warm Nutella over the ice cream. Top with whipped cream, a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs, fresh raspberries and a sprig of fresh mint. Serve with some of the homemade Graham Crackers.








Gadgets that Work





A Pasta Bike...wow what the heck is that?


But it did not take me long to figure out that this was one gadget that I had to have in my kitchen! I've only had my Pasta Bike for 2 weeks and I've already used it twice, most recently to cut the above homemade Graham Crackers.





As you can see from the pictures you can easily remove some of the 9 cutting wheels to cut a large variety of shapes. For the Graham Crackers I removed all the wheels except for 3 to cut squares but this would also be the configuration for cutting lasagna noodles!

Pssssst...I know I gave the link to Amazon.com for the Pasta Bike but I bought mine on Ebay, new in it's original box, for $18.99 which included shipping!



Foodie Friday is graciously hosted by Michael of Designs by Gollum. Please visit Designs by Gollum and see more wonderful creations!




All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Whisk Wednesday -- Profiteroles au Chocolat or an Old-fashioned Chocolate Ice Cream Soda

This week's menu for Whisk Wednesdays was Profiteroles au Chocolat or Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate Sauce. In American speak that's basically an ice cream sundae on a cream puff.

Well it's summer and I'm living large, so in place of the ice cream sundae I made a tall, cool Chocolate Ice Cream Soda! And since choux is not one of my favorite things, I decided to skip the pastry and made mini Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.

It's funny how I came about buying the Coconut Flour. I was at the store and had the bag of Coconut Flour in my hand but because of our frugal recession budget I put the flour back on the shelf instead of in my cart. And that evening I was cruising some baking blogs and happened upon my blogging buddy, Elyse's Confectionery Creations, and I'll be darned, Elyse had posted Chocolate Chip Cookies made with Coconut Flour! The next time I was at my market I did not hesitate with the Coconut Flour!







Vanilla Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c sugar (I used 1/4 c. Splenda Sugar Blend)
1 c heavy cream
2 c milk
1 whole vanilla bean

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the dark seeds. Set aside.

Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and add scrapings from vanilla bean. Cool to room temperature. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturer's directions.


Chocolate Sauce
Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu at Home

7 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
1/2 c milk
4 TBL unsalted butter (I used 1 TBL butter)

Heat the milk in the microwave until hot but not boiling. In a small bowl add the semisweet chocolate pieces and butter. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and butter. Let this sit until the chocolate and butter is completely melted. Once the chocolate is melted, whisk until the chocolate is smooth.







Mini Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Nestle Tollhouse Cookies

3/4 c Flour
1/2 c. Coconut Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 c Butter, softened
3/8 c Sugar
3/8 c Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 large egg
1 c (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 c chopped nuts

Mix the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add vanilla, salt, baking soda, egg. Sift together the flour and coconut flour and gradually add the flour mix to the sugar mix. Blend in the chocolate morsels and nuts.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a 1 tsp scoop, drop dough by level teaspoon. I usually shape the cookies a little bit with my fingers.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are just golden brown on the bottom. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on a rack.


Chocolate Soda with Cookie Crumbles
Recipe developed by Big-Black-Dog

Vanilla Ice Cream
1/4 c. Chocolate Sauce
Dr. Brown's Cream Soda

Topping:
Whipped Cream, Cherry and some cookie crumbles

Mix the chocolate sauce with about 1 c. of soda and pour into a tall glass. Add ice cream and pour a little bit more soda on top the ice cream to make it foam. Top with whipped cream, cherry and some cookie crumbles. And don't forget the straw!

Serve on a saucer filled with Mini Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies.








All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

TFF - Blueberry Crumble

I love using what's commonly thought of as savory herbs in desserts. I've used Tarragon and Basil in cream cheese frosting and it's just wonderful! So when I found Tyler's recipe for Blackberry Crumble and he had added fresh Rosemary I knew I had to try it.

Of course I had to change the recipe just a little bit. I added blueberries along with the blackberries. And in order to make the topping crumble I had to add more flour as well. I was not sure how much 3 sprigs of Rosemary was and since Rosemary is quite a strong herb, I was cautious and minced just enough for 1 1/2 tsp and this seemed to work out just fine. And after tasting the Crumble, Tarragon would work out fabulously as well!!

It was so overcast that I had a hard time taking a good photograph. Finally gave up and moved outside where it was 98 degrees with about 100% humidity. If you look closely at my photos you can see the ice cream melting! ;)







Blackberry Crumble
Recipe adapted from "Real Kitchen" by Tyler Florence

Crumble:
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 c sugar
1 c all-purpose flour (I had to add abt 1/2 c. extra flour)
Needles from 2 rosemary sprigs (I used abt 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh Rosemary. Tarragon would work well too)

Filling:
2 quarts fresh blackberries ( I used blackberries and blueberries)
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon

Option: Top with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, fresh raspberries and blackberries


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crumble topping, mash together the butter, sugar, flour, and rosemary in a large bowl. The best way to do this is with your hands. I had to add about 1/2 c. extra flour to make the topping crumbly.

In a large bowl, mix the blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice together. Pour the blackberry filling into a 9x13-inch glass baking pan; even it out with a spatula. Crumble the topping over the blackberry mixture. Bake for 1 hour on a nonstick cookie sheet (to catch any overflow) until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbly.

Serve the crumble with a cloud of whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with fresh red raspberries and blackberries. Make sure the crumble is still a little warm so the ice cream will melt.







Please visit Tyler Florence Fridays and see what the rest of Tyler's groupies are up too this week.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Church Ladies and an Ice Cream Social

Remember Ice Cream Socials?

When I was growing up it seemed like every summer we always had at least two or three Ice Cream Socials to attend and the best ones were always at our church. Let's face it those church ladies really know how to put on an ice cream social! The ice cream was usually vanilla but the homemade pies and cakes were fabulous. And I'm pretty sure that there was more then just a little bit of mine is better then yours going on!

After eating the cake and ice cream the adults would socialize and my cohorts and I pretty much ran wild through the church and sometimes even spilled out into the parking lot! Of course now our hyper activity would be blamed on the sugar but then it was just considered normal. It's always so funny how food brings back so many vivid memories almost like it happened just yesterday!








Homemade Sweet Black Cherry Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c. Splenda Sugar Blend)
3 c. heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean
1 qt of fresh black sweet cherries, pitted and chopped

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the dark seeds. Set aside.

Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and add scrapings from vanilla bean. Cool to room temperature and then add the cherries. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturer's directions.

Top with a few sweet black cherries.






The Ice Cream Social is hosted by Susie of Kitchen Bouquet please visit and see what other wonderful flavors of ice cream are in the collection plate this week!





Gadgets that Work






Who likes pitting cherries? Anyone? Pitting cherries is a terribly boring, tedious process. It's very messy and the juice turns your fingers purple!

I found my vintage cherry pitter at a local garage sale several years ago and jumped at the $2 price tag. It looked brand new, probably only used a few times and it works great.

The pitter is all in one piece so no assembly is required. And it's very easy to clean, just a quick rinse with hot, soapy water is all that is needed. As of yet I've not put it in the dishwasher. Along with the cherry pitter you do have to use two bowls, one bowl to catch the fruit and one to catch the pits.

Just fill the hopper with cherries and then start turning the crank. The cherries move down the shoot and somehow the large disk separates the fruit from the pit. The fruit comes out as the disk turns and the pits continue down the spout and finally are expelled at the end. It's very simple, effective and saves hours of time. And whenever I need to pit a large amount of cherries, I'm so glad I have it!

If you don't want to bother with a large cherry pitter I did find a very cool, simple one at The Honey Jar Online. In fact I think I might buy one! The below vintage-format video will show you how it works.






All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

It's another Pink Saturday!

It's been a very busy week for me but I could not miss a Pink Saturday. As always Pink Saturday is hosted by Miss Beverly of How Sweet the Sound. We've had some gorgeous weather this week, 88 degrees on Friday, and it really put me in the mood for summer. I do hope we have a spring and don't go right into summer which means a horrible dry drought that will be unbearable for my plants and ME!



But since I was in a summer mood I was thinking about light, fun meals and what could be better then Hot Dogs. I'm sure most of you have heard about Pinks, the famous Hot Dog Stand in Hollywood, CA. Pinks, now a CA landmark, was founded by Paul and Betty Pink in 1939 and was originally located on the corner of La Brea and Melrose exactly where it still exists today! Any business that has been in continuous operation for 70 years and in the exact same location deserves every bit of congratulations and praise.










Pinks Chili Dog (left) and Hot Dog (right)



But here in Chicago we have our own Hot Dogs. The essentials are steamed or boiled 100% Beef Hot Dog, Poppy Seed Bun, Yellow Mustard, White Onion, Relish, Sports Pepper, Celery Salt and Tomato and NEVER, not ever Ketchup and it's always served with a Dill Pickle Spear. But there are many other condiments offered, Cucumber, Sweet Red Onion, Green Pepper and the list goes on and on. We have Hot Dog Stands on ever corner in Chicago and of course Mr. Tastebuds loads up his Dog with "everything" and you can't even see the bun! I honestly don't know how he eats it but he seems to manage quite well.


I've got to throw my own Hot Dog into this competition. It's simple and much like the Chicago Hot Dog. A boiled or steamed 100% Beef Kosher Hot Dog, Yellow Mustard, Sweet Red Onion, Sweet Relish on a Homemade Bun sprinkled with Smoked Sesame Seeds. It is also served with Homemade Potato Chips and a Dill Pickle Spear.







If you would like the recipe for the Hot Dog Buns please click here and the Homemade Potato Chip recipe is here.


Next is my Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream which is a favorite summer time treat and out of this world delicious and look at this gorgeous pink color! I noticed CA Strawberries in the markets this week. Large, gorgeous berries and quite a reasonable price too. If you happened to buy some strawberries and you're not sure what to make, try this ice cream. I promise you will not be disappointed. Please click here for the recipe and copy and paste.








Thank you so much for visiting my blog for Pink Saturday and don't forget to visit Miss Beverly of How Sweet the Sound and see what the other Pinksters are up to!

And don't forget our Pink Saturday motto:

Get Pink !!!
It's not just a color, it's an attitude.




All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

Since we've turned the corner into Spring, I've been seeing many recipes calling for Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar and they always sound so good.

We're on overload with Strawberries and so I whipped up some Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream! I used the same recipe as my Fresh Peach Ice Cream and just substituted 18-Year Balsamic Vinegar for the Vanilla and I was out of heavy cream so just used cream. I was not sure how much balsamic to add so added a tsp at a time until the flavor burst in my mouth.

The Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream is exquisitely delicious!!

Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. heavy cream (I just used cream)
4 tsp balsamic vinegar (I used 18 yr. but any good balsamic is fine)
1 qt of fresh strawberries (I pureed 3/4 qt and chopped 1/4 qt and save a berry to slice on top)
Red Food Coloring **See Note



Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Mix in pureed and chopped strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturers directions. Top with a few slices of fresh strawberry and serve.

**Note: The balsamic vinegar did add color to the ice cream so I added a drop of red food coloring to bring the ice cream back to it's original glory!!


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

A Taste of Yellow

My homemade peach ice cream is my entry in Winos and Foodies LiveStrong Taste of Yellow 2008. And it's also my entry in Meeta's Monthly Mingle Spring Fruit Sensations hosted by Abbie of Eat the Right Stuff.










Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. heavy cream
1 whole vanilla bean, finely ground
1 qt of fresh peaches, chopped but save a few slices for topping (I used fresh Michigan peaches that I froze last year)

Whisk eggs, add cream and beat for several minutes gradually adding sugar. Pour mixture into a small sauce pan and heat until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and add ground vanilla bean. Cool to room temperature and then add the chopped peaches. Then put mixture in the refrigerator and cool completely. Pour chilled ice cream mix into your Ice Cream Maker and follow manufacturers directions.

Top with a few slices of fresh peach and serve.


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog