Strawberry Ice Box Dessert and Strawberry Ice Box Pie

We're all looking forward to warmer weather, spring and summer. I have great memories of summer growing up in Michigan. Some of my favorite memories include activities that involved food. Maybe that's part of why I've chosen to write a Food Blog.
Many of those memories started at my Grandmother's house and my Aunt Faye's farm.
Summer always included fruit in Michigan. I remember having Strawberry Shortcake at every summertime event at my grandmother's house. We had picnics in her backyard on rickety old wooden picnic tables. My fondest memories are of my grandmother's Potato Salad and Strawberry Shortcake.
I recently saw an episode of Trisha Yearwood and she made an interesting Strawberry Shortcake recipe. I had never seen the biscuit made in an 8" cake pan, but I'll make it this summer. My Grandmother's Strawberry Shortcake was always made with small individual home made biscuits, macerated strawberries and home made whipped cream. It was the classic strawberry shortcake.
I began researching variations of the iconic American summer dessert and came across a multitude of recipes for Strawberry Ice Box Cake. The recipe has been around for many years.
I looked at them all, I took something different from all of them and created this recipe. I look forward to spring and summer and making this dessert. I think it will be our Easter dessert.


Strawberry Ice Box Dessert:


1 pound of strawberries, stems trimmed. ( use a plastic straw to remove the stems. Push the stem out with the straw) I do this if I have a lot of strawberries to prepare.
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz.) box of  Instant  Cheesecake Pudding Mix
2 C whole milk
1 pint of heavy cream
5 TBS of sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C strawberry jam, slightly heated , just to melt and set aside.
24 graham crackers
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips


Thinly slice 3 of the strawberries and set aside.
Slice the remaining strawberries and put them in a bowl.
Sprinkle them with the granulated sugar.
Mix well and set aside until they soak up the sugar and release their juice.
Mash them with a potato masher, leaving some chunky pieces.

Make Pudding with the milk, according to package directions, refrigerate

In a chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment: beat heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until a stiff texture is achieved. Watch it carefully, it can firm up quickly.
Reserve 2 TBS  and set aside.
Gently fold in the strawberry jam, by hand, into the bowl of whipped cream.
Refrigerate.
Once the pudding is thickened and set, gently fold in the  strawberry whipped cream, by hand.
 and set aside.

Spread a thin layer of the whipped cream  in a  9"X13" glass pan.
Cover the bottom with a single layer of graham crackers.
Cover the crackers with some whipped cream.
Top with a layer of the strawberries.
Repeat with whipped cream, crackers, whipped cream and strawberries.
Continue layering, ending with whipped cream.
Garnish the top with the 3 reserved sliced strawberries.

In a microwavable glass bowl or Pyrex measuring cup, melt the chocolate chips until smooth and cool slightly.
Mix in the reserved 2 TBS of strawberry whipped cream, until  completely incorporated.
Drizzle the chocolate over the entire cake with a fork.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!



Strawberry Ice Box Pie:

Here's what you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 - Well Buttered 10" Pie Pan

2 C Crushed Pretzels
12 TBS Butter, melted
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 C Sliced Strawberries
1 - 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 TBS + 1 tsp  (1/2 of a 3oz. Box) Strawberry Jello
2 C Heavy Cream, divided
1/3 C Granulated Sugar

In a medium mixing bowl:
Pretzels
Butter
Brown Sugar
Mix well by hand.
Press into the bottom and up the sides of the Pie Pan.
Bake 10 - 12 minutes.
Remove the pan to a rack and cool 30 minutes.

In a Stand Mixer with a Whisk attachment:
Condensed Milk
Cream Cheese
Jello
Beat on low until just combined.
Transfer to a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer:
3/4 C Heavy Cream
Beat to Soft Peak.
Gently fold this into the Strawberry mixture by hand.
Pour into the crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 12 hours.

Beat remaining 1 1/4 C Heavy Cream until Soft Peak .
Add:
Sugar
Beat to Stiff Peak.
Spread evenly over the Pie. (you can get fancy if you want to)
Freeze for an additional hour before serving.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Eggs

I posted a link for this recipe on the blog, but I made them this morning and I wanted to post the picture.
They are so easy to make, easy to release and great for a crowd for brunch or a family breakfast. You can make as many or as few as you need. You can use a larger muffin tin to make more. It smells like a diner.

For each egg:
Spray the cups with a Vegetable Cooking Spray
Crack an Egg into each cup
Add 1tsp of heavy cream
Add 1 TBS of grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bake at 425 degrees
 7 - 8 minutes / Soft Yolks
9 - 10 minutes / Semi Soft Yolks
11 - 12 minutes / Hard Yolks
It's that simple and they are perfect.
We bake ours for a Soft Yolk.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Rum Cake / A Vintage Recipe

Here's a great example of how we documented our recipes before Blogs!

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Eggs

I just received this from a blog that I follow. I love this concept when you have guests for brunch or your family. It's a great way to make multiple eggs at once. I decided to simply re post the link to the blog. Thank you Melissa for sharing this recipe.


http://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/2011/08/french-eggs.html





Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Corn Maque Choux / Emeril Lagasse

Another Corn dish, just can't get enough. There are many recipes for this Cajun dish. I like this one the best. I've tried to find a translation. I speak French and I know that Choux is Cabbage, I have no idea what Maque means or what Cabbage has to do with a Corn dish, oh well, it looks good! This recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse.

2 TBS (1/4 stick) butter
4 C corn (6 ears)
1 C diced onion
1 C diced red pepper
1 TBS minced jalapeno
2 tsp Cajun Spice (recipe to follow)
1 tsp salt
1/2 C heavy cream

Heat a 10" cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Melt butter
Reduce heat to medium
Add:
corn
onion
bell pepper
jalapeno
spice
salt
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring
Add cream , stir well and cook 2 minutes
Serve hot

Cajun Seasoning:

2 1/2 TBS paprika

2 TBS salt

2 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS cayenne pepper

1 TBS dried oregano

1 TBS dried thyme

1 TBS black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, shake well and store in the pantry.

I always have a jar available.

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!

Banana Cream Pie

I recently tested a recipe for Food52. It's was a Chocolate, Peanut Butter,  Banana Pie. You can search the recipe on my blog. It was incredible, so I decided to post a recipe for Banana Cream Pie.
I've been researching recipes for Banana Cream Pie and there are so many options. After reading reviews that were written for several recipes, I decided to take from many and create this one.
The crust is a combination of a few recipes and so is the filling. I knew I didn't want to cook a custard for the filling, it can be complicated and it doesn't always turn out well. The reviews on homemade custard filling were not encouraging. I know that I can make a good cooked custard because I have it in my Banana Pudding recipe, but I've made it so many times that I understand how technical and time consuming it can be. This filling is equally as good and it's not complicated.

This recipe needs to be made in a deep dish fluted 9" pie pan.

Crust:

3 C Graham Cracker Crumbs ( did not measure the number of crackers because we always have a container of graham cracker crumbs in our pantry)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 of a ripe banana, smashed
1/4 pound (1 stick butter), softened

In a bowl:
crumbs
sugar
cinnamon
Mix Well

Add banana and butter and continue to mix well.
Press into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Cool completely

Filling:

2C heavy cream, whipped and divided
3 TBS granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 (3.4oz.) box of vanilla instant pudding
1 C cold whole milk
8 oz. cream cheese
1 - 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 - 5 ripe bananas, sliced

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. (clean the bowl for another step)

In a separate bowl with a hand mixer:
milk
instant pudding mix
Mix Well and set aside

In the stand mixer with a paddle attachment:
Beat cream until fluffy.
With the mixer running on low, add condensed milk and the pudding mix.
Scrape the bowl and continue to beat until smooth.
Use a spatula and fold in 1/2 of the whipped cream.

Spread a thin layer of filling over the bottom and up the sides of the cooled crust.
Slice bananas and lightly press into the bottom and up the sides of the crust

Pour the remaining filling into the crust and smooth the top with a spatula and top it with the remaining whipped cream.
Gently cover the pie with plastic wrap or place in a covered pie tote and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wrote a story on the blog about The Restaurants and Chefs of some of America's Legendary Department Stores. In the article I included the Legendary Dallas retailer, Neiman Marcus. I told the story of how their Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe made it in the hands of the American public. In the story I included the recipe for the famous cookie. I decided to post the cookie recipe separately from the story.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1/2 C (1stick) butter, softened

1 C light brown sugar

3 TBS granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 C all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 salt

1 1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee powder

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Place the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds until mixture is fluffy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla for 30 seconds longer, until well combined.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add to the mixer, while beating on slow speed.

Beat for about 15 seconds, stir in the chocolate chips and espresso powder and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Using a 1 oz. cookie scoop or a 2 TBS measure, place the dough 3" apart.

Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into 2" circles; there should be room on the sheet for six to eight cookies at a time. Transfer to the oven in batches and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cookies are nicely browned around the edges. Bake for a little longer for crispier cookies.

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!