Strawberry Italian Ice

After making lemon and orange for a while, I decided to branch out, this was one of the successful ones. 

Ingredients:
1 lb carton of strawberries

1 1/2 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 cup of water (separate)

Tools:

Ice Cream Maker 

2 qt saucepan

2x 1qt freezer safe containers

Blender/Food processor

Preparation: 
Remove the tops of the strawberries and place in a blender/food processor. (I use a Ninja so its theoretically both).  Begin to blend together and add 1 cup of water to thin down the mix. Once the strawberries are the consistency of a smoothie/milkshake, they are done. Remove from the blender and cool in the refrigerator. (the cooler they are at the start of freezing, the faster the ice will form). 

In a saucepan, mix 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar to make a simple syrup. Stir together well over high heat and when bubbles begin to form, remove from heat and set aside to cool. The cooling process can be accelerated by placing the simple syrup in a container and surrounding that container with ice + salt water. 

Mix together the syrup and strawberry mix in the ice cream maker and begin churning on a higher speed (if using a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, speed setting is 6 or 7).  This will need to run for a while as you are looking for the presence of the ice crystals to form. Stop the mixer every so often to manually scrape down the sides (this will give you a better idea of how close the mix is to freezing as the ice on the sides and the ice in the middle will look similar in texture. If there is ice on the sides but the middle is still liquid, keep churning. 

Once the volume of ice crystals is visibly greater than 90% of the mix (meaning that there is a small amount that will still appear as liquid) pour out of the ice cream maker into 1 qt freezer safe containers and allow to chill for another 24 hours before eating. 

Serving:
Using a warmed ice cream scoop, serve into bowls, cups, glasses, etc. 

Eggplant Parmesan Bread

This started because a local bakery made something like this and the combination just made complete sense. 

Ingredients:
Dough: 
1 Tsp Active Dry Yeast (1 package contents)
3/4 Cup of warm water (should be between 100 - 105 degrees F)
2 1/2 Cups of White Flour
1/2 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Tsp of Sugar


Eggplant:
1 Whole baby eggplant (Roughly 5 - 6")
1 cup white flour
1 pint of egg beaters (separate 2 - 3 Tbsp and mix with water for egg wash)
2 cup of italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
3 cups of Joe's Homemade Pasta Sauce (divided - 1, 2)

12 oz of Mozzarella Cheese
8 oz Ricotta Cheese
* Parmesan Cheese (unmeasured)
* Olive Oil (unmeasured)
* Corn meal (unmeasured)

Preparation: 
In a stand mixer, mix together yeast and water until bubbles form (indicating the yeast is active).  Once well blended, add in flour, 1 Tbsp of oil, salt and sugar. Mix together with a dough hook until a solid ball forms. (if its too sticky add additional white flour, if not sticky enough add water). Once The dough ball has formed and is not sticky, let the ball rise in a large covered bowl in a warm dry place for about 1 hour.

Peel the eggplant and slice 1/8 lengthwise.  You will need 3 shallow dishes: in one shallow dish, distribute flour evenly, in the second, empty entire carton of egg beaters, and in the third mix together both breadcrumbs.  Dip the eggplant slices in the flour, then egg, then pat well in the breadcrumbs to ensure complete coating. 

Heat broiler on high. Using a stoneware pan, drizzle with olive oil and place down one layer of the breaded eggplant.  Drizzle more on the exposed side of the eggplant and place in the broiler until crispy. Depending on your oven, this may vary in time, the best gauge is to look every 2 - 3 minutes and flip when they have just started to brown and before they burn. When done, remove from pan and let rest/oil drip on paper towels. Wipe down the oil from the stoneware pan but do not allow to completely cool. 

In a 2 quart saucepan, heat up pasta sauce and shred the Mozzarella cheese. 

Cooking:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Stretch the dough out on a flat surface into a rectangular shape that matches the stoneware pan. Once it is the appropriate size, flip one side onto the other and coat the surface that it will contact with corn meal so it can easily be transferred. Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom approximately 3/4 of an inch from the edges and only to the center line of the dough. Add a layer of mozzarella cheese onto the sauce and layer in a row of eggplant again keeping the edges 3/4 of an inch from the edges of the dough. On top of the eggplant, spread a 1/4 inch layer of ricotta cheese followed by another layer of eggplant, sauce and cheese. 

Using the egg wash that was set aside, brush the edges of the dough and fold over stretching as needed to cover the eggplant layers until sealed (similar to a calzone). Transfer to the stoneware pan (corn meal side down) and make shallow slices across the top (similar to how you would see on a loaf of french bread). Brush the surface with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese.  Put in the oven and repeat egg wash every 3 - 4 minutes until golden brown. 

Serving:
Remove from the pan and slice width wise with a large knife. Serve with remaining pasta sauce for dipping. `

Venison Chili

I'm thankful to my friends who hunt and can supply me with venison to make this dish. 

Ingredients: 
1 pound of ground venison - fat content will dictate how long this should cook down
1 large red onion
1 package (28 oz) of diced pancetta
1 can (14 oz) Rotel tomatoes and chili peppers
1 can (14 oz) medium red chili beans
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes 
* Chili Powder
* Garlic Powder
* Kosher Salt
* Cracked black pepper
* Cumin
* Coriander


Preparation: 
Finely dice onion to about the same size as the pancetta. 

Cooking:
Heat a dutch oven (preferred) over medium heat and add pancetta. Finely dice onion and when the pancetta starts to sizzle, add to the pan with some salt and pepper.  Season the venison with salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili powder evenly. When the onion becomes translucent, add the seasoned venison to the pan and as it begins to brown, break it up to ensure that there are no large chunks. Once meat has browned, add in the chili beans, tomatoes/chilis and the can of crushed tomatoes adding salt and pepper and stirring well. 

Cook over low/medium heat for between 1 - 3 hours depending on the fat content in the grind until the chili reduces down and becomes thickened to your desired consistency. 

Serving:
Eat as a meal or as a topping for anything else. Goes great with hot dogs and cheese sauce.