Cream Puffs!

This was a super fun adventure that turned out amazingly! The cream puffs were light and fluffy and the cream was delicious. I used this fabulous recipe from Martha Stewart for the dough, and this one for the pastry cream. The videos were super helpful and I followed everything almost word for word.
Because I didn't have enough eggs, I just made half a batch and I was able to make about the same as a whole batch, which was great. The only small change I made was using a bigger tip when filling the puffs. They recommended using the smallest pastry tip available, but that takes forever. I used one that was a bit bigger and they filled up way faster and easier.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

This is probably one of my favorite ice creams! I used this recipe, but I made a few adjustments. I tempered the eggs instead of just stirring in all of the milk chocolate mixture at once. Then, I cooked the it until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon before adding the cream and vanilla. Also, you don't really need the full 1/2 cup of peanut butter to get the correct richness. I added the peanut butter in the last minutes of mixing in the ice cream maker, not before I put it in. What I do like about this recipe though, is that I almost always have the ingredients needed for it, and because it uses whole eggs instead of just yolks, nothing is wasted. Overall, a good recipe that just needed a few changes to become great!

Fried Chicken

I don't know where I got the idea to do this, but it was a good one! It took a lot of work, but the result was totally worth it. To make it, I used Bobby Flay's recipe for Fried Chicken.

Changes:
-Instead of using two whole chickens cut up, I used a lot of drumsticks (maybe 14) and two breasts, each cut up into two pieces.
-I used two teaspoons of Tabasco in the first buttermilk mixture instead of the chile de arbol powder, and didn't add any more later.
-Since we didn't have garlic powder, I used garlic salt.
-Before putting the chicken in the flour mixture, I seasoned it directly with generous amounts of salt and pepper.
-Instead of doing all of the chicken in the flour, buttermilk, flour process and then heating the oil, I simply heated the oil as I floured each piece I put it straight into the oil until the pan was full.
-For me, a full pan was not 3 or 4 pieces, but 7 or 8, which worked much faster.
-I did about an inch of Canola oil (not Peanut oil) which was a little less than halfway up the pan.
-I used tongs to turn the pieces and take them out.
-While I did the first batch with the oil at about 360 degrees, the chicken turned out less scorched in the second batch when the oil was closer to 300 degrees or maybe a little less.
-They took about 12-15 minutes, and I turned them over about every 5 minutes.
-I made sure that the chicken was cooked through not only by color but with a meat thermometer to about 160 degrees.

All in all, this meal was hard earned and delicious!

Chocolate Ice Cream

After a lot of research, I decided to use this recipe to make more ice cream with the ice cream maker, which was a great choice. My whole family begged me to share with them!

I didn't make any changes at all -- the recipe was already perfect!

Mint Ice Cream

My second attempt with the ice cream maker was making mint ice cream. I had a bunch of recipes to work with but then I realized we only had two eggs left. This recipe from Cookie and Kate saved me!

Changes:
-For the milk and cream, I used 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 2 cups 1% milk, instead of 1 cup half-and-half and 2 cups 2% milk.
-I couldn't get the entire mixture to 160 degrees, but I got it to a simmering 140, which worked well enough.
-I cooled the final mixture in an ice bath for about 10 minutes (large bowl half full with ice and water with a smaller bowl inside) to immediately stop cooking the eggs.
-The recipe said to put it in the fridge until completely cooled, so I took that to mean about 2 hours.

The fresh mint leaves used in the ice cream made it taste like a plant to me at first and the taste turned off most of my family...Over time I did get used to it, but I don't think this is something that I would be eager to make again.

Raspberry Sorbet

Once I discovered we owned an ice cream maker (why did no one ever tell me this?!), I couldn't wait to try it out. With all of the raspberries, I decided to make raspberry sorbet. I used this recipe from Saveur, and it turned out really well! But, I do have a few notes to share, especially after making it a second time and getting more experience.

Notes:
-Use a few drops less than the instructed amount of vanilla. It adds a richer, more ice cream-like flavor to it that is good, but it was a bit strong.
-It takes about 15-20 minutes on medium-high at a boil to get the sugar syrup to the right consistency.
-Instead of freezing the sugar syrup, it worked much better to refrigerate it for 15 minutes.
-I almost didn't strain the pureed raspberries, but it is definitely worth because there are a lot of seeds!
-I didn't add the extra raspberries in the churning process and instead pureed them all to get a smoother texture.

Raspberry Tart

With a new abundance of fresh summer raspberries, I decided to get rid of some with a raspberry tart. I used the recipe for French Raspberry Tart from Angela Roberts at Spinach Tiger, but since the site broke down about halfway through making the crust, I had to improvise. It turned out great though!

Changes:
Used vanilla extract (about 1/2 tsp) instead of 1/2 of a vanilla bean
Used 1/4 cup half and half and 3/4 cup 1% milk instead of 1 cup whole milk
Used almond extract instead of lemon zest for the crust
Used dough hook on the food processor to make the dough
Didn't chill the dough before putting it in the oven
Made one large tart, not many smaller ones
Used measuring cups as pie weights
Forgot to put jelly under the cream

Pictures!