Monthly Archives: June 2012

June 29, 2012 · 4:17 PM

Mud Pie

Happy 4th of July to all of you in the U.S. – I hope you all had a fun day!  We had a relaxing family day.  I grilled some chicken and made homemade baked beans.  Yum!

I have always loved ice cream desserts and this Mud Pie recipe is one of my favorites. I often requested it for my birthday when I was growing up. This year I decided to make it myself to celebrate my birthday last week. Does anyone else find joy in making your own birthday cake?

My Mom got this recipe from The Seattle Times in the late 1970′s.  I usually make it with vanilla ice cream, but use whatever flavor you like! Coffee ice cream would be especially good.

Mud Pie

Print Recipe

  • 1½ cups chocolate cookie crumbs
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, divided
  • ½ gallon vanilla ice cream
  • 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup milk (I used 1%)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • whipped cream, optional

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Melt ¼ cup of the butter and mix into the cookie crumbs. Press mixture firmly and evenly into a 9- or 10-inch springform pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool completely.

Soften the ice cream and spoon it over the prepared crust, spreading it evenly.  Freeze until firm.

Melt the chocolate with the remaining ¼ cup butter.  Add the sugar and stir to mix.  Slowly stir in the milk and cook until the mixture boils.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and almond extracts.  Pour the chocolate mixture over the ice cream.  It’s OK if some of the ice cream melts into the chocolate.  Place in the freezer until the chocolate begins to firm up, 10 – 30 minutes.  Sprinkle the top of the pie with the walnuts.  Continue freezing until the chocolate is completely firm.

To serve, take the pie out of the freezer and let it rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove the outer ring from the pan and cut into slices.  Serve with dollops of whipped cream, if desired.

Note:  I used a springform pan, but you can also use a 9″ pie dish or a 7 1/2″ x 12″ baking dish.

Serves 12

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· 9:52 AM

Corn Pancakes

Wow, I’m actually on time for a French Fridays with Dorie post!  This week we made Corn Pancakes.

These pancakes couldn’t be more simple, and they are made with pantry items so they can be whipped up whenever the mood strikes.  Canned corn (drained), 2 eggs, a bit of flour, and some salt are whirled together in a blender to make the batter.  Fry in a hot pan with some oil until golden and you’re done!

Corn Pancakes are meant to be served as a side dish, but they can also be served as an hors d’oeuvre with creme fraiche and caviar.  I served them as a side to Grilled Chicken with Red Peppers and Basil.  Except I forgot the basil.  Oops!

I enjoyed these as a not-usual side dish.  The flavors went well with the chicken and peppers.  I’m not sure how often I will make them, but I recommend Corn Pancakes if you are looking for something a little different.

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June 23, 2012 · 9:32 PM

Lime and Honey Beet Salad + David’s Seaweed Sablés

Keeping with my every-other-week schedule, here are two more French Fridays with Dorie recipes: Lime and Honey Beet Salad and David’s Seaweed Sablés.

Lime and Honey Beet Salad is a simple salad made with cooked beets tossed with a dressing of cider vinegar, lime juice and zest, honey, olive oil, fresh dill, and fresh chives.  When I went to the store they were out of red beets, so I bought golden beets instead.  I’m so glad I did!  I think the yellow beets are very pretty with the flecks of green herbs.

I served Lime and Honey Beet Salad with grilled salmon, and I sauteed the beet greens.  I thought the salad was delicious.  My husband is not a beet fan, so he didn’t care for it very much.  My daughter wouldn’t touch hers.  The leftovers were quite tasty for lunch the next day.

I’m not quite sure what to say about David’s Seaweed Sablés.  They are butter cookies made savory by the addition of extra salt and finely chopped toasted nori.  I liked the flavors but found I wasn’t inspired to eat the leftovers.  My husband thought they were too salty, which is saying a lot because he loves his salt.  My daughter keeps going to the container these are stored in and stealing some, so I guess she likes them!

I think we would have liked these better in a different context.  I can totally see nibbling one or two at a cocktail party while sipping wine.  Serving them as part of dinner just wasn’t quite right (we had them with cheese and salads).

I hope to pick up the pace with my posts because I have some recipes coming up that I want to share with you, including a childhood favorite dessert!

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June 10, 2012 · 10:52 PM

Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad + Olive Oil Ice Cream

I seem to be on a every-other-week schedule lately.  I read somewhere a while back (I think it was on Simple Mom) about the “seasons” that occur when running a home-based business, especially if you have kids.  Some seasons you have a lot of time to devote to your business and other seasons you don’t.  Accepting the reality of the seasons and even preparing for them can help ease the pain of not having the time you wish you had.  The seasons can apply to a personal blog too, and I seem to be in an “off-season” right now.  And I’m OK with it.

I cooked two French Fridays with Dorie recipes this week (poor planning and a trip out of town caused last week’s to go unmade):  Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad and Olive Oil Ice Cream.

The Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad was unlike anything I had made before.  Lentils du Puy (French green lentils) are cooked and then combined with a mustard-olive tapenade vinaigrette, a preserved lemon, green onions, and canned tuna.  After a rest in the refrigerator to blend the flavors, the salad is served.  I served mine on a bed of mixed greens with sliced tomatoes adorning the sides.

I really liked this salad.  I loved the piquant flavors of the dressing mixed with the lentils and tuna.  Leftovers for lunch were quite tasty.  My husband was more neutral about this one.  While he didn’t mind it, he won’t be requesting it for future meals.

Quite intriguing was the Olive Oil Ice Cream.  It is a basic custard-based vanilla ice cream, except some of the cream is replaced with olive oil.  Dorie suggests tasting the olive oil before using it to make sure it doesn’t have a peppery finish.  I’m so glad she suggested this, because the oil I had planned on using did have a peppery finish.  I served this over two nights, two different ways.  I wanted to us to experience the ice cream fully.

The first night I served the ice cream plain, with just a drizzle of olive oil and a light sprinkling of grey sea salt.  I asked my husband to guess the flavor.  He couldn’t guess, but you can clearly taste the olive oil when you know it’s there.  The flavor was interesting (in a good way!) but we decided we would rather have plain vanilla or another flavor all-together for eating it plain.

The next night I served the ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce and topped with a sprinkling of grey sea salt.  The flavors were fantastic together!  Dorie wasn’t kidding when she said the ice cream is “spectacularly good” with chocolate.  We both thoroughly enjoyed it and my husband was hoping for more the next night.

My conclusion with the ice cream is that I will make it again if I am serving it with something that it will go well with, but for “just eating”, I will stick to other flavors.  It was very fun to try!

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