Mudslide Pie

Mudslide pie is so easy and really delicious!!!

This recipe is adapted from the Betty Crocker website.



Mudslide Pie
26 Oreo cookies, divided
1/4 C butter, melted
6 C coffee ice cream, softened (don't skimp! buy the good stuff!)
3 TBLS Kaluha
3 TBLS Bailey's Irish Cream
Caramel sauce, for garnish
Whipped cream, for garnish

Put 20 Oreos into the food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs.
Add melted butter and process until combined.
Press cookie crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a ungreased 9in pie plate.
Freeze for 15 minutes.
Mix softened ice cream with Kaluha and Bailey's.
Spread ice cream mixture into pie crust. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Remove pie from freezer 15 minutes prior to serving. Crush remaining 6 cookies in food processor. Serve Mudslide Pie topped with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel and a sprinkle of cookie crumbs.
Enjoy!!

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This is what you need.


Don't skimp on cheap ice cream. You want creamy, delicious, strongly flavored coffee ice cream. If I'm not making it myself, I always choose Starbucks Coffee Ice Cream. It's spendy for those little containers, but SO worth it!!

Crush the cookies in the food processor then mix in the melted butter.


That little bottle of Bailey's isn't in the food processor. It's on the counter behind it.

Anyway, then press the buttery cookie crumbs into a glass pie plate.

Anyone remember when I asked Santa for a nice red pie plate??

See... he reads my blog. =)


Freeze that for 15 minutes.

Now mix up the ice cream and booze.

Mmmm... I licked all the lids before I threw them out.


6 cups of coffee ice cream


If you try stirring it up a bit first, it's easier to mix in the alcohol.




Fast forward 15 minutes.

Spoon your ice cream mixture into the cookie crumb crust.

Oh, look at that spoon, all covered with frozen mudslide... I should definitely lick that so it doesn't get the sink messy!


Cover with plastic wrap.

I didn't have plastic wrap. I only had plastic bags that go inside my heated pedicure booties. So I cut one open and used that.


But it wasn't very clingy, so I covered it with foil too.

Then into the freezer next to the Trader Jose's Chicken & Cheese Tamales overnight.


It doesn't have to be overnight, but it should be for at least 6 hours. And it doesn't have to be next to Trader Jose's Tamales either.

Take it out of the freezer about 10 - 15 minutes before you're ready to serve it.

Top slices with whipped cream, caramel sauce and a sprinkle of cookie crumbs.


This was SO good!! Perfect on a hot summer day. But really a yummy treat any time!

Try this!! It's delicious!!

Mussels ~ How to Clean Them

I love mussels!

But to make them at home, you have to know how to clean them.

It's easy!



First you have to start by purchasing fresh mussels.

There should be a tag on every bag of mussels you buy.

There are two dates on the bag, the Harvest Date and the Wet Storage Harvest Date.



The Harvest Date is the date they were taken from where they were grown. The Wet Storage Harvest Date is the date they were removed from the filtered seawater tanks they were stored in to be shipped to your fish monger.

Ideally you should prepare them, 2 - 3 days past the Wet Storage Storage Harvest Date. But as long as they've been moist and cold, you're good up to 10 days past that date.

When I get them home, I open the bag and rinse them in cold water.


Then I pour them into a large bowl, and cover them with ice and place them in the fridge until I'm ready to make them. I always buy them the day I plan to prepare them.



When you're transferring them to the bowl, check for any broken shells and throw those mussels away.

It's a little hard to see in the pic.. but there's a big crack in this one.


Another broken one...


Ok... It's later the same day and I'm ready to cook my mussels. Start about an hour ahead of time.

Put the mussels in a big bucket of cold water. I throw some ice in it too.


Let it rest for a while. The mussels will expel sand into the water.

They don't do this quietly. SoulPatch got curious when he heard the gurgly, bubbly, burps coming from the water.




After a little while, remove the mussels from the bucket, dump the water, be sure there is no sand left in the bucket, put in fresh water and a little more ice. Add the mussels back to the fresh water.



By removing the mussels from the bucket, you're not pouring the sand that has settled to the bottom over the mussels.

Repeat until the water is mostly clear.








Ok... mostly clear... now it's time to remove the beards.

The beards are the bristly fibers the mussels use to cling on to whatever it they cling to while they grow.

I usually use needle nose pliers for this, but I couldn't find them, so I just used the regular ones.

Just grab the beard tightly, close to the shell and pull it off.


You should physically touch every mussel. If a mussel is open and doesn't close tightly when you tap it, it's dead. If it's dead it will make you sick. Throw it away. It's normal to have a couple of those per bag.

This one closed up nicely.




Now you should have a nice fresh cleaned batch of mussels ready to use in your favorite recipes!

Pork Adobo

Usually I make Chicken Adobe, but I was wanting something a little different and since I knew I had a pork loin roast in the freezer, I decided to try a Pork Adobo.

Wow! Was this amazing!!



Pork Adobo w/Gravy
1 1/2 C white vinegar
1 C soy sauce
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBLS peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 C water
3 - 4 lbs pork loin roast, cut into large chunks

Gravy
1/4 C flour
3/4 C water

In a hot pot, sear pork chunks on all sides.
Then add remaining ingredients and simmer at least one hour until meat is tender. You can totally just put it on the back of the stove on low for a few hours and it only gets better.

Remove meat and set aside, strain peppercorns out of broth.

In a shaker, combine 1/4 C flour with 3/4 C water and shake to create a slurry. Whisk slurry into soy sauce/vinegar/pork broth, whisk over medium heat until gravy thickens. Add meat back to gravy.

Serve with rice.

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First, put those beautiful chunks of pork into a hot pan and sear on all sides.


There is more beautiful searing than this... but I guess I didn't get a pic...


Add the remaining vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and 1 cup of water.


Simmer at least one hour


Remove the meat and set aside.


Strain the broth to remove peppercorns.


Put 1/4C flour & 3/4C water into a shaker and shake into a slurry.


Add to strained broth and whisk until gravy thickens.


Add meat back to gravy.


This can stay on the stove on low heat until you're ready to serve it.



I have to say this was far and away the BEST adobo I've ever made! I don't know if I'll ever make Chicken Adobo again.

Boneless skinless chicken (what my family perfers) doesn't hold up to braising anywhere near as well as pork.

The tender flavorful melt-in-your-mouth pork was so delicious!

And the gravy!!! WOW!!! Silky, sour, so adobo-y... and thicker than the usual broth so it really sticks to the rice.

Our friend Mike said, "Sarap!"

I'll definitely be making this again!!

Creamsicle

August 14th is National Creamsicle Day!

This is a grown up version of the ice cream pop you used to get from the Ice-Cream Man when you were a kid. If you're in Bartlesville, OK, I bet you can get one from my Uncle David's ice cream truck!

I think this is one of my sister Jeannie's favorites. As soon as I heard National Creamsicle Day was coming up I thought of her and asked her to make one for the blog. Being the awesome sister that she is, she agreed.



Creamsicle
Licor 43
Vanilla Vodka
Orange Juice
Cream
Ice
16 oz Tupperware Shaker

Use any 16 ounce shaker.  Jeannie said any shaker, but I'd go with a Tupperware one, that has the measurements on it.
Start by filling it completely full of ice.
Then fill 1/3 full with Licor 43 To the 6oz marker
Next add Vanilla Vodka (about half the amount of the Licor 42) To the 10oz marker
Then add Orange Juice (the same amount as the Vanilla Vodka) To the 14oz marker
Last add a splash of cream (roughly an ounce - I use Fat Free half & half and pretend that makes it Weight Watcher friendly) To the 15oz marker with whatever milky product you choose
Strain into the glass of your choice (makes roughly a 9 oz drink... can be served over ice too)

I'll actually be up at her house tomorrow... I'll have her make me one!

You should try one too!

Hefeweizen Cupcakes

I really don't remember how I stumbled across this recipe on Beantown Baker's blog, but Jen the Beantown Baker has an amazing collection of cupcake recipes and loads of other delicious looking yumminess. I highly recommend you check it out!

But when I saw Hefeweizen Cupcakes, I knew I had to make them!!

It took awhile to actually get around to it. And I had a Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse in the fridge that was off-limits, for what probably seemed like FOREVER to Jon!

But our friend's birthday rolled around, and he ended up being in town without his lovely wife or family, so I decided it was the perfect occasion for Hefeweizen Cupcakes!



Hefeweizen Cupcakes
Makes 9 cupcakes

2 egg whites
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 C vegetable oil
zest of one large lemon or 2 small lemons
3 TBLS milk
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C Hefeweizen or other wheat beer

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually mix in the sugar.
Mix in baking powder, baking soda, vegetable oil, zest, and milk.
Mix in half of the flour.
Mix in the beer.
Mix in the other half of the flour.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Beer Glaze Recipe
1/2 C malted milk powder
2 TBLS all-purpose flour
1/4 C hefeweizen or other wheat beer
4 TBLS unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C powdered sugar

In a double boiler, combine all the ingredients except for the butter and sugar.
Melt the mixture, stirring continuously until it's thick - about 12 minutes.
Cool completely.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the cooled malt mixture with the butter.
Mix in the powdered sugar.
The end result should be a thick and sticky glaze.
Spread onto cooled cupcakes.

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The beer that sat in my fridge forever!


Preheat your oven to 350F
Ok... so beat your egg whites until soft peaks form.


Then gradually mix in the sugar.
Mix in baking powder, baking soda, vegetable oil, zest, and milk.
Mix in half of the flour.
Mix in the beer.
Mix in the other half of the flour.

It will look like this =)


Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.


Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until they bounce back when lightly touched.


Now to make the Beer Glaze.

So malted milk powder, beer and flour in to the double boiler.


Mix well, cook and stir until thick.


About 12 minutes...


When completely cooled...

Mix the cooled malty mixture with the butter


Then mix in the powdered sugar...


Now you're ready to glaze the cupcakes!




Kinda yeasty and a little savory sweet. But not too sweet. I'm not fond of stuff that's really sweet and these were great!



Really tasty... nice crumb...



They ARE different.

But I'll definitely be making them again!

Give them try!