Who screams for ice cream?

Double Chocolate Mint Chip Ice Cream

Early June, 54 degrees - it's always a good time for ice cream!

Special equipment

Any type of automatic ice cream machine.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Williams-Sonoma Peppermint hot chocolate (or other mint chocolate candy you happen to have)



Instructions
Combine heavy cream, whole milk, chocolate syrup, sugar and vanilla (not mint chocolate) in a medium mixing bowl and blend with a hand mixer on low until well blended.


Pour into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker


Run the machine until mixture thickens, about 20 - 25 minutes. Add min chocolate to ice cream during last 7 minutes of mixing.


If you have any left after the kiddies get their share, transfer to freezer safe container for later in the month when it actually warms up.


Modified from the original: http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/desserts/41.html

Hooray for Friday!

Sea Bass

2 sea bass steaks
lemon zest from 1 lemon
lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
chives for garnish

combine zest, juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil in baking pan. Turn to coat and leave in marinade for about 20 minutes.
Grill over direct high heat until opaque, about 7 minutes, turning once.
Garnish with chives.



Avocado Tomato Salad

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes or 1/2 lb other tomatoes - cut into chunks
1 avocado - cut into chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped chives
Sea Salt

Combine tomatoes, avocado, olive oil, and chives. Gently fold ingredients together. Sprinkle salt over the top for a little crunch.



Daiquiri

2 oz spiced rum
.75 oz simple syrup
1 oz lime juice
mint leaves (optional)

pour ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with crushed ice. Shake it, shake it, shake it (if you can). Pour into glasses filled with more crushed ice. Serve with a straw and a little bit of crushed mint.

cha, cha, cha

warm weather and a request make it perfect timing for salsa.

You can substitute pineapple, peaches, or any fruit that strikes your fancy. I always buy at least two jalapenos because sometimes they don't have much spice to them. To kick up the heat use the seeds and the pith of the pepper.
Like most of my recipes, the amounts are approximate and will depend on your taste. You can always add a little more or less based on the crowd or your desires.

Mango Salsa

2 ripe mangoes - medium dice
1 small white onion - small dice
1 jalapeno pepper - very fine dice
1/2 small jicama - medium dice
1 bunch of cilantro
juice of one lime
pinch of cumin
salt to taste

combine the mangoes, onion, jalapeno and jicama in a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 of the lime juice and cumin. Stir and add salt to taste. Chop the cilantro and stir it in also. Refrigerate for at least one hour. You may want to add the rest of the lime juice and even more cumin.

Other than chips, this salsa makes a great marinade for fish, shrimp or chicken or pork. You can also serve it with apple slices and the rest of the jicama for crunchy healthy alternatives - oooh wait - I didn't mean for it to be healthy.
I guess you'll all just have to live with the fact that there are some delicious foods out there that are good for you, too!
buen provecho!