Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Loozy-Anna Dawg: Andouille w/Cream Cheese & Pepper Jelly

We’ve been doing some “market research” as of late, testing out different recipes for possible use at the shop.  Because we’re more than just ice cream.  We have sandwiches and hot dogs and smoothies as well.

I’m not really sure where the inspiration for this came from…I think I was just trying to think of something “different” that would go well on an andouille link, but not require a huge heap of extra product on our part.  A “jambalaya dog” or a “red beans” dog both sound fantastic and I have no doubt they’d be completely deelish… but it would also require us (i.e. ME) to find the time to cook up batches at home for them to use at the shop, because we don’t have a stove top at the ice cream parlor.

And then, I had an epiphany.

If you’ve ever been to a party in the south, you’ve probably seen this included in the spread:

A true classic.  No Southern party is complete without a brick of cream cheese smothered in Tabasco pepper jelly (or homemade pepper jelly, if you’re that advanced).  I thought it was completely weird and looked disgusting when I first moved to Louisiana.

And then…I tried it.  And probably ate half of it all myself.  I was completely hooked.  I’m not usually huge on cream cheese, but in this combination, there’s no better pairing.  The sweet-hot bite of the pepper jelly is balanced perfectly by the silky smoothness of the cream cheese.  Add the crisp, salty crackers, and you’re just in heaven.

So…why not try it on a hot dog? But of course, not a regular hot dog.  No.  That’s just silly. We need an andouille link to make this properly.

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Ingredients:

Johnsonville Andouille New Orleans Style Sausage links (or more authentic andouille links if you can get them, but I like the Johnsonville since they’re close in size to a regular hot dog & have good flavor)

Hot Dog buns

Light Cream Cheese (about 2 teaspoons per sausage)

Tabasco pepper jelly (or other brand if you can’t find Tabasco, but the Tabasco texture is much more smooth & less “jelly-like”… compare the photo of the dip to the photo of the dog—I had to use Reese’s brand for this demo because I couldn’t find Tabasco brand) – also about 2 tsp per sausage

 

Directions:

Grill the andouille links for a nice smoky flavor, and toast the buns if you have the option.

Scoop a couple tablespoons of cream cheese into a ziploc bag and squeeze down into one corner of the bag; then snip off the corner to use it as a piping bag.  Do the same for the jelly.

Drizzle the cream cheese & the jelly across the sausage link.

Devour.

 

I was pretty impressed with this concoction.  The flavor on the Johnsonville sausage is really wonderful; a good amount of spice without being overkill.  And the cream cheese & jelly combo, mixed with the saltiness of the sausage made a really wonderful combination.  My husband who is a spicy-food-fanatic, thought it wasn’t quite spicy enough, but I thought it was about perfect for most taste buds—however, if you have a hot food freak in your house, you could always throw a few jalapeno slices on there as well for more heat (and a pretty color combo to boot).

 

Serve with a side of Zapp’s chips, or a nice salad.

 

NutriFacts (per dawg):

Calories 412.5

  Total Fat 24.9 g

  Saturated Fat 9.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 55.6 mg

  Sodium 1,018.8 mg

  Potassium 0.0 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 33.0 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.0 g

  Sugars 13.3 g

  Protein 13.8 g

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May the Fourth be with You: Wookiee Cookie Ice Cream Sammies!

Happy Star Wars Day!!!

Yes, yes, my favorite holiday.  Along with Pi Day and Christmas, of course.  And Thanksgiving.  Or, essentially any holiday that can be combined with food.  But yes, this day in particular appeals to my deep-seated inner geek.

Particularly now that I own an ice cream shoppe, because I can force my geekiness upon other people.

When we were still just thinking about the idea of purchasing the business, the idea for these sammies popped in my head.  I’m just glad that the craziness died down in time for me to find the time to make them.

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Ingredients (makes about 20 cookies / 10 sandwiches):

1 cup almonds, toasted & chopped

3/4 cup light butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour (if you’re wanting to be gluten-friendly, grind oats in your blender or food processor and use that “oat flour” instead)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

Chocolate chips

1 square of white baking chocolate

2.5 cups vanilla ice cream (cinnamon or coffee flavored would also be good)

 

Directions:

Heat your oven to 350, and toast the almond for about 10 minutes. Then chop in a food processor & set aside.

Combine the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla with your mixer.

Add in the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix for a few seconds, then slowly add the flour; mix until well combined & smooth.

Slowly mix in the oats and the almonds.

Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray or use parchment paper.  Portion dough into ~1/4 cup balls on the tray, and pat flat with wet hands (a small ice cream scoop works well to make sure your cookies are evenly sized).

On HALF of the cookies, add chocolate chips for the eyes and nose—press into the cookie slightly so they attach during baking. (The other side will be blank, since it’s the back of the “head”.)

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are brown.  Then remove from the oven & let cool.

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Once the cookies are cool, melt the white chocolate in your microwave (takes about 1:30 minutes), then transfer it into a small plastic baggie.  Snip the tip off of the baggie, and BAM—instant piping bag!

Pipe the mouths onto the Wookiee faces.

Photo May 03, 9 56 51 PM

To assemble the sammies, scoop about 1/4 cup of ice cream onto the bottom cookie, and pat flat.  Then place the face cookie on top.  And there you have it---Wookiee Cookiee ice cream sandwiches!!!

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