Coffee Ice Cream

Adapted from this source.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the milk, coffee beans, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is quite warm and steamy, but not boiling. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for at least one hour (I forgot about mine for 6 or 7 hours. No harm done). Strain the coffee beans out, and return the milk mixture to the saucepan.

Reheat on medium heat, until again hot and steamy (not boiling!). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof, flat-bottomed spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula so that you can run your finger across the coating and leave a trail. This can take about 10 minutes.

Pour the custard into a bowl and stir in the remaining cream. Mix in the vanilla and chill thoroughly.

Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes one quart.

Notes: I've tried the recipe as written, and you lose a ton of custard that gets stuck to the coffee beans. Much better to strain before thickening. 

This came out ridiculously smooth and thick, and froze quickly, but is still scoopable straight out of the (inside) freezer.

Grilled Marinated Shrimp

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails attached

skewers

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Reserve a small amount for basting later. Pour remaining marinade into a large resealable plastic bag with shrimp. Seal, and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill for medium-low heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp for 5 minutes per side, or until opaque, basting frequently with reserved marinade.

NOTES:

• Source
• We were pretty loose with the ingredient list (surprise).  I used dried parsley, less pepper sauce and tomato sauce instead of paste.
• In spite of all that, these were super easy and even more delicious than expected!
• I used a 2 lb bag of Costco uncooked shrimp (the larger ones) and just put the marinade inside the bag of thawed shrimp.
• It worked perfectly with our awesome skewers and we'll be making this again!

Skillet Taco Mac Hotdish

8 ounces of macaroni, cooked
1 lb. ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 can black beans
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 cup salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 c sour cream

• Prepare pasta according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook ground beef and onion
• stir in black beans, tomatoes, corn, salsa and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes
• Stir in 1 cup cheese, sour cream and pasta. Top with remaining cheese, serve.

NOTES: 

• I cooked everything in one pot after the macaroni was done.
• I didn't have taco seasoning, so just added a little cumin and chili powder.  Really, the salsa covered it pretty well anyway.

Source:

Back of the pasta box.

Sangria

1 bottle red wine (Winking Owl Merlot was perfect for this)
4 oz brandy
3 oz triple sec
2 oranges
2 limes
1 apple
4-6 oz simple syrup, to taste
12 oz or more club soda

Juice one orange and one lime; combine with first three ingredients. Add simple syrup to taste. Slice the remaining fruit thinly and add to pitcher. Chill thoroughly and serve over ice mixed about 2:1 with club soda.