Restaurant Reviewed

www.localbizblogs.com www.localbizblogs.com Coupons, Specials for the Month of July 2009 at John’s Pizzeria Merrillville (219) 942-0111 and John’s Pizzeria Crown Point (219) 662-8944 in Northwest Indiana.

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July is dessert-a-licious, and your sweet steward is none other than Chuck Hughes of Chuck’s Day Off, whose three summery indulgences you voted on for July’s Cooking Club Challenge. Of the following:

• Summer Berry Pudding
• Guerrilla Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Berry Crumble

….you chose the Guerrilla Ice Cream Sandwiches! 

Here’s what Chuck had to say (on the phone!  Chuck and I are almost pals!):

“I have to say, I’m really excited about their choice – no, honestly, the results are absolutely fantastic!  This is a recipe I came up with for the show and wasn’t really sure how it was going to work, but I was really impressed. First off, it’s my mom’s cookie recipe, so that’s one great thing right there, but I just really love the “almost ice cream” because it can be a garnish on almost any dessert; brownies, pie, etc.  But make sure you make the cookies in advance to speed up the process, and I suggest you make these to be eaten the same day – there is no stabilizing agent in the filling and it will begin to crystallize if you keep it in the freezer too long. Good luck everyone!”

Oh this is no thing for you Cooking Club veterans! 

Here’s how the Foodtv.ca Cooking Club Challenge works:

• Make the chosen monthly recipe: Chuck Hughes’ Guerrilla Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Feel free to follow it to a “T” or add your own creative flair.
• Email me (blogATfoodtvDOTca) a picture (in .jpg format) and a short descriptive paragraph of no more than 50 words before July 31st, 2009, for your chance to win prizes. If you have a flickr account, you can post your results to the Foodtv.ca flickr group.
• Do check out past Cooking Club Challenge results.

Guerrilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS

For Banana Mascarpone Ice Cream

• 4 frozen bananas, peeled and cut in 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, halved, seeds removed
• 1/2 Meyer Lemon, juiced

For Double Chocolate Cookie “Sandwiches”

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecan nuts, roughly chopped

 
DIRECTIONS

For Banana Mascarpone Ice Cream

1. Freeze banana pieces overnight in re-sealable plastic bags.
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds then whip till smooth (about 20 – 30 seconds).
3. Fill 3 inch ring molds and lay onto a parchment- lined baking sheets.
4. Freeze 1 hour or longer, if needed.
5. Pop out of molds and place sandwiched between double chocolate cookies.

For Double Chocolate Cookie “Sandwiches”

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together dry ingredients into a large bowl.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer or food processor, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs and vanilla and beat till combined. Add this mixture to the bowl of dry ingredient and stir to combine. Add chips and nuts. Combine.
5. Drop by ice cream scoopfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes until just cooked but still soft. Set onto a wire rack to cool.
7. Using the same mold as the ice cream, cut cookies into ‘sandwiches’. Assemble with ice cream and serve.

Good luck and happy summer!

Related: Cool Desserts from our Summer Entertaining Site

Source:Your July Cooking Club Challenge: Chuck’s Guerrilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Wednesday is Package Day on the Father’s Day Bonanza!  Sadly, there’s only one available, but it’s a goooooood one: two great books and a $25.00 gift certificate for The Perfect Steak Company – yes, steaks by mail order. I mean, my dad would simply have a hairy fit if he opened the door to some succulent steak…

Patio Daddy-O
This saucy little guide for your backyard bash is a picture book as much as it is a recipe book. What it really is, actually, is an homage to the guileless decades of perpetual party time – the ‘50s and ‘60s – where as the opening puts it, “…it’s always sunny and 72 degrees.”

 Patio Daddy-O dishes sport names such as “Get Down to It” skirt steak, “Tequila King” shrimp kebabs, “Burning Spears” asparagus and “Lascivious Lemon Drops” cocktail. If that doesn’t tickle dad’s nostalgia, then maybe illustrations such as a vintage poster of the film “Live for Today: A searching portrait of a lost woman” and “Red Devil” firecrackers will.

Dad’s Awesome Grilling Book
“The grill is, after all, just a man, a pair of tongs, and heat,” reads the intro of this no-BS, daddy grill companion, and if you’re looking to get a feel for it, that pretty much sums it up.

The paper feels like construction paper, the colour scheme is brown, orange and white, and the photos are devoid of pretty styling or toile napkins.  Bob Sloan however – the author – is one funny guy. And once you give it a few reads, you realize this book is actually a touchingly personal portrait of how fathers really feel, relegated to a forgotten corner of the family universe.

Between 100 grill recipes are random musings on how to stay in touch with your kids, confessions of Father’s Day gift wants and funny diagrams such as a pig with dreads and an Israelite butt brand oiking, “No pepper, mon?” This to say that dads are still people indeed, who can be funny and GASP, ‘cool.’

$25 Gift Certificate for The Perfect Steak Company
I know! I didn’t know about this either! Imagine surprising your father by mail-ordering a couple of envelopes of meat? Like, “go get the door dad” and into his hands plops a hefty package of T-bones or some perfectly marbled NY Strip? The Perfect Steak Company is actually not just steak; along with all the classic North American cuts of beef you can get choice lamb, fish and seafood, and favourites like burgers. I’m not kidding, this may make my dad the happiest he’s ever been…

Email me fast as lightning the answer to the following question for a chance to get this dad-eriffic package: What are the names of Road Grill host, Matt Dunigan’s three children?

Email me at blog(@)foodtv(.)ca with Daddy-O in the subject line.  Please see contest rules.

This Giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to Carolyn B., of Waterloo, ON.

Next on the Bonanza: Two GREAT grilling books: Bobby Flay’s Grill It and Weber’s Way to Grill

Previously on the Bonanza: Pizza on the Grill

Related: Summer Grilling

Source:Elana's Father's Day Giveaway Bonanza: A Great Gift Pack for Dad