Dessert Always Wins

We had a little family get together this weekend and I tried some new recipes. I mean, if you can't experiment on your family who has to forgive you and come back for more, who can you experiment on?

They've been running really great sales at the grocery store on chicken hindquarters, which is the drumstick and thigh together. I don't remember the price per pound, but I got a package with 5 large ones for $3.88. That's pretty darn cheap. I soaked them in a citrus marinade and roasted them in the oven. Really delicious!

Citrus Chicken Hindquarters

4 Chicken Hindquarters
1 Orange, zested and juiced
2 Limes, zested and juiced
4 Garlic Cloves, pressed
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Mix together the orange and lime zest and juice along with the garlic, a little salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil. Place chicken in a gallon size baggie, pour in the marinade, zip closed and put in the refrigerator to soak. I had mine together early enough in the day that they marinated for a good 5 hours. I actually doubled the recipe and made a big roasting pan with 9 of the hindquarters. Bake for at least an hour at 375 degrees (I had such a large pan of chicken, I ended up leaving it in for another 15 minutes.)

For a side, I had some bell peppers that I needed to use and I stuffed them with a rice mixture that I made up as I went along. It turned out very good!

Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

3 Bell Peppers, halved lengthwise with membranes and seeds removed
2-1/2 cups of cooked Brown Rice
2 T. Canola Oil or Olive Oil
1 cup chopped Onion
1 cup chopped Walnuts
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
16 oz. Tomato Sauce
Salt
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Sauté onion and walnuts in oil for 10 minutes. Stir in Italian seasoning and salt and sauté a few minutes longer. Mix together with cooked rice, add tomato sauce and stir. Then stuff into pepper halves. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle the tops of each with a little parmesan cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes.

My favorite part of this dish was the flavor and crunch of the walnuts. Just plain yummy!


But, of course, the dessert that I made in 15 minutes with very little trouble at all was what everyone liked the most ...


Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream Pie


9" prepared Graham Cracker Crust (I bought reduced fat like that was really going to make a difference!) :-)
7.25 ounce bottle of Chocolate Ice Cream Topping that hardens (I bought Smucker's Magic Shell Chocolate Fudge)
10 ounce jar of Maraschino Cherries, drained (set aside a few whole cherries to garnish the top of the pie with)
1 quart Vanilla Ice Cream
2 - 1.5 ounce packages of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

Leave the ice cream out to soften. Pour about half of the chocolate ice cream topping into the graham cracker crust, spread around, then freeze for a few minutes.

Chop the drained cherries. I've had this chopper for years and I love it, especially for messy jobs like this one.

Stir the softened ice cream and mix in the chopped cherries ...

Pour the ice cream mixture into the pie crust ...

Sprinkle the chopped peanut butter cups over the ice cream, then drizzle with the rest of the topping. Place the whole cherries on top of the pie (I forgot to leave the cherries until last and poured chocolate over them), then freeze until time to serve.

Oh yeah, it's definitely an easy, tasty keeper of a dessert. Hubby is already hinting that I should make another one!