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Monday, September 2, 2013

Cinnamon Roll French Toast

Cinnamon roll bread
French toast is one of my favorite breakfast foods. (Hell, let's be honest. It's one of my favorite foods, period.)

As I posted a couple of days ago, cinnamon rolls rank right up there in that same rarified stratosphere of favorite foods for me.

It seemed natural to put the two together - hence, "Cinnamon Roll French Toast".

We had French toast fairly regularly when I was growing up, but we just made it with regular, sandwich cut, white bread. I still love it that way and had it that way for most of my life. A
French toast, ready to eat!
couple of years ago I decided to make it with "Texas toast" (which is really just much thicker cut white bread). It came out horrible (and I had my in-laws over for a big breakfast - I was seriously
embarrassed). I had made it exactly the same way I did with thin slices of bread (which really meant just dipping it in the egg mixture and throwing it on the griddle).  The problem was that it was simply too dry. I learned from that and changed my technique considerably when I'm using thicker bread. That is reflected in this recipe since I use much thicker slices of bread.

This recipe would work with ANY kind of bread you'd like to use - but you really want to use a thick cut slice (unless you simply dip it and cook with no soaking - in that case, feel free to use thin bread). I've made this with day old Italian bread, French bread, etc.  They all work well!

Ingredients


  • 1 loaf cinnamon roll bread, sliced about one inch thick (8 - 10 slices, recipe here) or any thickly sliced bread.  Best if slightly stale.
  • Sliced bread, soaking in egg mixture
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp of cinnamon
  • Butter
  • Maple syrup

Optional

  • 1 ½ tsp orange extract
  • 2 tsp freshly grated orange zest
  • pinch of nutmeg

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon together. If using, add orange extract, orange zest and/or orange extract until well blended. 
  3. French toast, after being cooked on the griddle.  It's ready
    to go into the oven and bake for an additional ten minutes.
  4. Put your slices of bread in a flat, shallow dish (a casserole dish works well).
  5. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and allow to sit for at least ten minutes, turning over a couple of times (the majority of the mixture will get absorbed into the bread).
  6. Melt some butter over a skillet or griddle on medium high heat.
  7. Add as many slices as will fit at a time, and cook until brown.
  8. Flip the slices and repeat on the second side.
  9. Repeat until all the slices have been cooked.
  10. Put the cooked slices of bread on a cookie sheet and place in preheated oven.
  11. Bake the bread for about ten minutes (this will cook the egg mixture that was absorbed into the bread so it's not "mushy" in the middle).
  12. Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup.
  13. Enjoy!
Breakfast, ready to go!  French toast, eggs,
home fries and bacon.  I'm hungry again!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Brined Whole Turkey (on the rotisserie)

I heard about brining a long time ago. I really never thought much about it - another way to cook a turkey (or a chicken, or pork, etc.).  Big deal.

Well, I was KIND of right.  It IS a Big Deal (capitals intentional!).
Finished turkey, cut up and ready to eat!

I've brined whole birds (turkey and chicken) and just cut up pieces.  I've brined pork chops and entire roasts. Without fail, every time I've brined something it's been indisputably better than the same thing I've cooked without brining.

I've also found that when talking about a whole bird, if you have a rotisserie and the time - it's definitely the way to go. I think I've had enough guests over to try it (foul AND pork) that from what they've told me afterwards, I'm not alone in that assessment.

Pork and turkey/chicken (the white meat) have a tendency to dry out quickly if they're overcooked - brining adds enough moisture to the meat that it is much more forgiving if you happen to overcook it (besides the incredible flavor it adds).

I've used my gas grill, my trusty Weber charcoal grill and even the Ronco Showtime electric rotisserie grill (especially in the middle of winter when I don't feel like freezing outside with one of my other grills).  My preference is the Weber, but all three of them work well and produce an excellent product.

This is my favorite brine - and I've used it for turkey, chicken and pork. The last time I brined, it was for a large cookout and in addition to the whole turkey I put pieces of chicken in the same container with the turkey and brined them all together (the chicken was then cooked on the grill, while the turkey was cooked on the rotisserie).

As always, if you try this please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Apple Cider, Maple Syrup and Orange-Lemon Brine

Ingredients
  • 7 cups hot water
    Turkey sitting in the brine
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 2 cups apple cider
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 2 sliced oranges
  • 1 sliced lemon
  • 2 Tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
  • Whole turkey (this will work with any size - the most recent one I used was about 20 pounds)
Directions
  1. Stir the hot water and salt together until the salt is dissolved. 
  2. Add the apple cider, maple syrup, peppercorns, lemons and oranges.  At this point, if you want you can also add other herbs/spices.  I like to throw in some freshly chopped rosemary, thyme and sage if I'm cooking poultry and just rosemary if I'm cooking pork. 
  3. Cool to below 45 degrees F. in the refrigerator (if you want to speed this process, use about three cups of hot water and follow the same process as above, after mixing well, add four cups of ice water.).
  4. Remove the turkey from the packaging and rinse well.  Remove neck and any giblets that may be packaged in the cavity.
  5. Place turkey in a large pan or food safe bag (for a large bird, I bought an orange Home Depot bucket that I cleaned out well and keep specifically for brining).
  6. The turkey should stay in the brine for a minimum of 24 hours*.  I've kept it brining for 48 hours with no problems.  It also needs to stay cool while it's brining.  If your refrigerator is large enough, use that.  When I'm doing a whole turkey I'm also generally using my refrigerator space for other things so I have a VERY large cooler that I put it in along with a generous supply of ice.
  7. Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well. 
  8. Truss the bird (one of my favorites, Alton Brown, has a great video on how to do that here.  It's well worth the three minutes it takes to watch.).
    The brined turkey on the spit.
  9. Put the bird on the spit and be sure the grill is preheated if it's gas or charcoal (if using one of the electric ones it's not necessary).
  10. If you want any herbs/spices on the skin, put them on now (I frequently use garlic powder, salt, pepper and rosemary powder.  I also like to put sprigs of fresh rosemary under the string, next to the skin).
  11. Place the spit in place and start it turning.
  12. Cook turkey to internal temperature of 180 degrees in thigh and 170 degrees in breast.
  13. How long it's going to take is a function of how large the bird is and the type (and temperature) of your grill.  For a small bird (i.e., a four pound chicken) it may only take an hour.  The 20 pound turkey I did recently took well over four hours.  A good rule of thumb is about 10 to 15 minutes cooking time per pound - but it's just that: a rule of thumb, not a hard and fast guide.
  14. When the internal temperature is right, remove the bird from the grill and then from the spit.  Let it rest for at least ten minutes to let the juices redistribute themselves.
  15. Carve and enjoy!
*If you're using this brine with pork, it typically doesn't take as long - you can cut the brining time back to 4-6 hours for chops and anywhere from 12-48 hours for a loin.

Cinnamon Rolls (like Cinnabon, only better!)

Small bits of ooey, gooey goodness.
Iced cinnamon roll

That's how someone described these cinnamon rolls to me and I have to agree with them.  Yes, you can always go and buy cinnamon rolls in a tube from Pillsbury.  It's a lot easier, but it's certainly not even close to tasting as good.

It's worth making these just for the smells that will permeate your house while they're baking! When people come to the house while I'm making them I always get comments about how fantastic they smell - which is nothing compared to the comments about how they taste.

The other thing about these is just how versatile they are - you can make them into cinnamon rolls like the ones I describe here or you can roll the dough a bit thicker and make it into a loaf of bread.  I always make extra dough just so I can do that, then in turn use that in the best french toast you've ever had!  You can also use the dough by itself (no cinnamon/sugar mixture) and turn it into some of the best dinner rolls you'll ever have - as a matter of fact, that's exactly what I do for Thanksgiving (and other occasions) every year.

I want to thank my mom for this recipe - she's been making this for as long as I can remember.  I've made a few changes to it here and there as I tend to do with just about everything I make, but the basic recipe hasn't changed.  She's still the best cook I know and the inspiration for everything I make - love you Mom!

If you try this recipe (or any of my others) please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments!

Watch how to make them here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkbRbdHlp3A

Ingredients

Rolls
2 packages yeast
5 – 6 cups flour
1 cup butter (2 sticks) 
2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar 
1 cup warm water
2 eggs, beaten 
1 cup boiling water

Filling
1 pound brown sugar, approximately 2 cups packed
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)

Cream Cheese Icing
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Directions

Rolls
  1. Dissolve yeast in the warm water (if you add a teaspoon of sugar to the water and stir well it will help activate the yeast). 
  2. Cream butter and sugar and slowly add the boiling water. 
  3. Let stand until cool and all butter is melted (to speed the cooling, I usually only add 3/4 cup of boiling water, then when the butter is melted, I add a couple of ice cubes.  This will cool it enough that you don't have to wait). 
  4. When cool, add the yeast and eggs and blend well. 
  5. Add salt and mix.  Add flour slowly, you want the dough to be very moist, not stiff. (It probably will be closer to 5 cups of flour than 6, but flours vary widely; humidity can also alter how much you use).  I use bread flour because I prefer the texture, but all purpose flour will work fine.
  6. Once the dough is the desired consistency, place in a greased bowl in the refrigerator, and cover with a dish towel overnight. Depending upon the time I have available, I sometimes make the dough in the morning and make the rolls in the afternoon as opposed to sitting in the refrigerator overnight (if you do this, you don't need to refrigerate it). 
  7. Next day (or that afternoon, depending upon when you make the dough), roll the dough to approximately 1/4” thick*.  
  8. Spread with melted butter. I use 1 - 1 ½ sticks of butter for this. You can also spread softened (not melted) butter instead if you prefer.
  9. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon (I also use a pinch of nutmeg - but this is optional). Sprinkle the mixture over the butter on the entire surface of the dough. I've actually tried different ways to do this. If you prefer, you can melt the butter and add it to the brown sugar and cinnamon.  This will make a paste-like mixture you can spread over the dough if you prefer.**
    Dough rolled out, spread with melted butter and
    sprinkled with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
  10. Roll up from the widest side and cut into slices about 1” wide and place in a non-stick pan***. 
  11. Cover with moist cloth and let rise about 2 hours. 
  12. Bake in a 400 degree oven until slightly browned on top. (About 15 minutes). 
*If you want to make a loaf of bread instead, roll out to approx. 1/2" thick.

**The original recipe from my mother didn't use brown sugar.  It instead used a sugar/cinnamon mixture in place of the brown sugar/cinnamon. Feel free to try this instead - it's equally good!

***DON'T CROWD THE PAN!  It's very important not to crowd the pan when you put the rolls in. The rolls will still expand and the middle won't cook properly if there are too many in the pan.

NOTE:  Depending upon what I'm using the dough for (cinnamon rolls or straight dinner rolls), I will add a tablespoon of vanilla to the dough at the same time as the eggs/yeast mixture.  It's actually a great addition even if you're making dinner rolls.

Cream Cheese Icing****
  1. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, margarine, vanilla extract (in addition to vanilla extract, I make an orange extract that I sometimes use as well. This gives it a slight flavor difference that is worth the trouble), confectioners' sugar and milk. 
  2. Beat until creamy.
    Iced cinnamon rolls
  3. Spread the icing over the rolls
  4. Enjoy!
****This is another area where the original recipe from my mother varies from this one. The original recipe uses a much simpler icing. If you'd like to try this, simply mix together one and a half pounds of confectioner's sugar, one and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract and just enough milk to make a fairly loose frosting. Again, it's different from my recipe but excellent (some of my family would tell you it's better!).

Best when served warm.

COOK'S NOTE: These also make very light dinner rolls. Just roll out and cut with a biscuit cutter. Baste with melted butter and fold over slightly off center. Cover and let rise for approximately 2 hrs. Then bake as above.  Alternately, you can roll the dough into small balls (approx. 3/4 inch).  Place three of these in each indentation in a muffin tin, then bake as directed.
Loaf of bread made from cinnamon roll dough.  Simply roll
the dough thicker than you would with the cinnamon rolls,
then continue as directed except don't cut them.  Pinch the
ends together and bake.  Makes incredible french toast!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Eggplant Marsala

Since I've been trying to cook more vegetarian meals for my wife, and since we just came from the farmer's market yesterday, I wanted to make something a little different.
Eggplant Marsala over egg noodles with marinated
cucumbers and basil and broccoli

Marsala is one of our favorites, and I've made many different versions of it. (There's a post here for a version with polenta and a creamy marsala sauce).

One of the things I saw that looked awesome at the market yesterday was eggplant.  We don't have them often and when we do it's generally either eggplant parmigiana or baba ghanoush (recipe also posted here).

I couldn't pass them up but as I mentioned, I wanted to try something different, so I decided to try eggplant marsala.  It's something that I had never even heard of before so I looked it up and found a few recipes. I didn't want mine to be a copy of someone else's so I left it at that - I didn't read any of them, so if this one is similar to one already posted it's just a case of great minds thinking alike!

Ingredients

  • 1 medium/large eggplant sliced into approximately 3/4 inch rounds
    This is how much you will get out of
    one medium sized eggplant
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 egg beaten well mixed with two tbsp milk
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs (I would love to try this with panko, but I was out of it, so I used plain regular breadcrumbs and seasoned them with fresh rosemary, oregano, garlic powder and sage)
  • 3-4 tbsp butter
  • olive oil for browning (if you have infused olive oil, even better)
  • 2 small shallots or 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup marsala wine
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup portobello mushrooms sliced thin (feel free to use another variety of mushroom if you prefer)

Directions

  1. Sprinkle salt lightly on both sides of the eggplant and place between paper towels.  Let sit for half an hour.  This will pull the moisture out of the eggplant and help make it crispy.
  2. After sitting for at least 30 minutes, rinse the eggplant off with water and pat dry. Sprinkle spices of your choice over sliced eggplant (I use garlic powder, dried ground rosemary, dried basil, oregano, seasoned salt and fresh ground pepper - very lightly).
  3. Dredge seasoned slices through flour on both sides.
  4. Coat with egg/milk mixture.
    Browning the eggplant
  5. Coat thoroughly with bread crumbs and set aside.
  6. Heat olive oil (I use a garlic or rosemary-infused oil) and butter over medium high heat in heavy bottomed pan.  I prefer to use something other than a non-stick pan for this.  Stainless steel works well.
  7. Cook all of the eggplant in batches until it's golden brown on both sides (add additional oil/butter if necessary).
  8. After the eggplant is finished, add onions and mushrooms.
  9. Cook onions and mushrooms in the same pan you used for the eggplant - if necessary add additional oil/butter.
  10. Add minced garlic to the onions and mushrooms for about one to two minutes (long enough to cook but not to burn).
  11. When the garlic, onions and mushrooms are ready, add the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get all of the "good stuff" that may be stuck there and then reduce the wine by half.
  12. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
  13. Continue cooking over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken.  You may also thicken the juices with a water/cornstarch slurry if you'd like.
  14. Serve over egg noodles and enjoy!!

If you try this, please let me know what you think in the comments!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Baked/Steamed Potatoes on the Grill


I love potatoes.  There.  I said it.  I keep trying to qualify them as a vegetable when we have dinner but my wife won't let me (if I could, I might be able to sneak two different types into my meals - baked and mashed, fried and scalloped - my idea of heaven!).

Finished meal - corn on the cob roasted on the grill,
potatoes, grilled zucchini, chicken and pork chops
Tonight I wanted to take advantage of the wonderful weather and use the grill - and I had already brined pork chops, chicken and even some tofu for my wife so the grill was going to be used anyway so it became a "potatoes on the grill" night (actually, we really DON'T have potatoes all that often which is probably one of the reasons I always crave them so much).

This is something I came up with a long time ago to make cooking potatoes on the grill quick and easy. I think they do a combination of steaming AND baking this way and when you take them off the grill you don't have to do anything else to them (maybe a bit of salt, pepper and butter, depending upon your tastes but they really don't need it).

If you try this, let me know in the comments and tell me what you think!

Baked/Steamed Potatoes on the Grill

Ingredients

Potatoes after being cut and onion
added between slices of potato.
  • 2 - 10 russet or white potatoes (how many do you want to feed? how much do they like potatoes? how big are the potatoes? for four of us, I did about 10 small/medium potatoes and we had plenty of leftovers)
  • 1 small/medium/large onion, sliced thin (the size of the onion you use will depend on how many potatoes you use - and how much you like onions!)
  • olive oil - enough to drizzle over the top of the potatoes
  • seasonings to sprinkle over the top - use whatever you like.  I generally use garlic powder, Lawry's seasoning salt and some freshly ground rosemary, but anything you like will work
Directions
  1. Preheat your grill - if using gas, just turn on all the burners (once it's lit) and close the lid.  If you are using charcoal, once it's lit and burning well, put the cover on to let it get good and hot.  You want to leave an area large enough for the pouch to NOT have a fire directly beneath it, so either a "U" shape or coals on only half of the grill usually works well
  2. In the meantime, start preparing the potatoes. Tear off a strip of aluminum foil. Size should be determined by how many potatoes you are cooking. This piece is just for the potatoes to rest on, so size accordingly
  3. Spray the side of the foil facing you with non-stick cooking spray
  4. Slice potatoes into approx 1/2 inch slices
  5. Place potatoes on the foil where it was sprayed
  6. Put slices of onion between each slice of potato. You can do this every other slice - or any other way you like depending entirely upon how much onion you have and how much you like onion.  I've also done this with garlic, but you have to be VERY careful how much you use or it can quickly become overpowering (and we LOVE garlic)
  7. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes but be careful not to drown them with it.  If you have an infused olive oil, it works wonders for the flavor. You can use pats of butter here instead if you like
  8. Sprinkle whatever spices you want over the top of the potatoes 
  9. Tear another piece of foil the same size as the first.  Spray one side of it with the non-stick spray.  Place the side with the spray on it over the potatoes and fold all four sides up to make a packet
  10. Place the foil packet of potatoes on the grill.  If using a gas grill, turn off a burner to make sure that one area doesn't have a fire underneath it (that will burn the potatoes on the bottom)
  11. If you have a way to tell the temperature in the grill, ideally keep it around 350-400 degrees and let it go for an hour.  You don't need to move it or turn it - just let it sit and let the grill work its magic
  12. Carefully remove onto a plate or cookie sheet
  13. Potatoes surrounded by grilled corn on the cob.  Serve
    potatoes directly out of the foil or transfer to a serving dish
  14. Open (be careful - it's hot!), serve and enjoy! 


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Vegan/Vegetarian Goulash

I grew up having goulash on a fairly regular basis.  It was cheap, simple to make and it tasted good. Coming from a family of seven, that was important.

Goulash - or as they sometimes call it here in
New England,  American Chop Suey
I've since learned that there are LOTS of different types of goulash.  I also learned when I moved to New England that some folks here call it "American chop suey".  I'm betting there are lots of names for it that I've never heard of, but the important piece goes back to the "cheap, simple to make and tastes good" part.

In the past, I've always made this with a combination of hamburger and sweet italian sausage.  Since my wife recently went back to being a vegetarian, I frequently cook two versions of meals but this time I decided to just cook one and see if my kids could even tell the difference.

They couldn't.  Neither could I.  Generally, I can definitely tell the difference - I may like the vegetarian/vegan version of something, but I can tell them apart.  This time I really couldn't.  It tasted like the version I make with real meat.

If you're entertaining someone that doesn't eat meat, this would be a great option for everyone at the table.  If one of your guests needs gluten-free meals, you could quite easily accommodate them as well by using gluten-free pasta.

I'll warn you ahead of time that although I'm using only a pound of pasta and that doesn't sound like much, this makes a LOT.  Feel free to cut back and make less. There were four of us eating and we had enough left for easily three more meals.

Also, many of the ingredients in this recipe I mark as "optional".  They truly are.  This particular recipe reflects my tastes but don't be afraid to change it however you'd like to meet YOUR tastes and those of your family.  There are no right or wrongs - just season to your tastes and it will be perfect!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound elbow macaroni 
  • 1 package Boca ground crumbles (Boca brand is vegan - most others I've looked at are vegetarian but not vegan.  Use whichever brand you prefer)
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped (optional - we don't care for them in our house, but I know lots of folks like them)
  • 1 small onion, chopped 
  • 1 (28-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (if you make your own sauce, awesome - if not, any kind of sauce you like will work just fine)
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I generally get the ones with basil and garlic - any kind you like is fine)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • basil leaves, chopped (optional)
  • oregano leaves, chopped  (optional)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (preferably garlic infused)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
  • 2 tbsp italian sausage seasoning (optional - we buy this from Penzey's Spices)
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

  1. Following package directions, prepare the macaroni and set aside
  2. Pour the jar of sauce and the tomatoes into a large pan, stir and heat up (if you like your goulash a bit more "saucey", feel free to add more than one jar of sauce)
  3. While the sauce is heating, add the olive oil to a skillet then add the onions (and peppers, if using them) and saute until they are just starting to brown (approximately five minutes).  Just before they are finished, add the minced garlic (you don't want to add it too early or it could burn)
  4. Add the Boca crumbles in with the onions and garlic.  If they are still frozen, you'll have to heat them for a few minutes to let them thoroughly heat up.  If they are thawed, it will only take a minute or two to get them heated up.
  5. Add the crumbles/onions mixture to the sauce.
  6. Add in any seasonings you may want to use (garlic powder, salt pepper, basil leaves, oregano, etc.) and stir well (we LOVE the italian sausage seasoning that you get at Penzey's.  They have hot or sweet and I think using it in this dish adds a LOT of flavor)
  7. Mix this all together, then add in the macaroni and stir well.
  8. When it's all finished, it should look something like the picture above.  
  9. Let it simmer for a few minutes so the flavors have time to come together.
  10. Serve with your favorite vegetables and garlic bread and enjoy!




Thursday, August 1, 2013

Butterbeer! (the frozen kind)

We were in Orlando last week and went to Disney and Universal.  It was very hot, very hectic and a lot of fun.  The inner nerd in me has to admit that my favorite part was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure.  My favorite part of THAT was the butterbeer.  I've been having withdrawals from it since I left the park!
Homemade Frozen Butterbeer!


If you've read the books (or been there) you know what it is. If not, I'm going to tell you how to make a reasonable facsimile at home. Since you'll have the the recipe and know how to make it, you'll never have to go through that cruel withdrawal process like I did!

(Frozen) Butterbeer!

  • 2 liter bottle of cream soda
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 jar of butterscotch ice cream topping

  1. Fill an ice tray (or muffin tins, or small plastic cups, etc) with the cream soda
  2. Let freeze until solid (ours took about three hours)
  3. Remove from freezer and put "cream soda ice" into a blender (it's important to have a blender that will chop ice well)
  4. How much you use will depend upon how much you want to make at any given time.  If you're making enough for one person, three or four cubes may be enough.  If it's for a group, the entire tray (and maybe more) will be used
  5. Add cream soda (unfrozen) to the blender along with some of the butterscotch topping (again, how much you use depends on how many you're making this for AND your tastes.  Use more butterscotch if you want it a bit sweeter and more or less soda depending upon how thick you want it)

For the topping

Butterbeer in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
  1. Just before you're ready to start the blending process above, make the topping
  2. Beat the heavy cream until it's just starting to thicken. You don't want it as thick as whipped cream - you want it to be more the consistency of beer foam
  3. Add a bit of the butterscotch topping as you're beating the cream.  Again, how much will depend entirely upon your taste.  I would start out with just a little to get a light butterscotch flavor and add more if you want it sweeter (I didn't measure, but I'm guessing I used between 1/4 and a 1/3 cup).

Pour the frozen butterbeer into a cup and top with the whipped cream.  

You can drink it with or without a straw.  If you don't use the straw, it will give you a nice 'stache just like at the park!

Enjoy!!!