Peanut butter ice cream with hot chocolate sauce and salted peanut brittle

After a Christmas filled with gluttony, lots of people go into a state of panic and head for the gym and the salad bar; not me. I always find January to be a month when you need a little bit of warmth from good comfort food and sweet treats to get you through a month, where generally not a lot happens. It is also birthday month for me, so there is no chance of giving up wine or chocolate; that can wait for another month, maybe. With this is mind, I have made a rich and indulgent peanut butter ice cream for this months  Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream. I am not a massive fan of peanut butter straight from the jar, on toast etc, but I love it in sweets and desserts. This ice cream in this recipe is very creamy and the sauce sweet, so you can only eat a little at a time but it is oh so naughty but very nice.

Ingredients

For the ice cream

400ml double cream
100ml full fat milk
2 large egg yolks
100g caster sugar
3 heaped tbls smooth peanut butter

For the chocolate sauce

75ml double cream
25g caster sugar
150g dark chocolate

For the brittle

100g salted peanuts
100g caster sugar

Method

1.  Gently heat the cream and milk together in a saucepan, along with the sugar, until the mixture begins to boil and sugar is dissolved. Take of the heat and allow to cool a little. Ad the egg yolks and whisk in until combined. Add in peanut butter and return to heat until peanut butter has melted and fully mixed with the custard base.
2.  I always allow the ice cream mixture to cool overnight in the fridge then churn ( as per machine guidelines).
3.  To make the sauce, simply add all ingredients to a saucepan and cook on a low heat until chocolate has melted and fully combined with cream.
4. For the brittle, I followed this simple recipe from Nigella.
5. Take a good scoop of ice cream, pour over the hot chocolate sauce and sprinkle over the chopped peanut brittle.

Liverpool Restaurant Review; Lefteris Greek Taverna

Lefteris is great little family run restaurant that I visited numerous times, and have enjoyed every time. Situated on Allerton road, it is a firm favourite for locals looking for traditional Mediterranean flavours. Eating Greek food in Liverpool can be hit and miss, especially with the popularity for cheap ouzo and plate smashing when celebrating hen nights. This, however, is a down to earth, friendly restaurant that serves up great quality food. I have always visited the restaurant in a large group and have always been happy with the attentive staff, who wait on with a pleasant smile without being too overbearing. My latest visit was in the week running up to Christmas and I was slightly hesitant about the quality of the food, as Christmas menus can often be hit or miss. My friends and I wanted to avoid the mayhem that was surely happening in town, so decided to stay local and hope for the best. I needn't have worried as, once again, the food and service were excellent. Amongst the six of us we order the garlic mushrooms, halloumi and squid for starters, all of which were very good. Served plain and simple, it is taste rather than fancy presentation that is what team want you to be happy about. The mushrooms were particularly good, rich and creamy and not the usual deep fried balls of grease that you usually get in other places. A side order of Tzatziki was a must for me; I love the stuff. It could have been seasoned a little more but it was great for dipping our pitta in.

From our selection of main, the Stifado was without doubt the dish of the evening; simple yet strong flavours all tangled up in melt in the mouth pieces of beef and soft, sweet onions. The mouska is always great here, as are the meatballs and with a long vegetarian menu there is something for everyone. All meals come with rice and chips, which can be a little dry, but the portion sizes are very generous so you need very little extra.I realise that I am being very gushing about the place here, it could just have been the Christmas spirit ( or the reasonably good house wine) but I think it was just one of those evenings that ticked all the boxes; simple food, great flavours, good friends and reasonable prices. I do admit to liking the odd fancy restaurant here and there but, for me, simplicity is so important. Just like you can enter a house and feel that it is a happy home, some restaurants just have that welcoming atmosphere about them. Leftaris has that for me. The food may not be out of this world fantastic but it hits all the right spots for me. It was my friends first visit and they all said they would be returning.