Vanilla Souffle

I'm not much of a sweets kind of person.  My husband, on the hand, could eat a piece of cake for breakfast and wash it down with a bowl of ice cream every day if he could.

But when I do have dessert, I like it to be light and tasty.  That's where this vanilla souffle comes in.  It's delicate, but complex in flavor.  Simple, but a show stopper.  Obviously, I waited a little too long to take pictures because it started to deflate after a bit.  But it still tasted wonderful, and in the end, that's what really matters, right?  Right.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Grease the inside of 4 small ramekins with butter.

In a small saucepan, combine the flour, milk, and 1/3 cup sugar.  Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently to prevent lumps.  When the mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat and let cool.

Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time and continue until all yolks are incorporated.  Beat in the 2 tablespoons of butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt, and remaining tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.

Fold the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and then stir in vanilla.

Divide the mixture between the ramekins, filling them about 3/4 of the way full.

Place the ramekins carefully on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven.  Turn heat down to 375 F and bake for 25-30 minutes or until souffle has risen and is golden brown.

Carefully remove from the oven and dust with powdered sugar.  Serve immediately.

Hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving week!

Spinach Souffle

I've obviously been on an egg kick, lately.  I don't know why, but I'm all about the little protein powerhouse.  Maybe because it's such a cheap commodity.  So easy to manipulate and do different things with?  Who knows. 

And I've never tried making a souffle before.  With a little extra time on my hands now that school is over for the quarter, I have time to conquer the unconquered.  I don't think I've mastered it, by any means.  But for a first attempt, I think they turned out rather nicely!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small shallot, minced
1 cup raw spinach, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of nutmeg
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1/2 cup Emmentaler (Swiss) cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat a medium skillet under medium high heat.  Add olive oil and heat until shimmering.  Add shallot and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.  Stir in spinach and cook until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Set aside to cool.

A lot of souffle bases don't require a bechamel, but I think it makes the souffle creamier and more delicate in the long run, so I highly recommend it.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.  Whisk in the flour and cook for just a few minutes, or until the flour is a light blond color.  Stir in milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  Stir until all milk is incorporated and mixture is smooth.  Whisk in the cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and let simmer, whisking occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes, or until mixture is slightly thickened.  Take mixture off of heat and whisk in egg yolks, one at a time.  Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are at stiff white peaks (think meringue).  Fold in about 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture, along with 1/2 of the cheese and the spinach mixture.  Fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Grease one large souffle dish or 4 mini ramekins (I had 4 inch diameter ones that made perfect side dishes).  Sprinkle inside of souffle dish or ramekins with a little bit of cheese.  Turn out mixture into prepared dishes and sprinkle with remaining bits of cheese. 

Place dish(es) in oven and turn heat down to 375 F.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until souffles are risen and golden brown on top.

Carefully take out of oven and admire your accomplishment!

I had a little bit of a deflation in one of my souffles, but that's expected with any first try, right?  Right.  But the result was an airy, creamy spinach souffle that won over Andy (who, I could tell, was a bit skeptical of having souffle as part of our dinner). 

Have you ever made a souffle?  How did your first go at it go?

French Fries w/ Herbed Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise and I have a love-hate relationship.  I can love her when spread thinly across a piece of bread in between a sandwich.  I can love her mixed in with chicken or tuna salad.  I can even love her when mixed as a salad dressing.

However, where I draw the line to loving her and start hating her, is when she's used as a dip - such as aioli (which is basically a garlic mayonnaise).  When she's hidden, she's fine.  But when she's just out in the open, I get kinda weird.  I know, makes no sense. 

But homemade mayo.  Now that's a different story.  It doesn't quite possess the "weirdness" that I'm afraid of.  It's a whole other breed of sauce to me.  Mixed with a few herbs, and all my fear suddenly goes away.  I can fearlessly dip fry after fry in the stuff and be okay.  Well, somewhat okay.  It's still mayo, at the end of the day, and we've got to watch our portions! 

Anyway, this one's a keeper, even for the mayo-haters out there!

Ingredients:

French Fries:

2 russet potatoes, battonet (1/4" x 1/4" x 2")
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Herbed Mayonnaise:

1/4 cup spinach leaves, stemmed
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/2 tablespoons dried tarragon
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon mustard
1 & 1/2 cups vegetable oil
 salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Toss the potatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes, flipping the potatoes once or twice in between.

To make the mayonnaise, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the spinach, shallots, parsley, and tarragon.  Boil for about 2-3 minutes, or until leaves are wilted.  Drain the herbs and run under cold water until cool.  Squeeze out excess moisture.  Chop the herbs finely.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until lighter in color and slightly thickened.  Whisk in red wine vinegar and mustard.  Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil, being careful not to add more until the previous amount is fully emulsified.  Continue until all of the vegetable oil is incorporated.

Stir in the finely chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve the french fries along side the herbed mayonnaise or condiment of your choice! 

This mayo is good enough that I put it on sandwiches, hot dogs, french fries, whatever!  For a mayo hater like myself, it does just the trick!

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

BBQ Chicken Quiche

Happy Memorial Day everybody!  Andy and I are both off of work and school today so it's just a free day to do whatever we want!  We've decided to take the dogs with us to Clifty Falls to do some hiking, then come back to grill out some steaks and make some sushi.  Sounds like a good way to spend the day to me!

Since BBQ is the main attraction in many households across the nation today, I figured I'd do a little twist on a classic quiche.


Ingredients:

Rotisserie chicken, meat taken off the bone and shredded
1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 pie shell (you can use your leftover puck from the pie dough recipe)
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper, to taste
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup cheddar jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 F.

If you haven't already, blind-bake your pie shell until slightly golden.  Let cool to room temperature before adding filling.

Make the quiche custard by combining the eggs, milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Whisk until mixed well.  You can also strain the mixture at this point to remove any "egg boogers".  Yes, that's my technical term.  You know, those pieces of egg white that just won't homogenize with the rest of the mixture?  You'll end up getting a more evenly colored quiche this way, instead of random white spots here and there - but if that's your thing, then hey, you can skip the straining.

Anyway, in a separate bowl, combine the shredded chicken and BBQ sauce.  Mix well and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place about 1/2 to 1 cup of the chicken on the bottom layer of the pie shell.  More than likely, you'll have more filling than you know what to do with - but I'm sure you're creative enough to come up with something to do with it (i.e. bbq pulled chicken sandwiches, bbq chicken pizza, ANOTHER quiche, etc.).

Pour the custard atop the chicken and then top the whole thing with the shredded cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes or until quiche is set, but still slightly jiggles in the center.  Let cool to room temperature before slicing (unless you just can't wait that long!).

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Diamond Vol au Vent

 

So how's everybody liking the new blog?  I know it's kind of simple right now, but I'm working on getting a cool header put together in between the little free time that I have!

Today we've got Diamond Vol au Vent (pronounced Voo-le-vant - with kind of a nasal "a" in the "vant").  I think these are a neat little thing to do with your puff pastry and they're sure to impress guests at a dinner party.  The possibilities to fill them with are endless, you can go from savory to sweet easily, and you can even play with the shape as well (circles are another popular one).

Since it's practically summer, I thought some fresh fruit vol au vents would be perfect!  Enjoy guys!

Ingredients:

Puff pastry
Pastry cream - there are a plethora of recipes out there, but this one is pretty good
Various fruits - I chose mangoes and raspberries
Apricot jelly (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Roll out your puff pastry to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.  Using a pastry wheel (or pizza cutter), cut 2" wide strips vertically.  Then, by cutting horizontally, make 2x2" squares.

Take one of the squares and turn it so that it looks like a diamond (instead of a square).  Fold the diamond in half (point to point, not side to side).  Using the pastry wheel, cut two slits about 1/4 inch from the edge, being careful not to let the slits meet (so like you're making an upside-down V, but not connecting the two lines).

Carefully open the diamond back up.

There should be two points across from eachother that are completely separated from the inner diamond.  Fold one of those sides over to the opposite side (atop the edge of the inner diamond).

Do the same with the other side.

Using a fork, poke a few holes in the center area so it doesn't "puff" as much as the outer edges.  Repeat process with remaining puff pastry squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake until golden brown and slightly doubled in size.  Let cool before filling.

Place about a tablespoon of pastry cream in the center well.  Top with desired fruits, arranging them nicely, of course!  To give the tarts a little shine, heat up some apricot jelly (or simple syrup if you're in a pinch!) and, using a pastry brush, lightly dab the surface of the tart until it is glossed over.

Cute, eh?  Definitely a technique I keep in my back pocket when I want to impress some folks.  Who knew it could be so simple, right?

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Blitz Puff Pastry

Hey guys!  Those of you who follow me on Facebook probably already know that I'm in a Baking lab this quarter so there's gonna be baking-related posts for a bit!  Are you excited?!  Alright!

Now this also means that we're going to be using scaled measurements here - I gotta do it in school, so might as well make it a habit of doing in real life!  So bust out your digital scales!

Hope you guys are doing well, we're just finalizing all the little details for the wedding (22 days!!) and staying busy - as always.

So puff pastry.  Tons of layers, tons of butter.  But who has time to fold and turn, fold and turn, fold and turn?! That's where blitz puff pastry comes in.  It doesn't quite rise as much as regular puff pastry, but it rises enough for presentation, and it's a whole lot quicker!  Let's get to it!

Ingredients:

8 oz. bread flour
8 oz. pastry flour
1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 oz. salt
8 oz. cold water

My digital's batteries went out when I started the recipe so I had to bust out my spring scale.  Definitely not nearly as accurate as a digital or a balance scale - but you have to be resourceful with what you have!

So now we sift our flours and salt together.  You could definitely use a mesh strainer or an actual drum sifter, but our chef said in a pinch, a whisk works just fine too.

Just for fun, let's discuss the 3 purposes of sifting (because let's be honest, when a recipe tells me to sift, I rarely do, based on the shear fact that I'm lazy and don't want to go through all the trouble.  Guess this Baking class is going to change my evil ways!)

#1 - to remove lumps - makes sense
#2 - to incorporate air - this is the big one, ever notice that after you sift dry ingredients they seem to amount to more mass?  It's the air!
#3 - to create a homogenous mass - another big point.  You want your individual ingredients to lose their sole identities to become one happy family.

And now we're gonna cut in our butter.  You want to "crush" the fat into the flour, not "squeeze" it in there.  Picture yourself making the "I want money" gesture, not the "I want to choke the chicken".  You know what I mean?

The whisk doesn't belong in there (can you tell I'm rusty?  Or rushed.)

Once you have the majority of the big chunks of butter incorporated into the flour, make a well in the center and pour in your cold water.

Use a bowl scraper or wooden spoon to incorporate the dough into the center until it forms a unified mass.  Gentle now... we don't want to over work the dough.  On a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a rectangle loaf.

Roll dough into a rectangle that is about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.

Fold the left and right sides toward the center, leaving a finger-width gap in between.

Then fold the sides together.

Then roll out into a rectangle about 1/4 to 1/8 thick again, and repeat entire process 2 more times.

Wrap up your finished pastry and place in the freezer for at least 8 hours or overnight.

And bam, you'll have puff pastry to use at your own discretion!  Next couple of posts, I'll show you what I did with mine!

Hope you all have a great Easter holiday, if you're celebrating.  Otherwise, just have a good rest of the weekend =)

Crab-Stuffed Salmon w/ Corn Red Pepper Relish, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, & Lemon-Thyme Beurre Blanc

So maybe that title could have been a little bit shorter, eh?  I just wanted to make sure I had your attention!

This was, by far, one of the best meals that has ever been cooked in this household.  Andy DEVOURED this plate.  Seriously, I've never seen such a constant smile on his face after eating a meal.  You just know it's gotta be a winner then!

Before we get into anything... how are you guys?!  I know I'm sporadic in my posts, but I try to do one at least every other week.  Things are just getting crazier and crazier!  School, work, school.  And this week I helped make hors d'oeuvres for a fundraiser that the restaurant on campus is holding tonight.  I made some sweet potato biscuits and sandwiched in between them are some fig preserves, country ham, and manchego cheese.  DELICIOUS.  Hopefully they'll be a hit tonight!

Anyway, let's get to some salmon.  Don't be weary about the seemingly long list of ingredients.  Everything comes together quite quickly (less than 45 minutes) if you have everything prepped and ready when you need it!

Salmon:

2 - 8 oz. salmon fillets
1 cup lump crab meat
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Corn-Red Pepper Relish:

1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fresh or frozen corn (I used shoepeg because Andy loves shoepeg, but sweet yellow would be great too)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:


5 medium-sized yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Lemon-Thyme Beurre Blanc:

1/2 cup white wine
1 small shallot, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
juice from 1 lemon
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
salt, to taste

Like I said, don't be scared!  Everything is super easy, and you don't necessary have to have all the components - but I promise you, if you do... it'll be one hell of a knock out dinner if you're trying to impress someone special!

So first, let's prep the crab stuffing.  Super easy.  In a medium bowl, combine the crab meat, parsley, lemon juice, and garlic.  Season with salt to taste, and bam.  You've got crab stuffing.

Now let's stuff out salmon.  But first we have to cut a slit down the middle of each fillet.  You don't want to go all the way through, maybe leave anywhere between 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the bottom. 

Place about 1/2 cup of the stuffing in the slit (and on top of the salmon). 

Place in a container and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in the fridge until ready to use. 

Now we can make our mashed potatoes and relish at the same time. (But for ease, I'll describe each one separately).

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Place the garlic in a small roasting dish and toss in olive oil.  Season with a little bit of salt.  Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until garlic is golden and soft.  Let cool.

Drain the potatoes and add roasted garlic, sour cream, butter, and heavy cream.  Mash until you've reached your desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the relish, add a little bit of olive oil to a large saute pan and heat under medium high heat.

Add corn and scallions, cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Then add red bell pepper and garlic.  Cook until pepper is slightly softened, but still has a bit of a bite, about 2-3 minutes.

Turn off heat and stir in parsley.

Place mixture in a medium bowl and add in lemon juice and honey.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Now we can make our sauce while the salmon is cooking (hope your oven is still at 375!)

Place the salmon on a baking sheet and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until at your desired doneness.

In a medium sauce pan, add shallots, thyme sprigs, and white wine.  Place under medium high heat and reduce wine by about two-thirds.

When wine is reduced, slowly add in one or two pats of butter at a time, whisking constantly to form an emulsion.  Don't add any more butter until the last bit of butter is almost emulsified.  Continue adding butter until all is incorporated.

Whisk in lemon juice and season with salt, to taste.  Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer.  (A great video on a beurre blanc is this one - so versatile, add whatever aromatics/flavors you desire)

To plate your final dish, first make sure all of your components are warm.  If you did this all at once, everything should still be okay (if not, nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds and you're good to go!).

Place about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes on the center of the plate, slightly flatten out.  Place salmon on top, slightly to the right or left of center (in other words, not exactly in the center, hehe).  Place a small handful of the relish next to the salmon and drizzle the beurre blanc around the plate and a little bit on top of the salmon, as well.  And voila... a plate designed to impress and satisfy any seafood-hungry stomach!

Hope you guys have a great weekend and see you soon =)

Baked Caramel Apples

Can we see a theme developing here?

I had extra apples and caramels from these so I thought I'd make good use of the extra in some more caramel apple-themed treats!

These are super easy, somewhat messy, but oh so delicious!  The Cheesecake Factory used to have this apple dumpling-type dessert that I loved.  It was a warm apple wrapped in pastry and filled with caramel.  I haven't seen it there in forever (maybe they've discontinued it?  I don't know), so this is my take on it... sans pastry of course.

Ingredients:
Adapted from a Taste of Home recipe

4 Granny Smith Apples, cored
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
8 caramels
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
whipped cream

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Place apples in a square baking dish.  Pour apple juice over top of apples.  Divide brown sugar, butter, and caramels between each apple.  Sprinkle cinnamon on top of apples.

Bake for about 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours, or until apples are softened and caramel is melted.  (As you can see, my caramels could have gone for a little bit longer, but I was getting antsy!)

Top with fresh whipped cream (and snap your pictures fast, because it obviously melts quickly!).

While this isn't the pretties dessert ever, it's quite messy really.  It sure does have all of the flavors of fall that I really enjoy - and it's so simple to put together!  The waiting is the hardest part!


What's your favorite fall treat?

Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese

It's late.  As usual.  I might as well just start posting late at night instead of trying to get a post done during the day. 

Anyway, excuses aside - I think I've finally done it.  I've successfully made a beer cheese that resembles a local favorite.

Andy and I grew up in southern Indiana (of course in different eras - we do have a 7 year gap between us!), but we both loved Sportstime Pizza - now under the name The New Albanian Brewery.  They, of course, have beer - great microbrews (one should definitely check them out during 'Gravity Head' where they feature high-alcohol content and special season beers).  But the main reason we frequented the place was for their beer cheese.  It's one of a kind - spicy, cheesy, and absolutely perfect with some breadsticks.

So when I told Andy last week that I was making some pretzel bites to snack on while watching a pre-season football game, he eagerly suggested I make a beer cheese to go with them.  Always up for a challenge, I accepted, and boy am I glad I did.  I think I came pretty close (dare I say, maybe even better??) to our old time favorite from The New Albanian.

So if you're looking for a great Sunday snack - football lovers and non-football lovers alike - this is it!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Sunny Side Up in San Diego's Recipe

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 & 1/4 cups warm water
5 cups flour
1/4 cup white sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 & 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
1/2 cup baking soda
2 egg whites
Kosher salt, for topping
cooking spray


Beer Cheese:


1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup Indian Pale Ale (or whatever favorite beer you might have)
1 tablespoon horseradish sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup Velveeta, cut into small cubes (I swear I wanted to use some Chipotle Cheddar Cheese, but I'd run out, and this was all I had - but it worked out so well!)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

In a measuring cup dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes. If the mixture is foamy, you're good to go - if not, start over with new yeast.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, white and brown sugars, and salt.  Pour the water/yeast mixture and 2 tablespoons melted butter into the bowl. Knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth. Add extra water if dough is too dry, until you get your desired texture.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Shape dough into a ball. Place the dough ball in the bowl, cover with a clean towel, and allow to rise for one hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of hot water and baking soda. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites and remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

After the dough has risen, punch down the dough and then knead with hands for one minute. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and break off small chunks of dough - Roll the chunks into 1 inch diameter balls (I got about 20-25).

Dip the pieces in the baking soda water and place on the baking sheet.  Gently drying with a paper towel if they become too wet. Brush each pretzel ball with egg whites/melted butter then sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 7-8 minutes, until browned.

To make beer cheese, place cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds.  Stir until smooth.  Stir in beer, horseradish sauce, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Heat for another 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir until smooth.  Add in Velveeta.  Heat another 30 seconds, and stir until cheese is melted and smooth. 

Pretzels and beer cheese.  Success at last!  And this beer cheese was so easy to whip up, that I will definitely be finding myself making it many many times over!  Even with Velveeta - I'm not ashamed!


Have a great weekend guys!  I just have to get through one more late shift at work and I've got 2 days of relaxation ahead of me!

Peanut Butter Quick Bread

Happy Thursday guys!  I'm absolutely exhausted from this week already!  And I've got to work through Saturday before I get to have my "weekend"!  Hopefully I'll make it.

I'm pretty stoked that tonight - in about 30 minutes, the official NFL regular season starts!  Football season is probably my favorite time of year.  Go Eagles!  And as an avid Peyton Manning-hater... I'm glad the sad little puppy dog is sitting out for a couple of months, but I digress.

Let's talk peanut butter.  I've found a new love.  Move over JIF (I keep it old school), I've got a new favorite.  And I'm pretty sure I'm late on this bandwagon, too.  But better late than never!  Peanut Butter & Co. Bee's Knees is the SHIZ!  I find myself just eating spoonfuls throughout the day because it's so good.  So I knew that using up the last bit of it in this bread was bittersweet because I'd be using up the last of it (I can always restock right?!), but also genius, because when you use good ingredients, good things happen right?  Right!

Ingredients:
Adapted from the 1945 Edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup peanut butter (I highly recommend using PB&Co!)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk

Glaze:


1 tablespoon heavy cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Using a fork, incorporate peanut butter and beaten egg.  Stir in milk until a smooth batter is formed.

Grease a loaf pan and pour in batter.  Bake for about 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Let rest on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.

To make glaze, combine cream, powdered sugar, and peanut butter until smooth.

Remove bread from pan and pour glaze over top. 

This was pretty tasty.  If you're a peanut butter lover, you'd definitely love this!  It's something I don't see a lot of - especially when zucchini breads are so popular right now!  Hey... zucchini peanut butter bread - I think I may be on to something.  I'll experiment and get back to you guys!

See you guys tomorrow!  It's TGIF!

S'Mores Pie

Ahh sweet Friday. 

I always love when this part of the week comes.  Especially when we have a full weekend planned.  Well, half of a weekend, anyway.  Tomorrow is the annual Brew At The Zoo.

I did a review of last year's festivities and it was a blast... and this time Andy gets to join.  So it's bound to be tons of brilliant fun.  So stay tuned for that.

And yesterday, I drove down to Danville, KY.  I met up with a few other food bloggers from the state (including Mindy from The World In My Kitchen, Lori from Fake Food Free, Fiona from Crazy Englishwoman Cooks, Beth from The Goodness of the Garden, Rona from Savoring Kentucky, Deanna from Mirabelle Creations, and Carolyn & Erin from Bourbon & Beans).  More on that next week, of course!  But it was so fun to finally meet in person - everyone was so friendly and warm, just like they are on all of their blogs!

Anyway, let's talk about everyone's favorite campfire treat.  I'll be the first to tell you that I am not a camping person.  AT ALL.  Bugs.  Nature.  No running water.  Yeah... I can't handle that very well.  But s'mores.  Those I can do.  And thank goodness I don't have to be in the middle of a forest to indulge in them! 

But actual s'mores can be somewhat messy (but I'm sure that's half the fun, right?) - so as soon as I saw this neat little pie over at The Pastry Affair, I knew I had to try it.  Andy said this was THE best dessert I've made ever.  EVER.  Personally, I don't think so - it was really rich, but I think chocolate ice cream is rich, so don't take my word.  Take Andy's.  After all... he knows best.

Ingredients:
Adapted from The Pastry Affair's Recipe

Graham Cracker Crust

2 cups honey graham crackers, about one sleeve
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Chocolate Filling
 
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, whisked
1 bag of large marshmallows
Chocolate sauce (I used a bottled kind, but you could easily make your own), optional

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely crumbled.

Add cinnamon and melted butter and pulse until combined and the mixture resembles wet sand. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant.

Keep oven running.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream and milk. Warm over medium-low heat. Add in chocolate and salt. Stir until chocolate has melted and is smooth. Slowly add whisked eggs and mix until smooth and slightly thickened.

Pour chocolate filling into baked pie crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until chocolate filling is set and does not move when pie is lightly shaken. Remove from oven.

Cut marshmallows in half and place on top of the pie until covered.

Set oven to broil. Place pie under the broiler and lightly toast the marshmallows, about 2 minutes - but watch the marshmallows carefully because everybody's oven is different and you could go from toasted to crazy, nasty burned in a matter of seconds.

Drizzle with chocolate sauce, if desired.  Chill pie in the refrigerator to set for 2-3 hours.

Cut into slices and enjoy!

So yeah, I let Andy have half of the pie and took the other half to work.  Needless to say, it was a winner all around.  If you're a chocolate lover - you have got to try this!


Have a great weekend everybody!

Secret Recipe Club: Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies

Happy Monday!  It's that time again, Secret Recipe Club reveal!

What is Secret Recipe Club?  Well, it's the brainchild of Amanda from Amanda's Cookin'.  You are assigned a "secret" blog to cook one dish from and post on the given reveal date.

I love how the group has just grown so much since I first joined!  This will be my third SRC post and definitely not my last!  I just love discovering new blogs to ogle over!

This month, I received Edesia's Notebook.  This blog was new to me, but as soon as I was assigned this blog, I knew I would be a regular!  With things like Slow Cooker Garlic Soy Drumsticks to Ginger Scallion Rice, it was hard to choose!  It all looks delicious!

Andy was being especially good, so I thought I'd treat him to a special treat.  I picked Edesia's Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies a.k.a. Better Than Crack Brownies.  I mean, chocolate & Reese Cups?  Two of Andy's favorite things combined into one stellar brownie.  And it couldn't be easier to put together either!  Let's get to it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Edesia's Notebook's recipe

1 box brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate)
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
about 8 Reese's peanut butter cups, roughly chopped
1/2 cup salted peanuts, chopped
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp butter
1 & 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used PB & Co.'s Bees Knees)
1 & 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Make the brownies as directed on the box in a 9x13” pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the brownies from the oven and top with the peanut butter cups and peanuts. Place the brownies back into the oven and bake an additional 6 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean. Remove the brownies from the oven.

In a microwave safe dish, melt the chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter for about 45 seconds. Stir until smooth.  Then stir in the Rice Krispies.

Pour the Rice Krispies mixture over the brownies and let cool. Refrigerate for at least two hours until serving.  This was definitely the hardest part because I totally wanted to dig straight into them!  But trust me, well worth the wait!

Okay, these were seriously one of the best brownies ever.  I even tried to take some leftovers to work and Andy practically held them hostage.  So yeah, they were THAT good.

I had a friend over for dinner that night and gave him a couple to take home for his roommates - Andy didn't see me do this and when he noticed a couple brownie slices were missing, he definitely interrogated me until I confessed.  I didn't know he was keeping track - duly noted for next time.

I got a text later on in the week that read "umm, (roommate's name) says that brownie was better than crack".  I don't want to know how they know this, but hey - I take it as a compliment.

So yeah, trust me - you want to make yourself a batch of these babies.  But I can't promise that you'll want to share them.  Ask Andy.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Okay, let's keep it real. 

I'm a person that strives to be the best.  I sometimes even claim to actually be the best.  But in all reality, in most situations - I'm just mediocre. 

But I'm still a competitive beast by nature.  And when things go wrong - I'm not a happy camper.

Take these muffins, for instance.  Yes, they look like normal blueberry muffins on the outside, but you know what?  I really made a big boo-boo on this one.  I forgot the sugar.

I mean... who the heck forgets the sugar?!  Maybe a novice baker.  Maybe a 10 year old.  But me?  This isn't my first baking rodeo.  I've made muffins a million times, and could probably make them with my eyes closed... or not.

It's times like these that I just have to laugh at myself.  One... for being an idiot and forgetting the sugar.  But two, because there are other things in life a little more important than some sugar in some muffins.  And because I was stubborn as all get out - I continued to eat these sugar-less muffins because I didn't want to waste them and admit defeat.  So really... maybe I did come out on top. 

So here's the recipe (as it was supposed to be, sugar-included).

Do you ever have one of those "DOH!" moments in the kitchen?  Feel free to make me feel better by saying I'm not the only one =) 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar (don't forget it now!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice from 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Fill muffin tin with liners. 

Whisk flour, SUGAR, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Fold in blueberries.

In another medium bowl, beat buttermilk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice until combined.

Mix liquid ingredients with dry ingredients until incorporated.

Fill muffin liners about 2/3 full.  Place in oven and immediately drop temperature to 400 F.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

I even tried to salvage the muffins by making a quick glaze with some water and powdered sugar.  While it helped give a bit of a sweet note, it just wasn't the sweet note that permeated the entire muffin like that 1/2 cup of missing sugar would have given!  Oh well... There will be other muffin baking experiences to be had (hopefully including sugar next time)! 

I'm off to bed - See you guys tomorrow!