Cilantro-Lime Peanuts

With all of the junk food available today, it's hard to say no.  Or at least it is for us.  But lately, we've been trying to cut down on the potato chips, popcorn, and cookies.  It's tough, but we've also got some figures to look out for and a budget to keep up with.

I was in the mood for a snack for Sunday's football games and was limited with what I had to work with.  Luckily, I had some raw peanuts in the pantry and a few spices that I thought would make an interesting peanut combo!  I haven't been able to stop snacking on them since!

Ingredients:

2 cups raw peanuts
juice from 1 lime
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large shallot, sliced thinly
salt, to taste
small handful of cilantro, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine the peanuts and lime juice.  Toss well and let sit for about 30 minutes.

Drain the peanuts and pat them dry with a paper towel. 

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add olive oil and cook until shimmering.  Add the shallots and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes or so.  Remove shallots from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Add about half of the peanuts to the oil and cook until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.  Transfer cooked nuts to another paper towel-lined plate and season with salt.  Repeat with remaining half of peanuts.

Stir in cilantro and crisped shallots and toss well.

Keep the peanuts in an airtight container for no more than 1 week.  But then again, they won't last that long! 

One of my favorite things about these peanuts is that they're so crunchy and perfectly seasoned.  There's nothing like frying up your own peanuts - haven't done it?  Try it today!

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.

Beets & Bowties

It's Friday!  And boy am I glad!  The week seemed to fly by, but it definitely had it's ups and downs.  But now that it's Friday, I'm looking forward to getting my 8-hour shift at work over with and on to my weekend off! 

I plan on hitting up the Farmer's Market, getting some sushi with friends, and possibly kicking Andy's butt in a round or two of tennis.  Full of myself much?  Yeah, maybe just a little. 

Anyway, on to today's post.

Andy doesn't like beets.  We kept getting beets in our CSA for a few weeks, and while I didn't mind, Andy was getting a little perturbed.  But what's a good fiancee to do in moments like these?  Well, I force-feed.  I couldn't let the beets go to waste just because he claims not to like them!  I honestly think deep down, he actually adores them - but just doesn't want to admit it.  Why?  Because I'm pretty sure he ate this pasta without any complaints - and it's chock full of beets.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Jeanette's Healthy Living's recipe

5-7 small to medium-sized beets, cleaned (I used a combo of golden and red)
1 cup water
1/4 cup roastes peanuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
8 oz. farfalle pasta
1 cup shredded mozzarella
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Place beets in a medium sized baking dish and add cup of water.  Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes, or until beets have softened and can cut easily.

Let cool until safe enough to handle.  Peel away skin with a paring knife or your hands (don't be afraid to get messy).

Cut beats into 1/2 inch cubes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil until shimmering.  Saute onions on medium heat for about 15-18 minutes.  Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute or so.

Stir in balsamic vinegar and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Add pasta to the pan and mix well.  Add mozzarella and stir until melted.  Stir in additional pasta water if desired.

Season with salt and pepper.  Garnish with roasted peanuts.

This was definitely one of my better beet dishes.  And don't worry - I'm not through with beets yet.  I've got something special coming up next week... you won't be sorry =)  And you may think I'm evil, but that's nothing new!  I'll keep you in suspense until then.

Have a safe weekend everybody!

Sauteed Bok Choy w/ Peanuts

My first day of my "stay"-cation resulted in mass amounts of cooking.  I ended up making some herbed butter, some chutney/marmalade, and some muffins.  Or well, let me rephrase that.  I attempted to make muffins.  I don't know if I'd just pushed my limits and simply forgot, or what.  But I made one of the biggest mistakes in baking - I forgot the sugar.

So my intended awesome blueberry muffins became blueberry biscuits instead.  And let me tell you, it just wasn't the same.  I tried to salvage the situation by making a quick icing glaze, but I was still just not satisfied with myself.  I mean, seriously... how could I forget the sugar?!

And Andy decided to pile a bunch of vanilla ice cream on top of them to help them out.  I give him an A for effort, hehe.

You ever have those days?  Where you just forget to add something in? 

How all of that has to do with this bok choy, I don't really know.  But I just had to vent about one of my idiot moments!

Now on to something that I didn't forget any of the ingredients in...

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup bok choy, chopped
dash of sesame oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup peanuts

In a medium skillet under medium high heat, add olive oil.  Add green onion, garlic, and ginger.  Stir until fragrant, about a minute or so.

Add bok choy and drizzle a little bit of sesame oil over top.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover and let steam/cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until bok choy is tender and bright green.

Stir in peanuts and serve.

This was a quick and easy side dish that I serve quite often.  I mean, it's ready in less than 10 minutes - why wouldn't I serve it often!  The peanuts give a nice textural contrast to the bok choy, as well!

Now I'm off for a quick 1 mile run.  I'm feeling good!  Have a great Tuesday guys!

Kung Pao Chicken Drumsticks

So I've noticed the past couple recipes I've done have been asian-inspired dishes. I can't help it if I'm partial to my people, but I promise, there will be more diversity to come. And I'm also happy to report that I know am the proud owner of a Nikon D40 SLR camera. My shots should be better and more appealing, once I start playing around with the thing and getting used to it. I'm officially obsessed is was Andy tells me.

Anywho, I LOVE kung pao and decided that in honor of our 2009 fantasy football draft, that I would cook up a batch for my friends and show them that cooking good food is not "nerdy"... but a delicious hobby.


Adapted from a Food & Wine Magazine May 2009 Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/4 cup dried chile de arbol (I used about 25 of those suckers)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
12 chicken drumsticks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
all purpose flour for dusting chicken
chopped roasted peanuts for garnish

In medium saucepan, heat the 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Careful not to burn the aromatics! Add the dried chiles and cook until they turn dark red, shouldn't take too long. Lower the heat and add sugar, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, and simmer it until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and cover sauce and let sit for about 1 hour. This sitting time allows the flavors from the chilies to develop with the rest of the liquids.

Strain the sauce and return liquid to saucepan. I saved the dried chilies for my garnish at the end, but you can throw them away if you'd like. Bring sauce to a boil and whisk in cornstarch mixture. I love the magic of cornstarch! It's a quick fix thickener! Remove sauce from heat and stir in sesame oil. I didn't think my sauce was hot enough, so I added a few pinches of some red pepper flakes, but if you like it sweet, then you don't have to!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Fill a large pot with about 3 inches of oil and bring to about 325 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Put a rack on a baking sheet near the stove. In batches, fry drumsticks until brown and crisp. Drain chicken on rack and keep warm in oven while other batches are frying.

Once all chicken is done, let rest and allow to cool slightly. Take sauce and "paint" drumsticks. I found it best to use a spoon and just dab the chicken in spots and spread it around, but whatever way is ideal for you, be my guest. Top with roasted peanuts (just take regular peanuts and heat up in a pan for about 1 to 2 minutes until warm) and you're all set!!

This was definitely a crowd pleaser! I almost wish I would have made more. Poor Andy was trying to be polite and let everyone get some first, and ended up waiting too long that there were none left!! Great thing to make for the upcoming football season though! Enjoy!