Electric Griddle Pan

If I haven't mentioned it before, I love my electric griddle for making pancakes. Our house in SC has an electric stove, so my regular griddle pan just wasn't doing the trick. But with its large work surface and completely even heating, it's perfect!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

An aging jar of peanut butter in the cabinet inspired me to make some sort of peanut butter cookie this weekend. C suggested something similar to the peanut butter sandwich cookies from the girl scouts that we both love.



I can't say they tasted exactly like the original, but a tasty cookie nonetheless.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Click Here for Printable Version

Cookies:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oats, pulsed in food processor

Filling:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoons milk or cream

To Make Cookies:
In mixer with paddle attachment combine sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, butter – beat well.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the mixer and stir until well combined.

Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet, and press each down slightly.

Bake at 350° F (175 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.

To Make Filling:

Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the milk or cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Steak Lettuce Wrap with Thai Salsa

This week I picked up my first bag of goodies from the CSA at Five Leaves Farm in Blythewood.

For those who may not have heard of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), it's a way for the public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. Win Win!

Although I won't normally have time to drive all the way out to the farm, I took my lunch hour on Wednesday and took a trip into another world .... from the harsh research park where I work, to horses and pasture land - beautiful and quiet. Ben was kind enough to take the time to introduce himself and I felt so bad that I had to take my produce and run and not stay for a tour.

But on to the loot!

I was thrilled to see the beautiful asian greens. The only one I was sure about was the baby bok choy, but the others were hiroshimana, fong-san cabbage, and shirona (not shown in the photo below).



Of course I immediately though stir-fry, but as I rinsed them, I nibbled on a piece here and there and I just couldn't wilt them to nothing. But how could I get C to eat raw cabbage? With spicy steak of course!

Our invention of the week (I think it's a keeper)...

Steak Lettuce Wrap with Thai Salsa



Click Here for Printable Recipe

Steak:
1 pound sirloin steak
salt/pepper

Wraps:
Bok Choy, Bibb Lettuce
Whatever you’ve got!

Thai Salsa:
1 tomato, minced
¼ cup onion, minced
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoon beef bouillon
¼ Cup boiling water


Prepare Salsa
o In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and set aside

Grill Steak
o Preheat grill to medium-high
o Drizzle a bit of olive oil on each side of steak and sprinkle with
salt and pepper.
o Grill for 6-8 minutes per side or until desired doneness
o Remove to cutting board and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
o Cut steak into thin slices or strips -preferably against the grain

Prepare Filling & Make Wraps
o Drop steak strips into salsa and allow to marinate for a few minutes (or as long as you can wait). Use lettuce leaves as you would a tortilla.

Thanks Again Ben & Kristen!

Five Leaves Farm
Community Supported Agriculture
632 Kinsler Rd; Blythewood SC 29016
803.528.4481 info@fiveleavesfarm.com
http://www.fiveleavesfarm.com

Potato-Poblano Chowder

Fall is in the air.

When I started dicing the potatos and squash, this was going to be a poblano au gratin, but somwhere along the way, as the flavors came together it became clear the cheesy base should be thinned and it should become a chowder! Voila!



Click Here for Printable Recipe

Potato-Poblano Chowder
4-6 servings

2 poblano peppers, roasted and chopped
3 cups red potatoes, ½ inch dice
1 cup butternut squash, ½ inch dice
1/3 cup red onion, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 T cornstarch dissolved in 2T cold water
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar
salt, pepper

Roast Poblano
Place whole peppers on bbq grill set to medium-high. Turn the peppers as the sides char. Place the roasted peppers in a paper bag or bowl covered in plastic to cool. The steam will help the skin loosen. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, you can rub the skin off with your fingers. You may want to wear rubber gloves to handle the chilis. And be sure not to touch your eyes! Then carefully slit each chili up one side and remove the seeds. Chop and set aside.



Preheat oven to 350°

In an oven safe bowl, combine potatoes, squash, onion, poblano pepper, and garlic. Set aside.

Create Base
In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Stir in flour; whisk until smooth and bubbly. Gradually add milk and cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened. Add cheese and salt/pepper to taste.

Pour cheese base over potato mixture and stir well to combine. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are soft.

Supernatural Brownies

C & I were invited to a friends house to watch the USC football game on pay-per-view over the weekend. Although I'm not a big USC fan, a football party is a great excuse to make some tasty snacks. I made my usual guacamole and salsa, but also a quick box-o-brownies. The brownies were a hit, but I hated to admit they were not my own. SSoooo, I decided I needed to find a good "from scratch" recipe.

After a long internet search on Sunday morning I found a recipe on NY Times online called SUPERNATURAL BROWNIES. Most recipes use adjectives like gooey or fudgey or super gooey and fudgey, but supernatural? How could I not give these a try.

I made a few slight alterations given what I had on hand, but they were mighty tasty.

Supernatural Brownies

Adapted from “Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers,” by Nick Malgieri (Morrow Cookbooks, 1998)

Click Here for Printable Version



2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Hershey's dark chocolate chips)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional.

1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.

breakfast on the fly

On weekend mornings I usually assume the role of sous chef since C is the the king of breakfast. At first it was just peppers and eggs (picture 1), but I kept chopping and C kept cooking... and before we knew it we had skillets going with peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic, eggs, and all sorts of good smells coming from the kitchen...

Espresso Ice Cream

We're only a few days away from Labor Day and a visit from my favorite sister and her hubby. No multi-course wine dinner for them this trip (sorry guys), but I thought I would prepare a few homemade treats - the first being Espresso Ice Cream. This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite chefs from the Food Network, Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa).



Espresso Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart

Click Here for Printable Recipe

3 cups half-and-half
6 extra-large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 tablespoons ground espresso coffee beans
(Be sure you use finely ground espresso beans, not instant espresso)
1 tablespoon Kahlua liqueur
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 Heat the half-and-half until it forms bubbles around the edge of the pan and steam starts to rise. Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until mixed. Slowly add the hot half-and-half until combined. Wipe out the pan and pour the mixture back into the clean pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 10 minutes, until it's thickened and the cream coats the back of the spoon.



2 Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Add the ground espresso beans, Kahlua, and vanilla and refrigerate until completely chilled.

3 Pour the espresso cream into an ice-cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Spoon into a container, and allow to freeze for a few hours. Soften slightly before serving.

Note to Self:
Before ordering another "italian sub" in South Carolina, please read the menu carefully to make sure this one does not include bologna.

San Diego & Las Vegas Vacation

As many of you know, food usually plays a large part of our vacation plans. Here is a SMALL taste of our week in San Diego and Vegas....

What a better way to start a vacation than finding a slice of NY style pizza. Two thumbs up to Ciro's Pizzeria! (534 Market Street, San Diego)



Soleil @ K, San Diego Marriot







to end the meal, each table is given cotton candy


Vegas Baby

In Room Snacks at the Wynn



The waiter at the Taqueria Cañonita in the Venitian hotel saw my camera on the table and asked if we wanted him to take our photo - umm, thanks, I think



Terrace Point Cafe, Wynn Casino


I love this photo. I had just ordered a watermelon margarita and dad was telling us a hysterical story about a group of friends, a blender, and the consequences of letting Rebecca and Ed concoct the drinks :)



We were comp'd two free buffets at the Wynn, so we decided to take advantage. We aren't usually buffet people, but it was clean and beautiful.



At the Vegas airport. We didn't buy anything here, but it struck me funny for some reason

We're Back!

After a few weeks of computer issues, I think we are back up and running! Did you miss us?

technical difficulties

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties ... we got back from vacation and had our computer crash. More posts to come once it is back from the pc shop!

Choose your own adventure

Dinner tonight included surf & turf. I chose to have surf, while C had the turf.

My Rainbow Trout


In a small aluminum tin I first coated both sides of the fish with olive oil (and a little hot chili oil), then sprinkled with minced garlic, seasoned breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, salt & pepper. (Jeanne - I was pretty sure this is how you made the fish in Canada that was sooo good, so I stole the recipe! Thanks!)

About 20 minutes on the grill (or until flaky and the crumbs are crisp).



C's Rack-O-Lamb


Marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary, minced garlic, chopped tomato, salt & pepper.

Melon

Breakfast, fresh picked minutes earlier from the garden

Sandwich Saturday

... one of Craig's masterpieces ...

July 4th Snacks

I didn't intend on making a cheese board today...


Point Reyes Original Blue

... but since I couldn't resist this beauty at the store this morning, I decided to put together an impromptu offering...



Yummy...

When life gives your tomatoes...

Another great Christmas gift from Mom & Dad. With a bushel of tomatoes on the kitchen counter I pulled out the box of attachments I got for Christmas for the KitchenAid mixer. One of them was a fruit/vegetable strainer. In no time we had a pot of beautiful red tomato sauce.





and when life gives you fresh tomato sauce and a little gin...

(Literally) Garden Fresh Salsa

With the garden in full swing, we have an abundance of produce on hand. For a mid-afternoon snack to go along with the Phillies game we made up a bowl of fresh salsa. ((Everything but the onion and garlic came from the garden))



6 tomatoes (including one yellow)
1 medium red onion
2 jalepeno peppers
1 habenaro pepper (the ones from our garden aren't especially hot)
1 clove garlic
fresh cilantro
1/8 cup vinegar
to taste: salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder

- Mince/chop/grind to your liking and season to taste

Stuffed Artichokes

While wondering through the supermarket pondering side dishes to go with leg of lamb, I saw a pile of artichokes. Not the healthiest of vegetable dishes, but tasty nonetheless.

Click Here for Printable Version



2 artichokes
Stuffing:
½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 T grated romano cheese
2 t garlic, minced
1 T onion, minced
minced fresh parsley
olive oil
lemon juice
salt & pepper

Prepare Stuffing
- Heat some olive oil in a fry pan. Soften onion and garlic (do not brown). Turn off heat. Add breadcrumbs, mix well, and allow to cool.
- Once cool, add romano cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and additional olive oil (if needed) until most

Prepare Artichokes
- Cut off the stems of each artichoke at the base, and with scissors snip off the tips of the leaves.

- Dip cut end in lemon water to prevent from turning brown.
- Gently open the artichoke by spreading its leaves apart.
- With a spoon, remove the inner choke
- Working over the pan, with one artichoke at a time, pack the stuffing between the leaves.
- Transfer the artichokes to a pot or casserole dish. To the pan add 1½ inches of water. Braise, covered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes (or until tender)

- Transfer the chokes to a baking dish and broil (or grill) until golden brown.