Homemade Peanut Butter

I lovelovelove peanut butter.  I love natural peanut butter, chunky peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter, and even processed name brand peanut butter.  I cannot have it in the house either.  I will eat the whole container in 2 days.  This was getting a little expensive, plus I wanted to experiment with flavors. 

So, I researched homemade peanut butter and couldn’t believe how easy and tasty homemade peanut butter was to make.  You really only need 2 things:  peanuts and a food processor.  Put the peanuts in the food processor, turn it on high, let it spin for a few minutes, and before you know it, you have peanut butter.  Some people like to add oil to it, but I don’t find it necessary and I want my peanut butter to be as natural as possible.

So far I’ve made a few flavors:  plain, chocolate, honey, cinnamon, honey/cinnamon combo, and chocolate malt.  I have a few more flavors I want to try and I’ll let you know as soon as I finish experimenting.

Homemade Peanut Butter

1 ½ pounds peanuts (no salt or lightly salted)

pinch salt

mix ins:  honey, cinnamon, dark or milk chocolate melted (about 3-4 oz. depending how chocolatey you want it), malt powder (3 tablespoons)

Place peanuts in a food processor fitted with a steel blade

Turn processor on high for several minutes until peanuts are broken down into a paste

Add your mix ins and stir until combined (add as much or as little mix ins as you like)

Store in your fridge for up to 2 weeks

I have other flavors I’ll experiment with such as banana, cayenne, vanilla, and maple and report back….

Eggs for dinner (or breakfast/brunch/lunch)

My husband and I love to have “brinner” or breakfast for dinner a few times a month.  However, waffles, frittatas, and pancakes got old.  Lately, I’ve seen many variations of egg recipes and one included eggs in tomato sauce.  I created my own version of this and it is a wonderful, meatless, and filling meal that can be made for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.  The eggs are just barely cooked, so that when you break the yolk, it comes running out like a thick custard sauce that coats the tomatoes.  Serve some crusty bread or pita to sop up the tasty sauce and you’re happy.  In short, it’s really really good.

Eggs in Tomato Sauce (serves 2- can be easily doubled)

1 medium onion, finely diced

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or sweet)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

kosher salt/pepper

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 425

Heat an oven safe skillet over medium high heat (coated with olive oil or cooking spray)

Add onion and cook until onions are translucent and slightly browned

Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for 1 minute until softened

Add paprika, cumin, tomatoes, parsley, and season with salt and pepper

Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes

Sprinkle feta cheese evenly over sauce and turn heat off

Make 2 wells in the sauce on opposite sides of the pan

Add 1 egg and 1 egg white to each well

Transfer skillet to the oven and cook about 8-12 minutes until egg whites are set, but yolks are still runny

Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty toasted bread or pita for dipping

Other add ins:  ½ can drained and rinsed chickpeas to up the protein and texture

                          Other cheeses that you like with eggs

                          Diced ham, bacon, or sausage       

                          Replace parsley with cilantro or do a combination of both herbs

Ragu (NOT the jarred stuff)

Ragu isn't just a jarred tomato sauce that's incredibly bland.  It's actually a thick meaty sauce that's totally delicious and wonderful over thick cut pasta.  I make this probably a couple times a year when I have the time in the afternoon.  It takes about 3-4 hours total (chopping, reducing, and cooking), but it's totally worth it.  My husband begs for it and no one has ever been disappointed with this dish.
Don't be afraid when a dish takes a while to cook.  Most of the time in this recipe is the pot simmering, so there's no real work involved.  Furthermore, you can use beef, veal, or even venison and they are all equally wonderful.

The ragu simmering away minus the pasta mmmmmmmmmmm

My husband's portion- I think he could eat the whole pot if left to his own devices.

Ragu with Pappardelle

3 ½ to 4 pounds boneless beef shoulder (or any good steak) cut into 3 inch chunks

Kosher salt and pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons dried fennel seed

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 ½ cups dry red wine

Two 28 ounce cans of petite diced tomatoes, drained

4 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

1 pound pappardelle pasta (or any long cut pasta)

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Using a large enameled cast iron casserole or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over moderately high heat

Add onions and cook until translucent

Add garlic, fennel, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook another minute until garlic is softened

Add red wine and bring a to a boil, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan

Reduce wine to 1/3 cup

Reduce heat to medium high and add tomatoes

Cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened

Add stock, rosemary, about 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper

Bring to a boil

Add beef and cook partially covered over low heat until very tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours

Remove meat and shred it using 2 forks

Boil the sauce until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes

Stir in meat

Taste for salt and pepper and add more if necessary

Cook pasta according the package directions

Add cooked pasta to the ragu and stir, making sure every noodle is coated with sauce

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

Strawberry Baby Cakes

Of course it's the dead of winter, but I wanted strawberry shortcake.  My dad always made the shortcake growing up, but I wanted to do a twist on his version and make individual cakes.  However, to give a depth of flavor to the cake, I decided to add lemon zest into the batter.  Strawberries and lemon are good friends, so they work beautifully together.  Also, shortcake can be a little one note:  sweet.  Lemon zest adds an extra punch and deepens the flavor by cutting the sweetness. 
Furthermore, I didn't want to use just boring Cool Whip or whipped cream from a can.  I wanted to make a whipped cream frosting that lasted for more than a few hours before collapsing.  I figured gelatin would stiffen the cream enough so that it would last for a few days, but powdered gelatin doesn't taste very good.  As I looked through my pantry, I noticed marshmallows.  They have gelatin, so how bad could they be in a frosting?
I also happened to have homemade strawberry sauce in the fridge that was begging to be used, so I decided my final dish would be a tower of cake, strawberry sauce, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream frosting thickened with marshmallows.  Really, how bad could that be????

The result was an amazing and beautiful cake, not to mention totally delish!

The layers:  cake, strawberry sauce, fresh cut strawberries, whipped cream frosting...repeat

Strawberry Baby Cakes

For the shortcake:

1 ¼ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 glass pan

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Add the egg

Add the milk and vanilla and mix well

Add the flour mixture and mix only until combined

Add lemon zest and mix well with rubber spatula

Put batter into the greased 9x13 pan and smooth evenly (batter will be thin)

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Cool completely

Using a 4 inch (or similar size) round cookie cutter, cut cake into rounds (you’ll get about 6 rounds)

Place 1 round of cake on a plate, drizzle with strawberry sauce, top with fresh cut strawberries, spread (or pipe) whipped cream frosting over the berries.  Repeat process one more time

Whipped Cream Frosting:

2 cups cold heavy cream

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

7 large marshmallows

In a large bowl whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form (start on low then increase the speed to high)

Place marshmallows in a bowl and place in microwave.  Microwave for about 30 seconds until puffed

Put marshmallows into the whipped cream and beat until combined

(This lasts in the refrigerator for a few days)

Strawberry Sauce:

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

¼ cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons water

1 jar (12 oz) strawberry jam

Cook berries, sugar, and water (start with 2 T. and add more if needed) in a medium saucepan over medium high heat

Bring to a boil and stir often so it doesn’t burn

Cook until berries are softened and sugar is dissolved

Off the heat, add jam and puree (with blender, food processor, or immersion blender)

Taste and add more sugar if needed

Cool completely

(This lasts really well in the refrigerator and is also excellent over ice cream)