Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Everyday my husband goes to work with pretty much the same lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bag of chips and 3 cookies of various types. Personally, I would go insane. He on the other hand does not seemed phased at all to eat the same thing day in and day out.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a classic lunch staple. I can’t even begin to count how many times over the years that it has shown up in my lunch pail. As a teacher, I used to eat lunch with the kids, a lot(I was cheap and the rule at our school was that if you ate lunch with the kids your meal was free). I would say half of the table of kids were more than likely eating a pb and j. Mine of course must be made with Jif peanut butter and I usually enjoy it most with good ol’ grape jelly(which is funny because I don’t like grape jelly on anything else).
School is starting back up in Arizona(they have another month up here in the Seattle area), but since I taught in AZ, I tend to keep that schedule. Though I am now 3 years out of teaching I still seem to rule my life by the school calendar…I even use a student planner instead of a grown up one…so my year always starts in August.
So to honour the new school year and all my poor teacher friends who are back to school next week, I made this peanut butter and jelly tart. It is basically a peanut butter cookie dough that has been modified to roll out a little better. Simply topped with some of my mom’s really good homemade jam. And then topped with some peanut butter ganache. So to all you teachers who are heading back into the trenches, I wish you the following:
I hope you have a good class this year.
I hope you have parents who will be supportive and actually show up to parent/teacher conferences and all the other stuff that a parent should show up to.
I wish you quick staff meetings, so that your entire afternoons are not sucked up into a 2 hour drone of your principal sounding like the teacher from Charlie Brown.
I hope that “that kid” is stuck in some one else’s classroom this year, and not yours.
I hope that when a kid doesn’t show up with homework he/she has come up with some interesting and original excuse.
I hope you have enough school supplies so that it doesn’t have to come from your own bank account.
I hope your principal backs you when a kid is being a snot and so are his/her parents.
I hope your school district magically decides to give you a pay raise or at least a bonus
And last but not least I hope you have a stress free year(yeah, right!)
Have a great school year everybody!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart

4 peanut butter tart shells(recipe follows)
homemade jam
peanut butter ganache(recipe follows)

Peanut Butter Cookie Tart Dough

½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 10 pieces
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½  cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½  cup peanut butter
1 extra large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2  cups  all-purpose flour
½  tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

In a food processor, blend together butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Add the peanut butter and pulse until completely mixed together.
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to food processor. Pulse until it starts to form a ball. Take out and roll into two balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour.
Take dough out of refrigerator, divide ball into two parts, place onto a heavily floured surface and roll out into a circle. You might have to pat it back together a few times. Carefully lift and place into a greased and floured tart pan(I used 3-inch diameter ones). You will most likely have to do some patch work, which is easily done.  Using a fork, poke the bottom of the tart, I did it about 10 times. Place a piece of parchment paper and then pie weights or dried beans.
Bake at 375F for 10 minutes. Take weights and parchment paper off and bake for another 6 minutes.
Makes 4 small tarts shells.

Peanut Butter Ganache

1 cup peanut butter chips
3 TBSP heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan, on low heat, melt together peanut butter chips and heavy whipping cream.

To assemble tart:

Place desired amount of jam/jelly into tart shell. Take peanut butter ganache and place in a piping bag. Pip ganache in whatever pattern you would like. These are best eaten the day of.

“Like Peanuts”….and with that my 15 minutes of fame had come and gone…at the age of 3.

This just as easily could have been one of my random facts, but since I knew I was making peanut butter cookies for my hubby, I thought I would wait it out. Yes, many moons ago, my mother and I starred in a hidden camera commercial for Jif peanut butter. A routine trip to the grocery store and answering the question, “what kind of peanut butter do you use?” lead us to be seen almost daily during the soap opera time for 3 months. My mother correctly picked out Jif in a blind taste test, and we amazingly said all the right things. When I took a taste and they said what does it taste like, I said “like peanuts”(cue the salivating advertising guys). My mother thought nothing of it at the time and took her free jar of peanut butter. They never told her it was for a commercial of course until months later when they contacted her.
There are few brands I am loyal to, Jif is one of those brands. Horrible for you, as it is still one of the ones that uses trans fat, I will never switch and neither will my husband. In a way, Jif peanut butter brought my husband and I together, so much so that we gave away Jif peanut butter cookies(this recipe) in the shape of the pi symbol as one of our wedding favors. You see, my hubby and I met online(you know, the old fashioned way :P). And on his profile it said he loved Jif peanut butter. He had sent me a note saying he was interested in me(and why wouldn’t he be?  ) and so when I saw he liked Jif, I simply wrote back, “I was in a Jif peanut butter commercial when I was 3.” He wrote back 3 pages. And the rest, as they say,  is history.
Every now and then I will use natural peanut butter(like in dog treats) if I feel the recipe would be better with it, but for the most part it is Jif. Mostly I think I like it because it is sweeter than the other brands there was growing up. And well, the more sugar the better. In fact, that is why I like this recipe so much, 2 cups of sugar…music to my ears. This is not the recipe I grew up on, but it is the one that I have converted everyone to. I usually under bake mine about a minute because I like them to be extra soft.

Mom’s(not my mom’s) Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.

1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Cream butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla, then add the peanut butter and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth.
Using a small ice cream scoop(or a tablespoon) form the dough into ½ inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with a fork. Bake just until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Adapted from: Caprial’s Desserts by Caprial Pence and Melissa Carey, 2001

Round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs are off and running. My beloved Sabres played tonight. And though the NY Rangers talked a lot of crap…crap is about all they did. The Sabres won 5-2 tonight making our home a very happy place to be…not one cuss word flew out of my mouth!
I made these last week when my hubby found out that I would be making these with a group of ladies who were celebrating a friends birthday. Realizing that he would not be getting any of them he pouted…and I folded, making him his own. This recipe comes from the Cupcake Bakeshop, a site I really like, but unfortunately seems to be updated about only 2 or 3 times a month…boo. She comes up with really creative stuff. I did not use the cupcake she suggested, when I made those once they were so dense and they sat in my stomach like a rock…not my idea of a good cupcake. So I went to my default baking cookbook, Caprial’s Desserts, for a no fail cake recipe. These are super rich and when you are half way done they tend to tip over from being top heavy…a small price to pay for peanut butter chocolate goodness. These involve using the cone method which can be used for filling just about any type of cupcake there is out there….so it is a good thing to know and learn.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 heaping TBSP cocoa powder
2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease cupcake pans and set aside.
Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often , until  well blended, about 3 minutes.  Add the cocoa powder. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, on at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Continue to beat for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer, add the melted chocolate, and mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about ½ the ingredients followed by about ½ of the sour cream and beat well. Add the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remaining sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Add the boiling water and beat until smooth.
Scoop(ice cream scoop works best) batter into prepared pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Let cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely.
Peanut Butter Filling

4 ounces or 1/2 package of Philly cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
milk to thin out filling

Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until combined.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the milk and beat until combined. Add milk until your reach desired consistency.

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Chop chocolates and transfer into a heat proof bowl.
Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.
Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.
Add butter and vanilla and stir until combined.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixture and let cool for 10 minutes.
Sift powdered sugar into the mixture and beat until combined. Add more sugar if needed.
Continue to beat with an electric mixer until lighter in color and creamy.

Assemble
Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
Fill the cavity with a teaspoon or so of peanut butter filling. I used a piping bag, this makes it much easier.
Replace top.
Frost with ganache.

Cupcake Recipe adapted from Caprial’s Desserts by Caprial Pence and Melissa Carey, 2001

(My mother and me as Moon Jellyfish at the Seattle Aqauarium)

I was in the car and the phone rang. My mother asked me where I was and I told her I was driving to my friend L’s house. She said “oh good, call me when you get there…I don’t want to distract you from driving.” I arrived at L’s house and called my mom back like she asked. She got really quiet and said, “I have cancer.” Amazingly enough I did not cry at that moment(I am such a crier). I just sat there not knowing what to say, with an overwhelming sense of numbness that I had never felt before. She calmly explained to me that she had stage 2 breast cancer. I know she told me all the details that day but of course none of it sunk in. She assured me that all would be alright and sounded astonishingly chipper for someone telling their daughter they had cancer. My mom asked me to hand the phone over to L. She told all the details to L so that when I got over the shock, L could tell me everything when I would be more coherent to understand it. When L hung up the phone I just started to cry. Not just crying, but sobbing crying…with streaming tears, puffy eyes, snot running down my face…uncontrollably crying. That was the first and last day I cried for her. I knew she would not want me to dwell on it and so I did not. She did not want me to come out and help her, for she lives in a small town and plenty of people were willing to help out…and of course she had my dad. Though I am sure she had her bad days, you would never know it. Throwing dinner parties and volunteering at the community center while undergoing chemo and radiation.
My mother, a now 5(going on 6) year cancer survivor, will tell you that her cancer was a blessing. She now counsels others who have cancer(mostly breast, sometimes other forms). She feels that is why God gave her cancer in the first place, so she could survive it and help others see that it is not a death sentence. A truly remarkable woman.
So when Barb(of winos and foodies) sent me an email asking if I would be interested in participating in A Taste of Yellow- For Livestrong Day…I jumped at the chance. We are to make a yellow food to show our support for the fight against cancer. I chose bananas because there was a recipe that I always wanted to try but had never gotten around to it. I certainly hope that EVERY food blogger participates in this great event to raise awareness…and I challenge you to do so!

This recipe reminds me of a banana split in a pie shell. It is not made with ice cream(but pastry cream) but has many similar ingredients. I love that the pie crust in lined in chocolate…a great touch I must say. But when I bit into it, the thing I loved the most was the peanut butter on the bottom, it really gave it that something extra.

Fanny’s Fave Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie with Hot Fudge Sauce

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 TBSP sugar
2/3 cup(11 TBSP) chilled unsalted butter
4 to 5 TBSP ice water

Filling:

¼ cup banana liqueur
1 envelope plus 1.2 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 vanilla bean
2 ¾ cups milk
4 large egg yolks
¾ cups sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch
3 to 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 ripe bananas
lemon-lime soda
¼ cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature

Hot Fudge Sauce:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
¼ cup butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¼ tsp salt
3 to 4 TBSP Jack Daniel’s Whiskey(I left out because I didn’t have it)

To make the crust:
Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the flour, salt, and sugar on low speed for about 30 seconds. Cut the chilled butter into ½-inch cubes. Add the butter to the flour mixture and combine on slow speed for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, until the mixture looks crumbly. Add 4 TBSP ice water, 1 TBSP at a time, mixing on low speed for 10 seconds after each addition. After the last addition, the dough should begin to clump together in a ball. If not, continue mixing about 10 more seconds. If it looks too try add another TBSP of ice water. Gently mold the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 425F. Unwrap the dough and transfer to a lightly flour flat surface. Roll it into a 1/8-inch thick circle large enough to over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep dish pie. Wrap the dough lightly over the rolling pin and st it in the ungreased pie pan. Press it into place. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the unbaked crust. Cover the bottom and sides of the crust with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and weights. If the crust is not golden brown, return to the oven for 1-3 minutes. Cool on a rack until the custard filling is ready.
 To make the filling:
Pour the banana liqueur into a small metal bowl, sprinkle the gelatin on top, and let it soften for 5 minutes. Set the bowl over a small saucepan with 2 inches of simmering water and warm the gelatin until it has completely dissolved and looks clear. Cut the vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise. Combine the milk and vanilla bean pod in a medium saucepan and brig to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan, and let the vanilla steep in the mile while preparing  the yolk mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add the sugar gradually, whisking constantly until the mixture lightens in color to a lemony hue, about 15 minutes total. Whisk in the cornstarch. Pour the milk through a strainer into a glass measuring cup or pitcher with a spout. Gradually pour the milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture into a clean saucepan set over medium heat ans whisk constantly until it begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Reduce the heat and whisk for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture, being sure to incorporate it throughly. Let the filling cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, melt the chocolate in a small bowl in a microwave on medium high. Check every 30 seconds to ensure the chocolate does not burn. Using a pastry brush, evenly coat the bottom and sides of the crust with bittersweet chocolate. Refrigerate the pie crust while the chocolate hardens and sets, 10-15 minutes.

Slice the bananas diagonally and brush them with lemon lime soda(helps prevent browning). Spread peanut butter evenly over the bottom of the baked crust. Layer on half of the banana slices, add all of the filling, and then the remaining bananas.

Cover the pie with plastic wrap. Make sure that the plastic comes in direct contact with any custard not covered by bananas to totally seal it and prevent a skin from developing on the surface. Refrigerate the pie overnight before serving.

To make the fudge sauce:
Heat the cream and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. When the sugar is dissolved, add the butter, chocolate chips, and bittersweet chocolate and stir over medium low heat until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the salt. Remove the fudge from the heat and stir in the Jack Daniel’s. Keep warm until ready to slice and serve the pie, or cover and store in fridge for up  to 1 month. The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove top over low heat.

To serve the pie, cut it in wedges, add a dollop of whipped cream and top with a generous pour of hot fudge sauce.

Source: Adapted from the Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman, 2004