Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

April 18, 2007

Pie with a side of strength…

Filed under: Blogging Event, chocolate, dessert, fruit, peanut butter — peabody @ 3:58 pm

(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

 

February 9, 2007

Hobbling Gourmet Continues…

Filed under: baked goods, peanut butter — peabody @ 2:40 pm

So don’t expect grand things from me in the next weeks to come, I’m sticking to the easy stuff for now. Last night I had to score keep hockey(have to pay those medical bills :|). Anyway, to encourage the refs to not call too many penalties(since I would have to hop up and open the penalty box door each time they do), I baked cookies. Peanut butter chips must of been on sale at Christmas, because I seem to have a never ending supply of them some how. So I chose to do something with those. I didn’t want to make them with chocolate(so that the dog could have a few…bad I know). Finding a recipe without chocolate was a little tricky and so I just decided to make my own….a pecan and peanut butter chip cookie. My hubby, myself, the refs and the dog all really enjoyed them. And in case you were wondering, my bribe did help :).

 

Pecan Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powder sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 12 ounce bag peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven temperature to 375°F.
2. While the oven is heating, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for 3 minutes. Add one egg at a time and mix thoroughly. Make sure to scrape down the bowl between each egg.
3. Take your small bowl of dry ingredients and gradually mix it into the large mixing bowl. Fold in the peanut butter chips and nuts into the batter and mix.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop(or spoon) drop the dough onto your greased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. I do 9 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.

 

 

January 19, 2007

Love Me Tender

Filed under: baked goods, peanut butter — peabody @ 1:19 pm

When my uncle lived in Tennessee for awhile he developed somewhat of an obsession for Elvis. Now not the kind that Elvis was used to(no panties were flying here :) ) But an obsession with finding all things tacky that were Elvis related…which lucky for him, was not hard to do. It became sort of a quest for me too. My aunt of course hated this with a passion and discouraged it greatly…I still do it…giving him Elvis wine for his wine cellar just this last year :P. My best find however, came on the Mexican border, when I found a velvet painting of Elvis(his later, fatter years) dressed as a bullfighter and crying. I knew that would push my aunt over the edge and so I passed since I thought I would be nice to still get to talk to her at family functions.
I was trying to figure out what to do with my leftover brioche. On one of Dorie’s side notes she talked about Bostock, a treat that the French came up with to use up their stale brioche. Traditionally it calls for almond cream and almonds, but I thought, hey, Elvis had a birthday this month, why not make a peanut butter and banana version of this and that is what I did.
I soon discovered why there is no peanut butter pastry cream…it separates something horrible :|. I did however strain it and reheat and it turned out much better. It doesn’t puff up like the almond cream would because it is oh so heavy. But it was good and a different way to start off the day instead of oatmeal.

Peanut Butter Pastry Cream

1/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg yolk

Place sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir in cream and using a figure 8 pattern, stir until it starts to thicken. Add peanut butter and stir. Put half the mixture in another bowl with an egg yolk and whisk vigorously. Put the mixture with the egg back into the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Put pastry cream in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate.

Bostock:

Cut a slice of brioche 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Spread the bread with peanut butter cream. leaving a little border bare. Put the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 350F oven for about 10-15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

 

October 22, 2006

Hype-R

Filed under: baked goods, chocolate, peanut butter — peabody @ 2:14 pm

I’m not one for hype usually. And the Magnolia Bakery in NY sure gets a lot of hype. All over some cupcakes, that you wait in line for and can only buy 12 at a time. Out of curiosity I bought the More from Magnolia Bakery cookbook a few years back to try out their vanilla cupcake recipe. It is my favorite by far. So to me it was worth the hype. I bought the first Magnolia Cookbook and last week At Home with Magnolia came out and I made sure to buy that. Now I hadn’t seen it because I ordered off Amazon, like the majority of my cookbooks, and I didn’t know what it would be about. I must admit that I am a little sad because there is only a small section on desserts, which of course I am all about. But overall it looks like a good cookbook and my first treat from it was well received by my husband. The recipe calls for peanut butter chips, which I was out of but will most definitely buy for the next time I make these. I used chocolate chips instead.

 

Peanut Butter Blondies with White Chocolate and Pecans

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips*
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Preheat oven to 325F.
Grease and lightly flour and 8 inch square baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the peanut butter and the sugars until smoothm about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the pecans, chocolate chips and the white chocolate, reserving 2 TBSP of each.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved pecans, chips and white chocolate evenly over the top and, using a spatula, gently press into the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs attached.
Do not overbake. Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

*the original recipe calls for peanut butter chips and I didn’t have any so I used chocolate chips instead.
Source: At Home with Magnolia: Classic American Recipes from the Owner of Magnoila Bakery by Allysa Torey 2006

 

 

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