The Peanut Butter Boy

Guacamole

Nick — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:46:02 +0000

I know I posted a guacamole recipe 2 months ago, but since then we’ve acquired a molcajete (traditional Mexican mortar & pestle) and I’ve been making guacamole about twice a week, so I need to update the recipe. When you buying as many avocados as I have, rememeber to wait until they’re just about ripe and store them in the refrigerator – they’ll last for 1 to 2 weeks longer. Refrigerating avocados slows the ripening process without altering the flavor or texture. If you don’t finish the whole avocado, wrap it tight in plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge. Now you can get your avocados days ahead of time without fear of them melting into a green-brown ooze. Use them liberally, don’t be shy – avocados are great on salads, sandwiches, on top of soup, chili or tacos. Don’t forget, you could always bake an egg into the avocado or make some Avocado Ice Cream. Of course there’s always my perfected guacamole recipe, best served on tacos, burgers or with Homemade Tortilla Chips.

Moussaka Shepherd’s Pie

Nick — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:15:11 +0000

I had moussaka for the first time the other day. For those of you unfamiliar, moussaka is a Greek dish consisting of layers of eggplant, meat and thinly-sliced potatoes, topped with a thick layer of bechamel sauce. The flavors in the meat layer were incredible, and included some typical Italian seasonings but also cinnamon, nutmeg and red wine. Combined with a layer of tender eggplant and near-chewy potatoes, I was entranced. Despite loving the dish, I had no love for the bechamel sauce. It had hardly any flavor and a strange texture (however, I tend to despise things like custards and mayo). Regardless, I was determined to find a good recipe and alter it to my tastes. I found a decent-looking recipe here but I still needed something to replace the bechamel sauce. That’s when it hit me – since I had been meaning to make Shepherd’s Pie for a while, why not combine the two? Instead of a thin layer of potato on the bottom, I put a mashed layer on top. And not just normal potatoes, my new favorite – Korean yams!

Roasted Jalapeño PB Hummus

Nick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:21:18 +0000

The best hummus you can buy comes from Ravagh in NYC. I’ve tried (and failed) several times to replicate it but I couldn’t achieve the full flavor. The other day, I purchased a package of 14 jalapeños for $1.00 and desperately needed a way to use them. I found a jalapeño hummus recipe that looked great. A little tweaking elevated the recipe to on-par-with-Ravagh level. This isn’t a copycat recipe for Ravagh hummus as much as its just a recipe for some kick-ass hummus – good enough to make you forget all about Ravagh (how do you even pronounce that?). The roasted jalapeños add incredible flavor, but surprisingly don’t add much heat – a lot of the spiciness dissipates during the roasting process. Of course there’s also the peanut butter, which makes this my new favorite hummus. Try it, and tell me if you’ve ever had better.

Peanut Butter 201

Nick — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:04:12 +0000

Good morning class, and welcome to Peanut Butter 201. If you haven’t taken Peanut Butter 101, I strongly suggest you do so first. Otherwise, please take out your spoons and do some wrist exercises to warm up your stirring technique. Warmed up? Good. We’ll be going over a few advanced techniques today but whether your a peanut butter veteran, foraying into the all-natural world, or looking to solve some of the great mysteries of peanut butter – look no further. Today we’ll scour the land for the elusive “Natural No-Stir” claim, and dig deep into the hard layers of peanut butter at the bottom of your all-natural jar in search of answers. But what is the question? To refrigerate, or not to refrigerate, that is the question.

Birds Nest Cookies

Nick — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:12:00 +0000

Easter is approaching and everyone knows that rabbits love peanut butter. Just like leaving out cookies for Santa Claus, be sure to leave out peanut butter for the Easter Bunny. But be careful, some bunny’s REALLY like peanut butter. Our friend Andrea’s bunny almost bit my hand off when I opened a jar near its nose – I recall something like this. Flesh-eating rabbits aside, these treats are one of my fondest memories as a child. My mother only made these for Easter, and what made them extra special was that my sister didn’t like them, so they were all mine! They are similar to Rice Krispie treats only tastier (because of the peanut butter). The smell of the brown sugar, coconut and peanut butter melting together is intoxicating – and as a bonus these cookies are vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free, so eat up! If you don’t like jelly beans, feel free to use candy-covered chocolate eggs instead, just make sure the nests are room temperature first! Happy Easter!

Ultimate Double Decker Peanut Butter Sandwich

Nick — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:58:00 +0000

Today, April 2nd, is one of the most joyous holidays of the year: National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day! To celebrate, feast your eyes on this. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that’s only one sandwich. A jam-packed (literally) monstrosity, but a sandwich nonetheless. How did this happen? In short, I ran out of meat. I woke up and realized I had no turkey in the fridge, thereby unable to make a turkey sandwich. As with all things in life, peanut butter came to the rescue. But a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich isn’t a big enough meal for the Peanut Butter Boy. Two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches could work, but that’s too much bread. So I used my engineering knowledge to create this monument of a sandwich to maximize peanut butter consumption relative to the number of bread slices.

Peanut Butter Irish Soda Bread

Nick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:02:36 +0000

St. Patrick’s day in 2011 was an eye opener – it dawned on me that despite being predominantly Irish (37.5%), I never had Irish Soda Bread before. So when my friend brought over a homemade loaf, I ate most of it. The crusty outside, the dense inside, the sweet raisins…it was scrumptious. The first thing I wondered was how peanut butter would taste on it, and (of course) it was delicious. The second thing I wondered was how peanut butter would taste baked into it. After some recipe sleuthing and combining, I devised my own recipe to infuse peanut butter into this staple food of my ancestors. I don’t consider myself a baker, but this came out perfect the first time. St. Patrick’s is fast approaching, make sure you’re prepared with some of this bread.

Spinach, Squash and Pine Nut Lasagna

Nick — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:54:58 +0000

Ok, so you guys weren’t too crazy about the Cheesy Bacon PB Oatmeal. Let’s try something different – this recipe doesn’t even have peanut butter in it! Although it sounds like peanut butter would go really well in this recipe, considering there are pine nuts in it. Or at least there should be, but I forgot them. We got the idea for this recipe while strolling through the gourmet market in Grand Central Station in Manhattan. If you haven’t gone, you must. There is an excellent assortment of gourmet food shops – one of which was selling butternut squash, spinach and pine nut lasagna. Rather then shell out $6 a piece, we decided to make it. And now we both like this version of lasagna better than the traditional meat and red sauce kind. Plus, my fiancé did 95% of the work (a rare occurrence), which makes the whole thing even tastier! It also proves you can’t even screw up this recipe =]

Cheesy Bacon PB Oatmeal

Nick — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:51:50 +0000

Happy National Peanut Butter Day everyone! Oh boy, do I have a treat for you guys. This recipe was carefully crafted over the past 2 weeks until I found the perfect combination and ratio of ingredients. I call it Cheesy Bacon Oatmeal but it’s so much more than that. Not only do I add peanut butter, but spicy peanuts and a splash of buffalo wing sauce too. This recipe is like going to the diner for breakfast, taking your plate and your significant-others’ plate and mashing them together in a bowl. Delicious and quite healthy too, depending on the ingredients you use. I use a thick-sliced smoked turkey bacon and Alpine Lace American cheese.

Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter Cookies

Nick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

You know what smell I never get sick of? The smell of peanut butter baking in the oven and the anticipation of it soon filling my belly. If you’ve been around a while, you’ve seen the incredibly easy Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies. I’ve also made a similar recipe for Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies that is a little less sweet but more stable. But you can’t beat the crumbliness of these flourless cookies, they simply melt in your mouth. These cookies are a cinch to make but manage to disappear even quicker.