Posted on 09/10/2015 3:52:28 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
My husband and I are preparing to test for our Technician's Class radio license, and I've been listening to the local repeater network a lot lately. I love listening to these guys: sometimes they talk shop, and sometimes they just shoot the breeze, and it's simply a really fun and interesting 'culture'.
There's one gentleman who comes on now and then, and frequently mentions that he has just had - or is looking forward to - a piece of Peanut Butter Pie, which is obviously a favorite of his. This tickles me so much that in my mind, I've named him 'Peanut Butter Pie'.
This reminded me that a friend of mine used to make a great one (except for pre-baking the crust, this is a 'refrigerator pie'):
Cheryl's Peanut Butter Pie
Prepare 1 Graham Cracker crust in a pie pan:
1 pack Graham Crackers, 1/4 C. Sugar, 1/4 C. melted butter. Pat into a greased pan, bake 10 or 12 minutes at 325 degrees, and cool before filling.
Cream together:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, 1 C. Confectioners' Sugar, and 1/4 C. Peanut Butter.
Add:
1/2 Cup milk
And fold in:
1 C. Whipping Cream, whipped.
Pour into crust, and make the Chocolate Glaze:
Melt 1 square Unsweetened Chocolate and add: 3/4 Cup Confectioners' Sugar, 1 tsp. Butter, and 2 T. boiling water (or more).
Add enough boiling water to make a consistency that runs, but is somewhat thick. Pour over the top of the pie. Serve the pie well-chilled.
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Last Christmas, a coworker brought to work a tin of Nyaker's Gingersnap cookies, and shared them with all of us. These are really great peppery-spicy ginger cookies that you can buy at a number of places:
http://www.plowhearth.com/nyakers-swedish-gingersnap-cookies-in-gift-tin.htm
Knowing my fetish for interesting containers, she gave me the beautiful tin when it was empty - and I recalled that a friend's mother used to make an almost identical cookie, really the best home-made ginger cookie I've ever had:
Jeanne's Ginger Cookies
3 sticks of Butter
1/2 Cup Molasses (Brer Rabbit or Grandma, DARK)
2 C. Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
4 C. Flour
2 tsps. Ginger (she always used 3, though ;-)
4 tsps. Baking Soda
2 tsps. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Cloves
Melt the butter and add it to the molasses and sugar. When cool enough, add the eggs and beat well.
Sift together Flour, Soda, Cinnamon, Ginger and Cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the beaten mixture, and blend well on low speed.
Refrigerate the dough wrapped in foil a few hours, or overnight.
Roll dough into small balls, walnut-sized or slightly less.
Roll balls in granulated sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. (They will be a bit soft as they come from the oven, and will firm up on the rack.)
Cool on rack, and store in a tightly covered container.
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I'm not a big red-meat eater; but the following sauce is fabulous, and was a revelation to me the first time we made it. Now, I'll eat any steak with it; and I won't want a steak without it. It can be a little 'spendy', using really good vinegar; but it's definitely worth it:
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Sauce
2 Cups real, aged Balsamic vinegar
3 or 4 ounces Cold Butter, cut into chunks.
Simmer vinegar in a small pan until until reduced by 2/3.
Add butter one chunk at a time until melted and the sauce has a smooth and velvety consistency. Serve immediately.
-JT
One of my husband’s favorites of my recipes is Gazpacho; but yours sounds interesting and different. I will try it (though I won’t have your exotic tomatoes :-(
-JT
Vielen Dank!
Cold or flu...
Lots of garlic, 1000mg vitamin C morning and night, all the cayenne pepper you can stand. If you have or can get Ginger root, it makes a great tea and helps too. With just vitamin C and cayenne, I haven’t had a cold in 30 years, it will knock the flu back some but not kill it. Cayenne and Vitamin C will prevent colds.
Ginger Tea -
Grate or slice thin strips of Ginger root, after peeling. Boil water, pour into a mug over about 1 TBSP grated Ginger, cover and steep 15 minutes. Add honey and enjoy. Excellent on a cold evening.
Look up Cayenne, it’s one of the best herbs you can use. I grow plenty. This year my garden went to hell in a handbasket, only a few Tabasco plants made it, no cayenne, no Habanero. Dried, powdered Habanero is my favorite. I’m almost out of last year’s batch though. That really sucks.
Cayenne is good for the digestion, will open your sinuses if you eat it raw, (milk before and after helps tame the heat a little, nothing else will help) Also helps equalize circulatory system.
Let’s see...fall is close, it’s time to think Chili...
Some of the best Chili I found was the Carrol Shelby mix available in grocery stores, but it’s cheaper if you can mix it up yourself. So I measured the ingredients.
3 to 4 Tbsp Chili pepper
1½ tsp paprika
½ tsp Oregano
¼ tsp Comino
1 onion
1 to 3 cloves garlic (depends on how much you like garlic)
1 Lg can tomatoes (I use the diced ones)
3 sm cans tomato sauce
Cayenne pepper to taste, add while cooking.
1 lb Chili meat. ( I use cubed stew meat or get a roast or chuck steak and cut it into cubes.) If you use roast, make sure you cook it long enough to tenderize.
I often use 1½ lbs meat.
You can also add beans if you want, but I don’t know how much or whether to cook them beforehand, beans give me stomach cramps so I never touch them. It ain’t fun, believe me...you get gas, I get stomach cramps doubling me over for 3 - 4 hours first...no thanks...
Brown and drain meat. I set the skillet (cast iron of course) partially on a burner so it leans, pull the meat to the high side and let it sit. Spoon it out later when ready for the big pot. You could also set something under the skillet, just so it leans and grease will drain. Draining is critical, it removes the grease you don’t want in your chili. Find a way, drain it. Even a colander or sieve will do, but drain it.
Put everything in a large pot or deep skillet with a light coat of olive oil. (Just enough to coat the pan) I use a cast iron dutch oven, deep skillet or a large pyrex soup pot, whichever strikes my fancy at the time.
Bring to a boil, stir a few times, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let it simmer over very low heat for 2 hours or until meat is tender. Half the fun is the occasional taste test...now you know why many cooks are fat...Stir occasionally, even at very low heat it will brown on bottom if you leave it too long. My favorite way is to set it on a wood burning stove after it comes to a boil and let it go all day...
If you want it thicker, add 1Tbsp Masa flour about 15 - 20 minutes before finished and bring it barely back to a boil.
I only put very little Cayenne, it’s not hard to add it in the bowl, you can’t remove it for people who like mild Chili.
Served with some shredded Cheddar cheese on top it’s some really good stuff. Most people like crackers, I usually go for heated flour tortillas.
I made broth with the carcass-doesn’t work really well. The taste is off, I think the seasonings they use on the chicken must have corn syrup. An oddly sweet taste is not a good thing in broth.
Thanks so much! (We love the Shelby mix, and use it often. One of our low-carb standbys, minus beans.)
-JT
De nada.
-JT
Might it work in some of the Chinese soups? (I’m thinking of hot-and-sour.)
-JT
Soup? Like pasta fagioli? I love pasta with beans.
Or Boston Baked Beans?
I like to make a frittata with various ice-box veggies. Same ingredients, just different cooking method.
I don’t know how you’d he cooked and used, but perhaps that’s a topic best left for another thread ;)
They’re wonderful; but you have to be careful of the Jalapenos - you can buy them one day, and they aren’t too hot; and the next time you buy, they’re FIRE. I always test them, before cooking with them.
I love poppers; but made myself sick last week. (Let’s just say that they can be as hot coming, as going ;-)
-JT
Maybe a flavorful soup like hot and sour would cover up the “flavor enhancers” they inject in the chicken. I was disappointed in my broth, but used it anyway as I needed broth for the Cottage Pies I was bringing to a potluck the next day.
The mild flavors in the dish didn’t really cover the off taste in the broth. The Cottage Pies, surprisingly, were well received at the potluck. Maybe I’m too picky.
I’ve had the same issue ;)
A quick but fancy looking way of cooking string/pole beans is to sauté some minced onion in butter, then toss in some hazelnut or almond flour, not too finely ground. Toast it a bit then add your already-blanched green beans. Salt and pepper, heat till done, and voilà!
‘he’ should be ‘be’
Maybe there was something in it that they had never tasted before.
My experience is that people like trying new things - especially if somebody ELSE cooked them ;-)
I have a favorite green bean recipe. I lost the exact recipe and the ones I found on line are all a little different. It’s beans cooked lightly and quick cooled in ice water, then mixed with red onion, minced garlic, feta cheese and toasted walnuts, tossed with a home made vinaigrette, the best I found for it made with avacado oil. It’s a great dish to take for a bbq/pot luck because it’s served cold, although some recipes for it serve it warm with the feta soft and melting. Either way, it’s a great combination of flavors.
Not a bad way to roll. ;)
For me, anyway.
/johnny
Here’s my Spicy Navy Bean recipe:
I scrub, rinse several times, and then soak 2 cups navy beans with fresh water overnight.
In the crockpot with water 2” over beans for 5 1/2 hours on high:
3 ounces of vegetable oil (Smart Balance Omega)
2 small okra (cut up)
3 small green onions (cut up)
7 or 8 small dried whole red pepper pods (Hot) Cayenne
1/4 teaspoon Mexican chili powder (just for the beautiful golden color)
1 teaspoon seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper
After in the bowl I give it a couple twist of a Peppercorn Medley Grinder
Johnny, what’s your favorite “marinade”?
:-)
-JT
No problem, I would not use much water either, if you are looking for a flavorful broth I would use about 3-4 cups for a skillet skeleton. Shallow is key and a non stick one if you have it. Add a little Vegeta and a splash of soy sauce and you’ll be good to go.
My favorite is Old #7 Black Jack, Jack Daniels.
/johnny
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