DinnerCakes

OMG Peanut Butter Pie

March 18th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

Did you know this past Sunday was Pi(e) day? Did you know there’s a peanut butter pie? A pie, of peanut butter?!?!?! Madness, you say? Poppycock? You are not alone, friend, for I can assure you that was my initial reaction when a particular young lady informed me of its existence. But low and behold, peanut butter pies do exist and are not some rarity invented by a small tribe living in some far corner of the world; possibly in some near-unapproachable mountains. With peanut butter trees.

I wasn’t able to find the person credited with the first peanut butter pie but my first mental image, after the Pinatu Mountain Tribe was a 19th century Heather, dressed like Madam Curie with a high necked dress, analyzing peanut butter in test tubes. Best. Job. EVER. Whoever is responsible for its inception, I take my hat off to thee.

Recognizing the awesomeness of peanut butter and pie, this was something I had to do and I did so immediately. I decided to go with an oatmeal crust which worked out well, but turned out a bit harder than I would have liked. Be sure not to over bake your crust when you try this! I wish I had more photos, but I took this to work and it did not last long. Be sure to have a glass of milk handy.

Peanut Butter Pie

Oatmeal Crust
2 cups oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons honey
1 stick butter; cut into four pieces
pinch of salt

Peanut Butter Filling
1 lb peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons honey
pinch of salt

Chocolate Glaze
8 oz bittersweet chocolate; roughly chopped
1 stick of butter; cut into four pieces
2 tablespoons cream

Crust
Preheat your oven to 375° and grease a 9 inch pie pan. Run the oats in a food processor for about 30 seconds, then add your remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined. Evenly distribute your crust into the pie pan and up the sides and bake for 15-20; just until the crust begins to turn golden at the edge. Don’t over bake or you will have a harder, but still delicious, crust. Let cool completely.

Filling
Mix together all your ingredients and pour/spoon into your pie pan. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Glaze
Melt your chocolate and butter via the double boiler method. Once fully melted, remove from heat, add the cream and stir until well combined. Let sit in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken and cool. Pour over your pie and place in the back in the fridge until glaze hardens. Serve and enjoy.

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Baked Orecchiette with Organic Butternut Squash, A Farewell to Winter

March 17th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Though it’s getting warmer now, I’m still saying goodbye to winter.

I had an impulse buy in the grocery store this week – I picked up a can of organic butternut squash puree. I had no idea what I would do with it. After assessing the other impulse buys in my pantry, I decided to pair the squash with some orecchiette pasta.

My husband normally doesn’t care too much for the squash/pasta dinners I’ve tried in the past… or squash used as a sauce (chicken and pumpkin enchiladas I made a few years ago is one of the few meals he’s actually turned down!). He did, however, enjoy this recipe!

The squash makes the pasta a little sweet, but it’s not an overpowering taste. The onions, garlic and rosemary balance the sweetness a bit, and the ricotta I added to the squash makes it a little creamier. I would probably prefer this made as a side dish (maybe served with chicken breast?), just because there’s not enough flavor complexity here to really hold my interest for an entire meal. But we all know I’m a finnicky eater I highly recommend using orecchiette if you have it at your grocery store – it’s a neat little pasta and works great with non-marinara type sauces!

Goodbye winter and cold weather squash – I’ll miss you!

Baked Orecchiette with Organic Butternut Squash
inspired by Martha’s Winter Squash and Shells

2 small/medium onions, thinly sliced
1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/3 cup low-fat ricotta
2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted and cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F and butter a 13×9 casserole/baking dish. Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add onions. Season the onions with salt, pepper and rosemary, and toss occasionally with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir and cook onions until browned and soft, approximately 15-20 minutes.

While onions are cooking, heat water for pasta and cook according to package instructions. Drain pasta when done, reserving one cup of the pasta water.

Add squash, ricotta and pasta water to onions, simmering for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to casserole dish and sprinkle with toasted whole wheat bread. Season with additional salt and pepper, and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

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Asparagus In Wine, Balsamic and Soy Reduction

March 15th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

In my quest to appreciate the fungus known as mushrooms, I’ve been perusing some of the cookbooks at the local library. On amazing dish I came across was for roasted Portabello mushrooms from the book Veganomicon. By far the best mushroom dish I’ve had.

I decided to try a variant of this with asparagus, as this vegetable is showing up in markets quite heavily as spring begins to roll in. While not as tasty as the original recipe, I like how the reduction works with this vegetable. There is plenty of liquid, which I sopped with couscous, but consider this as optional.

Asparagus In Wine, Balsamic and Soy Reduction

1/2 cup cooking wine (red)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 pound asparagus; woody ends removed and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces.

Preheat the oven to 400. Combine and mix everything but the asparagus. Place the asparagus in a large baking pan and pour in your “sauce”. Roast for 20 minutes, serve and enjoy.

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Moroccan Chicken Couscous

March 12th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Earlier in the week Edwin tweeted that, “Sadness is over baking your lemon squares.” Today I’m going to counter that by adding that sadness is cooking something delicious and not taking good photos of it because (you later realized) your flash was on a wonky setting.

Oh well! I’ll do the best I can? How about a sweet picture of my pup as a peace offering?

Finding myself in a bit of a dinner slump after finishing my midterms at school last week lead me back to my trusty “Great Food Fast” cookbook by Martha Stewart (If you haven’t entered her contest yet to win a free new book, click here!). I flipped to the winter section before spring is upon us, and I found some great recipes I hadn’t made before.

I’ve made her Moroccan Chicken Couscous twice this week – once to test it out and play around and then later in the week to bring to a friends house. This is a great meal to turn to if you want something healthy, light, relatively fast and easy and flavorful without heat (for spice-wary people like Edwin!).

I only made some relatively minor tweeks because things are pretty good! I did change the ratio of things a bit, added more veggies and changed the proportions to serve 2 (with leftovers) or 3.

Moroccan Chicken Couscous
adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (if you can’t find skinless, you can remove the skin yourself with kitchen scissors)
5 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 small onions, thinly sliced
1 can whole tomatoes (14 oz), drained
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
1 3/4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium canned broth
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 zucchini, halved lengthwise and quartered
Couscous

In a 5 or 6 quart pot with a lid (or Dutch oven if you have one), combine all ingredients except zucchini. Break up whole tomatoes using a wooden spoon.

Bring the pot to simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, then add quartered zucchini. Replace lid and cook until chicken is done yet tender, approximately 15 more minutes.

When you have 5 minutes left, cook couscous according to package instructions or by using Martha’s “Best Couscous” method. Spoon couscous into bowls, then spoon chicken, vegetables and broth on top.

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Saying Goodbye To Winter – Oven Baked Yukon Golds

March 10th, 2010

by Chef Edwin

The first signs of Spring came out in style this past weekend with some excellent sun, a light breeze and warm temperatures that helped you forgot the horror that snowpacolypse. On Sunday a group of of us went on our first outdoor climb of the new year at Great Falls. Despite rather high water levels we had a blast and got some excellent climbs in.

Inspired by the weather, I ventured out to the Falls Church Farmers Market on Saturday, which has actually been open since January. Props to that. There’s something calming about Farmers Markets; centering. Scores of people walking about just talking, sampling food; no rush, no place they have to be. It’s just a contrast from the usual everyday life in DC where actually forget about how much stress and urgency we’re practically swimming in.

With us being on the tale end of winter, I honed in on the root vegetables; beets, leeks, potatoes… and a few apples of course (huuuuge Fuji’s. yum!) The leeks ended up in a nice simple, but delicious potato leek soup and I have visions of a small batch of borscht for the beets. The potatoes, yukon golds to be exact, had their own destiny.

A very smart person once said that the secret to good food is to use fresh ingredients and do very little to them. While it’s easy to to consider the potato as nothing more than bland, there is an essence of flavor somewhere and simplicity is the best way to draw that out. Local fresh is key here. Potatoes start with a rather thin skin when just yanked out of the ground and this thing tends to get thicker as the months roll by (which I can promise you is happening with spuds at your local megamart). When looking for potatoes at your local market, look for paper thin and you won’t be disappointed. Then, toss with a bit of oil, some salt and pepper and then whatever herbs you may like (fresh if you got em but dried if you don’t).

Oven Baked Yukon Golds
Consider this a guideline. Throw out the cookbook (or, put it back on the shelf).

Yukon Gold potatoes
herbs (rosemary, thyme…)
salt
pepper

Preheat your oven to 400°. Cut your potatoes into 1.5 piece cubes, most likely just in half unless there notably large; in which case quarter them. Toss with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Start with one and add more if necessary for a light coating. Throw in a tablespoon of fresh herbs or a teaspoon of dried and set on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes until the pieces are easily pierced but still firm. Let cool briefly, serve and enjoy.

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Anyone Have a Recipe for Shoe?

March 9th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

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Cookbook contest!

March 9th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Everyday Food has recently published a new book called “Fresh Flavor Fast.” I have the Everday Food book “Great Food Fast,” and it has been my favorite and most used cookbook for some time. The book shares recipes that are relatively easy and fast to make and use ingredients that are not difficult to keep on hand. I’m eager to try the new book!

To promote its release, Everyday Food is holding a contest:

Tell us why you love Everyday Food in 150 words or less, along with the title of your favorite Everyday Food recipe, and submit your entry between February 15, 2010, and March 15, 2010, and you could be one of 20 lucky winners.

Include your complete name, address, telephone number, and email address. Online entries can be emailed to edfcontest@marthastewart.com, or mail your entry with your full name, address, phone number, and email address to:

Alison Sickelka
Assistant Editor, Online
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
601 West 26th Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Also, click here for a sample of recipes from the new book!

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Currently Baking, Part II

March 9th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

You might have noticed that yesterday I was working on Joy the Baker’s Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread (minus the walnuts). I was a little worried at first because it seemed to be cooking much faster than the time Joy suggested, but the breads baked for 1 hour and everything worked out fine.

They smelled great while baking and out of the oven, and the bread is awesome served warm. I tried another slice this morning with breakfast (cause let’s face it, sometimes things taste different when it’s not fresh out of the oven!), and it was still great. At one point I did feel like something was missing that I couldn’t quite place – maybe a little too much flour, maybe a little too much oil, maybe not enough pumpkin flavor.. I’m not sure! But today I didn’t feel that way, so maybe I like the bread best after it has ’set.’

Will this recipe replace my longtime favorite pumpkin bread recipe? I’m not sure… maybe I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison. What vegan bread should I try next?

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Currently Baking…

March 8th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread (sans the walnuts), recipe courtesy of Joy the Baker. Anyone ever tried it before? Or vegan breads in general?

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Let’s Have More Fun!

March 8th, 2010

by Heather (Ghost Baker)

Hey DC fans!

It’s time to spice it up here at DinnerCakes again. Edwin and I have decided the usual schedule is stifling our creativity, and we’d like some more flexibility to share new ideas, adventures and experiments with you.

We want to be more healthful (yeah, even me!), which means sometimes doing less with better ingredients. We want to tell you about farmer’s markets and what we find there. We’d like to take more photos and show you more interesting, quality shots. We want to share ideas with you and find out more about what works for you! And judging from last week’s yogurt discussion, it sounds like you all enjoy the chance to be heard!

So we’re throwing the old schedule out the window – we hope you like what you find and that you’ll continue to share your thoughts, tips and ideas with us!

Your kitchen compadres,
Chef Edwin & Heather – Ghost Baker

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