Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows

This was originally a vegan recipe that called for non-dairy milk, but since I don't ever have that in the house, I used regular.  I also used regular peanut butter instead of the natural because, again, that's what I had on hand.  Luckily, I did have some black cocoa, so the cookies came out very dark and rich looking (see photo).  To me, they look more like UFOs than pillows, but who cares what they're called?  They're delicious!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows
makes 24 cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Chocolate dough

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa (or more dutch processed cocoa)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style
2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of milk. If dough is too wet, knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of parchment and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.

Ode to a Three-Minute Egg

When my parents were newlyweds, my Dad decided to make some hard boiled eggs.  As he waited for the pot to boil, he also decided to surprise my Mom by making a few three-minute eggs for their lunch.

A few minutes later, my Mom walked into the kitchen to find my Dad holding a large slotted spoon and frantically using it to pick up and put back egg after egg.  His glasses were fogged up.  He was cursing.

My Mom asked, "Pete, what are you doing?!"

My Dad answered, "I'm making some hard boiled eggs and some three-minute eggs.  I marked the three-minute eggs with a pencil, and now it's been three minutes, but I can't find the eggs I marked!"

My Mom, ever so nicely, said, "Honey, just take out any two eggs."

Dad, "What if they're the wrong ones?"

Mom, "None of them are 'wrong ones.'  Right now they're ALL three-minute eggs!"

My Dad, poor Dad, just stood there, staring blankly at his new wife, and felt like a complete fool.

By the way, this was one of my Mom's favorite stories to tell!

Quick and Easy: Cajun Crackers

It was like pulling teeth to get this recipe from my husband's aunt.  I guess she wanted to world to believe that she slaved for days to make these crackers!  Thanks to Carolyn for doing the teeth pulling and then sharing the recipe with the rest of the family.

This is one of those party foods that everyone requests the recipe for.  They are always amazed at the simplicity of these crackers.  They really do taste like they are more work than they actually are.

Cajun Crackers

1 box saltine crackers
1 cup cooking oil (I use canola, or equal parts canola and olive oil)
2 tsp cayenne pepper*
1 package dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

Whisk together oil, cayenne pepper, and Ranch dressing mix.  In large bowl (with attachable lid), empty one sleeve of saltines.  Drizzle 1/4 of the oil mixture over crackers.  Continue with remaining crackers and oil mixture.  Secure lid on bowl, then gently shake and turn the bowl to coat crackers.  Once crackers are coated, remove from bowl and store in airtight container.

 

I have also made these crackers using goldfish crackers and oyster crackers. 

*If you like things extra hot, up the cayenne to 1 Tbs.  Likewise, if you prefer things a little milder, decrease to 1 tsp.

Cajun Boil

This is a great recipe to make for a crowd.  It is so simple.  The only thing that takes any time is waiting for that huge pot of water to start boiling!

You can, of course, change the amount of each ingredient to suit your personal taste.  When I made this, I used two pounds of potatoes, which was way too much for us.  You can make it with just shrimp, or just crab, or add mussels, clams, oysters, blue crab, etc.  Whatever sounds good to you.  Also, if you like things spicy, I think using a nice andouille sausage would be great in this.  Or maybe a sprinkling of cayenne pepper over the finished product!

I serve this with a nice, crusty bread, lemon wedges, some clarified butter, and homemade cocktail sauce.  Make sure you have plenty of paper towels on hand as well as a place for people to put the shrimp and crab shells. 

Cajun Boil   

2 pounds snow crab legs
1 pound uncooked shrimp
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pound small red potatoes
3 ears of sweet corn on the cob, cleaned and halved
1 box shrimp and crab boil (Zatarain's makes a good one)

In a large stock pot (12 quart), bring 8 quarts of water to a boil.  Add shrimp boil and potatoes to boiling water.  Boil for 15 minutes.  Add corn and sausage.  Boil for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Using a large slotted spoon, remove potatoes, sausage, and corn from water.  Add shrimp and crab legs to water and boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from water.

Place all ingredients on a large serving platter.  Or, to make it more fun, cover a table with butcher paper, dump everything in center of table, and let everyone dig in!

Cocktail Sauce
This recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse

1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons drained, prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and whisk well to combine.

I use Simply Heinz ketchup and Vita brand horseradish because these brands do not contain high fructose corn syrup.

An Evening at Tavern on the Bay

Friday night...finally!  The end of the first week back with students.  Always exhausting!  Thankfully, a musician friend was booked to sing at a little waterfront seafood joint, and a little seafood, a little sea breeze, and a little...no, make that a big...drink was just what we needed.

Even though it has been record-breaking hot around here lately, by 7:00 pm on the bay front, it was lovely.  We watched the sunset over the marina while we enjoyed cold drinks and Jim crooning.

We ordered the garlic shrimp dip.  Warm, creamy, dotted with pieces of fresh shrimp and served with toasty, salty tortilla chips.  Lovely!  Philip licked the bowl.  A little embarrassing, but I couldn't blame him.

After that wonderful appetizer, we were certainly looking forward to our entrees.  They did not disappoint.  Philip ordered the grilled fish skewer.  Large chunks of firm white fish, grilled to juicy perfection and served with a serving of fresh fruit and cranberry coleslaw.

I had the seafood combo, which normally comes with shrimp, oysters, and fish.  However, if you ask, the chef will serve up three types of shrimp instead.  My combo consisted of two each of Panko crusted, pecan crusted, and coconut shrimp.  Each shrimp was served with its own sauce.  The cocktail sauce had a smokey flavor, a little different than the usual red shrimp sauce.  The pineapple sauce (not too tart, not too sweet) was a fitting accompaniment for the coconut shrimp.  However, the raspberry sauce served with the pecan shrimp was way too sweet.  But the pecan shrimp was delicious on its own and really didn't need a sauce anyway.  The combo is served with homemade potato chips and cranberry coleslaw.

 It was a lovely evening.  Nothing beats sitting by the sea, sipping cold drinks, dining on fresh seafood, listening to familiar tunes sung by a familiar voice, and of course, watching the sunset.  Can't wait to do it again!

Tavern on the Bay
108 Peoples Street T-Head
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
(361) 881- 8503

Room for Dessert by David Lebovitz

For over a year I have been trying to find a reasonably priced copy of the out-of-print book Room for Dessert by David Lebovitz.  Oh, I found plenty of copies out there, but they ranged in price from $80 to $800.  Considering the original cover price was only $30, I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much (sorry David!).  But FINALLY, I found a private seller on amazon.com that was selling it for a mere $32, so with shipping, I only paid $36.  I could live with that!

It finally arrived yesterday, and not only was the book in much better condition than I expected, there was a very much unexpected surprise included.  It was a signed copy!  I was so excited that I jumped around like a giddy school girl.  I am such a fan of David Lebovitz: I read his blog, I follow him on twitter, and I follow him on Facebook.  Score!

Stay tuned to this blog, where I will soon be trying out some of the recipes from this fantastic book, as well as some delicious ice cream from his The Perfect Scoop.  I'm going to make his cheesecake ice cream tomorrow, so check back soon for pictures!

Quick and Easy: Jalapeño Pecan Spread

This recipe was given to me several years ago by a co-worker.  It uses jalapeños en escabeche, which are jalapeños pickled with onions, carrots, and spices.  I use the Faro brand, but if you like burning hot jalapeño, use the El Costeña brand.  I have made this spread dozens of times, and it is always a hit.  If you put this out at a party, there won't be any leftovers! 

Jalapeño Pecan Spread

8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 12oz can jalapeños en escabeche, drained
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Place cream cheese and jalapeños in food processor and process until jalapeños are chopped.  Remove from processor and stir in pecan pieces.  Chill for several hours or overnight before serving.  Serve with crackers.

If you want the pecans to be extra crunchy in the spread, don't add them before chilling.  Chill cream cheese and jalapeño mixture, then before serving, bring spread to room temperature and stir in pecans.

Road Trip for Seafood

When I received an email from Southern Living entitled "The Best Seafood Dives Across the South", I eagerly scanned it, hoping for something along the Texas Gulf Coast.  Bingo!  There is was.  A little seafood dive in a little town I had never heard of.  Luckily for me, we were already planning a road trip to a location less than an hour from that little town.  It was a no brainer.  Of course we would seek out this dive.

We arrived at Top Water Grill in San Leon, Texas at around 7:30 on a Friday night.  We asked for a table outside, and were seated at a picnic table on the dock.  Lucky boat owners can dock right next to their table!

View from our table

Cold draft beer in hand (Blue Moon for me, Shiner Bock for him), we perused the extensive menu.  We chose an appetizer of Smoked Swordfish Pate.  Two large scoops of the pate were served in a stemmed glass along side a basket of crackers, lemon wedges, and a bottle of hot sauce.  The pate was delicious, although I would have preferred it to be smokier.

The restaurant offers several beers on tap

After much consideration, I decided to try the Pecan Crusted Snapper.  The snapper was fresh and moist, pan fried with a crunchy pecan coating.  The crust had that savory, full-flavored nuttiness that comes only from toasting the pecans.  The generous piece of snapper was served with a light lemon butter sauce, which complimented but did not overpower the flavors of the fish or pecans.  The fish also came with two unremarkable sides of rice and mixed vegetables.

Pecan Crusted Snapper

My husband chose the Drunken Redfish.  This thick, fresh piece of redfish was seasoned and grilled, then topped with a creamy white wine sauce studded with shrimp and crawfish tails.  It was simply delicious!  It was also served with the same mundane rice and veggies.

Drunken Redfish

Overall, it was definitely worth the drive to get out to San Leon.  The Top Water Grill was a definite find, although I would never call it a "dive".  The restaurant is large and attractive, the menu extensive, and the prices moderate.  Our total, with two beers each, shared appetizer, and two entrees was $73.91 (including tax and tip).

Front of Top Water Grill

Restaurant from across the canal

Top Water Grill
815 Ave. O
San Leon, TX
(281) 339-1232
http://www.topwatergrill.com/