Peanut Butter Pot du Creme

A pot du creme is a quintessential French dessert that is surprisingly easy to make!  Don't be intimidated by the name of this dish, Taste Book has an easy recipe I modified to make with peanut butter.  It is so easy and delightful and your friends will think you spent hours making this but you don't have to give away your secret at how easy and simple this was to make.  Top with any of your favorite toppings, i.e. whipped cream or chocolate sauce for an extra sweet treat!

Ingredients


1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
3 egg yolks
4 ramekins (1/2 cup size)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place ramekins in an oven safe dish (like a lasagna pyrex dish) so that you can fill the pan with hot water later to cook the creme pots.
3. In a small sauce pan pour whipping cream and peanut butter, gently whisk until combined and let cook over medium heat about 10 minutes until peanut butter is mostly incorporated and smooth.
4. When cream is ready gently whisk in one egg yolk at a time until combined.  After all three, you will notice it is a bit thicker
5. Carefully pour equally into the ramekins and carefully pour water around the ramekins until they are covered half way up the side.
6. Place in the preheated oven and cook until top is set and golden brown, about 25 minutes
7. Remove and let cool until you are able to handle the dish, then cover and put in the fridge until you are ready to serve

Spinach and Sweet Potato Lentils

It doesn't get much better than sweet potatoes and lentils...throw in a bit of spinach and cream and you have got a soul warming vegetarian dinner that won't disappoint even your meat eating friends.  We served this with brown rice but it would have been yummy with some pita bread too.

1/2 onion finely chopped
2 serrano chili peppers finely chopped
2 roma tomatoes finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons curry or garam marsala powder
1 sweet potato peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 cup lentils
2 cups water
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 bunch of spinach
salt/pepper to taste

1. Prep all of the ingredients through the garlic cloves.  Set 2 tablespoons of cream in a container to allow to come to room temperature
2. Heat oil in deep pot over medium high heat, when hot add the veggies, cumin, curry powder and stir to coat...cook for about 5 minutes
3. Add sweet potato and lentils and cover with water (about two cups water)
4. Let cook about 20 minutes until lentils and potatoes are tender
5. Remove from heat and let sit about five minutes.
6. Add cream and stir to incorporate
7. Add spinach and let wilt about one minute
8. Salt and pepper to taste and add more curry if desired

Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes

Apparently I'm stuffing a lot of food these days but it's such a comforting way to eat meals at the end of the winter!  I made these stuffed potatoes with a lot of what was on hand, so feel free to substitute onions for the leeks, arugula for the spinach and ground beef for the bacon.  Whatever you have is acceptable in this dish (except I definitely recommend you keep the cheddar cheese).

This is dinner for two people so add one potato per person as you add people and of course increase the ingredients in the same proportion.

Ingredients


2 russet potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup lowfat milk

salt/pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped leeks
1 bunch spinach, washed
5-6 strips of bacon

1. Wash the potatoes and dry thoroughly, stab with a fork four times and put in the microwave on the bake potato setting for about 10 minutes or until potato is tender and cooked through
2. When potatoes are cooled, cut in half and carefully remove the flesh.  Reserve the skins and put on a baking sheet
3. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper to the potato mixture and use a potato masher to mash and combine it all.
4. Add most of the cheese, reserving about 1/4 cup for later
5. Meanwhile cook bacon in a pan on the stove until crispy.  When cooked, remove and put on a paper towel.  Then chop finely and add to potato mixture
6. Add leeks to the bacon fat and saute about 5 minutes.
7. Add washed and chopped spinach to the leeks and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes
8. Add veggies to the potato mixture and stir to evenly distribute.
9. Preheat the broiler of your oven
10. Carefully scoop the potato mixture into each of the potato skins and use as much of the filling as possible.  Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
11. Place under the broiler for about 4 minutes until cheese is melted
12. Serve with a salad and enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Dip

This recipe is all David all the way.  He definitely knows how to make a delicious smoked salmon dip! This is something my grandmother used to make all the time, and he got the proportions perfectly!

5 oz smoked salmon
8 oz cream cheese
1 celery stalk finely chopped (and I mean it)
1 shallot finely chopped (ditto)
1 teaspoon garlic salt powder
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dill
2 tablespoons mayo

1. Remove cream cheese from wrapper and place in a bowl so it can soften.
2. Finely chop celery, shallot and salmon.
3. Combine everything in the bowl with cream cheese and use a fork to stir and stir and stir until it is all mixed together.
4. Serve on baguette slices, crackers, toast points, bagels, etc.

Chickpea and Leek Pasta

Everyone has a pasta they can count on to satisfy at any occasion.  A few weeks ago I experimented with my favorite flavors of chickpeas, leeks and mushrooms and came up with this really simple pasta that was as satisfying as it was protein packed.  Pasta and beans is a surprisingly good combo and I think whole wheat pasta would also be great here.

Ingredients


1 lb fettucini pasta
1 can chickpeas drained
1 tablespoon cumin
1 leek thinly cleaned and thinly sliced
5-6 white or button mushrooms roughly chopped
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 cup reserved pasta water
Feta cheese

1. Start a pot of water to boil on the stove, prepare pasta per package directions.
2. Meanwhile heat medium saute pan on medium high heat and add a swirl of olive oil.  When hot, add chickpeas and let sizzle in the oil.  Stir in cumin and let cook another 3 or 4 minutes.
3. Add chopped leeks and mushrooms to the chickpeas, stir to coat and let cook another 5 minutes then set aside.
4. When pasta is ready, reserve 1 cup of pasta water for later use
5. Drain pasta and return to pan, add chickpea mixture, red pepper flakes and pasta water, stir to coat evenly.
6. Serve on plates and top with feta cheese, salt and pepper.

Matzo Ball Soup with Curry and Cilantro

Matzo ball soup is one of the best soups to have around the house.  The matzo meal stays in the cupboard and if you have some chicken broth you basically have a soup.  In this version I add curry powder and cilantro to give it a unique flavor.

Ingredients


Matzo balls
2 eggs
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup seltzer water
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soup
1 carrot peeled and chopped
1/2 onion peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons curry
4 cups chicken broth
10 sprigs cilantro

1. Start with the matzo first.  Mix eggs, water and oil together in a medium bowl.
2. Add salt and pepper and stir again.
3. Add matzo meal and stir to combine well.  Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to let set.
4. About 10 minutes before matzo is ready, heat a soup pot over medium high heat.  Add a swirl of olive oil and cook onion and carrot for three minutes.
5. Add curry and stir to coat evenly.  Let cook another 2 minutes.
6. Then add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
7. Wet your hands and roll the matzo into 1 1/2 inch size balls.
8. When soup is boiling, add the matzo balls into the pot being careful not to disturb the others.
9. Reduce heat to low and cook 25-30 minutes.
10. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and a pinch or two of salt and serve!

Super Stuffed Pizza Bread

Holy Cow WOW this is the best appetizer I have made in years (okay besides gougeres and pretzels).  Anyway this is essentially a pizza stuffed and wrapped like a baguette and it is downright tasty and impressive to look at.  Fill with whatever you would normally put on a pizza, here we have made some adjustments to make it vegetarian.

Toppings

1 cup tomato sauce
3-4 sundried tomatoes finely chopped
1 cup pesto sauce
1 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 egg white

Pizza Dough (prepare at least two hours before you are ready to make pizza)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

about 2 cups luke warm water

Mix yeast and sugar in 1 cup measuring cup.  Add room temp water and let sit for five minutes.  Meanwhile add flour and salt to the food processor and process for 10 seconds to mix together.  When yeast mixture is ready, add to the flour while the processor is running.  If dough is still not combined add another 1/4 of water at a time until dough forms a ball.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with kitchen towel.  Allow to rest for at least two hours (you can even let this sit for 24 hours!).

Making the stuffed pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place a cookie sheet length of parchment on a standard size cookie sheet.

3. Carefully roll out dough to cover most of the parchment

4. Use a pastry brush or back of a spoon to evenly distribute tomato sauce on the dough, repeat with pesto sauce.

5. Evenly sprinkle feta cheese, capers, sundried tomatoes and parmesan on top. 

6. If you have someone who can help you roll up the dough it will be easier.  Fold one side of the dough hot dog style until it covers slightly more than half the distance to the other side.  Then fold over the other sides and pinch the seams together, being sure to tuck in the ends of the loaf so the sauce doesn't fall out.

7. Brush egg white mixture over the dough.

8. Place the bread into the oven and cook about 25-30 minutes until golden brown and crust is cooked through (you can tell by seeing the bottom of the loaf that it is not white and soft).

9. Allow to cool for an hour before cutting into slices and serving to friends and family.