Peanut Butter Torte

browneyedbaker.com
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 282-283)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1¼ cups finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch, and toppings)
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semisweet chocolate)
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbled or ground in a food processor or blender
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2½ cups heavy cream
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (no need to wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

To Finish the Torte: Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan.

Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and, working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.

Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel dampened with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving: I like to serve the torte with strong espresso, but it lends itself to being paired with black tea, hot cocoa or even a not-too-thick not-too-sweet coffee milkshake.

Storing: Well covered, the torte will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 days; just make sure to keep it away from foods with strong odors.

Chocolate Cream Pie

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

yield: 8 to 10 servings

 

prep time: 5 hours

 

cook time: 10 minutes

 

total time: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crust:
24 Oreo cookies, crushed into crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

For the Chocolate Cream Filling:
2½ cups half-and-half
Pinch salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 egg yolks, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 6 pieces
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Whipped Cream Topping:
1½ cups heavy cream
4½ teaspoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the Oreo cookie crumbs and the melted butter in a medium bowl and toss with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch pie plate. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, forming a crust. Refrigerate the lined pie plate for 20 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, until the crust is fragrant and set. Cook on a wire rack while the filling is prepared.

2. Make the Chocolate Cream Filling: Bring the half-and-half, salt and 3 tablespoons of the sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk the yolks thoroughly in a medium bowl for about 30 seconds, until slightly thickened. Add the cornstarch mixture and whisk until the mixture is glossy and the sugar has begun to dissolve, about 1 minute. When the half-and-half reaches a full simmer, drizzle about ½ cup hot half-and-half over the yolks, whisking constantly to temper; then whisk the egg yolk mixture into the simmering half-and-half. Return to a simmer, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on the surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 15 seconds longer.

3. Off the heat, whisk in the butter until incorporated; add the chopped chocolate and whisk until melted, scraping the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula to fully incorporate. Stir in the vanilla, then immediately pour the filling through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Using a spatula, scrape the strained filling into the baked and cooled crust. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the filling and refrigerate the pie until the filling is cold and firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

4. Make the Whipped Cream Topping: When ready to serve, beat the cream and sugar in the chilled bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed to soft peaks; add the vanilla. Continue to beat to barely stiff peaks. Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the chilled filling and garnish with shaved chocolate, if desired. Serve immediately.

(Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated)

French Silk Pie

French Silk Pie

Yield: 8 servings

Time: 20 minutes + 1 hour refrigeration

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

1 C sugar
3/4 C butter, softened (not margarine)
8 T loosely packed cocoa
1 t vanilla
3 eggs
1 Oreo cookie crust
1 8oz carton Cool Whip (the real cool whip brand is best)

1. Mix the sugar and butter together for 4 minutes, until it becomes kind of frothy. 
2. Add the cocoa and vanilla and mix for about 1 minute. This is what it should look like at this point.
3. Add the eggs one at a time. Mixing for at least 2 minutes after each egg is added. The picture below shows what it should look like after all the eggs are added.

4. Spread the mixture into the Oreo crust.

5. You can put the cool whip on any old way you would like. Depending on how fancy you feel that day! I used a Pampered Chef tool to pipe it on in thick swirls. You can either shave a chocolate candy bar over the top or dot the cool whip with chocolate chips.

6. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but it’s best if it stays in the fridge over night. This pie also freezes really well. Enjoy!

Classic Deviled Eggs

Yield: Makes 12 deviled eggs

The recipe, as written, is a fantastic base for classic deviled eggs. You could do a million variations of this recipe. My favorite is to add a few crumbles of blue cheese to the filling and instead of paprika, sprinkle cooked, crumbled bacon on top of the deviled eggs. Wow. Also, I prefer red wine vinegar here but you can really experiment with any type of vinegar you have on hand. If you enjoy making and eating homemade mayo, this might be the time to break it out since the mayo flavor really comes through on deviled eggs. Good tasting mayo is key here.

Ingredients

• 7 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, light or regular
• 1 teaspoon yellow prepared mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of hot sauce (like Tapatio brand)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika for sprinkling

Directions

1. Place the eggs in the bottom of a saucepan and cover with cold water by at least an inch. Bring the water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Immediately take the saucepan off the heat, cover and let the eggs sit for 15-16 minutes. While the eggs cook, fill a large bowl with ice water.
2. Carefully drain most of the hot water out of the pot (keeping the eggs from rolling out) and slosh the pan side to side to crack the shells of the eggs. Scoop the eggs out with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water bath for 3-4 minutes. Peel the eggs under a stream of warm running water.
3. Slice each peeled egg in half lengthwise. Scoop out all of the yolks into a small bowl. Discard the two ugliest egg whites (or let your kids eat them with a sprinkle of salt like mine love to do). Mash the egg yolks into small pieces. Stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir or whisk vigorously until the filling is thick and creamy.
4. Fill a quart-size ziploc bag with the filling (pressing it into one of the corners) and snip the corner off the bag. Squeeze the filling into the 12 remaining egg whites. Dust with a sprinkle of paprika and chill until ready to serve.

Baked Cheese Dip -

2 Loaves French Bread

16 oz Cream Cheese

8 oz Sour Cream

8 oz Salsa

3 C Shredded Cheese (I like to get the pre-shredded Mexican Blend)

Hollow out one loaf of bread by cutting off the top and pulling out the bread. Place it on a cookie sheet at bake for 5 min. at 450 degrees just to crisp it up.

Mix all the other ingredients together. Spoon into baked bread loaf and place bread lid back on top. Wrap in aluminum foil, place on cookie sheet. Bake 1.5 hrs at 350 degrees.

Cut the other loaf into chunks for dipping.

Turkey & Swiss sandwich with Spicy BBQ dip

 - Ok, this sounds so basic, but trust me the combo of the toasted sandwich with the magic dip (we may as well say it's magic because that's how it tastes in your mouth), makes this one of our favs.

1 Loaf french bread

3/4 lb deli turkey (make sure you get the yummy turkey from the deli. It makes all the difference. Also, I only do 1/2 lb turkey since I eat meat sparingly)

Provolone and Swiss cheese

Red Leaf lettuce or spinach

Roma Tomato

Red onion

Avocado (you can slice them, but we like to smash the avocado to it's more like a spread. Makes dipping a lot easier too).

Dip: And yes, this is hands down, the-not-to-be-trifled-with, money maker.
½ c brown sugar
½ c BBQ sauce (spicy honey from Kraft is best. Gives it a bit of a kick with a touch of sweetness)
½ c water

Cut bread length-wise (don't cut all the way through). Place turkey on one side, and cheese on the other. Broil on low until cheese is bubbling and browned. While sandwich is cooking, heat ingredients for dip in small pot. Heat until sugar is dissolved. When sandwich is done, dress with toppings, cut into slices, and serve with hot dip. 

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com Time: 30 minutes Yield: 7 servings Recipe from the exceedingly lovely Julie Thomson   1 bunch broccoli 1/4 C butter 1/2 C chopped onion 3 T flour 2 C chicken broth 1 C broccoli water 2 C half and half 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce 1/2 t salt 2 C cheddar cheese, grated 1. Chop your broccoli and toss it in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover it with water and boil until tender. 2. Drain 1 C of the broccoli water into a measuring cup and set it aside. 3. Mash the broccoli up with a potato masher. Don't have one of those...don't worry about it. You could use the bottom of a glass cup. 4. While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a large pot. 5. Add the onions and cook over medium high heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. 6. Add the flour and whisk it all around to combine it with the butter and onions. 7. Pour in the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and add the reserved broccoli water, half and half, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. 8. Stir and cook until the soup becomes slightly thick. This should take about 5 minutes. 9. Add the broccoli and the cheese. 10. Remove the pan from the heat. Don't let the cheese cook in the soup...it just needs to be heated through so it can melt, nicely. Enjoy