the best cookies ever!!!

i love peanut butter. in my mind, pretty much anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate can't be wrong. these cookies are pretty much the epitome of pb chocolate goodness because they have peanut butter, reese's pieces, chocolate chips, AND reese's pb cups. i was tempted to also add some peanut butter chips but i thought that might be overkill. :) seriously though, these are my favorite cookies of all time... whenever i make them i can't keep them in the house because i have no self control - i'll eat the for breakfast, or if i've already had breakfast i'll have them as a breakfast dessert. bad, i know.

i've baked these bad boys quite a few times and kept tweaking the recipe and i think it's finally just right. i made them recently when emily and ramos came down for the day and i think they devoured about a dozen of them... in a very short period of time too. and then after em left she called me to get the recipe and made them at home that night! i think that's a pretty good testament to how delicious they are.



here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (i use half light and half dark)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup reese's pieces
- about 20 mini reese's peanut butter cups, cut in half

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Unwrap the reese's peanut butter cups, cut them in half, place them on a plate
and put it in the freezer while you make the dough.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white
sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then
stir in the vanilla.
4. Combine the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl; stir slowly into the peanut
butter mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips and reese's pieces.
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and roll into dough balls.
Remove the frozen peanut butter cup halves from the freezer and press a piece onto
the top of each dough ball.
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 1 or 2
minutes on sheet before removing, or they will fall apart.

It's ok if they seem a little but under-cooked when you take them out - the peanut butter in the dough definitely affects the texture to make it seem that way. Besides, if you take them out when they're still a little mushy, after 2 minutes sitting on the hot tray they'll be perfect. That way, when you go to eat them the next day they'll still be soft and chewy, not crunchy. There's nothing worse than a crunchy cookie.

Passover Extras!

I figure Black & Whites are a pretty popular cookie at most delis (they're my Dad's favorite) so why not make Black & White Matzoh?  I melted semisweet and white chocolate with a little milk and brushed them onto the broken-up matzoh with a spoon then left them in the fridge to harden.

Matzoh ball soup leftovers in the fridge: I used my Grandma's (on my Dad's side) recipe for the matzoh balls, but they delated a bit and the soup was my own creation which I cooked all day long.

This is my Grandma's (on my Mom's side) House Dressing.  It is amazing and one of our few family secrets.  So basically, you can't have it.

Matzoh Brie.  Obviously my breakfast the next morning.  1 broken up matzoh + 2 scrambled eggs in a frying pan.  A little bit of jelly.  Just like Dad used to make.

Braised Beef Brisket

I used the recipe from my page-a-day How to Cook Everything calendar.  As you can see, on the left is the "Braised and ready to go in the oven"  stage, and below is the "I'm all eaten" stage.  I forgot a good in between picture.  I sliced the brisket and cooked it for an extra 5 or 6 hour beyond what the recipe suggested which made it much more tender.

A Jewish guest at my Passover seder claimed it was the best brisket she ever had!  Nice!  The only drawback is that the braising stage involves butter which makes this dish not Kosher, but you could easily substitute oil or margarine.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes

I used the cookbook that Brian got me for Valentine's Day (I think) or possibly our anniversary called "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey."  (I would type in the recipe but it's all packed up and ready to move home, unfortunately.)  I subbed Ricotta for Mascarpone for the filling because it was what I had.  They were still good and fairly moist.  The only problem was that the proportions seemed a bit off.  I must not have used enough filling because I had quite a bit extra (about the amount of two full cupcakes) and the chocolate glaze was way too much!  I poured it into a container and refrigerated it to make a nice buttery fudge.  : )

I've also made the Spanish Hot Chocolate and Churros from this book which were both delicious.  The hot chocolate was super rich!  I need to try a few more of these recipes.  The chocolate cake looks especially good.  Perhaps for a birthday party..?

Rosemary Chicken, Ravioli with Herb Cream Sauce, Salad with Homemade Croutons

The main event of this meal was the cream sauce.  I made a rue (flour and butter) and slowly added cream and herbs to my liking.  Which herbs?  Well, I really don't know.  I just smelled them and threw them in...  There was definitely Thyme and Basil and probably some Marjoram too.  But no Rosemary.  I put that on the chicken.

I dusted the chicken with flour before cooking it so it got nice and brown.  I took the skimpy piece of chicken (as you can see) because midway through cooking I decided to feed three instead of two, but it was still good!

Roomie Food

My roommates did some intense cooking.  Just thought I'd show it off.

A Lemon Basil pasta from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, garlic bread, and prosciutto and melon appetizers.

Yum!

my old standby

i make this dish occasionally when i want to be somewhat impressive without actually doing too much work. :)

it's pasta with homemade pesto... it has lots of yummy stuff in it - chicken breast, chicken sausage, asparagus, mushrooms (sometimes), and zucchini. the chicken sausage that i like to use is this one from trader joe's that has spinach and fontina cheese in it. (i wouldn't recommend the sausage otherwise though - we tried bbqing it and it was nasty and the fontina cheese smelled awful!)

i slice the veggies and sausage, and cut the chicken into bite-size chunks and the sautee it all in a large pan. while it's cooking and the pasta is boiling i get the pesto going. pesto is pretty easy... i usually use a blender because it seems to make it more sauce-like than a food processor. i just dump in lots of basil with some olive oil and toasted pine nuts, and then i add some romano cheese. throw in a little salt and pepper and then add more of whichever ingredients are needed based on taste.

i like to throw all the pasta and pesto into the pan with the sauteed veggies and mix it all up with tongs and then serve it with a little of the romano shaved on top.

i kinda forgot to take pictures until it was already leftovers in a tupperware but here it is... looks yummy right??





i cooked this for a boy recently and i think he was impressed (or at least he pretended to be) :)

Caprese-esque

Working from home today, I decided to whip up a quick lunch what the ingredients that were on hand, and I ended up with this yummy salad.

Fresh mozzarella and cluster tomatoes on a bed of arugula, dash of dried basil, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic, with butter garlic croutons to add some crunch. Light, tasty, and quick to prepare. Yum!

An eclectic concoction

Shaina and I met up to create a brilliant tex-mex concoction with corn bread, tortilla soup, and enchiladas. But by the time we finally got to the cooking, it was late, I didn't want to go shopping for missing ingredients, and we were both hungry. So we settled for something a bit simpler, and utilized the power of the George Foreman Grill (tm) to do it.
Starting from 12 0'clock, corn on the cob, awkwardly prepared with some spices and a buttered pan, pesto parmesan bread, breaded chicken tenders, grilled red peppers, and Grandma's famous mashed potatoes.

Alright, we didn't achieve any grand vision or theme, and we didn't push our limits, cooking wise, but we ended up with a decent late-night dinner and some leftovers for the next day. Next time, something more exotic.

Croutons

Easiest thing in the world.

Cube a baguette.  If it's a little stale, even better.  Lay it out on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder.  Toss lightly so spices are even  Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes.  I did it at 350, but mine always come out a little soft.  425 might crisp them up some.

Homemade Pasta

I've always been envious of people who make their own pasta.  At a friend's house on Saturday night, I helped them roll and cut pasta dough and finally just asked them how it's done.  This is the magical ratio I received:

1 cup of flour

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

a little water

(while you knead it, if you need it)

Pretty dang simple!  Crack the egg into the flour and cut in.  Knead for 10-15 minutes.  Refrigerate for later, or roll right away and cut as thinly as possible.  I boiled it up for about 4 minutes, strained it, and mixed in a little butter, parmesan, and basil.

I feel like a real chef now!

Next time, spinach and sundried tomato pasta...

Cookies and Cream Truffles

The only picture I took is of the truffles chilling out in the fridge.

I use this recipe to make delicious Cookies and Cream Truffles that always mysteriously disappear in a day or two.  The first time I made them, I sprung them on my boyfriend and his friends during an intense session of Rock Band.  One of his friends grabbed one quickly between sweet guitar licks and appeared to gag on the truffle.  When he swallowed, he moaned and said, "It's like an orgasm in my mouth."  So take that for what you will...

The first time I made them, I used white (Uh-Oh?) Oreos, which gave the inside a nice cream color and enhanced the buttery flavor.  A lot.  I also made them in a Magic Bullet, which was tricky and small and took a long time, but actually left a nice grainy texture inside the truffles.  These days, I have my beautiful, gorgeous, incredible 11-Cup Cuisinart Food Processor (my Hanukkah present) which cut the prep time in half and left the truffles smooth and creamy inside, just like store-bought.

I coated the chilled truffles in a mixture of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and some cream melted together over a double boiler (or a small bowl on top of a pot, if you're me).  Alton Brown says, if you want the chocolate coating to have a nice snap, don't raise the temperature of the chocolate over 94 degrees F.  Without a candy thermometer, I didn't manage to achieve this, but it's good to know for next time.  I love the homemade feel and the richness of this dessert.  It makes a great gift in a nice little box, or just something to snack on, if you don't mind the calories!

Brunch: Fake Eggs Benedict & Mini Caprese

I've never poached an egg before so I attempted it today.  It looked strange in the water but tasted pretty good.  I didn't use any fancy tricks, or even add vinegar to the water (I didn't have any), I just set it at a low boil and cracked an egg into it.  I only let the egg boil for a few minutes because I didn't want the yolk to cook through.  I then placed in on an english muffin toasted with spreadable cheese (Kaukauna or WisPride) and melted some cheddar over that.  Certainly not healthy, but probably healthier than a real benedict, certainly easier, and most importantly, delicious!!

I also made this "Mini Caprese" ("mini" because of the size of the cheese and tomatoes) to flesh out the brunch aspect of my meal and help me move just slightly away from my two favorite food groups (breads and cheeses).  I halved cherry tomatoes and small balls of ciligiene mozarella, add a tiny dollop of pesto, a couple tablespoons of balsamic, as well as some salt and pepper.