Recipes that Rock: 2011

[Darienne]

I recently made food network's Claire Robinson's peanut butter cookies, five ingredients as per her show

One cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth I used chunky which worked out well, they had more texture.

one egg.

One cup sugar, I used brown sugar.

one teaspoon vanilla

dash of salt.

I rolled them into little balls and baked at 350 approx twelve minutes. Can I tell you, they're like crack. They are like a cookie made love with the inside of a Reese's peanut butter cup and had a baby. I took them to a meeting I had and they were gone within three minutes. and they're no work at all, I had the mix ready to bake in like four minutes. This is an amazing cookie, let alone the few things you need, and the very small effort put into them.

I haven't tried it yet, but these would be amazing cooled, then dunked into melted chocolate.

This sounds like something I must make. Almost everything tastes delicious dipped into chocolate. Or coated. Or topped with. Or rolled in. Or...

[christine007]

Try them. I rarely reccomend recipes but these were the poo-dee-do.

I can only imagine all the variations you could do, roll them in coconut, the whole chocolate thing. For the small amount of ingredients and time needed, you can't go wrong.

I'm sure even the most not working out cookies would still be awesome. I served them to a very diverse group, and they licked them up, and wished there was more... next time, I'm doubling the recipe..

[Emily_R]

Christine -- Did you make these with 'natural' peanutbutter or more commercial peanutbutter (ala Jif)?

[Katie Meadow]

I can attest to the greatness of Claire Robinson's recipe--I have made it. The full recipe is easy to find on line. I use natural salted Adams chunky peanut butter to make these cookies, and golden brown sugar. I think it would be a shame to use Jif or other sweetened pb for these. Really it's just peanut butter and sugar masquerading as a cookie. And they are so easy you could make them in your sleep. Especially if you are on Ambien, in which case the only way you will know you made them is the depleted jar you find on the counter the next morning.

[christine007]

I made them (twice) with plain ole peanut butter sold in every grocery store...

[Darienne]

I can attest to the greatness of Claire Robinson's recipe--I have made it. The full recipe is easy to find on line. I use natural salted Adams chunky peanut butter to make these cookies, and golden brown sugar. I think it would be a shame to use Jif or other sweetened pb for these. Really it's just peanut butter and sugar masquerading as a cookie. And they are so easy you could make them in your sleep. Especially if you are on Ambien, in which case the only way you will know you made them is the depleted jar you find on the counter the next morning.

Just made the cookies. The recipes call for ungreased pans and then they were so hard to get off the pan. What did I do wrong?

If I make them again, I'll bake the cookies on silicone mats. Also cut down on the sugar (and this was with unsweetened peanut butter.) I was originally intending to dip them or top them with dark chocolate, but just found the cookies so sweet that it didn't seem like a good idea anymore.

Anyone else have sticking problems?

[Katie Meadow]

Don't recall a serious sticking problem. They are delicate though, and tend toward the crumbly, so you have to be gentle getting them off the sheet. Maybe a silpat or even just parchment paper would help. Perhaps some peanut butter has a higher oil content than others and has less tendency to stick?

As for the sweet factor, I probably cut back a little on the sugar as well, since that's always my natural inclination. Did you start with salted peanut butter? Adams pb is in fact pretty salty if you just eat it out of the jar on a spoon.

[Darienne]

Don't recall a serious sticking problem. They are delicate though, and tend toward the crumbly, so you have to be gentle getting them off the sheet. Maybe a silpat or even just parchment paper would help. Perhaps some peanut butter has a higher oil content than others and has less tendency to stick?

As for the sweet factor, I probably cut back a little on the sugar as well, since that's always my natural inclination. Did you start with salted peanut butter? Adams pb is in fact pretty salty if you just eat it out of the jar on a spoon.

Will use silicone or parchment next time.

They were not incredibly crumbly because I had to work so hard to get them free from the pan and they stayed together pretty much.

Peanut butter was "less than 1% salt" on the label and DH always drains off the oil and then adds chopped dry roasted peanuts to the mix. I thought the peanuts by themselves were not very nice and they were salty. Personal taste only.

I'll cut down on the sugar very much and top them with chocolate. Sort of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups which I had hoped to do first time.

Thanks for the reply.

[Katie Meadow]

The only source of grease in these cookies is the oil from the peanut butter, so if DH drains off the oil before you make them that is the likely sticking culprit. I'm not much of a baker, and frankly the science of baking mostly eludes me, but in my experience most other recipes for peanut butter cookies use less pb and additional butter to compensate (not to mention flour.)

[ElsieD]

Darienne, if you make them again using less sugar, can you post how they turned out? I made them with natural peanut butter (no sugar added) and found they were so sweet I couldn't eat them.

[Darienne]

Darienne, if you make them again using less sugar, can you post how they turned out? I made them with natural peanut butter (no sugar added) and found they were so sweet I couldn't eat them.

Will do so. I like the idea of drizzling bittersweet chocolate on their tops.

Now both DH and the man who owns the condo we are renting thought that they were great. I'm with you though completely.

[millich]

Had another huge hit last night! As the NY Times Calls it, "Spicy, Garlicky, Cashew Chicken." Chicken in a cashew, cilantro, jalapeno and lime pesto, baked until the nuts in the pesto turn it into a browned crust for the chicken. With extra sauce reserved to mix in with white rice. SO GOOD. Made it for guests who went crazy for it. Note that a) the recipe doesn't specify keeping sauce aside for serving with the chicken, but that is a must. It was difficult not to just eat it all straight with a spoon. I used about half of the sauce on the chicken (and I used 2lbs boneless/skinless thighs rather than 3lbs regular), and saved the rest. Also, I baked rather than grilled. That allowed the sauce to stay on the chicken and make a crust. I baked at 400 degrees, and then broiled for a minute or so at the end to get the topping a little browner. Would be killer on pork tenderloin as well.

Here's the link to the recipe...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/dining/111arex.html

And here's the link to the blog where I originally saw it (so you can see a photo) -- a really fun blog that has essentially never steered me wrong with recipes...

http://thursdaynightsmackdown.com/2011/03/31/spicy-garlicky-cashew-chicken/comment-page-1/#comment-17179

Anyone else have any recipes that rock lately?

Emily

This one is definitely the top winner of recipes that rocked my world this year. Thanks so much for sharing!

[eldereno]

For New Year's Eve dinner, I made two recipes from a new cookbook that I received for Christmas. It was Cook's Illustrated "MENUS". I made braised lamb shanks that were quite nice and enjoyed by all BUT the recipe that really rocked was a White Bean Gratin.

Onions were carmelized with 1/2 tsp of brown sugar, lots of choped garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes then added to that, then about 1/2 cup white wine that was reduced until almost completely evaporated. The onion mixture was spread into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. In the same pot (now empty) goes 4 cans of rinsed canellini beans, 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 tsp fresh minced rosemary. This is simmered for about a minute, a cup of grated parmesan cheese then mixed in and this was spread on top of the onion mixture (it can be seasoned with s and p at this point before spread but I forgot. Didn't miss it). Grated gruyere then put on the top of it and the whole thing is baked until golden.

Sooo good. Even folks who said that they don't like beans had seconds!!!

Now...looking forward to RECIPES THAT ROCK 2012!!!

Happy New Year to all!

[Msk]

Made the Spicy Garlicky Cashew Chicken. AWESOME! Seriously delicious. Thanks so much!

Mike

[runwestierun]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2016723882_xmasporksliders16.html

These blew our socks off.

Tried these last night with my new year's resolution to try a new recipe each week. DAMN they are good!

[Emily_R]

Runwestierun and Elsie -- for the slow cooker pork sliders - how essential is the wasabi mayo to the final product? I don't like wasabi or mayo, but otherwise these sound great...

And Eldereno -- those beans sound amazing! Going on my to-try list (which is good, since right now that pile is clogged with desserts!)

Edited January 4, 2012 by Emily_R (log)

[runwestierun]

I toasted the buns with a little butter and that worked great for the people who don't like wasabi. Of the three components the meat is the most important, the slaw second and the mayo a pretty distant third. If you don't like wasabi or mayo, don't use it. Maybe squirt a little more hoisin on the meat if the sandwich seems a little dry. I really think this is a delicious sandwich and well worth making even without the mayo. (I do recommend using butter to "waterproof" the buns a little if you don't use mayo. The slaw is quite wet.)

So we had these again tonight and I did something a little different. I fired up the grill and toasted the buns on the grill and I also grilled the leftover cold meat a little to caramelize the hoisin and get some smoke flavor. I liked the sandwich this way even a little better. So good!

[ElsieD]

Emily, I have nothing to add to runwestierun except make these! You'll be glad you did.

[Mjx]

Happy New Year, all! We've moved on to Recipes that Rock: 2012, which is here: CLICK!