Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

These cupcakes are amazing so I had to share! Plus, they are chocolate! I got this recipe out of Relish, a magazine insert in our local newspaper.

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
4 ounces chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 cup buttermilk (I used a cup of milk plus 1 Tblsp lemon juice that sat for 5 min.)
2 tsp vanilla (oops. I forgot that part!)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 6-cup muffin tins or line with papers.
2. Combine peanut butter and powdered sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
3. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and slat together in a medium bowl.
4. Combine butter and granulated sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add chocolate and beat until combined.
5. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture and beat to combine. Add vanilla and mix well.
6. Fill muffin tins half full with batter. Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter mixture on top of batter (don't spread). Spoon remaining batter over peanut butter. Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool and frost with your favorite peanut butter icing.

*Note- the recipe only makes 12 so double if you want more. Mine needed the full 20 minutes to bake through because of the peanut butter center.
*I don't have a favorite pb icing recipe so I used a combination of softened butter, milk powdered sugar and pb. Enjoy!

Hoisin Beef

This recipe came from the Hilo newspaper and we've had it several times. It's yummy and quick with only a few ingredients that you will probably only have to buy once. I believe you can find everything in the Asian section of your grocery store.

Spicy Hoisin Beef with Ginger-Soy Noodles

For the noodles:

18 ounces fresh egg noodles (you can also use spaghetti but I like the squiggly quality of the fresh noodles better, they should be in the produce section near the tofu)

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp minced ginger

red bell pepper sliced into thin strips

3 scallions thinly sliced diagonally

3 Tbsp soy sauce

For the Beef:

3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp five-spice powder

1 pound flank steak (or whatever kind of steak you want) cut into thin strips

1/4 c vegetable oil (I never use this much, I just eyeball what I think will look right for cooking)

1/4 c hoisin sauce

1/2 Tbsp chili-garlic sauce (The recipe calls for 2 Tbsp chili-garlic paste but I'm not totally sure what that is and when I used that much of the sauce it was way too spicy for us. You can always play with the amount to fit your family but there is some spiciness to the five-spice powder so don't overdo it.)

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (I use rice vinegar, I think it's the same thing)

To prepare noodles, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Return the saucepan to the stove. Add the sesame oil and heat over medium high. Add the ginger, bell pepper and scallions. Saute for 1 minute then add the noodles and soy sauce and toss well. Cover and set aside.

For the beef, mix the cornstarch and five-spice powder in a ziploc bag. Add the steak strips and toss to coat (this is my preferred method of coating meat). In a deep skillet over high, heat the oil. Saute the steak strips until crispy, browned and cooked through. Drain off any excess oil. Stir in the hoisin, chili-garlic sauce and rice vinegar.

Serve the beef over the noodles and garnish with sesame seeds if you want.

Green Beans and Spaetzle

Growing up, one thing we always had at holiday dinners was Birds Eye brand green beans and spaetzle.It may have been my favorite part of the meal, there never seemed to be enough. Sadly, they don't make it anymore so I had to find another way to have it this year for Christmas dinner. I decided to try and make it myself. It turned out pretty good so I thought I would share what I did.

I found dried spaetzle in the store so I just boiled that like pasta. In the last few minutes of boiling, I added the green beans. I think I even threw in a little bit of chopped garlic that I had left over on the cutting board. Once they were done, I mixed in butter, salt and bacon bits. I used the real bacon that comes in a pouch, not the crunchy bacon bits that go on salads. As I was thinking it through, I thought I would need to put in more of something but it turned out quite yummy. This may need to become a staple.

Chicken Parmesan

I may have already put this recipe on my blog at some point. It's one of my absolute favorite dinners I make for my family. It's great for Sundays and company because I can make it ahead of time and just bake it right before we eat. I serve it with pasta, extra sauce, a salad and bread or bruschetta.

Start with a bunch of boneless skinless chicken breasts and pound them with a meat tenderizer in a ziplock bag (so the juices don't splash all over the place) until they are so thin they are starting to fall apart. It is really important to make them super thin so they cook evenly and quickly. I can't stand thick, dry chicken breasts. Plus it really seems to make more this way. I always end up with more servings than I anticipated and have a hard time fitting them in the pan.

Then pat them dry with paper towels and dip them in a mixture of beaten eggs and either milk or water. This helps the bread crumbs stick.

Next coat them with Italian bread crumbs. They're full of flavor, so you don't need to add any extra spices.

Heat a very thin layer of canola or vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan. You don't want to use too much or else it won't crisp up. Work in batches and rotate them around to make sure they cook evenly, adding more oil as needed. When they are golden brown on both sides, put them on paper towels to soak up the excess grease.

Then transfer them to a 9x10 pan that has a thick layer of spaghetti sauce (I especially like Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara, which has a great flavor). I use about half a jar in the pan and heat up the other half to seve with the pasta.

Bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then top with mozzerella cheese and bake until it's melted and bubbly, about 10-15 more minutes. I happened to have some fresh parmesan this time, so I grated that on there too. Serve over pasta. Yum!! This recipe also works great with eggplant parmesan. Of course you don't need to pound those - just slice them nice and thick. The leftovers make excellent sandwiches - reheat and put on toasted sourdough or hoagie roll with plenty of sauce.

Peaches and Cream Cake

This is for Megan. It was a delicious birthday cake. It comes from the evil cake book.

1 can (29 oz) peach halves packed in heavy syrup, drained and syrup reserved

1 pkg. plain yellow cake mix

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

4 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

whipping cream

sugar for the whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 in. pan.

2. Place about 8 of the peach halves in a food processor and process until smooth. (I think I did this in my blender.) This should measure about 1 1/2 C. Reserve 1/2 C. syrup and the remaining peach halves.

3. Place the cake mix, peach puree, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 to 3 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put it in the oven.

4. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35 to 40 minutes. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Poke holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick. Carefully pour the reserved peach syrup over the layers so the cake soaks up all the juice. Let the cake cool completely.

5. Prepare the whipping cream. Cut the remaining peach halves into 1/2 inch thick slices.

6. To serve: cut a slice of cake, top with peaches and sweetened cream.

You may find that you want more peaches than the leftovers from the can. And don't be skimpy on the whipped cream. Yum.

A Trip to Morocco

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, we like food from other countries. One of our new favorites is Moroccan food. I found this recipe on Rachael Ray's site and it was so good. I highly recommend making the yummy couscous to go with it.

Moroccan Spiced Lamb or Chicken

2 pounds boneless leg of lamb or chicken, diced

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

flour for dredging

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 red chili peppers seeded and chopped (I think I just used bell peppers)

2 onions chopped (I just did one)

2 bay leaves

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp orange or lemon zest with juice of said fruit

Sprinkle the meat with the cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper then dredge in the flour. Heat the oil in a pan and when it starts to smoke, add the meat and brown all over. Remove it to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat a bit and add a bit more oil, chili peppers, onions and bay leaves. Cook 6-7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, stock, zest and juice. Once the liquid comes to a boil, add the meat back in. Reduce heat and thicken it a little.

I love it when web sites give you what to serve something with. Sure we could have gone with plain couscous but there was a link to this one right on the other recipe. What's a girl to do?

Pistachio, Garlic and Mint Couscous

1/3 cup shelled pistachios

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups couscous

salt and pepper

1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed

Toast the nuts in a saucepan suitable for rice. Remove to a food processor and finely chop (or just a cutting board and chop well). Add the oil and garlic to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse-chop (or use that handy cutting board and knife again) the mint in a food processor very fine. Stir the mint and nuts into the couscous as you fluff with a fork.

Orange Chicken

I was perusing Pioneer Woman for dinner recipes one day and jumped over to another food website that she recommended. The recipes there were totally amazing. I printed off two recipes, this orange chicken and a brushetta chicken. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it or how I got there, so going back and getting more recipes is difficult. (I'm currently searching for a chile relleno recipe.) If anyone knows or finds out what website I got this off of, let me know.

This orange chicken is as good as or maybe better than Panda Express.

Orange Chicken

Serves 4

2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a lb., but you could do more, there's lots of sauce.)

1/4 c. cornstarch

salt and pepper

1 c. orange juice

1 c. water

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

3 strips orange zest--1" wide by 2" tall (or the equivalent in small ones that you're likely to get.)

1/2 c. lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

4 whole dried red chilies, broken in half (I used a few shakes of red pepper flakes.)

2 Tbsp cornstarch, for the slurry

2 Tbsp. water, for the slurry

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat about an inch of vegetable or canola oil to about 375F. Heat the oven to 250F.

In a large zip top bag combine the cornstarch, salt and pepper. Add the chicken chunks and seal the bag. Toss to coat completely. (As an alternate method, I salted and peppered the chicken, and tossed it in a bowl with the cornstarch.)

Add the coated chicken to the hot oil in two or three batches. Cook until lightly golden and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160F. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Hold the chicken in the oven. (You could skip the oven and just warm up the chicken in the sauce right before you serve it, or make the sauce first, then the chicken and put it in warm.)

In a sauce pan, combine the water, orange, lime and lemon juices, vinegar, orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and dry chilies. Stir to combine. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce reduce by 1/3.

In a small bowl, prepare the slurry by combining the cornstarch and water until smooth. Pour the mixture into the sauce and whisk until the sauce thickens. Take the sauce off the heat. Take out the orange zest. Stir in the chicken pieces.

I was thinking that you could also just saute the chicken and skip the frying. Also, don't leave out the orange zest. I'm pretty sure that's the difference between just okay orange chicken and really great orange chicken.

The recipe also has instructions for fried rice, but I haven't tried it yet. Some people in my house refuse to eat any rice that isn't white and covered in soy sauce. Let me know if you want me to post it.