Chewy Peanut Butter Squares Revisited

This recipe has been in the family for years. My brother gave me the original cookbook in the 1970’s inscribed, “This is for me, in the long run.” It’s been made dozens and dozens of times, often around Christmas for our goody trays. This time I made them around thanksgiving because we were having my cousin’s adult kids for dinner because their parents were galavanting in Europe and they are not big pumpkin fans! Galavanting may not be right, I might be a tiny bit jealous!

Makes one pan 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan

Ingredients:

• 140 g all-purpose flour

• 6 g baking powder

• 5 g salt

• 148 g peanut butter, smooth or chunky

• 113 g butter

• 330 g firmly packed brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 15 mL vanilla

• 140 g lightly salted peanuts

• 1 cup icing sugar with enough drops of cold water to make a liquidy icing (but one that will set well)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Line a 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan with parchment

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

4. Heat the peanut butter and butter together until melted.

5. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.

6. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the extra peanuts.

7. Spread the batter into a prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

8. Cool on a wire rack.

9. When cool, drizzle the melted chocolate over the top. Working quickly, drizzle swirls of the white icing in a crazy pattern. Allow the topping to set. Cut into 1-2″ square inch squares or rectangles. 



Chewy, peanutty deliciousness

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Chestnut and Sausage stuffing

Our Thanksgiving was on the 10th of October. It was a mild day, so we began with drinks and appetizer’s out on our covered deck with the heat on. My cousin’s two adult children came for dinner because their parents were in Europe and we always spend Thanksgiving together. It was a wonderful evening. 

This is the turkey on the Big Green Egg.

I have taken to brining my turkey because it makes a wonderfully, juicy bird and it lessens that weird gamey flavour in leftovers. But because we were only four, I just got a breast this time around. I removed the skin and set it aside on a rack with a plate underneath in the fridge to ‘dry’ out. Then I butterflied the breast and pounded it to a relatively even thickness and then brined it for 5 hours. Then I layered the stuffing on it and then rolled it up to a nice little boule and wrapped it in Serrano ham.  JT barbequed it on indirect heat on the Big Green Egg. It was a great success.

The turkey is resting. It’s best not to cover it so the skin stays crisp.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Serves 6-8 people (we had a lot of leftovers)

Ingredients:

• 70 g celery
• 65 g sweet onion
• 35 g butter
• 65 g chorizo sausage
• 100 g chestnuts, peeled and roasted
• 125 mL chicken stock
• 1 egg, beaten
• 55 g unseasoned croutons or dry bread

Directions:

1. One day before serving the breast, make the stuffing: Cook the celery and onion in the butter until softened. Add the chorizo and chestnuts and mix well. Allow to cool completely. Combine the stock and egg and mix well. Add the celery and onion mixture to the croutons and pour over the stock mixture and mix well so that all of the croutons have been saturated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. One day before serving the breast, make the brine: Make up the brining liquid and cool completely, store in the refrigerator until required.
3. The morning of cooking the breast, carefully remove the skin and lay it on a rack with a plate underneath, do not cover. Refrigerate until ready to use. Butterfly the breast and pound it so it is even throughout. Immerse entirely in the brine and refrigerate 5-6 hours.
4. Several hours before setting the breast on the grill, give the stuffing a good mix, breaking up some of the croutons but keeping the mixture tight.
5. Dry off the brined breast and pound out a little more in case the meat retracted whilst brining. Add the stuffing evenly on the breast and roll from one end as tightly as you can. Wrap the breast in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
6. Remove the plastic wrap and wrap the Serrano ham around it, then wrap the saved skin around the top stretching as much as you can. Wrap the entire roll in butcher’s twin to hold everything together. Hold until ready to bake in the refrigerator, uncovered.
7. Bake for 2-2.5 hours or until the meat registers 165° F. Allow to rest, uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove the twine and slice the breast roll into 1 cm portions. Serve hot.

Notes:

• Wrapping the breast roll in plastic wrap allows the meat to remember the shape so wrapping in Serrano ham is significantly easier.
• I like the skin stretched over the ham as tightly as possible so it’s nice and crispy when served.
• Resting the roll uncovered after it is cooked doesn’t let the skin become soggy, I highly recommend it.
• Because the breast is brined, seasoning is not required. The Serrano ham also provides a reasonable saltiness to the breast.
• For the brine, I use 72 g salt and 50 g sugar with herbes en Provence with enough water to cover the entire breast.

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Lemon Curd Tart

If you love the taste of lemon like we do, look no further…this is the lemon curd tart recipe you’ve been dreaming about! With a whole 160 mL (about 2/3 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice, this tart will take your breath away (in a good way). Slightly sweet, tangy, crunchy, creamy and luxurious are all of the adjectives that will invade your mind as you dine on this beauty. If you love lemon, this is your tart.

Makes one 23 cm (9 inch) tart

For the original recipe please click here.

Ingredients for the Pastry:

• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 113 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 70 granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 0.125 g kosher salt

Directions for the Pastry:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Combine all of the ingredients for the pastry in the large container of your food processor. Pulse until a smooth dough has formed.
3. Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it exceeds the circumference of the tart pan. Carefully lay the dough over the pan and gently press it into the pan, evening out any thin areas. Roll the rolling pin over the top to remove excess dough (either pres this dough into thin parts or save for another use). Dock the pastry bottom and bake at 350° F for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven at 20 minutes and press any areas down which have swelled during baking.

Ingredients for the Filling

• 6 large eggs
• 160 g granulated sugar
• zest of 1 1/2 lemons
• 160 mL freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 45 g unsalted butter, cubed

Directions for the Filling:

1. In a large, heavy-bottom sauce pan, combine all of the ingredients but the vanilla and butter and whisk to mix well.
2. On medium-low heat, continuously whisk until the mixture has thickened (about 7 minutes). Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and butter and mix until combined.
3. Press the curd through a fine seive into the par-baked tart pastry. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 15 minutes or until the curd has set but still jiggles a little bit. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature to serve.

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Cheese Sticks revisted

During the final days of September, my brother came to visit, I hadn’t seen him for about a year. He was back for a month from his new home, abroad in the Caribbean. I thought I’d make the cheese sticks that we enjoyed so much during our early days of adulthood. I’ve updated the recipe below. They were very well received.

Cheese Straws

Ingredients:

• 280 g all-purpose flour

• 5 g salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (cold), cut into small cubes

• 110g cheese

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1-2 tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. Whisk the egg and water together until homogeneous, set aside.
3. Add the flour, salt, butter, and cheese to the large bowl of your food processor. Plus a few times to mix thoroughly and add the egg and water and whiz until a smooth ball of dough forms.
4. Roll the dough to an even thickness of about 2 mm between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut into even sticks. Bake for 10-14 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve. Baked sticks may be frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

These are rather moreish, don’t let their unassuming look mislead you.

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