the thin chef

Peanut butter is a very American snack. I was amused to see it on the “USA” aisle in a French grocery store a few years ago. In fact, in Paris, there is a shop called Thanksgiving, and its shelves are stocked with things like Pringles, McCormick’s gravy mix packets, Oreos, Campbell’s soups, and, yes, peanut butter.

But I really wonder why it hasn’t caught on worldwide as a favorite food item. It’s a favorite in our house, whether spread on soft bread for a PBJ (or PBBH—peanut-butter-banana-honey), warmed in the microwave and drizzled over ice cream, or just eaten out of the jar with a spoon. My friend Amy won’t keep it in her house, because she knows she’ll eat it out of the jar, spoonful by spoonful, until it’s gone.

Amy probably shouldn’t make this homemade version. If you love the store-bought stuff, you’ll find this to be a revelation. (I am being dramatic, but not overly so. This stuff is good.) Easy, cheap, and ever so satisfying, peanut butter is one of those things that’s just better—and, most likely, better for you—when you make it at home.

I used Alton Brown’s recipe, and it worked pretty much perfectly. The peanut butter is on the crumbly side, but spreads easily when warmed for 10 seconds in the microwave, or left at room temperature for a half hour before using. You can always drizzle in a bit more oil for a more spreadable consistency.

You can also customize the flavor…
*Maple: Use 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup instead of the honey
*Cinnamon-Raisin: Process with 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir in raisins after processing
*Spicy Asian: Process with 2 teaspoons soy sauce instead of salt and 1 teaspoon sriracha
*Honey: Increase honey to 1 tablespoon

Homemade Peanut Butter
Adapted, very slightly, from Alton Brown’s recipe

15 ounces shelled, unsalted roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2  to 2 tablespoons peanut oil (you can sub vegetable oil, as long as it’s flavor is neutral)

Place the peanuts, salt, and honey into the work bowl of your food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while drizzling in the oil; process until the mixture is smooth, adding oil bit by bit until desired texture is reached. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

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Forgive the not-entirely-food-related post. But—all is right in the world…because it’s college football season once again. And that means hot dogs, cold beers, and this guy:

go gators.

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In Birmingham, there is a Greek restaurant. It will remain unnamed because I have nothing very kind to say about it, but it’s an institution, and it has a lot of fans. It was very close to where Jason and I lived, so we tried to like it. We really tried to like it 4 or 5 times. But it just wasn’t very good or very authentic. However, they did have one dish that had a really nice idea behind it—Greek bruschetta. A thick slice of bread topped with fried eggplant, roasted peppers, and feta cheese. The flavors were there, but it wasn’t executed very well, mainly because of the copious amounts of grease from the eggplant and olive oil on the bread, both of which literally dripped down my forearms as I ate it.

Anyway. I do love the idea of putting Greek flavors on a thick, toasted slice of bread, so I made my own version. It was not swimming in oil, but it did have lots of great flavors. A quick, delicious lunch, for sure. Do me a favor, though, will you? Please use fresh, fresh, fresh tomatoes that are bursting with juice. And please only use imported (read: sheep’s milk) feta, which has a superior nutty, briny flavor. Don’t buy the grocery store brand, even though it’s cheaper—you can taste the difference, and the extra dollar or two are Worth. It.

Greek Bruschetta
Serves 1

I’m fortunate enough to grow oregano outside, but if you don’t have fresh, just sprinkle a touch of dried right on top of the bread, so the moisture of the oil and tomatoes can rehydrate it a little bit. As an afterthought (meaning 4 bites in) I realized roasted red pepper would be a lovely addition. If you have any on hand, pile them on.

1 thick slice good, crusty bread
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch hot red pepper flakes (optional)
3 slices ripe tomato
1/2 roasted red pepper, cut in half, and patted dry with a paper towel (optional)
3 to 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices feta cheese
4 (or so) leaves fresh oregano, torn into pieces

Preheat toaster oven (or broiler). Brush bread with olive oil, coating well. Broil for just 1 minute or so, until the bread is golden. Remove from oven, and top with tomato slices, roasted red pepper (if using), and feta. Return to oven, and broil for 2 more minutes—watching closely the whole time—until the cheese is softened and golden. Sprinkle fresh oregano over top, and eat immediately.

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Have you ever used smoked paprika? If not, please do yourself a favor and purchase some. You can buy it at most grocery stores now, but it’s even better if it’s pimentón ahumado, from Spain. I absolutely love the deep, complex, smoky flavor it infuses into foods. It’s not aggressive, it’s not overt—it’s warm and rich, and a lovely addition to a lot of classic dishes. I have successfully added it to chili, hamburgers, oven-braised pork butt, soups, chowders, and—a current favorite—chicken salad.

I don’t have a photo of this chicken salad, but I am here to tell you it’s quite pretty. The smoked paprika gives the dressing a rosy pink hue. Sweet purple grapes add another pop of color, and are juicy and crunchy. It’s lighter than regular chicken salad, with the addition of yogurt in the dressing, and just enough of the creamy stuff to keep the mixture moist. Roasting the chicken on the bone ensures that it stays juicy and super flavorful.

I’m thinking this is a perfect Labor Day picnic/cook out bring-along…just be prepared to sing the praises of smoked paprika when everyone wonders what made the chicken salad so tasty.

Smoky Chicken Salad with Grapes and Almonds
Serves 4 to 6

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To me, Hershey’s Syrup is only good for only one thing: making chocolate milk. It’s too sweet and the texture is weird to be used for anything else. I’ve never enjoyed it over ice cream, and I certainly wouldn’t dream of licking it off of a spoon. This chocolate syrup, though, I both enjoyed it drizzled on vanilla ice cream…and I ate it straight out of the container, on several occasions.

I originally set out to make hot fudge as a special dessert for my college-bound little brother. Store-bought hot fudge contains all sorts of unpronounceable  preservatives and weird stabilizers and other things that I figure we’re all better off without having in our bellies, so I decided to make some from scratch instead. I found several recipes that looked great…only they all called for cream, and I didn’t have any. But then I found this recipe from David Lebovitz, which only called for a few ingredients that I already had on hand. Brilliant.

Here’s the thing…I should have known from the recipe title that this is, indeed, chocolate sauce and not hot fudge. I confess that I did not think about or realize the difference between these two confectionary treats. And then I made a few, small adjustments to the original recipe, and the result turned out less like thick fudge sauce, and more like a richer, tastier, more complex Hershey’s syrup. But as such, it’s actually much more versatile—it’s great over ice cream, drizzled atop a brownie, or even stirred into plain yogurt for an afternoon snack. (Yes, I went there…and yes, you should, too.)

Homemade Chocolate Syrup
Adapted from David Lebovitz’s Best Chocolate Sauce
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

The amount of sugar you use can depend on how dark your chocolate is and how sweet you want the resulting syrup to be.

1 cup water
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably the Dutch-process kind)
3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Whisk in cocoa powder until mixture is smooth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Once it’s just bubbling, remove from heat and stir in chopped chocolate until smooth. Cool for at least 2 hours before using. (You can reheat it before serving, if you like.)

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I’ve seen this beautiful zucchini preparation a few times recently in magazines and around the internet, so when I picked up two pounds of the pretty green squash from our co-op, I thought I’d give it a try myself.

I love cooked zucchini, but thinly sliced, zucchini is also really tasty raw. Simply dressed with lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil, and studded with fresh basil and mint, it’s a lovely little salad. I sprinkled some feta over top (my crazy cheese-hating husband doesn’t like it, which is why it’s only on half), which added a perfect creaminess and saltiness. It would probably also be delicious with shaved parmesan or creamy fresh ricotta (or both).

Summer squash is crazy abundant right now, and this is the perfect use for it. It’s a perfect accompaniment for just about anything, but I imagine it would be most delicious next to some grilled fish. If you don’t have a V-slicer or mandoline for cutting the zucchini, you could always peel them into long strips with a vegetable peeler, or just use your best knife skills to cut them as thinly as possible.

Zucchini Carpaccio
Serves 4

2 medium zucchini, stem tops and bottoms removed, sliced paper thin
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 basil leaves, torn into small pieces
4 mint leaves, torn into small pieces
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Arrange zucchini slices on a serving plate. Sprinkle with lemon zest and juice, then drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper, and evenly distribute herbs over the plate. Top with feta.

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In an effort to eat more cleanly, more locally, more healthfully, Jason and I have cut meat out of most of the meals we eat at home. I was a vegetarian for about a year in high school (and even flirted with veganism until I remembered how much I love cheese), and even though I do enjoy eating meat—hello, did you read my last post about bacon?—I am usually completely satisfied with meals created without it.

Perusing the recipes at vegetariantimes.com, I stumbled upon this brilliant idea to cook sushi rice like risotto (it’s short-grained and high-starch, after all, just like arborio or carnaroli), using miso broth instead of stock. I didn’t follow their recipe exactly…I just took the method and tailored it to the vegetables I had on hand. Even if you don’t love miso soup—Jason doesn’t—the nutty, salty flavor adds a perfect something extra to the flavor. And of course, I used copious amounts of garlic and ginger for even more flavor.

Totally satiating, a bowlful of this vegetarian risotto is a perfect dinner paired with sliced cucumbers simply dressed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and toasted sesame oil.

Sushi Rice Risotto
Serves 4

3 tablespoons white miso paste
2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
3 or 4 large cloves garlic, minced
6 green onions, sliced (about 1 cup)
1  1/2 cups short-grain sushi rice
2/3 cup sake or dry white wine
1 pound baby bok choy, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Combine miso with 6 cups water in a saucepan, whisking to combine. Bring broth to a simmer, and adjust heat to keep at a simmer.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add pepper, and cook until just tender. Transfer to a plate, and set aside. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in the stockpot over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, and green onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sushi rice, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add sake, and cook 1 or 2 minutes, until liquid is almost completely absorbed.

Ladle in 1/2 cup miso broth; cook and stir until broth is almost absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring often and allowing rice to absorb most of liquid before adding more. When rice is mostly done, stir in bok choy, stirring until wilted. Keep adding broth until rice is tender and cooked through. Add red pepper back to pot, stirring to combine. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper, as needed. Add sesame oil, and serve immediately.

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The other day, my friend Lainie commented that she’d like to see a recipe using bacon. And with that comment, I couldn’t think of anything else but bacon. I’d type a few words, and then…baconbaconbacon. Got up to run some errands, and baconbaconbacon. You see, I am a bacon lover of the highest degree. I truly think I’d eat it every day and never tire of it. I used to make it as an after-school snack in the microwave, and I always order it when I’m out to brunch. My grandmother’s house always had a pleasing aroma of bacon made earlier in the day. (I think she cooked it every morning.) I prefer it chewy, not crispy, but I’ll take it any way I can get it.

So the day Lainie mentioned bacon, I went to the fridge with my fingers crossed that there were a few slices inside. And there were—two lonely pieces of bacon, just begging me to make them into something tasty.

I remember someone telling me that bacon and cucumber make a lovely, unexpected combination. And what goes better with cucumbers (besides bacon, of course) than sour cream and dill? So I tossed the three together on top of whole-wheat toast for a lovely afternoon snack…a step up from my microwaved-bacon days.

Open-Face Bacon and Cucumber Sandwiches
Serves 1

2 tablespoons sour cream
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 slice sandwich bread, lightly toasted
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
6 slices cucumber, peeled if skin is very thick
2 slices bacon, cooked until just crisp

Stir together the sour cream, salt, pepper, and dill. Spread it on the toasted bread, then top with cucumbers and bacon.

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I really thought I had turned over a new leaf with this here blog…I had three, count ‘em, three consecutive posts in less than as many weeks, which was quite a feat (for me). And then…and then. Then I didn’t post. And now it’s been 10 days, and I know it’s not as bad as 3 weeks, which has been the average span between posts in the past, but it’s not exactly the regular pattern I was hoping I’d started. Anyway…there’s always tomorrow. (Or today, as the case may be.) I’m trying for regularity. Fingers crossed.

Earlier this summer, Jason and I were on an avocado kick, where we’d eat at least one a day. Calorie-wise, it’s not the best idea to consume so many of these little green orbs, which are, in essence, all fat. But we were comforted by the fact that it’s heart-healthy fat, which somehow seemed to excuse the actual fat grams. I digress. I have always loved avocados, with their silky texture and their barely there flavor. I used to say, when I was little, that they tasted like water, which I now realize makes zero sense. I’ll eat them any way I can get them, and sometimes they’re brilliant with just a squeeze of lemon and a bit (or a lot) of salt on top of a saltine cracker.

Or, on toast. One day, I found myself craving this simplest form of avocado consumption, but I was lemon-less. So I reached for the closest acidic thing my pantry could offer, which happened to be rice vinegar. So then I sprinkled it with soy sauce, because—let’s be honest—those two Asian condiments sing a bit louder when put together. And the whole thing was delicious. So, this isn’t exactly a recipe, but more of an encouragement… go get a ripe Hass avocado (no offense to my sweet Sunshine State, but the avocados that grow here are not so good), smoosh it on some toast (the crustier the better) and then sauce it with some rice vinegar and soy sauce (organic tamari if you have it). A few drops of sambal olek or sriracha definitely don’t hurt. Chow. Enjoy. Try to keep it to one avocado, for your girlish figure’s sake.

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I remember the first time I had edamame…I was at Fuji Sushi in Winter Park with my best friend Lainie and her mom, Becky. Becky ordered edamame for the table, and I after one bite, I was hooked. The fuzzy little pods covered in flakes of sea salt gave way to smooth, chewy, chartreuse-colored beans, and they seemed so exotic and interesting. These days, I see edamame all over the place, not just in sushi restaurants, but also on menus in upscale bars and cafes.

Nutty-tasting and healthful, edamame is such a versatile vegetable. It’s great tossed into stir fries, cooked into succotash, or just eaten from the pod as a snack. Lately, my favorite way to eat the little green soybeans is in this simple, six-ingredient dip. It’s great with corn chips, pita bread, cucumber slices, or slathered onto a hunk of crusty bread as a sort of East-meets-West bruschetta. It requires no cooking, and comes together in a snap, which is practically a requirement in my kitchen during these steamy August days.

Miso-Edamame Dip
Makes about 2 cups

If you’ve never used miso (fermented soy bean paste) before, it’s a versatile and delicious ingredient to have on hand. I get it at an Asian-foods market, but I’ve seen it at Whole Foods and other health food stores. It keeps for a long time in the fridge, and it adds a subtle salty-nuttiness to everything it touches, which I just love. Cilantro-haters, take note: you can sub mint or parsley. It will change the flavor slightly, but it’ll still be delicious.

2 cups frozen shelled edamame, completely thawed (almost 1 full 16-ounce bag)
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lime juice
2 heaping tablespoons white miso paste
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in a food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the bowl every few pulses. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in oil, processing until the dip is well combined and creamy-looking, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

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