Peanut Butter & Chocolate Brownies

These brownies don't look the prettiest but they are amazing! They are also best served cold from the fridge with a big glass of cold milk! Yum!

First make a batch of my homemade Better Than Box Brownies.

Let cool.

Then make a batch of this peanut butter frosting:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix until smooth and creamy.

Add about 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar. Mix until smooth. You may have to add more or less depending on how thick you want your frosting.

Spread over the pan of brownies.

Place in freezer to chill a bit.

While the brownies are chilling, melt about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Remove brownies from freezer. Spread melted chocolate over the top of the frosted brownies.

Place brownies in fridge to let chocolate set.

Store any leftover brownies in fridge.

Beer Cheese Batter Bread

This is just the right bread to serve with a hearty soup or stew on a cold day. It has a muffin-like texture that tastes like just the right amount of beer. The trick is the double-sifting of the flour. Don't skip it!

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

Spoon flour into measuring cup and level with knife edge. Then sift or shake flour through a sieve into a large mixing bowl. Mix in baking powder, sugar and salt. Then sift again.

Toss with some finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Pour in 12 oz of room temperature beer. Lightly stir in.

Add 1/4 cup melted butter. Stir in but be careful not to overmix batter so that your bread will rise.

Pour batter into greased bread pan.

Pour 3 Tablespoons of melted butter over the top of batter.

Bake at 375 for about 1 hour. Cool 1 minutes before removing from pan to cool.

Serve warm.

Norwegian Style Rice Pudding

This probably isn't terribly authentic but it makes a delightful breakfast served warm with melted butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

3/4 cup short-grained rice
1 1/2 cups water

Bring to a boil. lower heat, cover and simmer for 13 minutes.

Mix:
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
ground cardamom, to taste
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Add milk mixture to the rice, 1 cup at a time. Turn to medium heat and stir and cook until thick before adding the next cup of milk. This will take about 40 minutes or so.

Remove from heat.

Serve warm with melted butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

Chill leftovers. Can be served cold or reheated in microwave.

Chicken A La King

I made this for my WW2 Christmas class today and it was fantastic! It is an authentic 1940s, ration-friendly recipe. Best served over bread, rice or noodles with a side of vegetables.

I made it the night before, chilled it and reheated it the next day in the crock pot. I may do it that way every time... :)

3 pounds of chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
3 Tablespoons butter

Saute vegetables in butter until tender and there is no longer any liquid in the pan.
Add to cooked chicken in large bowl or casserole dish.

Melt 4 Tablespoons butter or margarine (no rations on margarine) in large saucepan.
Quickly whisk in:
4 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

Then pour in 4 cups chicken broth all at once and whisk until smooth.

Cook over med-high heat, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat and pour over chicken mixture. Stir well to mix.

Serve on top of toast, bread, noodles or rice. Top with sliced hard-boiled eggs and a bit of jarred pimentos.

Apple Friendship Bread Muffins

I finally found a variation that I like. Best one yet. 

! cup Amish Friendship Bread starter

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 small box of vanilla pudding & 1 butterscotch

1 small finely chopped apple tossed with 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar

1/2 cup toffee bits

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts 

Add ingredient to starter, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. 

Streusel:

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

2 Tablespoons butter

Mix dry ingredients and then cut in butter.

Put into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 365.  Bake for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with streusel and continue to bake for about 15 minutes or until a pick comes out clean.

Monte Cristo Crepes

A Monte Cristo is one of my favorite sandwiches: ham, turkey and swiss grilled in egg battered bread, sprinkled with powered sugar and served with a side of berry jam. This week I re-created it with a non-carb crepe. The egg-y crepe is the perfect replacement for the bread. Yum!

Crepes:

Beat 6 eggs with 6 ounces of cream cheese, preferably softened in blender until smooth.

Let batter rest while griddle preheats to 350.

Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto the greased griddle and cook until both sides are golden.

Sit them on a plate until you have made 6 crepes.

Heat the turkey and ham lunch meats on the griddle. This doesn't take long.

Remove meat from griddle.

Place 1-2 crepes on the griddle and top with meats and grated Swiss cheese. Top with a second crepe.

Carefully flip them over and heat until cheese is melted.

Place on a plate with a side of berry jam and sprinkle with powered sugar.

Eat with a fork and knife.

Pressure Cooker Sichuan Style Pork

After spending 16 days teaching English in China this July, I was craving some of the foods I ate there. And I ate a lot of delicious food while I was there. Delicious and spicy! I was in Sichuan, after all.

This recipe has quite a few steps to it and takes much longer than most of my pressure cooker meals, but I just love the way it turned out both times I made it in the pc.

This will probably also require you to make a stop at your local Asian market to pick up some of the more authentic ingredients. Some you may not be able to find at all.

Marinade:

Cut up 1-2 pounds boneless pork into large chunks (use dark pork meat, not a white loin meat)

Whisk together:
2 Tablespoons sherry and soy sauce
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Pour over pork and let marinade in fridge for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Oil:

Heat 1/8 cup oil in a small saute pan.

Add:
 1/2 Tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns (just leave them out if you can't find them, these are what makes Sichuan food special and will not be like anything else you've ever tried)
10 dried red chilies
Saute in oil for about 15-30 seconds.
Remove from heat and let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Veggies: 

Mix in small bowl:
1 Tablespoon each of minced garlic & ginger (I use jarred)
1 handful of sliced green onion

Cut up into large pieces:
1 large potato (scrub, but do not peel)
3 narrow carrots (scrub, but do not peel)
1/2 white onion
10 mushrooms

Sauce:

Mix in small bowl:
2 Tablespoons sushi vinegar & chili bean paste (again this will be at the Asian market)
1 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce & sherry
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
4 teaspoons sugar

Cook: 

Preheat your pressure cooker on the meat setting with the lid off.
Strain your oil from the saute pan into your pressure cooker.

Add the meat and stir and cook until it is browned.

Add the garlic/ginger/green onion mixture and continue to cook a couple of minutes.

Stir in remaining veggies, 5-7 of the chilies and 12 Sichuan peppers from your oil pan, and 1/3 cup raw Spanish peanuts

Pour in sauce and 1/2 cup water. Stir well.

Put on lid and cook for 6 minutes on rice setting.

Quick release and serve with cooked white rice.

To counterbalance the heat, I served it with cucumbers marinaded in sushi vinegar and sesame seeds and lychee fruit.

Oh and a fun chunky drink like I had in China...