Love and Pies - A Pie for Mikey

This is not a cooking blog nor do I think anyone should listen to anything I say about cooking.  However if you know me, you do know that I love to cook and you might even know of my cooking blog obsession.  How I have managed to not know about In Jennie's Kitchen is beyond me.  The manner that I have come to find out about her blog is very sad. 

Yesterday on many of the blogs that I follow, I started to see posts that people were titling a Pie for Mikey.  They also posted the following link from Jennifer Perillo's blog called for mikey.  Be prepared with tissues because it is heartbreaking.  Jennie's husband collapsed and died suddenly from a massive heart attack while riding bikes with his daughter's.  In an instant, he was gone and there were no goodbyes or I love you's.

The food blogging community immediately asked what they could do and she responded with what she felt would help her heal.  She wanted everyone to make Mikey's favorite pie - Creamy Peanut Butter Pie.  It had been on her list of thing to do but she hadn't quite gotten around to making it for him lately.  She wanted everyone to make this pie and share it with the people you love.

So today that is what I did.  I made a pie to honor Mikey and to share with people I love.  Since my husband is out of town this weekend, I will be sharing this pie with a friend I don't see very often and with my daughter who will be leaving for college soon.  As soon as my husband gets home, I'm going to make whatever food it is that he wants and loves.

Where ever you are and whatever you are doing make sure you cherish you time with the people you love.  You never know when there will be no more tomorrows with them.

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie
(Recipe adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen)

Serves 10 to 12

8 ounces chocolate cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 ounces finely chopped chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream). Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and chocolate chips, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Favorite Christmas Recipes

When I was growing up my mom made homeade desserts, candy and cookies a lot. Sure we had the occasional package of Oreos but most of the time it was awesome recipes that she got from my grandmothers or found. At Christmas though, she would really step it up. Here are a few of my favorite candy recipes that she made almost exclusively during the holidays.

Peanut Clusters

1 6-ounce package Chocolate Chips
2 6-ounce package Butterscotch Morsels
12 ounce Salted Peanuts

Heat chocolate chips and butterscotch morsels on medium 6 or 7 minutes. Stir after 3 ½ minutes. Add peanuts and drop on wax paper.


Peanut Patty
3 cups Sugar
1 cup Water
1 cup Light Corn Syrup
2 cups Peanuts, raw
1/4 teaspoon Red Food Coloring
1/2 Butter pinch Salt

Bring sugar, water, and syrup to boil. Add peanuts and color. Cook until hard ball stage. Remove from heat. Add butter and salt. Beat until mixture is too thick to beat, pour onto greased cookie sheet. Break into pieces when cool.



Grandmother Batte's Chocolate Fudge

Note: this is the best tasting fudge I've ever had but it's also the hardest fudge recipe to get correct. I cannot give any guarantees that it's going to harden up properly. However we have been known to eat it with a spoon if necessary. Oh and don't attempt this one on a humid day or it's guaranteed to not harden.

3 cups Sugar
1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Cream
5 tablespoon Cocoa
3 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
1 tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Pecans

Combine sugar and cocoa. Stir milk and cocoa mixture in saucepan. Add Karo syrup. Stir until dissolved. Cook on low flame until soft ball stage. DO NOT STIR WHILE BOILING. Remove from heat and add butter. Cool until saucepan can be held on hand. Add vanilla and beat until creamy. Add pecans. Pour in buttered pan.

Crawfish Étouffée

So I'm a Texas girl through and through. I didn't even grow up in Houston where Cajun and Creole cuisine is common. So when the Louisiana born and raised hubby started requesting that I cook things like gumbo and étouffée, I panicked a bit. What do I know about making a roux? So I decided to start doing some research.

I found The Cooking Bride blog which recently featured a gumbo recipe that looks pretty yummy not to mention many other recipes that looked good as well. However what I was really in the mood for étouffée. So I kept searching and ran across squirrel bread. She blogged about a foodandwine.com recipe for Shrimp Étouffée. She suggested some modifications to make the recipe more authentic. I made it into a crawfish étouffée since I have an abundance of crawfish in the freezer.

I'm not sure I want to turn this blog into a cooking blog because I want to be able to talk about whatever moves me. However, I think I want to start sharing the recipes that work out well for me. This étouffée recipe got two thumbs up from the hubby! If I get more motivated, I will try to photograph my creations in the future. Today you will have to live with just the recipe and my word. :)

Follow the link for the original recipe: Shrimp Étouffée. Below is my version:


Crawfish Étouffée

Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homeade stock
2 tablespoon Tomato paste
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1/2 tablespoon Garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 pounds Crawfish
2-3 scallions including green tops, chopped
Rice, boiled or steamed

Instructions
In a large frying pan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderate heat until almost smoking. Add the flour and whisk until it's the color of peanut butter, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the broth and continue whisking until the sauce starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Whisk in tomato paste.

Stir in the bell pepper, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, salt, cayenne, black pepper, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the shrimp and scallions and simmer until the shrimp are just done, about 3 minutes. Serve the étouffée over the rice.

Max's Wine Dive, Coco's Round 2, etc.

I love my husband. I start out with that statement because I don't want anyone to think otherwise. However, I didn't get married for the first time until I was 38. Let's just say I'm accustomed to doing what I want when I want. That is the part of single life I do miss occasionally.

This week I got to pretend to be single for a couple of days. When I say that, don't misunderstand and think I was out prowling for men. What I mean is that I got to do what I wanted when I wanted for two whole days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The teenager was off being a camp counselor and the hubby was traveling. The college student can completely take care of herself so she was on her own for those days.

Wednesday after work, I went to Max's Wine Dive with Heather and Kim. I would describe Max's as gourmet comfort food with fantastic wines. For instance they have mac & cheese on the menu but theirs is described as "Cavatappi pasta tossed in truffle cream with fresh mozzarella, Veldhuizen Farms Texas gruyere, and grana padano cheese blend." And the burger isn't just a burger it is "Yama Kobe Beef Burger - Yama Farms Texas Kobe beef burger with Belletoielle triple cream brie, in-house pickled jalapenos, Texas tomato and organic bib lettuce on Kraftsmen brioche bun, served with frites."

I went once with the same friends plus others and fell in love with the idea of having really nice wines with food you don't normally think of with wine. It also makes me feel better about the fact that I discovered the perfect French Bordeaux to go with a Pizza Hut meat lovers pizza a few years back. What can I say... I'm a visionary!

Last night, Heather was kind enough to join me out again for Coco's and the Tasting Room. Her boss/client joined us for some really great conversation and a wine that I really loved (Nigl Gruner Veltliner if you are interested) I had a wonderful time talking to adults for a change. With my husband traveling so much lately, my conversations are about who is "likes" who and how much fun hanging at the mall is. Love the teenager to death but need to talk to people my own age occasionally! I think I may have monopolized the conversation but I apparently I really needed to express myself last night. I thank both of them for the opportunity.

Since I promised a weekly update of my crepe adventures, will give a run down on the two we tried. I think I like going with other people so I can try more than one at a time. It speeds up my goal of trying them all. Heather ordered Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, Baby Greens, and Goat Cheese with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce. I ordered Spinach, Ricotta, and Oven Dried Tomatoes with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Sauce. Heather said she liked mine better and I personally liked hers more. However, I still love my first one best.

It was a very good week for me!

I'm in heaven

After my truly evil bootcamp workout this morning that involved lots and lots of running, I decided to reward myself. The college student who lives with us told me about a really awesome crepe and coffee shop. It is almost on my way to work from the workout so I decided to stop for some breakfast.

I had the most yummiest crepe ever! It had smoked salmon, cream cheese, baby greens, and red onion capers on it. I was in heaven after every bite and mourned a little when it was gone. I think next week when I go back I will be getting the one with goat cheese, spinach and roasted red peppers.

It is called Coco's Crepes & Coffee (http://www.cocoscrepes.com/). If you are around downtown Houston, I highly recommend stopping by. I personally plan to go back every week until I've tried them all! A person has to have goals you know!