Peanut Butter Cream Sandwich Cookies

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Remember the Kale Salad with Radishes, Grapefruit and Candied Pepitas I shared? I briefly talked about the ground spice cardamom and its uses in sweet and savory dishes. Its ginger-like taste and floral aroma make it a superb addition to both flavors. If kale is not to your liking, maybe these cookies will be! This is like a traditional peanut butter cookie with the classic crosshatch pattern. The addition of the creamy filling spiced with cardamom takes it over the top! 

When choosing peanut butter for this recipe, purchase the "regular" or conventional peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Peanuts in regular peanut butter are emulsified with sugar, salt, and hydrogenated oils, making them thicker. Natural peanut butter is made of ground peanuts and not emulsified with added ingredients, which would cause the cookies to spread more, and the filling would be less flavorful.

Can you use creamy or crunchy regular peanut butter in this recipe? For the cookie dough, yes, you could use either. For the filling, I would recommend using only the creamy because crunchy would make the filling more difficult to spread or pipe.

I like to use a #60 cookie scoop when equally portioning out tablespoons of dough. I also like to use a #1A decorating tip fitted in a piping bag when applying the filling. Both kitchen tools make for ease of execution, but these cookies will taste good no matter what you use in your kitchen. Happy baking!

Tossed Greens with Strawberries, Avocado, Bacon, and Soft-Boiled Eggs

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Guess what?  The snow and ice have completely melted. Spring is FINALLY here!  Woohoo--doing a happy dance...doing a happy dance!  Two of the first things I have to get my hands on are fresh chives from my garden (can you believe that they made it through that blasted winter?) and sweet spring strawberries at the market.  They both come into play in this deeply flavored, sweet and savory salad.

It is perfect for a spring luncheon with friends or as a light Friday night dinner like my husband and I enjoyed it.  The greens are dressed with a delightful maple-balsamic dressing.  Just please use the good stuff and not the flavored high fructose corn syrup kind.  I'm talking about 100% pure maple syrup (I use Grade B from Trader Joe's). The salad is then topped with strawberries and avocado.  The original didn't call for bacon, but hello, there are eggs and maple syrup in there, so you just gotta have some bacon too☺.  Now about those eggs.  I like mine on the "soft centered-just barely set-little bit of runny" side. That creamy, golden center mixed in with the sweet dressing--yumm.  You could also poach them.  But if that is not your thing, you can certainly hard-boil them and slice them for the salad.  Remember--"make it for you, make it your own". 

Muffuletta Deviled Eggs

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Deviled Egg, I have someone I would like you to meet-- The Muffuletta.  I'm sure most of you are familiar with deviled eggs.  But for those of you unfamiliar with a Muffuletta, it is a sub-style sandwich that originated from Italian immigrants in New Orleans.  It consists of layers of various meats and cheeses like mortadella, salami, provolone, and mozzarella.  These delicious components are placed on Sicilian-style bread that has been spread with a generous helping of olive salad.  That's a good sammich.  

What is olive salad, you ask?  It's a combination of pickled vegetables, chopped olives, Italian seasoning, and olive oil.  It's not something I use quite a lot (ok, very seldom and only for Muffuletas and now these deviled eggs), so I purchase a small jar from the market.   

To keep the egg filling from being overly greasy, I rinse the olive salad and drain it well.  I incorporate the usual deviled egg suspect-- mayo, but I kick up the Muffuletta flavors with grated sharp Provolone and a generous garnish of chopped hard salami.  To brighten the flavors, I added a little red wine vinegar and a flat-leaf parsley (that adds a little color as well).

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

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Mother's Day is well known as a day to take Mom out to brunch.  That's nice and all, but I personally would rather eschew the lines, waiting and hubbub of a restaurant on Mother's Day morning for the (relative) calm and comfort of my home.  I get the time with my kids and some help to make things like these nifty little egg and ham cups.

When making the cups, I like to fit the ham snugly into the muffin wells so the ham is just barely peeking out over the well.  Otherwise the edges get a little overcooked and rubbery.  I also like to include the extra step of lightly tenting the muffin cups with a sheet of foil.  That helps steam the eggs and to keep the ham moist.  

This is a wonderful preparation in that it can be doubled to feed a hungry brunch crowd and can be served warm or at room temperature.  I like to serve them with buttered toast and a simple green salad with sliced tomatoes (I save the fresh fruit for the coffee cake course).  Any leftovers can be sandwiched between two English muffin halves with a little cheese for a weekday breakfast to go.

A couple of other egg dishes you might enjoy...

Asparagus, Ham, and Cheddar Frittata

Potato and Boursin Frittata

Baked Cheese Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Sunday Dinner

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Pimento Cheese Stuffed Deviled Eggs

Hickory Smoked Pork Ribs

Classic Creamy Coleslaw

Stove-Top Baked Beans

Angel Biscuits

Grasshopper Pie

Today is the Sunday closest to my son's birthday, so he gets to pick the menu.  I figured that ribs were going to be the main attraction.  Last night I was thinking about a great appetizer we could enjoy right when he gets home from the Bears game today.  He is there with his grandfather and uncle on this beautiful, sunny, first full Sunday of the NFL schedule.  

What could be better than finding another vehicle for delivering the great taste of pimento cheese?  Deviled eggs make an excellent platform for the rich, tangy flavors found in this recipe.  When jalapeño is added for a kick, well, these eggs make themselves downright irresistible.  

Sunday Dinner one year ago

Asparagus, Ham and Cheddar Frittata

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Although the weather felt like summer this past weekend, it is still Spring on the calendar and in the markets.  I'll use the opportunity to share this dish that is perfect for breakfast or brunch.  It is simple to put together and the combination of flavors are eggcellent.  (Sorry, couldn't help myself☺)

Frittatas can be cooked several ways.  The combination of ingredients in the frittata and how I like my eggs to set determine the method.  This method uses the stove top and broiler.  The eggs set slightly on the stove before being placed under the broiler where the frittata becomes puffed and golden.  The eggs are set, but they are still slightly wet---a texture that I prefer when paired with the asparagus and ham.  If you like your eggs a bit firmer, just leave it on the stove for a little longer before placing under the broiler.

It is delightful served warm, but equally delicious at room temperature.  Any leftovers make for a scrumptious breakfast panino.

Shrimp Stuffed Deviled Eggs

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"Yum!" was the first word my husband and children said after one bite of these eggs on Sunday and I had to agree.  After rave reviews from the smoked salmon deviled eggs, I wanted to put a similar spin on the classic version, but with shrimp in mind.  Knowing how much my family loves my shrimp and sherry cheese spread, I took a few pointers from that recipe and came up with these.  

Instead of the traditional dash of paprika, I like to put a little devil back in deviled eggs with a good hit of cayenne pepper.  It is optional of course, but highly recommended.  I garnish each egg with a small bay shrimp for two reasons... 1. It looks and tastes good and 2. It lets people know what the main ingredient is in case there are any shellfish allergies.

Many of you may be hosting a brunch or luncheon this weekend to honor and remember the mothers in your lives.  These would certainly be a wonderful bite-sized food to pass or serve buffet style.  

Gravlax Stuffed Eggs

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Although I did not post my usual Sunday dinner menu this past Sunday, we still enjoyed a meal with family beginning with this tasty appetizer.  While it may look like the traditional picnic finger food, upon closer inspection (and tasting) you'll find that it is an elegant spin on the classic.  Instead of the usual mayo and mustard yolk mixture, this recipe uses crème fraîche and cream cheese.  The original recipe used sour cream, but I find that crème fraîche lends a note of sophistication and it is an excellent pairing with the smoked salmon.  The original recipe also called for salmon roe, but I like the briny bite of capers and a mince of red onion with my smoked salmon.  I also reduced the amount of some of the ingredients because I did not want to mask any of the egg and salmon flavor (and the original amounts filled all of the eggs with plenty of filling left over).

Serve some as per recipe and garnish the rest with the caper and onions.  Either way, they will surely disappear!

Sunday Dinner

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Deviled Eggs
Homemade Refrigerator Pickles

Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket

Succotash

Crispy Smashed New Potatoes

Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Deviled eggs are one of those delicacies that many of us make, but don't really have a recipe for.  As a child, I remember watching my mother make them-- a little bit of this and a dash of that; mix it all together and you're done.  My children love deviled eggs and will likely one day use this blog as a family cookbook, so I thought it would be helpful to have a written recipe for them to follow.  That way the eggs will have that "just like mom used to make" taste to them.

Potato and Boursin Frittata

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Eggs-- I love them.  I love them softly scrambled, fried, soft boiled, and poached.  I love them with a piece of buttered toast, on a bed of stone ground grits, or even over a spoonful of leftover beans.  The are the obvious choice for breakfast or brunch, but they are also my go to for a quick and light weeknight meal.  This recipe is the perfect example.  The eggs are set over a bed of browned hash browned potatoes and topped with dollops of creamy Boursin garlic and herb cheese.  

Frittatas are wonderfully versatile from their ingredients to when and how you serve them.  We enjoyed the above picture this past weekend for brunch while it was still warm from the oven.  We had other items on the menu, so there were a few slices of frittata leftover that I packed for school and work lunches to be enjoyed at room temperature.

The original recipe called for frozen potatoes, but I use freshly grated or if I am hosting a large crowd, I purchase the refrigerated hash browns to save time and extra dishes.  I also like the taste and texture of Light "Boursin" in lieu of the full-fat.  Served with slices or cured salmon or prosciutto (both equally delicious, but I prefer the salmon) and pinch of cayenne for a little kick, it is a satisfying start or end to the day.  

Tuscan Frittata Affogata

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I love getting my Williams-Sonoma catalog in the mail. While dinner is cooking, I will stand in the kitchen and leaf through the pages looking for inspiration.  This recipe was the perfect example, Tuscan Frittata Affogata.

A frittata is an egg-based dish similar to an omelet or quiche that can be filled with a wide variety of meats, vegetables, and cheeses.  Affogata is the Italian word for "drowned".  This recipe starts with browning sausage, onions, and peppers.  The egg is poured over the meat and vegetables and then it is "drowned" with crushed tomatoes and cheese.  Simple and delicious!

The original recipe called for Pecorino-Romano, but I had some good Parmigiano-Reggiano.  I also added some garlic because I love garlic.  In preparation, the original recipe called for flipping the frittata from one pan to another, but I just put it in a preheated oven and baked it for a few minutes. Then, I pulled it from the oven, "drowned" it with the tomatoes and cheese, and placed it under the broiler until the cheese was hot, bubbly and just starting to brown.  Served with a nice salad-- dinner was ready!

Oh, and if there are any leftovers...get yourself 2 slices of country bread.  Sandwich the frittata between the bread with a little extra mozzarella cheese.  Brush the bread lightly with olive oil and place it in a panini press or a skillet with a heavy plate on top.  Cook until toasted and melty and you have yourself a delicious frittata panini for lunch.  Yum!