Peanut Butter Noodles

Recently my friends (and even my mom!) have been telling me that the recipes I've been posting have become too complicated.  So here's one of the simplest recipes I know; it was actually one of the first things I learned how to make when I started cooking in college.

The recipe comes from my friend, Jaleen, who, if I recall correctly, got it from her family.  You probably have all the main ingredients in your pantry already:  peanut butter, pasta, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar.  You literally don't even need measuring spoons for this; the sauce is made up of 3 parts peanut butter, 3 parts soy sauce, 1 part vinegar, 1 part sesame oil, and a pinch of sugar.  If I'm just making enough for myself, I use a small spoon, and if I want to make more than one serving, I'll grab a large spoon to measure.  I prefer to use smooth peanut butter, but this works just as well with chunky.  For the vinegar, rice wine vinegar is suggested, but regular white vinegar or cider vinegar would do in a pinch.

Depending on what else you have on hand, you can add a plethora of toppings:  toasted sesame seeds, sliced almonds, chopped scallions, shredded chicken, baked tofu, and shredded cucumbers are just a few ideas.  You can serve this dish cold or at room temperature so it's easily packable for lunch, picnic, or potluck.  See, I told you it was easy!  The hardest part about this recipe might be trying to mix the peanut butter into the other liquids without splashing, but if you stir carefully and long enough, you'll end up with a smooth, homogenous peanut sauce.

Peanut Butter Noodles
serves as many as you want

3 parts peanut butter
3 parts soy sauce
1 part sesame oil
1 part vinegar (rice wine vinegar preferred)
A pinch of sugar
Cooked noodles

Mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar together until the sauce becomes smooth and creamy.

Toss with the cooked noodles, adding some of the pasta water if you want to thin out the sauce.  Serve with  toasted sesame seeds, sliced almonds, chopped scallions, shredded chicken, baked tofu, and/or shredded cucumbers if you like.

Next:  San Bei (Taiwanese Three Cup) Tofu and Ramen
Previously:  Zuppa Toscana
Last Year:  Flower Pavlovas, Banoffee Pie
Two Years Ago:  Spicy Tuna with Crispy Sushi Rice, Traditional Croissants
Five Years Ago:  Banana Bread Yeasted Waffles
Six Years Ago:  Nian Gao (Mochi Cake), Mayonnaise Shrimp with Candied Walnuts

Puppy Chow Pie

This dessert should really have another, more elegant name, like Peanut Butter-Chocolate Ganache Tart, but since it's based on the Puppy Chow treat, that's what I'm sticking with.  If you've never heard of Puppy Chow, it's the snack mix you get when you coat Crispix cereal with melted chocolate and peanut butter, then shake it in a bag with powdered sugar.  (Chex markets a version made with their cereal as Muddy Buddies.)  It's super addictive, messy to eat, and utterly delightful.  I was just thinking about making a batch the other week, so when I saw this post on The Crepes of Wrath for a Muddy Buddy Pie, I was inspired to make a Puppy Chow version.

As a word of caution, this is a super, sinfully rich dessert.  There's the buttery cereal crust filled with peanut butter-chocolate ganache and topped with a dusting of powdered sugar.  I found that making a snowflake out of a 8 1/2" square of paper gives you the perfect sized template to cover the top of the pie if you want to make a pretty design.  It would probably make more sense to cut out a negative space snowflake so that the white part of the design is the snowflake itself, but I decided not to so that more of the top would be covered by the sugar.

Puppy Chow Pie (adapted from The Crepes of Wrath)
makes 1 pie

5 cups of Crispix cereal, ground into fine crumbs (about 2 cups once crushed)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Use a blender or food processor to grind the cereal into fine crumbs (if using a blender, you may have to do this in batches so that you don't end up with fine powder at the bottom and large pieces on top).  Mix with the melted butter, brown sugar, and salt until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 9" pie or tart pan and press into the sides and then the bottom.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden, but not caramelized.  Let cool while you make the filling.

In a small pot, heat the cream and vanilla over medium heat until simmering.  Place the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a medium, heat-proof mixing bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Pour into the crust and chill overnight, or at least 6 hours.

If using a snowflake template, place on top of the pie and then dust with powdered sugar.  Serve small slices chilled or at room temperature.

Next:  Zuppa Toscana
Previously:  Pull Apart Thanksgiving Leftover Stuffed Bread
Last Year:  Miso Pumpkin Soup
Two Years Ago:  Homemade Ramen Noodles, Miso Ramen with Marinated Soft-Boiled Egg
Five Years Ago:  Wah Guay (Taiwanese Rice Cake with Meat Sauce), Tim Tam Slam Ice Cream,
Six Years Ago:  Beef Noodle (Soup) and Lu Dan, Pan-Fried Pasta with Butternut Squash, Fried Sage, and Pine Nuts

Buckeyes

So in anticipation dread of the OSU victory defeat over the Longhorns in last night's Fiesta Bowl, I decided to try my hand at making buckeyes, or chocolate covered peanut butter balls. These are so ubiquitous in Ohio that they sold them in my high school cafeteria. (Among other things I actually miss from my high school cafeteria were their yeast rolls and the "Mexican pizza" which was delicious, although I'm not sure what made it so "Mexican".) They were also fun to throw up and make stick to the ceiling, only to drop sometime later on some unsuspecting fool. But please don't do that with these, although that might be an unnecessary warning as you'll probably have more issues with not stuffing your mouth with these.

The buckeye candies are so-called because of their resemblence to the nut of the buckeye tree, which is the state tree of Ohio (yes, Terry, I looked it up!). I used the recipe from The Kitchn except that instead of edible parrafin wax, I substituted some shortening to make the chocolate a bit more workable for dipping purposes.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Buckeyes (adapted from The Kitchn)
makes about 2 dozen

10.5 oz. powdered sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 lb. chocolate chips, semi-sweet (24 oz.)
1 tablespoon shortening (you can use butter if you have no shortening)

Add the peanut butter and butter to a medium mixing bowl and warm in the microwave for 30 seconds. You want both to soften up but not melt. Add the sugar and stir a few times so that the sugar gets incorporated and won't make a big mess when you take the electric mix to it.

Whip the mixture with an electric mixer and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour (I set it out in the snow in my backyard).

After it's chilled, roll into small, 1-inch balls. Put these back into the fridge or freezer (or snow-covered backyard) on a aluminum foil covered baking sheet.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a double boiler, over, not in, boiling water, stirring mixture until smooth. Keep warm.

Once the balls are almost rock hard, dip balls in the chocolate using a toothpick, leaving an uncovered spot on top. Chill covered in refrigerator or freezer. When completely hard, store in the refrigerator or freezer.

I think the hardest part about making this was making sure that the peanut butter mixture and balls were sufficiently cold before moving on to the next steps. You can see in the picture of the naked buckeyes (can't wait to see what google search words are used to get to this page) that some are smoother than others. After the rolling the first few balls, my hands started getting really sticky with warm peanut butter, so I put the mixture back out to chill again. Then when it came time to dip them, the first few I tried weren't cold enough yet so they almost fell off the toothpicks. After I re-chilled the rest of the balls, it was a lot easier. Make sure that you don't let the balls stay in the warm chocolate too long or else the peanut butter will start melting into the chocolate.

Maybe, hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to makes these once again when March rolls around.... =)

One year ago:  Gaufres de Leige (Belgian Waffles)