Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

So, these cookies are unreal. And so simple. Since we have been married, I think this is the first time Scott and I have been happy to polish off a full batch of anything I've baked.

And I usually bake things with a party-sized yeild.

Our Best Bites Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

Cookies:
1 C butter flavored crisco
1 C cream peanut butter
1 C sugar (plus extra for rolling)
1 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

filling
1 C creamy peanut butter
1/2 C butter, softened
4 C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
a few T of milk for consistency

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars together until fluffy (abt 1-2 min)
Add vanilla and eggs (one at a time)
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt
Add to peanut butter mix, the dough will be very soft!

Roll dough (or use a cookie dough scoop) into 1/2 inch balls. Roll in sugar.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet, and press with a fork in a criss-cross pattern

Bake for 6-8 minutes, don't overcook!
Remove and let cool

Meanwhile, make the filling by creaming together all filling ingredients until smooth. Add milk if necessary. When cookies are cool, pipe filling and make a cookie sandwich!

Bite Club: Rules to Cook By

 Here is a running list of hints/tips/tricks/rules that I use in my kitchen

1. Butter is ALWAYS better
2. Always salt your pasta water generously, it helps add flavor to your pasta
3. MOST fish and steak have such an amazing flavor as they are, all they need is a little salt and pepper
4. When in doubt, use a pot holder.
5. Microwaves are only good for two things: baking potatoes and melting chocolate- I pop my popcorn in an air popper and then refer to rule number one.

That's all I can think of now, but it's only 1:30... I'll have more by dinner time.

Pan Roasted Salmon with Orzo Pasta Sautee

Salmon is so elegant. The color and the flavor are so rich, and the texture so delicate, I can understand why some people find the task of cooking it a little intimidating.  But lemme tell ya, to cook a delicious salmon filet

IT'S SO SIMPLE!

Let me preface this recipe, however, by saying that I am not a crazy fish marinader, topper, or whatever kind of fish maker you can think of. Salmon has such great flavor on its own, and can be used in other recipes as leftovers that I dont like to mess with it. If it ain't broke don't fix it, so please trust me when I say, all you ever need for most fish is some salt and pepper! ( This also goes for all good cuts of steak)

Ingredients

• 2, 6-8oz salmon filets (Scott insists on wild caught Sockeye Salmon, I agree)
• 1 C orzo pasta, cooked
• 1/2 C green peas
• 1/4 C julienned sundried tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 small shallot minced
• 2 T fresh dill, plus some for garnish
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 3 T butter
• 3 T olive oil

Directions

• Set out fish filets about 10 minutes before cooking to allow them to temper
• Season liberally with salt and pepper

• In another sautee pan, heat butter and oil over medium heat
• add shallots and garlic, sautee until translucent but don't let the garlic burn
• add tomatoes, peas and cooked orzo; reduce heat and toss
• sprinkle with parmesan and dill

• Sear salmon skin side down for 2-3 minutes (less time if you like it more rare inside)
• Flip and finish the fish for another 1-2 minutes
• Serve with orzo sautee and top with more fresh dill

Coffehouse Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

If your mornings are anything like mine, sometimes I wish my kitchen were a coffeehouse and I could just pick out a muffin from behind the glass and return to the havoc. Muffins are a great one-handed breakfast. Easy to scarf down while you're feeding the baby, brushing your teeth, and pulling your pants on all at the same time. Here's a delicious recipe for that coffeehouse style muffin, you'll find that the lemon zest really sets off the flavors!

Ingredients

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, chilled in freezer 5 min then grated with microplane
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.


In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the melted butter. Add the buttermilk and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine. (Batter will still be somewhat lumpy; do not overmix.) Gently fold in the blueberries so the berries do not break open and pour into the prepared muffin tin.
Crumble the streusel topping over the muffins and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.


Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on wire racks.

Easy Pancakes

Who doesn't love pancakes for breakfast? But who also doesn't love slaving in the kitchen first thing in the morning? Am I right or am I right?

Enough questions, here's a recipe for super simple and delicious pancakes.
My advice: skip the heavy maple syrup and opt for a generous dusting of powdered sugar and a couple dabs of butter, there's something light and satisfying about it...

Ingredients

• 1.5 C all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 T sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted

Directions

• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl
• Mix the milk and eggs in a large pitcher (this makes it easy to pour portions onto the griddle)
• Slowly whisk in melted butter
• Quickly mix in flour mixture, leaving lots of lumps (these create an extra fluffy, airy pancake)

• Heat skillet or griddle pan on medium hot heat *

* My trick for having a perfectly tempered pan: drip a few drops of water over the pan- they should "dance" around before evaporating. If the water doesn't sizzle- it's not hot enough, if the water sizzles aggressively and evaporates almost immediately it's too hot!

not ready to flip

ready to flip... see those bubbles?

mmmm perfect

• Pour a tester pancake, flip pancake when bubbles start to form in the batter and the bottom is golden brown, about 1-2 min.
• Cook pancakes in batches, remembering to temper the pan between each batch for perfectly cooked pancakes!

Yellow Squash and Orzo Pasta Sautee

Here is a quick and simple side dish to accompany any seafood or chicken entree. It's also a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes and baked potatoes and french fries and potato gratin and...

Ingredients

• 1 C orzo pasta, cooked
• 1 medium yellow squash, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1/4 C parmesan cheese
• 3 T light olive oil
• 3 T fresh dill

Directions

• Heat olive oil over medium heat
• Sautee squash rounds, until tender and sides are golden brown
• Quarter each round for bite-sized pieces
• Toss squash, pasta, parmesan and dill
• Garnish with a litle dill on top

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

i. love. butternut squash.

This creamy, soul-warming soup is great on cold winter nights (which I daydream about during these Maryland summer days where the heat is classified as "oppresive". seriously?)

Ingredients

• 2 medium butternut squash
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 T grated fresh ginger
• 3 T unsalted butter
• 3 C chicken broth
• heavy cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Peel and dice squash, spread evenly in one layer on a cookie sheet
• Roast squash for about 45 minutes or until fork tender
• Meanwhile,  heat butter over medium heat and sautee onion and ginger until onions are translucent (about 5 min)
• Add broth to pan and Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes
• In a food processor, puree broth and onion mixture with roasted squash
• Stir in cream to desired consistency and add salt and pepper to taste

I like to reserve, clean and lightly salt and toast the squash seeds as a garnish. Another great garnish is a dallop of sour cream and some minced chives.

Scott's Slow Cooker Deer Roast

So, before I met Scott, I was definitely too cool for a slow cooker. It seemed too easy.... until he brought home a deer roast and said, "Here's dinner!".

Deer or venison meat is extremely lean, and can taste pretty game-y if you don't cook it right. Having only ever handled the most tender steak cuts, the deer meat scared me. So he proceeded to teach me something new... slow cooking!

Deer roasts are not unlike chuck roasts, brisket or round roast. Tough but flavorful. So braising was the way to go.

This meal is great for the busy family because you just throw all of the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and let it do its magic until dinner time...

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs deer roast (or any chuck roast, brisket or round roast if your not feeling so adventurous)
• 2 cans of Golden Mushroom condensed soup
• 2 T all purpose flour
• 32 oz. beef broth
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2 T butter
• 3 T light olive oil
• 1 T whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves

Directions

• Set slow cooker to low setting (8 hour cook time)
• Add golden mushroom soup and broth to slow cooker, whisk to mix
• Add peppercorns and bay leaves to slow cooker

• Heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat.
• Season meat liberally with salt and pepper (this is your chance to add a lot of flavor!)
• Dust meat lightly with flour
• Brown meat on all sides; once you place meat in pan DON'T TOUCH IT! Let the meat form a beautiful brown crust on each side before turning it, this process helps to seal in all the juices!
• Place meat in slow cooker, liquid should cover a majority of the meat

• Turn down heat to medium; sautee carrots and celery 2 minutes- scraping up the brown bits leftover from the meat (these bits are packed with flavor)
• Add onions and garlic, and sautee 2 more minutes
• When carrots, onion, celery and garlic are all tender and lightly browned, remove from pan and add to the slow cooker.

The slow cooker will work its magic over the next 8 hours... you can turn the meat once or twice if you are around to do so. Once the 8 hours are up, remove the meat and "pull" it apart using two forks.

From here on out, the meal is your own to be creative with. I like to boil up some wide noodle pasta and make a light sauce with the braising liquid. I heat about 2 cups of the braising liquid over medium heat and add about 3 T of tomato paste. I cook this sauce for about 7 minutes, it thickens up pretty nicely, and then toss it with the meat and the cooked pasta.

Enjoy!

Dad's Homemade Meatballs

This dish is definitely a staple at the Foulger home. It always turns out great. It's a great meal if you need to feed a hungry husband and you don't feel like spending a lot of time or effort, because who does?

I like to serve them with papardelle pasta, or any wide noodle pasta. The prepared meatballs can be frozen for up to two weeks making them a great make-ahead and left-over meal!

Ingredients

• 2 slices of stale white bread, crumbled (panko crumbs also work great!)
• 1/2 # ground prok
• 1/2 # ground beef
• 1/2 # ground veal
• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 medium onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 C cooking oil ( I like canola)

Directions

• Combine all ingredients & form into 2 " meatballs
• Refrigerate 2 hours (or overnight)
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat
• Fry meatballs in batches for 40 seconds at a time (you are just browning the outsides)
• Place on paper towels to soak up excess cooking oil
• Simmer in your favorite red pasta sauce for 10 -15 minutes over low heat
• Serve over pasta, top with more grated parmesan cheese.

Southern Living Scones

I am always daunted by the task of baking pastires. They seem so light and delicate.


I'm not good at light and delicate.

So imagine my relief when I found this recipe in Southern Living for scones that even I couldn't mess up!
They can be made with sweet or savory additions. They make for great appetizers or a simple dessert.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup whipping cream, divided
• Wax paper

Directions

• 1. Preheat oven to 450°. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Freeze 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cream, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• 2. Turn dough out onto wax paper; gently press or pat dough into a 7-inch round (mixture will be crumbly). Cut round into 8 wedges. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush tops of wedges with remaining 2 Tbsp. cream just until moistened.
• 3. Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Sweet Variations

• Chocolate-Cherry Scones: Stir in 1/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped, and 2 oz.coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate with the cream.
• Apricot-Ginger Scones: Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots and 2 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger with the cream. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze after baking.
• Cranberry-Pistachio Scones: Stir in 1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted pistachios with the cream.
• Brown Sugar-Pecan Scones: Substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans with the cream.

Savory Variations

• Bacon, Cheddar, and Chive Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3-oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup finely chopped cooked bacon, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives, and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper with the cream.
• Ham-and-Swiss Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese and 3/4 cup finely chopped baked ham with the cream. Serve warm with Mustard Butter: Stir together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard, and 1 Tbsp. minced sweet onion.
• Pimiento Cheese Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3-oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and 3 Tbsp. finely chopped pimiento with the cream.
• Rosemary, Pear, and Asiago Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh pear, 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese, and 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary with the cream.

Festive Touch

• Bite-Size Scones: Pat dough into 2 (4-inch) rounds. Cut rounds into 8 wedges. Bake as directed for 12 to 13 minutes.

Appetizer Cheese Ball

Hubby invite friends over for dinner at the last minute? Here's a recipe for a quick appetizer (if you find those friends important enough for a formal appetizer). If anything, it's simple and tasty enough to buy you more time preparing those extra dishes!

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 T fresh parsley
• 1 T (or more to taste) Bon Appetite Seasoning

Directions:
Combine all ingredients. Form into a ball (or whatever cute shape you choose) and serve with crackers.

Mom's Fried Rice

Here is a recipe for authentic Vietnamese Fried Rice. As a disclaimer, I say authentic because it's my mother's recipe, and she is Vietnamese. So to all the haters out there, keep a lid on it.

Ingredients

• 2 servings of cold cooked white rice
• 2 green onions, chopped (green and white ends)
• 2 pieces cooked, crispy bacon- crumbled
• 1/2 cup cooked green peas
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• 1 scrambled egg
• soy sauce (to taste)
• tobasco sauce (to taste)

Directions

Sautee all ingredients together until warmed through

Alton Brown's Southern Biscuits

These are a great side for fried chicken. I love them with a little butter and honey, but they are great alone as well. Simple, affordable, delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.