Knitter in the Kitchen

Most of the time, I only write about food that turned out at least acceptably decent. Why waste time with recipes that I wouldn’t recommend, right? So while I like the food I post about, seldom do I say something is so awesome that you should make it now. But these Flourless Peanut-Chocolate Cookies? Unless you are allergic to peanut butter, you should make them now.

Oiyi sent me the link to the recipe awhile back, and it’s been in my queue ever since. I was actually planning to bake brownies one night until I realized that I didn’t have enough sugar, but I had just enough on hand for these cookies. They use one bowl with no mixer required and are super easy and delicious. I omitted the salted peanuts because I didn’t have any. I did notice that the chocolate chips tasted just a little “off”, but I couldn’t put a finger on what was wrong. Coincidentally, a few days later I read the peanut butter cookie recipe in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, which uses milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. The recipe note indicated that semi-sweet chips can taste bitter with peanut butter. So maybe that accounts for what I tasted? Next time, I will try milk chocolate chips instead but I don’t think it mattered too much — the cookies were still a total hit with my colleagues!

A couple of weeks ago I made Szechuan-Style Tofu from the March 2010 issue of Cooking Light. This one is totally a winner — it is very easy, has great flavor, and goes perfectly with rice.

Mods
:: I could not find matchstick-cut carrots, so I used 3/4 cup shredded carrots.
:: I also could not find bottled ground fresh ginger, so I went for jarred chopped ginger (found in the spice aisle). Seemed to work fine.
:: Omitted the peanuts

This dish is definitely going to be a regular on the meal rotation!

I was wandering around Crate and Barrel the other day with a gift card burning a hole in my pocket when Baked: New Frontiers in Baking caught my attention. I will admit that the brown and orange book jacket drew me in because I love those colors together. But I also remembered seeing this book mentioned on a baking blog months ago and thinking that it sounded interesting. Written by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, it contains the most popular recipes from their bakery Baked, which they opened in Brooklyn in 2005.

The first recipe I flipped to was for banana espresso chocolate chip muffins. Oooh. The second recipe I landed on? Chipotle Cheddar Scones. Oooh again! And the book was on sale! So of course, I forked over my gift card and the book came home with me. I spent quite some time pouring over it before baking anything — it’s a great read.

The banana espresso chocolate chip muffins are super moist, light, and fluffy. The banana and chocolate flavors are strong. I would say these muffins are probably the best I have ever made. The one thing I would change for next time is to increase the amount of instant espresso and dissolve it in a bit of water first to see if that yields a stronger flavor. But overall, the muffins were absolutely delicious!

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Recipe posted with permission

1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on the cooling rack.

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

I have a great enchilada recipe in my repertoire already, but that didn’t stop me from trying the Tex-Mex Beef Enchiladas from Everyday Food magazine. I cut this recipe out a long time ago…it’s from the June 2006 issue, to be exact!

They look very similar to the ones made from The Pioneer Woman recipe I used previously, and to be honest I can’t tell the difference taste-wise either. Since the Everyday Food recipe takes less time, it will probably be my go-to recipe from now on.

Notes:
:: I don’t measure 1/4 cup of ground beef per enchilada. I just eyeball it, but my guess is that 1/4 cup is too much. I don’t want my enchiladas to burst.
:: One pound of ground beef (increased from 3/4 lb) yielded 16 enchiladas for me, so you definitely need more than 8 tortillas.