Sit Down and Eat!

Peanut Butter and Jam Bars

I happened to catch an interview with Olympic swimmer Micheal Phelp's mom last night.  She was describing what it felt like when she saw him for the first time after his very first gold medal win.  She cried as she recalled him striding up to her, beaming, with his gold medal in one hand and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the other.   It was a great story of Michael and his single mom and what an inspiration she was for him.   

And then later all I could think about was the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  He won his first gold medal in Athens in 2004. Isn't PBJ a classically American thing?  Do they even have peanut butter in Greece?  Did he bring the peanut butter and jelly with him?   Or is that part of the Olympic hospitality, making sure every country's home food is represented in the Olympic village? I could go on all night speculating on what I would want for my Olympic food, but instead I decided to whip up a batch of The Barefoot Contessa's Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.

These are rich and delicious and they are everything you love about peanut butter and jelly, all grown up.  I didn't have salted peanut's on hand so I did without but I know the salty crunch of the peanuts would have made a wonderful addition. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars, The Barefoot Contessa


1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Blueberry Crisp

We do it every season.

My husband and I both get so excited about the arrival of blueberries that we buy and buy and buy until our refrigerator over-floweth.  We went away for a few days so in my last minute clean out of the fridge I threw a few pints of surplus berries in the freezer.  This morning while trying to retrieve some frozen chicken breasts those frozen blueberry pints just kept getting in the way.  I knew I had to make use of them.

As much as I love to bake.  I have to admit I have never made a blueberry pie.  It is one of my husband's favorites but I find that the homemade versions I have tried are often wet and the crust is soggy and leaden.  I also honestly didn't feel like dragging out the food processor to make pie crust.  So I decided to make a Blueberry Crisp.  I have a fool-proof crisp that I use on apples and I knew it would transfer well.  I decided to use cornstarch and heat the blueberries on the stove to help bring out and thicken the juices.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The berries thickened up beautifully and the crisp added that crunch that made it a perfect summer dessert.

Blueberry Crisp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Approximately 4 cups of frozen blueberries (3 pints)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 butter

Put blueberries, sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until they start to bubble slightly and let them simmer for 4-5 minutes until it thickens up.  The sauce will cling to a wooden spoon.  Take off the heat and mix in the lemon juice.  Pour the blueberry mix into a casserole dish. 

In another bowl, mix then oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and salt.  Blend in the cold butter with fingers or a pastry blender until the whole thing is combined to a crumbly mix.  Sprinkle over blueberry mixture. 

Bake for 30 minutes until topping starts to brown.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

That crisp mix is great on an apples, just add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.  I will definitely do this again with peaches when they come in, and add a bit of almond extract.

Enjoy!

Classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I love Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  It is comfort food.  Buttery, moist and gooey with that little tang of citrus to keep it from being just too much.  And it reminds me of being a kid.  This was a potluck and barbecue staple in the 70's and just the sight of it brings me back to the first house I can remember and late summer evenings on the back porch. 

I guess my husband must be the ultimate nostalgic because of all of the delicious and amazing cakes I have ever made for him, this is the one he requests every year for his birthday.   And this is a huge generalization wrapped in an observation, but men in general love this cake.  I once made it for a Silent Auction Fund-raiser at work for the Relay for Life and it raised $38.  Thirty eight BUCKS for a nine inch cake?  In 1991?  The bidding was a war between four guys, all of whom wanted that cake BAD and NOW.  The bidding only ended because the timer went off.   If I had only known I would have made 3 more and charged them a flat rate for them.

I don't remember where I got the original recipe but I have had it for years.  This cake is easy to throw together and bake in under an hour.  Ideally you make it in a well seasoned iron frying pan, like I do.  But if you don't have one, use a deep 9 inch cake pan.  Even an 8 inch square cake pan will work.  Fair warning - when you make the syrupy top, you will want to taste because it smells so buttery and toffee-like.  And you burn the skin off of your tongue.  But it will taste so good that when you pull the cake out of the oven and flip it onto the platter, you will scrape the pan to get every bit of it, and proceed to burn your tongue again. 

I warned you.

Michele's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

350 degree oven

For Topping

1 can pineapple slices in their own juice, drained but reserve the juice for the batter

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

Melt butter in a well-seasoned iron frying pan, add brown sugar and simmer for about a minute or two until it is bubbly and syrupy, stirring often.  Taste.  Burn tongue.  If using a cake pan just melt the butter in a saucepan and add sugar, then pour into the well greased cake pan. 

Stick one slice of pineapple in the middle, and then circle it with the rest of the slices.  Now you can add maraschino cherries if you like.  I don't, so I added real cherries since they are in season and I had them.  Set aside while you make batter.

For Batter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 stick butter

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 T. rum (optional)

1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice.

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl on the side.  Beat butter in mixer until smooth, add sugar and beat until fluffy - 2-3 minutes on high.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla and rum. Add half of the dry mixture, mix until just combined.  Add pineapple juice and mix again until blended.  Add remaining flour mixture again until just combined.  Pour batter over pineapple mixture and spread lightly over pineapple. 

Bake 45 minutes.  Remove from over and run a knife around edge.  Let sit for 10 minutes and then flip onto platter.  Scrape delicioous carmel from pan and burn your tongue again. 

Enjoy.

Irish Soda Bread, Our Way

  My family has been making this version of Irish Soda Bread for as long as anyone can remember.  My grandfather was born and raised in Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland and I think this recipe came by way of one of his sisters.  It wasn't until I went to Ireland (twice - whee!) that I found out that Irish Soda Bread is really more like a   wheat bread and our family's version is what they consider more of a giant scone.  But who doesn't like scones?

This recipe is fast and easy to make and it is perfect for breakfast or with coffee as a snack.  I often make it to accompany a soup dinner in the winter or to take to a "Food Day" at work. The ingredients are pretty basic, so it is really easy to whip up when you have company coming and it makes the house smell heavenly.'

Quickie - My Dad worked for a company for 27 years and they decided to have an employee cookbook and asked everyone to submit recipes.  My mother proudly wrote up the family recipe for Irish Soda bread and even included a comment about how it was "a treasured recipe" from her Irish ancestors.  When the cookbook came out, my mother flipped through to find her recipe, and discovered that she left out all of the wet ingredients, basically leaving flour, raisin and a few other dry ingredients to bake for an hour at 350.  If the cookbook went into a second printing, I am sure her recipe would have been edited to say "A treasured recipe from my Irish ancestors, who were a wee bit fond of the whiskey".

Irish Soda Bread, Our Way - full recipe at bottom of post

350 degree Oven

In a mixing bowl, beat one egg, then add one whole pint of sour cream and mix well

 

To the wet mixture, add 3 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar (in the spice aisle at the grocery), 1 teaspoon of baking soda.  Mix until slightly combined.  Don't overmix, just until it starts to clump together.  Then add a cup of raisins and mix in.   Raisins are the traditional addition, but sometimes I use dried cranberries or dried cherries.  I might even throw in a bit of almond extract (with the cherries) or a teaspoon of grated orange peel (with the cranberries) if I am feeling fruity.  Whatever blows your skirt up, as they probably never say in Ireland.

Spread the sticky dough into a greased iron frying pan of you have one.  This one was my great-grandmother's and I use it all of the time.  If you don't have one, you can use a cake pan or even a pie plate.  You just wont look as rustic.    As if.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes and then check it.  If it is already a nice crusty golden brown, take it out.  Then let it cool for 10-15 minutes before you cut a slice and slather it with real butter.  Store whatever is left wrapped in foil for a few days.

The aftermath.  Not so bad.  I mix the wet ingredients together first and then add the dry so I only use one bowl. 

Irish Soda Bread Our Way

1 Egg

1 pint sour cream

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 t. cream of tartar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 cup raisins

Beat egg in mixing bowl, add sour cream and mix well.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just barely combined.  Add raisins and mix into sticky dough.  Spread dough in lightly greased iron frying pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until golden brown.