Peanut Butter Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread is an extremely versatile dish. It is great as a dessert, breakfast item or snack. It is also very easy to make. There are very few ingredients and prep time is minimal. It is a common recipe, but I add peanut butter to make mine a little extra special. This creates a unique taste unlike traditional cinnamon roll tasting Monkey Bread. The other night I had a sweet tooth but I was not in the mood to spend a long time in the kitchen. The remedy--Monkey Bread! It was great the next few mornings for breakfast too!

SERVES 2-4

Ingredients:

• 4 cans refrigerator biscuits
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• .5 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon confectioners sugar

Cookware/Utensils:

• bundt pan
• small saucepan
• medium glass bowl
• wooden spoon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cinnamon and sugar to a medium size glass bowl. Tear each biscuit into 4 or 5 pieces. Add biscuit pieces to bowl, several at a time; coat well with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place pieces in a buttered bundt pan.

Bring brown sugar, confectioners sugar, peanut butter and butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes, then pour over biscuits. Bake for 45 minutes until the top becomes golden brown. Allow to cool 15 minutes before removing from pan. Cut and serve in slices or pull away and eat bite by bite.

***This will serve breakfast or brunch for 2 people, twice. For this reason I like to call it a weekender. A weekender is a breakfast or brunch item that can be eaten on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Clafouti avec des Prunes

Clafouti avec des Prunes. Translation: Clafouti with plums. Clafouti is a traditional French dessert consisting of a layer of fruit topped with batter and baked. Cherries are the customary fruit of choice, but any other may be used. In this case I have used diced plums. I usually do not do anything very exciting with plums. In fact, I like to just eat them as they are; and this is exactly what I intended to do when I purchased them a few days ago at the grocery store. However, plans change and I was in the mood to experiment. Without any milk in the refrigerator, my options for baked goods was limited. (Yes I know it sounds strange but we rarely keep milk in the house--we just do not drink it.) Clafouti almost always calls for milk, cream or even sweetened condensed milk. Was my quest for a quick and easy plum dessert doomed? Of course not...I told you earlier...I was in the mood to experiment. While I do not have milk, I do have a lot of cream cheese on hand. Essentially they both come from a cow right? Luckily the clafouti was a success. Read on to find out how cream cheese went from experimental ingredient to secret ingredient!

SERVES 2

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plums, diced
• 2 medium eggs
• .33 cup sugar
• 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• .33 c flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• .24 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• non-stick cooking spray or butter (used to grease pie pan)

Cookware/Utensils:

• small bowl
• medium bowl
• large spoon
• measuring cups
• cutting board
• santoku or chef's knife
• electric mixer
• glass pie pan
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the pie pan with non-stick cooking spray or butter. (I prefer butter). Dice plums and place them in a small bowl; set aside. Add eggs and sugar to medium bowl and mix on low for about one minute. Add the cream cheese and mix again until smooth. Finally, add the flour, vanilla and salt to the bowl and mix again until lumps are no longer visible. Place fruit in pie pan. Slowly pour the batter over the plums. Be sure to evenly spread mixture in the prepared pie pan. Drizzle with the butter. Place in the oven =for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Serve clafouti warm or room temperature. It is pictured below with vanilla bean ice cream. I have to confess...this was so yummy that I had two pieces!

***While I have referred to this as a dessert it also makes a great breakfast. This will serve breakfast or brunch for 2 people, twice. For this reason I like to call it a weekender. A weekender is a breakfast or brunch item that can be eaten on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Peanut Butter Pie

I have only ever made this recipe twice. The first time I made it was three years ago and while it received rave reviews I have not made it recently because my partner in everything food is not a peanut butter fan (except on celery). I recently needed to make a dish for a carry-in luncheon at work and I did not feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen. After a lot of stress and contemplation about what to make it came to me...peanut butter pie! This dessert was a hit. Do not let the fact that I have only made this pie twice deter you from making it yourself. I can promise that it is delicious. I am also not afraid to say that this is a perfect summer dessert. Yes, I know, when you think of a summer dessert your thoughts probably go right to a dish containing some sort of berry. Peanut butter seems thick, heavy and unappealing during the summer months right? This pie will prove you wrong. In fact, I would describe it as a light, refreshing dessert. That's right. I said it. Refreshing. C'mon, you know you want to give it a try!

YIELDS 8-10 slices

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• .5 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
• 16 oz cool whip
• 1 graham cracker pie crust (store bought or homemade)
• 1 REESE'S peanut butter cup

Cookware/Utensils:

• 9 inch pie pan
• medium bowl
• electric mixer
• spatula
• grater or zester

In medium bowl add cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and cool whip. Mix on medium speed until creamy. Using a spatula place the creamy mixture into pie crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Grate peanut butter cup over top of pie before serving.

***While this is a blog dedicated to cooking for two, I feel that it is sometimes important to share recipes that can accommodate a larger crowd. We all find ourselves in situations where we need to entertain or feed a larger group of people. I will confess, this pie is so yummy that it would be easy for two people to grab a couple of forks and enjoy it all by themselves!

Peaches, Apricots or Nectarines? O My!

I recently found myself in a grocery store standing in the produce aisle completely confused. Before my eyes was a huge mound of fruit. The fruit was labeled with a price, but no indication of its name. It looked like a miniature peach. I picked up the fruit, smelled it, and even asked my grocery shopping partner, "Is this an apricot or a nectarine?" With both of us second guessing our answers regarding the identity of this mystery fruit, we picked out two of them, put them in a bag and brought them home.

I think that all of us know what a peach looks like, but when it comes to the difference between apricots and nectarines it becomes, well, hairy.

To reveal the answer without being too technical, peaches and apricots have a skin that is "fuzzy" while nectarines have a skin that is smooth. My mystery fruit turned out to be an apricot. When an apricot is sliced in half a pit, or seed is revealed that is also very similar to a peach.

Once you've halved this nectarine a delicious snack or dessert is waiting for you! I encourage you to eat the fruit by itself or combine it with something light and sweet that will compliment its tart flavor. I suggest vanilla flavored yogurt or ice cream.
***Pictured above is a peach and two apricots. Pictured below is a bowl of vanilla yogurt and diced apricots.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

Bananas are a favorite fruit in our house, and we are not alone! Over 96% of American households purchase bananas at least once each month. I actually prefer to eat a green banana because I like the firm texture and tart taste. Unfortunately because we live in a region with very high humidity, our bananas ripen very quickly. As a banana ripens the starch in the fruit turns to sugar. Therefore, the riper the banana the sweeter it will taste. My favorite solution to utilizing these sweet, mushy bananas is to make bread. However, tonight I thought I would try something new--to make cookies. I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did!

YIELDS 2.5 dozen

Ingredients:

• .5 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• .5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• .5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• .5 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  

Cookware/Utensils:

• small bowl
• medium bowl
• measuring cups
• electric mixer
• medium spoon
• 2 baking sheets
• spatula
• wax paper

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl mash the banana with a spoon. Add the baking soda to the bowl and stir to combine the two ingredients. Set aside. In a medium size bowl mix the butter, sugar and egg on a low speed until creamed. Add the banana mixture into the butter mixture and stir rapidly for one minute. Add flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl and mix on a medium speed until the dry ingredients and wet ingredients create a batter. Fold in chocolate chips. Using the spoon, drop small mounds of batter onto onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Place baking sheet into the oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges turn a golden brown. Let cookies cool on wax paper.

Pere con Ricotta

Pere con ricotta--simple translation from Italian is pears with ricotta. Ricotta cheese is widely used in Italian cooking in everything from appetizers to desserts. It is a very soft, low-fat cheese that is actually a by-product of cheese making because it is made from the whey that has been separated from the curd in the process of actually making cheese. It is in fact technically a dairy product rather than an actual cheese because of this fact. Ricotta translates as recooked and was originally made in Rome when it was discovered that the whey could be reheated, then strained, thereby getting it’s name. To learn more about ricotta click here.
SERVES 2

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon ginger spice or 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• .5 tablespoon lemon juice or zest of 1 lemon
• 2 firm pears peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• .75 cup ricotta
• dash of cinnamon
• handful of fresh berries--your choice

Cookware/Utensils:

• medium saucepan or skillet
• slotted cooking spoon (wood, nylon or other heat resistant material)

In a medium saucepan or skillet bring the water, ginger, sugar and lemon to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pears and when the mixture returns to a boil, reduce the heat to maintain the simmer. Stirring occasionally with a slotted spoon. Continue to cook the pears until they are very soft to the touch of a utensil. (This may take up to 15 minutes, but your patience will be rewarded.) Remove the pan from the heat and using a slotted spoon divide the pears between two dessert cups or ice cream dishes.

Return the pan to the stove and add the ricotta and cinnamon to the warm syrup mixture. Stir until very smooth. Top the pears with the warm cheese mixture, then place a few berries over each serving. ***I suggest using cold berries. The sensation caused by the difference in temperature between the berries and the other component of the dessert adds an element of surprise to this dish.