Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These cookies remind me of many cozy weekends we spent in Bolinas with our friends Greg and Lorraine. To work up to lazy afternoon naps and evenings in front of the fire, we spent hours on long leisurely beach walks, usually talking about food and planning our next meal. Honestly, is there a better way to spend a day?

Lorraine's recipe makes a "double batch". It's up to you if you want to bake them all at once, or make some to eat now and some to freeze for later. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies 

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter (at room temperature)
2 1/2 cups (20 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Set aside.

In a mixer, cream butter together with sugar and peanut butter. Add vanilla and eggs, whipping together until fluffy. Slowly add dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips/chunks by hand. 

Use a scoop or tablespoons to drop cookie dough onto baking sheets. Bake until crisp at the edges and golden brown (about 10-15 minutes). Remove to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Cornbread Stuffing with Greens

The last couple of years, we've dared to drift from our classic Thanksgiving stuffing - which has sage, butter, sausage and white bread (did I mention butter?!) to a slightly healthier option. This one is from Chez Panisse Vegetables. But don't worry - it still has bacon and butter. It also has greens, so you can feel good about that. It's terrific with roast chicken as well, so don't relegate it to the holidays!

Corn Bread Stuffing with Greens
Makes 4 cups (enough for two medium chickens)

1 recipe Corn Bread (see below)
1 bunch greens (chard, kale, escarole)
Olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 pound bacon, diced (we like using pancetta!)
fresh sage, finely chopped to yield 1 teaspoon
fresh thyme, finely chopped to yield 1/2 teaspoon
fresh parsley, finely chopped to yield 2 teaspoons
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper

Crumble corn bread into a large mixing bowl.

Wash and trim the greens, chop roughly and cook until tender in a little olive oil. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat. When it begins to render its fat, add the diced onion and cook until softened, but not too brown (about 2-3 minutes). Add the garlic, stirring quickly to prevent it from burning. Remove from the heat and add to the corn bread. 

Add the herbs and cooked greens to the corn bread. Blend well and taste for seasoning - adding salt and pepper as desired. Add the lightly beaten egg and milk to the bowl incorporating ingredients well. Add more milk if the mixture looks to dry.


Corn Bread
Serves 4 to 6

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 pound unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400. Place a 9-inch cast iron skillet in the oven from the start of the preheating.

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cornmeal. Put the butter and milk in a small saucepan and heat until the butter is melted.

Break the egg into another bowl, beat lightly, and whisk in the milk and butter. Make a well in the flour mixture, pour in the liquid ingredients, and stir just until smooth. 

Take the skillet out of the over, put a lump of butter in it and swirl around to coat the pan. Pour in the batter. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the corn bread comes out clean. 

Turkey Enchiladas

Re-posting my all-time favorite recipes for left over turkey....

One of my favorite post-turkey activities is making stock, which has been on the stove since this morning. The other favorite is this recipe for turkey enchiladas that my friend Kim introduced me to a couple of  years ago. It couldn't be easier and it's a perfect leftover turkey. If your tortillas are soft and fresh, you can probably skip the step about heating them in oil. You can also steam them in the microwave for just a minute to get them soft so they can be rolled.
Enjoy!

Spicy Cranberry Sauce

Being latin and all - my family likes things on the spicy side. I don't know where I found this recipe, but once I did, it became a staple at our Thanksgiving table. It couldn't be easier or more foolproof!

Spicy Cranberry Sauce

1 pound fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 cup sugar
1 jalapeño pepper, minced 

Place cranberries, sugar and minced jalapeño in a saucepan along with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, reducing heat to a lively simmer until the cranberries start popping open (about 5-8 minutes). Turn off heat and set aside to cool. Can be made a day in advance. Serve at room temperature. 

Enjoy!

Chiles Rellenos with Quinoa filling

I had a hankering for something spicy and hearty the other day - so I decided to try to recreate these amazing chile rellenos I had when we were in Santa Fe last year. True - there's a bit of labor involved - AND it's vegetarian (I can feel some of you dropping off already) - but like always, it's worth the effort.


CHILES RELLENOS WITH QUINOA FILLING
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
2-4 Poblano chiles (Anaheim will also work)
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 pound shitake or other mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large onion, diced
1 cup feta cheese
1 pound spinach, rinsed and stemmed
1 can ancho chiles in adobo sauce (you will use a very small portion)
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Make the quinoa filling: 
Feel free to customize this filling to your taste - substituting other vegetables and ingredients. You can also use this quinoa recipe as well. 

Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt , then the quinoa. Give it a stir, then cover and ismmer over low heat until the grains are tender and reveal their spiraled germ (about 15 minutes).

While the quinoa is cooking, warm the oil in a wide skillet. Add the onions and saute slowly over medium-low heat until they are very soft and golden brown (about 20 minutes). Then, add the garlic and  mushrooms, raising the heat slightly to saute them. When the mushrooms are cooked, slowly add in the spinach until it is wilted. When quinoa is cooked, add it to the skillet, blending all ingredients well. Taste for seasoning - adding salt and pepper as desired. When filling has cooled - crumble in the feta cheese. Set aside. Can be made a day ahead.

Prep the chiles:

Roast the chiles over open flame until the skin is blistered and completely black. Transfer immediately to a glass bowl and cover bowl tightly with saran wrap while the chiles cool (this will loosen the skins to make them easy to peel). When cool, gently remove charred skin from chiles. Keeping stem in tact, carefully create an opening on one side of the chile - slicing vertically so that you can remove the seeds and membrane. Rinse and pat dry. Repeat for remaining chiles.

Stuff the chiles:

Taste and adjust the seasoning for the filling one last time, then, gently beat an egg in a small bowl and drizzle it over the quinoa filling, incorporating it into the filling. Take each chile one by one, carefully stuffing them through the opening on the side. Be generous with the filling so that the chiles are quite large and filled out. Place each chile "seam side down" onto a lightly oiled baking sheet or glass baking dish. Roast in oven until warmed through (about 15-25 minutes)

Adobo sauce:

While the chiles are roasting, make the sauce. Carefully separate out 1 chile from your chiles in adobo sauce. Depending on your heat tolerance, dice about 1/2 a chile and about a tablespoon of the sauce. Use more if you want to make it very spicy). In a small saucepan, combine the chicken stock, diced chile and adobo sauce and warm to a boil. Lower heat, adding the half and half or cream until the sauce thickens slightly. Taste for seasoning, making it more spice by adding more chile, or less spicy, adding more chicken stock and cream. 

Place a 1/4 cup of sauce ladled onto a plate, placing a warm chile relleno on top. Drizzle with additional sauce if desired. Serve immediately.

I vote for O!

In addition to being election day, today marks a full month that we've had our boy Otis. It will come as no surprise that he's developed several nicknames already - including Mr. Swagger and Scrounger. The default seems to be Handsome. Can you blame us? I mean look at that mug! He's also very smart. As you can see above, he's a talented creative director - calling all the shots for the design of his new bed. Lucky for me, he approved of my fabric choice.