M.Y.O.S.R. -- Make Your Own Spring Rolls!

File this one under "Because You Can." Also, under "Easy to Consume with One Broken Arm," "Fits In Pocket," and "Freshalicious."

One pack of rice papers (dehydrated) from my Asian market costs approximately nothing (actually, you can see the price tag in the photo) and, if the Vietnamese were into things like expiration dates, you might see a date well into the next century stamped right next to "Machine Made!" on the lid. To the left of the shamrock. Naturally.

Actually, spring rolls are a fantastic alternative to the sandwich, which is sooooo yesterday's post (literally). You can stuff them with anything that's finely shredded and moisture free, and they'll last a couple days in the fridge if you can't shovel all six at once. Be sure not to skip the fresh basil leaves here, as they are imperative to the springy taste.

Also, don't get discouraged if your rolling skills take some practice. My first few attempts at spring rolls were loose, chaotic messes. It takes a little finesse to pull as tightly as possible without tearing the paper. You'll probably never get as good as the folks at the take-out restaurant, but you'll love them because they're yours.

Vegetable Spring Rolls with Baked Tempeh and Peanut Dipping Sauce

makes 6 rolls, takes 45 minutes with tempeh, about 15 without

For the Tempeh:

1 8-oz container tempeh

1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger, or about 1 tsp dried

1 clove garlic, minced

pinch red pepper flakes

1 tsp toasted Asian sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seed

For the Spring Rolls:

8-inch round rice papers

1 cup (scant) shredded cabbage, very dry

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

2 scallions, thinly sliced

12 fresh basil leaves

Peanut Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)

1. For the tempeh: Slice your slab into 10 logs. Mix water, soy, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes together and pour into a small saucepan over medium high heat. Lay tempeh logs in a single layer over the bottom.Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450º. Brush a shallow baking dish with the sesame oil. When all the marinade is absorbed, transfer tempeh slabs into baking dish and sprinkle with half of sesame seeds. Turn and sprinkle with other half. Bake 15 minutes, turn, and bake 15 minutes more. Let cool.
   
   
3. For the rolls: In a large bowl, toss together cabbage, carrot, and scallions.

Make yourself a nice workspace with all your ingredients laid out, a clean dish towel in the middle, and a pie plate or large bowl filled with warm water. Start by submerging your rice paper into the water until pliable, about 10 seconds. Transfer to kitchen towel and blot dry. Plop about 1/3 cup cabbage mixture on the bottom 1/3 of the rice paper round. Top with 1 1/2 tempeh logs and 2 fresh basil leaves.Lift the bottom edge over the filling and fold the two sides in toward the center. Roll as tightly as possible without tearing the paper. Set on a plate, seam side down. You go, girl (or whoever).

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp soy sauce

pinch cayenne, or a dash of hot sauce

water (3-4 Tbsp)

• Combine all ingredients except water in food processor and spin until smooth. Add water until a desirable dipping consistency is reached.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

What a surprise! I have made dessert! And it combines peanut butter with chocolate! I swear I make other things sometimes. Sometimes.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

makes 6 cookies; takes about 30 minutes with optional chill time; 15 without

1/4 cup flour

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp peanut butter (preferably crunchy; if not, add chopped peanuts)

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Coarse salt (optional)

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Stir melted butter with sugar until sugar is nice and wet. Add yolk and vanilla, mix well, then add peanut butter. Mix until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate chips (and optional chopped peanuts). Form into 6 balls, place them on a plate and press down to flatten slightly. Sprinkle tops with a little bit of coarse salt. Stash in the freezer for 15 minutes. (Or go ahead and bake if you must, you impatient fool.)
3. Preheat oven to 350º. Bake for 10 minutes and remove to cool slightly before enjoying.

What's up with the salt? Well, I'll tell you. Do you know why you love chocolate chip cookies so much? It's because the dough is nice and salty while the chips are nice and sweet. Your mouth really loves the play of those two tastes together. So up the ante a little by sprinkling coarse sea or kosher salt on top of your cookies right before baking. If you're skeptical, just sprinkle one or two and do a taste test with the non-salted ones. Betcha you'll be doing it a lot more from now on.

Puppy Chow!

Um, excuse me, are you there? Hello?

It's your childhood here, just checking in to remind you sometimes to eat the ridiculous and indulgent foodstuffs of your youth--foods that were just off limits, maybe only for special occasions, foods that you made in celebration, foods that take you back to a kitchen you remember with pangs of nostalgic fondness--when the only thing that mattered was not calories or ingredients or prices, but when these delicious things would be ready already.

For me, it's Puppy Chow (a.k.a. Chex Muddie Buddies). Where either of these names originated, I cannot say. But I can confirm with certainty that this recipe has been printed on the back of the Chex box since time eternal, and continues so today. And it is exactly the same, which is why we love it, right? Right.

Actually, why I love it are the accompanying memories of my friend Marlee and me disappearing into the pantry or rifling the fridge contents, intent on including an outrageous and undetectable "Secret Ingredient" to every batch we made, and we made quite a few. Never would we divulge our selections to our unsuspecting munchers, but oh how we giggled to ourselves at the thought of what they--ok we--were all eating. Apparently the litmus test was whether or not Mar and I would consume the batch we had produced. If we didn't eat it, no one else would. (We always ate it.)

Here's how to make just enough for one (though, lamentably, Chex cereal comes in only one box size: Y2K-ready -- just eat the rest for breakfast over the next few years):

Puppy Chow

1 cup rice Chex

2 Tbsp chocolate chips

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1/2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

copious amounts of powdered sugar (ok, like 1/2 cup)

Melt chocolate, peanut butter and butter in a microwave safe bowl, being careful not to burn (go in 20-second increments). Stir in vanilla, then Chex, making sure all is well coated. Turn out into a paper or plastic bag and add powdered sugar. Toss to coat.

For 2 people or for leftovers, use the following proportions: 2 cups chex, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 1 Tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and plenty of P.S.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Puddings

I know, it's been, like, two whole days since I've posted a dessert. Don't worry. I'm here for you.

This gem came from that spectacular spread on peanut butter desserts in Bon Appetit we once talked about on these pages. Their recipe is for peanut butter and milk chocolate puddings stacked together with billowy whipped cream on top. Our version became dark chocolate (because that's the chocolate I had) and significantly lower in fat (because that's the milk I had) with no whipped cream (because that I did not have). Still pretty tasty, though, if our finger-swiped mason jars are any indication.

The procedure is identical for both puddings, so make the peanut butter, rinse out your pot, then start straight in on the chocolate. You'll be a pro by the second time.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding

serves 2; active time about 15 minutes plus 2 hours' cooling

For P.B.:

2 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

pinch salt

1/2 cup milk (recipe calls for whole; I used 1%)

2 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream (I used light cream, you could also use half and half)

2 1/2 Tbsp natural peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

For Choc:

2 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

pinch salt

2 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 Tbsp cream

1 1/2 oz chocolate, chopped (milk or dark)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Start with peanut butter pudding. Whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small saucepan. Add milk and cream and whisk well to combine/dissolve. Turn heat on to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. It will be a frothy boil--let it go hard for about 30 seconds to thicken up. Add peanut butter and return to boil, again, whisking constantly. Let boil almost a minute. Turn off heat and stir in vanilla. Divide between two serving dishes and stash in the freezer while you make chocolate pudding.
2. Rinse out and dry your saucepan. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in the bottom, then add milk and cream and combine/dissolve. Turn heat on to medium and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let the thick, frothy boil go for 30 seconds, then add your chopped chocolate. Return to a boil, again, whisking constantly. Let boil about a minute, then take off heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Chill chocolate pudding 5 minutes before adding to p.b. Divide evenly between two dishes and store, uncovered, in the fridge for 2 hours. If desired, top with whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Because Bon Appetit wishes to taunt me with its glossy pages and its delicious recipes and its close-ups of towering slices of cake--with glistening frosting and nothing but a lonely fork beside them, just begging begging to be picked up--I immediately fainted when I received the January issue this year. A whole spread on Peanut Butter Desserts, the cover advertised? I still haven't read the rest of the issue. Mostly I've just focused on pages 64-71.

What I love about the desserts in this particular article is that they all use natural peanut butter, not the processed peanut-flavored product endowed with shelf-immortality. Don't get me wrong, Skippy has its place. But if you're a peanut butter nut (yeah, it's a pun, get over it) like me, as close to the peanut is where it's at.

So yester-evening, as the temperatures started to sag in Boston, I fired up the oven and baked a downsized batch of their Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Brownies. I know, you just fainted too, right? Because I wasn't sure how big of a pan to use, I just meted out the ingredients into a cupcake tin and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't like brownie end pieces (I'm a gooey-from-the-middle kind of gal), which is basically what you get from the tin. If you hate this, use a muffin cup liner or simply do what I did and eat out the middle!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Brownies

makes 4; total time about 40 minutes, but I think they taste best cold, so if you can have patience, stash them in the fridge for an hour before eating

For the brownie layer:

2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 egg, lightly beaten *(beat full egg and save other half for the topping)

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp flour

pinch salt

For the cheesecake layer:

2 oz cream cheese, soft

1 heaping Tbsp natural peanut butter

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 egg

1/2 Tbsp cream or half-and-half

1/2 Tbsp flour

1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325º and spray 4 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
2. First, the brownie layer: melt the chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan or in a microwave (slowly--only 20 or so seconds at a time!). Set aside. Meanwhile, beat sugar, 1/2 egg and vanilla with electric beaters--or your indefatigable arm strength--until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Gradually add chocolate mixture then stir in flour and salt. Divide among 4 cupcake cups.
3. Next, the cheesecake: Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy. Add remaining 1/2 of beaten egg and mix well, then cream, then flour.
4. In a small bowl, place chopped chocolate and microwave at 15 second intervals until melty. Stir smooth. (You want to be extra special careful because chocolate on its own, i.e. no butter, oil, etc., will burn very easily. Go slow and check often.) When nice and melted, stir in 1 Tbsp of cream cheese mixture and mix well. Divide remaining cream cheese mixture between 4 cups and spread over top, then ladle chocolate-cream cheese mixture into the center of each. Using a toothpick, swirl chocolate and plain cream cheese mixtures together.
5. Bake 15 minutes, then start checking. You want the edges to be slightly puffed and the center is set. I overbaked. Don't make the same mistake.
6. Let cool slightly, then extract from tin. Chill in the freezer or fridge until ready to eat.

Peanut Butter Banana Cake (and Crap-that-was-easy Vanilla Gelato)

Phew. It is cake week here in the Love-Smith house. I think I'm making up for not having baked anything in, like, a whole week by going all out. Last night, Irish car bomb cake....tonight, Elvis.

I believe I have mentioned before my deep, abiding love for peanut butter -- particularly in conjunction with bananas. Understanding that too much of this treat might leave me squeezed into an ill-fitting sequined unisuit, I thought a miniature sweet might be just the ticket.

Soooo...I took a banana cake recipe from Epicurious, threw in some chocolate chips, then topped it off with Ina Garten's p.b. icing. All divided by 17. Here's how it works:

Peanut Butter Banana Cake

(serves 2-3; start to finish, about an hour)

for the cake:

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp cake flour

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1/4 cup mashed banana

1 Tbsp buttermilk

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 beaten egg or 2 Tbsp egg sub

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

for the icing:

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup peanut butter (preferably natural)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour a small pan (5-inch round worked well for me; 4-6 inch square would work too). In a small bowl combine flour through salt. In another small bowl, mix banana, buttermilk and vanilla.
2. With a mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add egg and beat well. Add remaining ingredients, alternating between dry and wet mixtures. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips over top, if using. Bake until cake begins to color and toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, beat butter, p.b., sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until combined. Add milk and beat until smooth and fluffy.
4. If your cake is on the thinner side, slice in half and make a tiny layer cake by spreading icing on middle and top (I didn't have enough for the sides, but if I had it may have been too much). If your cake is thick, just frost top and sides. Ta-dow!

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Crap-that-was-easy Vanilla Gelato

Wanting something cool and smooth to cut the taste of the sure-to-be-rich cake, I scoured the net for a quick ice cream recipe that might just rely on that can of sweetened condensed milk I was stowing in my cabinet -- which would also cut out the time and patience that a custard ice cream would require. Based on my fridge and the various recipes I could cobble together, here's the quite successful result:

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (I used low fat)

1 cup light cream or half and half (fat free would be fine)

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk it all together and throw it in your ice cream maker. So far (I started this whole process about 3 hours ago), the gelato is still soft-serve style, but I think a night in the freezer will firm it up good. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm calling it gelato because it relies on more milk and less cream, which is basically the difference between the Italian frozen treat and our American version (that, and a slower "churning" process which results in a denser, often richer-tasting product). This also means that, because of its make-up, gelato is better at warmer temperatures than ice cream. So, when it does firm up in your freezer, be sure to take it out 15-20 minutes before you plan to enjoy it, and stir it up good before serving.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

Oh yeah, you read that right. It's banana cream pie -- but perfected by the addition of perhaps my favorite food of all time, peanut butter. So many reasons to get carried away here: the salty ... the sweet ... the peanut butter and banana sandwich I ate almost every day for lunch in high school ... the opportunity to share something in common with Elvis ... pie ...

This recipe leapt from the pages of Bon Appetit's grievously caloric spread on "Diner Desserts" and grabbed me by the tastebuds (every one of them). Knowing how much I was sure to love it, and also painfully aware of my nonexistent will power, I took to downsizing immediately.

With every bite of this delicious dessert, David and I marveled at how perfect it was. The crust is sweet and crunchy like toffee; the vanilla pudding is perfectly balanced; and the final layer is like eating peanut butter-flavored air. Fluffy, delicious, peanutbuttery air. May just have to make it again tomorrow.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

(Serves 2; total prep/cook/cool time, about 2 hours)

Vanilla Wafer Crust

1 1/2 oz vanilla wafers (about 8)

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1/2 Tbsp sugar

Vanilla Pudding Layer

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

pinch salt

1/4 c heavy cream

2 Tbsp whole milk

1/2 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter

1 banana

lemon or orange juice (just for tossing banana)

Peanut Butter Layer

3/4 oz cream cheese, room temp

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

3 Tbsp heavy cream

1. For the crust, either throw everything in the food processor and blend until uniform or smash wafers and sugar in a ziplock bag until fine, then melt the butter and stir together. Press into 2 individual tart pans, large muffin tins, or a mini pie plate. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
2. For the pudding, in a small saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add dairy and yolk and mix all very well. [Sorry about the yolk, there's no shortcut around this, you need the egg to thicken the pudding. Just crack an egg over a dish to catch the white and then split the yolk in half. Have the white-and-half-yolk for breakfast tomorrow.] Over medium heat, cook the mixture--stirring constantly--until it boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in vanilla and divide between cooled crusts. Chill 30 min - 1 hr (until set).
3. Take the banana and slice it thin, about 1/4-inch slices. Toss in orange or lemon juice to prevent browning. Once the pudding is set, lay out bananas over surface, reserving a few for garnish, if you want.
4. For the peanut butter layer, blend cream cheese and powdered sugar until well mixed. Add vanilla and peanut butter and blend some more. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Fold it into the peanut butter mixture, a little at a time, being very gentle. Spread over banana layer and return to fridge for another hour or two, until fully chilled and set up.
5. Garnish with reserved bananas and eat, eat, eat.

As usual, some notes....

I used individual miniature tart pans, but maybe you'd rather use muffin/cupcake tins. The only way this pie could have been improved is if I had made them deep rather than wide. The tins might be tricky when it comes time to extricate, though. Also, you could probably get away with less-than-full-fat milks in the pudding, but you may want to up the cornstarch if you do.