Recipes Discovered

Jimmy Carter Cake Recipe

For dad’s birthday, he already had a birthday cake, so I needed to come up with a different dessert. He loves peanut butter, and I vaguely remember having a dessert as a kid that was a peanut crust with a peanut butter and chocolate filling. After some thought, I figured out that dessert was called Jimmy Carter Cake. It’s a no bake, layered dessert that is absolutely fantastic. The first layer is crushed peanuts, flour, and melted butter. Just like a graham cracker crust, I mixed everything together and pressed it into the bottom of a 13×9 pan. It’s a very thin crust, and it doesn’t seem like it’s enough to cover the pan, but it actually does. I baked the crust for about 12 minutes, just to make it a little toastier. Once it cooled, I spread the next layer on top, which is peanut butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Cool Whip. The original recipe only called for 1/3 cup of peanut butter, but since my dad loves peanut butter, I added closer to a cup. The next layer is a combination of vanilla and chocolate pudding. I’m not sure why the combination, but I followed the directions. I assume it could be made with all chocolate pudding, or actually, any type of pudding you like. Whisk the pudding together according to the package directions, just lessen the milk by at least a cup so it’s thicker. Pour the pudding mixture over the peanut butter mixture and let is set up a couple minutes before topping it with the remaining Cool Whip. I didn’t have quite enough Cool Whip to cover the top, so I had to open another container. To top the dessert, I sprinkled more chopped peanuts. It really is a great dessert that combines salty and sweet, creamy and crunchy. It’s easy to put together, and everyone really enjoyed it.

Jimmy Carter Cake Recipe

Nutty Pear Toast Recipe

For those of you who know Seth, it’s no surprise when I say that he gets bored easily. It holds true with breakfast as well. He would probably complain if I gave him cold cereal too many days in a row, so I try to keep my eye open for new breakfast ideas that are still quick. He loves pears, so I though nutty pear toast would be right up his alley. It’s simply a toasted bagel (or bread) topped with cream cheese, sliced pears, walnuts, and a drizzle of honey. I used the new bagelbread, which is a lot lighter than a traditional bagel. They taste pretty good as well. After putting everything together, I put the bagels under the broiler for a minute, just to warm up the pear and melt the honey. Although it sounded really good, something about the pear and the cream cheese just didn’t work for me. I’m not sure what it was, but I didn’t like the combination. Seth agreed, but he thought an apple would be better since it would have more crunch. Maybe I’ll have to try that next time.

Mighty Minestrone Recipe

I know, another soup recipe, but I was pretty excited about this one. Veggies, beans, and pasta, all in one bowl, plus it is a fairly quick cooking soup. Just saute onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and a bay leave until the veggies are soft, and then season them with salt and pepper. To that, add beans, thyme, tomatoes, and stock to the pot. Once the soup is simmering, add kale and let it wilt down until it’s tender. At this point, you can add water and pasta directly to the soup or you can cook the pasta separately and just let the soup simmer while the pasta cooks. Since I would definitely have leftover soup, I cooked the pasta separately and just added it to each bowl before filling the bowls with soup. I served the soup with grated Parmesan cheese.

I was actually disappointed with this soup. It didn’t have a lot of flavor and the kale really took over everything. I could probably play with the recipe, add some more spices and less kale, which would improve the soup, but does anyone have a good recipe for minestrone?

Pierogi Recipe

My favorite food growing up was easily my mom’s homemade pierogies. I crave them from time to time, and although I have the recipe, they never quite taste as good as hers. The recipe isn’t difficult, it just takes a bit of time to fill and seal the pierogies. However, when something taste this good, sometimes it’s worth the effort.

Translating my mom’s recipes isn’t always easy, and this recipe is no exception. She told me to make enough mashed potatoes to equal the cottage cheese. Turns out, that is roughly a pound of potatoes. The potatoes need to by mashed by hand to a lumpy consistency, similar to the cottage cheese. I usually empty the cottage cheese into a large bowl, and then fill the empty container with the mashed potatoes, just to make sure I have equal amounts. I then add Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, salt, and pepper, mix everything together, and refrigerator the filling until I roll out the dough. >> Read more

Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe

A couple weeks ago I wrote about tomato soup that I had made. It was quick and easy and tasted much better than the canned variety. However, I recently discovered another recipe for tomato soup that involves roasting the tomatoes with garlic, oil, and balsamic vinegar. By roasted the tomatoes, the flavors are concentrated and deepened. After the tomatoes are roasted, they are added to sauteed onions, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. The mixture is then blended until smooth. I also added a pinch of sugar, just to mellow out some of the acidity of the tomatoes. This is definitely a superior tomato soup to what I made previously. The flavors are bolder and more intense, the texture is better, and the addition of fresh basil is a perfect compliment to the tomatoes. It’s not quite as quick as to other recipe, but taking the time to roast the tomatoes is worth it.