Baklava Butter

I adore Baklava. I’ve never met one I didn’t like! But as far as making it, I’m not sure I have the patience, with all the layering that needs to be done. And then, after making it, I’d want to eat all of it! It’s so sweet and nutty--completely addicting. How could I turn it away, with all of those nuts, the sweet honey, and the crunchy, paper thin layers of phyllo dough?

I’ve found a way to get all of my favorite things from Baklava, without all of the work. How does it taste? Nutty, crunchy, sweet--but not too sweet, and there’s the telltale signature spice, cinnamon. I don’t see how I can go any amount of time without this in my kitchen.

The other day, while out shopping with Billy, I stopped to check out the cooking mags. I have an addiction, ok? I know, you do, too! The rack was filled with comfort food related issues for slow cookers (of which I don’t have) and casseroles (Billy strongly dislikes casseroles of almost any kind). I saw an issue of Cuisine at Home, which I’ve only ever picked up once or twice. But skimming through it, I saw quite a few promising recipes.

I didn’t even pick the magazine up to read it until a few days later when we got some free time. This recipe for Baklava Butter nearly jumped off the page while screaming my name. It’s true! I went out almost right away and got the nuts to make it.

Speaking of nuts, I know they can be expensive. Trader Joe’s has very reasonable prices on nuts if you’re near one. Whole Foods allows you to buy just the amount you need in the bulk foods aisle. If these aren’t options for you, try your nearest natural foods store. They’ll likely have a bulk food section. If none of these options are going to happen for you, then pick up the nuts you can. I’m sure this spread would be just as fantastic if you can only get one or two types of the nuts.

Don’t even get me started on the health benefits of nuts! By now, you should already know how fabulous they are for you, but if you don’t, check out this site. Every single nut in this recipe is so good for you! And it’s sweetened only with honey. Best part? You don’t have to mess around with blanching and skinning the nuts. Plus, it’s a no bake, quickie snack. So make some!

Baklava Butter

Makes just over 2 cups.
Adapted from Cuisine at Home.

1 cup almonds
2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup cashews
2/3 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup honey (Use organic! Cheap honey is full of nasty hidden chemicals and HFCS.)
1/2 cup water
Couple pinches kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor about 20-30 times. you still want to have some of the nutty texture, so don't overdo it.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: All of the nuts I used were roasted, not raw. You can certainly use raw if you'd like, and combined with honey, can be a raw spread for you to enjoy! If any of the nuts are salted, taste for seasoning before you add some salt.

So simple!

• Serve this with your favorite bread, bagel, roll, etc.
• Billy chose to swirl some into some Greek yogurt and said it was amazing. A must try!

Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Cookies

Oh, those sweet lunch ladies back in the day…they had their special lunch lady secrets, didn’t they? Billy and I still talk about the fabulous soft, chewy peanut butter cookies we used to get at school. What made them so special? Are we just imagining how good they were? Let's face it, nearly every kid would be thrilled to get cookies with their lunch, right? Maybe we were over thinking it, making it all up in our heads. But--he and I didn’t go to school together at all. He moved around when he was a kid, and went to different school districts, and still had those old school peanut butter cookies on his mind.

I don’t think we were imagining it. No, I don’t. I think there’s a Lunch Lady Secret Society, like the Masons or Skull and Bones. I think they’re sworn in, given their hairnets and plastic gloves, and then sworn to secrecy. Secrets that they will take to the grave.  Secrets that can only be passed from one lunch lady to the next, in the cloak of darkness, at school cafeterias all over the country. Leaving us all to wonder…”What the heck did they DO to make those cookies so good?!”

Or…maybe if I’d had asked, they would have shared their secret. While I tend to believe the latter, I really like to imagine the former. It’s more fun that way!

I talked before on the blog about cracking the lunch lady PB cookie code. I thought I had. Silly me, I should have known it couldn’t be that simple. Well, it is actually simple--I just didn’t have it quite right. Right after posting those cookies, a long time reader (seriously, like from the beginning of my blog!), Jen B. contacted me and told me she had the secret. When she asked if I was interested, I almost thought we’d have to meet in secrecy, for fear of retaliation from the Lunch Lady Secret Society. Would we need disguises? Should I change cars every so many miles? Have I been watching too many movies?

No. Turns out none of that was necessary. Jen said she’d email the recipe to me when she got home from work. So yeah, too much TV for me, I guess. Haha! It turns out that Jen went to school not too far from where I did, and her school district published a cookbook. It seems everyone wanted Velma Houle’s (Jen calls her the “Queen of School Lunch”) PB cookie recipe.

Are you ready for the secret? Ok. Lock your doors, and close the curtains. Be sure no one is reading over your shoulder. Here goes:

14 lbs peanut butter

5 lbs Honey

3 lbs butter

From the school lunch program 1950 – 1985  Velma Houle, retired food service director.

That’s it! Jen assured me that yes, there are only three ingredients. How simple is that? She said they also used that mixture for pb and grape jelly sandwiches, and another treat I’m going to make and share with you later.

I scaled it down and mixed the three ingredients together. It was a lot looser than I expected, but I’m guessing it was because I used an organic peanut butter instead of a major brand. So I used the mixture in my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. I fully intend to try this again using just the three ingredients. I’ll be sure to report back to you how it goes!

Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes about 75 (3 inch) cookies, or a lot of smaller ones.

5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter, room temp
1/2 cup shortening, room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
Peanut butter mixture (see below)
1 (10 oz) bag Mini Reese's Pieces

Peanut Butter Mixture

16 oz peanut butter (I used an organic peanut butter)
4 oz (1 stick) butter, room temp
1/4 cup  honey

Heat oven to 350 degrees. You can go ahead and mix up the peanut butter mixture first, then set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside. In a standing mixer or large bowl, cream the 1 1/2 cups of butter, the shortening and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well after each one, then add the vanilla and the peanut butter mixture. Add the flour mixture by the cupful and beat at low speed until fully mixed.

At this point, it's a lot of dough! Billy wanted some w/out Reese's Pieces, so I took some of the dough out of the bowl to set aside for that, and it made it easier to mix in the candy. This really *does* make a lot of dough, so the larger the bowl, the better.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. I used a 2 inch scoop to make these cookies, so they're a good size, but not huge. Place about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet. Very important!! BAKE FOR 11 MINUTES ONLY! Any more than that, and they'll be overdone. The cookies will still be pale, maybe just a touch golden brown on the bottom edges. As long as your oven is running at the correct temp, this is all the time the cookies need. Remove from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then remove to a cooling rack using a spatula. Even though they’ll look doughy and soft, they’ll set up perfectly, I promise! Let cool completely (yeah, right!) and then store in an airtight container.

• I made these on Saturday, and now, on Tuesday, they're still as rich and chewy as the first day. The whole family loves these cookies!
• I did some with cross hatch marks with a fork, and I don't recommend it. They came out too thin and fell apart when stored in the container. The ones you see in the photos have held up beautifully!
• If you overcook these, they won’t be nice and chewy. I’m serious, folks-only 11 minutes in the oven. Trust me.
• I know I've said it before, but you actually CAN bribe people with these cookies. Try it.
• And finally, thank you so much, Jen!

Honey Lime Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Super easy and tasty dinner alert! After a long day at work, you can have these chicken tacos and pineapple salsa on the table fairly quickly. If you’ve got 10 minutes in the morning (or a few minutes the night before!), you can slice the chicken and whip up the marinade in a snap, leaving the chicken to soak up the flavors of lime, cumin and honey all day long. When you get home, quickly toss the salsa together, throw some rice on, warm the tortillas, and you’re all set.

I’ve been making these for quite a while now, and finally nailed down the marinade and got it just where we like it. We love the flavors of the honey, lime and cumin, paired with the refreshing pineapple, the citrusy cilantro, and the bite of the jalapeno. Billy always loves it when he sees these on the menu, and since they’re so simple to make, they show up quite often. I’ve also made them vegetarian, with Quorn chicken substitute.

These would be equally as delicious made on the grill. Marinate your chicken, grill it up-you can even heat the tortillas quickly on the hot grill. The pineapple salsa is super refreshing in the summertime, too! If you’re not feeling like tacos, the salsa is just as wonderful on corn chips with a cold beer or iced tea out on the deck.

A note on the cilantro: I know it’s one of those love it or hate it flavors. If you’re a hater, you can substitute flat/Italian parsley, and a dash of ground coriander. Coriander seeds come from the cilantro plant. It won’t have that same bite, but you’ll still have the lime juice in there, so add to taste.

Honey Lime Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

makes about 10 tacos

Chicken and marinade:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly crosswise
1/2 cup oil (I use olive or canola-whatever I feel like at the time)
juice of 2 limes
1 1/2 tsp adobo (low sodium is great if you can get it)
2 tsp cumin
2 pinches cinnamon
1 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp honey

Pineapple Salsa:
2 cups fresh diced pineapple (about 1/2 inch dice)
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
3 tbsp finely diced red onion
1 jalapeno, finely diced-ribs and seeds removed for less heat if you like
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

For assembling:
Corn Tortillas (about 8 inch diameter)
thinly sliced radishes
more chopped cilantro, if desired

Place the sliced chicken in a large zip top bag. In a small bowl, add the remaining marinade ingredients. Whisk together until blended, then pour over the chicken. Seal the bag, toss to coat all of the chicken, and marinate for at least an hour. (Make ahead tip: Prepare the marinade and chicken, and toss the zip top bag in the freezer. Later, as you thaw it out to prepare it, the chicken will soak up the nice flavors in the marinade-then all you have to prepare is the salsa!)

While the chicken marinates, prepare the salsa:
Combine all of the salsa ingredients, give it a good stir, then stash it in the fridge while you wait for the chicken. This can also be made a day ahead, but it gets juicier the next day. When adding it to the tacos, you may want to use a slotted spoon.

To cook the chicken, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Spoon the chicken out of the marinade and into the pan. Discard remaining marinade. Sauté until the chicken is no longer pink, remove from pan and set aside.

Heat the tortillas:
Lightly brush both sides of the tortillas with a bit of oil. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, and place 3-4 tortillas (or more if you can fit them) into the dry pan. Heat for 2-4 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn them. You really just want too heat them through and maybe get a bit of color on them. Set aside.

To assemble:
Place some radishes down the center of the tortillas, then top with some chicken and salsa, and extra cilantro, if using it. I like to serve ours with more pineapple chunks on the side, and perhaps some rice and beans.