Peanut Butter-Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

On Sunday night we had a friend and her family over for dinner. Bob made enchiladas and other stuff. I made a pie. Even though Bob and I aren't dessert people, its nice to have something at a dinner party.

This recipe came from the Kraft Food & Family magazine. I substituted a pre-made graham cracker crust instead of making my own crust, which is a great time saver.

You will need:

1 pre-made graham cracker crust

2 bananas, halved lengthwise and quartered

a little more than 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups milk

2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding

2 cups thawed Cool Whip

2 Tbsp coarsely chopped nuts

Lay the banana pieces in the pie crust.

Microwave 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter on high for 1min. Stir together to make sure the chocolate is well melted and mixture is blended. Poor mixture over bananas.

Whisk the 2 cups of milk with the instant pudding packages. Mix 1 cup of Cool Whip into the pudding mixture, then spread over the chocolate and bananas. 

Top the pie with the remaining Cool Whip. Sprinkle some chopped nuts and chocolate chips on top of the pie for decoration. Refrigerate pie for at least 3 hours before serving. 

Vodka Cream Sauce

Bob plays softball on Friday nights, and since I hate sitting outside, pretending to watch, and having dirt blow on me, I have started staying home. I struck up a deal with Bob; I don't go to the games, instead I stay home and make nice dinner. Everyone is happy. I don't have to go to softball, and Bob gets a nice meal when he gets home.

In Bob's defense, I would love to go to his softball games, if they were a little more exciting, less dirty, and maybe not with work people. I just hate watching the team get slaughtered.

So I've been trying to do something nice for him, and make him some dinner.

This past Friday, I made pasta with vodka cream sauce, an awesome salad, asparagus, and cherries. The sauce recipe and salad were from a Rachael Ray episode. Here are the links:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/you-wont-be-single-for-long-vodka-cream-pasta-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/heart-y-salad-hearts-of-romaine-palm-and-artichoke-recipe/index.html

Breakfast for Dinner

There are few meals that have left me speechless... and this was one of them. Bob and I were in a little rut trying to come up with something for dinner last night, so we flipped through our Rachael Ray DVDs and came across her 'Breakfast for Dinner' episode. The meal consists of French Toast-wiches with Peach Chutney, Green Onion Hashbrowns, and Yougurt Parfaits. Below is the link to the Food Network site for this show. 

A Frech Toast-wich is a sandwich of cheddar cheese, smoked turkey, and apple slices made between two slices of french toast. You then top the sandwich with homemade, warm peach and apricot chutney. 

Bob doesnt like onions, so I didnt make Rachael Ray's hashbrown recipe. I made rosemary and sweet potato hashbrowns.

We drank mimosas with this meal, and we were so full we didnt make it to the fruit, yogurt, and granola parfaits.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tm/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9997_20600,00.html

Potato Skins: The Verdict

As with any meal or dish that exists only in the mind before it is attempted to be brought into the tangible world things don't go quite as expected.  As per the previous post the plan was to create potato skins without a recipe with the twist of using sweet potatoes instead of the standard Idaho spud.  The sweet potatoes took quite a while to get cooked, and when I thought they were done, they were still in need of more cooking for the core of the potato.  If you're trying this at home you might as well put the sweet potatoes in the oven for a full day or just ask Orpheus to run them down to Hades for the afternoon.  If you seriously want to know how long this should cook and what temperature then hopefully you'll be less lazy than me and look it up.  The next issue that occurred was that unlike bar skins these sweet skins just fell right off from the rest of the potato.  This is when I went to plan B.  Plan B consisted of making some hasty mashed potatoes.  I didn't have a masher or even anything worthy of mashing so I used a plastic spatula and a lot of elbow grease.  Since we had no milk that was fresh I used some cream to give it a consistency that was a little easier to work with.  For some reason at this point I decided to throw some curry in.  It just seemed to make sense and ended up working out really well.  It compliments the flavor of the sweet potato really well, and Elizabeth didn't realize that it was even in there even though I put in a little more than I intended.

While all this was happening I was grilling up some bacon on the George Foreman grill, which really does a good job of draining the grease efficiently.  It makes for easier cleanup as well.  I like to throw a little chili powder on the bacon just to season it up a little bit. 

Back to the potato.  I cut the skin of the two potatoes into strips about and inch wide.  I placed the strips on a baking sheet and then turned the oven to 360.  It doesn't need to be too hot, you just want to melt everything together.  I then scooped my the potato mash into skins, threw on a some chives, broken up bits of the cooked bacon, and then covered it in SHARP cheddar.  I capitalize SHARP because if you are going to eat cheddar it might be a good idea to actually taste it.  Since the sweet potato skins are really thin I then folded then into a cup around the filling.

At this point you throw it in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is nice and melty, then you take it out and you have some decent tasting potato skins.

The Verdict - Pretty good, could use some tweaks, but worth pursuing.

How about Potato Skins

This is a great example of making things up as I go.  Potato skins are good.  I'd like to make some at home.  Do I need a recipe?  Nah.  How hard could it be?  The twist is using sweet potatoes instead of regular spuds.  I'll let you know how it goes.

E's Top of the Town

5280 mag put out their annual 'Top of the Town' issue. Here's my Top of the Town:

Italian:

5280 picked: Osteria Marco

Readers picked: Pasta's Italian restaurant (I've been here and was not impressed)

My pick: Rico's.

I've been going to this place since high school and it never disappoints. I love the veggie spaghetti. The place is kinda a dive, located in Englewood on Broadway just north of Hampden, but its always good. (note: they only take cash.)

Mexican:

5280: Santiago's Mexican Restaurant

Readers: Benny's Restaurante y Tequila Bar 

My pick: Blue Bonnet

Bob introduced me to Blue Bonnet about a year ago, and I don't know why I ever ate anywhere else. This place is awesome, mellow, and very cool. I've never had a better margarita, and everything I've ate there has been great. Neither Bob nor I has ever been to either of the other picks, and we will be trying them to see if they are better. Located Broadway and Alameda. 

Thai:

5280: Chada Thai

Readers: Thai Basil (been here, its cute, but I've had better)

My pick: Wild Ginger

This is the best Pad Thai I've ever had. The best curry I've ever had. The best spring rolls I've ever had. Go there. Enjoy. I'll go with you if you want. And beware of Thai Hot.... it's not for the faint of heart, its just for Bob. Wild Ginger is located on Littleton Blvd, just west of Broadway.

Sushi:

5280: Sushi Tora

Readers: Sushi Den (been here, and its eh)

My pick: Land of Sushi

This place has a great $1 a piece happy hour special. The miso soup is to die for. I'm a sucker for a great Philadelphia roll and the one at Land of Sushi is very well balanced. Land of Sushi is located at University and Arapahoe Rd

Deli:

5280: Salvaggio's Italian Deli

Readers: Heidi's Brooklyn Deli (I hate Heidi's. They always mess up my order, there is always a line, and its not that great.)

My pick: Abe's in downtown Littleton

I love the veggie sandwich, the french dip, the chicken salad, and the pita. When the weather is nice, its great to sit outside.

Burger:

5280: Ted's Montana Grill, Elway's, and SmashBurger

Readers: Cherry Cricket

My pick: Cherry Cricket or City Grille

I rarely eat burgers. The last two I've ate have been at these places. They are very special. City Grill is on Colfax near the capital, Cherry Cricket is in Cherry Creek behind Crate and Barrel.

Diner:

5280: Rocky Mountain Diner

Readers: Steuben's

My pick: Pete's Kitchen or Cherry Cricket

Pete's Kitchen is the best diner atmosphere and diner food I've had in the city. And the Cherry Cricket.....you can't beat a diner with a bar in it. Pete's Kitchen is located on Colfax.

Pizza:

5280: Parisi

Readers: Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana

My Pick: Parisi

I forgot about this place until I read 5280's review. A friend and I stumbled upon this place on accident while we were waiting for a concert. Its so good.

Happy Hour Menu:

5280 & Readers: McCormick's Fish House & Bar (Bob and I will have to try this)

My pick: The Boulder Cafe

Bob and his friend took me here a few months ago, and I have been dying to get back. Its awesome and I wish there were more places like it.

Breakfast Sandwich

5280: no pick. They couldnt find anything good enough

My pick: The Pita Breakfast Sandwich at Pete's Kitchen

No matter what time of day it is, this is what I get when I'm at Pete's.