Cuisine Eric

These are perhaps the best cookies I have ever made. What could be better than peanut butter cookies? Peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with honey roasted peanuts, that's what! 2 sticks butter (1 cup), room temperature 1 cup chunky peanut butter 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1-1/2 cups brown sugar 3/4 cup white granulated sugar 2 eggs, room temperature Dry Ingredients 2-3/4 cup all purpose flour 3/4 tsp baking soda 1-1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp kosher salt 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 tsp coconut oil 1 cup honey roasted peanuts, finely chopped Beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth.  Add the vanilla the sugars and beat together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Now whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the sugar mixture and mix together into a stiff even dough. Refrigerate dough for an hour. Preheat oven to 350F. Scoop out or form golf-ball sized balls onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Fl...

These delicious kebabs are easy to prepare and cook. The Ajika seasoning is a blend of several different chili powders with coriander and fennugreek, which gives it delicious, almost buttery flavor notes. 1-1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 5) 2 Tbsp Ajika seasoning 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 each, red, green and orange bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 large onion quartered lengthwise and then halved to form 1-inch pieces Aioli Baste 2 Tbsp good real mayonnaise 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp Ajika seasoning 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (or to taste) Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the Ajika seasoning and olive oil and mix well. Allow to marinate for a good hour or two in the refrigerator. Heat grill to high. Whisk together the aioli baste ingredients in a small bowl. Thread the chicken onto 3-4 large skewers, alternating with the peppers and onions. Grill the kebabs on all sides, basting with the aioli baste every once in a whi...

This buttery delicious ice cream uses a custard base with cream and eggs to give it an unbelievably unctuous consistency. The salted pecans toasted in butter add richness and depth and give it that famous 'butter pecan' flavor, punctuated with that dash of salt. 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup milk 4 egg yokes 1/3 cup cane sugar 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup pecans (I used roasted, salted) chopped into 1/4-inch pieces   1/4 cup butter   The day before churning, freeze churn bowl of the ice cream maker for 18-24 hours. The day of churning, heat milk and cream to 180F, whisking often. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, whisk sugar into egg yokes in a separate medium bowl.  Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of hot cream to yokes whisking continuously. Do the same with two more 1/2 cups cream.  Return yoke mixture to remaining cream in pot. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Your cream mixture will fall down to something like 140F. Over low heat, bring the cream ...

This is a nice and simple side dish when grilling. Herbs, olive oil and spices - not much more needed for superb grilled peppers. 1 red bell pepper 1 green bell pepper 1 orange (or yellow) bell pepper 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste 1/2 tsp garlic powder Plenty of freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 tsp Italian herbs (dried or fresh) Slice and seed peppers into 1-1/2 inch slices. Toss in a large bowl with olive oil and seasonings.   Heat grill to high. Grill pepper slices on both sides to desired level of char. Baste with left-over olive oil mix as grilling. Cook’s Notes: I prefer a good bit of char on my peppers, but you can adjust to taste. If you have no extra olive oil oil after removing peppers from the bowl, add a bit more to the bowl for basting - it produces a good flame char - so baste CAREFULLY!

This is a delicious home-made BBQ sauce, which can be used with so many grilled foods. One of the attractions of this sauce is that you know exactly what is in it and can adjust to your taste. I'm not a big fan of some of the high-fructose adds and fillers in so many prepared foods. Here I used it on pork chops. 1 shallot, minced 3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press 1 cup canned crushed pineapple 3 Tbsp red miso 1 cup ketchup Juice of 1 lemon 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup honey 2 Tbsp favorite hot sauce, or to taste In a medium pot, sweat shallots in a dash of olive oil, until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.   Bring to a gentle boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook another 10-15 minutes. Makes about 3 cups sauce. Cook's Notes: Made for a feast along with corn on the cob, sauerkraut and Nancy's famous potato salad. Always serve extra sauce on the side. Notice Amanda...

Trader Joe's used to offer a delicious spice mix called Ajika, originating from Georgia in Eastern Europe. It is a chili powder mix containing - and this is critical - coriander and fenugreek powders. These give the mix almost a buttery flavor, which complements the kick from the various chili and pepper accents. Don't fret about the Kashmiri chili - it's notoriously mild. If you can't find Turkish Aleppo pepper, you could substitute Korean ground chili powder. Unfortunately, Trader Joe's decided to cancel the mix, and so I reverse engineered it based on my last bottle. This works well on all kinds of grilled foods and savory dishes. But I didn't add any salt because I like to control salt in dishes, which is difficult if not impossible to do when the spice mixes you use contain salt. Stay tuned for its use in this blog! 1 Tbsp Kashmiri chili 1 Tbsp smoked paprika 2 Tbsp sweet paprika 1/4 cup fenugreek powder 2 Tbsp garlic granules 1 Tbsp dried minced chives 2 T...

Mincing half the fish with half diced fish adds so much texture! And puréeing the shrimp eliminates the need for adding egg for binding. Chilling most definitely helps. These are crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside, and taste like the sea. A simple bed of muffin and spinach, and a garnish with sauce and tomato is all you need. Serve these over a salad mix instead - a great option. But the mix of purée and diced seafood adds a whole texture dimension to these patties. Shrimp Cakes 8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined   4 oz fillet of tilapia, or other white fish 1 large clove garlic, peeled and quartered   1/2 tsp dried dill 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried) 1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes   1 green onion 1/2 cup panko crumbs Thousand Island Sauce   1/4 cup good real mayonnaise 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt   1 Tbsp ketchup and/or favorite hot sauce, to taste 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish   1 Tbsp sweet India relish About 2-3 oz fresh baby spinac...