The Peanut Butter Boy » Side Dish

Sweet Potato and Yam Casserole

Nick — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:48:46 +0000

If you want to be praised and heralded for bringing the best dish at Thanksgiving, then make this casserole. The dish is inspired by Elisabeth’s Tia Herlinda who made a stellar sweet potato casserole one year. I’ve made a few Peanut Butter Boy conversions that, I daresay, make it even tastier. My favorite way to eat this dish is actually the next day, cold, straight from fridge. But speaking of potatoes, do you know the difference between sweet potatoes and yams? I thought I had it figured out, believing the orange colored ones to be yams and the white ones to be sweet potatoes. Well I thought wrong, and Google and Wikipedia actually added to the confusion. The definitive answer can be found here: The Sweet Potato vs Yam Debate. While technically both are sweet potatoes, I’m still calling this dish the Sweet Potato and Yam Casserole (I enjoy mass confusion). As a bonus, I’ve also included instructions to perfectly cook 2 turkey breasts, for all the white-meat-loving or small-group Thanksgivings out there.

Cabbage, Carrot and Peanut Bulgur

Nick — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:53:33 +0000

I don’t know why I made this. The combination of ingredients is strange, the name isn’t particularly appetizing (it was originally called braised bulgur and cabbage) and it doesn’t look all that good, but I had all the ingredients so it was too easy to pass up. Did you ever make a recipe you were skeptical about but it wound up being way better than expected? We served this with leftover Chicken Chana Saag (chicken and chickpeas in a spinach and garlic sauce), which is one of our favorite Indian dishes, and expected this odd recipe to simply be filler to round out the meal. We were so wrong. I couldn’t stop eating it and finished it all before I even touched the Saag. There were crazy flavors going on that I can’t fully describe – there was sweetness, saltiness, and something else that was just plain delicious. This taught me to never judge a recipe by its recipe.

Roundup: Peanut Butter Exhibition #10 – Things Are Heating Up!

Nick — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:03:40 +0000

Enough with the teasers – the results are in! We received 30 recipes with an incredible variety making this one of the biggest and greatest Peanut Butter Exhibitions yet! Me and my co-hosts from Bran Appetit, Living Healthy in the Real World, and Baking and Boys took our time reviewing and rating these recipes, especially considering the outstanding prize at stake: A variety pack of 6 jars of Peanut Butter & Co Peanut Butter for each of the Top 3 contestants. Read on for the peanut butter overload and of course, the undisputed HOT Peanut Butter Masters!

A Peanut Buttery Thanksgiving

Nick — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:02:00 +0000

If you don’t already know it yet, November is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month, the most important holiday of the year! What better way to celebrate the second greatest holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, by jazzing it up with some peanut butter? I’ve compiled a list of my own dishes below, most with peanut butter but some peanut butterless, for your Thanksgiving feast. Here are some simple and quick dishes that will satisfy your guests, great as last minute dishes to bring to the table. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Whole Grain Beer Bread

Nick — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:21:50 +0000

* Updated from the archives

Homemade bread is one of life’s simple pleasures. The enticing aroma while it’s baking, the unbeatable warmth of a fresh loaf, and the way butter (or peanut butter) melts on a warm slice. Let’s keep it simple – no need for yeast, dough starters or bread machines. This is one of the easiest and cheapest breads you can make and also my personal favorite. I recommend using a medium beer (such as Yuengling) but you won’t be able to taste it much in the end product anyways. The edges of this bread turn out so crispy that you’ll need to bite carefully so you don’t puncture the roof of your mouth. This basic recipe begs for add-ins, check out some suggestions. Shortly I’ll be sharing my new favorite use for this bread…

Perfect Boiled Beans

Nick — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:18:34 +0000

For those unaware, peanuts are not actually nuts, they’re legumes. Perhaps that is why I am so fond of Mr. Peanut’s cousin, Mr. Pinto. Ever since I boiled my first batch of beans about a year ago, I have been making a batch every week. Forget canned beans, these are where it’s at. Beans are a great source of nutrition and are perfect as a side dish or in tacos, chopped salads, quesadillas, pasta sauce, tuna/chicken salad, you name it! Also, these beans will make the ultimate batch of refried beans. My next step is to make a batch without salt and use them for brownies.

Butternut Squash Fries

Nick — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:27:07 +0000

Addicting. That’s the best word to describe these. French fries are not commonly seen on my plate, they don’t do much for me and there is certainly no nutrition to them. But these, these are different. I’ve seen this recipe before but passed it over on several occasions. I finally decided to give it a whirl when I had no other vegetable to go with dinner. Then I had them the next night, and the next, until I was making a fresh batch for every lunch and dinner for 3 weeks. The best part is, you can cut up several squash and store the uncooked sticks in the fridge for over a week and bake them on demand. And to ensure you don’t get bored with them I’ve concocted 3 different variations, all of which are delectable.

For those of you worried, the recent peanut butter salmonella contamination scare does not affect our favorite brand Naturally Nutty, I have confirmed it with Katie from the company who has checked all sources and posted a statement about it on their site. And mark your calendars for January 24th, it’s National Peanut Butter Day. I intend to have something fun planned for that day, any suggestions?

Twice-Baked Peanut Butter Sweet Potatoes

Nick — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:26:00 +0000

Twice baked potatoes are a satisfying side dish that give you a warm, cozy feeling inside but they’re usually made with regular potatoes. I think most foodies will agree: sweet potatoes are superior. In case you are unsure of the exact meaning, here’s a definition:

food·ie [foo-dee]
-noun Slang.
in the age old question of whether one eats to live or lives to eat, a foodie is the latter.
[Origin: FOOD + -IE, in part extracted from JUNKIE

Depending on what part of the world you are from you may call them sweet potatoes or yams, but what I'm talking about here are the potatoes with the brown/red skin and are bright orange inside. Well these potatoes turned out ultra creamy, sweet and savory, and this recipe is gluten-free and vegan if you use a tofu cream cheese. What do you prefer: regular or sweet potatoes?

Peanut Butter Refried Beans

Nick — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:12:00 +0000

If you’re not feeling too daring and the idea of peanut butter and beans does not appeal to you then check out my recipe for Homemade Refried Beans. But after my first Mexican/peanut butter crossover, I’ve decided to reveal my second success. I’ve wanted to try this for a while but was a little afraid of ruining an entire batch of beans. Of course it never occurred to me to add peanut butter to a small batch first and decide if it was good or not, so I went for the gold and made a full batch right off the bat.

I’ve posted my original refried beans and by no means are they lacking anything. But most refried beans use pork fat to make them extra creamy, so I thought: why not peanut butter? 1/4 cup was the perfect amount for me, but you may want to add it 1T at a time to make sure the mild flavor of the beans doesn’t get overpowered. I recommend using dry beans but if you’re in a hurry you can used canned instead (drained and rinsed).

Peanut Butter Cornbread

Nick — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:21:00 +0000

Here is my entry for the Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #2 – Breakfast. Never had cornbread for breakfast? You’re missing out. A nice toasted piece of cornbread spread with some butter and drizzled with honey is a wonderful breakfast or snack.

I came up with this gem one evening when a strong urge for cornbread came over me. I didn’t have the ingredients on hand, but I carefully planned it out for the following day. I scoped out several cornbread recipes, including one where masa harina was accidentally used instead of cornmeal. As for the peanut butter contribution, the only recipe I found for peanut butter cornbread called for 12 slices of bacon which seemed a bit odd. In any case, I came up with my own recipe. I took that out, added some of this, increased this and that and voilà!

The result was a corny, crumbly and peanut buttery cake – exactly what I was looking for! The only downside was that it was a bit dry. This was most likely due to the masa harina, so the liquid has been increased to 1 3/4 cups to account for that. It’s best right out of the oven, but it’s just as good toasted with honey. This recipe is vegan if you use soymilk and gluten-free if you substitute a different flour for the whole wheat pastry flour (or use only masa harina/cornmeal).

Don’t forget about the Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #2 – Breakfast! The deadline is this coming Friday, May 30th at Noon PST and we’ve only got 3 entries so far, so let’s move it!