And because I am the way I am, I went out and roasted my own peanuts to make my own peanut butter.
It was easy really. Toss your raw nuts in peanut oil, a bit of salt (I used Sel Gris), and roast until very fragrant and getting nice and brown. Then get an intern or employee to shell and skin all of the nuts. This method will work with most nuts. Then process the nuts slowly adding peanut oil until you get the consistency that you're looking for. I added a bit of honey for good measure.
Then it was off to find the perfect pie. I started with my long lost big brother - Alton Brown.
It was very good, but it wasn't a peanut butter pie. His recipe makes a great Reeses Peanut Butter Cup - dense and rich. I then headed to Paula Deen (I should have known better), and got exactly what you would expect, "Dump a pound of butter into a gallon of cream." It was tasty but not quite what I was looking for.
When I lived in New Orleans I used to go to the soul food restaurants in the projects with some of my friends. These and a pseudo famous restaurant on the far side of the Quarter were my culinary guides at that time. I remember a puffy, luscious, very peanutty pie in a graham cracker shell. I don't remember any cream cheese, but that seems to be the way most folks go these days.
So onward I ploughed! Next was Amy Eber's recipe from eG. I naturally added my own touches. Instead of a graham crust I used Herme's chocolate tart shells, and I lined them with a bit of ganache and peanuts.
Amy's filling includes cream cheese, but it wasn't overpowering. This is a very good recipe.
It was good enough that I got to thinkin'! What if I replaced the cream cheese with mascarpone or quark or...(you know how I am, always thinkin'). I wasn't up for that adventure just yet, so I opted to fill a shell with Amy's filling, then topped it with a grapefruit mousse. Now we're talking! This was very good (not what I'm looking for, but very good)!
And so my quest continues. I want 1)A strong PB flavor and 2)No cream cheese tang. If you know the recipe I'm hankerin' for...send it my way!
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2 comments:
I set out just now, a bit grumpily, to try again to get my look-in numbers from Blogroll. (Never very many---mine's all words and no pictures, as usual).
For weeks, I've not been able to get any numbers at all past the first page of the list. Ahh, says I---I'll try a few random pages and see what's what.
Lo and behold, at the very top of the second try, page #57---two old friends.
I'm delighted to see you, and love what I've seen here, especially this PB pie.
more later after I look some more.
racheld
http://lawntea.blogspot.com/
I hear ya! My work schedule has dropped my posts, and my readers down to almost nil...so thanks for re-finding me :)
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