I recently bought a jar of smooth peanut butter because I was using a recipe that called for some. And indeed, said recipe was enjoyable. The only thing is that I now have the rest of the jar of peanut butter to use up.
It's not something I want (for example) to eat on toast, or in PBJ type sandwiches, but am quite happy to add to things like sauces. So any other suggestions for how I can use up the peanut butter? Savoury uses preferred...
It doesn’t survive long here as Mr Heavenly eats it by the spoon, but I often mix it with honey, spices and soy sauce and add it to stir fries, like a satay sauce.
African peanut soup is also a possibility. Lots of West African and South East Asian ideas out there, those will be the main areas to look at. Personally I love stirring some peanut butter into curry flavour instant noodles along with some soy sauce and either sweet chilli sauce or sriracha....
It doesn’t survive long here as Mr Heavenly eats it by the spoon, but I often mix it with honey, spices and soy sauce and add it to stir fries, like a satay sauce.
Same here, often with chili peppers.
I’m facing a similar conundrum, though in my case it’s apple butter we got to make a glaze for pork chops. The glaze was very good, and I plan to make it again, but I doubt we’ll want the pork chops or pork tenderloin, which it would also do nicely with, often enough to use up the big jar of apple butter.
It doesn’t survive long here as Mr Heavenly eats it by the spoon, but I often mix it with honey, spices and soy sauce and add it to stir fries, like a satay sauce.
Same here, often with chili peppers.
I’m facing a similar conundrum, though in my case it’s apple butter we got to make a glaze for pork chops. The glaze was very good, and I plan to make it again, but I doubt we’ll want the pork chops or pork tenderloin, which it would also do nicely with, often enough to use up the big jar of apple butter.
Is the apple butter spiced? I would let any spicing guide me rather than apples specifically. Maybe use it in baking as a sweetener? You could also beat it with egg whites or butter to make frosting without needing any added sugar.
I'm not at all sure what apple butter is, but would it be possible to freeze it in small enough quantities (eg ice-cube trays, or the little pots that you sometimes get coleslaw in from takeaways) so that you only need to defrost what you need?
I am in a similar pb situation.
Checking through the cupboards this morning I found an unopened jar of smooth peanut butter due to reach its use by date next month.
My inclination with pb is to follow Mr Heavenly's example, and having started I reach the bottom of the jar very quickly, so I am looking for quick and easy recipes to share the pb with Mr RoS.
The first one on my list to try is Nigella's dreamy, Creamy, Peanut Butter.
Pasta. It will probably go on next week's menu.
Thanks for the various ideas, @Pomona and @Lamb Chopped. Snoop (yes, my daughter, who loves rap and hip hop, named her dog Snoop) particularly appreciates the feed it to the dogs idea. (And piglet, yes I might explore freezing in smaller quantities. I needed 3 tablespoons for the glaze, and the only apple butter at the store was a 28 oz (794 g) jar.)
I’m now also wondering about a spoonful or two mixed into my oatmeal, which I normally flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice.
BTW, if anyone is interested, the recipe for the glaze is:
3 tablespoons apple butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
This is for 4 pork chops. Glaze all over, slow cook on low temp (I do 225° on the grill), the glaze the tops again and put under the broiler for about 5 minutes.
It's soup season here and I'm a bit bored with the usual soups I make. Does anyone have any tried and true recipes they can recommend please? I'm particularly interested in vegan recipes as most of the ones I inherited from mum are meat based and were popular when meat was a lot cheaper here.
As I live alone recipes that can be frozen would be particularly welcome.
I'm probably not the person to ask for exact recipes, I go more by themes. One of which is root veg + spice. I am shortly going to chop up an onion and a sweet potato, add vegetable stock and chilli flakes, cook, liquidise, finish with a squirt of lime juice.
Or onion, parsnip, veg stock and curry powder - same idea. Finish with swirl of yoghurt if you like.
The world's fastest and easiest soup. A friend gave me the recipe ages ago and I return to it periodically. I made this yesterday - it's just the thing when you need a quick meal without too much effort.
Get a tin of peas and empty it into a pan water and all. Add some goat's cheese and a small bunch of mint. Heat it all up together and then blend. You may need to add a bit of water if it comes out too thick.
A jar of peanut butter I have had a recipe which was basically peanut butter, cocoa and chilli which you mixed to your desired taste and texture. Imagine it on toast with mashed banana.
I am in a similar pb situation.
Checking through the cupboards this morning I found an unopened jar of smooth peanut butter due to reach its use by date next month.
My inclination with pb is to follow Mr Heavenly's example, and having started I reach the bottom of the jar very quickly, so I am looking for quick and easy recipes to share the pb with Mr RoS.
The first one on my list to try is Nigella's dreamy, Creamy, Peanut Butter.
Pasta. It will probably go on next week's menu.
Don't worry about the date. Peanut butter has a best before, not a use by, and is perfectly safe indefinitely.
@Huia not a recipe as such but I recommend getting a vegetarian tom yum paste (Mae Ploy do a vegetarian one which should be widely available) as it keeps for ages in the fridge and makes an instant and delicious soup with whatever you have on hand. Traditionally most Thai soups are eaten with rice (treated more like a very thin curry) but adding noodles is also common (as are stir-fried 'dry' tom yum dishes).
Miso or doenjang (the Korean version of miso which is usually cheaper) are also good ways of making instant soup to which you can add basically anything. I really like doenjang-jjigae (Maangchi recipe here) which is very hearty and comforting in cold weather. Instead of shrimp and dried anchovies I would rehydrate and slice a few dried shiitake and add those with their soaking water. It's also good made with cabbage instead of zucchini.
I've got my eye on trying one of the Mafé type things in due course. I also have a couple of recipe cards where I soaked dried cashews/peanuts and blended them into something with spices, so I might look those out again & improvise...
And probably down the line, something sort of Chinese/Thai. But there's quite a lot in the jar, so it'll be a gradual process!
Another fan of Mae Ploy tom yum paste here (I also use their Thai curry pastes) and miso paste.
Generally my winter soups tend to be of a similar approach to Firenze; I sweat the onions and potatoes, add whatever root veg I have, add seasoning and stock, then liquidise when cooked. Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche or a drizzle of flavoured oil.
One soup I remember really liking as a child when an aunt served it at a party is John Tovey's (via Delia Smith) Tomato, apple, and celery soup - that it's stayed with me all this time is probably a good sign! It doesn't taste too sweet or fruity from the apple, just a fresh sweetness that helps out less ripe tomatoes.
1 onion, 3 large carrots, 2 baking potatoes, a small turnip (swede/rutabaga type), all peeled and chopped.
Sweat them in butter and oil over a very low heat for about 15 minutes with about half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, mace and turmeric, a quarter teaspoon of dried chilli flakes and a good grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Add a couple of handfuls of red lentils and about 2 pints/1 litre/4 cups hot stock (I used 2 ham stock cubes, but you could just as well use veggie ones).
Bring to the boil, turn the heat down to its lowest, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the veggies are soft.
Take off the heat, whizz with an immersion blender until smooth, stir in a small carton of cream and season to taste.
Thanks for the various ideas, @Pomona and @Lamb Chopped. Snoop (yes, my daughter, who loves rap and hip hop, named her dog Snoop) particularly appreciates the feed it to the dogs idea. (And piglet, yes I might explore freezing in smaller quantities. I needed 3 tablespoons for the glaze, and the only apple butter at the store was a 28 oz (794 g) jar.)
I’m now also wondering about a spoonful or two mixed into my oatmeal, which I normally flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice.
Circling back to this just to say that the apple butter turned out to be really good in oatmeal.
Rather a successful stab at Hake in Green Sauce (Merluza con Salsa Verde). To do:
Gently fry up some chopped garlic in olive oil. Toss in finely chopped parsley and a little flour. Add fish stock or white wine (or both) sufficient to make a thickish sauce. Put in fine asparagus and the hake. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Thanks for the soup recipes and ideas. I have found the recipes folder I had misplaced (tidied away in a dark hole because I had people staying with me).
In preparation for a couple of days cooking for myslf, without my husband, I've bought some smoked tofu.Now I can't find any useful recipes. Can anyone suggets anything, please? Or do I just put it in a stir-fry or pasta sauce?
My way with tofu - plain rather than smoked - is start with Firm, squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then cut into cubes, roll in cornflour, and fry in a little hot oil, turning carefully.
Add the crisped cubes to veg stir fried with a pungent sauce.
Smoked tofu typically is firm tofu to start with, and the pellicle will make it harder to squeeze moisture out of it. So I would focus on coating it in order to prevent it from sticking. But also for a stir-fry, if your wok is hot enough and well-seasoned it shouldn't stick anyway. Heat the wok before adding oil, and drizzle the oil around the sides rather than adding it to the bottom.
@JLB if you look up the website of the tofu brand in question, they should have recipes.
I just made a new black bean soup recipe. The original recipe came from The Zen Monastery Cookbook, but I added basil and instead of yellow onions I used red onions (no real reason: but the yellow onions in the grocery store looked bad and reds looked good...). And I tweaked the cooking times.
What intrigued me with this recipe is that the sautéing of the vegetables is done in water--not oil. I have a very dear friend who cannot handle oils--which means that most of the soups I make are off the menu for her. To find a non-oil soup recipe is a joy. The soup itself is a non-spicy black bean soup with fruity overtones.
Zen Black Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
2 cups black beans
2 red onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
28 oz tomatoes, diced
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsp salt
11.5 oz orange juice
3 tsp fresh basil, chopped
DIRECTIONS
1) Sort beans and soak them overnight.
2) Drain beans, add to pot, and add fresh water enough to cover beans by about 2 inches. Cover and cook beans until tender (about 1.5 hours). Drain beans but save the cooking liquid.
3) In a separate pan, sauté onions, garlic and carrots in some water until almost tender. Add bell peppers, tomatoes and seasonings and cook for about 5 minutes.
4) Add the vegetable mixture to the bean pot, add the orange juice and basil and enough of the saved cooking liquid to make a soup (to taste). Heat all for about 15 minutes.
Makes about 4.5 quarts or so All depending (of course) on how much of the cooking liquid you add back in. Some people like soups that are primarily solids with just a little liquid, but to me the broth is what makes a soup, so I prefer mine to be more liquid.
That sounds good (although I personally can't eat beans). Delia has a couple of slow-and-low cooked vegetable soups here and here which don't involve any sautéeing, but get their Maillard reactions from the length of time spent cooking. I don't think I would use a slow cooker for this but if the cost of fuel was a concern you could simmer it on the stovetop with the lid on (I would also be inclined to use water rather than stock to prevent over-salting due to the soup reducing, and use more herbs instead).
Also @Hedgehog not a soup, but you may be interested in this oil-free baked mushroom risotto recipe, made using low-fat evaporated milk. I don't know if your friend can have alcohol but chicken or vegetable broth with a splash of balsamic or wine vinegar would be a good (and cheaper!) sub for the madeira if not.
@Hedgehog Thank you so much for the Zen black bean soup recipe. I am on a very low-sodium diet and no orange juice. There is limited Mexican food allowed so I was wondering what to fix. I was able to tweak the recipe into a Mexican bean soup for the Cinco-de-Mayo celebration tomorrow, by using no salt products and a few switches. It turned out yummy. I will put a dash of sour cream on top with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, when I serve it.
@Graven Image I was wondering if tamarind paste (the kind you make by rehydrating block tamarind and pushing it through a sieve) would be a good substitute for orange juice, but if orange juice has too much sodium that might not work either? Raw tamarind apparently has 28mg of sodium per 100g if that helps.
I recently bought a jar of smooth peanut butter because I was using a recipe that called for some. And indeed, said recipe was enjoyable. The only thing is that I now have the rest of the jar of peanut butter to use up.
It's not something I want (for example) to eat on toast, or in PBJ type sandwiches, but am quite happy to add to things like sauces. So any other suggestions for how I can use up the peanut butter? Savoury uses preferred...
To follow up on this, I tried a Senegalese mafé, loosely based on this recipe, and done in the slow cooker. And I would very happily repeat it again some time (though there are three more portions in my freezer currently!). Thanks for the suggestion - that's a good one to add to my repertoire of slow cooker dishes
Hedgehog, the Black Bean Soup sounds interesting. I will now have to check where I can buy the beans. My nearest supermarkets only sell canned beans so I will need to venture further afield.
Hedgehog, the Black Bean Soup sounds interesting. I will now have to check where I can buy the beans. My nearest supermarkets only sell canned beans so I will need to venture further afield.
Hedgehog, the Black Bean Soup sounds interesting. I will now have to check where I can buy the beans. My nearest supermarkets only sell canned beans so I will need to venture further afield.
Yes, I would imagine canned beans would work, although I agree with @Gee D that rinsing is in order. Dry beans are great to store on the shelves without taking up too much room, but the whole soak-overnight thing does make them less user friendly.
Comments
It's not something I want (for example) to eat on toast, or in PBJ type sandwiches, but am quite happy to add to things like sauces. So any other suggestions for how I can use up the peanut butter? Savoury uses preferred...
Various recipes are on line, although I can't really point you to one, because the ones I know are all in French.
That could add a touch of adventure
I’m facing a similar conundrum, though in my case it’s apple butter we got to make a glaze for pork chops. The glaze was very good, and I plan to make it again, but I doubt we’ll want the pork chops or pork tenderloin, which it would also do nicely with, often enough to use up the big jar of apple butter.
Is the apple butter spiced? I would let any spicing guide me rather than apples specifically. Maybe use it in baking as a sweetener? You could also beat it with egg whites or butter to make frosting without needing any added sugar.
Checking through the cupboards this morning I found an unopened jar of smooth peanut butter due to reach its use by date next month.
My inclination with pb is to follow Mr Heavenly's example, and having started I reach the bottom of the jar very quickly, so I am looking for quick and easy recipes to share the pb with Mr RoS.
The first one on my list to try is Nigella's dreamy, Creamy, Peanut Butter.
Pasta. It will probably go on next week's menu.
Thanks for the various ideas, @Pomona and @Lamb Chopped. Snoop (yes, my daughter, who loves rap and hip hop, named her dog Snoop) particularly appreciates the feed it to the dogs idea. (And piglet, yes I might explore freezing in smaller quantities. I needed 3 tablespoons for the glaze, and the only apple butter at the store was a 28 oz (794 g) jar.)
I’m now also wondering about a spoonful or two mixed into my oatmeal, which I normally flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice.
BTW, if anyone is interested, the recipe for the glaze is:
3 tablespoons apple butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
This is for 4 pork chops. Glaze all over, slow cook on low temp (I do 225° on the grill), the glaze the tops again and put under the broiler for about 5 minutes.
As I live alone recipes that can be frozen would be particularly welcome.
Thanks in hopeful anticipation.
Or onion, parsnip, veg stock and curry powder - same idea. Finish with swirl of yoghurt if you like.
Get a tin of peas and empty it into a pan water and all. Add some goat's cheese and a small bunch of mint. Heat it all up together and then blend. You may need to add a bit of water if it comes out too thick.
Don't worry about the date. Peanut butter has a best before, not a use by, and is perfectly safe indefinitely.
Miso or doenjang (the Korean version of miso which is usually cheaper) are also good ways of making instant soup to which you can add basically anything. I really like doenjang-jjigae (Maangchi recipe here) which is very hearty and comforting in cold weather. Instead of shrimp and dried anchovies I would rehydrate and slice a few dried shiitake and add those with their soaking water. It's also good made with cabbage instead of zucchini.
And probably down the line, something sort of Chinese/Thai. But there's quite a lot in the jar, so it'll be a gradual process!
Generally my winter soups tend to be of a similar approach to Firenze; I sweat the onions and potatoes, add whatever root veg I have, add seasoning and stock, then liquidise when cooked. Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche or a drizzle of flavoured oil.
1 tsp of
Bake for 10 minutes (or thereabouts depending on the thickness of fillets) with a lot of butter.
I made a pot of veg & spice soup this afternoon:
1 onion, 3 large carrots, 2 baking potatoes, a small turnip (swede/rutabaga type), all peeled and chopped.
Sweat them in butter and oil over a very low heat for about 15 minutes with about half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, mace and turmeric, a quarter teaspoon of dried chilli flakes and a good grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Add a couple of handfuls of red lentils and about 2 pints/1 litre/4 cups hot stock (I used 2 ham stock cubes, but you could just as well use veggie ones).
Bring to the boil, turn the heat down to its lowest, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the veggies are soft.
Take off the heat, whizz with an immersion blender until smooth, stir in a small carton of cream and season to taste.
Gently fry up some chopped garlic in olive oil. Toss in finely chopped parsley and a little flour. Add fish stock or white wine (or both) sufficient to make a thickish sauce. Put in fine asparagus and the hake. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the crisped cubes to veg stir fried with a pungent sauce.
@JLB if you look up the website of the tofu brand in question, they should have recipes.
What intrigued me with this recipe is that the sautéing of the vegetables is done in water--not oil. I have a very dear friend who cannot handle oils--which means that most of the soups I make are off the menu for her. To find a non-oil soup recipe is a joy. The soup itself is a non-spicy black bean soup with fruity overtones.
Zen Black Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
2 cups black beans
2 red onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
28 oz tomatoes, diced
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin, ground
2 tsp salt
11.5 oz orange juice
3 tsp fresh basil, chopped
DIRECTIONS
1) Sort beans and soak them overnight.
2) Drain beans, add to pot, and add fresh water enough to cover beans by about 2 inches. Cover and cook beans until tender (about 1.5 hours). Drain beans but save the cooking liquid.
3) In a separate pan, sauté onions, garlic and carrots in some water until almost tender. Add bell peppers, tomatoes and seasonings and cook for about 5 minutes.
4) Add the vegetable mixture to the bean pot, add the orange juice and basil and enough of the saved cooking liquid to make a soup (to taste). Heat all for about 15 minutes.
Makes about 4.5 quarts or so All depending (of course) on how much of the cooking liquid you add back in. Some people like soups that are primarily solids with just a little liquid, but to me the broth is what makes a soup, so I prefer mine to be more liquid.
To follow up on this, I tried a Senegalese mafé, loosely based on this recipe, and done in the slow cooker. And I would very happily repeat it again some time (though there are three more portions in my freezer currently!). Thanks for the suggestion - that's a good one to add to my repertoire of slow cooker dishes
Canned black beans should work fine here.
I just made it with canned beans, no problem.
Just rinse them thoroughly. Canned beans and chick peas are very useful to have in the cupboard.