Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie( Emeril)...

I really do NOT like Emeril. I think its the screaming and how he takes forever to garnish food. I especially hate The Bam!! Nevertheless, I saw this pie on someone's blog( I can't remember now) and thought it looked good enough for me to make for my Robin. Poor, Poor Robin. She ate like crap when I was in Florida so I wanted to make her a dessert using her favorite ingredient peanut butter. When I make her a peanut butter pie, I usually make the one that has a nutter butter crust(Nutter Butter's arent sold in Canada so I have to bring them back from MI) and cool whip. Like the aformentioned blogger, I used Nabisco Famous wafers because I had them. I also used bittersweet chocolate and I skipped the Sauce. I used some of the Hot Fudge sauce I made a couple months ago.

Verdict: Robin liked it but she said she likes a pure peanut butter pie better. Maybe next time I'll make the Nutter Butter pie, but use whipped cream instead of the cool whip.

Source: Emeril's Potluck: Comfort Food with a Kicked-Up Attitude, by Emeril Lagasse

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (I used 1/2 cup and would use all chocolate next time)
1 cup finely ground Oreo cookies (cream filling removed) (I used 2 cups of Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Wafers)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used 1/3-less fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
4 ounces melted semisweet chocolate (I used bittersweet)
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup toasted chopped peanuts
Rich Chocolate Sauce (recipe below) (I skipped)


Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, Oreo cookie crumbs, butter, and 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Stir to throughly combine. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, let the crust cool completely, then wrap it with plastic wrap and place the pan in the freezer for at least 1 hour and for up to 2 weeks. Allow the crust to come to room temperature before filling.

Combine the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and milk in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended and smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed. Add the melted chocolate and the peanut butter and continue to blend for another minute on medium speed. Combine the cream with the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in another medium bowl. Beat with a whisk or electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate and peanut butter mixture until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Pour the filling into the piecrust. Smooth the top of the pie with a spatula, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

To serve, use a hot wet knife to slice the pie into 8 portions. Garnish with the peanuts and drizzle with the Rich Chocolate Sauce.

Makes one 9-inch pie, 8 servings
Rich Chocolate Sauce

3/4 cup half-and-half
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

In a small heavy saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a bare simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat.

Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Whisk the half-and-half slowly into the chocolate. Add the vanilla and butter to the sauce and whisk until the butter is completely incorporated. The sauce can be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for several days, but it must be returned to room temperature before serving.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

An Untraditional Easter Dinner......

I knew that I would be in no shape to cook today. I worked Thurs-Saturday preparing for a wedding. Yesterday was the actual wedding and I'm always exhausted when I get home. Standing on my feet and serving chicken cordon bleu with a choice of mushroom sauce or chipotle cream sauce ( and asking each person what they want and then explaining over and over what chipotle is) wears me out, not to mention the loading and unloading at the actual wedding site. Anyway, I cooked a bunch of things last Wednesday in preparation for today.

I did throw this foccacia dough together yesterday morning. This is the best damn foccacia I've ever made. The recipe comes from August 2004 of Fine Cooking and its Peter Reinhart's recipe( Bread Bakers Apprentice). It's a very wet dough that spends the night in the fridge for a long slow rise. The next day, you dump it on a parchment lined pan, dimple it and add more olive oil. Then it rises again for a few hours until its ready for the oven. It was so flavorful from the long overnight rise. My MIL couldnt stop eating it.





Back to Wednesday, I made 2 lasagnas. My MIL stays away from marinara sauce, so I made her a smaller lasagna with bechemal. I used the bechemal sauce from the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated. For Robin and I, I made a big batch of homeade marinara using San Marzano tomatoes that Robins friend brought us back from an Italian market in Windsor, ON. I used some bechemal on the bottom as well. Both lasagnas are spinach and mushroom.


I also made some hot fudge sauce . I loved this hot fudge, it will be my go to recipe from now on. I had bought some Hershey's single origin choc. bars that were reduced and they were perfect for this recipe. I threw together and ice cream pie using a ready made keebler crust and bryers light heath bar ice cream.

I also made a blueberry/raspberry pie for my MIL. I used the pillsbury crust and I swear I'll never do that again. I HATE the smell of them. They stink while they are baking( I know its the lard in the crust). Next time, I'll stick to the pate brise recipe that I normally use.