Monday, March 15, 2010

Dessert First~

Nothing wrong with having your dessert 1st right;) This recipe I saw at Mama Makes it Best blog by Cassie and it was so good plus the kids loved it!! I took the recipe straight from her blog-but I did change a couple things and I will let you know what they were following the recipe.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
Nigella Lawson

Bottom:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
Top:
9 ounces (1 cup + 1 TB) milk chocolate pieces or chips
4 ounces (1/2 cup) bittersweet chocolate pieces or chips
2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Mix all the bottom ingredients by hand until they are well incorporated. It may look sandy and that's ok.
2. Press the mixture into a pyrex or brownie pan, the size really depends on how thick you want your bars. I used a 7 x 11 glass baking dish which I thought was perfect. Make the surface as even as possible.
3. Melt the chocolates and butter in a saucepan on low, then spread evenly on top of the base. If you have leftover chocolate chips, toss on top.
4. Put the dish in the refrigerator to set. When the chocolate has hardened (it takes approx. 1.5 hours for the chocolate, but the longer the better for a firmer peanut butter base) cut into squares

{First I didn't use bittersweet chocolate I used German sweet chocolate and I used 1/2 c. chunky peanut butter and 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter. I also didn't have any unsalted butter on hand so I used regular sweet cream salted. Overall we really liked them and will make them again!}


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Now this is what we had for Saturday night supper-The Deen Brothers' BBQ Chicken, with Polenta and Potato Salad. We used a boneless chicken breast instead of using bone-in chicken pieces. I have alway wanted to try Polenta and when I saw a simple recipe for it I decided this would be the perfect time to try it out.

Above is the chicken- I kinda wish I would have grilled it though.

BBQ Chicken

1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 T. orange juice
1 t. Worecestershire sauce
1 t. liquid smoke
1/2 t. dry mustard powder
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 3-1/2 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces
or
use 4 to 6 chicken breast boneless

Preheat oven to 375* or prepare grill-brush the grill grate lightly with oil.
In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients except the chicken. Reserve 1/3 c. of the sauce; set aside. Add the chicken to the remaining sauce in the bowl, turning to coat.
Arrange the coated chicken in a roasting pan or on the grill. Cook {covered if grilling} for 40 to 45 mins or until cooked through, basting with the reserved 1/3 c. sauce after 20 mins.

Polenta

1 c. cornmeal
3 c. water
1 c. water {cold}
1 c. cheddar cheese
1/4 c. cream
1 t. salt
1/4 t. smoked Paprika
1/2 t. grill seasoning

In a large saucepan bring the 3 c. water to a boil. In a bowl combine cornmeal, 1 c. cold water and 1 t. salt; gradually add to the boiling water. Add the cheese, cream, paprika and grill seasoning-cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat; stir occasionally. Spread onto a sheet pan and cool slightly, cut into squares and serve. You don't have to do this last part if you want to you can just pile it onto the plate. I wanted to serve it under the BBQ chicken:)


This is a really quick, easy, and delicious meal:)
Try it soon!
Enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. HI! Thanks for stopping by my blog. These all look delicious. I love the Deen Brothers, Paula too!

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  2. The chicken and polenta sounds and looks great but, in this case since PB and chocolate are 2 of my favorites, I would be eating dessert first! It all looks yummy ~ and Nigella and the Deen boys know how to do it!

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  3. oooo I'm gonna try this one next! Thanks!

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  4. Hi Holly! Sooo glad you liked the PB Choc bars! I made them again over the weekend and they were devoured! Total crowd pleaser=) I like your idea of using crunchy PB, yum! Thanks for posting!!

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  5. Love peanut and chocolate..such a perfect combination!

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