Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie

Himself likes Peanut Butter Pie. If it is on the menu at any restaurant, he orders it, unless Crème brûlée is on the menu of course. He has had some good ones and some bad. A very long time ago he had the best Peanut Butter Pie he has ever had, I failed to get the recipe. After that, I made a Peanut Butter Pie-- once. "It just isn't like the one at that party," he said. So no more Peanut Butter pies for him. Last week Himself asked me why I don't make him Peanut Butter Pies- see how they forget? My new quest is to find Himself's favorite Peanut Butter Pie. Once I find it, would it really be his favorite, because right around the corner he may eat another Peanut Butter pie and deem it best? My goal is that someday Himself will order Peanut Butter Pie while out and say, "this Peanut Butter Pie comes nowhere near my Robin Sue's, she makes the best!"

Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie- Trial #1
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup cold water
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter- I used natural
1 cup sour cream
1 chocolate pie shell

1 pint whipping cream whipped with 3 T. powdered sugar, and Whip it.

Soften gelatin in cold water. Beat egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in top of double boiler, stir in gelatin and cook over boiling water, beating constantly with rotary beater, until mixture is thick and fluffy- about 10 minutes, it will be like thick and fluffy cake batter. Remove from heat and blend in peanut butter. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold with sour cream into gelatin mixture. Pour into pie shell and chill in refrigerator until firm. Serve topped with whipped cream. Serves 8-10.

Robin Sue's Notes- Have all ingredients ready to go, even beat egg whites prior to starting. Cooking over the double boiler took some time, but I feel it is worth it.
Crust- unremarkable, I think a real pie crust would be better. 3/10
Peanut Butter Filling- creamy and fluffy like a mousse. Very tasty. Not overly rich or sweet. Really like the sour cream flavor. 8/10
Topping- I love homemade whipped cream! 10/10
Topper- drizzle of chocolate sauce. Meh. Needs something different but not over powering. 5/10
Repeat- Filling and Topping yes, needs new crust and topper.

Himself's Notes- 5/10. "It is the worst Peanut Butter Pie you have ever made." (It's the first trial, so it could be the best too!) "I like the peanut butter filling a little more dense like pudding, keep trying." Himself says with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes.

Hey a little splash of red on that pie and I would have a Burberry designer pie.

Do you have a good Peanut Butter Pie that you think Himself would like?

Robin Sue

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I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Farmer's Market Tour and Le Grande Aioli

We or should I say oui, had a very French day last Saturday. Friends and I strolled the historical Lake Anne Farmer's Market, purchased the freshest fruits, vegetables, herbs, honey, and bread to bring back to Big Red Kitchen to cook up for our Le Grande Aioli Feast. Nothing highlights summer produce better than this Provençal style meal. With our tables laden with fresh roasted chicken, rotisserie roasted beef, perfectly cooked vegetables, and beautifully grilled peaches, we sampled, chatted, dipped plenty of Aioli in a lingering afternoon meal. All of this was sponsored by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. ICBINB has asked bloggers around the country to bring their friends to a local farmer's market, purchase fresh produce, then go back to that blogger's home to cook their finds all using ICBINB products. They want consumers to recognize that their products are perfect alternatives to regular butter in that they have less saturated fats, and regular margarine in that they have no hydrogenated oils.


So we did just that! We ran around my favorite market and brought back some delicious produce to cook in Big Red Kitchen. For starters we had Lemon Ricotta Lasagna Caprese and a Smoked Salmon Platter. For the lasagna mix ricotta with lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley all to taste. Between cut to size lasagna noodles, layer cheese with basil leaves, tomatoes, and more noodles just as you would a regular lasagna. Top ribbons of basil, a drizzle of olive oil along with reduced balsamic vinegar, and a curl of Parmesan cheese. Where's the ICBINB in this recipe? I boiled the noodles with a dollop of the spread to flavor the water and keep the noodles from sticking.


For our main course, we dined on Pan Roasted Parsley Potatoes, done with salt and pepper to taste, ICBINB, and fresh parsley. For the meats, Spatchcock Roasted Chicken which was rubbed with ICBINB and Herbes de Provence along with Rotisserie Roast Beef. On the platter also was Sauteed Green Beans topped with Caramelized Onions. The beans as well as the onions were done with ICBINB, salt and pepper. We garnished the platters in typical Le Grande Aioli fashion with hard cooked eggs and black olives.


Another side dish served along side our feast was Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. The potatoes were roasted with ICBINB and pumpkin spices then tossed with chickpeas, red onion, and a tahini dressing. We also had Stuffed Roasted Sweet Peppers made with bread crumbs, ICBINB, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and garlic, but I failed to get a photo of it, grrr.


Here is a shot of one of the tables and its bounty! You can see the Smoked Salmon Platter which was smoked salmon, red onion, capers, honey from the market, and Horseradish Spread made with ICBINB mixed with horseradish. This was served atop Garlic Toasts. To make the garlic toasts we sliced a fresh French baguette, sprayed on ICBINB, baked the slices, and rubbed them with fresh garlic cloves. At the bottom right of the photo you can see our Aioli which is ICBINB whipped with roasted garlic. This version proved to be lower in saturated fats, and had no cholesterol, and was pretty tasty as well.


To every one's delight, we followed the meal with Grilled Peaches with Praline Sauce a la Mode. The peaches were spritzed with ICBINB prior to grilling and I had substituted ICBINB in the praline sauce for butter and it tasted fantastic.

Below is a video clip, only 3 minutes, of our time at the market and in Big Red Kitchen cooking our Le Grande Aioli. Twelve people cooked this entire meal in 1 HOUR!



Disclosure- ICBINB provided me with a Flip Video Camera- for keepsies!, enough money to compensate for the entire shopping spree and meal, free products, shopping bags, and coupons. Thank you ICBINB!

I would also like to thank all my friends who attended, cooked like champions, and washed all my dishes. Thanks a million!

Robin Sue

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Fudge Cake

Himself loves this cake. I made it up while in Cannon Beach. We were hosting a party for the entire family to kick off Himself's Parent's 50th Anniversary and I needed to make a simple dessert that would be liked by adults and kids as well. Since I was in a condo with limited tools I decided to make a boxed cake mix, fill it with fudge, and top it with whipped cream. A few colorful sprinkles made it look festive for the occasion. I had no idea if the cake would work the way I had imagined, but it did and was a hit! So much so that Himself had asked if I was going to make it again and blog it. So here it is again.


Fudge Cake
Yellow Cake mix- GASP!
4 squares semi-sweet baking squares- 4 ounces
1 can sweetened condensed milk
whipped cream or Cool Whip- I have used both and prefer homemade whipped cream

Mix and bake cake mix in a 9x13 inch baking pan (I always add an extra egg and use milk in place of water) according to package directions. Cool completely and poke holes over the cake using the end of a wooden spoon- do not go all the way through! Meanwhile in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, mix chocolate and condensed milk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool completely then stir well before pouring mixture over cake, spreading evenly until all holes are filled. I keep spreading until holes are filled and there is hardly any chocolate at all on top of cake. There may be a few dimples but the cream will fill those! Spread whipped cream over top of cake and sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Keep chilled. Serves 20. This is very rich!

Robin Sue

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