Month: March 2015

Peanut Butter Goji Soda Bread

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I missed the boat on St. Patrick’s Day.  There was no green beer or corned beef and cabbage, but I did get a little inspiration from the Irish yesterday… Soda Bread.

I’ve never actually had soda bread, but a lot of people seem to like it.  So given the Irish inspiration and some jars of peanut butter and a bag of goji berries sitting around, a great idea came.  Let’s put the two together.

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The good news is my experiment was a success!  Again, I’ve never had soda bread so I’m not entirely sure what’s it’s supposed to taste like but this one was good.  Faintly sweet and with a hint of peanut butter.

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I kind of think you could make an amazing PB&J with this soda bread, but it would be all sorts of dense and intense.

Feel free to give that a try.

Peanut Butter Goji Soda Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter, cold
1/2 cup The Bee’s Knees Peanut Butter
1/2 cup dried goji berries, rehydrated, liquid reserved
1/4 cup plain yogurt mixed with
3/4 cup water (1 cup total) or 1 cup buttermilk if you have it
1 tbsp melted butter

Take some hot water and pour it on the goji berries to rehydrate, set aside until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter and use your fingers to work it into small pieces.  Add peanut butter and do the same.  It’s ok if there are chunks of PB, you’ll work it in more later.
Strain goji berries and reserve the steeping water.  You’ll need about 1-2 tbsp of it.  Add yogurt mixture and goji berries to the flour mixture.  Work into a ball.  Add goji berry liquid as needed (I used about 2 tbsp).

Once you’ve got it into a ball.  Transfer it onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and form into a round thick disc shape.  Score the top in an X shape with a knife.   Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.  Allow to cool completely, serve and enjoy!

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This recipe makes one pretty big loaf.  It’s a lot of soda bread, but worth it.

Anyone ever tried making bread pudding with soda bread?  I think that could be amazing!

GIVEAWAY! Don’t forget to enter the Peanut Butter & Co Giveaway.  It ends this Friday!  To enter, go back to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Goji Berry Pie Post and leave a comment!  Entering is easy, winning is awesome.  Tell your friends!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Goji Berry Pie

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Before I went to Thailand, I got an email from Peanut Butter & Co. about a Mystery Ingredient Challenge they were doing this month.  The deal was: they send me peanut butter and a mystery ingredient, then I make something tasty with it.

Of course, I was excited about it because…

1. I love peanut butter.

2. I love making things with peanut butter.

After a few weeks my mystery ingredient arrived: Goji Berries.

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I have to tell you.  I had never tried goji berries.  I imagined sweet little dried fruits, but actually they’re pretty tart!  I was excited to see what I could pair with goji berries other than peanut butter.  Then conveniently, pie day happened…

So of course, I had to make a pie.  Then the idea came: rich chocolate ganache with peanut butter and goji berries.

Chocolate PB Goji Pie

It really was as awesome as it sounds (and looks?).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Goji Berry Pie

1 Graham Cracker Crust (store bought or homemade)
1 cup heavy cream
9 ounces dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup Smooth Operator Peanut Butter
1/4 dried goji berries (plus extra for garnish)
1/4 tsp coarse seal salt (optional)

Heat heavy cream in a saucepan with goji berries.  This way they’ll soften and plump up.  Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine chocolate chips and peanut butter.

Pass cream through a strainer and pour hot cream on chocolate and peanut butter.  Let it sit a few minutes and stir to combine.

Take the rehydrated goji berries and place in the bottom of the graham cracker crust.

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Pour chocolate mixture on top.  Garnish with goji berries and coarse sea salt (optional).  Chill for 4 hours and serve with whipped cream.

This turned out great! It was dense, not too sweet and a great balance of flavors.  It’s got sweet, sour (from the goji berries), bitter from the dark chocolate and a touch of sea salt on top really balances it all out.

Also, can we talk about how easy it is?

I didn’t have time to get photos of the slices, because I took it to a Pi(e) Day party, because I wanted to be sure to get this up in time for a giveaway!

Peanut Butter & Co. is giving one Foodologie reader a free Peanut Butter & Co. Prize Pack!

To Enter: Leave a comment on this blog post telling me your favorite way to enjoy Goji Berries OR if you’ve never tried them… what would you like to eat them with?

The giveaway ends Monday March 23rd! So be sure to enter and tell your friends about it too!

WINNER: Mary W! Winner has been emailed 😀  Thanks for entering!

P.S. I have a few more Peanut Butter/Goji recipes up my sleeve.  Stay tuned!

Thailand… or Where I Want Everyone to Go on Vacation

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Hi friends! I’ve been away for a while, but here I am.  As you might know, I went on vacation to Thailand (and Cambodia!) for 2 and a half weeks.  It was fantastic!  I pretty much want everyone to go Thailand for vacation.

We went to four major places:

1. Bangkok
2. Chiang Mai
3. Siem Reap, Cambodia
4. Krabi  <– my fav!

So let me tell you all the reasons I loved Thailand and Cambodia (I keep forgetting I went to Cambodia too!).

1. Elephants!

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There are a ton of different elephant adventures you can do in Thailand.  We tried to do one that was as humane as possible.  We went to the Elephant Retirement Park near Chiang Mai.  It’s a place where elephants “retire” from tourism and labor.  Riding can be harmful to elephants so instead, we got to play with, feed and take a mud bath with the elephants.

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Obviously, hanging out with elephants isn’t something you do everyday.  Definitely an awesome experience.

2.  The Food.

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You knew this was coming, right?  Everything I ate in Thailand was amazing.  Seriously.  I don’t think I ate a single thing I didn’t like.    We mostly ate at street stalls, because they were everywhere and cheaper than full on restaurants.  Most meals would cost $1-2 (about 40-60 thai bhat).   Tables always had a variety of condiments so you could add things to your dish: Sugar, Fish Sauce, Ground Chili, and Pickled sweet peppers (I was a fan of those).

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One thing I ate probably on a daily basis was morning glory.  I have no idea what morning glory is (other than clearly some type of green), but I’m a fan.

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Here was one time I got it in Chiang Mai.  Spicy stir fried morning glory with chicken, served on rice.

Another favorite: stewed pork belly on rice.

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I had this one in Bangkok on the last day.  OMG.  Amazing.  I wish I could have it again.  I know it doesn’t look fancy, but it was the best thing I ate in Bangkok.

Another winner in Thailand: Beverages.  I loved the iced coffee (they put sweetened condensed milk in it, you can’t lose) and the fruit shakes.

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I had a fruit shake and a coconut probably everyday.  All sorts of amazing.

Overall, what I loved about the food was how fresh it was.  Everything you ordered was freshly made with actual fresh foods.  Coming back home was tough on that front.

3. The Temples and Palaces.

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Absolutely Beautiful! The detail is amazing.  I wish we had seen more, but two weeks wasn’t enough.

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4.  Angkor Ruins

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Not in Thailand, actually in Cambodia and technically also temples and palaces, but so impressive they deserve their own category.  I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of amazing things in my life: Mayan Pyramids, Great Wall of China, Terra Cotta Army, Machu Picchu… All of these things were fantastic in their own way… but Angkor Wat and the other Angkor ruins are amazing just based on sheer size and detail.

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Seeing Angkor Wat at sunrise is totally worth it.  Part of me wanted to not take pictures and just enjoy it, because the pictures don’t do it justice.  But I took pictures…

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Also note: People aren’t lying when they say it’s hot in Cambodia.  It’s hot.  Really hot.

5. The Beaches

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Oh the beaches.  I live about a mile from the beach in California, but it’s not the same.  The beach in Thailand is amazing.  As someone who is not a big fan of the beach, I loved the beach in Thailand.

I wish we had more time at the beach, only 4 days, but that was enough time to relax… and get engaged…

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And get a tan…

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And play with monkeys on the way to dinner…

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and drink plenty of coconuts!

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Like I said, I looooooved Thailand.  I would go back in a heartbeat (I think I could definitely use more time at the beach).  I pretty much want everyone to go… you should!

Coming next… While I was in Chiang Mai, I took a cooking class so I have some Thai recipes to share with you soon.

What’s the best place you’ve been on vacation? For me Thailand was awesome! I also love Italy, but who doesn’t?