Blowout Cookies

I'm pretty sure I've taken enough time off.  I have been without an oven for three weeks.  Come on Thermador you have got to be faster at repairing electronic boards.    It was extremely difficult not having an oven.  I think I probably tried to turn it on at least once a day.  My dish washer died and the IRS took the money to purchase a new one.  If one doesn't magically appear under my counter soon, the new dishwasher (husband that never reads this blog) is going to be a world of hurt. I'm all talk.

  I have had all three college kids move back home (ugh).  I'm going to stay more positive, because I do love them and their laundry and their clutter and their blunt comments and kind criticism.  Love you guys.

On the bright side...I have fabulous news.  The oldest college son is FINALLY engaged.  It's about dang (Utah word) time.  Seriously the dude is pushing 29...is homeward bound on that college degree and is an overall awesome guy.  He deserves to be married to a just as awesome girl (and she is).  I can't wait until the children come along (pay back, my only hope for revenge).  Wait.  I can't believe I said that!  I had to go back and review my post on making Peeps with grandchildren. Ah, the revenge will come eventually...no rush.

This son is a total cookie freak.  If the cookie jar is empty, there is nothing in the house to eat.  I have to admit cookies are my greatest weakness.  They're a grab-and-go meal.  If I'm on the run and don't want to take time to eat, I grab a cookie.  If I need a sweet fix, I grab a cookie.  It's fast and convenient and doesn't make a mess.   If I'd stop filling the cookies jar I could probably loose the 5 lbs that I need to loose for that next marathon.  Maybe I can just boost my mileage to make up for my cookie addiction? OR replace energy bars with cookies?  That's a good idea.

I found this "Blowout" cookie recipe years ago.  I don't make them as often as I would like because

I eat too many of them.  I try freezing the majority, but found out that I like frozen cookies just as well as fresh baked cookies.

They are called "blowout" cookies because they are loaded and will blow your mouth away.

You will need a bag of mini peanut butter cups, honey roasted peanuts and chunky peanut butter.  If you don't have chunky peanut butter, just use what you have.  

You will need 24 peanut butter cups...or more...you choose.

Unwrap and coarsely chop the peanut butter cups.

Place the chopped peanut butter cups in a bowl and place in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Remaining ingredients are:  butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips (semi-sweet), honey roasted peanuts and milk (not pictured).

Coarsely chop the peanuts and set aside.

Add the baking soda and salt to the flour.

Whisk together or sift.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and chunky peanut butter.

Cream together.

Add the sugar

and the brown sugar.  Mix until creamy.

Add the two eggs.  Beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy.

Add the flour mixture and mix well.

The batter will be very stiff.  That's ok because we are going to lighten it up with...

...the 1/2 cup of milk.

Pour the milk over the dough.

Add the vanilla and mix the dough until smooth.  Well, somewhat smooth it won't look so smooth because of the chunky peanut butter.  

Slowly mix in peanuts.

And chocolate chips.

The dough is loaded and we're going to load it some more.

Gently fold in the frozen peanut butter cups.  

I like to drop the cookies with my ice cream scoop.  It's about 2 tablespoons of dough.

As usual I like to line my baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place in a 375 degree oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes.  Try not to over bake the cookies because they will be dry.

Remove from the oven when the cookies are golden brown around the edges.

Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack.  

The engaged son couldn't wait for the cookies to cool off.  He picked one up and it fell apart.  He left sad that he only got a morsel of his hot cookie.  I waited 5-10 minutes then ate what he left behind...sucker.

He came back..."hey, where's the rest of my cookie?"  

I ate it.

Add a cold glass of milk.

Blowout Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chunky-style peanut butter

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups chopped honey-roasted peanuts

24 coarsely chopped peanut butter cups, frozen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

Beat peanut butter and butter together until creamy.  Add the sugars and beat until light and smooth.  Then add the eggs and beat about 3 minutes.  Stir in the flour mixture and beat thoroughly.  Sprinkle the milk and vanilla over the mixture and beat to soften the dough.  fold in the chocolate chips and peanuts, then carefully add the chopped peanut butter cups.

Drop in 2-tablespoon mounds onto an ungreased cookie sheet.   You should be able to fit about 12 cookies per baking sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just golden brown around the edges.  Do not overbake or the cookies will be too dry.  Remove the cookies to a cooling rack.  Makes about 36 cookies.

Blowout cookies.  Fit for the cookie monster in your home.

Grilled Flank Steak Pita's with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

This recipe is prepared entirely on the grill.  It's a great recipe for light summer meals.

The flavors are Greek "inspired".  I'm not going to call it Greek because someone will send me a nasty email letting me know that this is NOT an authentic Greek recipe.  Thank goodness we have different countries to inspire the flavors we use.  It sure spices up life.  I love new flavors.  

Brace yourself.  This post has several pictures.  I am going to show you how to make a marinade for the flank steak, a cucumber-yogurt sauce, and grilled vegies.  

It's not hard it just has several steps that can be done a day in advance...that makes it easy.

Let's start with the beef marinade.  You will need:  parsley, mint, rosemary, lemon, garlic, soy sauce, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Wash and coarsely chop the parsley, rosemary and mint.

Place the herbs in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

Pulse the food processor to chop the herbs.

Coarsely chop the garlic,

add to the food processor.

Add the lemon juice...

...and the soy sauce.

Add the salt and pepper.

With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil.

Blend until all ingredients are finely chopped.

Let me just say something about flank steak.  Why in the heck (Utah word) do the tuck under the ends of the meat???  I'll tell you why.  It's so you can't see all of the meat.  They tucked the fatty ends of this flank under so I couldn't see how marbled the meat was.  If I could have seen the whole flank, I wouldn't have purchased it.  I would like to have the meat a little leaner.  I hope you have better butchers than Utah.

This is completely optional, but I like to lightly score the meat diagonally in each direction.  I think it helps let the flavors penetrate deeper into the meat and it tenderizes the meat a little.

Place the flank steak into a sealable bag.

Pour the marinade over the meat.  Reseal and refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Preferably overnight.  The flavors are so intense if you allow 24 hours marinating time.  The flavor of the mint just comes through along with the brightness of the lemon. 

Now let's make the yogurt sauce that can, also, be made the day a head.

You will need:  Greek yogurt, cumin seed, garlic, lemon, lemon zest, an English cucumber and salt.

Peel the cucumber.  I am using about 7 inches of the long cucumber.

Use a spoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber.  Discard the seeds.

I like my cucumber finely chopped, so I'm slicing long thin strips of the cucumber.

Now dice the cucumber.

Place the cucumber in a small bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Let stand for 10 minutes to release excess liquid.

Place the cumin seed in a small hot skillet.  

Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until lightly toasted.

I like to use a mortar and pestle to lightly crust the cumin seed.  You can use a spice grinder.

In a small mixing bowl, add the yogurt,

cumin seed,

1 teaspoons lemon zest.

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice.

Minced garlic.

A pinch of cayenne.

And the olive oil.

Whisk together.

Place the cucumber in a small strainer.

Rinse with water.

Place on a paper towel to blot off any more liquid.

Add to the yogurt mixture.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the flank steak from the plastic bag and discard the marinade.  Place the beef on a hot grill and cook for 5-7 minutes.

Flip the meat over and grill for an additional 5-7 minutes or until medium to medium-rare.  Whatever you like best.

 Remove from grill and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

While the beef is resting, prepare the vegetables.  I love grilled vegetables.  Just to let you know.

You will need a red pepper, yellow pepper and 1/2 of a red onion.

Slice.

Drizzle with a little olive oil.  Oh maybe 2 teaspoons.

I have a mesh grill basket that I'm using.  Williams-Sonoma - its great.

Season with salt and pepper.

Place the grill basket on a hot grill.

Grill until the peppers and onion start to brown.  Remove from the heat.

  

After 15 minutes, thinly slice the flank steak.

Remember the yogurt sauce you made?  Get it out of the refrigerator and let's assemble the pita's

You can use purchased pita bread or you could be AMAZING and make your own grilled pita bread.

Open the pocket of the pita.

Spread about a tablespoon or more of the yogurt sauce in the pita.

Add slices of the flank steak.

Add grilled peppers and onions.

I like to add greens.  I'm using Arugula and spinach.  Added health benefits and I like the crunch.  

I'm a texture person.  Let me tell you the crunch of the cucumbers in the yogurt sauce and the flavor of the toasted cumin, and the tart of the lemon are so fabulous in my mouth.  

I just assume if I put a Forsythia wreath on my front door and start grilling, that Mother Nature will remember that winter is officially OVER!  

Grilled Flank Steak with Cucumber-yogurt Sauce

For the flank steaks 

1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
3 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
8 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 medium lemons)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 flank steaks (about 3 lb. total), trimmed of excess fat 

For the sauce 

1 English cucumber (about 3/4 lb.)
Kosher salt
1 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Pinch cayenne
1/2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper 

Combine the remaining parsley with the mint, rosemary, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice, soy sauce, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper and process until smooth. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a thin stream.

Put the steaks in a nonreactive baking dish large enough to hold them both. Pour the marinade over them and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Make the sauce

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seed core. Finely dice and toss with 1/2 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes to release excess liquid. Rinse, drain, and pat dry.

In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber with the yogurt, garlic, cumin, lemon zest and juice, and cayenne. Stir in the olive oil and the reserved chopped parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use. (The sauce can be made up to a day ahead.)

Grill the steaks

Prepare a medium-high gas or charcoal grill fire. Clean and oil the grill grates.

Remove the flank steak from the marinade, wipe off any excess, and season generously with salt and pepper. Grill the steaks, covered, until grill marks form and the steaks have a nice brown sear, 5 to 6 minutes. Flip the steaks and continue grilling until grill marks form on the other side and the steak is cooked to medium or medium rare, 5 to 7 minutes more. Let rest 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe inspired from Fine Cooking.