As Promised: Peanut/Cashew Butter Balls

So, we had a Linger Longer after church today in which we were supposed to bring easily prepared finger foods to share. I thought I would take the opportunity to make a few batches of experimental chocolate candies to take and see how they went over. Running the risk of sounding prideful, they were a big hit.

So, full disclosure, this recipe is modified from a version found in the red Better Homes and Gardens cook book under peanut butter balls. Their recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp butter or margarine (softened)
Chocolate for coating (I think the recipe calls for 6 ounces, but I might be wrong)

Cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Add sugar and stir, forming a stiff dough. Roll into balls approximately 1 in diameter. Melt chocolate and dip balls in it.

Pretty simple. Now, since our youngest has allergies to peanuts, I've been experimenting somewhat with different nut butters. I've been interested in cashew butter for some time, but I had never tried it. However, I decided to try my hand at making it, since I've had some success with sunflower seed butter in the past. The cashew butter is, for lack of a better description, one of the easiest things I have ever made. Basically, you need cashews, a food processor, and maybe a little bit of oil. Put the cashews in the food processor, pulse it until they are pretty fine, then turn it on and let it go. It will start forming a solid ball of cashew goo within about a minute. Depending on how thin you want it, you can then add your oil, but don't overdo it. Since the cashews are pretty oily themselves, a little veggie oil (I think I used canola, whatever you want) goes a long way. Keep processing it until it gets to the consistency that you want. Easy peasy.

So, using this cashew butter, I modified the above recipe by substituting half of the peanut butter with cashew butter. Everything else remained the same.

Now, truth be told, I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference between the straight up peanut butter ball and my modified chocolates. Mine were a touch saltier and had a little bit more mellow of a finish, but not enough to really be sure why. However, I did also make a batch of normal peanut butter balls but then, before the chocolate could harden, Thyme and I rolled them in chopped cashews to give them a kind of Ferrer Rocher look. These I am quite proud of. I liked the crunch and salt that you got right off the bat, and then the sweet. I think I may have to start making them that way every now and then, at least as long as I have cashews.

-Mint

Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice

Several weeks ago I decided that I would take a leap of faith and try a completely different sort of recipe. It is called "Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice"...A solid name. I pulled the recipe off of the Simply Orange Orange Juice web site and it was created by a lady named Jennifer Iserloh, I say props to here. Here are some things I learned while making this:

1. Cooking rice in a crock pot does work, but it does not take 4 hours on high, unless mush really is your final goal.
2. No matter how badly you want it to be the blender is not a food processor--forcing the issue will not end well (I used it actually for the dessert portion of the meal, but it was a lesson learned nonetheless).
3. Fresh pineapple makes almost everything better (thanks Thyme for teaching me how to pick a good one)
4. Chicken can indeed marinade for too long.
5. ALWAYS invite nice people over for experiment night. The will make you feel great about your efforts regardless of the quality of the results.

Now for the recipe:
Pineapple Cashew Chicken with Coconut Scallion Brown Rice (serves 4)

1 cup Simply Orange with Pineapple (or any kind you have handy)
2 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 cup fresh cubed pineapple (mmm)
1 TBSP canola or vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, cut into cubes (I cheated here and used a regular yellow onion)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 15oz can of baby corn or 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen kernels whatever you have handy
6 TBSP salted cashews
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced thinly (another confession, I didn't actually use these, I couldn't find them!)
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups short grain brown rice

Alright, first your going to mix your OJ, cornstarch, soy sauce and brown sugar in a ziplock bag (or bowl with a lid). Mine turned a kinda nasty looking brown color, but it did smell good. Put your chicken and pineapple in there to marinate for at least 3 hours, I wouldn't recommend overnight. The chicken ended up with a weird texture after marinating that long.

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok, sautee the onions, celery and pepper. Move these off to a plate and then cook the chicken and pineapple in the same pan (putting the marinade to the side in a small bowl). Return the veggies once the chicken is mostly cooked and the pineapple is soft.

Grab your bowl of marinade and microwave it for a couple minutes or bring it to a boil in a little saucepan, then add it back to your chicken/veggie mix along with the corn. Reduce the heat and cook and cover until the chicken is completely cooked. Sprinkle with the cashews.

Take your cooked rice (I am not about to try to explain how to cook rice, I am the worst ever at that part, but I am sure you all know how) and mix the coconut, scallions and salt into it. Put your chicken on your rice and voila! Dinner is served!

The verdict: Once you get past the murky brown color action going on I'd say the mixture of flavors was pretty dang good but probably you could actually back down on the amount of pineapple or just served more fresh and to the side (cooked pineapple isn't exactly my thing actually, so don't ask me why I tried it). If you cook the chicken right I think this would be amazing. I'd like to try it again sometime.

-Cayenne