Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies

Thick, soft and chewy cookies made with organic peanut butter, pastured eggs, sea salt, freshly-ground sweet cinnamon, and much less sugar..

Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies (makes about 2 dozen cookies, recipe adapted from Saveur Magazine)

2 cups organic peanut butter without added oil or sugar, creamy or chunky
1 cup granulated piloncillo or rapadura sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large, pastured eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon organic, pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground Sweet Cinnamon (True Cinnamon, Ceylon Cinnamon)

Cream together peanut butter and 1 cup of the sugar in a large glass bowl.  Using a hand mixer at low speed, beat in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until just combined.  Mixture should be slightly grainy.

Using a small cookie scoop (or your hands), form mixture into 2-inch balls and place 4 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Use the tines of a fork to flatten slightly, pressing a cross-hatch pattern into each cookie.  Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Place the tray into an oven preheated to 350 degrees and baked until puffed and lightly browned on the edges.  Allow to to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before removing from tray.

Kept at room temperature, the cookies will remain soft for a day or two, assuming they last that long.

Seared Rare Maguro with Pineapple Tōgarashi and Pan-Roasted Edamame

Pole-and-line-caught maguro (yellowfin, ahi tuna) from the pristine waters of Hawaii is seasoned simply with sea salt and cracked pepper, then seared over high heat for two minutes per side.

Served with a sweet and sour puree of pineapple and mango seasoned with tōgarashi (dried Japanese chili peppers) and a splash of fresh lime juice.

Pan-Roasted organic edamame completes the dish..

While yellowfin tuna is found throughout most of the world’s oceans, troll/pole-caught from U.S. waters are contain less mercury than the larger longline and purse seine-caught fish found in international waters.  Hawaii enforces strict bycatch regulations, helping this fish to earn a “best choice” rating from Seafood Watch.

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Wild Porcini Demi-Glace

Gorgeous, pastured lamb from Menzie’s Farm in the Hill Country outside of Austin is misted with Texas olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and cracked black pepper, then flashed in a 500 degree oven for 10 minutes.

The lamb is then packed with a persillade-like mixture of fresh bread crumbs, melted butter and garlic with a bouquet garni of both fresh and dried herbs including rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram, sage and tarragon.

Next, the lamb is roasted at 400 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees (approximately 15-20 minutes), then removed from the oven and allowed to stand 15 minutes before being carved into double chops.

While the lamb rests, dried wild porcini mushrooms are soaked in just-boiled water enhanced with porcini powder, then strained into a pot containing brown stock and toasted shallots. The sauce is furiously reduced by a third and the mushrooms added and simmered for a couple of minutes before being finished with a spoonful of demi-glace and a knob of cold butter.

Served a perfect medium rare, this is one of my all-time favorite things to eat..

American lamb, especially those that are pastured and grass-fed, are generally milder/less gamey in flavor than those from New Zealand and Australia, with young lamb (less than 1 year old) being preferred for its tenderness.

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Blue Crab Créole

A bounty of fresh garden vegetables including green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and celery, with loads of herbs and fresh spices like thyme, oregano, bay and cayenne.

Toss in a pound of Gulf blue crab and serve over steamed rice topped with garlic chives.  Don’t forget the hot sauce!

I eat Créole whenever I have the chance, which is a lot.  If you need it, here’s an easily adaptable recipe for the base.

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The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba.  In Texas and Louisiana it is often called the “Third Coast,” in comparison with the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts.  –Wikipedia

Buffalo-Roasted Cauliflower, Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Dressing

Fresh cauliflower is cut into florets, misted with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.  Slow-roasted until tender-crisp and brown, then dressed with Buffalo sauce (equal proportions of Frank’s Hot Sauce and melted butter, with a dash of vinegar) and returned to the oven for a few more minutes to glaze.

Served hot with a cooling combination of crumbled bleu cheese, buttermilk, shaved celery, sour cream, chives, parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice..

“Cauliflower is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese.”  –NutritionData