The sublime joy of cooking with peanut butter
Peanut butter is my religion. George Washington Carver is my prophet.
I think we can all agree that peanut butter is the most perfect food ever invented. It is the ultimate expression of man's genius, a spreadable utopia that covers our sins, brings happiness to all and goes as well with jam as it does with jelly.
Surrounded by chocolate, it is one of two great tastes that taste great together. It is an excellent choice in a cookie. Few things go as well with apples, and nothing tastes as good on a banana.
But what about using peanut butter in dishes that are not sweet? Can peanut butter be used in savory dishes, too?
Of course it can. It's peanut butter. It can do anything.
Today's recipes are just two of the multitude of possibilities.
For them, I used the natural peanut butter that has to be stirred the first time you open the jar, not the more familiar, homogenized type. The more popular peanut butters are sweet, and I wanted my dishes to be completely savory.
But if you make them, feel free to use whichever peanut butter you choose. Nobody will complain.
Cold Noodles with Chicken and Peanuts is the best version I know of the first dish I ever had to make savory use of peanut butter. The dish comes from Beijing, where cold noodles are something of an obsession. Unlike some, this recipe is neither too dry nor too oily.
It's all about balance in cooking, and Chinese cooking in particular. This dish, which is an appetizer, mixes a fairly large amount of noodles with a relatively small amount (but just the right quantity) of sauce: peanut butter, peanut oil, red rice or wine vinegar, soy sauce and water, flavored with a bit of sugar and sesame oil. Add cooked chicken, chopped peanuts, a sprinkling of sesame seeds and an all-important dash of green onions, and you have a savory dish that instantly expands your peanut-butter horizons.
Then I turned to hummus, despite loud protests from the peanut (butter) gallery insisting that true hummus can only be made with tahini.
Tahini is made of crushed sesame seeds. Peanut butter is made of crushed peanuts. The flavors are different, but complementary. So complementary, in fact, that hummus made with peanut butter tastes every bit as great as hummus made with tahini. A bit of garlic, a hint of cumin and a healthy dose of lemon juice put it absolutely over the top.
The peanut gallery would have concurred, but her mouth was stuffed too full of hummus made with peanut butter.
Author's note: Yes, I know that peanut butter was invented not by George Washington Carver but by John Harvey Kellogg, the cereal guy. But Kellogg was a definite weirdo (a little research yields a wealth of bizarre beliefs that do not belong in a family newspaper), and Carver did so much to promote the peanut and other foods. So Carver is still my prophet.
Yield: 6 appetizer servings¼ cup water3 tablespoons peanut butter3 tablespoons peanut oil3 tablespoons red rice vinegar or red wine vinegar1 teaspoon granulated sugar3 tablespoons light soy sauce1 tablespoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil1 pound fresh egg noodles, cooked and chilled 2 hours1 cup cooked, shredded chicken1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds1/4 cup minced green onion or chivesCombine water, peanut butter, peanut oil, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil; blend well and set aside.Place chilled noodles on serving dish or bowl and top with chicken, peanuts, sesame seeds and green onions or chives. Drizzle with dressing and serve.Source: “Regional Cooking of China,” by Maggie Gin
Yield: 4 servings1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, preferably natural2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil½ teaspoon cumin1 clove garlic, mashed1/3 cup warm water¼ teaspoon saltCombine chickpeas, peanut butter, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin and garlic in a food processor. Add water and salt, and process until smooth.Adapted from Men’s Health
