Dangerous uses for peanut butter.

I once supped with a bachelor who poured chocolate syrup on his pizza. BeauJo’s located in three spring towns, (Idaho, Steamboat and Glenwood), and elsewhere in Colorado, furnishes honey to put on their thick crusts. Okay, I can deal with that, but chocolate syrup?

Fortunately, peanut butter isn’t pizza. Everyone knows that Elvis liked to put bananas on his peanut butter sandwiches. I like mine with sharp cheddar cheese, or perhaps sprinkled with bacon bits. Think that’s strange? How about mixing peanut butter with vinegar, chilies and soy sauce and pouring it over noodles? Live dangerously.

Matzo Ball Soup for Gentiles

It was recently Thanksgiving here in the U.S. of A. and perhaps you have a turkey carcass somewhere around the house. If so, you’re in luck because you can make matzo ball soup. If not, Christmas is coming—consider serving turkey.

Easy Matzo Ball Soup Recipe
Make turkey soup.
Make matzo balls.
Drop the matzo balls into the soup.

Okay, maybe that was a little too easy. Just what is a matzo ball anyway? Matzos are the, often bland tasting, crackers that Jews eat during the Passover season. Matzos commemorate the time when the ancient Jews were captives in Egypt. Upon gaining their freedom, they had to beat it out of Egypt so fast that they didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise.

Purchase matzo meal in the kosher section of your grocery store. Look for a recipe for matzo balls on the package. Follow it. Find a recipe for turkey soup. Follow it.

Make sure you refrigerate your matzo meal mixture before you roll it into matzo balls. A one-inch diameter is about right. Toss the matzo balls in your turkey soup. They will expand as they cook and their color will lighten. When done, the outer segments will be soft, and the interiors, slightly firm. Mazel tov.

Tea and Tidbits

The stock markets on three continents plunged all week. But, on Saturday, Denverites went out for dim sum. It was high noon and the restaurant was packed—expected wait time—half an hour. Not bad business, and in a slow economy to boot. Superstar Asian Cuisine is not an overly large restaurant, and some people had to wait standing. Dim sum carts blocked the aisles between tables. All in all, the ambience was claustrophobic. But once we were seated, all that changed. After pouring the tea, the first dish arrived, and the mood changed. The restaurant may have been crowded, but our table was an island. And we had that island all to ourselves. The food did not disappoint. For the uninitiated, dim sum is small plates of toothsome morsels such as pork or shrimp dumplings, fried fish balls, steamed meatballs, stuffed buns and custard tarts. Servers offer dishes from their carts and you choose whatever looks appealing. If you always order sweet and sour pork in Chinese restaurants, dim sum is probably not for you—it requires a more adventurous palate. However, if you like to try new things, than try the chicken feet. There isn’t much meat on them, but they are good to gnaw on and the sauce is tasty. Superstar Asian Cuisine is located at 2200 West Alameda Avenue in Denver. Dim sum is served from 11:00 to 4:00 on weekdays, 10:30 to 4:00 on Saturdays and 10:00 to 4:00 on Sundays.

Oat Congee

Congee, a popular Chinese breakfast, is basically a soupy bowl of rice with bits of this or that floated on top. My wife likes hers with Chinese style pickled cucumber, strands of dried meat, or fermented black beans. Many people like salted peanuts on their congee. The idea here is to offset the blandness of the rice with little toothsome bits of whatever. Click here for a recipe.

This is the good part. A friend of ours wanted to get her cholesterol down. And here's what she did: Oatmeal is considered a cholesterol killer. Our friend made her congee with oatmeal instead of rice and ate it for six months. And you know what? Her cholesterol dropped.

I used to use yogurt instead of milk for my oatmeal since yogurt doesn't bother my lactose intolerance. Today I tried oatmeal congee and loved it. Oatmeal gives congee a texture and taste missing in rice congee. Oatmeal congee, like Susan Stamberg's recipe for cranberry relish, may sound awful, but try it. You'll like it. You'll see.