Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins #MuffinMonday

What makes an American American?  Is it the color of your passport, the way you were raised or to be a true American do you have to grow up in the United States?  Can an immigrant arriving in the US become as American as someone who grew up there?  Or can an American living overseas lose their essential American-ness?   When you are raising third-culture kids,  these are the questions you ask yourself.  You want to take advantage of learning about foreign cultures and countries and expand your worldview – and we certainly did that – but you also want your child to have a feeling of belonging somewhere.  From the very minute our first daughter was born, we knew that in all likelihood, she would go off to university in the United States.  After all, we were living in a place where English was not even spoken.   So we started to save for out-of-state tuition – way out of state.

I also began to prepare her in other ways.  I didn’t want her, or her sister when she came along, to be a complete outsider to US customs and culture.  I wanted them to know what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was so I hauled jars of Jif in my suitcase, along with Nestle Quik and Aunt Jemima syrup, and chocolate chips and marshmallows and many other “essentials” of an American childhood.   Barney and Sesame Street videos, every Disney movie every made, cassette tapes of Raffi’s wonderfully silly songs and Tom Chapin singing This Pretty Planet.

 I loved that one – This whole planet is our home, a holy place. 

Our ever-increasing home library of children’s books introduced them to my favorite classics and we made some new favorites together.  When they got old enough, I organized Trick-or-Treat in our little Brazilian neighborhood, culminating in a party with apple-bobbing and cupcakes and sweet punch at our decorated house.  I’ve been known to bring frozen turkey and yams and Karo and pecans on an airplane, to make sure Thanksgiving was right.  We had a potted Norfolk pine as a Christmas tree in a couple of different places, because that was as close as I could get to a real tree, and we hung our stockings from a bookcase (Indonesia) or the staircase (Brazil) or the radiator (Paris) or the piano (KL and Singapore.) 

When it came time for the rite of passage called drivers’ ed, I made sure they were able to take the classes and get their licenses during the summers in the States.  Because I didn’t want them to be the only ones who couldn’t drive when they went off to college.

They are both living in the US now and while I know they feel “outsider” sometimes, because that can’t be helped, it is part and parcel of being a third culture kid.  Despite my best efforts, I know that other third culture kids and expats will always be their true tribe, but I like to think that I eased the transition at least a little bit by passing on some of the traditions I grew up with.  Like baking with peanut butter and chocolate chips.

What traditions are you passing on to your children?  Please leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/4 cup or 60g sugar
1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup or 200g creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/2 cup or 75g roasted peanuts
1/2 cup or 100g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.

Chop your peanuts roughly and mix them together with your semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Separate about one quarter of the mixture to sprinkle on the muffins before baking.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, two sugars and baking powder.  Make sure to break up the brown sugar.

In another bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, butter, eggs and milk.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Fold in the bigger pile of chopped peanuts and chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Top each muffin cup with a sprinkle of nuts and chips.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Parmesan and Brie Topped Baby Zucchini in a Semolina Crust

Zucchini is caramelized on the stovetop then added to a golden baked semolina crust and topped with Parmesan and Brie for a lovely vegetarian main course, perfect for brunch, lunch or dinner. 

Moving to a new country is all about learning.  Learning the culture, learning the language, trying to find familiar in the unfamiliar and somehow easing into it to create a life where you can be comfortable.  It means readjusting expectations and acknowledging reality, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. 

We always thought we were doing the right thing, this moving around.  First of all, the wide world is where the job was.  Secondly, what an experience for our family, our daughters!  And, I think they both get that.  But what I am not sure they get is that the moves don’t stop when they leave home.  Lately I have been getting a little push back about coming to Cairo to visit.  It seems they are prepared not to like it.  It’s not home.  Yeah, I know that.  And for them it will most likely never be home.  (Heck, I’m still working on that feeling myself!)  I know they objected to every move we made as a family.  I was not prepared for resistance to a move that didn’t technically include their having to adjust to no friends and a new school. 

What I have learned from experience is that the last place is always my favorite because of friends and familiarity and all the little attachments we take for granted when we are there.  It takes a long time for the new place to get like that.   But you have to be willing to give it a chance.  When I had elder daughter, I could never imagine loving another human person as much as I loved her sweet little self.  And then precious younger daughter came along.  And my heart stretched to more love.  I think homes are that way.  You don’t have to love just one.  You can grow to love them all.  But you have to open your mind and heart and risk the hurt of someday leaving, to revel in and relish the place where you are.  So I am working on that.

Yesterday was a holiday in my new home.  I have learned about Sham el-Nessim,  which began as an ancient rite, to celebrate new life and creation.  Nessim means "zephyr," the spring breeze, and sham means "to breathe in."  The date is set to coincide with Easter Monday on the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar, but all Egyptians take part by getting into the great outdoors to picnic on the Nile, in parks or the zoo, and apparently eat salted, fermented fish, while breathing in the Spring air.  While I love a good picnic, this holiday was about faffing about in the kitchen for me, while dear husband got on with his outdoor projects of repairing his dartboard and small barbecue table, which had been damaged in the move.  I did open the windows wide and the zephyr blew through most refreshingly.  And, in honor of Spring, some of my seedlings are sprouting!

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups or 360ml vegetable stock

 3 oz or 85g semolina

3/4 oz 20g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (if substituting dried thyme, use half that amount)

1 egg

Olive oil

For the filling:

1 1/2 lbs or 680g baby zucchini (if substituting bigger zucchini, cut out the soft, fluffy inside part where the seeds are)

Sea salt

Black pepper

3/4 oz 20g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

4 1/4 oz or 120g Brie or other soft full fat cheese

1/4 cup or 20g breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Place the stock in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the semolina in a steady trickle, stirring continuously.  Keep stirring for three to four minutes until the mixture is thick and fairly solid.  Set aside and leave to cool slightly.

Add the thyme, egg and half of all the Parmesan cheese to the semolina mixture.  This will require a few minutes of turning and pressing with the back of your stirring spoon to incorporate.  Just keep on mixing till it’s smooth again. 

That is a whole egg.  You just can't see the white.

Oil a normal pie plate with a drizzle of olive oil.  Spread your semolina dough on the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Wet your hands slightly to stop the dough from sticking to you.  Drizzle on a little more olive oil and spread it around gently with a pastry brush.

Pop this in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until you have some browning around the edges.

Meanwhile, wash your zucchini, cut the tops and tails off and cut them lengthwise into quarters and slice your garlic.

Heat a non-stick skillet up on the stove and when it is roasting hot, dump all the zucchini into the pan.  No oil yet!

Cook on high, stirring or tossing frequently, until the zucchini get lots of nice brown bits all over, which takes about 5-8 minutes.  

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then add in the garlic.  Turn the heat down to medium.

Give the whole thing a liberal dose of olive oil and toss or stir the zucchini and garlic around in the pan for another minute or two.  Turn the fire off.

Chop your Brie or other melty cheese into little pieces.  Take off the outside rind if you want to.  Mine was hard and dried in a couple of places, so I removed that and left the rest. 

Add the breadcrumbs which will help the Brie pieces stop sticking all together. With your hands, gently mix the Brie with the Parmesan and the breadcrumbs.

When your pie crust is done, take it out of the oven, but leave the oven on.  Tip the zucchini and garlic into the crust and then try to arrange them somewhat neatly. 

Cover the top with your cheese and breadcrumb mixture and pop the pie back in the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and it is lightly browned.

Here’s where my husband wanders in, his projects finished, and says “Whatcha cooking?”  And when I answer "baby zucchini baked with Brie," his eyes light up and I laugh out loud with the man who loves my cooking.  And dotes on his daughters.  I know they will come around to see why visiting Cairo is a good idea.  Because we are here and we are trying to make it a home.  Just doing our best with open hearts. And, at least yesterday, open windows. 

Enjoy!