The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop [Paperback]

Lee Zalben (Author), Jerry Seinfeld (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

In 1998, a cozy Greenwich Village caf named Peanut Butter & Co. was born with a menu consisting entirely of peanut butter creations. The restaurant was an instant hit, with features on Good Morning America and Nightline, and profiles in Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times. People liked their peanut butter so much that it's now available in gourmet shops and grocery stores around the United States.

Now proprietor and restaurateur Lee Zalben is spreading the joy of peanut butter with The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook. Here are more than 80 gooey recipes for everything from decadent desserts (Four-Layer Peanut Butter Honey Cake) to delicious, nutritious snacks (Baked Apples with Peanut Butter) and sensational entr es (Peanut Butter Pad Thai). Of course, no peanut butter cookbook would be complete without sandwiches here are recipes from the traditional (The Lunch Box Special) to the deliciously daring (Peanut Butter BLT).

With full-color photographs and tons of quirky statistics, The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook is sure to answer every peanut butter craving!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lee Zalben, a.k.a. "The Peanut Butter Guy," is the president and founder of Peanut Butter & Co. Having created an entire menu of peanut butter sandwiches and desserts, he is, without a doubt, peanut butter's number one fan!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Jerry Seinfeld
Introduction
Peanut Butter basics
Breakfast Treats
     Peanut Butter-Blueberry Muffins
     Orange-Peanut Butter Scones
     Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast
     Peanut Butter-Banana Pancakes with Honey Butter
     Peanut Butter Waffles
     The Peanut Butter & Co. Smoothie
     Peanut Butter Granola
Sandwiches
     The Lunch Box Special (PB&J)
     Peanut Butter Club (Double Decker PB&J)
     Cookie Dough Surprise
     S’more Sandwich
     PB Cup Sandwich
     The Fluffernutter
     Dark Chocolate Dreams Sandwich
     White Chocolate Dreams Sandwich
     Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Sandwich
     The Heat Is On Sandwich
     The Elvis
     The Pregnant Lady
     The Grilled Cheese with Peanut Butter Sandwich
     Peanut Butter BLT
“After-School” Snacks
     Ants on a Log
     Frozen Dark Chocolate-Banana Bites
     No-Bake Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies
     Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats
     Peanut Butter Popcorn Balls
     Peanut Butter Caramel Apples
     Baked Apples with Peanut Butter
     Peanut Butter Banana Bread
     Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
     Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Cookies
     Peanut Butter Shortbread
     Peanut Butter Biscotti
     Peanut Butter Meringue Cookies
     Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
     Peanut Butter Blondies
     Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
     Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes
     Peanut Butter & Jelly Milk Shake
     Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate
Savory Snacks, Entrees & Sides
     Sweet and Spicy Peanut Butter-Glazed Chicken Tenders
     Peanut Butter Barbecued Chicken
     Juicy Peanut Butter-Marinated Pork Tenderloin
     Peanut Butter and Maple Glazed Ham
     Spicy Peanut Butter Burgers
     Thai-Style Shrimp Skewers
     Peanut Butter Veggie Burgers
     Vegetarian Chili
     African Peanut Butter Soup (Mafe)
     Thai Peanut Soup
     Vegetarian Masaman Curry
     Peanut Butter-Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes
     Big Green Salad with Grilled Chicken and Zesty Peanut Butter Vinaigrette
     Cold Sesame Noodles
Desserts, Cakes, Pies & Pastries
     Four-Layer Peanut Butter-Honey Cake
     Peanut Butter Frosting
     Peanut Butter-Carmel Cheesecake
     Peanut Butter and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
     Chocolate-Peanut Butter Flourless Cake
     Peanut Butter and Strawberry Shortcakes
     Peanut Butter Tiramisu
     Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie
     Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pie
     Maple-Peanut Butter Mousse
     Peanut Butter Parfait
     Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bread Pudding
     Peanut Butter Rice Pudding
     Peanut Butter Ice Cream
     Death by Peanut Butter
     The Bananarama
     Peanut Butter-Berry Crumble
Peanut Butter & Co. Apple Strudel
     Peanut Butter-Banana Fritters
     Poached Pears with Dark Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce
     Peanut Butter Brittle
     Peanut Butter Fudge
     Peanut Butter Buckeyes
Resources
Acknowledgments
Index
Table of Equivalencies

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594740569
• ISBN-13: 978-1594740565
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Zalben aka "The Peanut Butter Guy" is the Founder and President of Peanut Butter & Co. based in New York City.

In 1998 Lee opened the Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop and in 2003 expanded into retail distribution. His line of ten different varieties of all natural peanut butter (Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, Smooth Operator, etc.) is now sold at over 15,000 supermarkets and natural food stores throughout the US and Canada, including Kroger, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods.

Lee is a graduate of Vassar College were he majored in Urban Studies. He also erned a master's degree from Pace University.

In addition to running his peanut butter business, he also writes the weekly "That's Nuts" column for the James Beard Award-winning food blog Serious Eats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Peanut, Peanut Butter...Jelly!, April 18, 2006

By 

L Smith "acozylover" (Macomb, MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop (Paperback)

Do you love peanut butter? Are you looking for different ways to use peanut butter in recipes? Do you love quirky cookbooks?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, than this just might be the cookbook for you. I picked up this cookbook on a whim at my local library, and decided to see if I could find any new recipes for my peanut loving son. Included I found several great recipes including Peanut Butter Banana Bread, Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Barbecued Chicken, and Thai-Style Shrimp Skewers. Also included but not personally tested by me include the basics of making your own homemade peanut butter (with several variations), S'more Sandwich, The Elvis (yes, with bacon, bananas, and honey), Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Tiramisu.

My only comments regarding my 3 star rating is that the cookbook might be too specialized for some, and that in order to improve, I would suggest a picture of each recipe and a spiral binding. However, the recipes included were unique, and yummy. Enjoy!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Peanutty Goodness, June 3, 2007

By 

Disney Fav - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop (Paperback)

This book cleary states it is for peanut butter lovers only. And they're right, if you don't like peanut butter, you have no business getting this book, though that much is obvious.

The recipes in this book are all very quick and easy, and most are favorites with just a peanut butter twist. Though there are some, mainly sandwhiches, which I can only reccommend for adventurous eaters to try, though most are much more kid friendly. Some recipes are quite obvious, and aren't really needed, like the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, though the book would be incomplete without it.

All of the recipes in the book use peanut butter, but some use special Peanut Butter and Co flavors, that you can buy online or at certain realtors, (a list is included.) There are also recipes on how to make the special peanut butters at home, though the recommend their own brand.

The book starts with a foreward by Jerry Seinfeild, who was of course made famous on his namesake tv show, Seinfeild. His intro seems slighty out of place, since he really has nothing to do with peanut butter, or the rest of the book, and seems to talk more about bagels then peanut butter.

The book's introduction by the author, Mr. Lee Zalben, is much more fitting, interesting, and better written, as he tells of the start, and success of Peanut Butter and Co.

There is then a section entitled Peanut Butter Basics, which is basically an endosement for buying Peanut Butter and Co products, but also gives the recipes for making your own versions of their peanut butters. There is also a somewhat interesting timeline of the history of peanut butter.

The recipes are divided into five chapters.

The first chapter, Breakfast Treats, is full of baked goods and batter based breakfast dishes, including peanut butter and jelly french toast, in which the peanut butter is in the toast, and the jelly is featured in the syrup. Seven recipes are included.

Chapter two is devoted entirely to sandwiches, of which there are fourteen, ranging from the original PB&J to innovative ones such as cinnamon raisin swirl, to obscure ones such as the Elvis.

Chapter three is entitled after-school snacks, but it is almost entirely devoted to cookies, though there are other sweets included, such as; peanut butter swirl brownies and peanut butter banana bread. Twenty one recipes are included.

The next chapter features fourteen recipes for using peanut butter in entrees such as peanut butter bbq chicken, spicy peanut butter burgers, and two recipes for peanut butter soup.

Chapter five is full of desserts, featuring cakes, pies, and pastries. There are twenty-two recipes total including; peanut butter - caramel cheesecake, peanut butter and strawberry shortcake, and peanut butter - berry crumble.

At the back of the book there's a helpful list of where their products are available, though it contradicts with their website's store locator.

Lots of color photos make this fun to look at as well as to read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun and delicious!, July 16, 2009

By 

S. Robertson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop (Paperback)

If you're a peanut butter lover, there's no way you won't enjoy this book! The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow. I have made several already, including Elvis' favorite; fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was a hit with the family!