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Lee Zalben

Founder & President of Peanut Butter & Co.

Lee Zalben aka “The Peanut Butter Guy” is the Founder and President of Peanut Butter & Co.
In 1998 Lee opened the Peanut Butter & Co. sandwich shop in New York City 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, Safeway, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods.
Lee has a passion for delicious, wholesome food and the people who grow it, produce it, and cook it, and serve it!
Lee is the author of The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook (Quirk Books) which is now in its fourth printing, and writes the weekly That’s Nuts column for Serious Eats. A graduate of Vassar College, Lee also earned a master’s degree from Pace University.

Location: Greenwich Village, NYC
Favorite foods: All things peanut buttery...
Last bite on earth: A scoop of peanut butter ice cream topped with peanut butter, sandwiched between two homemade peanut butter cookies, sides rolled in roasted, salted peanuts!

Comments

Almond Butter Bostock

@patricium - Thanks for pointing that out. All fixed now!

@Ken G - That's a great comparison! I loved peanut butter toast as a kid too (still do). I should work on a Peanut Butter Bostock. I think the trick is figuring out how to replace the almond extract in the simple syrup with a peanut flavor. Maybe some roasted peanut oil would do the trick...

NY Times PB/Pickle Sandwich Article w/ Ed Levine and Lee Zalben

Ed, thank you again for recommending that Dwight contact me about his Peanut Butter & Pickle article. This week he taped an interview about the combo for CBS News Sunday Morning at the Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop which will air on Sunday, November 17, 2012 sometime between 9:00am and 10:30am Eastern time!

@PSFam - I love that homemade halvah idea!
@jrmanor - Sesame Truffles = genious!

@Alex! - I think that from a flavor standpoint, tahini could work with a variety of vegetable and chicken based stocks. Even a beef stock could be good (I'm not sure about a fish or seafood stock - I'll have to test that out before I recommend it). I think the important factor is using herbs and spices to flavor your stock that will pair well with sesame, the main component in tahini. Lemongrass, citrus, red chiles, sundried tomatoes, and rosemary all seem to me like they would work well. Some very pronounced herbs and spices like cumin, Old Bay, or cilantro might be overpowering or clash with the sesame. At the end it comes down to personal choice. Experiment in small amounts and when you find a combo you like expand your recipe!

Glad to see so much love for Goldenberg's Peanut Chews!

@jimmyjo - I completely disagree. While I'm not a fan of some of the ingredients on their label, I think they've stayed fairly true to the original recipe (and size) of the product.

As for meltability of the chocolate - I'm not sure that's something I want in a candy bar. Buy if you're into melting peanut chews, check out this idea for Poached Pears with Melted Peanut Chew Sauce

@nrkelly - It's really to taste, but I'd start with 1 tablespoon and then add more 1 teaspoon as a time until it's sweet and creamy enough for you. Also, please note the tea reocmmendations in the comments in the main post. Let us know how it turns out!

@scherzophrnic - That's a great question. I asked my friend Linda Villano from SerendipiTea who says:

There is no fixed base for Thai Iced Tea. For best results one should use a broken leaf, rather than a full leaf as this will ensure a fast, strong infusion. Due to geographical proximity of Thailand to China, the recommended bases are Chinese Black Teas from Yunnan Province. BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) or PF (Pekoe Fannings) are ideal grades. Another suitable base is Assam, a robust Indian tea from a region just north of Burma. Again, it's best to use broken leaves or fannings.

Good luck and happy brewing!

@candide - Anita Lo has some serious chops and is a very talented chef. A blind ingredient tasting during a high stress TV competition show taping is bound to frazzle your nerves, let alone your taste buds.

@kagredon - Tahini is a paste made from specially prepared ground sesame seeds. Just adding sesame seeds to the chickpeas in the food processor won't have quite the same effect.

@Alex! - That's not a bad idea. Great topic for a future post!

@Marcusj42 - As per the recipe, for best results, I recommend using unsweetened peanut butter for this. But using conventional, sweetened peanut butter shouldn't make the hummus overly sweet beacause you're only using a small amount. Enjoy!

@Lola del Rio - Good Question. During Passover, observant Jews aren't supposed to own any non-Kosher for Passover foods. Most accomplish this by doing some spring cleaning just before the holiday, and either throwing out or boxing up and placing in a garage or other storage area all of their non-K-for-P foods (and dishes). Local synagogues make arrangements to temporarily and symbolically "sell" those things to a non-Jewish person for the 8 days of Passover. For Jews that own food businesses (like me), this feat is accomplished by the Orthodox Union (which provides our Kosher certification) and is accomplished through the paper shuffle I described in the post.

@david e - I am going to try really hard to forget the story you posted, but i fear the image has been imprinted on my brain!

@charthepirate - you are correct about the origin of red-dyed pistachios. For more info, plus a story from my childhood, check out http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/red-dyed-pistachios-are-you-still-out-there.html

9 Nutty Sweets in Brussels

@MiriamG - I agree that Marcolini chocolates are quite wonderful and I visited the shop in the Sablon. I found it to feel more like a showroom than a friendly little chocolate shop and i decideed not to include it because the experience wasn't as charming as the other places I visited.

@BooDan - I think you're talking about these:
http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/12/eating-sprinkles-the-dutch-way-hagelslag-on-bread.html

Happy National Almond Day! 19 Recipes to Celebrate

@Phong623 - your wish is my command: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/almond-macaroons-recipe.html
Enjoy!

A Look Inside the New Whitman's All-Peanut Butter Sampler Box

Yay for all of the fun Whitman's memories. Glad to hear that some other folks love the map as much as me!

@sobriquet - What post were you reading?

How to Make Almond Milk, How It Compares to Soy Milk

@Jessica Tom - Funny Jessica, I answered this question on the Recipe post as well. The leftover almond solids can be worked into cookie or bread dough for some added texture and protein in those recipes. Enjoy!

Homemade Almond Milk

@Mamiejame - I did a post about Cashew Cream a few months ago: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/08/cashew-cream-recipe.html You might like that a little more, but I'm not sure how it would work with coffee.

@lemonfair - Good questions. You comment helped me realize that I should do a post about how to blanch different kinds of nuts at home. I used pre-blanched almonds to make this and imagined that someone at home would do the same, but perhaps that wasn't realistic. To be honest, the flavor is the same if you leave the skin on the almonds - the color of the almond milk will just be a shade darker. Also, in regards to price, unless you have a great deal on bulk nuts, it will probably be less expensive to buy readymade almond milk. But hey, we often make stuff like this not just because of economy, but because we get to be creative in the kitchen with flavor combinations as well as control and limit stabilizers, preservatives, etc.

@PS Farm - Great question! You could certainly add the solids to cookie or bread dough to add some protein and fiber!

5 Poppy Seed Desserts to Know

@ArtoriusRex - I don't think I've ever had poppy seeds in ice cream before - I'll have to try that soon!

5 Ways to Enjoy Marrons Glace, aka Candied Chestnuts

@Simon, I love that you are making Marrons Glaces ice cream using chestnuts in not 1 but 2 different forms! I love chestnut puree like the one you linked to, and will definitely be doing a post on that next year.

As for for the cheese & crackers prep, it was actually quite tasty (surprisingly so). I agree that they are most delicious on their own, but I put this post together because so many people are "chestnut averse," and seem to be able to enjoy their unique flavor and actually use them if they have some quick serving ideas. The cookie dough and oatmeal are particulary easy and delicious!

Nut Liqueurs for Holiday Drinking

@imwalkin - That drink sounds very delicious but very dangerous!

@scalfin - The flavors vary, but they are all typically very sweet, slightly bitter, with varying degrees of nuttiness. They're all pretty delicious on their own over nice, but they definitely add complexity and layers of flavor when combined with other spirits and mixers.

@kdroste - Pecan liqueur? That sounds like a must try!

@KevinMofM - I like equal parts of Nocino and Half and Half over ice. You could jazz it up with a dash of cinnamon schnapps like Goldschlagger!

How Did Macadamia Nuts Find White Chocolate?

@Ken G - that's an interesting link/story. Food trends are often spotted by small companies and then promoted nationally a little later on by bigger ones, so it's plausible and the timing is reasonable. I've never had a Blue Chip cookie, so I will have to check them out!

@Jessica Tom - I want to test your Fat + Fat = Yum theorem:

Pastry Crust + Coconut + Cream = Yum (The Coconut Cream Pie Axiom)
Hamburger + Cheese + Bacon = Yum (The Bacon Cheese Burger Axiom)
Fried Fish + Tartar Sauce = Yum (The Fish Fry Axiom)

OK yeah, it checks out!