Mmmm . . . Peanut Butter

KCRW's Good Food is one of my favorite radio programs. It is, naturally, about food: restaurant reviews, cookbooks, chefs, cooking tips, what's in season, and other related topics. I listen faithfully every week.

I even get around to trying some of the recipes I hear on the show. I've had one recipe in particular stuck in my mind for nearly three years. Three years! I did make it back when the show first aired, but I was missing one key ingredient. Now that I've finally found it (okay, my search over the past few years has been very, very intermittent) I'm ready to give it another go.

The recipe is Peanut Butter Avalanche, from The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book by Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein. It calls for vanilla-flavored liqueur, which I finally found at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. My friend recommended this store to my brother (both of whom are beer obsessed) because they have this giant walk-in beer refrigerator.

I, on the other hand, was excited to find that they carried three different types of vanilla liqueur. They did carry Licor 43, which is the one suggested in the recipe, but the store employee (very friendly and helpful) who showed me the different liqueurs said that Licor 43 had other flavors with the vanilla, whereas the one I got (Das Komet) was just pure vanilla. And it was only six dollars.

And now for the recipe: this is like a liquored-up peanut butter shake. It's very, very good, but not something anyone should indulge in on a regular basis.

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Peanut Butter Avalanche
Makes 2 drinks

• 1 cup ice
• 2/3 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) vanilla-flavored liqueur, such as Licor 43
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) vodka
• 1/4 cup malted milk powder
• 1/4 cup creamy standard peanut butter
• 1/4 cup milk, preferably nonfat

Place the ingredients in the order listed in a blender; blend until smooth, making sure the ice cubes get crushed thoroughly. Pour into 2 glasses and serve at once.