Perfect Brownies

I recently developed a brownie recipe that I think yields something that can legitimately be called the perfect brownie.  I've had three independent groups proclaim these to be pretty much the best, so I feel somewhat justified in my claim.  This yields a straight-up chocolate brownie, moist and somewhat fudgy, definitely not dry, but just cakey enough to be different from flourless chocolate cake.

I adapted the recipe from one I found on Epicurious.com (originally published in Gourmet in Oct, 2003), and I applied some principles I learned from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook to get a deep, rich chocolate flavor.

2 sticks (1 c) unsalted butter
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips)

1 c white sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t instant coffee dissolved in 3/4 t water

7/8 c all purpose flour (1 cup minus 2 T) = 3.94 oz
3/8 c cocoa (1/4 c + 2 T) (I use a mix of dutched and non-dutched cocoa)
1 t baking powder
1/2 salt
1/2 t cinnamon

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat, then remove from heat and whisk in sugar.  Allow to cool briefly, then add eggs one at a time, whisking after each egg until batter is smooth.  Whisk in the remaining wet ingredients.  Stir together the dry ingredients, then add to the chocolate mixture, whisking just until all the dries are incorporated.

Bake in a buttered 8X8" or 10X6" or so baking dish.  I usually line mine with parchment paper and then butter that to make it easy to remove the brownies from the pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out "mostly" clean without any raw batter on it.

Lentils

I had a very Keck moment last night when it came to dinner.  Tom was working late and I wanted to make something that I could make quickly and easily but could be left on the stove for awhile.  One of the food blogs I search had a recipe for lentils and I was inspired.  I really felt like a Keck as I made lentils and rice for dinner.  Even more so when we both loved it.

Anyway, each time we eat lentils, which is somewhat rarely, we always enjoy it and say we should eat more of them.  That's good considering how big of a pot I made last night.  What I made was nothing new or different, but I'm wondering if you all have any standbys that you go to when you need something quick, easy, and healthy (and cheap!).

Here's what I did last night...

Threw some chopped onion, carrot, and potato in a pot with olive oil.  Stirred it around a bit and eventually added some garlic.  Once they were softened, I added turmeric, cumin, coriander, a bit of cinnamon, and cayenne.  Then I added my lentils, chicken broth (could do water), and a can of diced tomatoes.  Once it was almost done, I added some kale to wilt.  Oh and obviously some salt and pepper as you go.

We served that up with some rice (Tom added Sriracha) and really enjoyed our meal.

Anyone else have any lentil recipes?  Or something similar?

Molly

White Beans

Revising write up based on Round 2:

1 med onion
3 large cloves garlic
1 can Navy Beans (or other white beans; I used Great Northern in Round 2)
1 can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
1/2 t. salt or to taste
1/4 t. ground Mustard
1/2 t. dried Rosemary
1/2 t. dried Sage
1/2 t. dried Thyme
1 t. dried Basil
1/8 t. ground Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
2 T. Marsala

Tried this again today with mods based on experience with Round 1:  cut the dried mustard from 1/2 t. to 1/4 t. and tried to pre-wet the dried herb ingredients.  A quick search of the internet suggested alcohol as an edible surfactant suitable for cooking, so I pre-soaked the dry ingredients in 2 T. of Marsala.   "Why Marsala?" and "Why 2 T.?" you ask...'Cause there was a bottle of Marsala with 2 T. left in it in the liquor locker, of course.  I let it soak for about 3 hours just 'cause that's how the timing worked out.  Seems to have solved the problem of running into bits of "dry hay".

The whole point here was to come up with a different seasoning base for beans:  I like cumin but seriously, there has to be another way.  These came out pretty well.  Can't say I won't play around with the mix some more, but they're worth a try.

Marinated Mushrooms

I recognize that this might be the wrong crowd cause most of ya'll have some weird aversion to mushrooms, but has anyone tried making marinated mushrooms?  I guess I'm mostly asking Mom/Dad since most everyone else probably doesn't love them.

I just tried some for the first time this week.  Turned out pretty good, but needs some tweaking.  Here's what I did...

• Boil 8oz of mushrooms until just tender.
• Throw them in a bowl with equal parts olive oil and vinegar.  The recipe I was using called for white wine vinegar but all I had was apple cider.  In the future I would try a different vinegar than apple cider.
• In the bowl add some finely diced red onion, peppercorns, oregano, red pepper flakes, a dash of brown sugar, salt, and minced garlic of course.
• Threw that in a jar and put it in the fridge overnight.  

The result is better today (about 4 days later) than it was the day after.  As mentioned I'd try a different vinegar next time.  I think it could be fun to throw a hot pepper or something in there, but that might be weird. 

Anyway, if you've given it a try, let me know if you had some success.  It was a fun experiment.  I'm going to try it again cause I loooooove marinated mushrooms.

Molly

Polenta Pizza

Had some roasted corn meal mush that needed to be used, some left over (really good) spaghetti sauce that Mom made the other night, and shredded mozzarella that was looking a little peak-ed this morning.  Well, that spells polenta pizza, right?

Sliced and fried the mush (I used coconut oil, of course), warmed the sauce and spread liberally over the fried polenta slices, added shredded mozzarella, also liberally, plus some slice black olives for Mom's, and popped it all in the toaster oven 'til the cheese melted.  Served for breakfast; I dropped a poached egg on it, of course; Mom opted for a fried drain stopper on the side, as usual.

This is awesomer than it has any right to be.  Plus, it's gluten free, grass fed, free range, non-GMO, new-age, kaleless, and just plain-old tasty.

Spicy Green Lentils

Went to Echo Hill today and picked up, among other things, a new bag of green lentils so I kinda had a hankerin' but was looking for a new way to prepare them.  I found a recipe for Warm Spiced Lentils on MyRecipes.com to use as a starting point but, as usual, took some liberties.  The result was good enough to post so I will have it for future reference, though maybe with further modifications:

~3/4 cup green lentils (original called for 1 c. petite green lentils)
1 small onion peeled
4 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 strip lime rind and 1 strip orange rind (original called for one 2" strip lemon rind; I used what I had on hand)
Coconut oil for sauteing (original called for 1 T. extra virgin olive oil)
1 med yellow onion, chopped (original called for 3/4 cup red onion)
1 can petite dice tomatoes w/Jalapenos (original called for 1 c. chopped seeded tomatoes)
~1 inch fresh ginger, minced (original called for 3/4 t. ground ginger)
1 t. ground cumin (original called for 3/4 t.)
1/2+ t. ground turmeric (original called for 1/2 t.)
1/2+ t. ground paprika (original called for 1/2 t.)
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime (original called for 1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice)
Salt, ground black pepper, ground chili pepper to taste.
(Original also called for fresh cilantro and fresh parsley which never made the scene tonight)

Lentils placed in sauce pan, covered with 2+ inches of water.  Small onion studded with whole cloves added to lentil water with bay leaves and citrus rinds.  I started this cooking with the intent to give it about 55 minutes.

Heat oil in skillet, add chopped onion, and saute.  Add ginger, garlic, spices, tomatoes and start cooking.  When lentils are soft, discard onion, bay leaves, and rinds, drain lentils and add to skillet.  Squeeze in the lime juice.  Salt, pepper, and chili pepper to taste.  Cook ~5 minutes until everything is blended and hot.  I served it with white rice and curried fish tonight.  Pretty darned good and a good place to start for a "throw together" spicy lentil and tomato dish any time.  Modify the seasonings to suit your mood!

Corn Meal Mush - Variation

I was making corn meal mush this morning for breakfast.  I use the roasted yellow corn meal from Echo Hill and usually like it with maple syrup, a really good combination with a long history.  Typically, I make extra to pour into a loaf pan to solidify for fried mush (now called polenta, if you please) at a later meal.

As we were dishing up, Mom said, "I wonder how this would taste with a little Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it."

Me:  "I don't know, but I know how to find out."

In not too long, we were trying mush with parm as an aside to our conventional bowl of mush with maple syrup.  Gotta tell you, it was surprisingly good.

Mom:  "Well, that's something else to put pickled hot peppers on."  Had to try it, of course, so out came a jar of pickled Hungarian wax pepper rings to try.

If you had told me this morning that I would be eating corn meal mush with Parmesan cheese and pickled hot peppers today I would have figured you for nuts.  Turns out its really good, worth sharing here on the blog.  I'm not sure what meal context it might best fit - probably not breakfast - but it is definitely worth a taste and worth thinking about how to fit it into a menu.  Try it and let us know what you think.