Layered Brownies

Last month we went to a party at my cousin's house, and his SO served these sinful things. Today A decided to make them for our Labor Day BBQ. They are the bomb!

Layered Brownies
(makes 24)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Glaze
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

Brownies: Heat oven to 300. Butter a 9 x 13-inch pan and line it with buttered parchment (or wax) paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pan over very low heat. Remove from heat. While the mixture cools, beat together the sugar, eggs, and salt for 8 minutes. Fold in the chocolate mixture, then the flour and vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly, about 90 minutes.

Frosting: After the brownies have cooled for an hour, melt the butter over low heat until it's medium brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately beat in the confectioners sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla. Frost the brownies with this mixture while it's still warm. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Glaze: While the frosting cools, melt together the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a small pan over very low heat. Pour over the white icing. When the glaze has hardened -- it will take an hour or two -- cut the brownies into squares. Chill the brownies thoroughly; they are much better cold.

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Ribtastic!

Summer is BBQ time here at the old homestead, and a time when the SO becomes King of the Grill. Yesterday we had our annual Independence Day Barbecue; he's been getting weary of the succulent pulled pork he normally serves up, so I found us a large package of 2 racks of pork ribs.

Neither of us are particularly fond of tomato-y barbecue sauces and we both have an affinity for dry rubs, the recipe he chose to follow came out of my June/July 2011 issue of Saveur

Memphis-style Dry Ribs
A very generous meal for 4-6

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried mustard powder
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground fennel seed
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 racks pork spareribs, approximately 3lbs each
3/4 cup apple juice

Mix together 2 Tbsp salt with the remaining dry spices. Reserve 2 Tbsp of the mixture then rub pork all over with the rest. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or chill overnight. Whisk together remaining salt with reserved spice mixture and apple juice; this is your mop sauce.

Prepare your grill using applewood chips in the smoker (we didn't bother with the wood chips); and set the burners so that you are maintaining a temperature of 225º-275º. Place ribs, meat side down on grate, cook, turning once and basting with sauce every 20 minutes, until the tip of a small knife slips easily in and out of the meat, 2-4 hours.

You will NOT be disappointed!

Of course, since I do like to give equal time to vegetarian recipes, I made a layered bean dip as an appetizer. This recipe comes from The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book, pg. 39.


Warm Layered Bean Dip
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 15oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp water
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 cup mild to medium salsa
2 avocados, cut in half, pitted, and peeled
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
tortilla chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat 2 cups water to boiling over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes to blanch; drain. With flat side of chef's knife, mash garlic; transfer to a medium bowl and add beans, half of the green onions, the tomato paste, and water. Mash until well combined but slightly chunky, then spread over the bottom of a small (approx 4" x 8") glass baking dish.
2. Sprinkle cheese over the bean mixture, then spread salsa on top. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mash avocados just until slightly chunky. Stir in cilantro, red onion, lime juice, and salt. Spoon avocado mixture over the hot dip mixture and spread sour cream on top. Sprinkle with remaining green onions. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 5 1/2 cups.

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Shepherd's Pie with Curried Meat

(Adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser ©2010)

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs potatoes (I favor Yukon gold)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1.5 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup crushed canned tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups cooked fresh or frozen green peas
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup hot milk, plus more if needed
3 tablespoons butter

Serves 4 to 6

1. Put potatoes into a pot and add water to cover and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender to the core when pierced with a fork.

2. While the potatoes cook, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until wilted, then add garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Add the curry powder, cumin, and coriander and cook briefly, stirring. Add the meat and cook, stirring down with the side of a heavy kitchen spoon to break up the lumps, until it has lost its raw color. Add the tomatoes, broth, sugar, peas, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes.

3. Heat the broiler. Drain the potatoes and mash them. Add the hot milk, 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper to taste, mixing with a wooden spoon. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk.

4. Spoon the piping hot curried meat mixture into a 2.5 quart baking dish. Top with the hot mashed potatoes. Smooth over the top. Dot with remaining tablespoon of butter.

5. Run the mixture under the broiler until the top is golden brown.

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 One of my Easter staples is homemade macaroni and cheese, and I think I've finally found the perfect, simple to prepare recipe. I double the ingredients and always have leftovers to nosh on through the week :-)

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

1 cup diced onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups low-fat milk

1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard

10 ounces extra sharp aged white Cheddar, grated (food processor works great for this!) + 2 ounces, grated

salt and white pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

8 ounces cavatappi shaped pasta

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Yield: 3 to 4 servings as a main dish or 6 servings as a side dish

1. In a large saucepan, cook the onion over low heat in the melted butter until the onion is soft but not browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the flour. Remove from heat and whisk in the milk until thoroughly blended. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture just begins to thicken (this takes at least 15 minutes or so). Remove from heat and stir in the mustard, 10 ounces of Cheddar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and hot pepper sauce until cheese is melted and sauce is relatively smooth.

2. Meanwhile, cook the cavatappi according to package directions until al dente. Drain but do not rinse. Stir immediately into the prepared cheese sauce until blended well. Adjust seasonings.

3. Spoon mixture into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Top with the remaining 2 ounces of Cheddar and the Parmesan.

4. Place rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat the oven to 400º and bake for about 30 minutes, until the mixture is hot, bubbling throughout, and golden.

From Cooking for Comfort by Marian Burros ©2003.

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St Patrick's Day Fare

Being that my SO is half Irish (his mother emigrated from Co. Cavan) and therefore my children are one-quarter Irish, I usually pull together a St. Patrick's Day supper sometime around the 17th of March. Besides the usual corned beef and cabbage, I've fine-tuned  menu over the years that includes Beef and Guinness Pie, Colcannon (for my vegetarian friends) and Irish Soda Bread. The doubling-up of beef and beef has been bothersome, though, so this year, I'm adding a lamb stew to the repertoire.


Colcannon
1 md head cabbage, quartered and core removed
2 lb potatoes, scrubbed and sliced with skins left on
2 md leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced
1 c  milk
1/2 t  mace
Salt
Pepper
2  garlic cloves
8 T unsalted butter
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and boil the cabbage until tender, about 12-15 minutes. Remove cabbage, when cool enough to handle, chop and set aside.

In the same water, boil the potatoes until tender. Drain off the water and set potatoes aside.

Put the leeks in a saucepan, cover with the milk, bring close to boiling and then turn down to a simmer until tender. Set aside.

Add the mace, salt and pepper, and garlic to the pot with the potatoes and mash well with a hand masher. Now add the leeks and their milk and mix in with the potatoes, taking care not to break down the leeks too much. Add a little more milk if necessary to make it smooth. Now mash in the cabbage and lastly the butter. The texture that you want to achieve is smooth-buttery-potato with interesting pieces of leek and cabbage well distributed in it.

Transfer the whole mixture to an ovenproof dish, top with cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

Yield: 6 servings

The mace in this recipe adds an interesting flavor and it tends to have a slightly anesthetizing effect on the tongue. It's also swimming in butter, which isn't really a bad thing IMHO! :-D

Irish Soda Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup dried currants or golden raisins
1 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk, at room temperature
1/4 cup of honey
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk, for glaze
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, sift and combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add salt, orange zest, and caraway seeds.
 
Use a pastry cutter or fingers, cut in or blend butter into flour mixture until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the currants or raisins. Set aside.
 
In a medium bowl, combine honey with 1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
 
Stir into flour mixture until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out onto a floured surface (dough will be sticky).
 
Knead, 1 minute. Cut dough in half. Shape each piece into a round loaf. Place on a greased and flour-dusted baking sheet. Dip a sharp knife into flour and cut across 1/2 inch deep, across top of each loaf.
 
Brush loaves with egg-and-milk glaze. Let stand for 10 minutes before baking. Bake in preheated oven, 35-40 minutes. To test for doneness, turn the bread over and tap underneath. If the bread sounds hollow, it is fully cooked. Let cool on racks before slicing. Slice thin or cut in wedges.

The addition of honey and orange zest is far from traditional, but it definitely works with the other ingredients. Unfortunately I have no idea where I originally found these two recipes.


Irish Lamb Stew

1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
4 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons white sugar
4 cups diced carrots
2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
3 potatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves 
1 cup white wine 

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly.

Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.

Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. 

Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. 

Serves 10

This recipe, from allrecipes.com, turns out a gorgeously thick and hearty stew, as it should with the amount of flour that goes into it.

Anyway, that's shaping up to be my menu this year. I'll post pix once the cooking is done!   

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My Favorite Breakfast

I love poached eggs on toast. It is my absolutely favorite comfort food for breakfast. Grr. That does not express the depth of of my adoration of poached eggs. How about this: I LOVE POACHED EGGS.

When I was a kid, I used to stay overnight at my grandmother's house and she would make me poached eggs for breakfast. She had this special multi-piece egg-poaching pan that poached two eggs at a time. (You boil water in the bottom part of the pan and then carefully crack the eggs into the top of the pan -- a metal insert with two half-moon reservoirs -- then cover.)

After my grandmother died, I inherited that contraption, and let me tell ya, it was a pain in the ass to clean! And, for the record, I hate "fussy" kitchen tools and appliances. I'm a multi-tasker, I expect my kitchen tools and appliances to be able to multitask too!

Fortunately, my husband was a short-order cook for a summer, and he taught me how to poach eggs the old-school way. No fancy tools -- just a pan of boiling water, a glug of white vinegar and a pinch of salt. After you get the water to boil, you lower the heat and then crack the eggs carefully into the bath. Bring the heat back up slowly and simmer for about a minute and a half. I usually set the toast in the broiler (See? Multitasking!) before I drop the eggs into the water (yes, I use my oven's broiler to toast bread!), so my toast is ready to lay those babies on. Finish with salt and freshly ground pepper, and voilà the best breakfast comfort food. Ever.

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Why, hello there!

I love to cook! But having spent most of the last 12 years catering to the tastes of two young children, I've become master (or mistress) of kid-friendly cooking (read Kraft Mac 'n Cheese and hotdogs) ...

But, no more. This year I've decided to blog about some of the meals I'm making, and to share my story as I create. And of course, there will be pictures ^__^

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