The Baked Brownie

No joke, this batter is like crack. Maybe that's a bit extreme, but honestly I just love it and want more of it. Apparently, this is Oprah's favorite brownie recipe. So it's famous and it must be amazing. Well, at least I think it is. I love the crispy (not burnt) top, the super gooey middle, the rich taste of espresso which brings out the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Creation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.
4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper.
7. Cut into squares and serve, or just stick your face in and enjoy ravenously.

yummo ;)

Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!

 

 I have been seriously craving pizza for about three weeks now, but just can't get myself to order one, because that just seems so silly to pay $12 for a greasy pizza that I'll probably modify when I get it home anyways. Plus, it always takes them soooo long to get to my front door. So I made one myself, and it's much healthier, and much more delicious.


For Ze Making of Ze Pizza Crust Fantistico

1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (105 degrees F. to 115 degrees F.)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste, optional
3 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a small bowl, add the sugar to the water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Stir to dissolve and let stand for 5 minutes until foamy.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine well 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the unbleached white flour with the wheat flour, cornmeal, salt, and red pepper flakes. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour in the yeast mixture and the oil, and using a wooden spoon, vigorously stir the flour into the well. Begin at the center and work slowly outward, until the flour mixture is incorporated and the dough just begins to come together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and shiny, with good elasticity, about 10 to 15 minutes more. The dough should feel springy and be slightly moist. Too much kneading may result in a tough crust. (Truth is... I actually didn't do this part, and my crust turned out magnificently. I just made the dough and then covered it, only kneading it for about 30 seconds. Do what you're heart tells you...)
4. Oil a large bowl, shape the dough into a smooth ball, and place the ball in the bowl. Turn to coat the dough with the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until it doubles in size, about 90 minutes.
5. Punch the dough down into the shape of you're pizza or pizzas, if you will.
8. Leave the dough to rest, about 15 minutes, or place in the refrigerator for thinner crust (because the dough doesn't rise as much in the refrigerator).
9. Roll it, or punch it out, then place it on a cornmeal surface (wooden pizza dish or cookie pan). Paint some olive oil on its surface to keep the ingredients from making the dough soggy.


Make It A Pizza!

set oven to 450.

Sauce:
a combo of 6 oz. tomato paste and 15 oz. tomato sauce
add heaps of oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme
about a 1/2 tbsp. white sugar
1 tsp. chopped garlic

then....

just top the pizza crust with the sauce, veggies and cheeeeese!
I used lots of spinach (probably the equivalent of a large salad), steamed broccoli, shitake mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato slices, and fresh basil. And it was sooooo good.

Put it in the oven for about 15 minutes... just keep a close eye that it gets just slightly browned on the edges. Pull it out, let it cool, and VOILA delicimo!

enjoy!

Lemon-Cran-Thyme Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ya know those nights when you really just want to lick the excess cookie dough off of a spoon? That's what I was feeling. And voila! I've created my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, though next time I make it, I'll make a few alterations to see if I can make it even better, but for now it's positively delightful.

Gather the Goods:

3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (heaping)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
handful chocolate chunks or chips
handful of dried cranberries
handful of rolled oats
zest of 1 lemon
small bowl of half of the lemon's juice
sprig of fresh thyme (minus the stem)

Make It:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars, salt, lemon zest, thyme, and vanilla until well combined. Beat in the egg. Scrape down the bowl using a rubber spatula and beat for a few more seconds.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix on low speed just until absorbed.
4. Now it's safe to toss in some rolled oats, and then a bit of lemon juice, as long as you keep the consistency of the dough looking and feeling the same. Don't get too crazy!
5. Stir the chocolate chunks and dried fruit into the dough.
6.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden. Let sit for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!! 

Pioneer Woman's Buttermilk Biscuits

I was craving a tried and true egg sandwich with some real biscuits, so I decided to make some of my own for the occasion. Of course they're made of wholesome wheat and sweet buttermilk, so there was simply no way of them turning badly. These are also fantastic with some butter and Vegemite, if you venture for an Aussie snack of sorts. And of course, biscuits are always best with tea!




Ingredients:
4 cups white-whole wheat, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (3/4 tsp table salt)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup chilled shortening
1/3 cup cold butter (5 1/3 tablespoons) cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter



To Make:
1. Preheat your oven to 450F.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir together. Then add the chilled shortening and cold butter pieces.
3. With a fork, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Pour in the buttermilk and mix gently with a fork until just combined. The dough will be a little sticky, not overly dry or crumbly.
5. Lightly flour a clean surface. Lightly dust your rolling pin with flour. Turn the dough out of the bowl and roll to a 1/2 to 3/4-inch thickness, depending on how thick you'd like your biscuits to be.
6. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter, or with really anything round like a bowl, and place them on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for 11-14 minutes, until golden brown. Do not underbake or the biscuits will be doughy. Brush the tops with melted butter.


Enjoy!! :)

Sorta-S'more Turnover Bites

These are really quick to make, and quite delightful little treats to make for things like, ohh Canvas, maybe? (college student ministry group). I think that there's definitely room for improvement for this recipe, but for the time being, this is what I did, and friends seemed to gobble them up anyways. That's why college students are the best guinea pigs for baked goods and meals... they'll really eat whatever you put in front of them. And they'll be brutally honest, which is also really good when you're an amateur food-maker like myself :)

Gathered Ingredients:
crescent roll dough, or puff pastry (next time I'm doing puff pastry!)
almond butter (or peanut butter, or whatever)
chocolate chips, chocolate bars, or nutella
graham crackers
cinnamon & sugar
1 egg
oven at 350

Put It All Together:
1. Roll out the pre-made dough and cut it into rectangles, according to how big you want your s'more bites to be.
2. Sprinkle each rectangle (in the center only!) with a cinnamon & sugar mix. You can put on a lot, because it takes a lot to actually taste it through the dough. If you put it on the edges, you won't be able to fold the pastry well enough, so keep it in the middle.
3. Smother a graham cracker piece with almond or peanut butter, then top it with chocolate
4. Lightly wet the edges of the rectangle with water and fold it over. Use a fork to seal the edges.
5. Mix up an egg wash (part egg yolk, part water, stirred), and brush it over top all of the pockets of Sorta-S'mores.
6. Put them in the oven for about 7-10 minutes... keep a close eye on these babies, because they'll burn real easily (trust me. I did it.)
7. After they've cooled a bit, add some fabulously textured marshmallow fluff on top.

There are so many different ways you could go with this simple recipe, so explore!

Enjoy!!

Lemon-Lavender Pound Cake

It still seems like an anomaly that citrus fruits are most in season during the winter months, but to contrast my futile attempts at disbelief, I've ventured to find a recipe to suit my winter fancy, using these citrus wonders. Meyer lemons. They are so great. The perfect blend of sour and sweet, because they taste like a cross between an orange and a lemon and I quite love both of those. Also, lavender has always been a comfort to me, especially in the winter, so what a perfect pair! I love this recipe and I can't wait to do it again. For some reason, it turned out a bit dry, but that could be due to the fact that I rushed the process of making it at the end. Hope you love it like I do!

Ingredients:
makes 2 loaves

1/3 cup milk
6 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbspn fresh lemon juice
1 Tbspn vanilla
3 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
2 Tbspn freshly grated lemon zest
1 2/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup dried lavender flowers

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour the sides and bottoms of two loaf pans.  Set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine milk, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Whisk until combined.
3. In the bowl of a mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and freshly grated lemon zest.  Mix to combine.
4. Add the softened butter to the flour mixture.  Cream for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
5. Gradually add the milk mixture in 2-3 parts, mixing thoroughly for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before each addition.
6. Mix in lavender flowers until evenly distributed through the batter.  Be careful not to overmix.
7. Divide the batter into the two prepared loaf pans.
8. Bake in oven for ~30-35 minutes.  When the tops are about to crack, score the tops in one line with a sharp, oiled knife to create an even crack.  Then, place an oiled piece of foil on top of the cakes, oil side down.  Continue to bake for 25-30 minutes (for a total baking time of ~55-60 minutes).
9. When a toothpick removed from the center of the cake comes out clean, the cakes are done.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a rack before turning the cakes out.  Let cool completely.

for glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
sliced almonds, optional

1. Mix together the powdered sugar and the lemon juice.
2. Add in the lemon zest.  Mix until combined.
3. Pour the glaze over the pound cakes.
4. Immediately top with a sprinkling of sliced almonds, if using.  Let dry.


So delightful! Enjoyed best with a cuppa tea :)

Skillet Cornbread

To accompany the amazing lentils and roasted veggies that my roommate made for our roomie dinner, I made some cornbread. It also accompanied well with that goat cheese that I made the day before! Yummo! This is recipe is so effortless that I could put it all together just on my kitchen table bench. No need for massive space of the entire kitchen space (God forbid!). Really, that was only very convenient for me because my roommate still had dinner goin all over the rest of the kitchen. But I liked how easy it was regardless.

To make:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening

Now put it together:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder and stir together.
2. Measure the buttermilk and milk in a measuring cup and add the egg.  Stir together with a fork.
3. Add the baking soda and stir.
4. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients.
5. Stir with a fork until just combined.  Do not over stir.
6. In a small bowl, melt 1/4 cup of the shortening in the microwave.
7. Slowly add the melted shortening to the batter, stirring constantly until just combined.
8. In an iron skillet over high heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons shortening.  Pour the batter into the hot skillet and spread to even out the surface. Add a bit of herbs on top if you want (I put some sweet basil).  Cook on the stovetop for 1 minute, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  The edges should be crispy.
9. Slice into lil pie slices and serve it from the skillet if it's not too hot to carry :)   

Fresh Goat Cheese

I had an epiphany over Christmas break that I must, truly must start making my own cheese. I knew it couldn't be that hard, really. And then I looked up a few recipes and learned that it was even easier that I imagined.

To Make:
1 Quart Goat Milk (Pasteurized... not ultra-pasteurized, preferably. more on that later.)
1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
sea salt and herbs of your choice
cheese cloth

Easy Peazy:
1. Pour the milk in a sauce pan and put it over medium heat, until it reaches 180 degrees. It's important that you use a thermometer to know if you're getting to the exact temperature, because you don't want your milk to burn. Once you get it to 180, take it away from the heat.
2. Add the lemon juice. You should see the milk curdling in about 20 seconds, but if it doesn't, then add a tad bit more of lemon juice. Let this sit for about 20 minutes.
3. Then, drape the cheese cloth over a colander, over a big bowl. You'll need to layer up the cloth about four or five times so that it'll be strong enough for this yummo cheese.
4. After most of the whey has drained through the colander, tie up the edges of the cloth into a little knapsack of sorts, and then slip the knot through a spoon or twig. Hang it over a deep bowl for about 1 1/2 hours to allow the excess liquid to drain out of the cheese.
5. Eat it as is, or add a bit of sea salt and various herbs. I split it up into three sections: one with rosemary and sage and lavender, another with sweet basil and thyme, and another with cracked black pepper and salt.

WOOHOO! you've got cheese. that was easy.

Okay, and for those of you who accidentally bought ultra-pasteurized goat milk like I did, don't fear because you haven't totally screwed up! After doing the whole process of heating it and putting in the lemon juice, you can just let it cool over the stove and then pour it back into the milk container. Put it in the fridge over night and then you can take it out the next day and do the rest of the process.



ENJOY!