Archive | July, 2008

by far the fudgiest

31 Jul

These are my version of Dorie Greenspan’s version of Katherine Hepburn’s brownie.  Ms. Greenspan added instant coffee and chocolate chunks.  I switched over to espresso powder and took out the nuts.  They are fudgy, chocolaty, and deliciously messy.  I’m sure these would make the best ice cream brownie sundae.  I would test this theory, but the only ice cream we have in the house is candied bacon ice cream.  Although that might be nice combo since the bacon ice cream tastes like it’s made of toffee.  I’ll have to get back to you on that one.  In the meantime, I will be sharing these with some friends.

Katherine Hepburn-ish Brownies

Prep an 8×8 pan with butter and preferably lined with parchment.  Mix 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 t salt and set aside.  In a saucepan heat 1 stick of butter (cut into pieces), when it starts to melt mix in 1/2 c of cocoa powder and 2 t espresso powder.  When it’s well blended set it aside to cool for a few minutes.

After it has cooled, add 2 eggs (one at a time) and stir in 1 cup of sugar and 1 t of vanilla.  Be sure not to over-mix.  Then blend in your flour mixture along with 4 oz. of chopped bittersweet chocolate.  Pour this into your prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes.  Let them cool for about 30 minutes before you cut them.

salt and vinegar kale chips

27 Jul

Thursday is my pick-up day at my CSA.  I’m doing my best this year to not let any of the veggies go to waste.  I do pretty well with freezing things like peas and green beans, but the leafy greens always give me trouble.  I never seem to get them all used up before they wilt away. 

This week I tackled kale.  It’s not something I generally (I should be honest) ever cook, but I saw recipe for chips and gave it a try.  They were actually pretty good.  Not “I’m never going to buy another bag of potato chips good”, but good enough that I will most definitely make them again.  Probably Thursday when I pick up more kale at the farm.

Here’s how you do it.  Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Take 4 kale leaves, remove the stems and chop into big pieces.  Mix 1 T olive oil and 2 T apple cider vinegar and toss with the kale.  Spread it out on a parchment lined sheet and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of kosher salt.  Try to keep them in a single layer, so they can get nice and crispy.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, and be sure to flip them over half way through.  If they over cook they get bitter so don’t let them brown.

consolation prize

26 Jul

Road construction has finally begun here.  Yesterday they ripped out my old limestone steps with a couple of scoops of an excavator.  Soooo depressing.  I have always been more of a vanillaholic than a chocoholic, so I knew what to do.

Confiture de lait – France’s version of dulce de leche.  It couldn’t be easier to make and it’s great for drowning sorrows.  A couple of cans of condensed milk, a couple of splashes of vanilla, and a couple of pinches of grey sea salt stirred together in glass pie plate.  Cover with  foil and place in a water bath in 400 degree oven for about 2 hours.  I will caution you to keep a close eye on the water level.  If it runs dry, bad things happen to the good things in the pie plate.  Pull it carefully out of the oven, uncover and give it a little whisking to make sure it’s nice and smooth.  Once it’s cooled spread it on a hunk of a baguette, pour it over ice cream, drizzle it into a cup of coffee or tea, and have a spoonful straight from the glass. 

I feel a little better now.

have some cold milk ready

21 Jul

It has been a week or so since I have done any cookie baking around here.  The heat & humidity make the idea of turning on the oven pretty undesirable.  But Saturday I went to the Co-op and picked up some unrefined sugar to see if one really could use it as a substitute for those bright white processed crystals. 

They are a success.  I will definitely be using more unrefined sugar in the future.  The recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen site, Triple-Chocolate Cookies.  (www.americastestkitchen.com)  I gave them a couple of extra minutes of cooking time to give them a crispy edge.  For me that’s the ultimate complement to the cakey center.  The only thing I changed recipe-wise was I chopped up a bar of semi-sweet chocolate instead of using chips.  I already had the bar on hand and I like being able to control the size of the chunks.  I love the idea of mixing the coffee crystals with the vanilla.  I’m thinking I’m going to start using that little trick with espresso powder too. 

Next time I will probably sprinkle some chunky sugar on top to give them a little sparkle.  Lulu agreed with that although she would have liked a little frosting on them too.  But she’s four and would like a little frosting on everything.  The spouse is the true chocolate lover around here.  He gave them a thumbs up and decided they would be great with an ice cold glass of milk.

Maria Isabel

18 Jul

 

With the spouse heading off to Mexico, I needed something I could pull together quickly as a gift for his colleague’s wife.  I love making this pattern when time is crunched.  It always knits up quickly, (3 days of off and on knitting) and gives me a chance to work on a bit of crochet too.  Doesn’t Lucy look nice in the morning light?

a really useful mom

16 Jul

So yesterday after quickly resolving a melting candy bar crisis my son stopped to tell me “you are a really useful mom”.  What a compliment huh? 

That got me thinking about things I’ve been hoping to get done around here.  So I’m making myself useful and getting to work on those projects.  Hopefully in turn getting rid of those twinges of guilt when that stack of fabric all washed and ready is actually made into something.  That goes for the nicely wound skeins of yarn too.  Oh, and signing up for Daring Bakers and keeping my etsy shop up to date.  Naturally within moments of setting this up my internet crashed and was out for the rest of the day.  On the upside, a day without phone calls and email has it’s own advantages and gave me lots of opportunities to be useful.