perfect bownies with a side of my words

mimi gave me a brownie pan that has a removable bottom AND a grid that settles into your batter and bakes up 12 perfectly-shaped, pre-cut brownies.

i'm not gonna lie to you, interwebs, i made fun of her. i poked fun of my grandmother. i did it. because everybody likes the middle pieces best! and i have a knife! and geez, they're only brownies!

but, interwebs, i am contrite. take a good hard look at that brownie (on a pedestal, just where it belongs) and tell me it isn't worth the multi-step process. have you ever seen such a beauty??

ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (that's 2/3 cups chips)
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour

prep:

• spray all the parts of your gorgeous new chicago metallic brownie pan with oil/baking spray
• preheat oven to 350*

actual cooking:

• nuke butter and chocolate for 2 minutes until butter is melted
• stir until chocolate is melted

• add sugar & combine

• add eggs & vanilla
• combine

• add flour
• combine

• assemble pan with bottom

• pour in batter
• tap it gently on the counter

• lower in the grid

• bake for 35 minutes
• cool briefly in the pan
• remove grid gently
• transfer pan bottom to a wire rack to cool completely

thank you, thank you, thank you, mimi!

baked falafel

i've made falafel from a mix before, all re-hydrated and deep-fried (and kosher!), but this recipe for falafel that was baked instead of fried intrigued me. besides, i'm totally ready to amp up my game. and... my food processor was still on the counter from a fight i had with some blueberry bars last weekend.

um, and then i read the read the recipe beyond its title and saw that it does take a little pan-frying, but also bakes, which calls for a cast iron skillet, if you ask me.



ingredients:

• 1 can (15-16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbs flour

prep:

• preheat oven to 400*
• chop your onion & garlic, but don't go crazy because you're putting them in the food processor, jackass
• rinse & drain your beans

actual cooking:

• pulse beans, onion, garlic, parsley, spices, salt & baking soda in the food processor until combined but still a little grainy (i went past this and my falafel had the consistency of... i don't know what. toothpaste. spicey toothpaste.)
• stir flour in by hand
• form into four patties and let them rest for fifteen minutes
  

• (this is a good time to put your cauliflower in the oven, generously sprayed with olive oil, and start your israeli cous cous going on the stovetop.)
• spray cast iron skillet with olive oil and set heat to medium-high
• fry patties about 2 minutes on each side
  

• transfer skillet to the oven and bake for 10 minutes
  
  
  

madeleines

last weekend my uncle jim gave me a madeleine pan. the week before, the miminator gave me a miniture madeleine pan. there's something about me that just insists that you give me the baking tools you don't use anymore. it's how i've become the proud owner of lots and lots of neat things, like antique lab & bunny cake molds, a few extra muffin tins and a checkerboard cake kit.

j is fond of madeleines. "fond" might be a staggering understatement. j left for a new job in another city this morning. yesterday, i made 8 dozen 3" madeleines and two dozen minis. i filled a 2.5 gallon bag with the full-sized cakelettes (the minis require more discipline than i generally exercise) and this morning he drove away with it half full. fond. in order to make so damn many, i had to quadruple the recipe-- i think i need to buy another madeleine pan.

ingredients:

• 2 cups unsalted butter, melted
• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 eggs
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 4 tsp vanilla

prep:

• melt the butter
• preheat to 375*

actual cooking:

• combine flour, baking powder & salt
• beat eggs & sugar at medium-high until tripled in volume (eh, 6-7 minutes)
• sift a 1/2 cup or so of the flour mix over the eggs and fold it in
• gently, slowly fold in the rest of the flour mix
• add about 1/4 cup of the egg/flour mix to the cooled melted butter & whisk
• gently fold the butter mixture into the rest of the batter
• chill for an hour
• grease your mold (i used baking spray)

• drop rounded tablespoons of batter into the mold (i piped mine in, as i do with anything that doesn't all go in one pan)
  

• bake for 11-12 minutes
• drop pan from a couple inches onto your counter to loosen madeleines
• cool un-scalloped side down on a rack
• present the little darlings elegantly on a tray or impressively in a giant zippy bag
  

best of luck, j.

(and thanks for taking care of him, uncles jim & frank!)

(and for the madeleine pan! i hope there were some left after he was alone in a car with them for 5 hours.)

bolognese

naturally, i had none of the better shapes on hand to eat this with, so i settled for whole sheat spaghetti. still nom.

this is one of the three things i've been able to cook since FOREVER (the other two are shortbread and mac & cheese) and, frankly, it's some of the best food there is. not to toot my own horn.

ingredients:

• olive oil
• chopped garlic
• mire poix
• (mushrooms)
• one package of "meatloaf meat" -- a combination of beef, pork and veal-- or just beef, or beef and pork, but i think the veal really adds something.
• 2 cans (32 ounces each?) of crushed tomatoes
• salt & pepper
• basil, oregano, etc. to taste (don't overdo it)
• (heavy cream/half & half, etc.)

prep:

• you may need to chop your own mire poix if tj's was ALL OUT
• (and your mushrooms, which aren't part of mire poix, but work nicely)
• and your garlic if you don't get it out of a jar

actual cooking:

• cover the bottom of a large pot over medium/high heat with olive oil
• add garlic, cook about 1 minute
• add mire poix (& mushrooms), cook until softened slightly
• add meat and cook until nothing's pink, stirring constantly
• (pour off fat if there's lots)
• add crushed tomatoes, herbs & salt & pepper
• allow to simmer for a good long time-- an hour or so, at least you can't really overcook it unless you're trying very hard
• add a splash of cream just before serving

obviously, this is most often served over pasta, go for something that will grip the chunks like corkscrews or shells.

savory shortbread experiments: basil & sun-dried tomato

this recipe has been adjusted for what i think mine lacked, namely, SALT. i've added scratch cheese and sea salt to this recipe, but i can't make any promises. they were good but... eh. they needed salt.

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato (NOT packed in oil) chopped fine
• 1 tbs scratch cheese
• 1 tsp ground sea salt
• 1 tbs fresh basil, chopped fine or 1/2 tbs dried basil, chopped fine
• 1 1/4 cups flour

prep:

• allow butter to soften
• preheat oven to 350*
• butter 2 baking sheets

actual cooking:

• beat butter until lightened in color (about 1 minute)
• add tomato
• add basil
• add cheese
• add salt
• add flour until just combined
• shape into 2 5" logs (mine were rectangular, which helped)
• wrap in plastic and chill IN THE REFRIGERATOR (not the freezer, not not not the freezer) for 1-4 hours until firm
• slice 1/8-1/4" thick bake until edges are golden brown

fruit-filled shortbread

this is a variation on one of my new favorite recipes: chocolate-raspberry filled shortbread.

short bread-- along with macaroni & cheese and bolognese sauce-- was one of the first things i learned to cook by myself. it also happens for be favored by a lot of people i know: daddy, j, aunt diane and mrs. bender, my high school latin teacher (salvete, maestra!) (that's probably wrong, i got a c in latin), probably because it's awesome and delicious and crumbly and perfect. probably. j also favors blueberries, and he's coming over for salmon and leffe blonde tonight, so i made these blueberry.

ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3/8 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• about 1/3 cup jam (blueberry, here, or seedless raspberry)
• (2-4 ounces of finely chopped white or semi-sweet chocolate)

prep:

• allow butter to soften very slightly
• reserve 1 tbs of butter for greasing the pan-- and because this recipe actually needs 7/8 cups butter
• preheat oven to 300*

actual cooking:

• beat butter on low about 1 minute
• add sugar
• add vanilla & salt
• add flour and beat until just combined
• line a tart pan with plastic wrap
• divide dough in 2 equalish parts

• pat half into the lined tart pan and chill in the freezer until it (and its plastic) can be removed in one piece-- leave the dough in the freezer until called for, but take out the pan because you need it now

• grease the tart pan with remaining tbs (or less) of butter
• pat the other half of the dough into the pan
  

• add your filling
  

• spread it to about 1/2 and inch from the edge

• remove other dough from the freezer, carefully removing the plastic and laying it fingerprints down on top of the filling

• allow dough to soften for 5-10 minutes until you can press the edges together without damaging the dough (i got distracted when my volunteer gig called to see if i could work 12-2 tonight)
• bake for 45-55 minutes until golden
• allow to cool most of the way
• slice with a thin, sharp knife

kitchen klutz

"next aloe plant we see, we're buying!"





i have to admit, he's got a point. one might think a compulsive drive to buy potholders would prevent burns like the heart-shaped one at the base of my thumb (above, ironically displayed on my "le cordon bleu" oven mitt), the long-scarred 1 1/2 inch on the back of my left hand, the 1/2 inch puckered line on my right wrist, the currently sloughing (ew, only a little bit) result of attempting to remove hot shortbread from a tart pan on the inside of my right wrist, and so many fingertips and knuckles along the way.

i'm careless. and a danger to myself.

i'v had cuts, too, of course. little nicks from overzealous chopping and long, paper cut-like ones from a razor-sharp utility knife that i could swear didn't even touch my flesh. more often than not, i slam a drawer on my hand trying to clean as i go.

but the best-- the best EVER-- was the time i injured my rotator cuff mashing potatoes on a stove top that just a little too high for me in stocking feet. i shit you not, i was in agony for a week.