Deep Chocolate Brownies

I stumbled across this recipe for these decadent looking brownies. Making these was added on to my long to-do list. When I finally got a change to bake, the only grocery store I have within walking distance was out of bittersweet chocolate. However, I discovered about 2 weeks later that Trader Joe's has bittersweet chocolate for pretty dang cheap.

A few minor additions and a couple hours later, out of the oven came the best brownies I have ever had.

Deep Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup chopped nuts - I used pecans
  

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350.
  
• Butter and dust a 13 x 9 in baking pan with cocoa powder.
• Melt butter and chocolate in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan over low heat, whisking, until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs one at a time until the mixture is glossy and smooth.
  
• Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt and then whisk into chocolate mixture until combined. Fold the chopped chocolate and nuts in.
• Spread into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with gooey crumbs, about 30 minutes.
  
• Cool completely and store for 24 hours before slicing.
  

I know that the last step is hard because these brownies look (and smell) amazing. But, trust me - the longer they sit, the better they taste!

Crumb-Topped Rhubarb

I got a ton of rhubarb when I went home last weekend and I was sick of making pie, so I decided to make this Crumb-Topped Rhubarb I found on allrecipes.com. I modified it a bit after reading through the reviews, and here's what I ended up with! This recipe is definitely a keeper - it was incredibly easy to make...and it didn't taste bad either ;)

Crumb-Topped Rhubarb

Ingredients

• 4 cups diced fresh rhubarb
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  For the topping-
  
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350.
  
• In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Spoon into a greased 9x9 in baking dish and set aside.
  
• Combine the flour, brown sugar and oats in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the rhubarb mixture.
• Bake for 40 minutes or until light brown and bubbly.
  

Soy-Mirin Tofu Over Rice with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

I stumbled across this recipe at VeganYumYum and just had to make it. I love tofu and am up for making just about anything that involves it! An added plus - this meal was insanely easy to prepare! I've copied the recipe below.

Soy-Mirin Tofu Over Rice with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 Block Extra Firm Tofu, pressed, cut into small squares
• 1 tbs Canola or Peanut Oil
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Mirin
• Broccoli, steamed
• 1 Carrot, peeled and shredded
• Peanuts, crushed (optional)
• 1 Cup Dry Brown Rice

Peanut Dressing

• 1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1/4 Cup Water (or coconut milk if you have it!)
• 1 Tbs Sugar
• 1 Tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbs Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• 1 tsp Hot Chili Oil
• 1 Pinch Salt

Start cooking your rice. Mix sauce ingredients until smooth (be patient, it’ll look like hell at first) and set aside.

Pan fry tofu in the oil over high heat in a non-stick skillet until browned on both sides. Drain and return to hot pan (turn off the heat). Mix soy sauce and mirin together and pour over tofu, mixing well. It will bubble up and form a light glaze.

Plate rice, add broccoli, tofu, carrot, and crushed peanuts. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

Note: if you don't have mirin, use a combination of cooking wine and sugar.

Pie and Cupcakes!

I never thought that summer would be exhausting. Working full time and taking a 5 credit course is more draining that I thought it would be. I figured I could handle it easily, but I was wrong. I find myself with no time to do the one thing that I used to find enjoyable: I don't cook. I just took my first test though and decided to take the day off for once. The result? A strawberry rhubarb pie and some coconut cupcakes!

The lattice top for the pie proved to be harder than I thought. I ended up just rolling out a whole sheet and slapping it on top - next time I will get it though.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I got the recipe from epicurous.com and I have copied it below.

Ingredients
For crust

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling

• 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
• 1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions

Make crust:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter flass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes (Yields about 24)

Isabel and I were going to make a coconut cake using fresh coconut but our coconut was... fermented. So then we decided to make coconut cake using store-bough sweetened coconut but then we forgot to put the coconut milk in to the cake so we just made normal vanilla cupcakes instead and topped them off with some toasted coconut.

The cake recipe is Paula Deen's 1-2-3-4 cake recipe and the frosting is her 7 minute frosting.

1-2-3-4 Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

  

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups sifted self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool completely and then frost with 7 Minute Frosting (recipe below).

7 Minute Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy). Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Toasted Coconut

Heat the oven to 350. Spread the coconut out in a thin layer. Toast for 2 minutes and then in 1 minute intervals until lightly browned.

Assembly

Frost cooled cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Soba with Shiitake and Cabbage

These delicious Korean noodles are good cold too!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 5 tsp gochujang
  
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb dried soba noodles (buckwheat noodles - you can find them in an Asian grocery store)
• 1 lb shiitake mushrooms
  
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, minced

Directions

• Combine water, soy sauce, brown sugar and gochjang together until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
  
• Prepare pasta as directed.
  
• While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet until hot. Take the pan off the heat and then add in the ginger and garlic. Return to heat and add in sliced mushrooms. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 - 7 minutes or until the mushrooms turn a darker brown color.
  
• Add cabbage, carrot and green onion, and saute until veggies become crisp-tender. Add the sauce and mix thoroughly, until heated through.
• Add cooked noodles to the vegetable mixture and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds for garnish. Serve immediately.
  

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta

A quick, delicious meal that I will never get sick of!

Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 lb of dried pasta, any kind. I used cavatappi.
• Container of cherry (or grape) tomatoes
• 1 small - medium sized block of goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 a bunch of parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
  

Directions

• Cook the pasta according to directions on the package.
• Drain (reserve some pasta water) and then add the tomatoes, goat cheese, parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper (to taste). If too dry, add some of the pasta water.
• Serve!

Chocolate Cookies

I decided to make some chocolate cookies for our High School Musical 2 party tomorrow night. Of course, I'll bring some in to work, too.
Chocolate Cookies (Makes 30)

Ingredients

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks (I used Baker's)
• 1/2 cup walnuts, optional
  

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  
• Melt the 8 ounces of roughly chopped chocolate with the 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Be careful not to burn it. I did about 5 intervals of 20 seconds.
  
• In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix on high for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be thick and glossy.
• Mix in the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just blended. Stir in the 12 ounces of chocolate chunks and walnuts. Let the mixture sit for about ten minutes.
  
• Use a cookie scoop (about 1.5" in diameter) to scoop the dough onto buttered baking sheets about 3 inches apart. I put 9 cookies onto each sheet just to be safe.
  
• Bake for 13 minutes. Do not overbake!! You don't want the middle of the cookie to harden.
  
• Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes and then place onto a cooling rack.
  
  
  
  Enjoy!
  

I've also come to the realization that I need to get some nicer plates. Living the life as a poor college student with a kitchen packed with hand-me-down dishes and silverware is no fun. But hey, at least it was free, right?

Mint Ice Cream Cake

Girl Scout Thin Mints, mint ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate wafers layered into a cake - what could be better?

I had several boxes of Thin Mints laying around and as much as I love them, I haven't been able to finish them all yet. So I figured I would put them to good use.

Mint ice cream is also one of my favorite flavors, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong with this!


Mint Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box of chocolate wafers (I used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
• 1/2 stick of butter, melted
  
• 1/2 box of Thin Mints (1 roll), crushed
  
• 1/2 gallon of mint ice cream, softened enough to spread
  
• 1/2 jar of hot fudge sauce
  

Directions

• In a food processor, crush the wafers (I used about 2/3 a box for the crust). Add the butter and mix until combined. Press the wafers into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.
  
• Carefully spread half the ice cream on top of the crust.
  
• Sprinkle the crushed Thin Mints (a food processor works fine) on top of the ice cream and drizzle the fudge on top of the Thin Mints.
  
• Spread the remaining ice cream on top of the Thin Mint layer.
  
• Freeze the cake for at least 30 minutes - you want the ice cream to harden back up.
  
• Before cutting, run a knife dipped in hot water around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cut the cake with a warm knife as well.
  
• Serve the cake with the remaining hot fudge sauce!

Eggplant Parmesan and Pesto Bowties

Even though most people think I can only make desserts, I like to think that I'm pretty good at cooking meals, too. For dinner tonight, Mike and I made eggplant Parmesan and some spinach pesto. We had a nice chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano leftover from Fromagination and we figured we should use it up before it dried out. I think we did a pretty good job. We have a little bit of the cheese left over and a huge piece of rind. The rind will be great in some soup though!


The recipe I used for the eggplant Parmesan is here - I cut the recipe in half and left out the capers. Even after I cut the recipe in half, it still made a lot of food! It's supposedly four servings... but in my opinion it was more like eight. If you make the full recipe, you will need a pan much larger than your normal 9 x 13 Pyrex. I used that for my halved recipe and it was packed full to the top.


Spinach Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves, stems off
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 5 tablespoons walnuts
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
  
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan

Directions

• In a food processor, blend together the spinach, garlic, walnuts and olive oil. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
  
• Stir in the Parmesan.
  

I served the pesto with bow tie pasta. The pesto recipe makes enough to coat a pound of pasta.





The meal took 3 hours to make and 3 minutes to devour :)

Carrot Cupcakes

This is my first post! And my first cupcake of the summer - carrot cupcakes. I made these because the Olin HPVC team left a huge bag of carrots at my house after their stay. They had been sitting in my fridge for quite a while and I thought I should make something delicious out of them before they started to rot.

Carrot Cupcakes Recipe (Makes 24)

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans

For cream cheese icing:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin cups with cupcake liners - you will need about 24.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, brown sugar, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared muffin pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let cool in pans completely.
   
4. To make frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cupcakes.