Easy Oohey Gooey Brownies

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Brownies

My hubs LOVES chocolate.  And about once a month so do I!  These brownies are beyond easy and more delicious than any box mix I have encountered.  This recipe is a go-to for week night sweet tooth.  The best part of this recipe is that you can make it as is delicious OR play with the chocolate types and quantities for extra richness or gooieness!
INGREDIENTS:
  • 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
  • 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, semisweet
    chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or
    white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass.

DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and unsweetened chocolate. Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until just blended. Stir in the chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes (longer if using a metal pan). Do not overbake. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into 2 1/2-inch squares.

Makes 9 large brownies.
CHEF NOTES:
I generally add a combination of bittersweet, dark and milk chocolate chips after mixing and before cooking.  I have never measured quantities of these I just eyeball it based upon my level of chocolate craving!
Recipe: Williams Sonoma
Baker: Angie

Hazelnut Caramels

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Full pan of Caramels

I love a good caramel.  These were introduced to my Christmas goodies last year.  I have had several requests for them since.  They are rich, gooey buttery little bites of caramel.  They can be a little greasy as they are cut with butter.  The roasted hazelnuts help to balance out some of the greasiness.  Greasiness aside they are delectable little morsels that consistently receive high praises.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups dark corn syrup
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped husked toasted hazelnuts (about 4 ounces)

PREPARATION

Line 9-inch square baking pan with 2-inch high sides with heavy-duty aluminum foil, extending foil over sides of pan. Butter foil.

Melt 1 cup of butter in heavy large saucepan over low heat. Add both sugars, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Scape seeds from vanilla into mixture; add bean. Attach clip-on candy thermometer to side of saucepan. Increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a boil. Cook mixture 8 minutes, stirring frequently.

Using tongs, remove vanilla bean and discard. Continue cooking until candy thermometer registers 242°F, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes longer. Immediately remove from heat; stir in hazelnuts. Quickly pour caramel into prepared pan (do not scrape saucepan). Cool until firm, about 1 hour.

Using buttered heavy large knife, score 8 lines lengthwise to depth of 1/4 inch in caramel, then score 8 lines crosswise. Using aluminum foil as aid, lift caramel out of pan. Using same buttered heavy large knife, cut caramel on scored lines into pieces. Wrap each piece of caramel in cellophane. (Can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Store caramels in airtight containers.)
CHEF NOTES

1. As with any candy – watch the thermometer!  If the candy doesn’t reach the right temperature, it will make an entirely different product.

2. I usually make half with roasted hazelnuts on top and half without.

3. Cut all your cellophane first.  I didn’t have cellophane so I used wax paper.  It is a fine substitute for cellophane its just not as pretty.

4. These babies take a long time to wrap.  Settle in with a good movie to wrap them.

 

Wrapping Caramels

 

 

Wrapped Caramel Pile

Recipe: Bon Appetit (December 1995)

Baker: Angie

 

 

 

Fava Bean Puree (Paste)

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Fava Bean Paste

After having fava bean raviolis at Bistro Aix in the Marina, I knew I had to find a recipe. The fava beans make for a beautiful rich filling that is only complimented by the sage butter sauce over the top of the golden ravioli pillows. I was actually bummed to have to share this “appetizer” with my husband. And sadly by the time we went back to the restaurant, the menu was already rotated. So, here is the recipe I decided to work with. I ended up keeping the fava bean paste in my recipe book, but have included the link for the ravioli below.

INGREDIENTS

2 c. unshucked fava beans
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 clove garlic
1 leek chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Prep fava beans (if you haven’t done this before, here is a great link to show you http://chefinyou.com/2009/05/how-to-cook-fava-beans/)

2. In frying pan, heat the garlic and olive oil. After about a minute add the leeks, fava beans, peas, salt and pepper. Cook until soft and then puree.

USES FOR RECIPE

This is one of my favorite recipes so far. Fava beans are a new discovery for me and they are a wonderful, rich, non-offensive legume. I have used these in a ravioli (not pictured) and a crostini. The ravioli was my original intent and the link for this recipe is in the credits below. The crostini (pictured) was an afterthought but has now become one of my all time favorite treats. The recipe feels rich and luxurious in flavor.

RAVIOLI RECIPE CHEF NOTES:

1. Unless you are a pasta expert do not try rolling the pasta by hand. It is incredibly difficult to get the right thickness by hand, especially if counter space for rolling is limited. As a city chef with very limited counter space this was difficult to pull off. The recipe overall was delicious, but my raviolis were WAY too big and thick. I have now added the kitchen aid pasta maker to my Christmas list.

CROSTINI RECIPE
1 Loaf French Bread
Olive oil
Fava Bean Paste
Fontina or Gorgonzola Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Slice french bread

2. Brush french bread with olive oil

3. Add a dollop of fava bean paste

4. Top with cheese of choice

5. Cook at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes (or until at desired level of crunch/melt)

Topped with Gorgonzola


Topped with Fontina

CHEF’S NOTES

1. If you prefer more texture, do not blend as long. I like my mixtures a little more chunky for texture, hence (paste) in the title of the recipe.

2. I added a touch of oil and heavy cream while blending to add richness.

Recipe: Savvy Housekeeping (http://www.savvyhousekeeping.com/fava-bean-ravioli/)
Chef: Angie

Sopa de Albondigas

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Mexican Test Kitchen Dinner Recipe! The only requirement for test kitchen is that it fits in the theme and you haven’t made it before. I was assigned the appetizer round for this dinner. I love Mexican food. I love meatballs and I love soup. This was first time making this recipe and it was the first time I had used rice as a bonding agent for the meatballs.

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)*
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup of raw white rice
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 raw egg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A dash of cayenne (optional)
1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
*If using prepared stock, be sure to use gluten-free stock if you are cooking gluten-free.

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

2. Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3. Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro

CHEF NOTES:
1. I omitted mint from the meatball and added cumin. However, once the soup was fully cooked I added a few mint leaves and let it simmer. The mint leaves added a beautiful dimension to the broth.

2. I added cumin to the broth because I love cumin.

3. I added white rice to the soup to make it more hearty. After adding the rice and additional broth ingredients it made enough for 5 days worth of meals.

4. Meatballs should be very small to maximize the amount served to each person.

5. I added additional vegetables. I think any vegetables could be added and would be beneficial to the soup. My favorite addition was the homemade zucchini.

6. In addition to cilantro, I topped the soup with sliced avocado and queso fresco (not pictured, game time decision).

Recipe was a huge success at mexican test kitchen dinner. Of the 7 dinners, 5 raved about it…sadly the other two didn’t eat beef so they didn’t try it.

Recipe source: Simply Recipes as posted by Elise
Chef: Angie

Lemon-Blueberry Poptarts

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Lemon-Blueberry Poptart Ingredients

If someone would have told you that you could make your own poptarts, would you have ever believed them? Better yet, if they told you that they were fresh, flaky, and delicious?
Well, believe in it my friends! For the recipe has arrived!

I was positively thrilled when I came across this recipe. Of course, it called for jarred lemon curd, but I thought, why buy it when I know I can make it! And that wonderful decision has led to 4 additional recipes! That is incredibly exciting to me. It all flowed together perfectly to make an awesome cooking experience!

Now, I have to admit that Poptarts were never my thing. I didn’t really like to eat them. I thought they were dry, lacked flavor, and just generally like eating sugared cardboard. I preferred the frozen Toaster Strudels. They were flaky, oozing with fruit filling, and came with a frosting packet.

Poptart in Progress

They were the closest thing to a fresh danish that I could find in the Safeway freezer. So when I saw these, I knew I had to make them. It would redeem Poptart kind everywhere. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t accomplish that for them?

I must say, that I should have put less curd in them than I did. It ended up oozing out of the sides a little, but they were still extremely tasty tarts.

Besides that, I would suggest making MORE. This recipe only calls for 1 container box of pie crust. Once you’ve cut the edges, it only produces 4 poptarts. That’s simply NOT ENOUGH! They were gone in 5 minutes! Also, make sure you have firm blueberries. This is helpful when cutting them in half that way you don’t end up with squished berries stuck to your knife.

Lemon-Blueberry Poptarts
Time: 10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking
Quantity: 4
Oven: Preheat to 400

Ingredients:

1 premade pie crust container (or more!)
Homemade Lemon Curd (see previous recipe)
1 container fresh blueberries, cut in half
1 egg white, beaten
Raw sugar (or regular white sugar) for decorating

Directions:

1.) Take the pie crust and cut off corners, turning it into one big square.
2.) Cut the square in half, to make two littler squares. (Repeat for second crust.)
3.) Spoon a small amount of lemon curd onto one side of each square, making sure to leave a half inch rim of dough on all sides.
4.) Cut blueberries in half and place them in the curd.
5.) Fold the dough in half and gently seal the edges with your fingers.
6.) Take a fork and crimp the edges of the poptart closed.
7.) Take a knife, and gently slit the top of each tart twice for ventilation.
8.) Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of each tart with the egg white.
9.) Lightly sprinkle with sugar.
10.) Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Eat immediately for true deliciousness!

Finished Poptarts

Now, I know these aren’t the most beautiful finished product on earth. I did learn though, to not put so much curd in (aka: not multiple spoonfuls). Despite how they first looked coming out, they were still delicious and were completely devoured.

Next time (because there will definitely be a next time) I might even try substituting blueberries for strawberries or raspberries! Or maybe even a three-way berry pop-tart! OH YUM! I can’t wait!

Source: Adapted from Mama Grubbs Grub Blog.

Baker: Tessa

Lemonade

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Lemonade

With lemon juice left over from making the lemon curd, I simply had to make some fresh, summery lemonade!

I remember my mom making this for me when I was little, tired and thirsty from playing in the dirt all day. I’d gulp it down and back out the door I would go. Summer as a kid equaled earth worms, mud pies, and flower picking. However, often mom did not approve of me picking her flowers to put into my mud pies. (But I was so PROUD of them!)
All I can say is nothing helps eliminate fatigue like a tangy lemonade that puckers up your mouth (and your mud pie).



Lemonade Recipe:
Time: 3 minutes cook, 1 hour cool
Makes a little less than a pitcher. Recipe may be doubled or tripled with no problems.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup lemon juice (keep the smaller pulp bits)
4 cups water
More or less than 3/4 cup sugar*

*This depends on whether you want a tangier taste, or a sweeter taste. I used a little less than 3/4 cup and got a great, tangy drink.

Directions:

1.) In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar.
2.) Allow to cool to room temperature.
3.) Juice lemons, keeping smaller pulp bits.
4.) In a pitcher, stir together sugar syrup, lemon juice, and the remaining 3 cups of water.
5.) Pour, add ice, and enjoy!!

*Remember, we still have at least TWO more recipes coming from just the lemon curd alone! What a tart treat!*

Source: Allrecipes.com

Baker: Tessa

Lemon Curd

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Today was another moment in time where I just wanted to pull the sun out from behind the gray, but keep the cooler temperatures. Since I can’t make that happen, I decided to brighten up my day by working with some bright, sunny LEMONS!

Lemon Curd Ingredients

In all reality, this recipe is in preparation for another recipe that I’ll be posting later. But I thought I’d get ahead of the game and save myself time later.

This was surprisingly easy to make and took few ingredients. My main suggestion would be to make sure you don’t have any cuts on your hands before you zest and juice your lemons.  Otherwise, it’s going to hurt. (Ow, ow, ow…)

whisk, Whisk, WHISK!

The most important thing you can remember is whisk, Whisk, WHISK! Never stop whisking! It’s possible to burn the egg yolks if you stop, which will produce more of a curdled lemon mixture. Also, I used a large zester for my lemon. When making this again (and I will, because it’s delicious) I’ll invest in a smaller zester so I get a smoother curd. Other than that, it turned out beautiful. Creamy, tangy, vibrant… pure deliciousness!
Oh, and don’t throw away those egg whites! We’re making meringue cookies soon!

Finished Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd Recipe:
Time: 15 minutes prep, 15 baking/whisking

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks (don’t forget an extra bowl for your egg whites!)
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into thick slices and chilled

Directions:

(If you have a double broiler, this is the perfect time to use it!)
1.) Add enough water in a medium sauce pan to equal 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
2.) Combine egg yolks and sugar in metal bowl (or double broiler) and whisk until smooth.
3.) Add juice and zest. Whisk until smooth.
4.) Once water simmers, reduce heat to low and place metal bowl on top of saucepan. (Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.)
5.) Whisk until thickened (8 minutes), or until mixture is a light yellow and coats the back of a spoon.
6.) Remove from heat immediately. Whisk in butter a piece at a time, making sure each piece melts before continuing.

To store, put in clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap DIRECTLY on the surface of the curd.
Maybe refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. YUM! Enjoy!

 
**And stay tuned! I’ll be making fresh Lemonade with the leftover lemon juice, meringue cookies with the leftover egg whites, and the mystery recipe that I needed the curd for to begin with! **

 

Source: FoodNetwork.com
Baker: Tessa

Lime Melt-Away Cookies

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Here in the middle of summer, the Bay Area has been full of blue skies and hot days. Today I woke, expecting a beautiful day to match all of those before it. Maybe a day to go hike the Fire Trails up behind Berkeley, or do a pancake hike for brunch.

Lime Ingredients!

Instead, today was gray and drizzly with a chilly breeze blowing through. What a lackluster day. So I decided to inject some summer into this day, and what better way to do that than with some GREEN!

And what tastier summer green than a lime! Tart, tasty, tangy….perfect to perk up your taste-buds! So I gathered the ingredients and made it my day’s work to make some deliciously satisfying cookies!

Lime Dough

Most of the ingredients are common things that you’ll have in the house, except for the limes. It’s an extremely easy and quick recipe to make, minus the chill time. But even then you can make it ahead of time and even freeze part of the dough. Since it doesn’t have eggs, there’s not anything that you really need to worry about expiring while being frozen!

 

 

 

Lime Melt-Aways Recipe:
Time: 15 minutes for prep, 1 hour chilling, 8-10 minutes baking
Preheat oven: 350

 

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
Grated zest of 3 limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
Parchment paper (or wax paper) for rolling and chilling

Directions:
1.) In the bowl with a  mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla; beat until mixed in*.

2.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.**

3.) Between two 10X10  pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch logs. Chill at least one hour.

4.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove dough from chilling and remove paper. Slice dough into 1/8-inch thick rounds*** and place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.

5.) Bake cookies until barely golden, about 8-10 minutes. While still warm****, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

NOTES:

*At this point the butter couldn’t hold anymore liquid, so I continued on to the next step even though it wasn’t all mixed in. It didn’t hurt the dough at all.

**Make sure you taste your dough for flavor. You may like a little more zing to your cookies and may want to add a little more lime.

***Make sure your cookie rounds are being cut similarly, so they cook uniformly. Also, if you make them too thin they’ll break it the sugar bag.

****Cookies need to be warm, but not hot. Otherwise they’ll melt the powdered sugar. And you’ll have a mess.

EAT AND ENJOY!! Because they didn’t last long here!

Lime Melt-aways

Source: Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Baker: Tessa

Easy Strawberry Pie

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Easy Strawberry Pie

Recipe:

1 pie shell, either homemade or prepared as directed on packaging

3/4 c. sugar

2 tbs. corn starch

1 c. water

3 oz. strawberry gelatin

4 c. fresh strawberries, chopped in half or quartered depending on size

Directions:

Bring water to boil.  Mix sugar and cornstarch together and add to water once boiling.  When mixture starts to thicken add strawberry gelatin and stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat and let the mixture sit until it reaches room temperature.

Add strawberries to prepared pie crust and pour mixture over top.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to ensure gelatin has firmed.  Cut, serve and ENJOY!

Notes:

The homemade gelatin mixture is not as sweet as the packages purchased in the store.  I liked this much better as it allowed the strawberries to shine through.  It took about 20 minutes to prepare, 3 hours to set and about 5 minutes for the family to demolish it.  Recipe success!

Source: Allrecipes.com

Baker: Angie

WELCOME!

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This website is being built with my awesome sister with food in mind. Tessa and I are 10 years apart and didn’t spend alot of time together when we were younger. As Tessa has recently moved to the Bay Area, we have started bonding over our love of foods. We thought our website would be a perfect forum for our collective and individual food explorations.

Enjoy the Beats!