From-Scratch Brownies!

Why is it so difficult to buy something chocolate from the grocery store without feeling guilty? Do you guys feel that? Sanne went to the store tonight and came home without any chocolate and, of course, a few hours later was craving something chocolate. I am always craving chocolate. Lucky for us, we have coco powder and Sanne is a Keebler Elf, so, like a good little baking Hobbit, whipped up some brownies hella-fast. Aaaand she made up her own recipe. Tricksy Hobbitses.

Here it is:
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
2 eggs
1c brown sugar
1c flour
1/3c applesauce
1/2c coco
2-ishT wheat germ
1T vanilla
1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt

and a splash of milk, because it's pretty thick. If you like your brownies thick and fudge-y, forget the milk. Sanne is wishing she had some Mexican vanilla because it is The Shit. Next time, she would add a "generous amount" (3T?). Next time...

Okay, bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Devour them with a nice, cold glass of milk.

p.s. How many of you have seen this show and how many of you love it and how many of you want a wardrobe-overhaul after watching it? I love her cute little dresses!

Chuck's wearing false yellow eyelashes (!)

Home is where the Pie Maker is.

Fresh vegetable pasta

First of all, why do you guys feel so negatively about your cooking? We know there are some really good cooks among you, but so far, "messy" and "boring" are leading in the poll... What's up with that?

Secondly, today's cooking is dedicated to the Sweetest Fig, Figgaro, the cat with a thousand names and at least as many expressions.

Sanne made a trip this week to Russo's, an amazing vegetable market in Watertown. Take a look at her booty...

We decided to make an arugula and mushroom pasta with lemon basil sauce. And playing our other favorite game, "I'm gonna play your song". It's where you say, "I'm gonna play your song, and then pull up an old music video on youtube.

We started by sautéing 5 or so cloves of minced garlic for a few minutes and then added 1c milk and 1c chicken stock, and brought it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add a taste of pepper.

the greatest smell

In a separate bowl, whisk together juice from 1 fresh lemon and 2T corn starch. Add to garlic sauce and let simmer. Because it was a little too lemon-y, Sanne added a little greek yogurt. This neutralized the lemon and made it a little creamier, too.

I chopped up a big, beautiful fresh basil leaf and added it to the sauce. It was probably about a teaspoon, and I'll add more if needed.

We thickly sliced a handful of mushrooms, since they are the meat of this operation. Add them to the sauce and let simmer. Cook and then drain 1lb. penne pasta.

Toss pasta with sauce and fresh chopped arugula. Garnish with cherry tomatoes, halved.

This would be great with chicken, but it is excellent without. The lemon makes the sauce less heavy than other cream sauces. A perfect Saturday lunch for our first Spring-like day of 2011! Hooray! Enjoy this pretty weather, Massholes!

I'm gonna play your song:

...and so reignites my childhood crush on Harry Belefonte.

Purple Potatoes and Harry Belafonte!

Breakfast this morning consists of Starbucks Sumatra coffee, purple potato hash browns and strawberry-meyer lemon pancakes.

Purple potatoes look cool until they are cooked. Then, they look kind of disgusting. Probably the only way to make them look even more disgusting is to fry them up in some vegetable oil, like I did.

Warning, the following pictures may be graphic in nature.

turd-jerky?

no, yummy friend purple potatoes

Luckily, its very difficult to mess up potatoes + oil + salt, so these potatoe-troll-cakes were delicious. Now, on to nicer things...

Happy Sunday!

Antipasto!

Well, the most painful part of this project I've been devoting 80% of my time to is behind me. I gave my Roald Dahl presentation tonight. To celebrate giving a puke-free delivery, I made a beautiful and deeelicious antipasto salad! Tomato, basil, mozzarella, salami, balsamic vinegar and a little evoo...

And some milk for Figgaro. Today you are 13. Happy birthday, old man.

p.s. I've added a new poll to the sidebar. We promise we'll do something with the old question... sometime. Also, We ARE working on getting Rajiv's sister to come over and teach us how to make curry.

Israeli Cooking Class! Challa!

I recently came across a friend of a friend who offers personalized cooking lessons. Upon looking over his class offerings, Sanne and I decided that Israeli cooking is just the thing that is missing from our collective repertoire. Sam Feller offers lessons on all kinds of menus such as brunch, pasta, Spanish tapas (which we would like to try next...), among others. 

Sanne and I were both surprised at how accessible tonight's menus were. None of the ingredients would require a separate trip to a special store. And as I had never tried Israeli cooking before, it was really nice to learn to cook simple recipes that are enjoyed every day in Israel, that I can easily incorporate into my cooking. Everything was so light and fresh too, which we also loved.

Round 1 was a few smaller dishes that are typically served for breakfast. SO much better than a bagel & cream cheese that sits in your stomach for hours.

Sanne and Sam

Round 2: Appetizers and the main dish. While we made pita bread and Sam showed us an appetizer...

Israeli Pitza

Homemade Pita

The main dish was eggs poached in a deeeelicious tomato sauce. This was a bit similar to the eggs poached in spinach that I made a few weeks back. It's the perfect go-to when you have nothing to eat. We will be keeping a can or two of crushed tomatoes on hand from now on. This was definitely our favorite!

we're egg people

favorite

Our teacher, Mr. Sam

We aren't going to share any specifics of the recipes with you today. You're going to have to take the class to get them. If you are in the Boston area, we highly recommend taking a lesson from Sam. He does a really good job at personalizing a lesson to your interests and teaches some interesting facts and useful cooking tips as you go.

"Pasta Puttanesca. It means 'very few ingredients.'"*

That quote is from a movie. Name that movie.

This is a recipe that I got from a very early issue of Domino magazine (RIP). I've since doctored it up a bit and, in my opinion, improved it. Here it is, with a few extra ingredients:

1lb. spaghetti (alas, we had none but made do with penne)
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2c pitted chopped black or kalamata olives
1t crushed red pepper
1T or so capers, drained
4 sprigs fresh parsley, stems removed and chopped
2 sprigs fresh oregano, stems removed and chopped
1/2lb hot sausage cooked and drained
s+p to taste

Gone but not forgotten

but first:
crush or half 4 garlic cloves and let sit in
1/4c olive oil
set aside















Cook pasta according to package directions

Combine tomatoes, olives, parsley, oregano, red pepper, capers. Remove garlic, add oil to bowl. Add drained spaghetti and sausage. Toss well. Serve immediately.

If you like Italian food and you like spice and you like Jimmy Dean, then this is the Holy Trifecta. Its even better the next day. Don't you love recipes that do that?

*FYI: After a little internet research, I found that Pasta Puttanesca does not actually mean 'very few ingredients.' If fact, it roughly translates to "whore's pasta." It is called this because it is made up of "leftovers" that were quick and easy for the "Puttanas" to throw together in between clients. And that's your history lesson for today. You're welcome!

Tiramisu

If you are my friend and live close to me, I will make (or at least attempt to make) your favorite dessert on your birthday. Mandi requested Tiramisu last year for her birthday. It was the first time I made tiramisu. It turned out really well. I recently made it again and it wasn't as good. I used different lady fingers the second time. They were too soft and didn't hold the coffee/liquor, so it made the whole thing a little less solid than I hoped. The taste was still delicious however. I'll share with you what I did the first time, since it was the better of the experiences. These are also photos from the first go around last September.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1/4 c rum
1/2lb mascarpone cheese
1/2 c heavy cream
1/3 c sugar
a package of stella d'ore margarite cookies
2 oz dark chocolate
some cocoa powder
2 double shot of espresso
1/2 c. strongly brewed coffee at room temp

most of the ingredient, save the espresso

Egg whites

You start by beating the egg whites until soft but stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl combine egg yolks, sugar and mascarpone cheese

In another bowl, whip heavy cream until you have whipped cream. Sorry, no photo of that.

Combine, gently folding the whipped cream with the egg yolks-mascarpone mixture, then the egg whites.

Soak the lady fingers in a bath of brandy or rum, vanilla, and room temp espresso.

Layer beginning with the lady fingers at the bottom, then half the mixture, sifted cocoa powder, another layer of lady fingers and finally the rest of the mixture topped with sifted cocoa and or shaved chocolate pieces.

I recommend using sturdy, crunchier lady fingers opposed to the softer kind. The crunchier ones absorb and hold onto the espresso and rum better.

It was easier than I thought it was going to be. It's definitely something that needs your full attention but don't let the multiple bowls sway you. Tiramisu makes any day better.

What is your favorite dessert to have on your birthday? If you're lucky and I am close enough, I may just make it for you!