Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Cooking Misadventure: Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Brownies


There are a lot of things that can potentially go wrong with this. Taking a look at the recipe, adapted from smitten kitchen, who adapted it from Martha Stewart, a couple of tricky hurdles off the bat: I don't know if my bowls can handle being a makeshift top part of a double boiler. I don't have a 9 x 9 pan in my apartment (I do have a 1 1/2 inch deep baking sheet that's about 8 x 11). I don't have my standing mixer with me. I first bought baking soda instead of baking powder, when I was considering making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies instead of the brownies. Bad news awaits, right?

Well, probably not. How can bad news happen when pumpkin, sugar, eggs, flour, and chocolate are combined and baked in the oven? It just can't. It's baking right now, so the ultimate verdict is still pending. But for now, here are the basics:

Ingredients: 
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan (yes, it has to be real butter - baking deserves it)
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate morsels (differs from the Smitten/Martha version)
2 C. all-pupose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. sugar
2 large eggs (I like fudgy brownies, and it also made sense because of my shallow pan. If you like cakey brownies, put in 4 eggs)
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 C. solid-pack pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie pumpkin)
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
(omitted ingredients were cayenne and chopped nuts on top)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a baking pan or dish. I referred to my Joy of Cooking (always my default when I am starting off without everything the recipe calls for) and decided to butter and line foil on top of my baking pan.  

2. Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. This was my favorite part. Almost. I was so worried that my glass bowl would not be appropriate for this make-shift double boiling, but it was just fine.

This . . . 
         

became this . . . 

which became even smoother after a bit more makeshift double boiling.

3. Whisk (I don't have a whisk, either, so I used a fork) together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, put sugar, eggs, and vanilla together and then mix under fluffy and combined, 3 to 5 minutes. This is the moment you would be taking out that fancy standing mixer if you've got one. Beat in the flour mixer. If you are using a hand electric mixer, I'd suggest only beating the egg mixture until it's well-combined because the speed of the blades are so fast. When I added the flour, I mixed by hand.

4. Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl and stir in the chocolate mixture. In the bowl with the remaining batter, stir in the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  

This was actually my favorite part, the battle of the batters:

5. Transfer half of the chocolate batter to the pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula. Top that with half of the pumpkin batter. Top that with the rest of the chocolate batter, and then the rest of the pumpkin. You might have trouble smoothing out the batters for each layer, and that's okay. It's all going to the same place. On the smitten kitchen website, she warns that during this part you should work quickly because the batters might set. This is important because if you are like me, you might get distracted by the pumpkin batter looking and smelling amazing.

6. The swirling! Take the edge of the spatula, or use a table knife, and swirl the two batters to create a beautiful marble effect. If it's not as beautiful as you'd hope, that's okay. Again, it's all going to the same place (my belly). 


7. Bake until set, 40-45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, and then cut into squares. Because I used a less than stellar pan along with a sub-par electric stove, I think I ended up cooking them for about 50 minutes. The brownies are still setting. They look more like chocolatey pumpkin pie bites, not that that's a bad thing.  

The finished version looks pretty much the same as the pre-bake version but darker. My apartment smells delicious.
Verdict: The chocolate layers are really buttery, making the bottom layer detached from the rest.  I am going to try baking it for a teeny bit longer to see what that does.

Postscript: It doesn't do anything. There's just too much butter in the chocolate dough. It tastes awesome, but it's meant to share with friends, not outsiders. Don't take this to a potluck where there will be strangers, unless you plan on serving it with ice cream.

Next day: Looks like time in the fridge has made it pretty perfect. 

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Restaurant Review: Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant

Since I am staying in a closet with a teeny kitchen with room only for fairies to do their cooking, I am eating out a lot.  Luckily I am living in a great neighborhood for just this type of situation.  From what I have been reading, New Yorkers and New York tourists and posing New Yorkers rave their socks off about Mamoun's falafel.  Seriously.  Even Bethenny Frankel mentioned it on her show when interviewing the Napoleon Dynamite assistant.  Anyway, tonight I went there for what is supposed to be the quintessential falafel sandwich.

First Impressions:
This place is not meant to be a lingering location.  Stand in line, walk through the narrow "dining area," exchange awkward glances with the people in front of you when it's your turn to squeeze up to the counter to place your order, order your falafel sandwich (or lamb shawarma, which will be my next choice), pay $2.50 for said falafel sandwich, and 1.5 minutes later, your lunch/dinner/late night snack is ready.

The Food:
Yum!  However much one could rave about a falafel sandwich, and even if the raving could ever be excessive, this sandwich was really good.  The falafel is not overly anything, just right, and it's nestled into a pita stuffed with shredded romaine, tomatoes, and tahini sauce.  Real green leafy stuff!  It's pretty much  worth every bit of the two dollars and fifty cents that I spent on it.


It looks messier than it is.

The Service:
Quick. Quick. Quick.  I feel like this category is almost n/a for take-out this quick.  What do I say?  The cashier's eye contact was really meaningful?  The way he took my money made me know that I was a valued customer and he really appreciated that I stood in line for five minutes? 

Food     mmmm
Service     mmm
Decor     mm 
Je ne sais quoi     mm (this place is not meant for je ne sais quoi, and for this place that's not necessarily bad)
Overall     mmmm

119 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012
p.s. Please forgive typos.  If there are ever any, I never notice them until a post is published.

About the ratings:
mmmmm        would eat there again tomorrow
mmmm           looking forward to eating there again
mmm              not in a hurry to eat there again
mm                 likely not going to eat there again
m                    would try my best never to eat there again. ever.
I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.

Restaurant Review: Soho Sushi

First Impressions:
Even for the brief second I was in here, the place is very inviting.  Mellow green walls, simple tables, not a lot of swag.  I could happily dine in.  They have a tv showing the World Cup.  

The Food:
I just wanted a quick cheap Sunday lunch.  My roomie and I decided to share one of the lunch specials, a three roll option that comes with soup or salad.  She got two rolls, and I got a tuna avocado roll plus the miso soup.  If you want quick food that isn't pizza or a hot dog, this place is for you.  We called it in, and in five minutes, it was ready.  A huge bonus of this place is that the lunch specials run on the weekends, too.  It's hard to mess up a tuna avocado roll, I know.  Well, this one wasn't messed up.  Next time I will be more adventurous.  For today, though, this was exactly what I wanted.


The Service:
Quick and friendly.  They chatted us up about the World Cup a little.  Not much to complain about, which makes sense because it was a take out order. 

Food     mmmm
Service     mmmm
Decor     mmmm
Je ne sais quoi     mmmm
Overall     mmmm

231 Sullivan Street
New York, NY 10012
p.s. Please forgive typos.  If there are ever any, I never notice them until a post is published.

About the ratings:
mmmmm        would eat there again tomorrow
mmmm           looking forward to eating there again
mmm              not in a hurry to eat there again
mm                 likely not going to eat there again
m                    would try my best never to eat there again. ever.
I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.

Food Addiction: Coffee



I love La Colombe Corsica blend coffee.  Food and Friends (where you can buy food stuffs while dancing to the best indie music) sells it for ten dollars a bag.  That's a great deal on delicious coffee.  Said ("Sayid") at La Citadelle brews La Colombe, but I am not sure what blend.

For coffee-on-the-go, I really love the medium roast from Good Karma on 22nd.  It's just a nice flavor of coffee to help me actually enjoy drinking it during my morning commute.

As for corporate coffee options, I go to Starbucks or Dunkin's, depending on a number of factors: (1) proximity; (2) shortest line; (3) whether I am getting a medium iced coffee (Dunkin's is a little cheaper, or at least my brain is trained to think so based on the shape of the cup); (4) whether I have my coffee cup with me (Starbucks will knock off ten or fifteen cents I think); (5) time (Dunkin's is a little faster); and (6) whatever justice or fairness requires at the time.  Nothing precludes me from balancing additional factors, should they manifest.

Now that I have been in NYC for a week, I have been having corporate coffee in the morning once I get off the subway and along the walk to work.  Yesterday, since I wasn't going to work, I walked around the corner and bought a $1.50 travel-mug-sized cup of coffee plus milk from Cafe Reggio.  It was delicious, with really frothy milk.  But, I can't buy coffee every day, can I?

I am trying to live reasonably within my cheddar this summer, so I bought Folgers instant coffee.  I am trying it out this morning.  I just don't think I can do this every day.  It's not good.  Sorry, Folgers, you were not the best part of waking up for me today.

If you have any advice for how to make it taste better, please share your tips.  Should I try Starbucks Via?

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Restaurant Review: Miguel's California Mexican Cocina and Cantina

A couple weekends ago I was in California, visiting family and attending services for my Grandma, who recently passed away.  Although funerals are never fun, being in California allowed me to visit with a lot of family.  Included in the family round abouts was a nice lunch with my sister, my brother, and his family at Miguel's in Corona.  He has been asking for a California entry, so here it is, much belated.  Thanks for lunch/dinner, Beebs. 

Me, Shanna, Brian, Kami, Dalen, and Christina outside of Miguel's

First Impressions:
It's pretty here.  The restaurant is situated in a promenade of shops where the scenery includes a reservoir, walking paths, and foothills in the distance.  This must be one of the reasons why people move to California.  The restaurant itself is pretty spacious and comfortably casual.    

The Food:
Since I was eating there while en route to visit with more family in Costa Mesa, I kept it pretty simple and had a spinach quesadilla.  Sidenote: we were staying with my grandpa, who keeps a pantry pretty well stocked for three Armageddons although with nary a fresh vegetable.  Back to the quesadilla.  I have to be honest and admit I wasn't expecting much except for a lot of cheese (okay by me) with a sprinkle of spinach.  I was pleasantly wrong.  My quesadilla was packed with spinach AND cheese and was the perfect mini-meal.  I even had enough left over for the next morning (it doubled as breakfast - I should have put a fried egg on top of it but didn't).  

The Service:
Kept us full and happy.  They were all very nice.  

Food     mmmm
Service     mmmm
Decor     mmmm
Je ne sais quoi     mmm
Overall     mmmm

2715 Lakeshore Drive
Corona, CA 92883

p.s. please forgive typos!

About the ratings:
mmmmm        would eat there again tomorrow
mmmm           looking forward to eating there again
mmm              not in a hurry to eat there again
mm                 likely not going to eat there again
m                    would try my best never to eat there again. ever.
I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Food Foto Friday

A Two-fer.  
Today my roommate and I walked 4 miles over 4 hours, during which I consumed the following:

Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding!

Dreamy, Creamy, and Whipped.



Papaya Dog's Papaya Drink and Turkey Dog.

At $1.50 each, my pocketbook was smiling. 

Friday, June 4, 2010