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. 

May Fruit Salad

Today I bought a ton of fruit.  At the grocery, pre-made mixed fruit costs $4.50 per container.  Mine was a fraction of that.  I took one apple, one banana, a handful of blackberries, two clementines, and two strawberries.  I cut up the stuff that needed cutting, squeezed the juice from half a lime over them, added a dash or two of nutmeg, a sprinkle of anise, and a splash of mango-orange-pineapple juice, and viola!  Instant fruit salad to take away the dreary day.

Oh I also added a little bit of fresh mozzarella and shaved goat cheese.

For some reason, though, I kind of wish there was chocolate powder sprinkled over the top of my fruit.  I guess next time.  

Spring 4-Course Meal: Kiwi-Blueberry Salad, Potato-Ham-Cheese Hash, Scallop Ceviche, Tilapia

A tasty and easy meal for spring . . .
1. Zesty Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

-Kiwi (chopped)

-Pineapple (chopped)

-Blueberries

-Crumbled Feta

-Tiny Dash Chili Powder
-Dash Cinnamon
-Dash Nutmeg

Toss together and voila!

2. Delicious Ham Hash

Ingredients:

-Red and Yellow Fingerling Potatoes (1/4ths)

-Chopped Yellow Onion

-Minced Garlic

-Chopped Fresh Dill

-Chopped Fresh Basil

-Canned Ham (cubed)

-Butter

-Olive Oil

-Grated Organic Vegetable Farmers Cheese

-Grated Gruyere

Add all ingredients (minus gruyere) onto a baking pan and heat for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  When done sprinkle the grated gruyere on top of the dish.

Sprinkle more grated gruyere about halfway through the cooking time.  Then, once the cheese is fully melted, the potatoes are ready to eat.

3. Scallop Ceviche

Ingredients:

-Scallops

-Smoked Oysters

-Quartered Radishes

-Pickled Shallots (chopped and placed in red wine vinegar for 5 min)

-Yellow Onion (diced)

-Poblano Chile (diced)

-Chopped Cilantro

-Chopped Dill 

-Orange Juice (splash)

-Lime Juice (splash)

-Olive Oil

Slightly cook scallops (cut in half) in olive oil  and garlic.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Let sit for 10 min in refrigerator. Keep ceviche ready to eat with next dish.

4. Tilapia in a Light Mushroom Cheese Sauce

For the cheese sauce:

Start a pot on medium.  Add butter and flour until it mixes.  Add light cream.  Add fresh basil, pepper, poblano chiles (chopped), salt and chile powder.  Add package of mixed variety mushrooms (buy from store).  Heat until almost as thick as you would like it to be and then add pepper jack cheese to finish consistency and taste.

Ingredients (Tilapia over Spanish Rice)

For this recipe I just used boxed Spanish Rice.

-Tilapia Filets

-Lime Juice

-Cilantro

-Black Pepper 

Season tilapia with lime juice, cilantro and black pepper.  Set aside for 15 min. Cook Spanish rice.  Put spanish rice and uncooked, but seasoned tilapia in a circular baking pan so the rice spreads throughout the bottom of the whole pan and the fish rests on top.  Cook on 350 for 5-10 min. This way the rice is crispy and complements the texture of the tilapia filets very nicely.

Plate the fish and rice on a plate and drizzle the cream sauce with mushrooms over it.  Place the ceviche on the plate as well. Put the ceviche over a bed of spinach for garnish (see below).  Enjoy.

Warm Quinoa Salad and Scallops

This was dinner.  

I had a version of quinoa salad from Bacchus recently, so I decided to try my own.  I made 1/2 C quinoa according to the directions on the box (making quinoa is like cooking rice - one part quinoa and two parts water).  I started the quinoa and removed it from heat, covered, once it was cooked.

While the quinoa began cooking, I quickly chopped a parsnip and began heating it in an oiled pan.  Then I chopped half a small yellow onion and added that to the parsnips.  After about three minutes, I added a splash of orange juice, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and a splash of rum.  I let the parsnips simmer for a couple minutes, and then I added a chopped gala apple, raisins, and chopped apricots.  I added a dash of the following: nutmeg, garlic powder, the tiniest amount of ginger powder, and tarragon.  I added a splash more of the orange juice and rum.  I covered and simmered until the parsnips were tender.

While that mixture was simmering, it was perfect scallops time.  In a small saucepan, I heated a bit of butter.  Once it melted, I added six scallops.  I sauteed the scallops in the butter for about 2-3 minutes per side.

To make the warm salad complete, I mixed the parsnip stuff with the quinoa, and I sprinkled crushed roasted hazlenuts atop the salad (the hazlenuts were roasted vestiges from an earlier recipe).  I placed the scallops next to the quinoa salad, snapped a few pictures, and that was that.  And I even have plenty of quinoa salad and scallops for another meal.

I think my dinner lacked something green.  Next time I will eat scoop the quinoa salad on top of a bed of spinach.  Or maybe I will add fresh basil.  Who knows.  There's always tomorrow to practice with the leftovers.

Visit from Long Lost Friend Reveals Food Snobbery

I wasn't feeling well today, and so I thought that having mac and cheese might make me feel better.  Maybe?  Annie's boxed Mac and Cheese, with the perky rabbit smiling (smirking?) from his perch, was something I had been waiting for.  I bought the box a couple months ago, and it was waiting for today to be consumed.  What started out as an American experience - the innocuous making of a box of mac and cheese - became something that made me slightly ashamed of what I have become.  A food snob.  My boxed mac and cheese needed a lot more cheese.

Here's what happened.  I sauteed some onions and medallions of chicken sausage, boiled my pasta, made my cheese sauce (from the box), and once I put together the cheese and the pasta . . . I tasted . . . and nothing.  No creamy, cheesy, pizazzy comfort.  Not at all.  Had my mac and cheese experiences from Stephen Starr restaurants and BLSA food sales really upped my expectations of mac and cheese?   Apparently.  I have sadly become a mac and cheese snob.  I guess this was inevitable.   But to turn my nose at boxed mac and cheese?  I might have my citizenship revoked.  My mother will be so ashamed to read this post.

So, I mixed in the onions and sausage, put it all on top of a bed of spinach, and added a final super hefty dose of grated gruyere.  And it was good.

Problem solved.

And yes, the rabbit is directing me to the complaints department.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This winter and into spring, I have made this dish a few different times.  It keeps getting better and better.  In The Joy of Cooking, there are two baked squash dishes that were the combined inspirations for what I end up making.  At this point, I just make it up as I go and hope it tastes good.

Ingredients: 

acorn squash, halved and seeded

olive oil

cinnamon

nutmeg

2 chicken sausages, chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 small yellow onion

1 parsnip, peeled and cubed

1 apple, cubed

five leaves fresh basil, shredded

dash dried thyme

small handful raisins

small handful dried cherries

6 dried apricots, chopped

1 C beer, Woodchuck (apple or pear flavored), or apple cider

1/2 C orange juice (or orange-mango-peach)

optional: splash of rum
optional: blueberry syrup

salt and pepper to taste

First, preheat the over to 400.  Then, cut the acorn squash in half with a hefty knife.  Be patient.  Next, scoop out the seeds.

Drizzle a little bit of oil on the acorn squash and rub it in.  Then, drizzle a little bit of blueberry syrup over the acorn squash.  Sprinkle the acorn squash with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Once the oven is preheated, put the squash in a baking pan, cut side up.  Put about a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the baking pan. Bake for about an hour.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan.  Then, add the slices of chicken sausage and brown.  Peel and cut the parsnip, and add it to the pan. 

Add the chopped onion and garlic to the pan.  Cook for about five more minutes.  Then, add the liquids!  This time around I added beer (an October brew of some sort) and orange-mango-peach juice.  This is the point when you would add rum or apple cider if that's what you want.  Add the apples, raisins, cherries, apricots, thyme, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Turn up the heat to boil.

Once boiling, simmer it down.

Not yet - - - simmer it down a little more.

That's it.  If the acorn squash is still cooking, cover the stuffing and remove from heat.

Once the squash is ready, take it out of the pan and put it in a bowl.

Scoop the stuffing into the squash. You are done!  

Mushroom Bourguignon

Note: Start at a much earlier time than 9:00 on a Sunday evening.

This recipe is so good, I have made it twice in the past two months.  Perfect for winter or a cool spring evening.

Ingredients:

1 lb portabello mushrooms, thinly sliced (keeping stems is fine as is using more than a lb of mushrooms)

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot chopped (or a handful of baby carrots, chopped)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 C red wine (I had some malbec on hand)

2 C beef or mushroom broth

2 T tomato paste

2 T flour cut with 1T butter

salt and pepper to taste

Olive Oil

1 C peeled pearl onions

dash thyme

Topping Options: grated cheese, sour cream, or both.

In a heated saute pan, add 2 T olive oil.  Sear the mushrooms for 3 minutes.  Set aside.
Add another T olive oil.  Then saute the onion and the garlic for 10 minutes.  Then add the wine.  Turn the heat to high and cook down half of the wine.  Then add the broth, tomato paste, carrots and pearl onions.  Return the mushrooms to the pan.  Add about a tsp of dried thyme.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  In the last five minutes, add the flour cut with the butter.

Serve with either cooked noodles, or my preference, which is on top of toasted olive bread.  

Borrowed from sk: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/mushroom-bourguignon.

Snack! Crackers, Cheese, Tomatoes, Basil

Thanks to my friend Elizabeth, this has been my favorite snack this week:

Ingredients:

Wasa or other brand crackers

Laughing Cow garlic and herbs cheese 

(or other cheese of choice: yesterday I made one cracker with gruyere and another with goat)

1 tomato from a cluster of tomatoes on the vine, sliced

fresh basil

Layer as pictured

(1. cracker;
2. spread or place cheese;
3. add sliced tomatoes;
4. sprinkle fresh basil atop)

Eat.

Yum.

Pasta Onion Spinach Saute

I was inspired by smitten kitchen for this one, but I totally went my own direction.  I didn't even think it would be blog worthy until I got to this part:

Ingredients:

1 C rotini pasta

2 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 yellow onion, diced

1/2 C spinach

ground black peppercorns, to taste

grated gruyere or other cheese or choice, to taste

First, boil water plus 1 T olive oil.  Once boiling, add pasta.  Heat small saute pan.  Then add 1 T olive oil.  Add the chopped onion.  Saute 2-3 minutes.  Then add the garlic.  When the pasta has been boiling for about 7 minutes, places the spinach on top of the onion and garlic mixture.  Stir so the spinach slightly wilts.  Add fresh black peppercorn.

Drain the pasta.  Place in a bowl.  Pour the saute mixture on top of the pasta.  It looks like the picture above.  Then, grate your gruyere.

           Add the cheese on top of the deliciousness.            

     

                                                        
Finally, stir it up and enjoy.

Sweet Salmon Cavacappi

Ingredients: Salmon, 2 Serrano Peppers, 8 green olives, 2 Nectarines, 1 Tbsp. Cherry Pop, Half a Can of Coconut Milk, 3 Tsp. Goya Recaito, Quick Pour Light Cream, 1 Tsp. Sesame Oil, 2 Tsp. Old Bay Seasoning, 1 Tsp. Celery Seeds, Pepper (to taste), 2 Tsp. Garlic Salt, Chili Powder (to taste), Sugar (to taste) and Basil (to taste).

 

(Cream Sauce)

1. Mix Serrano Peppers, Olives, Light Cream, Recaito, Coconut Milk, Old Bay, Sesame Oil, and Nectarine Juice {blend of fresh nectarines, cherry pop soda, and simple syrup} into food processor and blend.

2. Add Celery Seed, Basil and Garlic Salt to sauce.

3. Put in bowl and let sit.

 

(Pasta)

1. Cook a cup of Cavacappi pasta.

2. Mix pasta with Cream Sauce in a pan on low heat. (stir repeatedly)

 

(Salmon)

1. Season Salmon with Chili Powder, Sugar and Pepper.

2. Place in oven on 350 for 5-10 minutes.

 

(Entire Dish)

1. Scoop out pasta onto bowl, leaving a small amount of cream sauce in pan on low heat.

2. Place cooked Salmon on top of pasta and drizzle with remaining Cream Sauce.

3. Enjoy.