adventures of a cranky gypsy princess.

recipe 55: cajun baked catfish

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:16:46 -0400

from allrecipes.com

So we have been fishing a lot lately! It is apparently a childhood hobby of Jeff’s, and we got some cheap poles and went fishing one day, and we ended up having so much fun that it’s become a regular hobby! It has made duty days much more interesting, and been a perfect supplement to our cooking hobby! I will post more about fishing later! We’ve caught lots of things, some bigger and more appetizing than others!

This was caught while Jeff was visiting for 10 days this May. The ship was in Annapolis, and we were lucky enough that the timing worked out so well! I had just finished my semester, so for once I was not stressed with work, and he had duty every three days, but was otherwise free to come home with me. We had an amazing week together, and did lots of fun things— fishing included! We found this awesome boathouse just outside of Georgetown (), and rented a rowboat and went fishing on the potomac. We had a lot of fun, and Jeff caught an awesome catfish which was our first fishing turned kitchen adventure!

We got the recipe here. We wanted something that was interesting and delicious, but not so overwhelming that we couldn’t taste the fish that Jeff worked so hard to catch!

ingredients:

2 tbs canola oil

2 tsp garlic salt

2 2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

4 8 oz. catfish fillets

preparation:

In a small bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; brush over both sides of fish.

Wrap fish in foil, and place in a 13x9 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

recipe 54: dijon braised brussel sprouts

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:22:51 -0400

from smittenkitchen.com

So clearly I have been slacking! Between trying to get a PhD AND get married… whoosh! No time for blogging recipes! This is an old one that I have been meaning to post for a long time, which I got here, and was delicious! I’m going to be posting some more recipes now that it’s summer again, and hopefully I will also be posting about some fun fiance adventures! We’ve been up to lots lately: fishing, wedding prep and more! Mostly I’m just happy Jeff is around this summer, even if it means less time for blogging recipes than last summer!

ingredients:

1 pound brussel sprouts

1 tbs unsalted butter

1 tbs olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup vegetable broth

2-3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tbs heavy cream

1 tbs smooth dijon mustard (or more)

2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

preparation:

Trim sprouts and halve lengthwise. In a large skillet heat butter and oil over moderate heat. Arrange halved sprouts in skillet, cut sides down, in one layer (or do them in batches). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook sprouts, without turning until undersides are golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the shallots, wine and stock and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low (for a gentle simmer), cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and cook the sprouts until they are tender can be pierced easily with the tip of a paring knife, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the lid, and scoop out brussels (leaving the sauce). Add cream and simmer for two to three minutes, until slightly thickened. Whisk in mustard. Taste for seasoning, and adjust as necessary with more salt, pepper or Dijon. Pour sauce over brussels, sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve immediately.

recipe 53: rootbeer float cupcakes

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:05:36 -0400

from smittenkitchen.com

There were so many things I wanted to do a better job of documenting, but was distracted and so I didn’t… like the first recipe Jeff and I made together after he got home (an impromptu pasta dish with sun dried tomatoes in a garlic butter sauce— fantastic!), or the lovely dinner I brought for Jeff and his division (including this pasta salad, which was not such a hit! “Too healthy!” they told me!). Or year 2 of New Year’s Chili— a Harrigan-Vitols family tradition! In any case, this recipe is the first one that I’m posting that Jeff and I did since he got home, but it is not the first thing we’ve made together since he’s been back! It was delicious and fun, though!

Near Year’s Chili!

Back to the cupcakes: I got the recipe here, and like always, Deb has fantastic and detailed instructions (as well as beautiful pictures!).

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

2 cups root beer

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

Toppings:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tbs powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

vanilla ice cream

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, heat the rootbeer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk eggs until just beaten, and then whisk them into the cocoa mixture until combined. Fold liquid and flour mixtures together in the large bowl (it’s OK if it’s slightly lumpy!). Fill lined cupcake cups about 2/3 to 3/4 full (batter should make about 26). Bake for about 17 minutes at 350F.

Whip cream, vanilla and powdered sugar with a whisk or a hand mixer. Top cupcakes with whipped cream mixture and ice cream (or make into a rootbeer float sundae!).

Besides getting way behind on 100 recipes, there have been many...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:22:52 -0500

Besides getting way behind on 100 recipes, there have been many exciting developments in my life! Jeff came home December 8th. I went down to Mayport to meet the ship coming in— SO exciting! I was convinced it was the best day ever, until he proposed on December 16th! Yes, please!

recipe 52: crispy salted oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:58:00 -0500

from smittenkitchen.com

I made these on my last day of discussion for LING200. I got the recipe here, an they were really delicious! I made them with both white and milk chocolate, and both kinds were equally good. It was actually the second to last day we were supposed to have discussion, but I had to get someone to cover for me on the last day, because a certain someone was coming home!! I think the class forgave me…

recipes 50 & 51: pesto and pasta salad

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:24:21 -0500

from foodnetwork.com and saveroomforcookies.com

A friend of mine, Shevaun, who I have posted about before, makes some fantastic pasta salads (and other delicious things) when she is in charge of food for lunch talks at work (which we all take turns doing). Here is the link to her blog post about the dishes she prepares for lunch talks. I made the pasta salad, and I agree it’s much better with homemade pesto (I did it both ways, here is the link to the recipe I used for pesto— sooo easy!!). It is super easy and delicious, and I’ve made it several times since this first time, it’s perfect for lunches and saves very very well. Actually, maybe I’ll make some tonight for lunches this week…

recipe 49: cinnamon buns

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:14:00 -0500

from smittenkitchen.com

Cinnamon buns! My neighbor Davon LOVES cinnamon buns, and is always making the kind that comes in a tube. We were feeling very ambitious and made some from scratch for his niece’s birthday party! Of course we made a double batch so he could keep a whole tray to himself…

I got this recipe here, and it’s complicated but the instructions are great!

recipe 48: espresso-toffee shortbread

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:52:14 -0500

adapted from smittenkitchen.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! These I made for my class… soooo long ago! I realized that there is NO WAY I’m going to catch up on all the things that I have made and not posted about, so I’m going to post abbreviated versions (with links to full recipes of course!) for the things I fell behind on, and then maybe I can start posting some more recent stuff!

These are from here, and I adapted them to use toffee chocolate chips instead of plain ones. They were quite excellent! (Although my RAs enjoyed them much more than my class, who spend most of the semester staring at my like I’m crazy…)

Coffee Toffee Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces toffee chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preparation:

Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid. Working with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets lined with parchment paper (or silipat!) and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet. Bake at 325 for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

recipe 47: french onion soup

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:24:00 -0400

from smittenkitchen.com

Here’s my problem lately: I have been doing a bunch of recipes, but I keep getting way behind on posting them, and then by the time I do a) I don’t remember what they tasted like, and b) I’m distracted by more recent cooking endeavors so I don’t care. Then I put it off longer and longer and it gets worse and worse… vicious cycle. Anyway, that’s how I feel about this soup. I remember it being good, I remember being excited about it at the time, but of course I have no idea anymore what I wanted to say about this. It was pretty good and used super cheap ingredients. Not a Jeffrey recipe, but definitely not bad.

I got this recipe here, and made only a few minor changes!

french onion soup

ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds thinly sliced yellow onions

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp salt, plus additional to taste

1/4 tsp sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 quarts (8 cups or 1.9 liters) mushroom (or beef or other brown stock)

1/2 cup dry white wine

Freshly ground black pepper

preparation:

Melt the butter and oil together in the bottom of a saucepan over moderately low heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in oil and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to real low and let them slowly steep for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, uncover the pot, raise the heat slightly and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook onions, stirring frequently, for 30 to 40 minutes until they have turned an even, deep golden brown.

After the onions are fully caramelized, sprinkle them with flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the wine in full, then stock, a little at a time, stirring between additions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 more minutes, skimming if needed. Correct seasonings if needed but go easy on the salt as the cheese will add a bit more saltiness and I often accidentally overdo it. Top with toast and parmesan cheese.

recipe 46: whole wheat-oatmeal bread

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:17:00 -0400

from Taste of Home’s Dinner on a Dime

Another attempt at making something that is not going to give me diabetes by the end of deployment! Why is writing about this exponentially less interesting than pretty cakes and brownies?! Anyway, this was tasty, it made good toast and lunches for a few days at work, and sadly I have little else to say about this bread!

Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup molasses

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 packages (or 1/2 oz) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup cranberry (or orange) juice

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

preparation:

In a large bowl, pour boiling water over oats. Add the molasses, shortening and salt. Let stand until warm, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cranberry juice, oat mixture and whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into two loaves; place in greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks, brush with butter.

recipe 45: red wine chocolate cake

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:18:00 -0400

from smittenkitchen.com

Well, this was my first recipe after a little hiatus! Too much work to do, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down! But I realized if I don’t make time to bake at least once in awhile, I will never bake anything for the rest of my life (or at least until next summer), and that would be pretty sad. We had a girls night the other week with some girls from work, hosted by the lovely Shevaun Lewis, who also happened to have a birthday coming up! Shevaun is someone I would like to be like in a lot of ways, she is awesome at baking, and at linguistics, and just a pretty badass person in general. I decided to make this cake for her birthday, because ummm, wine and chocolate? Can you go wrong??

I got the recipe from here, where you pretty much can’t go wrong with one single recipe. Literally.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

ingredients:

cake:

6 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/3 cup red wine (any kind)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup + 1 tbs all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

topping:

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

2 tbs granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

preparation:

cake:

Line the bottom of a 9-in round cake pan with parchment (I used a springform pan and closed it around the paper, trapping it in), either butter the parchment and exposed sides of the pan, or spray interior with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and yolk and beat well, then the red wine and vanilla. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little uneven. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together, right over your wet ingredients. Mix until 3/4 combined, then fold the rest together with a rubber spatula. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

The top of the cake should be shiny and smooth, like a puddle of chocolate. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then flip out of pan and cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack. This cake keeps well at room temperature or in the fridge. It looks pretty dusted with powdered sugar.

topping:

Whip mascarpone, cream, sugar and vanilla together until soft peaks form. Spoon generously on each slice of cake. It can also be covered and refrigerated for up to 4 hours.

recipe 44: red velvet cupcakes

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:11:07 -0400

adapted from smittenkitchen.com

Alright! I’m back! I was getting seriously harassed due to my lack of posting! Emails, texts, visits in my office… mostly from Faina and Jessica, who probably were just cranky because I sort of fell off the bandwagon right before I wrote posts all about them! And the sad news is, I’m probably not going to make it to 100, because deployment is not too much longer (yayyyy!) but I’ll take Jeff back over finishing any day! Even though I’m sure he’s going to say, “boo, you didn’t even finish your 100 recipes?!?!” Not like I’m trying to get a PhD here or anything! Plus spend the end of my summer entertaining and baking for my two preschool RAs! And by entertaining, clearly I mean running appointments with. Anyway, last but not least, these red velvet cupcakes were for Faina! She was a very dedicated and hard-working preschool RA for many semesters, and I am so so lucky that I got her help with my study during her last summer in the lab. She was also an infamous and sassy froggy, terrifying children all over the greater College Park area with her snarky comments during testing. Anyway, thank you, Faina, for all your hard work on my study, and for keeping me company during so many hours of waiting for families to show up for appointments!

Nothing but the best for Faina! So of course I went to smittenkitchen to find Deb’s red velvet recipe, available here, which I adapted for cupcakes! Delicious!

red velvet cupcakes

ingredients:

1 tbs butter

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups canola oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 bottle red food coloring, dissolved in 6 tbs water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

preparation:

Whisk flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring (be careful, it splashes!!). Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, checking after 15 minutes or so. Let cool completely before frosting.

cream cheese frosting

ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

preparation:

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

kate & meli p. do NY!

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 02:26:03 -0400

kate & meli p. do NY!

recipe 43: peanut butter crispy bars

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:15:00 -0400

from smittenkitchen.com

I have mentioned before that I’m very very lucky to have students at UMD that help me out with the studies I’m running (more on that here). Also that I was making a special treat for each of them at the end of the summer. I made these for Jacqueline a few weeks ago, and in addition I have two girls that work on my preschool studies with me, these bars were for Jessica. Not only do these girls work on my studies, they made it a PERSONAL GOAL this summer to get me 40 subjects, which is the amount that I needed to do an initial data analysis. And ran every one of those 40 subjects with me (ok, 39, our last appointment cancelled). That is love right there, people. Sooo even though these bars were delicious, they really do not even begin to be enough to thank Jessica for the work she did or express how much I appreciate her. Yup, Jessica, I’m confessing my love for you right here on my blog (don’t worry, Faina, your post is next!).

I got this recipe here, and followed the instructions closely and they came out truly delicious!

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

ingredients for the crispy crust

1 3/4 cups crisped rice cereal

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs light corn syrup

3 tbs butter

ingredients for the milk chocolate peanut butter layer

5 oz good quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup creamy peanut butter

ingredients for the chocolate icing

3 oz dark chocolate

1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup

4 tbs butter

preparation

make the crispy crust: Grease 8-inch square baking pan. Put cereal in a large bowl and set aside. Pour 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan. Gently add the sugar and corn syrup and use a small wooden spoon to stir the mixture until just combined. Put a candy thermometer in the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; cook until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 235 F.

Remove from heat, stir in the butter and pour the mixture over the cereal. Working quickly, stir until the cereal is thoroughly coated, then pour it into the prepared pan. Using your hands, press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Let the crust cool to room temp while you make the next layer.

make the milk chocolate peanut butter layer: In a large bowl, stir together the chocolate and the peanut butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth.

Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust. Put the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the top layer hardens.

make the chocolate icing: In a large bowl, combine the chocolate, corn syrup and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly. Pour the mixture over the chilled milk chocolate peanut butter layer and spread (or just tip the pan until the whole surface is covered) into an even layer. Put the pan into the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the topping hardens.

Cut into 16 squares and serve. These will last for 4 days in the refrigerator (although they will most likely be devoured first!).

givemeoneweasley: “You just have to be lucky enough to find...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:58:22 -0400

givemeoneweasley:

“You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you.” (Audrey Hepburn)

recipe 42: spaghetti with marinara sauce

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:05:00 -0400

from Mollie Katzen’s The New Moosewood Cookbook

So I mentioned in my last post (already a million years ago!) that my girlfriend Melanie was visiting from Switzerland! And we had a great time together, although it did cause me to get way behind in my recipes… we did manage to do one recipe together, though! I had promised my neighbor, Davon, who says I “got a weird tastebud,” that I would make him spaghetti, and even though he insisted that he didn’t like vegetables I promised him he would like my vegetables. Long story short, he was very polite and ate my vegetables, but I lost the bet and now I owe him what he calls “real” spaghetti— meat and no vegetables. Well, I tried.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

ingredients:

2-3 tbs olive oil

2 cups chopped onion

a handful of fresh basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 13 oz can tomatoes

1 6 oz can tomato paste

black pepper

4-6 large cloves garlic, minced

1 lb mushrooms, chopped

1-2 medium zuccini, diced

2-3 medium ripe tomatoes, diced

preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or pot. Add onion, mushrooms, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, herbs and salt, and saute over medium heat until the onion is very soft (8-10 minutes).

Add tomatoes, tomato paste and black pepper. Use a spoon to break the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Add garlic and cook about 10 minutes more. At this point, the sauce can sit for up to several hours, or refrigerated for up to a week. Heat gently before serving, and serve with pasta of choice.

recipe 41: peanut butter and pretzel brownies

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:50:00 -0400

adapted from www.okiedokieartichokie.me via gojee.com

Oh, man, have I been slacking!! This recipe is from two weeks ago! But I am just getting around to posting about it now… oops! My girlfriend Melanie is visiting from Switzerland, and I have not seen her in soooo long and we’ve had such an amazing time catching up and keeping super busy! More on that later. I also got some new roommates, who I’m totally obsessed with. Also more on that later. AND things have been crazy at work because the students who help me with my study are scheduling kids like crazy and I’ve been running mad appointments! I’m totally obsessed with them (hi, Faina and Jessica!) and I’m super thrilled at how quickly things are moving along. I know, excuses, excuses.

Right now we need to talk about these brownies. I told all of the girls that have worked on my studies over the summer that I would bake them anything they wanted for their last day, and this is what Jacqueline, who works with my on my infant study, picked out. She apparently loves anything with chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels and I’ve got to hand it to her: it was a tasty combination! I got the recipe from here, and I adapted it a bit and it came out great.

Peanut Butter and Pretzel Brownies

Brownies:

ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbs dark cocoa powder

6 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

5 oz bittersweet chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

preparation:

Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with aluminum foil, pressing into edges of pan. Butter the top of the foil.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt and cocoa powder together. Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a small bowl set over simmering water to begin the melting process, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted completely. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the warm water. Whisk in both sugars until fully combined and then remove bowl from pot. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly.

Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, stirring each until completely incorporated. Then add the vanilla and mix together, being careful not to overmix the batter. Slowly begin to add the flour mixture, using a spatula to gently fold in the ingredients until fully combined. Pour the brownie mixture into the pan and use a spatula to ease the mixture to all the corners and sides.

Cook at 350 F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Let brownies cool completely and cut into squares.

peanut butter frosting:

ingredients:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

preparation:

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla extract and salt into a bowl. Use a hand mixer to mix until fully combined. Add the heavy cream and mix until smooth.

Top each brownie with a layer of peanut butter frosting, and garnish with pretzel pieces.

recipe 40: soft and supple whole-grain bread

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:38:00 -0400

from aspicyperspective.com via gojee.com

I’ve done a few breads lately, and I have to say, it gets less intimidating every time. Because the last few I’ve done have been rather indulgent (read: all white flour!), I wanted to try to make a bread that was a little healthier. Plus, I have a TON of whole wheat flour at home that would be nice to make a dent in. And, with this being moving week I had literally 0 pots and pans for a few days, so I needed to make something that required only baking utensils, as this is pretty much all I own. So, with all these constraints, this is what this genius website came up with. It came out quite tasty, I’ve been making sandwiches and toast all week!

soft and supple whole-grain bread

ingredients:

2 3/4 cups hot tap water

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

2 tb molasses

1 1/2 tbs kosher or sea salt

6-7 cups whole wheat flour

2 packages dry active yeast

whole oats for sprinkling on top

preparation:

Mix the first 5 ingredients, plus 2 cups flour until combined, then add the yeast. It’s okay that the water is hot because the other ingredients will cool it before the yeast goes in! Mix again until combined, then let the mixture rest and “sponge” for 20 minutes.

When you come back the mixture should be foamy. Add 4 more cups of flour and combine as best you can with a wooden spoon, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until uniformly combined. It should look moist, but if it seems a little too wet add another 1/2 cup of flour. Now spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and lay it over the mixing bowl.

Let it rise for one hour. I turned my oven on to 150 F, and then turned it off after it was heated up and let the dough rise in the warm oven. I have the best luck this way getting it to rise. The dough should be large, almost double.

Punch it down, close to its original size. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface. Flour a knife and cut the dough in half. Roll each piece of dough into a log the length of the loaf pans. Place each roll in its pan. Spray another piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray, cover both loaves loosely so they have room to expand. Let the dough rise for another 1 1/2 hours. When you come back the dough should have doubled in size and come up higher than the lip of the pan. Now preheat the oven to 350 F. Gently remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle a few oats on top.

Place the loaves in the oven for 35-37 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently dump out of the loaf pans. Cool completely before wrapping.

suggestions?

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:38:14 -0400

(especially if you are a student who works on one of my studies and will be leaving the lab soon…)

Jacqueline Kennedy. jackandjackie: Attending Mass in Palm Beach

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:41:00 -0400

Jacqueline Kennedy.

jackandjackie:

Attending Mass in Palm Beach