Brownies at 11

It’s 10:40 p.m. and I’m baking Nigella Lawson’s everyday brownies. I watched them on TV the other night and then decided to make some tonight. I had many variations to the recipe mostly because it’s so late at night I had to make do with what was at home. You can get the original recipe from here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/everyday-brownies-recipe/index.html

Here’s my version

3/4 cup oil

11/2 cups sugar (white)

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup flour

I tsp baking soda

I tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

I combined the oil and the sugar together over low heat. Since I didn’t use butter, it took a while to combine and actually caramelised. This gave the brownies a lovely colour. Stir the sugar and oil with a wooden spoon till the oil and sugar completely combine – the sugar must melt completely (note this takes a while). Add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder to this mixture. It blends together into a dark brown very thick sauce consistency. Add more flour if your mixture is too runny. Remove from heat. Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract very lightly and add to the mixture in the pan. Make sure that the eggs don’t cook because your mixture is too hot.

Bake for 20-25 mins. The top should be crusty while the inside gooey. Mine is still in the oven with ten mins to go. Will update everyone on the taste in my next post.

Happy baking!

If in doubt, go with the original Nigella recipe 🙂

Potato Salad…one of my favorites

By Preethi Bunyan

Bobby Flay’s Green Onion Potato Salad

2 lbs. red potatoes
1 Tbsp. PLUS 2 tsp. Kosher salt, divided
1-1/4 cups Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise (or any other mayo)
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
6 green onions (green and pale green part), thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley

Instructions:

1. Cover potatoes with water in 4-quart sauce pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain and cool slightly. Slice into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
2. Combine Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, vinegar, jalapeno peppers, salt and black pepper in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and toss gently. Season, if desired, with additional salt and pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Baking up a storm

Yes! The dinner was a success. You can find the recipe for beer bread here: http://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-73440

I made some changes in quantities since I had a little less flour. It came out just as well. I think I would try it with less sugar next time – just for health reasons. It comes out well. As the recipe suggests – SIFT the flour – it makes a difference.

My next project is to make cappuccino royales – they are coffee cookies/biscuits. I got the recipe from a wonderful book called Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke.

The story is about Hannah Swensen who owns her own bakery in a little town. She is an amateur detective who finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. The recipes are interspersed within the novel. A particular chapter talks about Swedish Oatmeal cookies and then at the end of the chapter there’s a recipe for the same. Quite a “novel” concept! Cappuccino Royales features in the book when Hannah’s boyfriend (a police detective) comes over before the strategy meet in the police station to discuss the murder. He talks about it over the coffee cookies and Hannah promises to bring some over to the station for the meeting.

Someone else took the time to type the recipe out on another website. I’ve just copied it below. If I do make them, I’ll skip the chocolate chips since I don’t have any and I’ll probably size it down since I don’t need that many cookies.

Cappuccino Royales

Source: The Key Lime Murder Mystery by Joanne Fluke

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. rack in the middle position.
2 cups melted butter (4 sticks, 1 pound)
1/4 cup instant coffee powder (I used Folgers)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons brandy or rum extract
3 cups white (granulated) sugar***
3 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups milk chocolate chips
5 1/2 cups flour (don’t sift – pack it down in the measuring cup)
*** If you prefer a sweeter cookie, roll the dough balls in extra granulated sugar and flatten before baking.

Melt the butter in large microwave-safe bowl at 3 minutes on HIGH. Or melt it in a saucepan over low heat on the stovetop.

Mix in the instant coffee powder, vanilla and rum or brandy extract. Stir it until the coffee powder has dissolved,

Add the sugar, beaten eggs, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix well.

Stir in the milk chocolate chips. Mix until they’re evenly distributed.

Add the flour in one cup increments, stirring after each addition. Mix until the flour is thoroughly incorporated.

Form walnut-sized dough balls with your fingers. Roll them in a small bowl with granulated sugar if you decided you wanted them sweeter. 

Place the dough balls on greased cookie sheets, 12 to a standard-size sheet, (I used Pam to grease my cookie sheet, but any nonstick cooking spray will do.)

Flatten the dough balls with the back of a metal spatula, or with the palm of your impeccably clean hand.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for 9 to 11 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Yield:  12 to 14 dozen cookies (depending on cookie size)

Hannah’s Note: These cookies freeze well if you have left over.

(By the way Joanne Fluke has written plenty of books with names like Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Strawberry Shortcake Murder, Fudge Cupcake Murder! Her website is http://www.murdershebaked.com)