Perfect Brownies

These brownies are perfect.  There's really nothing more to say.  But if you must know, I guess I'll take you on a small journey with me through brownie land.

Bottom line:  a perfect brownie in my mind is wonderfully dense and fudgy in the middle, with a pleasantly shiny, slightly flaky top.  It also usually has chocolate chunks in it of some kind, but that's totally a matter of preference!  

Out of the box, my favorite brands are Ghirardelli and Hershey.  They're nice and fudgy and thick and chocolaty.  But I really wanted a homemade version so I could make it cheaper!  And whenever I wanted, even without the box.  

But I ran into a problem.  All of the "best" brownie recipes seemed to turn out cake-like.  Even if I go through great lengths to carefully melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler and gently stir in previously beaten eggs.  Don't take me there, man.  Let's throw some cocoa and eggs in a bowl and get a decadent brownie, shall we?

First, mix up the wet ingredients.

Then throw in the dries and mix until just combined.

Toss in chocolate chips or nuts if desired.

Pour it into a greased pan.

And bake in your preheated oven.  DON'T OVER BAKE.  Okay?  

Some people look for brownies pulling away at the edges.  Some do a knife check (a few crumbs, not completely clean).  And some (like me) just look for the middle to be set and not gloppy!!  Careful not to under bake either, though.  These are not heartburn brownies.  They are perfect brownies.  Capiche?

PS--the recipe calls for vegetable oil, but feel free to use butter if your little heart desires.  Also, don't shy away from using pasteurized egg product so you can feel all noble about letting your kids lick the spoon.  Just make sure to under-measure a little on the equivalent egg amount.

Perfect Brownies

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups sugar

1 cup flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips, (or nuts, or whatever) optional

Mix eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a bowl until well blended.  Combine remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, and gently mix until just moistened.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour into greased 9x13" pan.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until done.  Do not over bake.  Allow to cool (or don't) before cutting into bars.

Easy (& Guest Worthy!) Spaghetti Dinner

Have you ever invited someone over for dinner and then realized you had no plans for what to serve?  I'm sure this isn't a new trick for many of you, but just in case it is, I thought I'd share what works for me.  

With knowledge gleaned from both of our moms, both wonderful home cooks who also love to share their bounty, here are a few tricks for a quick and easy dinner worthy of company.  If you don't have what you need for this meal, just use it as a template--pick a theme and go with it.  Italian, Mexican, American--keep it simple, yet plentiful.  Most guests just appreciate being fed simple grub they didn't have to fix themselves and getting a little too stuffed on it.  

And don't forget to serve dessert.  That's always a crowd-pleaser.

For this meal, start off with the toasted garlic bread.  Take a loaf of french bread and slice it down one side...

Then spread a generous helping of softened butter and minced garlic.  You can mix the garlic and butter if you want, but then you're committed to using (or wasting) it all.  You can also use margarine or olive oil in place of the butter.  You could add herbs or spices.  Make it however you want.  This can go with lots of different meals, (soups, dinner salad, chicken, steak/roast, pork chops) so there's no one way to do it.

After spreading with the goodies, I like to fold it back together and slice it before baking.  I find it easier to slice while the bread is still nice and soft rather than making a big, crumby mess later.

Then wrap it up in foil and bake.  This version gets you a little toasty on the outside and plenty soft in the middle.  My favorite way to eat it, though, is done by spreading it all out on a baking sheet, buttered side up, and baking until it's nice and toasty.  My third son loves toasty bread, so he and I get a good helping of bread when I make it that way.  But this is Cast-Iron Man's (mr. pots. get it?! hubby needs a better nickname. another time. ) favorite way to eat it, so that's how we roll.



If you're feeling like preparing for another crazy day, make a bunch and throw them in the freezer wrapped in foil. 

Okay.  Simple side salad.  Cut the bottoms off of your heads of romaine/green leaf/red leaf lettuce.

I sometimes cut off the tops, too, if they look a little rough.

Here's a little secret:  if you slice up the rest of the lettuce with a serrated knife, it has a nice "fancy" look to it.

Then throw it in a colander (or bowl of a salad spinner) and rinse well.   

When considering the salad, stick with your theme.  Make a taco salad and serve it with burritos.  Or a fresh garden salad with hamburgers.  One last thought:  if you pick a good dressing, it makes a simple salad something worth talking about.  For our spaghetti dinner, I picked our favorite Caesar dressing.

Toss with the dressing, then add your toppings.  If you do all the work for the salad yourself, it's a little friendlier for feeding a crowd.

Toss it all together and chill until dinner.

Now for the pasta.  If you add a good dash of salt to the water, it'll boost your flavor a bit.  Bring the water to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

And don't cringe here...keep it simple and add your favorite sauce (from a can, a jar, your freezer, whatever) and heat it through.  

A good sprinkle of cheese (various kinds work here; I used parmesan) adds a little flavor and keeps things simpler at serving time.

And just before serving dinner, mix up some brownies, toss a few chocolate chips into the batter, and put them in the oven.  Enjoy dinner and the aroma of chocolate wafting through the house.  Then serve up some warm brownies with ice cream.  

Easy Spaghetti Dinner
(serves 6-8)

1 loaf french bread
4 T softened butter
1 T (6 cloves) minced garlic
1 head lettuce
salad fixin's
1/4 to 1/2 cup dressing
1 lb spaghetti
salt, to taste
1 jar/can sauce
1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese (parmesan, romano, mozzarella)
1 brownie mix
oil and eggs for preparing brownies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 gallon ice cream

Slice french bread in half lengthwise.  Spread with butter and garlic.  Fold and slice.  Wrap in foil and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, or until warmed and slightly toasted.  Cut and rinse lettuce.  Toss with dressing and toppings in large serving bowl.  Chill until dinner.  Bring 2 quarts water to boil.  Salt water, if desired.  Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 9-10 minutes.  Drain.  Mix with sauce and cheese.  Serve dinner while it's hot!  Prepare brownies according to package directions.  Serve warm with ice cream for dessert.

White Bean Garlic Dip

This concoction was conceived when the hubby and I were engaged.  The photo really doesn't do it justice.  It's super easy--give it a try before judging based on awful photography!  I have the recipe smeared on an oily index card in my recipe binder, and I have no idea how I managed to hold onto it all this time and rarely use it, but I did.  

The first time we had it, Erin made it for us.  It also happened to turn out way, way too garlicky, but that was NOT Erin's fault.  The original recipe calls for roasted garlic bulbs, and we (being young and naive and in college) chose to take the easy route and put the equivalent amount of minced garlic into the blend.  Not roasted.  Let's just say the garlic was a little over the top.

The best part was, we'd made the dip for a group date.  It was a murder mystery dinner where we all came dressed up and played a part.  At least we all had garlic breath!  College coeds are so weird.

I did like the ease of just using minced garlic, so this is the recipe adapted as such.  It still packs a mean garlic punch, which we love, but if you're looking for more of an "essence" rather than "dominance," cut the amount of garlic in quarters, at least!

Drain and rinse your can of beans, then toss the beans together with the remaining ingredients into a blender or food processor.

Process the mixture until smooth, drizzling in enough olive oil to achieve desired texture and consistency.

Serve it at any temperature with french bread or bread sticks, pita chips or bread, as a sandwich spread, or with crudites.

White Bean Garlic Dip

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
2 T tomato paste
2 tsp minced garlic (or 4 cloves garlic, minced)
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil, to desired texture

Process first four ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth.  Drizzle in olive oil a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Serve dip at any temperature, with bread (french, bread sticks, pita bread, etc), pita chips or as a dip for crudites.

Creamy Cajun Pasta Sauce

For his birthday, I took Mr. Pots to his favorite restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory.  (Just kidding.  I was seven months pregnant and craving cheesecake, so that's why we went.)  Since I knew I really wanted cheesecake for dessert, I stayed a little boring for dinner and chose a salad.  (It was a good salad, though, promise!)  However, Mr. Pots believes in actually enjoying a restaurant if you're going to pay them to feed you, (go figure) so he actually ordered a real entree.  It was delicious.  

As is the case with most things we try and love, we wanted to recreate it at home, and promised each other we would someday.  

Then a week or so later, Mr. Pots was at the stove concocting something.  I always get a little worried and try not to look or smell or taste until whatever it is appears on the dinner table, because his cooking methods scare me to death!  The reason?  There is no method.  He usually just throws whatever sounds good into a dish and calls it dinner.

Well, when he served this up, I took one bite and couldn't even spare a moment to give him my first impression because I was too busy shoveling one bite after the other into my welcoming mouth.  Once my plate was empty and my sense of propriety completely wasted, I put down my fork and said, "that was really good, honey.  You know, it sort of tastes like that dish from Cheesecake Factory."  

It's not a copy cat recipe, so don't take it as such.  The biggest difference is the dish at Cheesecake Factory uses chicken and ours uses sausage, but you mustn't change back to chicken unless you brown the sausage, reserve the grease, use it to saute your veggies, then set aside the sausage for a different use and add in cooked chicken.  But that might be overkill for a family dinner.  Just sayin'.

Start by browning the sausage and sauteing your vegetables.  Stir in remaining spices.  (our sausage was precooked--don't make fun)

Make a thin gravy by sprinkling sausage and veggies with flour (and milk powder, if using) then adding milk (or water).

Allow it to thicken slightly.

Add diced tomatoes...

 and simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Melt in cream cheese.

Keep the heat low to prevent scorching.  Let mixture thoroughly combine.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Creamy Cajun Pasta Sauce

1/2 lb. uncooked sausage (choose your spice level--we used mild and added the heat later)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small serranos, minced
1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk (or 1/2 cup milk powder + 3 cups water)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 lb. uncooked pasta OR 2 cups uncooked rice

optional:  stir in sliced button mushrooms and/or bell peppers with other vegetables.

Brown sausage.  Saute vegetables in sausage grease.  Season meat and veggies with spices.  Sprinkle with flour (and milk powder, if using).  Add milk (or water).  Allow to thicken slightly, then stir in tomatoes.  Simmer on low heat 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine and sauce to thicken.  Add more milk or water as needed.  Melt in cream cheese.  Cook pasta or rice.  Serve sauce over cooked pasta or rice.

Raisin Cookie Bars

I didn't mean to leave you hanging on cookie week.  It just happened.  Christmas.  Family.  Fun.  I hope you were spending time with your loved ones and not haunting the blog hoping for more cookie recipes.  I promise there are plenty to be had; you just have to be patient.  

I know, that's hard when it comes to cookies.

I've debated what to post first in the new year because at this time of year a lot of people are being healthy-minded and cover their ears when you talk about things like sugar and cookies.  But I personally believe moderation in all things is a wonderful way to enjoy life.  

My sister (I call her Peach--I don't know why; I just have for the past 4-5 years) gave me this really fun new cookbook for Christmas with kid-friendly recipes.  This one is actually a modification from the author's website, weelicious.com.  I can almost never make a new recipe without altering, at least a little, to my family's tastes and preferences. :)  Also, the original recipe uses dried figs, (homemade version of the Fig Newton bar) but I try not to buy special ingredients I don't usually buy.  So raisins it is.  This would work with any dried fruit--just keep it to 1 cup chopped and you're good to go.

I forgot to photograph the first step (sorry).  So boil 2 cups water and add your chopped dried fruit to it.  Let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Drain most of the water, reserving about 1/4 cup.  Put soaked fruit in the blender with 1 T honey and puree. If more liquid is needed to make it (mostly) smooth and spreadable, drizzle in a little of your soaking water, about a tablespoon at a time.

Then we're just making cookies.  Cream the shortening and sugar together.  Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well.

Then mix in the flour.  

Gather the dough into a ball and then form it into a rough rectangle (or two).  Put it (them) on a sheet of parchment paper (or silpat if you're cool and have one of those).

Allow your five-year-old to photograph you rolling the dough out into a rectangle, about 8x12 inches (or two, 4x12").

Cut the rectangle in half and spread half the filling on half of each half, (does that make sense?) keeping about a half inch border.

Now I have a confession to make.  I rolled this out all in one so I would only have to roll out one rectangle.  But when I folded up the first "log" it looked pretty rough.  For the second, I cut the parchment paper and used it to fold the dough on top of itself, like so:

Make sure the edges are together...

This is what happens when you (try to) take the easy way out.  Don't do that.  Just roll it out twice.

To slice the dough, cut the log in half, then cut the half in half, and so on until you have 8 cookies (or so, depending on the size).  

Distribute them on the parchment paper to give them a little space to bake.  Place the parchment on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes, or until the edges are golden.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet at least 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Raisin Cookie Bars

adapted from weelicious.com

1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit, chopped)

2 cups boiling water

1 T honey

6 T shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour (I used half AP, half whole wheat)

Soak raisins in water for 30 minutes.  Drain water and reserve 1/4 cup.  In blender or food processor, puree soaked fruit with honey, using reserved soaking liquid to reach desired consistency. (Add 1 T at a time until mixture is smooth and spreadable.)  In medium mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla and beat well.  Mix in flour.  Form dough into ball, then shape into two rectangles and place on parchment paper.  Roll rectangles into two 4x12" rectangles.  Spread half of rectangle with raisin mixture, spreading lengthwise and leaving 1/2" border.  Use parchment paper to gently lift and fold dough, matching edges.  Seal edge.  Slice dough log into 8 or more cookies, starting by slicing log in half and cutting each resulting piece in half to achieve desired cookie size.  Spread cookies on parchment paper and transfer paper to baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12 to 18 minutes (or less time if cookies are very small) or until edges are golden brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.