Appetizer

These appetizers were for Thanksgiving too. My aunt makes something like this for family dinners so I tried it, but it took a few attempts to get it right and by the end there weren't enough ingredients! So now I know, and can re-create them for some other event.

You take a big tortilla, slather it in cream cheese, cover it in basil leaves, then put a big stripe of pepper slices at the end closest to you. Then roll it away from you, wrapping super tightly. Once you have a tube, cut it into little pinwheel circles and you're set.

Chocolate Gingerbread Squares

We had the most lovely thanksgiving this weekend...

I made these squares and then had to make another batch because their numbers were dwindling before we had even left. They are amazing. It's the best of all worlds... ginger.. allspice... chocolate chips... I'm never going to stop making them.



The recipe is from Martha Stewart, who is clearly some kind of genius.

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with a strip of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. Dust paper and sides of pan with cocoa; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, ginger, allspice, and baking soda; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and sour cream until smooth. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift gingerbread from pan. Transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares. Before serving, dust bars with confectioners sugar, if desired.

I went way heavy on the spices because I have a bit of a problem with loving them.
So anyway, please make these. They're life changing.

Mmm.. Homey

I didn't actually make any of this... but it was so great, I had to show it off. I've got a fake chicken breast, some steamed asparagus and gorgeous mashed potatoes courtesy of Jeremy, and hot mushroom gravy to top it off. Delicious! It tasted like Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I've never actually made banana bread before, so this was an adventure. It turned out pretty well, but I'm not completely satisfied. The bananas weren't over-ripe like they should have been because I didn't want to wait any longer to make this - but I think that would have definitely improved the bread. Next time, I'm going to force myself to be patient and I think I'd like to try a different recipe as well. Not that there were any major problems with this one, but experimenting couldn't hurt. I used a recipe from Gracious Rain, but used mostly whole wheat flour, and added 1/2 tsp. vanilla and cinnamon.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm on a roll, so I baked some more goods.

This time I kept it simple, with a recipe from A Dash of Sass. This version is only slightly different - I used half AP flour and half whole wheat, substituted allspice for nutmeg, and used a whole cup of chocolate chips instead of 3/4.


Here's a flock in their natural habitat:



But I captured one (...three) to be devoured with milk.


They were delicious, and I'll definitely use this recipe again. Perhaps my most successful cookies to date!

Brownies

I'm feeling bakey, apparently.

Suddenly, this evening, I had the urge to make brownies, so I did! I slightly varied a recipe from Cooking Stuff and added icing too.

Brownies:
3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. water
9 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325F
In a small bowl, mix the flour, soda, and salt. In a saucepan, bring butter, water and sugar to a boil then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and 1 1/2 c. of chocolate until melted. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Pour into buttered pan and sprinkle the rest of the chips on top. Bake for 35 -40 minutes until a toothpick comes out almost (but not quite) clean. Allow to cool on a rack.

I hear you get better results if your eggs are at room temperature. I don't know if that's true or not, so whatever. It couldn't hurt. This is what they looked like fresh out of the oven:




I had some filling left over in the freezer from yesterday's baking adventure, so I heated it in the microwave and added 2 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa. Then I put it back in the freezer to set up a little while the brownies were baking and cooling. I'm not sure if it was exactly half that I was left with, but I think it was pretty close so the recipe below should be accurate. You could just add more or less cocoa as needed.

Icing:
1/3c. butter
1 1/4 tbsp. boiling water
1 1/4 c. icing sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp. cocoa

The real Jos Louis (from scratch!)

I spent the afternoon baking today and ended up making a Jos Louis style cakelette. The recipe comes from Great Canadian Cakes - it didn't ask for the icing, but I used a ganache I found in the same book and can't imagine these without it. I found I had way too much filling, so I'm saving the excess but next time would only make half. (I'll halve it in the recipe below)




For the cakes:

1/2 c. Shortening
1 c. Granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cocoa
1 c. milk

For the filling:
2/3c. butter
2 1/2 tbsp. boiling water
2 1/2 c. icing sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream shortening, then beat in sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
Mix dry ingredients and milk into egg mixture alternately, one-third of the flour mixture and half of the milk at a time, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Drop heaping tablespoons of cake batter onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving space for cakes to expand while cooking.
Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a rack.

For filling: cream butter and mix in boiling water 1 tbsp at a time. Add icing sugar 1 c. at a time while beating constantly, then add vanilla. Filling should be thick.

Spread top of 1 cake with filling and place second cake on top.

Chill until filling sets, then cover with ganache and chill again.


Pourable Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 c. whipping cream
4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Heat whipping cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just below the boiling point.
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until melted, then beat until completely smooth, about 10 seconds.
Let cool until the consistency is right for pouring, about 1 hour. If the chocolate becomes too thick, it can be reheated for a few seconds in the microwave or over a double boiler.

I'm into herbs these days.

All my pictures look the same, but I swear they all taste different. This was the first time I've ever used fresh tarragon! I had a weird mix of ingredients in the house, so this is what came out of them.

I put green peppers, broccoli, green onions and chopped tarragon in a pan with some olive oil, and then discovered that all of my fake beef strips and tofu was expired. There were some fake chicken breasts in the freezer though, so I used one. And I had already opened a can of chick peas, so even though it seemed weird, I used them too. Some salt.. some pepper... Oh! And half of an all-vegetable chicken stock cube

It was awesome.