Brownies for Julia (via TWD)

I love chocolate. I am not a chocoholic, but it’s sometimes a close call. I have always preferred dark chocolate over milk chocolate. (but last week’s milk chocolate bundts were yummy!!)

This week we made brownies. And not just any brownie, but the brownies pastry chef Rick Katz made for Julia Child.

Now when these first cooled I cut a very small corner just to taste. They were cakey and delicious. But some of my Twitter buddies mentioned they were fudgy. I tried to figure out what I had done wrong. The next day I cut some squares out for the guys and They. Were. Fudgy. and very, very, very tasty. The recipe called for 4 ounces unsweet and 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate. I found I only had 2 ounces unsweet. With the two cups of sugar (I used 1 cup Splenda) this made these very sweet (and fudgy). Perfect. I have to warn you, besides the two cups of sugar, there are also two , yes TWO sticks of butter. This is NOT a 10in10 treat. Maybe a teeny tiny bite….

This was the pick of Tanya aka (are you ready) Chocolate Chic!!!

 

CEinMB – Curried Chicken Salad

Okay, I’m late with this one, but y’all know the reason. I finally got a chance today to make this week’s CEinMB – chosen by Sarah at Sarah’s Kitchen Adventures. –

Curried Chicken Salad

This was pretty good. I like chicken salad anyway and have made it with curry before, but the yogurt made the difference. It made the salad creamier. The almonds gave it a little extra crunch and added a little sweetness to the blend.

I left the grapes out, but only because I couldn’t find any good, sweet ones. The ones in the store were small and sour. Not a good combination. I also doubled the curry powder (Madras Curry Mix) and THAT gave it extra KICK.

Definitely a keeper. If you want the recipe you can visit Sarah’s site or visit Ellie on Foodtv. You can also find it in Ellie’s book – So Easy.

 

CEinMB. Sorry, not yet. But this is the reason….

My New Granddaugher

 

Dorie’s Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts

It seems we are in chocolate mode for Tuesdays wit Dorie. Last week we made Coco – Nana Bread. This week we made Milk Chocolate Mini Bundts (chosen by Kristin of I’m Right about Everything)

Made with Milk Chocolate these had a nice mild chocolate taste. But wait, there’s a surprise. Each one has a swirl of nuts and cocoa part way up the cake (See that little crack…..) Dorie called for pecans or walnuts and a sugar/cocoa powder mix. I used that for 3 of the little bundts. I used a mix of chopped walnuts and butterscotch chips for one and some left over coconut/pecan streussel on the big (??) one. (I made 4 small minis and one large mini {is that possible??}) Basically the swirl kind of disappeared into the bundt, but you could still taste it.

Now add some bittersweet chocolate glaze with a little whipped cream (that started as a pretty swirl, but just as I was snapping the picture the battery died and by the time I was back with the ac plug, it had, well, eh….. melted) and sprinkled cocoa powder and you have a nice decadent chocolate dessert. And they WERE good.

Please visit the other TWD bakers and see how they liked this one.

 

The Kitchen Reader- What We Eat When We Eat Alone

So here I am reading outside ‘my shelf’ so to speak. This month’s ‘assigned’ book for The Kitchen Reader was What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin.

Some solo diners relish the elaborate, while others prefer the bizarre, some eat their favorite foods, some eat what’s convenient, and others choose their menues according to their moods.

I’m not sure where I fall in that group. Sometimes I eat my favorite foods that no one else likes (Curry). Sometimes it is what ever is left over from the past couple of meals. I don’t remember turning to something bizarre, but often according to my mood. Guess that makes me an ecclectic ‘alone’ eater.

But I guess that is what Madison and McFarlin were thinking when they interviewed different people about their ‘alone’ eating habits. They found there is often a difference between peoples but it isn’t always between the sexes or the age groups. It is just due to different tastes and experiences. I do think that it has a lot to do with class. It seems most of the people the authors interviewed were more professional/well educated/upper middle and upper class people whose experiences are different from others. (But that is just how I saw it.) I was surprised by some of the ‘report’ but not by all of it. Comfort foods often come up when one is alone – PB and J, Mac and Cheese, Soup and Sandwich. But comfort is also personal.

I buy a large jar of picked herring…., boil enough potatoes….caramelize some sweet onions, then top the potatoes with them and a good portion of herry….works for the 100 percent German in me.”

It’s all relative.

There are some good recipes in the book from the individuals who do eat alone: Brooke’s Chicken Fajitas with Black Beans, Exotic Rice Pudding on Demand, Salmon Chowder, Maureen’s Shrimp, Feta, and Bulgur Salad, and (of course) Pickled Herring with Mashed Potatoes and Caramelized Onions.

I still am not sure if I liked this book, but I enjoyed the information and it was interesting reading. I guess it’s the culturalist in me. Different people, different worlds, different ideas.

And that is why they make

.

So, I pose the same question to you, Dear Readers, “When you are alone – if/when that ever happens – what do you EAT??”

 

Bread….

“Talk of joy: there may be things better than beef stew and baked potatoes and home-made bread – there may be.”
~David Grayson~

Is there any fragrance better than that of baking bread. Whether at home or driving past a bakery you cannot help but breathe deeply and long. It is comforting. It is inviting. It brings cherished memories. BREAD!!

I have been making quite a bit of bread lately. Some of ‘assigned’ for Slow and Steady BBA, some for fun, some for friends or family. But all of it good.

~Coors Beer Bread~

This is not a yeast bread but can be used as such. I found the recipe at Barbara’s Blog - Vino Luci. It has a slight beer taste and is great with cheese . It is called Coors Beer bread, but all I had handy was Bud.

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~Dutch Baby Bunny~

A few days after Christmas I was thumbing thru’ AB’s I’m Just Here for More Food – Baking and ran across this little ‘baby’ – a Dutch Baby to be exact. It is a cross between a popover and a pancake.
Alton’s recipe can be found on FoodTV. I just made 1/2 the recipe in a 6″ cast iron skillet and ate it with a little maple syrup. Great Breakfast.

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~Flat Bread~

About 10 days ago Kayte and Tracey were talking about Flat Bread. I didn’t have time to bake with them that day, but I made the Flat Bread a couple of days later. Instead of Thyme I simply sprinkled the bread with Italian Seasoning and a little Kosher Salt. My, my, but that was tasty. It was a great bread to eat with the Ellie’s Nutty Sweet Potato Soup for CEinMB.

I hope you try some of these. Add them to your bread list. Good eating.

 

CEinMB – Emerald Stir Fry with {Beef} Chicken

Stir Fry!! What’s not to like? Veggies. Crisp tender. Chicken or beef or seafood. No way you can mess it up. It’s very forgiving. Add a little of this. Take away a little of that….

I am not a fan of asparagus, so I left it out. Couldn’t find shelled edamame – left it out. Did have bean sprouts – put them in. Didn’t want/have beef, subbed chicken. Still quite tasty.

Thanks to Alyssa of Alyssa’s Two Bites for this week’s choice. You can find the recipe HERE or in Ellie’s So Easy.

 

Dorie’s Choco-Naner Bread.

I love chocolate. I love bananas. I love Banana Bread. I love Banana Bread with chocolate chips. But Banana and Chocolate Bread – not so much. Sorry, Dorie. I have a couple of fails with TWD, but never really had a recipe I didn’t really like. Now I do.

Sorry about that picture. And that was the BEST one. The loaf was dry on the outside by the time the inside was finished baking. I tried to like it, I really did, but it was too dense. I simply decided it was baker’s error and decided to make them again. But this time in muffin form. Several of the TWD bakers on Twitter mentioned trying the muffin form and they came out pretty well.

The muffins were better. Not nearly as dense. I added butterscotch chips to break up the chocolate. I had added walnut pieces to the loaf.

This weeks pick was made by Steph of Obsessed with Baking. Sorry Steph.

Please visit the other members of TWD to see how they fared with this recipe.

 

Celebrating Yum – National Pie Day!!

“I like Pie” Always have. Always will. Pie is good. Pie is easy to make. Pie is easy to eat. Always good reasons to like and eat pie.

So let’s celebrate with National Pie Day.

So I give you Paula’s Cherry Cream Cheese Pie

It was good. NUFF said!!

Thanks, Tracey, for the heads up.

 

Slow and Steady BBA – French and Italian Bread

The Holiday Season is over (WHEW!!) and it is time to get back on track with Bread Baking. Especially the Slow and Steady BBA Bread Baking. So here are two of the BBA Breads.

French Bread

The first time I made the French Bread I really wasn’t satisfied with it. I didn’t leave it in the oven long enough and I thought it was a little light in color. It had a good flavor, but it just wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but just not quite right. I did put it BACK in the oven to brown it some more – BIG MISTAKE. But I did have some nice CROUTON material here – and already VERY crunchy….

The only good thing – I got to use the French Bread ‘molds’ I inherited from my Step-Dad. He made French Bread all the time.

I decided before I could go on, I HAD to do the bread RIGHT!! And right from the beginning this bread just ‘looked’ right.

I was SO much happier with this second batch. It was nice and brown and soft on the inside. Good crunch. Good texture. And it was a good bread to use with Jamie’s English Cheddar Onion Soup. (Blog Later) Perfect.

Italian Bread

This worked pretty well the first time out. It came together easily and rose nicely.

But it did SPREAD somewhat. Maybe a little too much, but it tasted really good. I served it that night along side some Beef/Venison Stew. TASTY!!!