Monday, January 31, 2011

Firecracker Brownies



My brother graduated early from high school and to celebrate I decided to make him firecracker brownies. The recipe is largely inspired from Chuao Chocolatier who makes a bar named “Spicy Maya” which is essentially the yummiest dark chocolate you’ve ever had coupled with cayenne pepper. To make it even more confusing, Chuao actually makes a bar named “Firecracker” but it’s more of a milk chocolate with pop rocks embedded in it- it’s quite an eating experience, but I prefer complex flavor over bizarre tactile-tongue sensation.


My brother is essentially my taste preference twin. We both slather our burritos in hot sauce, drown pizza in tapatio, spruce up soups with chili garlic sauce, and love the ridiculous in just about everything both food-tastic and beyond. Plus, I’ve made these brownies for him before and he likes them, so I felt fairly comfortable and confident about making brownies with a bang.


I got the stamp of approval from Profe also, because of the following three things:

  1. The name
    • Firecrackers, fireworks and gunpowder were invented in China approximately 2,000 years ago. And, because of the Professor’s not-so-distant heritage, we find a modicum of spice to be quite efficacious.
  2. The spice
    • Probably, my favorite thing about Asian cuisine is you can always crank up the heat. Think: wasabi, chili paste, & curry
    • Actually, scratch that. It's tied …sushi is just about the greatest invention ever.
  3. The color
    • Profe’s spots are a rich chocolately brown. Especially his heart-shaped one.



Special thanks to Epicurious for the baseline for a great recipe!


Happy Monday! Here's the Recipe:


Ingredients:


10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more for greasing pan

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

6 tablespoons crushed red pepper

(I used some incredibly hot Bhutanese pepper that I bought at a farmers market in Bumthang, Bhutan last July)

6 tablespoons instant coffee

3 tablespoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons nutmeg

2 large eggs, chilled

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips



Directions:


Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8 x 8 x 2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with butter. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, chili pepper, instant coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1⁄4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. Add chocolate chips. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Ginger Cheesecake













Last week I attempted to make a batch of cookies that resembled Profe. If the cookies failed in capturing the earth-toned, warm, multi-faceted, and playful coloring of my cat, at least they were delicious- devoured by my family in less than forty-eight hours.


Tonight I set out to do something a little different: cheesecake with spices from the home of Profe's ancestors: wild cats from Southeast Asia.


If you open a cookbook featuring Southeast Asian cuisine (for example, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, etc... ) you're liable to find a wealth of recipes that contain ginger. Hailed for it's medical properties, especially in eastern medicine, ginger seems to be abounding with newly discovered medical benefits. With all of the other members of my family sick with three different illnesses, which I seem to have narrowly escaped, what better way to soothe their minds and bodies than with ginger cheesecake. Now, I know that you’re thinking, “sugary dessert can’t be good for colds, influenza, lost voices, and strep throat”, but I beg to differ. Psychologically, a protein-rich dessert with the delicate balance of spicy, sour, and sweet, may be the key to providing some happiness and relief from the stress of illness.



With the power of ginger and a little bit of lemon on our side, Profe (pictured right) and I were ready to create a new recipe: a dessert to give my family the energy to fight off their mid-January ailments.



Without further adieu, here is a general cheesecake recipe I have perfected over the years with a yummy Southeast Asian twist:


Ginger Cheesecake


1 cup finely crushed Trader Joe’s Ginger Snaps

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger root

3 packages Philadelphia cream cheese (or 24 oz)

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose or pastry flour

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel (zest)

2 tablespoons fresh ground ginger root

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs



Crust: mix ginger snap crumbs, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Press against the 9 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.


Filling: mix cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons of flour, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons zest, 2 tablespoons ginger root, 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla, and the four eggs.


Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.

Let pie cool for ten minutes, then refrigerate for four hours.

Happy Baking!


And yes, across the middle are the Himalayas made of crystalized ginger. Yum!



Monday, January 17, 2011

Cookie Monster


Generally, I am not a huge fan of cookies. On top of that, I absolutely abhor nuts in desserts, but these cookies completely changed my mind.

The backstory: I am at my boyfriend's Aunt's house talking about baking during the holidays when Aunt K. mentions that during the holidays she wasn't up to making a fancy dessert, she runs to the other room and retrieves a giant aqua colored tome enscribed with "Zov" in thin green lettering. The word "simply" sits nonchalantly in the "O". Aunt K. opens the book to page 341 to the much raved about recipe entitled "jumble cookies". The titles are all lowercase reminiscent of an e.e. cummings poem. I'm skeptical. There's several kinds of nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit. The combination sounds overwhelming, but Aunt K.'s sister, daughter, and husband all assure me that these are the most delicious cookies they've ever had. She photocopies the recipe and sends me graciously on my way.

About Zov: She's a proprietress of a bistro not so far from my home in California. Her middle-eastern inspired recipes have been called "brilliant"by the Zagat Guide according to the review of another cook book on amazon.com.

So, this evening, I set myself to the task of recreating Zov's recipe as best I could.

Here it is:

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole almonds
[I used Trader Joe's Dry Roasted and Unsalted Almonds]
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
[I used Trader Joe's Raw Pecan Halves]
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature)
1 cup grandulated sugar
2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
[I used at least twice as much as this recipe recommended]
1 12-ounce package Hershey's dark chocolate chips
[I used Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips]
2 cups raisins
[I used organic raisins from a local health food store]
Parchment paper or nonstick vegetable-oil cooking spray
[I used salted butter- yum!]

Directions:

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the almonds and pecans on a heavy, large baking sheet and bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 11 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time to ensure the almonds brown evenly. [note: unless you have a gargantuan baking sheet, you'll probably have to toast your nuts in waves.] Transfer the nuts to a cutting board to cool completely. Coarsely chop the almodns and pecans, then set the nuts aside. Maintain the oven temperature

Stire the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Set the flour mixture aside. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand-held mixer), beat the butter sugar and brown sugar in the mixing bowl until well blended, about 3 minutes [it really helps if you can get someone to pour slowly as you beat your ingredients together]. Add the eggs one at at ime, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. With the machien on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated (do not overmix or the cookies willb e tough). Mix in the chocolate chips, raisins, and then lastly, the chopped nuts [note: I was short on nuts so I supplemented the last cup or so with raw walnuts, first baked in the cookies, from Trader Joe's.

Line 4 heavy, large baking sheets with parchment [again, I used butter between batches] or spray the baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Using 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie, mound the dough atop the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly and forming 5 mounds on each baking sheet. With the palm of your hand lightly press down the cookie dough to flatten. Working in batches bake the cookies until they are golden brown all over and the very center is still pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.

I hope these cookies are as much of a hit in your household as they were in mine!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Cooking with Profe

Oftentimes, when I'm feeling emotions other than happiness it's because I'm lacking sleep or a good meal. I love to cook food that I can enjoy with my family and friends. If for just those few seconds as the food hits their taste buds, I can make something that is so scrumptious it melts away the worries of the day, then I think that day has been a success.

I quite enjoy cooking in general, but baking is certainly my favorite medium for culinary creation. On meatless mondays, I'll post mostly recipes of the dessert. The recipes will mostly come from books, other awesome blogs, websites, and every once in a while my own wacky creation. Frequently, I won't have exactly the ingredients I'll need and usually I find that if I have a good idea of what ingredients may be even better alternatives then my cooking can come out more delicious than the original recipe would have. Also, bland food just isn't my calling. I'm one of those people that douses their food in equal parts food and hot sauce, triples the amount of lemon in desserts while simultaneously reducing the amount of sugar, and pours half a container of cinnamon in to apple pie. So prepare yourself for flavorful, spicy, and all around extra yummy food.

Ah, and before I forget, about the title: Profe is a very clingy cat. He follows me around like a duckling. Literally every room I'm in, he's there. When I wake up, he is staring at me, when I shower or brush my teeth he sits on the counter. He sleeps in my bed every night, and, of course, he's happiest when I'm cooking. He likes to sit on the kitchen counter and watch intently as I make food. Every once in a while, if he's lucky, he'll taste test. Profe is equal parts playful and wise, and is the kind of cat that makes you re-think your dislike of felines. He is an inspiration for the form and color that many of my dishes take. His Southeast Asian heritage will create the basis for my heavily spiced creations.

Enjoy!