Chocolate Wine Brownies

The blogs name says it all.... Dying for Chocolate (http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/)

http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/2009/05/chocolate-wine-brownies.html

1 cup Merlot
3/4 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (always choose the very best)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)-optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (o.k. I use butter) a 13x9-inch baking pan. In a small saucepan, simmer wine over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup. Pour into large bowl and set aside. In top of a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate. Pour into wine and whisk until smooth.
In top of double boiler, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla until very light and thick. Pour into chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Stir in flour and ½ cup nuts. Pour into pan and sprinkle with remaining nuts.
Bake 40-45 minutes (give it the toothpick test)

I think this is a great icing for the brownies above. Let the brownies cool before frosting.

Chocolate Wine Ganache for the Icing from Brownies Chocolate-Wine Ganaches in Diana's Recipe Book

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon sweet red kosher wine (or any sweet red wine/try a late harvest dessert Zin)
Whisk all ingredients in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted and smooth.

I promise you. You won't be disappointed. My cousin raved about them, and he does not like wine, so if you're worried about that, don't be! Jump right in and enjoy :)

Pretzel Dogs

Found these delicious little treats from Joy the Baker (http://joythebaker.com/2012/01/mini-pretzel-dogs/). One thing that I found was that a good quality hot dog (or kielbasa) that has good flavor is your best bet for "filling" your pretzel. Spicy Brown Mustard is my favorite dipping sauce :)

makes 16 pretzel dogs (made from cutting hot dogs in half)

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

1 ½ cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

about 14 cups of water

1 cup baking soda

1 large egg, beaten, with a splash of water

salt and pepper for topping

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to foam and froth. If it doesn’t, throw the mixture away and start again with new yeast.

Once the yeast and water is frothy, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will be soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky. That’s perfect. Scrape any residue out of the bowl and coat the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and store in a warm place to rise. Allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Place baking racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly brush the paper with oil. It’s important to brush the parchment paper or the pretzels will stick!

Combine water and baking soda in a large pan (8 quart is fine) saucepan and bring to a boil.

While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly oiled work surface. Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces, depending on how large you’d like your pretzel dogs. 8 pieces of dough for whole hot dogs. 16 pieces of dough if you’re doing to slice the hot dogs in half.

Start with the fingers of both hands in the center of the dough, and roll, moving your hands outward as you roll. Roll the dough along the oiled surface until you have about a 24-inch or 12-inch piece of rope (depending on how large your piece of dough was… the more dough the longer the rope).

Wrap pretzel around a hot dog, making sure to seal the ends.

When water has come to a boil, gently lower a few pretzel dogs into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove carefully, using a flat, slotted spatula. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush boiled pretzels with beaten egg, and add coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Bake until deeply golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving warm.

Soft pretzels are best enjoyed the day they are made.

If you’re not going to enjoy all your pretzel dogs, double wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer out of plastic and into a piece of foil. Wrap well and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until heated through.

Gluten-free Toasted Coconut Waffles with maple cream

I found this recipe on the blog www.joythebaker.com and have been looking for an excuse to make them ever since. So when I realized that last Wednesday was National Waffle Day I knew I had found my excuse :)

I am posting this as is from the web site. I did some modification because the batter looked so wrong and was still unhappy with what the batter looked like. Once we cooked them up though, we were pleasantly surprised. I suggest following the recipe the first time, then play around with it if you want to. Just don't be scared off by how runny the batter is.

We didn't have cream on hand so I didn't make up the maple cream, but I did make a fresh batch of coconut syrup (that recipe can be found on my blog as well) and drowned the waffles in that! YUMMY!

I'm going to play around with other ideas for coconut waffles, and if I find something better I'll let you know :)

Gluten-free Toasted Coconut Waffles with maple cream

makes 2 sheets of square waffles in a 8 1/2-inch waffle maker, serves about 3

For the waffles:

1/3 cup sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil, or unsalted butter

6 large eggs

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 tablespoon mashed bananas (i forgot to buy bananas and used peanut butter)

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted (if you don’t want to use flakes in addition to shredded coconut, just top your waffles with more shredded coconut)

For the maple cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Place coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 4 minutes. Keep an eye on the coconut, it browns and burns quickly.

Remove toasted coconut from the oven and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil, eggs, agave nectar, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas. Whisk until well incorporated.

In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking soda. Work the mixture with your fingers to ensure that the coconut flour doesn’t have any lumps in to.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mixture will begin to thicken as you whisk. Add the toasted, shredded coconut and whisk to incorporate. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes while you plug in and preheat the waffle iron.

I have an 8 1/2-inch square waffle iron, and this recipe made 2 waffle sheets. I divided the batter in two to bake them up.

To make the maple cream, whisk together heavy cream and maple syrup, in a medium bowl, until soft peaks form. Easy.

Bake up waffles, and serve warm with maple cream and toasted coconut flakes.

Quinoa Black Bean Mango Salad

I found this on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/. I Took this one to potluck the other week and it was VERY well liked. My family really liked it too. :)

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup uncooked millet
1 ripe mango
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed
1/3 cup chopped scallions
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse under cool water for 2 to 3 minutes. Place quinoa in a medium saucepan with 1 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Add a bit of salt. Reduce to a simmer and cook until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before fluffing. Cool slightly.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add millet and a bit of salt. Reduce to a simmer, cook uncovered until water has absorbed and millet is fluffy. If you don’t stir it too much during cooking, the millet will be fluffy.

Toss slightly cooled quinoa and millet with mango, black beans, scallions, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

This salad lasts 3 days in the refrigerator.

I used couscous instead of the millet and I also added some fresh basil.

Thai Iced Tea

This is a cool, refreshing drink on a nice hot day :)

Serves 2

• 4 cups boiling water
• 4 tea bags (such as Assam, Orange Pekoe, Ceylon, etc...) OR 4 tsp. loose black tea (I used Ceylon Tea - pictured above)
• Juice of 1 fresh lime or lemon
• 1 inch piece galangal or ginger, grated
• 1/4-1/3 cup white sugar (taste for sweetness, adding more sugar as desired), or equivalent of syrup
• Pinch of salt
• 1-2 drops of jasmine essence (optional)
• Ice cubes or crushed ice
• Garnish: slices of fresh lime or lemon and sprigs of fresh mint or basil

Boil the water and add to all the ingredients except Ice and Garnish and let seep for 5 minutes. Strain into a pitcher with ice and place in refrigerator until well chilled. Enjoy with garnish :)

I found this recipe at thaifood/about.com and enjoy it very much - and I'm not much of an iced tea drinker unless it's herbal. I haven't tried it with the jasmine essence yet (as I don't have any), but I will be on the look out for it the next time I go to my favorite indian market. That's also where I found the loose leaf Ceylon tea that I use.

Coconut Syrup

Well friends, I had a great curry recipe to share with you guys, but sadly dinner didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. It was still good, just not post worthy. Just means I get to keep practicing my curry making skills :) I will, however, share a yummy and easy goodie that was introduced to me by the lady that works at our local Asian grocery store.

Homemade Coconut Syrup

2 parts brown sugar (I used half brown sugar and half Demerar sugar)

1 part coconut milk

dash of salt

spice of your choice (ex. vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom)

Put first three ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a low boil. Let simmer to between 200 and 225 degrees. Add your spice and remove from stove let cool. Store in a mason jar.

You can make as much or as little as you want. A full can of coconut milk will fill about 1 1/2 quart mason jars. You can also add as much spice as you want. I put in 1 cardamom pod about 10 min. before taking the syrup off the stove and then took the pod out before poring the syrup into my jar.

They actually make theirs into a jam, which just means that you cook it to a little higher temperature (probably to the soft candy stage on your candy thermometer) or you can cook it even longer and make it into a candy.

I have been enjoying the syrup on pancakes, waffles and as the sweetener in my coffee :) They also use the syrup in a rice cake. Don't know all the details on that one yet, but I plan on experimenting with that one too! :)

My Favorite, Rhubarb Pie!

My family loves Rhubarb Pie, so in honor of Ken being home I made this beautifully tasty pie. The filling recipe is a tried and true favorite from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, but the crust recipe is a new one that I found from watching Americas Cook Country Kitchen. Once I saw what the special ingredient was, I just had to try it! I'm so glad I did, the crust turned out very flakey and yummy.

I have to add, I am indebted to my mother-in-law for this pie.... She bought me The Complete American's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2011 which has the crust recipe in it, and she has a beautiful rhubarb plant in her back yard that she doesn't use and I have free access to it (as long as I share some of the goodies I make from it!).

Crust recipe:

Foolproof Double-Crust Pie Dough

(Makes enough for One 9-inch pie)

Vodka is essential to the tender texture of this crust and imparts no flavor - do not substitute water. This dough is moister than most standard pie doughs and will require lots of flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup). The dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let the dough thaw completely on the counter before rolling it out.

2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the work surface

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces and chilled

1/4 cup vodka, chilled

1/4 cup ice water

1. Process 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, and salt together in a food processor until combined. Scatter the butter and shortening over the top and continue to process until incorporated and the mixture begins to form uneven clumps with no remaining floury bits, about 15 seconds.

2. Scrape down the workbowl and redistribute the dough evenly around the processor blade. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup flour over the dough and pulse until the mixture has broken up into pieces and is evenly distributed around the bowl, 4 to 6 pulses.

3. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Sprinkle the vodka and water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, until the dough sticks together.

4. Divide the dough into two even pieces. Turn each piece of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Before rolling the dough out, let it sit on the counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes.

Pie Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

6 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened, sliced rhubarb (I usually use 7-8 cups of Fresh rhubarb)

1. In a large bowl stir together sugar, flour, and, if desired, cinnamon. Add rhubarb. Gently toss until coated. (If using frozen fruit, let mixture stand for 45 minutes or until fruit is partially thawed but still icy.)

2. Transfer rhubarb mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate and add top crust.

3. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of the pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes (or 60 minutes for frozen fruit). Remove foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more or until topping is golden and filling in center is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

This time around I made up the filling a day or so early (on accident) and it released a lot of juices, so I sprinkled about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch over the fruit and stirred it in to try and thicken it up. It baked up perfectly.