Aztec Brownies

I love sweet and spicy together and I love the combo of chocolate and cinnamon. These brownies fulfill all of those cravings.

If you don't like spicy foods, feel free to omit the cayenne. If you love, love, love spicy sweets, add an extra teaspoon. One teaspoon is enough to create a little bit of heat that builds as you eat but it's not so spicy that it becomes the focal point (or keeps you from eating more than is good for you, darn it.)

Ingredients

8 ounces of good-quality chocolate, chopped (try it with milk chocolate, try it with dark. Both are different and both are good.)
2 sticks of butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup of sugar (I use evaporated cane juice)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour (I use whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

How To

Grease a brownie pan and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Begin by beating together the eggs, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne and salt for about 5 minutes.

Melt the butter slowly over low heat. Once the butter is completely liquidated, pour over the chopped chocolate to melt.

Stir the chocolate and butter together. This is an easy way to both melt the chocolate and cool the butter.

Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture slowly, mixing very well. Lastly, add the flour and baking powder, mixing until just combined. Spread in your brownie pan:

Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Look at the nice crackly top crust on this bad-boy:

You can either leave well enough alone, or you can sprinkle the top with additional chocolate while the brownies are hot.

Let the heat of the brownies melt the chocolate, then spread across the top with the back of a spoon. Num.

One last brownie beauty shot:

Patrick needs to take these to work tomorrow. I'm not to be trusted alone with them in the house!

Roasted Cauliflower

I'm cheating again. I posted this recipe for the first time last year but it's worthy of a repost with pictures-- it's too yummy! And it makes a believer out of former cauliflower haters (like my husband.) Spicy and crunchy and savory and oh, so good!

Ingredients
1 medium or large head of cauliflower
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil (depends on the size of the cauliflower)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

How To
Mix the olive oil, red pepper, fresh ground black pepper (about a teaspoon) and garlic together. Wash the cauliflower and remove the florettes, cutting as much of the stems off as possible. Break the florettes up into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl.

Drizzle with the olive oil mixture and sprinkle with salt, about a tablespoon.

Mix well. Let "marinate" for 20-30 minutes while preheating the oven to 400 degrees.

Spread the cauliflower over the bottom of a shallow baking pan and place in the oven.

Roast for 20-25 minutes, occasionally stirring in order to achieve even browning. Serve hot.

Here is is, served up with pork chops, mashed pots and homemade gravy:

Jalapeño Cheese Bread

We're getting close to "oven off" season in this household. In our apartment, the mere thought of turning the oven on increases the temperature within it by ten degrees. In the winter, this is great-- make a pot roast and heat the house! Yes! But the rest of the year, forget about it. The summer months are spent in the yard, using the grill and the smoker.

It's only April but it's supposed to be in the triple digits tomorrow. What better way to deny the coming of summer than to fire up the oven and bake some bread?

Ingredients
1 package dry, active yeast
3/4 cup warm water
pinch of sugar
3 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 jalapeño peppers-- one cut into slices and the other two seeded and chopped
3 big garlic cloves, minced

How To
People get all freaked out about making bread with yeast, which I've never really understood. What's so scary about it? Yeast is fun-- it's like filling a paper-mache cone with vinegar and baking soda to imitate a volcano.

First, you proof your yeast by combining your yeast, pinch of sugar and warm water. The water should be just warmer than room temperature. Here's the yeast just after being mixed:

And here it is five minutes later. Bubbly fun!

If it doesn't bubble, then it's time for a trip to the grocery store because your yeast is no good.

Pour the flour into a mixing bowl and make a little well. Fill the well with the eggs, butter and yeast mixture. If you have a mixer, use the dough hook to mix and kneed the dough for several minutes.

Now, I made lots and lots of bread by hand before I owned a mixer. It's time-consuming (but is that a bad thing?) and takes elbow-grease (again, why is that a bad thing?) but doable. I feel a little spoiled by my mixer (I've only had it for a year but use it weekly.) Here's a good tutorial on how to mix and knead dough by hand if you're working without a mixer.

But I've got my mixer so I used my mixer (the KitchenAid Professional 6-Quart Mixer, if you're interested) to work everything together. Here's the dough just starting:

And here it is after about 5 minutes. Magic! If your dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add flour little by little until the dough begins to take shape but is still sticky:

Move the dough to an oiled bowl and cover to let rise. Here it is before mixing:

And here it is after letting it rise for about 30 minutes:

Neat, huh? Punch it down and let it go another round of rising.

One the dough has gone through two risings, it's time to heat your oven to 350 degrees. You want your oven nice and toasty once it's time to put in the bread.

Spread the dough out in a big rectangle. I use a combination of a rolling pin and my hands to massage it into shape. The nice thing about yeast doughs made with eggs and butter is they tend to be more glossy and elastic and a little less sticky than others doughs. I don't even use flour on my board while I roll it out:

Sprinkle the dough with the chopped jalapeños, minced garlic and handfuls of cheese. I'll confess that I don't measure the cheese when I do this, I just eyeball it. Don't go too crazy with the cheese though-- too much cheese and it will bubble out of the loaf and just make a big mess.

Now comes the tricky part. Roll the dough up like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls. One:

Two... (I am totally the one-armed dragon lady here, no?)

Three!

Pinch the final layer of dough to the top of the loaf and roll it around a bit to smooth out the seam. You want the dough to be fairly well sealed in on itself. The less sealed the dough, the more likely you'll have cheese on the pan and not in the bread like you want.

Center the loaf on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let it rise again for about 30 minutes. Press slices of jalapeño into the top and sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Tap the loaf in the center. If it makes a hollow sound, it's done. Be sure to let it cool completely before slicing.

And then here it is... notice how rolling everything up makes yummy pockets of cheese:

Spicy Crab Cakes

I love crab cakes. Good ones are meaty, crunchy, and a little bit spicy.

There are three types of crab out there-- shelf-stable canned crab, perishable canned crab, and fresh lump crab. Of these three options, the first is about as appealing as canned hagis and the last is often hard to find. Which leaves us with the second option-- perishable canned crab. Is it as good as fresh? No, but it's pretty darn good and works beautifully in this type of recipe.

Trader Joe's carries it occasionally for less than $8. Bristol Farms a few blocks away wanted $20 for the same can.

Ingredients
1 pound fresh lump crab meat
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 chopped and seeded jalapeño
1 large scallion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
approximately 1/4 cup bread crumbs or panko flake
vegetable oil

How To
Mix all of the ingredients except for the crab meat together in a bowl. Add the crab meat and gently fold the ingredients together, being careful not to overmix, breaking the meat down to mush.

If your ingredients are really wet at this point, start adding in additional bread crumbs or panko flake a tablespoon at a time. Once the mixture comes together, shape the mixture into patties and place on a tray. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to cook and serve them, at least one hour. This will make the cakes easier to fry and will also meld the flavors together well.

Put a saute pan over medium heat and pour oil into the pan, at least a 1/4 deep. While the oil heats, pour additional bread crumbs or panko in a shallow plate and dip each crab cake in before placing them in the oil. Fry them until they are crispy and brown, 4-5 minutes per side.

Yogurt Chicken Skewers

Great on the grill with a side of rice pilaf or couscous.

Ingredients
1 pound chicken breast, cut into chunks
1 small (8 ounce) container of plain, non-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 large pinch crushed saffron threads
1 dash of cinnamon
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 crushed garlic cloves
grilling vegis cut into chunks-- I like red onion, summer squashes, bell peppers, and baby tomatoes

How To
Combine the yogurt and spices. Pour over the chicken and let marinate for several hours, preferably overnight. Heat your grill and begin assembling the chicken and vegis on skewers (soak the skewers in water beforehand to minimize burning.) Sprinkle with salt and place on the grill. Cook for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Serves 2.

Teriyaki Beef

I made this for dinner last night and both my husband and I were over the moon over this. A great use for leftover tri-tip!

Ingredients
2 cups grilled beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups julienned vegetables-- asparagus, carrots, green beans or even broccoli rabe work well here
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup soy ginger broth
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
chopped green onion

How To
Saute the garlic in the oil until soft. Add the broth, wine, soy sauce, 5 spice, red pepper and vegetables. Saute until the vegetables are nearly cooked. Add the beef and teriyaki sauce and saute. Add the macadamia nuts in the last minute. Serve over white rice with the green onion.

Peanut Sauce

This sauce is great over chicken or shrimp and rice or noodles. Be aware that noodles will "suck up" more of the sauce than rice. This is also a high-fat sauce, which is why I prefer to use chicken breast with this as opposed to the thighs. This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 servings.

Ingredients
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cups soy ginger broth or chicken broth
1 tablespoon grated ginger (can be omitted if you are using soy ginger broth)
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
chopped green onion
1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice
3 tablespoons soy sauce

How To
Combine all the ingredients save the green onion in a wide sauce pan. Stir until well combined over low heat. If you want the sauce a little thinner (especially if you plan to use it over noodles) a 1/4 cup water. Add the chicken or shrimp to the sauce and combine. Pour over rice or toss with noodles. Top with green onions and serve.

Lazy Chicken

I don't make a lot of chicken. I'm more of a surf-and-turf gal. When I make my chicken, however, I don't want to spend a lot of time worrying about over or under cooking it. A meat thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken takes care of this, but sometimes even I'm too lazy for that. When that's the case, I make Lazy Chicken. This is great served over rice, in soft-tacos, in a quesadilla, or even cold in salad.

Ingredients
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (buy whatever is on sale-- breast tenders and boneless thigh meat work well here)
1 can Salsa Verde (I like the Herdez brand, but check out how "hot" the salsa you are buying is-- you don't want to burn your face off.)
1 can Salsa Roja
1 beer (something light. I like Corona for this)
1 can pinto beans, liquid drained

How To
Dump the salsas and beer into a stock pot and stir. Add the chicken (do not cut into chunks or anything, just dump it in) and turn the heat to low. Bring to a very low simmer and let cook, turning your chicken over occasionally and stirring. After about 30 minutes, take a fork and break apart your chicken where it shreds easily. Stir and let it cook for another 15 minutes, then go at it with the fork again. Once everything is shredded, add the pintos and stir. Let simmer 5 more minutes, then turn off the heat and serve, being sure to drain off the extra liquid if you're serving it in tortillas.

You can also set this in a crock pot on low in the morning and come home to some yumminess. You can also up the amount of chicken by about a pan without having to adjust the other amounts.