Peanut butter swirl brownies

The thing I love about baking is that it is all about science. With cooking, there is an artist element that I just can't always be bothered to deal with. But baking is like a delicious math problem. As long as you have all of the primary numbers in place your answer will always be right.

After a particularly trying day at work this week, I came home and went straight to the kitchen. All I wanted was the peaceful assurance that only baking can bring. The deliberate measuring of ingredients, the soft scrape of a spatula stirring melting chocolate, the zen feeling of accomplishment when a warm and inviting smell wafts out of the oven. But I didn't want to be baking for hours. Just a quickie to unwind. So I whipped up these bits of perfection. About 30 minutes of prep and 35 minutes in the oven and that's all it took!

You'll need:
7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey roasted peanut butter (freshly ground if possible)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch square baking dish. Line dish with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the edges by about 2 inches and lightly grease the foil. (Why am I doing this?)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring butter, sugar, and water to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat and stir chocolate chips into the sugar mixture until completely melted. Let cool to warm. Stir in eggs until well blended.

In a small bowl thoroughly mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into baking dish and spread batter to edges. Drop small bits of peanut butter on top of the batter and use two toothpicks to swirl the peanut butter through the batter.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.



Homemade Soft Pretzels

After a snowy weekend, I am feeling reminiscent of our trip to Munich in the winter of 2010. It was one of my most favorite trips and thinking of it always makes we yearn for a warm, doughy pretzel.

In Germany, pretzels come in many varieties including flakey, sweet dessert pretzels. Although the orgin of the pretzel is widely debated, most people agree that the pretzel was born as a symbolic treat to celebrate Christian holidays. (The crossed dough symbolizing arms crossed over the chest.)

Although their beginnings are unknown, they have become rooted in German speaking cultures and have been part of German baking traditions for centuries. This recipe is easy and would also be a fun way to introduce the chemical reactions of baking soda to your children. :)

And feel free to experiment. Maybe mixing some spices into the dough or sprinkling with cinnamon and sugar instead of salt.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp butter, softened
5.5 ounces water
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp butter, melted
coarse sea salt

In a large bowl, stir together 1/2 cup flour, yeast, sugar, softened butter and 5.5 ounces of water. Let stand until mixture is bubbly (about 10 minutes). Stir in kosher salt and then gradually add remaining flour.

Knead the dough until springy, about 4.5 minutes, adding more flour if needed. Divide the dough into pieces - the size of which depends on how big you want your pretzel to be. Allow the pieces to rest for about 2 minutes. Roll out each piece into a long rope and twist into your pretzel shape.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bring the remaining water to a boil in a large pot. Add baking soda to the water and lower heat. Soak each pretzel in the water bath for about 30-45 seconds, flipping over halfway through. The pretzels will grow to about twice their original size.

Place on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

It's time to eat!



Mini Carrot Souffles

I have never made any kind of souffle before. In fact, the mere idea of saying "Oh yeah, I'm making a souffle tonight" seems absolutely ridiculous. Who does that?

I guess I'm that person now. And you can be too! It was surprisingly fast and easy. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that I made mini souffles instead of a normal sized one. But I'm still giving myself a gold star for this one.

Mini Carrot Souffle

1/2 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1" sections
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp bourbon
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsps flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
3 tbsps granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil carrots in salted water until soft (about 10 minutes). Drain and let cool slightly.

In medium sized bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

Put carrots, butter and bourbon in food processor and blend until smooth. Mix in egg until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour mixture into 6 four ounce ramekins. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Don't peek or they could fall!

Let cool slightly and enjoy! It's time to eat!



A Chinatown Adventure

We recently decided to increase our cookbook library and the addition of Bee Linn Low's Easy Chinese Recipes required us to stock our kitchen with items like black vinegar, chili oil, and sesame oil. Most of these things can be found in a large enough supermarket with a whole 'ethnic foods' aisle. But where is the fun in that? So this weekend Richard and I set out on a grand adventure to Chinatown. If you are lucky enough to have a Chinatown or Asian market in your city, it is certainly worth the trip.

Chinatown is a festival for the senses. Tourists waddle slowly through the streets while locals gracefully weave through the throng. Street vendors clang spatulas and shout their wares in a sing-songy tune. Bins and baskets outside small markets overflow with colorful mushrooms, chilis, dried fruits, and dried fish.

If you could stand in the middle of a Chinatown market blindfolded (You couldn't. You'd be run over by the masses.) the smells alone would be enough to send you digging into your imagination for something familiar.

As a lover of new adventures, I browsed the aisles all wide-eyed and curious. I must have looked like a small child as I bombarded Richard with "What's this?" and "What's that for?" every three seconds. I don't know why, but I believe he knows everything - even when he doesn't. ;)

After a long day of shopping, we came home and got right to work on our first recipe out of the book - Sichuan Chicken! We instantly changed some of the ingredients to suit our palates. First, we switched out Sichuan peppercorn oil for sesame oil since the recipe already calls for chilies and chili oil and we wanted to control the heat. We also added green bell pepper for some crunch. You could just serve it with steamed veggies, but I really liked the textural addition of a crunchy veggie. Be warned, if you do not like spicy food, this is not the recipe for you.

Sichuan Chicken

4 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or sherry
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
oil, for frying
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
20 dried red finger-length chilies, deseeded and cut in half
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1/4 tsp sugar
3 green onions (scallions), chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, diced

In medium bowl, combine cornstarch, rice wine and salt. Mix with a fork until fine and crumbly. Toss chicken in mixture and coat well. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a wok or pot to 350 degrees. Gently drop the chicken into the oil and loosen them up with a spatula. Fry until golden brown. Remove from the oil and allow to drain on a dish lined with paper towels.

In a wok or skillet, heat chili oil and sesame oil over high heat. Add garlic, green pepper and chilies. Stir-fry until you can smell the aroma of the chilies.

Add the chicken, bouillon powder, sugar and green onion. Stir quickly with a spatula to combine all ingredients. Allow to cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with rice.

Ringing in the New Year with a fluffy favorite.

Stollen is a traditional German bread and the grandfather of fruitcake. Now, this isn't some dried out, booze-flavored, candied fruit monstrosity. No, no. This, my friends, is a coveted delicacy. A lightly sweet, fluffy yet dense, glistening jewel of a treat.

The recipe below makes 2 loaves...I dare you not to eat them both. I made this yesterday and I will be giving one away tomorrow. I don't want to. I want to hoard this magical delight and eat it all in one sitting. You will get it once you try it.

A few helpful tips:
Don't use skim milk. Your bread needs the protein in fatty milk to make itself grow.
Don't use margarine. In fact, that rule goes for everything - always.
Let your eggs, butter and milk come to room temperature before you use them. Don't skip this step.

Best Stollen Ever. Ever.



Ingredients
4 to 4 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cups milk (1% or higher)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus one tbsp granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup purple raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsps hot water
1 teaspoon butter

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, yeast and nutmeg.

In a saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and salt until warm and butter melts. Add to flour mixture along with egg.

Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape sides and beat on high for 3 minutes.

Mix in as much remaining flour as you can. Be careful not to over work the dough here.

In a separate bowl, combine raisins, apricots and 1 tablespoon sugar. Toss to coat. Stir fruit into dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and cut dough in half. Reshape loaves and place on separate greased cookie sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise again for about an hour.

Bake, one at a time, at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Place the second in the fridge while the first is baking to stop the dough from rising too much.

Allow baked bread to cool on a wire rack.

In a saucepan, heat powdered sugar, butter and water until well combined. Allow to cool slightly and them brush mixture over cooled loaves. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.