Maria's Lovey's Food and Wine's Brownies OR the Simplest Brownies Imaginable

Our family friends Maria and Paul are pretty cool people. They moved into a house down the street a few years ago and I watch their house when they're traveling. Maria used to work for a catering company and she has an incredible cookbook collection. She's also an awesome cook, and on Labor Day she and Paul had a party. For dessert they had watermelon and brownies and ice cream. I've never been a hardcore brownie eater, but these brownies.... I melted with delight, they're scrumptious. These brownies are, as my dad would say, all that and a bag of chips. Seriously. 

Maria promised me that the recipe was the simplest thing imaginable and  gave it to me. She also left me with the very important instruction BEAT WITH A WOODEN SPOON, she said she wasn't sure why but those were the directions in the recipe and she's always followed them. I'll tell you why to beat with a wooden spoon. It increases DELICIOUSNESS. 

Maria's Lovey's Brownies from Food and Wine March 1990

8 oz. unsalted butter

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

4 eggs at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease (or line with foil and spray) a 13x9x2 pan.

Melt butter and chopped chocolate in microwave (about 1 1/2 minutes), stir to finish melting chocolate

Add sugar and stir with WOODEN SPOON* until mixed.

Beat in eggs one at a time until mixture is shiny and each egg is incorporated

Add vanilla, flour and salt. Add nuts. 

Bake for 30 minutes and cool completely in pan before cutting. The brownies will be moist and soft in the inside and crusty on top. 

* (Maria's note) Use only a wooden spoon to mix ingredients- don't know why but those were the directions and I have always done it. 

Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake

The CAKE BIBLE. It sounds intimidating. But life is all about conquering fear and freeing yourself from inhibitions right?  So I made a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. It was pretty damn good. A bit flat perhaps, because we had no cake flour, but still, pretty damn delicious. You should make it. You should eat it. 

It took an afternoon.It's a light chocolate cake. Soft, cakey, and when smeared with buttercream... In brief it lasted a day at my house. That's right, one day. 

Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons (lightly spooned into cup)

1 liquid cup boiling water

3 large eggs

2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl whisk together cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cool to room temperature. 

In another bowl lightly combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture and vanilla. 

In a large mixing bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients. Scrape down the sides. 

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about half full. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. Cakes should start to shrink from the sides of pans only after removal from oven.

Let cakes cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Loosen sides and invert onto cooling racks. To prevent splitting reinvert so that tops are up. Cool completely before frosting. 

Classic Buttercream

6 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups unsalted butter, softened

Optional: Liqueur or eau-de-vie of your choice 

Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure near the range.

In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (Preferable w/non-stick lining.) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is boiling. Stop stirring and boil to the soft-ball stage or 238 degrees F. Immediately transfer syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking

If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Avoid getting syrup directly onto beaters. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with rest of syrup. Continue beating until completely cool. 

Gradually beat in the butter and, if desired optional flavoring. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using. Rebeat if necessary to restore texture. 

Buckwheat pancakes, or Something New

Pancakes. Who doesn't love them? Hot, steaming, right off the griddle, doused in syrup and butter. What could be more delicious? 

Still on my Molly Wizenberg kick I made her buckwheat pancakes. Mostly because I had never had buckwheat. And also because I wanted to try something new. 

I love trying cooking new things. It's probably a bit of a reaction to my parents. I've grown up on three things, rice, beans, and homemade bread. In that order. With some homemade salsa thrown in. I've been pretty darn spoiled by it actually my mom makes some MEAN beans and rice, and what ever you try and tell me, there's ain't nothin' that can compare to homemade bread still warm from the oven. 

But even with food as delicious as this after a while... It get a little tedious. Especially if you eat it every day. That's why I like to try new things, and I know that, if they fail I'll always have my safety foods, rice, beans and homemade bread. 

So make these buckwheat pancakes, for something a little out of the ordinary. 

2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg, separated

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. 

Pour the buttermilk and milk into a medium bowl. Whisk the egg white into the milk mixture. In a small bowl use a fork to beat the yolk with the melted butter. Whisk the yolk mixture into the milk mixture. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once, and whisk until combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be somewhat thick. 

Meanwhile heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Brush the skill with oil. 

Ladle batter in scant 1/4 cupfuls into the skillet, taking care not to crowd them. When the underside of the pancakes is nicely browned and the top starts to bubble and looks set around the edges, 2 to 3 minutes, flip them. Cook until the second side has browned. 1 to 2 minutes more. 

Serve warm, with syrup and and fruit and whipped cream and butter. Lots of butter. 

Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake

I ADORE Dorie Greenspan. She's a baking guru, she's knows how to make good stuff. There had been a basket of apples festering on the kitchen counter, begging to be baked I just knew I couldn't go wrong. 

This is Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake. It's thick and dense and crumbly and heavy and not for the faint of heart. Don't get me wrong, it's good, it's not exactly everything I hoped for, but it's taken me a day and half a pie-cake to decide if I like it. I do. 

Dorie also suggests that this dough, which is basically cookie dough, can also be used to make old fashioned sugar cookies. How perfect is that? I love you Dorie. 

Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake

For the Dough:

2 sticks(8 ounces butter)

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1 lemon

3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Apples:

10 medium apples 

squirt of fresh lemon juice

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/4  cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

In a mixer  with paddle or with a hand-blender beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs and continue to beat until mixture is light and fluffy.  Reduce mixer speed to low and add baking powder and salt. Add the lemon juice-dough will probably curdle but don't worry about it. Still working on low speed, slowly but steadily add 3 1/4 cups flour, mixing to incorporate it and scraping down bowl as needed. The dough is meant to be soft, but if it looks more like batter than dough at this point add extra 1/4 cup flour. Turn dough on work surface, gather into a ball and divide in half. Shape each half in a rectangle. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (dough will last up to 3 days) 

Peep and core apples, cut into slices 1/4 inch thick. Toss in bowl with lemon juice and raisins. Combine sugar and cinnamon, toss with apple/raisin mixture. 

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-x-12 inch baking pan. 

Remove dough from fridge. Roll out on well floured surface or between sheets of wax paper. Or (you can do as I did) press and roll pieces of dough and patch them together in pan. DON'T worry, because of the baking powder everything will work out fine. 

Give apples a final toss in bowl and turn into pan, spread evenly across the bottom. 

Roll out 2nd piece of dough and position it over the apples. (This took me forever and this was so frustrating I just gave up, I did as I did for the bottom dough layer, VERY ARTISTICALLY patching top dough layer together. It looked beautiful.) 

Brush dough lightly with water and sprinkle with sugar over dough. Using a small sharp knife cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced slits in dough. 

Bake for 65 to 80 minutes or until dough is nice golden brown. Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool until warm or room temperature. You'll be tempted to eat this right away but I (Dorie) think the dough needs a little time to rest. (Because Dorie is so AWESOME I obey her every word. I waited.) 

No-Knead Rye Bread

BIG DISCOVERY. 

 No knead bread. 

Oh where have you been all my life???

The texture... It's to die for, the crust is swoon-worthy. It's that good. I've been craving hearty, brown, bread. So I made no-knead rye bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. All I'm going to say is: DELICIOUS. While I absolutely think this bread is delicious, next time I'd be interested to try a different recipe. Not that this one wasn't satisfying, but I'm intrigued by other recipes which have molasses and more rye flour. Also next time, I'll use fewer caraway seeds. Not that I don't like them, but I'm not exactly in love with them. 

Deli Style Rye

from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

This recipe calls for a lot of equipment, most of which I don't have. (No baking stone, no pizza peel etc, no boiler tray.) In this regard I improvised a little. I just used baking sheets. And instead of a boiler tray used a little bread pan. 

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds, plus more for sprinkling on top

1 cup rye flour

5 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Cornmeal

Mix yeast, salt, and caraway seeds with water in a 5 quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container. 

Mix in remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14 cup capacity food processor(with dough attachment) or heavy duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you're not using a machine you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. 

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest a room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours. 

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. (Lies. It was still difficult.) 

ON BAKING DAY, dust the surface of refrigerated dough with flour and cup off a one pound (grapefruit size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the sureface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Elongate ball into an oval-shaped loaf. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal covered pizza peel (Or baking sheet.) for 40 minutes. 

TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE BAKING, preheat the oven to 450F, with a baking stone (Or baking sheet.) placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that wont interfere with the rising bread.

Sprinkle with additional caraway seeds. Slash with deep parallel cuts across the loaf, using a serrated bread knife. 

Slide the loaves directly onto the hot stone (Or sheet.) Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close oven door. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time. 

Luscious Cake

I just read Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life. It was great, about life and food and love and everything in between. But what I really loved were the recipes, they all seemed so simple and different and original. I knew, the second I finished the book, that I had to make her 'Winning Hearts and Minds Cake'. It's a very simple, french cake. It's ridiculously rich and chocolately and a snap to make. Almost like a brownie. It's luscious. That's the perfect word to describe this glorious cake. Luscious. 

'Winning Hearts and Minds Cake' from Molly Wizenbergs, A Homemade Life

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 3/4 sticks (7 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 large eggs

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375, and butter and flour an 8 inch (I used a nine inch.) round cake pan. 

Pour chocolate and butter in a medium microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring often, until just smooth. When mixture is smooth, add sugar, stirring well to incorporate. Set batter aside to cool for 5 minutes. Then add eggs, one by one, stirring well after each addition. Add the flour, and stir to mix well. The batter should be dark and silky. 

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until top of cake is lightly crackled and the edges are puffed and center of cake looks set. (Molly says to set the timer for 20 minutes to start with and check cake every 2 minute after that, until it's ready. At 20 minutes the center of cake is still very jiggly. The cake is done when when the center jiggles only a little.)

Remove cake from oven to cooling rack, let cool in pan then flip and magically transfer cake to serving platter so that crackly side is up. 

Eat. 

I'm just going to say, that this cake is especially good cold. Of course, it's delicious warm and melty, but cold. Oh it's just sooo good. 

White Chocolate Goodness

I love to try new recipes. I love eating different things. Maybe it's because I've grown up on several foods, (beans, rice, homemade bread) that are ALWAYS THERE. It's comforting, to know on the one hand that beans, rice and bread will always be in the refrigerator, waiting for me, but sometimes, I get impatient and demand to be fed something different. 

I often resist making the same thing over and over again. 

But not these cookies. NEVER these cookies. 

These are cookies to eat everyday, all the time. They are that good. They are as good as the Dorie Greenspan O-Cookie-of-Cookies-the-Best-Chocolate-Chip. But these babies. The babies are some serious competition. 

As I said before. They're that good. 

My parents even, who are notorious white chocolate haters love these cookies. They even bought more white chocolate specifically for these. Like I said. They're that good. 

Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated by SmittenKitchen 

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup white chocolate chips

Optional: 1 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped (Ooh so good.)

1/2 teapoon flaky sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and white chocolate and mix until well incorporated.

3. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness. (I never do this, I just spoon a little more than a tablespoon right on to the sheet and pat them down a little.) 

4. Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie

5. Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

6. Eat and moan with pleasure.