Dad's Famous Brownies

So when I was a little kid, my Mom worked nights and my Dad took care of us evenings, feeding us and getting us into bed. Possibly because we inherited my Mom's sweet tooth, possibly because he began to get into cooking and baking at that time, possibly just to buy good behavior on the part of his children, my Dad started making brownies from scratch and modified the recipe from whatever cookbook it originally came from. They became famous. In fact, I'm sure I'm always very well behaved whenever I eat them.

I got the recipe from him at some point and modified it a bit more, mostly when I lived in Germany and was using slightly different ingredients. I started making them for kayaking trips and was once threatened to be left behind if I ever showed up for a trip without them. Yeah, I made a lot of brownies in Germany. Now, I may be gilding the memory but I swear they were absolutely no-fail excellent then. I don't know what's happened, but I can't seem to get them right since I've been back in the States. What's wrong?! Susan, I am counting on you here. Molly and I made them last night and they were so ridiculously runny in the middle, I had to bake them a lot longer. Should I adjust time or temperature? I am using a glass pan here and wonder if that could be it, but for the life of me I don't remember what I made them in in Germany. argh. Don't get me wrong, they're still terribly yummy, but I have a serious consistency issue. No, not that kind, they are very consistently....runny in the middle when the edges are done.

14 T. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1¼ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
generous ¾ c. cocoa powder (don't measure, just scoop away with a ¼ cup measure, and the more rounded it is the deeper the chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a pan (13x9 if you want cakier, 9x9 if you want fudgier...maybe I was using 13x9 in Germany?!).

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then stir in the sugar. When you're sure it's cool enough, stir in the eggs and vanilla, mixing thorougly. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then beat into butter mixture well. Spread in pan. Bake 30 minutes or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan...but do not overbake or they get tough once they've set.

Yeah, I know, this is not a recipe for the faint of heart. But Susan, you'd really be sacrificing for the team if you had to bake these a couple of times and play with them in the interest of helping the recipe.

Cod with Coconut, Lime, and Lemongrass Curry Sauce

Modified from this epicurious recipe.

Sauce
2 shallots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 lemongrass stalk, sliced into rounds
1-inch knob ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon butter
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon red or green curry paste
3 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup fresh coconut milk, or canned
4 cilantro sprigs
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4 7-ounce cod fillets, 1 1/2-inches thick
salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and ginger in a small chopper, and chop until minced together. Heat the butter in a skillet, and add the chopped ingredients. Put in the lime leaves and curry paste, and saute until the chopped ingredients are tender and colorless, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and adjust the heat to simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add the coconut milk and cilantro, simmering for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove the lime leaves. Return to a chopper or blender and puree, then set aside.

Heat several tablespoons of oil in a skillet, and rinse the fish and salt and pepper on both sides. Saute the fish on the first side until golden brown and crusted, then flip and finish the fish on the other side until cooked properly. Serve over rice, with sauce poured on top; they also suggest bok choy sauteed in butter on the side. Enough for 4.

Fragrant Rice Noodles with Vegetables

Modified from a recipe in The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

Sauce:
3 T. fresh lime juice
zest of one lime
¾ c. peanut butter
2 tsp. brown sugar
¾ c. stock (vegetable, chicken, whatever)
1 T. fish sauce
½ tsp. salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
rooster (red chili) sauce to taste

6 oz. rice noodles (¼-inch wide)

2 leeks, well rinsed
2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
3 T. vegetable oil
¼ c. water

In a covered pot, bring 1½ quarts water to a boil. While the water heats, put all sauce ingredients except for the rooster sauce in a blender and puree until smooth. Gradually add rooster sauce to taste; adjust with lime juice, pb, brown sugar, or fish sauce as necessary to balance flavors.

When the water boils, add the noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes or until just tender. Drain, rinse briefly under cool water, drain again, and set aside.

Cut the leeks, zucchini, and squash into julienne sticks 2 to 3 inches long and ½ to ¼ inch wide. Heat the oil in a wok, and stir-fry the leek sticks on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and squash and stire fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender, adding a little water if necessary to prevent scorching. Add the noodles and about half of the sauce, and toss well until heated through. Serve immediately, with extra sauce on the side.

Linzer Heart cookies

from The Silver Palate cookbook (only modified slightly). Must be made every Valentine's day, along with whatever raw meat pink wheat flour cookies Monika chooses.

¾ pound butter, softened
1¾ c. confectioner's sugar, divided
1 egg
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
1 c. cornstarch
2 c. grated almonds
½ c. red raspberry preserves

Cream butter and 1 c. of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Sift together flour and cornstarch; add to creamed mixture and blend well. Mix in almonds thoroughly. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and chill for 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll dough out to ¼-inch thickness between sheets of parchment paper. Using heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut out cookies, leaving ¼-inch space between each one. Peel the excess dough from around them, and re-wrap and refrigerate or freeze to be rolled out again in a few minutes. Slide cookies, still on parchment, onto a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes, or until evenly and very lightly browned. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Spread the bottom halves of the cookies lightly with raspberry preserves, and top each one with a remaining cookie. (This is especially nice if your cookie lids have inner heart-shaped holes in the middle for the preserves to show through.) Place confectioner's sugar in a sifter and dust cookie tops with it.

Who me, fixated on all things Linzer?

Pork tenderloin

Pork and dried fruit is a nice combination.  We like this recipe, but it is a fair bit of work with both the compote and a cream sauce.  Tonight I made a simpler roast pork tenderloin with fruit compote, and it was good.  The only thing against it was that we could only find one of those pre-brined tenderloins at the store, and it was too salty and had an overtone of artificial flavor.  Fresh pork tenderloins are much better (and you're not paying for the 30% brine by weight!).

Scheherazade Casserole

From the original Moosewood Cookbook.

¾ cup raw soybeans, soaked in lots of water for at least 4 hours (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 c. raw bulghur, soaked 15 minutes in 1 c. boiling water
2 medium bell peppers, chopped (they say green, I use red or yellow)
4 medium-sized fresh tomatoes, chopped
1½ c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ c. freshly-chopped parsley
3 T. tomato paste
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. basil
salt, pepper, tobasco to taste
1½ c. crubled feta

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place soaked soybeans in the blender with 1½ cups water (could cut down by ¼ cup or so). Puree. Combine pureed soybeans and soaked bulghur.

Saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil, lightly salted. When soft, add peppers and saute 5 more minutes. Combine all ingredients except feta. Place in a large buttered casserole; sprinkle feta on top. Bake one hour at 375 degrees, covered for the first 45 minutes and uncovered for the last 15.

Szechwan-style eggplant

Tried this from Gourmet, via epicurious, and liked it.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• a 1 1/4-pound eggplant, peeled if desired and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
• 2 to 3 teaspoons Szechwan chili paste*, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce*
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar* or white-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry Sherry
• 3 scallions, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil, or to taste

In a wok or large skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it stir-fry the eggplant over moderately high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is tender and browned. Transfer the eggplant with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the broth. To the wok add the garlic, the gingerroot, the chili paste, the hoisin sauce, the vinegar, and the Sherry and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the scallions and stir-fry the mixture for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce, the brown sugar, the cornstarch mixture, stirred, the bell pepper, and the eggplant and stir-fry the mixture for 1 minute, or until the eggplant has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove the wok from the heat, add the sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste, and toss the mixture well. The eggplant mixture may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.

They suggest serving it with pita wedges, but I just made it as a side with lemongrass chicken and rice.