I doubt you remember me asking in a previous post for ideas and recipes for homemade brownies that are as good as my favorite store-bought mix.  I say that I doubt you remembering it because I got no replies on it.  *giggle* oh the pain of being a pee-on blogger!

Well screw you guys because I found the answer on my own!  Boy did I ever!

When I first set out to find a perfect homemade brownie, I turned to Ina Garten because I almost always love her recipes.  They are decadent and gorgeous and I really thought she could knock my socks off with a good brownie recipe.  For the most part, I was really wrong.  Only for the most part.  It only took a little imagination, a few tweaks to the recipe and I got an “OMG THIS IS EFFING AMAZING” brownie made from scratch in my own tiny kitchen.  You can find the recipe that I used here, but I’ll give you the recipe containing the changes that I made to it.

Ina’s Peanut Swirl Brownies à la Somer

An Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) Recipe Slightly Changed By Me

1 pound unsalted butter (butter and margarine are NOT interchangeable here.  It has to be BUTTER)

1 pound plus 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, divided

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate

6 eggs (Ina always specifies extra large, but I always just use large and it’s FINE, I promise)

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (Ina’s recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons, but it’s just too much.  A little dab will do ya)

2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2-1/4 cups sugar

1-1/4 cups AP flour, divided

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degreen F.    Butter and flour a rectangular 9X13 cake pan (Ina’s recipe calls for a shallow sheet pan, but these brownies need to be THICK!  They’re about 1-1/2 inches thick and moist and dense and wonderful).

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water.  Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl stir, don’t beat, together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla and sugar.  Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder and salt.  Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough.  Bake for another 20 minutes and then start checking every 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean.  I have to be honest, I haven’t got the time down 100% yet as I’ve only made it twice, but just keep checking and it does eventually get done and the brownies are SO worth it.

In Ina’s original recipe she swirls peanut butter through the brownies.  It’s good this way but I didn’t want the peanut butter with the Icing I’m going to add.  It wouldn’t have been a good match, but feel free to try the recipe with the peanut butter because it really is quite delightful.

As if these dense, fudgy lumps of chocolate orgasm weren’t enough, I iced them with a rocky road cake icing.  The recipe comes from an older cookbook that I took from my mother and I always thought that this particular icing would be awesome on brownies…more so than if it were on a cake.  I was right.  Really right.

Rocky Road Frosting

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking (1986)

1 6-oz. package semisweet chocolate morsels

¼ cup butter

2-1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

3 Tblsp. scalded milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 cup chopped walnuts (I used almonds.  My husband is allergic to walnuts.  Pecans would work too.)

1-1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

Melt chocolate over hot, not boiling water.  Combine butter, sugar, milk and vanilla in mixing bowl; beat in egg.  (Here I put the bowl containing the butter sugar and egg over the double boiler and just got it warm so that the egg isn’t totally raw.  You can take the chance, but I suggest you get that egg warm and stir CONSTANTLY so it doesn’t curdle.)  Add chocolate, stirring until blended.  Stir in walnuts and marshmallows.  YIELD:  frosting for two 8 or 9-inch layer cakes.

Just ice the brownies with this lumpy, bumpy, gooey mess of sugar and enjoy.  These are so freaking good you will not want to buy boxed brownies anymore….until you see the mess in your kitchen from making this.  Seriously, it’s messy.  But worth it, I promise.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing
2. A “Holy Crap” Dessert
3. My Brownie Conundrum

But I wanted to do something special for my mom.  I thought about making pretty decorations from icing; flowers and borders and such.  Then I saw this cake and thought to myself, “My mom would LOVE this.”  That cake is so darned cute and clean that I simply had to try to make it.  It has my mother’s two favorite colors and it’s too adorable for words.  The only problem was that I had never worked with fondant before and there was simply no way that I could replicate this work with icing.

Thank goodness for the internet.

There are many many many articles and videos detailing how to smooth fondant over a cake.  There are several how-to’s for making fondant roses.  Fondant bows have their own articles as well.  I went into this endeavor feeling well-educated and quite confident.  If the project went to hell, I could always just ice it and present my mother with a plain white cake.

I just made a simple two-layered 9-inch round white cake.  I made simple white icing to go in between the layers and to go over the cake before the fondant went on.  For the fondant, I simply bought plain white fondant at my local craft store (I bought way too much expecting a million and a half mistakes on my part).  Following the internet’s infinite wisdom, I also purchased gel food coloring so that I could color the fondant.

The coloring and kneading of fondant is a giant pain in the ass.  There, I said it.  It takes a LOT of work to get out all of the swirls of color and get a uniform color in the fondant.  There is a lot of kneading and back work.  Fondant (at least the stuff I bought) is a lot more firm and dense than I had anticipated.  It took a very long time to simply color the fondant.

Fondant also needs to be kept moist.  I worked with small amounts at a time and kept the rest rolled in a ball under a wet paper towel.  It worked well for me.

Another surprise I got was that you do not use powdered sugar to keep the fondant from sticking while you work with it.  It was an assumption, really, but I was surprised to learn that the best powder to use is actually cornstarch.  A little cornstarch goes a long way and it worked great with keeping the fondant from sticking.

Mostly, making a fondant cake is just a lot of time and work on your part.  My first try came out looking rather nice, but a pro could point out my sloppiness and many mistakes quite easily.  Fondant cakes will only be a very special occasion on my part.  The making of this cake from the baking of the cake to photographing of the finished product took me 12 hours.  That DOES include cooling down time, but it’s still a lengthy process.  It may also be due to the fact that this was my first time and I wasn’t working very fast.

At any rate, here is the finished cake.  Not bad for a first-timer but still riddled with mistakes.

I wasn’t entirely pleased with how the colors came out.  I was looking for more cool and muted colors and I ended up with ultra loud neon colors.  My own fault, of course.

I like the bow.  Speaking as someone who tries to avoid this word, I do think the bow is CUTE.

My roses are a little blumpy and not quite delicate.  They look like flowers, though, so it is a success in my book.

Now people, when I place the phrase “If I can do it, anybody can do it” before you, I mean it.  I am not a particularly talented person nor am I the most patient  person.  This takes a lot of time and work and that’s about all.  If you can devote a lot of time both reading up on the how-to’s  of fondant and the decorating itself, then you can do it.

I will warn you though, it tastes like crap.

Enjoy!  Haha!

Related posts:

1. A “Holy Crap” Dessert
2. Wilton Birthday Cakes for Kids

I made it years ago and loved it, which is actually kind of weird.  Outside of hard candies, I usually don’t like my food flavored with mint.  It reminds me too much of toothpaste and I don’t enjoy eating it at all.  But I liked this cake.  Perhaps it was the marshmallow-y frosting or just the simple fact that I will NEVER turn down a piece of angel food cake because I love it so much.  But this cake is really good.  For your enjoyment, the recipe!

Pink Peppermint Angel Food Cake

Pillsbury Holiday Baking and Gifts Nov. 1995 Issue #177

CAKE:

1 package Angel Food Cake mix

1 cup water

½ tsp. peppermint extract

6 drops red food color

FROSTING AND DECORATIONS:

½ cup sugar

2 egg whites

2 Tblsp. water

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow crème

2 Tblsp. crushed hard peppermint candies or candy canes

16 (2-inch) candy canes, unwrapped

Heat oven to 350.  In large bowl, combine cake mix and water at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at high speed.  Divide batter in half; fold peppermint extract and food color into one half of the batter.  Alternately spoon pink and white batters into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.  Gently cut through batter with knife, swirling to marble.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and cracks on top appear dry.  DO NOT OVERBAKE!  Cool cake upside down on narrow neck glass bottle or heat proof surface until completely cool.  Loosen edges with knife or metal spatula to remove from pan.

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, egg whites, and 2 Tblsp. water.  Cook over low heat, beating continuously with electric hand mixer until soft peaks form.  Add marshmallow crème; continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Frost cooled cake.

Sprinkle top of cake with crushed peppermint candies.  Arrange candy canes around sides of cake in 8 groups of two candy canes each, placing curved end together to form hearts.  YIELD:  10 servings.

I don’t decorate the cake with hard candies.  That would drive me freaking insane to have hard candies on an angel food cake.  Sure it looks pretty for pictures.  It looks beautiful actually, but I didn’t make this cake for pictures.  I made this cake for eatin’!  No way am I putting something that might slow down my inhalation of this dessert!

Do they make packaged angel food cake?  I have never noticed.  I always make my own angel food cake here and take the recipe from there.  Angel food cake really isn’t hard to make, it’s just a little time consuming.  As long as you do EXACTLY what the recipe tells you to do, you’ll have a wonderful cloudy chunk of sugar lovin’s for your face-stuffing pleasure.

I just use the recipe from my ever present Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  No, I’m not giving you the recipe right now because I am TIRED.  I’ve been baking all day….all week actually and I want to get a cup of decaf coffee and go to bed!  I wasn’t even going to do a post tonight until I noticed that some of my lovely internet family had, without my knowing, become a rabid bunch of angel food cake-craving zombies who were out for my blood if I did not post this recipe soon.  It all worked out in the end.  If  it weren’t for the cake zombies, I would not have touched that cake tonight, but because I needed to photograph it, I cut it open and ate a slice while writing this post.  Let me tell you, it is a cake that you actually say, “OM NOM NOM” while eating it, it’s so good.

It’s also really pretty.  That kind of pretty is hard to mess up.  That pretty pink and white marbled cake with the fluffy and shiny white icing are irresistible.  I hope you try this recipe.  It’s really quite wonderful.

Enjoy!

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3. Wilton Birthday Cakes for Kids

The first fudge that I made is fudge in name only.  It’s really melted chocolate and condensed milk with peanut butter swirled through it.  It’s entirely too soft and doesn’t set up into anything more substantial than goo.  This is the fault of the recipe, not me.  It’s good…smooth and melt-in-your-mouth, it’s just not really fudge.  Here’s the recipe.

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Kraft

1 package (8 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate (this recipe calls for a name brand [I HATE THAT] chocolate, but you can use 1 oz. blocks of chips.  Doesn’t matter.)

1 can (14 oz.) sweet condensed milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

Line 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over the sides.

Microwave chocolate and milk in bowl on high for 2-3 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 2 minutes.  Stir until chocolate is melted, using pot holders on hot bowl.  Blend in vanilla.  Drop peanut butter by tsp. over fudge after you spread chocolate into pan.  Cut through peanut butter with a knife several times for marble effect.  If you want it to be cut into squares, freeze it.

That one was done and in the freezer in no time.  It was the next batch of fudge that caused me the most trouble and the near-heart attack.  REAL fudge requires a bit of candy making.  You have to melt down some sugar and cook it until it reaches a “soft ball” stage which is achieved when the sugar reaches about 235 degrees F or thereabouts.  I had my candy thermometer ready and was itching to have my first go at it.

I wish I had a mentor who could have warned me.  I wish some of the articles I read online had the warning that I needed.  When the sugar comes to a boil, it foams up…..a lot.  If the pan you are using looks big enough, think again.  You need to be using a pan that looks much bigger than what you need so that you can avoid what happened to me.  Lucky for you, I am here to tell you about my massive fail so that you can learn from my stupidity.

It started out fine.  The sugar was at a slow bubble as the recipe told me to do.  Then as it got hotter, it foamed up and started overflowing from my pot.  I stared at it for a minute, mildly annoyed until it occurred to me that this was not hot water I was watching pool at the bottom of my electric stove’s drip pan.  It was molten sugar and I had better freaking do something about it!  So I yelled a few obscenities, lowered the heat and let the sugar mixture get to it’s intended temperature before mixing it with the other ingredients and setting it aside to harden.  I looked at the metal heating coil on my stove coated in a thick layer of molten sugar.  The drip pan below was positively filled with the stuff.  There was no way I was going to be able to clean it any time soon..so I did what I have done a million other times when I get goop on my heating coil.  I turned that sucker up to high to let it burn off.  That was going great until the mess in the drip pan got overheated and burst into flames.  Tall flames.  You read that right, I caught my freaking stove on fire.  I hopped from one foot to the other screaming, “OH SHIT!” looking anxiously at my handy dandy kitchen fire extinguisher wondering if I should use it or not.  Then the little voice in my head that has kept my butt in one piece so far screamed at me, “TURN THE HEAT OFF, STUPID!”  I listened and the flames died down and the mess in the drip pan that was once molten sugar was now a pile of burnt sugar ash.  No real damage was done and I was left slightly shaken, but ok.

The bad thing is, the fudge that I was making was a beloved recipe from my grandmother.  Peanut Butter Candy it’s called.  Although the candy itself turned out great and I ate my first bite of the stuff with relish, I will always remember it being my first foray into candy-making….and I almost burned my house down doing it.  Here’s the recipe.

Peanut Butter Candy

My Grandma Ross

4-1/2 cups white sugar

1 stick butter

1 can evaporated milk

Boil to soft ball stage.

Mix the following:

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 (13 oz.) jar marshmallow creme

Do not heat.  Pour into 9X13 inch pan.  Set aside to harden.

It’s easy and it’s the BEST peanut butter fudge ever.  I’m not biased there.  Ok, well maybe a little.

The third fudge that I tried was the fudge recipe provided to me on the back of a jar of marshmallow fluff.  I’m not going to share a recipe.  I messed it up and the mistake was a STUPID mistake.

Being a bit gun shy from my first attempt at candy making, I decided to play it safe and use an enormous pan to melt the sugar this time.  Well, the pan has a very wide bottom so there was a lot of direct heat contact with the sugar.  In hindsight I know now that I should have lessened the cooking time…and maybe used the damned candy thermometer.  I know that in hindsight.  What happened was I cooked the sugar too long, and when I added the chocolate to it, the sugar seized up and turned rock hard on me.  It got thrown in the garbage with a fare thee well and my middle finger waving it goodbye.

At least after all of that I DID manage to get some actual fudge from the experience.

This just goes to show you that we all make mistakes.  And sometimes they are massively huge mistakes that are embarrassing and stupid.  This is my gift to you.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Triple Chocolate Ice Cream
2. Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing
3. Banana Pancakes Smothered in Peanut Butter

Don’t get me wrong, chocolate cupcakes are always welcome in my toothed face portal.  And peanut butter?  I have to buy that stuff in TUBS because we go through so much of it.  This should have been a great thing.  This should have made me cry little salty tears of sweet satisfaction.  I am underwhelmed, and that almost never happens with an Ina Garten recipe for me.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing

2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home

12 Tblsp. (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature

½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

2 Tblsp. brewed coffee

1-3/4 cups AP flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows

Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.  Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.  In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture.  Mix only until blended.  Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it’s completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount).  Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 Tblsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.  YIELD:  14-15 cupcakes

The above pictures inserted in the recipe should illustrate to you that things look as they ought to look.  The batter for the cupcakes was velvety and luxurious.  The fresh-from-the-oven cupcakes looked rich and moist, as they should.  Then I made the icing.

Maybe Ina used some sort of artisan peanut butter.  She does like to use more expensive and extravagant ingredients in her cooking.  But when I used my regular ol’ peanut butter and followed the recipes exactly, what I got was a globular mess.  I added a couple tablespoons of milk to try to thin it out just so I could spread it over the cupcakes, but it was still too thick.  I didn’t want to get in that battle of too much liquid/too much confectioners’ sugar and end up with something I couldn’t even use.  I tried to blob the icing on to the cupcakes, but the cupcakes were too moist and delicate that they crumbled.  So I basically just swiped on a knife-full and called it a day.  The cupcakes looked terrible.

They tasted good, though.  At least that first night they did.  Cupcakes and other confectionery treats tend to have at least a week shelf life.  These did not.  They pretty much need to be eaten fresh or they go to hell.  The cake dries out and turns into dust.  Not a good thing.

Fear not.  I will try this recipe again.  I will increase the icing recipe by 50% because it didn’t make enough for my liking and I shall have to work extra hard to make it into an actual icing consistency instead of blobular peanut hell.  I will also make sure to make this recipe when I know that I will be having company and that they will be eaten almost immediately.  I won’t give up.  This first try just wasn’t all that great.

Related posts:

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2. Triple Chocolate Ice Cream
3. A “Holy Crap” Dessert

At any given time, I always have the ingredients handy to make several different baked goods.  It’s a nice way to put a peaceful note on a stressful day and, hey, sometimes you just want some warm cookies.  So I was very not worried when I went online to look for recipes on how to make a wonderful chocolate cake and chocolate icing.  What I came upon was a recipe that, at first glace, appeared to be the recipe for your average run-of-the-mill cake.  I had all of the ingredients on hand and decided to try it anyhow.  Besides, I trust Hershey.  It’s the only chocolate (Besides Ghirardelli and Neuhaus) that I really like.

The recipe was super easy.  The icing was super easy to make.  When we had finished our dinner and I served this, my husband looked at me after his first bite and said, “I hope you’re keeping this recipe.”

I took a bite and WOW.  It’s a REALLY good cake.  It’s almost like brownies but in cake form.  VERY chocolate-y and VERY moist.  Give it a try.

No, there are no pictures of this.  I had no intention of making a blog post about a simple Hershey’s chocolate cake, but after eating it, I knew I had to share it.  Seriously.  If you like chocolate, try that sucker.  You will thank me.

Enjoy!

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3. Wilton Birthday Cakes for Kids

It was my mother-in-law who got me turned on to Wilton cake pans.  She made character-themed cakes from Wilton cake pans for her sons when they were children and they both reminisce about them to this day.  I decided that I wanted to do cakes like this for my son.

For his first birthday, Cookie Monster was the cake.  Cookie Monster was a theme to his party.  I got the Wilton food coloring gels to get the colors nice and deep.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have neither the patience or the talent to make a fancy cake.  If you look closely you can see mistakes that I made, but all in all it was an adorable cake.  The blue icing had that muppet fur look, and the basic picture is recognizable.  My son isn’t going to look at a cake like this and say, “Geez Mom, you made a ton of mistakes!  It looks so sloppy!”  It’s supposed to be fun, and it was.

It was very fun.

This year, the birthday party theme was dinosaurs.  Again, I turned to Wilton for the cake pan, and again it appeared that my novice abilities and minimal patience didn’t ruin the party at all.

Again, I used the Wilton gel food coloring because of the depth of color they achieve.  The cake and cupcakes were a rousing success and I’d like to encourage anybody out there to try these for a little one.  If it’s a niece or nephew or a son or daughter or grandchild, etc. and you want to do something special, make them a cake.  If you’re abilities worry you, just go out and buy a set of tips (Wilton makes these as well) and go to their website and pick out a cake pan that will thrill your little one the most.  They have hundreds of cake pans and many of them are in the shapes of today’s favorite children’s characters.  Each pan comes with specific instructions on how to decorate the cake and what tips to use, etc.

Also, Wilton is a big name and can be found just about anywhere.  It’s not hard to find.  I know that times are tough for some people and sometimes splurging on the bakery cake might be a bit much for some so I’d like to encourage you to look into these cakes for parties.  They are fun, make a great centerpiece, and it’s a personal think to bake a cake for someone like this.  I know that I always feel touched when I put one of these cakes before my son.  Sure, I’ve only done it twice, but it’s such a sweet tradition and I hope others might try it.

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Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Crust

2 Cups pretzels, crushed

3 T sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

Combine.  Pat into 9×12 pan.  Bake 350 for 10 minutes.  Cool.

Creamy Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

9 oz cool whip.

Combine. Spread over cooled pretzel crust.

Gelatin Filling:

Two 3 oz packages strawberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

Two 10 oz packages frozen strawberries, partially thawed

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Add berries.  Let mixture set 30 minutes..  Spread over second layer.  Refrigerate several hours or overnight.  Spread more cool whip on top before serving.

An interesting variation on this recipe that I have seen quite a lot is to use orange gelatin and canned mandarin oranges.  I’d like to try that variation someday, but I really love the strawberry version as well.  It’s creamy, sweet, tart, and salty with fantastic texture.

YUM!

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The recipe called for 8 egg yolks.  That left me with 8 egg whites that I could either waste completely or save for later.  Of course, I opted for “save for later” choice.  But what to do with the egg whites? I could go the generic route and make meringues or I could think of something else.  Well since I was making ice cream that had 8 egg yolks, I decided to try for something a little more heart healthy.

So for Sunday morning I made my husband and I egg white omelettes stuffed with roasted asparagus, green onions, and cheese.  They were delicious.  Perhaps I’ll try to show you all how to make an omelette on here (HINT:  You don’t need a special pan…it’s all about a properly lubricated pan and the way you manipulate the eggs.  After that, you can put pretty much anything in there and they are delightful!)

Moving on with the whole “Using up the old” routine, I needed an idea for Sunday dinner.  I had quite a lot of leftover white wine that I needed to use up.  I could have made risotto and used up a little bit or I could have gotten a little creative.  I love Coq Au Vin, but it is a dish usually made with red wine.  “What the heck” I said to myself.  So I made Coq Au Vin with white wine.  I used up the leftover wine and the Coq Au Vin was…..meh.  It was ok, but I wouldn’t recommend trying it.  It was too fruity and it lacked the body that the dish usually represents.  The recipe that I use to make Coq Au Vin, however is fantastic and I’ll share it with you in the hopes of spreading the French happiness.  It’s an all-day kind of dish best saved for company or weekends.  But it’s SO GOOD.

Coq Au Vin

2007, Ina Garten

2 Tblsp. good olive oil

4 oz. good bacon or pancetta, diced

1 (3-4 lb.) chicken, cut in 8ths

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ lb. carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces

1 yellow onion, sliced

1 tsp. chopped garlic

¼ cup Cognac or good brandy

½ bottle (375 ml) good dry red wine such as Burgundy

1 cup good chicken stock, preferably homemade

10 fresh thyme sprigs

2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided

1-1/2 Tblsp. AP flour

½ lb. frozen small whole onions

½ lb. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove the bacon to a plate with a  slotted spoon.  Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry.  Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.  Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done.  Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the Cognac and put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate into the pot.  Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is just not pink.  Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 1 Tblsp. of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew.  Add frozen onions.  In a medium sauté pan, add the remaining 1 Tblsp. of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until browned.  Add to stew.  Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.  Season to taste.  Serve hot.  YIELD:  3 servings.

A little hint to the weary, my mom uses this same recipe but lets it sit overnight before reheating it and eating it.  She feels that it tastes better after sitting for a while.  Some dishes are better as leftovers, you know.  Enjoy!

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3. Spaghetti Carbonara

“OOH!  I want to try this one!  OOOOOHHH!  Look at that!  I want that one!  Whoa!  That one looks cool!  I want it!”

I’d been craving a good chocolate ice cream that didn’t require a lot of work and I kept getting recipes that produced an ice cream so dark that it looked like fudge and not ice cream.  So, naturally, I whipped up some of my own.  I used the base of that super easy vanilla ice cream that I talked about here. In case you need a refresher:

* 2 cups heavy whipping cream
* 2 cups half-and-half cream
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Simply add 2 Tblsp. of a good quality cocoa powder to this mixture (Hershey or Ghirardelli are my personal favorites).  Same as before, chill this mixture in the refrigerator before putting it in your ice cream maker.

Once it is in the ice cream maker, turn the machine on and watch the mixture carefully.  When you notice that it is getting thick and starting to set, add 1/3 cup of chocolate syrup.  Just let the machine mix it up for you.

When the ice cream is ready to be put into containers and frozen in the freezer (an ice cream maker won’t freeze it all that way.  It will still be very soft.), add 1/2 cup of semi-sweeet chocolate chips and mix.  Let the ice cream freeze in your freezer for at least 3 hours before eating.  Being triple chocolate, it is very chocolatey but not terribly rich.

I understand that the chocolate chips in this might be a textural crap-shoot for some people.  It’s no problem.  If you think that they would bother you, then just leave them out!  You’re still going to have an awesome Double Chocolate Ice Cream.

I’d like to make a quick note about my Sundae cups.  You’ve noticed, I’m sure, that I almost always serve my ice cream in these tiny dishes.  This is because the recommended serving size of ice cream is only a 1/2 cup!  These Sundae cups are perfect for making sure that I don’t end up eating too much ice cream or serving too much to my family.  You can pick these up anywhere!  Look into them.

This is a quick and easy recipe and since it is not a custard-base, it’s not terribly rich.  Oh don’t get me wrong, it’s still rich.  There’s a lot of chocolate in this, but you don’t feel like your teeth are going to fall out after eating this dish.  Give it a try and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Candy Bar Ice Cream
2. Espresso Ice Cream