Brownies, Bars and Birthdays

September is birthday month for me and quite a few of my friends. One friend in particular really likes my Espresso Blondies (well I guess they are actually Silver Palate Espresso Blondies, but, I made them, so they are mine, humph), so when trying to think of something nice to do for him, I decided to bake him a batch of these delicious blondies. Brownie One: Espresso Blondies.
But why stop there?

I have had a package of goat cheese in my refrigerator for a week or two now just waiting for the right inspiration, and I found it. You know that chef guy Bobby Flay and his TV show 'Throw Down with Bobby Flay'? Well a while ago he threw down with the Vermont Brownie Company, and they won. Although I did not see the show, when I was looking for recipes that involved chocolate and goat cheese I ran across a recipe that referenced that episode, so I checked it out. Nice recipe. Beat Bobby's peanut butter chocolate brownies, so the recipe couldn't be that bad. But while looking at that recipe I ran across another blog for Luna Cafe and she made Chocolate Lemon Goat Cheese Caramel Brownies. Sounds like a whole lot going on, but it also sounded intriguing, so that's the one I chose. Of course I made some minor changes to it, leaving out the lemon and using my favorite brownie recipe from Capriel's Desserts. Brownie Two: Super Fudgey Burnt Caramel Goat Cheese Brownies.

The brownies just before I put them in the oven.

To make these brownies start with your favorite gooey brownie recipe. Make a basic caramel sauce. And treat the goat cheese as you would cream cheese for a basic cream cheese brownie recipe. I used half goat and half cream cheese so it has the tang of goat cheese and the smooth creaminess of the cream cheese.

For the recipe that inspired these brownies go to the Luna Cafe website, thelunacafe.com and find the recipe for lemon chevre burnt caramel brownies.

Process: in a 9x13 inch pan place a piece of parchment paper with edges hanging over like you see in the above picture. Spread about 2/3rds of the batter in the bottom of the pan.  Spoon the caramel over the brownie mix making sure there is caramel over all the pan. Spoon the goat cheese mixture over the caramel and spread the remaining brownie mix over all. Using a knife make the swirl pattern in the brownie mix. Bake at 350 until brownies are set. Should take about 20-30 minutes. Don't let them over bake or the goat cheese mixture will get grainy and dried out.

The finished product. If only there was a big glass of milk available....

My other favorite brownies are the Silver Palate Espresso Blondies. Another recipe you can find on line, go to silverpalate.com and type in Espresso Blondies. The original Silver Palate cookbook was one of my very first cookbooks and is one that I have continued to give my friends throughout the years. I sometimes change things up a bit and use white chocolate, but no matter what you do with them, they are amazing.

Just out of the oven and cooling down a bit so that I can cut them and eat them all up, well, except for the ones that I gave to my friend Chris for his birthday.

Again, need a glass of milk.

I hope you all decide to check out these great recipes on other peoples sites. I know I enjoy looking through the Internet for fun food ideas. I was recently introduced to another great website, punchfork.com. This site puts together pictures from all sorts of food blogs in one spot so it is easy to check out what lots of people are doing all in one place. I am now a huge fan of Pioneer Woman.

Next up, well I have no idea where I will be inspired next, so stay tuned.

It's Braising Season

One of my favorite cooking seasons is fall. It's the beginning of the braising season and I love it. Braised meat is simple...large chunk of beef/pork, a delicious 'liqour,' some aromatics and a vegetable or two, throw them all in a heavy bottom pot with a well fitted lid or drop it in your crock pot, turn on the heat and go about your day. Depending on the size of the chunk of beef, you should have a delicious meal all ready to eat in 8-10 hours. Some cuts of meat require a little more preparation, and possibly some exotic ingredients, but a pot roast is relatively cheap and easy to get from prep to table.

My pot roast has been refined over the years and now includes a pretty easily gathered group of ingredients: beef, mushrooms, Yukon gold potatoes, beer/wine, beef base, garlic, leeks, rosemary, salt and pepper. Depending on the mood, the pot roast may also include parsnips and/or turnips.

The first part of making my pot roast is seasoning the meat and making the liqour.  While the frying pan is heating up, chop the leek, tie up the bouquet garni and peel the cloves of garlic. Place these in the bottom of the crock pot. The seasoning is all up to you as long as it includes some salt and pepper. For this dish I used kosher salt, black pepper, dried thyme and a spice mix called 'Jakarta' from myspicesage.com. Once the meat has been seared on all sides, place it in the crock pot. At this point you want to take whatever alcohol you plan to put in the braising liqour and deglaze the pan, making sure to scrape off any of the bits that are stuck to the pan.  To deglaze simply pour the alcohol in the hot pan and stir around.

Pot Liqour: Highlands Brewery Oatmeal Porter, Knorr beef stock, 

rosemary and lemon thyme boquet garni.

One beer for the pot and one beer for me. Being a true Scottsman (or woman) I truly love a good ale.

Pour the liquid from the deglazed pan over the beef in the crock pot. Layer the mushrooms, potatoes and whatever other vegetables you might be using on top of the meat. Cover with water, which will mix with the pan juice to create a wonderful braising liqour.

Meat and mushrooms...yummmm.

I checked the pot at around 8 hours to make sure it was not overcooking or turning the vegetables to mush and then went on about my business. I have learned over the years to use larger cuts of vegetables when braising for long periods of time, or to add them towards the end. 

Once the meat was cooked and falling apart, I drained off the braising liqour, adjusted the seasonings and thickened it with a little cornstarch slurry-- I was way to hungry to wait until it thickened naturally. 

The finished product. Delicious.

My plate...even more delicious.

Carolyn's Fall Pot Roast

1 5-7lb       top or bottom round

1 each        leek, chopped, just the white part

1 pack        white mushrooms, rinsed free of dirt and left whole

5 each        Yukon gold potatoes, cut in 1/2 lengthwise

1 bottle       Dark beer or 2 cups red wine

                   beef stock to fill pot

                   salt and pepper to taste as well as any other seasoning you might want to use

                   bouquet garni ( in this case rosemary and thyme tied in a bundle for easy removal)

1.  Season meat with salt, pepper, thyme and whatever other seasonings you might want to use. Sear on all sides in a large frying pan coated with a little bit of olive oil. Once meat is seared remove from pan and place in crock pot on top of chopped leek, bouquet garni and garlic cloves.

2.  Deglaze pan with alcohol...do this by pouring the alcohol into the pan and stirring it around to remove the stuck on bits. If using a base and not a liquid stock, add the base to the pan and melt into alcohol. Pour the liquid over the meat in the crock pot.

3.  Put vegetables on top of the meat and cover with water. Put lid on the crock pot and turn it on to low. Cook for 7-10 hours. If using turnips or parsnips, add those when you have about 2 hours left in the process.

4.  When cooked, remove beef and vegetables and set aside. Pour out braising liqour into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Thicken with a cornstartch slurry (cornstartch and water) and adjust seasoning.

Dig in!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and that it becomes one of your fall favorites as well.