Cream Cheese Brownies....

These are not for the faint of heart, they are rich and fudgy. These brownies have been in my baking arsenal since June of 1983 when I saw the recipe in the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday food section. I knew I had to try them and was having a pot luck at work a day or so afterward. We have loved them ever since. They are rich...I find them to be a very adult brownie. They are a must to have cold,  straight from the fridge or cooler. I find them better made the day before you need them. They also freeze beautifully....recipes come and go. There are those that you bake once or twice. For me ...this one has been a keeper.

I still have the very fragile and yellowed newspaper clipping...I had never seen a Cream Cheese Brownie before. The recipe called to me...

I was just really starting to seriously bake. I had been married for two years when I tried these....they were a big hit then and have been ever since. I do not bake them often...but every now and then they are a special treat.

I usually cut them into tiny squares and put them into mini muffin or cupcake liners . A little goes a long way here. This is a Maida Heatter recipe....you can not go wrong with her recipes. This may be a little bit fussier than other brownies, but they are worth the effort.This is one instance where the nuts really make a difference...I think they are needed to cut the richness of the brownie.

CREAM-CHEESE BROWNIES
Maida Heatter
from SF Chronicle Food Section-Wednesday , June 29,1983

Chocolate Mixture
1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 ounces walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cheese Mixture
8 ounces cream cheese
4 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs


Adjust a rack one third up from the bottom of oven and pre-heat oven to 350*. Butter 2, 8 inch square pans.

CHOCOLATE MIXTURE: Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over hot water on low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat eggs in an electric mixer until foamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat at high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until mixture is light lemon colored and forms a ribbon when beaters are lifted. On low speed beat in the chocolate mixture and then the dry sifted ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Remove and set aside 1 ½ cups of the mixture. Add one cup of the nuts(reserve the rest for the topping)to the remaining batter and stir to mix. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly in the buttered pans; the layers will be very thin.

CHEESE MIXTURE: Have the cream cheese and butter at room temperature. Beat them together in the small bowl of an electric mixer until soft and smooth. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat well. Add the eggs and beat again until very smooth.

Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over the chocolate layers in the pans. Divide the reserved chocolate mixture and place by heaping tablespoonsful, on the cheese layer, letting the cheese show through between the mounds. Cut through the chocolate mounds and the cheese layer with a small spatula or table knife. Do not cut down into the bottom layer. Zigzag the knife to marbleize the batters slightly: don’t overdo it. Sprinkle with the reserved chopped nuts.

Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan and then let stand at room temperature for a few hours. Do not cut too soon or the cake will be too sticky to cut neatly.

Run a small sharp knife around the sides of the pan to release the cakes, then cut into bars or squares. If you find it a bit sticky, cut the cake into quarters and transfer to a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until firm enough to cut into 4 squares.

Transfer the squares to a serving plate, cover airtight with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Or pack in a freezer box and freeze.
Makes 32 squares


*an updated version can be found in Maida Heatter’s Cookies…1997 version.
She makes the recipe in one 9 inch square pan and the recipe is cut in half, baking time is then 30 minutes.

My Notes: You can line the pan with aluminum foil and then butter or spray it…and then turn the pan out onto a board , peel off the foil and then turn it back over again and cut and that is most likely easier.

I made this last batch in a 9 by 13 inch pan....I made them exactly as written otherwise.

Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls...

I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit and on the Martha Stewart show...Meatballs are big news these days it seems. These come from the Meatball Shop in New York City and they are pretty darned good. They have all the flavor of Buffalo Wings...but none of the mess. Now I am not saying that I do not love a good messy  mess of wings every now and again, but these are nice for a change. An added bonus is the Blue Cheese dressing recipe that comes along with it...pretty darned good as well. I had a nice piece of Maytag blue in the fridge and it was perfect for the dressing. The only change I made to the recipe was using 1 % milk in the dressing because that was what I had on hand. If you can not find ground chicken in your market you can ask your butcher to grind some boneless skinless chicken thighs for you. Or you can grind them yourself in the processor or a meat grinder. I used organic boneless skinless chicken thighs.

We enjoyed these little chicken meatballs very much. I have been having a good time reading through the cookbook these came from...The Meatball Shop Cookbook. I will be trying another recipe very soon.This is the first digital cookbook I have owned. It is residing on my IPad. I am not too sure that I like cookbooks this way, I think I prefer to have the real book in my hands, but maybe I just need to get used to it. I can not wait for my wing loving boys to come home and give these a try and see what they think.

Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls
Epicurious/ December 2011
adapted from :Meatball Shop Cookbook 
Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow

 

ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce or any other favorite hot sauce
1 pound ground chicken, preferably thigh meat
1 large egg
1/2 celery stalk, minced
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
preparation
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Drizzle the vegetable oil into a 9×13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.
Combine the butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat, whisking until the butter is melted and fully incorporated.( or Microwave together and mix) Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.
Combine the hot sauce mixture, ground chicken, egg, celery, bread crumbs, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.
Roll the mixture into round, 3/4 -inch balls, making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.
Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. A meat thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball should read 165°F.
Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.
Serve with blue cheese dressing*
 
Blue Cheese Dressing
Dressing keeps 5 days in the fridge and can also be used for salad....
ingredients

3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup crumbled Blue Cheese
1/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
preparation
Place the sour cream, blue cheese, milk, mayonnaise, salt, and vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly until completely combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired.

French Fridays with Dorie... Quatre-Quarts....a little late

With all the best intentions in the world I baked this cake last week...in time to post for French Fridays with Dorie. But the pictures never got to the computer until today. This happened...that happened...no excuses, it just is what it is. Nevertheless....we loved this very French version of a pound cake. It is nothing at all like a heavy American pound cake...it was lighter...very flavorful as I used one teaspoon of vanilla and two teaspoon of dark rum to flavor it. I macerated some fresh blackberries with just a touch of sugar and a little bit of dark rum. We had them with the cake and a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.

It has been a long while since I mixed up a cake by hand, and while this is a very simple cake to bake, the batter was very thick and I got my exercise for the afternoon beating the sugar and egg yolks together. I think next time I will just use a good old wooden spoon because I had a little trouble with the batter getting caught in the tines of my whisk, it was too delicious to waste even one tiny bit...no matter. It was worth the effort. Once the melted butter was mixed in everything loosened up and I was able to fold in the beaten egg whites without a hitch...

Sometimes it is the simplest things in life that are the best...this cake is one of those. It is a very European plain cake. We love things like that...the sprinkle of brown sugar over top of the cake...something novel from Dorie...gives the cake just a lovely little caramelized crunch with each bite.

My husband enjoyed a slice or two every day until it was gone. I must say it stayed fresh until the very last piece was devoured. Such a versatile little cake it was...

 I know I will be making this again and again...as with just about every other recipe I have made from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table. If you do not own this book yet...you really need to. The recipe can be found on page 433...

As with all the other recipes for French Fridays with Dorie we were asked not to post the recipe...I do hope you will all buy the book.

Banana Bread...

I always seem to find myself with some very ripe bananas...one day they are green, the next speckled and almost too ripe. I had four little very ripe bananas the other day and while the kids were home decided I just had to make them their favorite banana bread...the recipe calls for about two bananas...but I used all four that I had in the fruit bowl. It was inhaled...I used some little Panibois baking pans I had leftover from the holidays...One son is already back at school and the other is leaving on Sunday...the time flew by...In the blink of an eye it will be summer...and they will be back!

This is our favorite banana bread...I have made many and they are all good. But this one is the blue ribbon winner. It is always moist and just perfect, and even gets better with age ...This recipe made two Panibois pans for me...just perfect. They still took almost 50 minutes to bake.
from Martha Stewart...by way of my friend Becky.

Banana Bread
adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 1 large loaf or 3 or 4 mini loaves 
1 stick butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9X5X3-inch loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans.

With electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.

Sift dry ingredients and combine with butter mixture. Blend well. Add bananas and sour cream; mix well. Stir in nuts and pour into prepared pan.

Bake about 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (careful not to overbake; start checking early). Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Coconut Cake...New Years Eve Birthday Cake

My friend Suzanne has a birthday on New Years Eve and wanted me to bake her a coconut birthday cake.  Her wish was my command...I was given this recipe by my friend Ernie....the Queen of Cakes in my opinion . She never steers me wrong, and this was no exception. We all loved this cake. It has Cream of Coconut in the cake as well as in the cream Cheese frosting...
I also added a touch of organic coconut extract to the icing...it was divine. It had me wishing it was my birthday!
Happy New Year everyone....all my best wishes for a very happy and healthy one!

Coconut Layer Cake
adapted from Bon Appetit/ December 1999
The Shubox Café, Cedar Grove, New Jersey

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)*
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Pinch of salt

Cream Cheese Frosting* recipe follows...

4 cups sweetened shredded coconut

*Canned sweetened cream of coconut is available in the liquor section of most supermarkets nationwide.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and sweetened cream of coconut in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients and then buttermilk, each just until blended.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with pinch of salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into batter.
Divide cake batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.
Place 1 cake layer on cake plate. Spread 1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer. Sprinkle 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut over. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle remaining coconut over cake, gently pressing into sides to adhere. (Coconut Layer Cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before serving.)

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar ( plus up to an additional cup)
1/2 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco López)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon natural coconut extract(optional)

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Add butter and beat to blend. Add sugar, sweetened cream of coconut and vanilla extract( coconut extract if using) and beat until well blended. I added almost an extra cup of powdered sugar to the frosting.  This frosting comes out quite loose, you need to let it set up in the fridge for about an hour before icing the cake.

Christmas Eve Paella....

Paella and Tapas were the dinner of choice here on Christmas Eve ...I may have gone a bit overboard with the addition of too much seafood...but it was delicious. I know it is not traditional to mix seafood with meat, not  in Spain anyway, but there is a bit of chicken and some beautiful chorizo in mine this time and lots of seafood. I treated myself to a new 15 inch Paella Pan ...we set the pan in the middle of the table and everyone just  dug in. My son had brought me a bag of Bomba Rice and some beautiful saffron from Spain, he was happy that I used it.  We had lovely Spanish wine to drink and made a lovely night of it. It was great fun...in fact by the time we had dinner it was 11:00PM...

This recipe is what I used and  loosely adapted from for my Christmas Eve Paella...it is from La Tienda.  It gives you a really nice starting point. I did add some dry diver's scallops, I used mussels and clams, I had some gorgeous Rock Lobster tails that I split in two, also shrimp and some boneless skinless chicken thighs. I had wonderful chorizo from D'artagnan...I also bought some authentic Piquillo peppers from Spain.  Mine served 8 with the amount of seafood I used...

Paella Mixta

This is by far the most popular paella recipe in Spanish restaurants in America. Mixing seafood, meat and chorizo is close to heresy in Valencia, but this 'Americano' version is very tasty and features a variety of flavors sure to please a crowd.
Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 1 hr.

Ingredients:

1 tsp thread saffron
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 medium onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
8 piquillo peppers, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 chicken thighs, skinned and cut into 2 inch pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper
12 large shrimp, peeled
12 mussels (or clams)
1 lb Spanish cooking chorizo, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
2 cups Bomba or Calasparra rice
6 cups chicken broth
Lemon wedges

Preparation:

Add stock, paprika and saffron to a pot and heat, covered. In a separate 15" paella pan, add 2 tbsp olive oil and brown the chicken pieces and chorizo, about 5 minutes. Remove. Add the remaining olive oil and cook the onions over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and garlic and simmer for another 5 minutes, until they have a sauce-like appearance. Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour in the rice and stir until the rice is covered with the tomato mixture (known as 'sofrito'). Add chicken and chorizo pieces. Slowly add all of the broth to the paella. Stir the rice mixture around until it is evenly distributed throughout the pan. Important - do not stir after this point.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, then place the shrimp and shellfish into the mixture one-by-one, evenly distributing throughout. Simmer for another 15 minutes, or until all of the broth has been absorbed, adding extra liquid if necessary. Remove from heat, gently cover with foil and let sit for another 10 minutes. Garnish with piquillo pepper slices and lemon wedges.

This would be great fun for a New Years Eve dinner as well.  Before the Paella we had Serrano Ham, assorted Spanish cheeses, Piquillo Peppers with garlic and Spanish Olive Oil, bread, olives, Marcona Almonds...and some other things as well.         

Happy Holidays....

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas ...Happy Chanukah....Peace and light...
Thanks you all for your friendship...your support and your love...