Who knew brownies could be so difficult?

I don't think I have enough readers to call this short posting "long-awaited" - definitely a delayed one though.

Life has been busy the last month - with a family wedding and my professional life taking up much of my time, I haven't had a chance until this week to actually try new recipes...

This past Thursday, I decided to try making one of the hundreds of brownie recipes squirreled away in my recipe box.

Using this recipe, I attempted my first batch of brownies. Being me, of course, I had to substitute and mess with the recipe (1 cup less sugar, dark chocolate, etc). The result? I thought I had screwed up (but I actually hadn't!). I did learn the difference between cake brownies and fudge brownies...one is supposed to be light(ish) and fluffy. The other, thick and gooey.

I started with the fudge brownie and thought the end result too dense, so I tried making a cake brownie. The result? It was too dry (which, at 10:30 p.m., was NOT amusing).

But after reflecting (and getting some awesome feedback from a friend who's an amazing chef), the solution seemed simple: mixing the two recipes together to make the perfect brownie.

Have I tried to? Not yet...but I will soon.

But if I did...this is what the recipe would look like:

Ingredients
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup pecans/walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions
- Preheat oven to 345 degrees F.
- Spray a 13 by 9-inch pan with vegetable oil spray.
- Beat the eggs together and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together
- Melt the butter in a deep pot / pan on the stove (this will be where you actually mix all the ingredients together)
- Whisk in the sugar, eggs, cocoa, and vanilla.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt mixture.
- Add chopped chocolate and nuts.
- Spread the batter in prepared pan.
- Bake about 25 minutes, just until brownies test moist but not wet.
- Cool completely before cutting.

Messing with Martha Stewart

I love changing recipes and making them my own once I'm familiar with them - especially cookie recipes. It's rare that I'll add or take away from a cookie recipe on the first try though - especially if it's by MARTHA STEWART (insert echo here). After all, she's the grand dame of cooking. Who am I to question the greatness of her words?(And to be honest, if I ever met her in an alley, I'd run the other way).

But I did...and I'm lucky. I've been meaning to try her Outrageous Chocolate Cookies recipe for awhile now...it looked relatively easy-to-make, plus there are quite a few people in my life who are, quite frankly, chocolate freaks.

To be honest, I find working with oodles of chocolate quite overwhelming. It gets everywhere, plus I find melting chocolate quite a tedious process (this particular recipe calls for using the microwave to melt the chocolate and butter together...let's just say butter EXPLODES).

But this particular recipe was...interesting. This recipe calls for very little flour, which had me questioning whether or not the cookie would ever solidify, or if I'm just making a very expensive chocolate pudding (luckily I wasn't). I also didn't like using semisweet chocolate chunks twice, so I substituted with bitter sweet chocolate. Plus, I added walnuts, changed cooking times and temperatures (my oven tends to run a little hotter).

All I can say is that it turned out really well. I'd love to say it was because I'm an amazing cookie chef, but to be honest, I think it was just dumb luck.

The full recipe can be found below. I placed asterisks where I made changes. Happy baking.

Ingredients

Makes 2 dozen (I actually made 30)
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar (*I only used 1/3 cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks (*substitute with bitter sweet chocolate)
- 700 grams chopped walnuts

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate.
- Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
- Stir in chocolate chunks * and walnuts.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets.
- Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cool on sheets 10 minutes (*20 minutes)
- With a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

Easter eggs...

...it's been awhile since I coloured eggs for Easter...but eggs are still an important part of the holiday for me. Instead of using food dye, I decided to use my hard-boiled eggs and make an appetizer.

For my family's Easter celebration, I made smoked salmon stuffed eggs. Here's how.

Ingredients
- plain cream cheese
- mayonnaise
- dill
- scallions / green onions
- hard-boiled eggs
- smoked salmon
- freshly ground pepper

I purposely left off quantity in the ingredients - the amount you use really does depend on what kind of texture (creamy versus lumpy) and flavour you like (heavy on the dill/scallions).

Directions
- Peel the hardboiled eggs
- Cut them in half length-wise
- Carefully remove the yolks and set aside (you'll use this in the stuffing mixture later on)
- chop the scallions + dill and add to the egg yolks
- add cream cheese and mayonnaise
- chop up the smoked salmon into mini pieces and add to the mixture
- add freshly ground pepper to taste
- take a fork or a big spoon and mash everything together
- restuff egg whites
- refrigerate for 2 hours before serving

Easter weekend...and cooking for an actual chef!

Holiday weekends are the best, and can mean many different things. To most, it's a chance to relax, enjoy the weather, grab a beer, maybe. For me, it's cooking for an army - and in today's case: an army of 15.

Turkey is always the easiest choice - get a 20 lb bird, brine it, shove it in the oven and come back in 5 hours. Simple, huh? Sure. Except if you're cooking for a chef. One of my cousins is a chef (as in, he must cook well for others or he starves) and today, I found out that he would be sitting down to dinner at my table. No pressure.

So to impress (and because I'm just anal enough to do this), I prepped a meal with appetizers, a zillion side dishes, the main (mmmm...turkey) and a small dessert.

I won't bore you with the details of my day (except that it's now past midnight and I'm still super wired), but I will say the meal turned out well. And was enjoyed by all - even my chef cousin.

I can't take all the credit - Martha Stewart had a hand in it too. After all, it was her turkey brining recipe that I used. An amazing recipe - though I've tried it a few times and tinker every time.

Instead of thyme, I used savoury herbs (I find thyme a little too strong for the Asian palate). And for the wine, I used a Trius Dry Riesling (Hillebrand). Of the different wines I've used, this has worked out the best. I also skipped the juniper berries (used to flavour gin...it has a citrus flavour, which pairs well with the riesling).

Here are the directions (with my tinkered notes)
Makes enough brine for one 18- to 20-pound turkey
- 7 quarts (28 cups) water
- 1 1/2 cups coarse salt
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried juniper berries - I couldn't find these so skipped it altogether
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
- 1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing
- 1 bottle dry Riesling
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bunch fresh thyme/savoury

Directions

- Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag.
- Place turkey in bag.
- Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients.
- Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once.



Believe it or not, the turkey was the easy part. Brine the day before, rinse the day of, shove it into the oven and forget about it.

It's everything else that took time. I won't get into it today (since I'm now exhausted), but eggs are an important part of Easter. Tomorrow, I'll post my recipes for the appetizers served today. Stay-tuned...and Happy Easter, everyone!

P.S. My cousin the chef ate with gusto. No compliment better than that!

Prime rib roasting on a cold spring day...

After a week of spring-like weather, we're back to winter weather - on the first day of spring! To bring some comfort to my family's bellies, I decided to make a prime rib roast, along with mashed potatoes, gravy and salad.

Making a roast seems like a lot of work, but in fact, it's just time. All you have to do is figure out how long you need to roast the meat for, season it, and then pop it into the oven. An hour or so later (or longer, if you've got a large piece of meat) - voila! Perfectly medium-rare, prime rib roast.

In today's case, the prime rib roast was 4.38 pounds. For medium rare, the calculations are 17-20 minutes per pound at 330. It took me about 1.5 hours.

Here's my seasoning recipe:
- Dijon mustard (option)
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 Tbs sea salt

- Let the prime rib roast warm up to room temperature before you start working with it; otherwise, you'll need to increase your roasting temperature.
- Take the garlic and slice each clove into 2-3 pieces
- Where there are natural folds of the meat (fat, etc), and put the garlic into the meat
- Take the salt and likely coat the entire outside of the roast
- This is optional, but take a pastry brush and coat the outside of the roast with dijon mustard (this helps to keep the roast moist); you can also add rosemary to the mixture
- Pre-heat the oven, and when it hits 330C, put the roast in
- After the roast is done, take it out and cover the roast for 20 minutes (this process is called tenting, and helps keep the roast moist by letting the juices in the meat settle) - DO NOT cut into the roast until it's done.

After waiting 20 minutes, I like to cut into the meat and use some of the juices that have come out to make a gravy.

I'm not a big fan of instant gravy - it just tastes off. If you're boiling vegetables, save the water (as it is now technically a broth) and use it as the base for your gravy.

- Bring the vegetable stock to a boil (you can also take 3 cups of water and add a beef bouillon cube)
- When it boils, pour in the meat juices
- Take 1 tbs of corn starch (or 1.5 tbs if you like a thicker gravy) and add about 2 tbs of cold water
- Mix the corn starch and water together until the cornstarch no longer sticks
- Pour this mixture into the boiling pot - being careful to stir / whisk the bubbling mixture (whisking reduces the chances of the gravy being lumpy)
- The gravy will start to thicken - once it does, take if off the heat

And...that's my prime rib roast recipe...simple, huh?