The Void and Neztra

I love chocolate. Let me say that one more time. I love chocolate. White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, flavored chocolate - you name it. By the way, if you are every feeling adventurous and want to try some truly delicious and unique chocolate, find yourself a bar of Belgium-made Dolfin Milk Chocolate with Hot Masala (you can order it online at World Wide Chocolate).

I have been on the hunt for the perfect brownie recipe for years. I am pretty picky about my brownies. They have to be the perfect balance of richness, heady chocolaty goodness and chewy texture. So when HP Sauce and I were trying to decide what to bake this week, it was an easy decision to make brownies our next endeavour.

We decided to try Nigella Lawson's Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe this time. It was so significantly different from any brownie recipe that I had ever made that I thought maybe, just maybe, Nigella knew something I didn't about the perfect brownie recipe. Six eggs... six eggs??? Three sticks of butter? Wow. I would either love them or die of hardening of the arteries just gazing at their buttery goodness. Alas, I did survive both the mixing, baking and taste testing of these rich brownies and have to say that, although they are not my ideal vision of a brownie, they are quite good heated in the microwave for a bit and served piping hot with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream melting on top. The richness of the brownie is like eating an almost souffle-like fudge. I don't know any other way of describing them. So if that sounds good to you, then I highly recommend this recipe.

One warning - HP Sauce and I ran into the same problem with this recipe. Twenty-five minutes in the oven simply didn't do the trick. HP figured this out too late, but after a quick consultation with her, I decided to leave mine in a bit longer. So I checked them at the 30 minute mark. Not done. 35 minutes, still goo in the middle. At forty, they were starting to look good and I decided to heed Nigella's warning to not cook the life out of them. Even so, these brownies are still on the under-done side in the very center. So if you have any solutions when you try this recipe, hit me up - I'd love to know your fix.

Triple Chocolate Brownies
Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson and Food Network.com

Ingredients
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels
Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.

In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gooey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with confectioners' sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve.

As I have mentioned before, I am a novice baker with aspirations far greater than current abilities allow. But I come from a long line of excellent bakers. My grandmother is perhaps the greatest of them all.

Just so you know, Granny isn't the typical warm and fuzzy, stay at home cooking all day granny. Grandmother Helen likes to drive stick-shift sports cars. At 83 years old, she is still a very successful Avon salesperson. She travels by herself several times a year and made the journey twice to Kenya on her own when I was growing up there. She is adventurous, intelligent and fiercely independent - all of the character traits I hope to embody some day. She is also epically secretive about her trademark recipes - those decadent and devilishly delicious desserts that we moan in ecstasy over during the holidays and other special occasions.

To this day, I don't know what makes her apple pie the best. My mother and I are both very proud of the apple pies we serve and both have been complimented to no end on various occasions, however, in a blind taste test, Granny's pie will win out every time.

As she approaches the middle of her 80's I think Granny is finally starting to get to the point where she is ready to release her iron-fisted grip on her trademark recipes. This past year, I got a little misty-eyed when, for my birthday, she sent me not only her coveted Red Velvet Cake recipe that has been passed down from mother to mother since the beginning of the 20th century, but she also sent me recipes for some 30's, 40's and 50's era recipes, including an incredible recipe for Tomato Soup Cake, which sounds disgusting, but is actually quite nice. She also sent Victorian Lace Cake, Mayonnaise Quick Bread and an assortment of other odd, but delicious recipes.

So be on the lookout for some mid-20th century recipe reviews to come your way over the next few months.

It will be keen, groovy, and above all else, the cats pajamas.

My buddy HP Sauce, aka Hot Pants, aka Eddy and I love baking. She loves it because she happens to be very, very good at it. I love it because I aspire to one day be good at it and it always results in tasty stuff I shouldn't eat.

Eddy is already a seasoned food blogger. She belongs to a bunch of food blogs and is something of an online bloggy celeb in some circles. Me, I just bask in her sunshine.

Eddy and I decided to start our own cooking group. What name would we call it? Why "Two Hot Chicks Baking" of COURSE. Because, well, I think it is obvious.

I love ginger. Ginger is the perfect balance of hot, sweet and exotic and can wear so many personalities that you might think it should be named Sybil. From Thai Coconut Curry to Pickled along side sushi, ginger rounds out some of the most delicious savory dishes in Asia and around the world.

On the home front, ginger takes on a new, more comforting facet as a layer in many, typically holiday traditional desserts. Playing a supporting role in dishes like Pumpkin Pie and Carrot Cake, Ginger is usually relegated to a subtle background role that is some times hard to pinpoint. For a starring role, Ginger shows its true personality when used to make one of my all time favorite cookies, Ginger Snaps. The hot, comforting flavor is the perfect accompaniment to a nice cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day.

I've never made Ginger Snaps before, but Alton Brown, my personal Culinary Hero recently featured a recipe on his fabulous Food Network show, Good Eats for Ginger Snaps using not one but three forms of ginger; fresh, dried and candied. I had to try it and now, I share the results with you.

I wasn't able to find candied ginger at my local grocery store, but since I am not really a fan of it anyway, it wasn't a big deal to leave it out of the recipe. These snaps were good, except that they were not as "snappy" in texture as I am use to, but the flavor is incredible. I have never had Ginger Snaps like this before. Next time, I will probably increase the brown sugar and decrease the molasses quantity a bit to fix the texture of the resulting cookie, but other than that, these were pure heaven and I recommend them to anyone who loves Ginger.

So, without further ado, Alton Brown's Gingeriest of the Ginger Snaps:

Alton Brown's Ginger Snaps
Source: Food Network

Ingredients

* 9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 7 ounces dark brown sugar
* 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3 ounces molasses, by weight
* 1 large egg, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
* 4 ounces finely chopped candied ginger

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt.

Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.

I've seen at many blogs I visit and decided to give it a try. This started with Andrew at Very Good Taste.

Here are the instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - All but the elephant ears
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill - not into bacteria-laden flesh thanks - consider this crossed off
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse - couldn't do it... sorry, saw National Velvet one too many times as a child.
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

A couple of years ago, I began a new tradition in my family by making French Toast casserole with Italian Pannetone Bread (a slightly sweet, seasonal bread originally from Milan that is speckled with bits of dried citrus fruit) and topped with hot Vermont maple syrup on Christmas Eve to be popped into the oven while we open presents on Christmas Day. Most years, I go from Christmas to Christmas only making this recipe once, though my family is addicted to it. This year, I decided to take advantage of the popularity of this little spin on a traditional favorite by making the recipe a bit more summer-friendly. The result was surprisingly delicious and received rave reviews from my family. Of course, they have to like what I cook, if not, they will be forced to face dreary Saturday morning bowls of grey, mushy shredded wheat...

I love stone fruit, but I am very picky about the texture, tanginess and sweetness of these pulpy little treasures. This summer, nectarines are delicious! Sweet, tangy and so juicy that you need several napkins to mop up the delicious nectar as it dribbles down your chin, these messy but divine fruits have been a summer snack staple for me. Adding this delicious flavor to my french toast casserole was easy and with a couple of small tweaks, was enough to bring a little golden sunshine to a treat usually relegated to cold winter mornings.

French Toast Casserole - Summer Sweet Remix

1 loaf of crusty french bread, sliced 1 inch thick
6 eggs
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
4 Tbsp. of dark brown sugar
3 large, ripe nectarines
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 stick of melted butter (4 Tbsp. before melted)

Mix the corn syrup, 3 of the four Tbsp. of brown sugar and melted butter and pour evenly over the bottom of a 13-inch, glass casserole dish/baking pan.

Place the slices of bread on top of the sugar mix, creating a layer of bread covering the entire bottom of the dish.

Beat together the eggs, cream, milk, cinnamon and salt until combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread.

Store in the refrigrator overnight or for at least four hours to set. When removed from the fridge, the egg mixture should have soaked into the bread almost completely.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cook for 45-60 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the bread comes out clean.

While the bread is cooking, dice the nectarines and toss gently with the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar. Place in the refridgerator until the french toast is done.

Remove the french toast from the oven and let set for at least 15 minutes to cool slightly.

Serve each portion with a nice, heaping spoonful of nectarines and top, if you wish with a dusting of powdered sugar or a spoonful of whipped cream.

I like to add a few pecans in with the fruit as well for a little added "southern" flavor.

Makes enough for 4 very hungry people with a little left over for the extra hungry person at the table.

I usualy serve mine with a side of thick bacon and some searing hot coffee.

Enjoy!

I wasn't planning a trip to the movies this weekend, but my bestest bud and loyal movie going companion HP Sauce was bored and called this morning to see if I wanted to go see Pineapple Express. It looked like a funny way to pass a Sunday afternoon, so I begged off the weekly grocery shopping trip and headed up to Addison.

I had no clue. That's the best way to describe my reaction to this film. I HAD NO CLUE IT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE THIS GOOD!!!

Action packed and full of guffaw-worthy dialog, it truly exceeded my expectations. Of couse, part of the fun was listening to the stoner's sitting to my left repeat over and over "Dude! This is the best film EVER!" That just added to the hilarity.

Through the violence and comedy, the spirit of friendship was a theme that rode its way right to the end of this film. HP sauce and I had a really good time. She's my bud. I really appreciate her friendship. I hope she knows that. :)

3.75 puffs.... um, that is, winks.

So yesterday was my birthday. No, no...if you didn't remember on the date, don't bother showering me with expensive gifts today. They will buy you no leverage with me on the 30th of the month...

B-days are supposed to be fun, right? So guess where I spent my 32nd birthday, pondering the meaning of life in my thirties, why I am where I am in life, etc. and more. Nope, you probably guessed wrong.

Let me start off by saying that procrastination is sort of a personal challenge for me. In business, I am Miss Pro-Active, but in my personal life, not so much. So it was not surprising to anyone who knows me personally when I announced that I had to get my Texas driver's license because it was expiring on my birthday.

Unfortunately, getting Homeland Security clearance when I worked at the Federal Reserve Bank was easier than getting my Texas driver's license. Forms of ID needed to procure a license:

1. Birth certificate
2. Soc. Sec. card
3. Two other random and obscure forms of ID - take your pic - two years worth of insurance policy history, a voter's registration card, marriage license, the list continues.

I won't go into too many details, but here's the timeline:

DMV - 20 minutes
Tag Office - 20 minutes
DMV (again) - 20 minutes
Social Security Office - 2 hours
Home (getting insurance company to fax me pages and more pages worth of documentation) - 45 hour
DMV (for the third time) - 1 hour
Travel time between destinations - about a half hour all total. Thankfully, the various offices are all located within five to ten miles of each other.

Since visiting government offices is something I avoid like the dentist, gynecologist and all cheesy self-help books combined, it is safe to say that five hours dealing with bureaucracy was not a fun way to spend my birthday. However, at the end of it all, I have my license, a receipt for the registration on my car (that I threw away a month ago by accident apparently), voter status in TX, a new copy of my social security card that has been missing for the past ten years and a new sense of relief that I should not be forced to visit any of these offices again any time soon. So, all in all, I came out on top....I guess.