Fudgey Brownies: Part 2 of a Belated Series

Photo caption: Fudgey Brownies topped with local Caramel Apple ice cream and garnished with caramel sauce. Don't think about the calories, okay?

On Monday night, Dave and I looked at each other across the dinner table and said, "Wouldn't something sweet be nice?" My answer is unequivocably YES! Alas, neither of us had the motivation to go to the store for ingredients, so we did what we do best: we foraged in our pantry to see what we could create.

Luckily, I have two things going for me! 101 Best Brownie Recipes, a gift from my friend Beth D., and standard items such as sugar and unsweetened chocolate readily on hand.

If you're craving something chewy with a rich chocolate base and no more than 7 ingredients, then look no farther than the Fudgey Brownie recipe.

Fudgey Brownies
from 101 Best Brownie Recipes

Ingredients
4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate (I prefer and use Ghiradelli's 100% cacao)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sifted flour
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or you could use plain old vanilla, but I've been turned on to the paste for a much richer vanilla flavor... and totally get rid of imitation vanilla, okay? That stuff is evil.)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (more nuts are better, but that's what we had in the freezer)

1. Preheat the over to 325 degrees F.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent burning.
3. Remove from heat and cool several minutes. While the chocolate is cooling, place sugar in a separate bowl and add beaten eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition.
4. Stir in chocolate and pour in flour a little at a time.
5. Add vanilla and pecans and stir to mix well.
6. Pour batter into a buttered and floured 9-inch square pan.
7. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-40 minutes (mine took all 40).
8. Insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies to check for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, brownies are done.
9. Cool, cut into squares and serve.
10. Make about 9 hefty brownie squares.

Enjoy!

Hugs and high fives,

Kella

Rowdy Baking Blues: Spinach-Rice Casserole

Last week was kinda crazy. I applied to Mizzou's Educational Technology Master's program, attended the Association for General and Liberal Studies annual conference in St. Louis, taught my part-time interdisciplinary community college class and prepared for our Habitat for Humanity service learning project for this upcoming Saturday, and managed to go to a winery to celebrate my good buddy Nicole's 30th on Sunday.

This week is no different. Work is awesome but busy with another conference (this one virtual), planning for new and improved resources, and keeping up with a burgeoning inbox, grading journals and projects before midterm, and eating delicious Spinach-Rice Casserole, which has fueled my long, long days for the past week. Cheesy, ricey goodness with plenty of greens, garlic, and onions. Yum.

Before you knock the humble casserole, consider its origins. While it's believed the English legitimized the word "casserole" by defining it in 1708, the casserole has been with us since prehistoric times. I believe casseroles will be with us many more years to come since it's a dinnertime staple and liberator of home-cooks, often women, everywhere. And, to be honest, I think the modern version of the casserole is far more appealing than mud-encrusted Beggar's Chicken of China. Then again, I've never tasted mud-encrusted anything, so maybe I'm missing the point.

Yet, I think the casserole does what Charles Baudelaire mentioned in 1863 in The Painter of Modern Life: "Modernity...to extract from fashion the poetry that resides in its historical envelope, to distill the eternal from the transitory..." Lyrical words for a dish that often gets ridiculed by foodies and chefs, but I still hold steady that there's something lovely about baking a meal in one dish, often from left-overs, without sacrificing taste or lots of time. And in our economic times, I'm sure casseroles are as popular as ever.

What I'm proposing is a return to savory, rustic cooking. Food that showcases the ingredients and ingenuity of the maker just as much as the presentation. And while I've sometimes been made fun of for learning how to cook, at my last job I was chastised for baking cookies since it was assumed that such an action was decidedly un-feminist and unprofessional, I continue to bake because there's something incredibly fun to see disparate ingredients transformed into a tastier whole.

So, to working professionals, men and women alike, vegetarians, and people who love a "hot dish" redolent of garlic, spinach, and cheddar, this dish is for you.

Spinach-Rice Casserole
Adapted from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook


4 cups cooked rice (brown or white, you make the call)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups minced onions
10-16 oz. fresh spinach, washed
2 tsp. salt
1 head of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I recommend freshly grated nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. cayenne
black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard made with white wine
2 beaten large eggs
1 cup lowfat milk
2 cups grated cheddar
1-2 tsp. paprika
1-2 tbsp. olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 9x13-inch baking pan with 1-2 tbsps. olive oil.
2) Heat the butter in a deep skillet. Add onion and saute 5-8 minutes ~ until soft. Add spinach, salt, and garlic, and cook about 5-7 minutes more over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add this mixture to the rice, along with the seasonings and mustard. Mix well.
3) Beat together eggs and milk, and stir this into the spinach-rice mixture, along with the grated cheddar.
4) Spread into the prepared pan and dust with paprika. Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes ~ until heated through and lightly browned on top.






Enjoy!

Hugs and high fives,
Kella