If I Were on a Dessert(ed) Island and I Could Choose Three Things...

I would choose:
(a) dark, chewy, rich brownies;

(b) something involving puff pastry and cinnamon;

(c) a light fruit crumble (hey, I do not see a lot of room on this island to exercise).

Yes, tonight I will stock up on packages of Matt's Natural Chocolate Chip Cookies (two for $5.00 at Jewel Osco with preferred card); however, I also plan to grab a package of unsweetened chocolate bars and an extra pound of unsalted butter. With eggs in the fridge and flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt in the pantry ready to enhance the flavor and texture of America's favorite dessert bar, Shane's favorite store-bought dessert has met its match. And for those who are enslaved to box mixes (gasp), freedom! From measuring to popping into the oven, these wonderful, chewy brownies do not take anymore than 5 or 10 minutes more than an average powdered mix. Do yourself a favor, make the following ingredients a staple in your fridge and larder:

Chewy Brownies

(From Fine Cooking 34, pp. 44-49)

Makes thirty-two very rich, you don't need anything bigger than two inch brownies, brownies

8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (no need to be fancy, I used Baker's Chocolate)
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 eggs, room temperature
3 cups sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Position an oven rack to the middle rung. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Generously butter and line a 9-inch by 13-inch glass baking dish (Pyrex or whatever) with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper. Set dish aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. Watch the mixture very closely so the chocolate does not scorch or boil. Alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in a double-boiler set over a simmering pan of water. Once chocolate and butter have melted, remove from heat and let cool for a bit. Stir sugar and salt into the chocolate mixture. Add eggs to mixture one at a time stirring each time to incorporate the egg into the mixture.

With a wooden spoon, beat flour and cocoa into mixture 30 to 60 seconds, or until mixture is shiny, smooth, and pulls away from the bowl. With a rubber spatula, coax mixture into baking dish and smooth the top. Mixture will be super-thick and fudge-like. Bake for 35-45 minutes, but check on the brownies after only 25 minutes just to get a feel for how much longer it may take. Use a toothpick to determine if they're done. The brownies are done when, after inserting the toothpick into the middle of the brownies, crumbs and a touch of batter cling to the toothpick. If the toothpick comes out with gluey batter, pop the dish back into the oven, and check back after 5 minutes. Keep checking. I know it’s a pain, but you do not want to over-bake these brownies. You’ll kick yourself. Depending on your oven, brownies could be done before the 35 minute mark. My brownies only took 37 minutes. And remember with brownies, it’s better to under-bake the brownies rather than over-bake – under-baking is much easier to remedy.

When brownies have reached the holy stage of baked goodness, remove from oven, place on cooling racks, and let the dish cool until it’s easy to manage with bare hands. Run a paring knife along the edges, and carefully turn brownies upside down onto a flat surface. Remove parchment, carefully flip brownies onto the cooling racks and let them cool completely until cutting. Brownies keep in an air-tight container for 3 or so days before drying out a bit. Serve any brownies that have not been eaten after 3 days with a scoop (or a vat, as seen here) of vanilla ice cream.

Brownies will freeze beautifully when uncut. Just wrap the completely cooled brownies in cling wrap, cover with foil, and slide into a freezer bag. To thaw, just let brownies sit at room temperature 4 to 5 hours.

In the meantime, I still have an unshakable attachment to rhubarb, the IT hit of some of my recent desserts. Loving the tart, apple-cherry-like characteristics in biscuit-topped cobbler, I wanted to showoff more rhubarb as opposed to making the topping be the star, so the sweet biscuits were in my cobbler.

Buckle, cobbler, crumble, crisp -- all suggest buttery, cracked, and crusty surfaces encasing thick, molten fruit. I am, however, not a surface gal. I enjoy the company of deeply-minded, fruit-bearing people. Fruit's being metaphorical for progress or results. I want more fruit! So I gave this Nigella Lawson Rhubarb Crumble recipe a whirl. Lots of rhubarb, and I could crumble as I pleased. In fact, while I made the dessert as written, I had more crumble than I wanted to use, so I froze half for a later dessert. All-in-all, this recipe was just what I was looking for in a light, fruity, and crispy dessert. And although the addition of whole oats felt wholesome, I do liken adding oats to sugar and butter as one who adds wheat grass juice to their sodas. Sure there's some sort of nutrient boost, and at least mine tastes better than carbonated horse feed.

One little mistake I made with this crumble was that I added too much rhubarb or not enough sugar. I personally liked the cherry-like tartness, but it was a tad too intense for Shane as he sprinkled a teaspoon or so of Turbino sugar onto his (huge) serving. Just the touch of extra sugar made it so appealing to Shane that he polished off the remainder of the dish.

I did cut back the butter in both the rhubarb mixture and the crumble topping, and Shane and I could still taste the buttery goodness.

Rhubarb Crumble
(from Nigella Lawson's Feast)

For the rhubarb filling:
2 lbs fresh rhubarb, chopped into ½ inch pieces
¼ cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the crumble topping:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup oats (instant or not, it does not matter)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced
6 tablespoons brown sugar
Sour cream, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make the rhubarb filling. Mix the sugar, butter, and cornstarch in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture has melted together, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the rhubarb and stir until rhubarb is glossy and softens just a touch, about 2 or 3 minutes more. Pour mixture into a smallish pie dish, about 1 ½ inches deep.

Assemble crumble topping: mix the flour, oats, and baking powder in a bowl. With your fingers, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in brown sugar with a fork, and sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit. Any unused topping can be placed in a freezer-safe plastic bag or container and frozen for use later. Bake the crumble for 35 to 45 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is starting to brown. Serve crumble with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Rhubarb - I'm in a Jam

On record for Thursday, May 15, 2008: The day dawned cold, and cold it stayed. The cold was followed by and was preceded with wind. The wind chilled the coldness to a bite I felt on my exposed ears. And I examined rhubarb, and green garlic, and purple-tipped asparagus with the cold resting its freckled hands on my ears as it tried to keep me from listening to vendors’ explanations on various spring produce. Green garlic – use it up to the tips; rhubarb – red and green parts can be used, discard the “prongs.”

Discard the prongs is exactly what I did as I chopped the three precious stalks I purchased. By golly, at $3 a bunch, and only 3 stalks to a bunch, I’m going to use every bit of the rhubarb that is edible. I found a recipe for Rhubarb Cobbler that calls for boiling the chopped rhubarb in sugar syrup thickened with corn starch. Simple enough – I knew that rhubarb is excruciatingly tart without the help of sugar, so infuse as much sugar into the pieces as possible, right? Well, yes and no. When I added the rhubarb to the sugar syrup and simmered it for the 10 minutes the recipe suggested, the result was more of a jam rather than softened pieces of rhubarb.

Naturally, as I prepared my sweet biscuit topping, I fretted about the texture of the overall dessert. Beyond mushy fruit, would a biscuit-topped jam even pass as dessert in the eyes of my sweet-toothed-gourmet husband?

As for me, the cinnamon-spiked tartness of the rhubarb made me reminisce about the taste of my sister’s homemade Dutch Apple Pie, worthy of a blue ribbon in any county fair. The layers of apples, tender yet still with a slight bite and whiffs of spices and savory butter, what a pie. “I used Butter Flavored Crisco,” Aimee confessed. I did not care, nor do I care now; apples are fall's favorite fruit. What I care about is creating a springtime pie with the same spices, texture, and memory; my first stab at springtime's quintessential dessert.

Oh my goodness, so I didn’t quite achieve the slightly crisp tender texture I so badly craved, but the tartness lending to spiciness was spot-on. A sweet biscuit soaking up the juices, a dollop of sour cream (that’s American for crème fraîche), and a cup of coffee rounded out my surprise hit – Rhubarb Jam Cobbler. Shane even said I could use less biscuit topping to allow the rhubarb to shine.

Perhaps next time I will try a different method, one that leaves the rhubarb pieces whole for a full-textured experience. However, I can guarantee I have one country boy at home who does not mind finishing leftovers of last night’s attempt.

My attempt to recreate a tart, apple-esque cobbler using farmer's market rhubarb; I instead present Rhubarb Jam Cobbler:

Serves Eight (I halved this recipe and made four servings)

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

Rhubarb Cobbler Filling:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups (about 6-8 stalks, depending on size) rhubarb, chopped
2 teaspoons cinnamon, or to taste

Bring the first 3 ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring until thick and clear, and add the rhubarb and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Pour into a 9" pie dish, or 8 individual baking dishes. Set aside while assembling topping.

Sweet Biscuit Topping:

Scant 2/3 cup 2 % or whole milk
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a tightly closed jar, vigorously shake the milk and sour cream and set aside. Over a medium bowl, sift together all dry ingredients, including the sugar. Add the scraped vanilla bean and butter pieces. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until small crumbs form. Add the milk mixture slowly, and gently stir with a fork until a soft dough forms and all crumbs are evenly but just moistened. Do not over-handle the dough or the biscuits will be tough.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the surface of the fruit. It will spread as it bakes. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the biscuit dough comes out clean. Cook on a rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream or crème fraîche.

Table for One

What does a temporarily single gal need on a night to herself?

Drink.

Rum-Whatever "Mojito"

2 tsp. confectioners' sugar
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
4 fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 ounces white rum (I used gold)
Seltzer or sparkling water
Angostura bitters (optional)

In a tall glass, mix sugar with lime juice. Add mint leaves and with a fork or the back of a spoon, crush against the glass to release their juices. Add rum, stir, and top with a little sparkling or seltzer water. Add a dash of Angostura bitters if desired.

Light. To find the breaker box when fuse is blown while heating tortillas in the microwave, use a flashlight.

Food. Late spring green garlic was kissed by cayenne and humbled by touches of cumin. Scallops, patted dry and lightly seasoned with salt, were tossed into the mixture and perfectly seared a golden brown, two minutes on each side.

Four white corn tortillas were heated, upon which I piled arugula, the seared scallops and green garlic, finely sliced radishes, shredded cilantro, sliced roasted red peppers, and sliced avocados. Besides a good wash-down of a makeshift Mojito, a little salt was the only extra seasoning these over-stuffed tacos needed.

Lime Butter Cookies (Sablés au Citron Vert)

Adapted from Pâtisserie Lerch From Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City's Best Pastry Shops by Dorie Greenspan (Emilie's note: the original recipe called for lemon; I used lime)

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (use the highest grade of the best brand you can find)
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped (spend the cash, it's worth it!)
Grated zest of 1 to 1 1/2 limes (more is better)
2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and beat again until the mixture is pale yellow and smooth. Beat in the egg yolk, followed by the salt, vanilla scrapings, and grated lime zest. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. Mixture will appear crumbly, much like the "course cornmeal" stage of a pie crust. That's okay. Stop beating at this point, and just work the remainder of the flour in with a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. You will probably need to use a touch of force to get the dough to stick -- just don't overdo it. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. It'll be easier to work with once it's cold.

Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick. Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours. Don't short yourself the 2 hours, as the dough is much easier to handle and cut when it's cold. From here, the dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice each log into 1/4 inch cookies. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature. Confession, I did not let my cookies cool to room temperature before I sucked in their fragile and buttery crumbs. Oh bliss when the sablés hit my tongue and melted into a hot, buttery, lime-scented sea.

Ooh La La

To lower our sometimes embarrassingly high grocery bill, Shane and I have cut back on our meat consumption, replacing fish, fowl, pork, and beef with lentils, lentils, beans, and broccoli. Can you imagine the contests we have after dinner? I’m almost too ashamed to admit I frequently win. However, this past weekend, we celebrated Shane’s 37th birthday by taking a break from our homely, mostly vegetarian meals

Since I have a knack for searing pork chops, I decided upon creating a French-inspired pork chop à la Emilie. Ooh la la. Pork chops swimming in a crème and port wine sauce with zee rich sauce spilling onto zee potatoes mashed with parsnips, carrots, and thyme and finished with butter and a bit of crème of their own, with zee sides of the zee serving platter garnished with crisply roasted fresh green beans. Ooh la la.

Unfortunately I’m not French (did I fool anyone?), and unfortunately my fake accent cannot coyly excuse the rubbery texture of the green beans and blandness of the potatoes. By leaving the beans in a warm oven while I finished the remainder of the meal, I steamed away their crispness. Lesson learned: green beans need to be roasted at the last minute for peak flavor and texture. And although the mashed potatoes were boosted with the nuttiness of parsnips and sweetness of carrots (not to mention a load of butter and cream), they were ho-hum, at best.

However, the pork chops in their port wine and cream sauce, oh my savior, my meal savior! The only sounds in the room were classical music in the background and Shane’s gorging. Who can waste words when there are pork chops to eat? Juicy, tender, faintly pink on the inside pork chops surrounded by cream and a touch of sweetness from the port. This was simplicity that put to shame the fussy preparation of the potatoes.

Adapted from Gourmet April 2007
2 - 4 servings (Depending on how much meat you want to consume)

For the Pork Chops:
2 8oz boneless pork chops, each chop roughly 1 inch thick
Generous grinding of coarsely cracked pepper
salt
olive oil (optional)

For the sauce:
1/4 cup port, tawny or ruby
1/3 cup cream
salt to taste

Crack pepper onto a large plate or platter and sprinkle over with salt. Press both pork chops into the salt and pepper on the plate and generously sprinkle more salt and pepper over the tops of the chops and press into the chops. Heat a large, heavy skillet (I used cast iron) on a fairly high heat. If necessary, brush the skillet with olive oil before. If it's a well seasoned pan, this may not be necessary. Sear the pork chops one minute on each side. Lower heat, cover skillet, and cook pork chops 4 minutes each side. Remove pork chops from the pan onto a plate, cover with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. The Pork chops will continue cooking until they are pink in the middle.

Add port to the skillet, increase heat, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute scraping the bottom of the skillet to release the bits of meat clinging to the bottom. Add cream and any meat juices that accumulate on the plate to the skillet, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Salt to taste. Add pork chops and turn off heat. This should gently re-heat the pork chops and only take a minute or so. Serve pork chops topped with sauce.

Proving there’s more to me than seared pork chops and cordials, I ended our meal with an old favorite, Chocolate Stout Cake. I love a good beer! I love a glass of pale ale paired with sharp cheddar cheese, I love a bottle of Mexican lager paired with chicken soft tacos, and I especially love a pint of syrupy, bitter stout paired with dark chocolate to create three thick layers of dark chocolate cake. Each layer sandwiched rich raspberry ganache, and for flair, I nestled fresh strawberries to hide the slight indention in the top layer.

My cakes are often a masquerade with a strawberry here and a bit more icing there. Masks and indentions aside, I love the moist denseness of this cake. There is no harsh or cloying sweetness . The tartness of the raspberries in the ganache complement the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate while toning the richness of the cream. Just a slim slice satisfied this normal chocoholic.

Emilie’s note: don’t bother with fancy cocoa powders. Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder makes (and takes) the cake in this recipe. I also highly recommend using an extra stout beer such as Guinness Extra Stout. Go the extra mile, you’ll need the exercise.