tears in the kitchen

Baking is my love language. If you ever get a chocolate cake, muffins or cookies from me, you just got a big fat hug and I just said I love you right  to your face. No pressure, all you have to say back to me it's how good you think my baking was.

Not too long ago, I decided to bake a whole bunch of brownies and take them to my church to say thank you (and I love you)  to all the unbelievable and selfless volunteers that serve there. I put my hair in a ponytail, took my kitchenaid out, played Kings of Leon as loud as I could and forgot to put the timer on the oven. Crap!:@!#@#@%$#%$!!! 30 minutes later, my gooey, extra-chocolaty brownies were as hard as a rock; no melted chocolate drops, no chewiness, no magic. 

Of course I cried. It was 10:30pm and I had just spent a Saturday night messing up my always perfect brownies. I sat down on the kitchen floor and cried like a baby and ask God...Why??? Why??? This was for you! (of course he was taking care of more important things at the time!)

I got up, and defeated I shared my frustrations with my husband, ALL of my life frustrations, starting with "This is the ONE day I'm glad I listened to my father and studied Architecture instead of Culinary Arts! THE ONE DAY!) He was busy watching Sports Center and could not care less about my horrible night.

Since either God or my husband was particularly concerned about my drama, I stood up and went back in to the kitchen. Staring at the trays and with a mixture of sadness, anger and frustration started tearing down the hard brownies in pieces. Slowly, I started feeling better and as a sign from heaven, two magical words appeared in my mind and filled my spirit with so much hope....Bread Pudding. Yes. What do you do when your bread goes stale? Bread pudding. So what do you do when your brownies are hard as a rock? OH God! You were listening!!! Brownie Pudding!!!

I played some Coldplay this time and started baking again. The results? I wish you could see the people's faces the next day! I'm not trying to brag (or maybe just a little) but I have never gotten this many compliments out of a disaster in the kitchen.

I’m going to try to give you a recipe but of course, you need to burn some brownies first! (or you can just use some good old stale bread, or stale chocolate cake -not that there any left, ever- but if you use bread you would need to add an extra cup of sugar)

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

5 large eggs

1 cup of milk

3 cups of overcooked brownies baked into pieces (I cannot believe I’m writing this)

½ cup brown sugar

½  cup of rum (or brandy/cognac)

2 teaspoons of vanilla

¾  cup of dark chocolate broken in pieces

¾ cup of walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs and milk in a bowl; add vanilla and rum. Pour over brownies and let sit for 10 minutes. Mix in chocolate pieces and walnuts.

Pour brownie mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

To top it all off, make a sauce and serve warm with your pudding. I’ll give you a quick recipe for a chocolate one or you can make a crème anglaise or brandy-butter based sauce.

The ingredients are:

1 can of condensed milk

1 can of table cream (light) 

3 Tbsp of cream cheese

1 small bag of chocolate chips -semisweet (I buy 60% cocoa from Ghirardelli)

I put all wet ingredients in a pot, slow heat and add the chocolate in after the milks and cream cheese have incorporated and they are warm,  never bubbly. Use a whisk to blend in and avoid clumps.

Bon Appétit!

Mangia tutti!

Last Saturday morning, I woke up extra early with my toddler’s scream for breakfast and decided that I was going to be a very nice person and wake up everyone in the house so they would not miss the most beautiful morning of the year. Sixty degrees and sunny, we got dressed and ventured out to our local Farmer’s market in a quest for fresh croissants and some coffee. Unfortunately, the French bakery that operates there did not have any that morning so we decided to check everything else and get a taste of what was being offered that morning. In the middle of  our walk, I was pulled in one direction as a magnet in the “artisanal pasta” direction. The Italian man that was attending the station transported me into my first visit to Italy in seconds. (I could hear my sister's mother in law: "Mangia tutti! tutti!!!). Olive oil, Balsamic so sweet it tasted like figs, truffles, Parmigianno, Mozzarella, I could see it all working into a delicious dinner where the pureness and simplicity of basic ingredients shines and takes center stage. Who does not think that a good slice of a vine ripe tomato, topped with fresh mozzarella, basil, plenty of good olive oil, sea salt and pepper is one of the most delicious yet simple things in the world? Cook some fettuccine, slice some mushrooms, sauté them with olive oil, white wine, sea salt, your favorite fresh herb and toss those beautiful noodles into the hot pan, see magic happen. Yes, Italian food is by far my favorite, there is absolutely no doubt about it.

I spent about half an hour listening to the proud salesman and being seduced by the smell, taste and beauty of the ingredients he had on display. I took a deep breath and starting selecting what I was NOT going to take with me. I just wanted it ALL! One of my most precious selections was a bag of artisanal spaghettini with squid ink. I love cooking with them. To tell you all the truth, the taste of it is usually not as strong as I would wanted it to be (I just absolutely adore the taste of squid ink) but it has that hint that definitely makes a difference and acts as a gorgeous canvas for a seafood dish. As usual, I go very simplistic with what I use and let the ingredients speak for themselves. This is what I made the last time I got the “inked” pasta, I cannot wait to improvise something this weekend.

Inked Spaghettini with Shrimp and Cognac

Ingredients

1 pound inked spaghettini

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

½ teaspoon brown sugar

1 large shallot, finely diced

5 cloves garlic, sliced

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

20 large shrimp, about 1 pound, peeled and deveined

oarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup cognac

1/4 cup finely chopped basil leaves

A couple of whole uncooked basil leaves for decoration (they look pretty and taste delicious)

                                      

Directions

For the pasta, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When it has come to the boil, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and the spaghettini. Stir to make sure the pasta separates; cover. When the water returns to a boil, cook for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta reserving 1 cup of water.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan; set aside and keep warm. Add cognac and sugar and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley and cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil, top with whole basil leaves and serve immediately.

(This recipe was based on a Tyler Florence recipe for Shrimp Scampi. I gave myself the freedom to add, delete, remodel the original recipe. Tyler, please don’t sue me ;) )