Nutella Brownies

If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know I love nutella. I've been craving brownies lately and instead of turning to my usual brownie recipe, the Baked Brownie, I decided to attempt to incorporate one of Earth's best chocolaty spreads into one of Earth's best square shaped treats. I knew that the combination of the Baked Brownie, which is very intense and rich, with any sort of nutella would just be chocolate overload (yes, that is possible). So I decided to use a brownie recipe that I've made before from my Williams Sonoma: Dessert cookbook. Its simple, easy, less expensive, and smaller than the Baked Brownie recipe, but still tastes delicious and homemade.

Then came the nutella part. How would I incorporate nutella into these brownies? I did some research via Tastespotting and other food blogs and found that when nutella is mixed into the brownie batter, it loses it's oh so yummy and distinguishable nutella taste. Not good. Then I went on the hunt for a nutella frosting recipe. I found a few that looked delicious, but didn't have heavy cream in my fridge and I wanted these brownies now. After a few more minutes of searching for an idea, I came across Sugar Punk's post on nutella brownies that didn't involve mixing nutella into the batter or making a frosting. Yay!

Here was her idea: "One pan of brownies (jazzed up with hazelnuts and Frangelico); use the back end of a wooden spoon to poke holes in the warm brownies; fill the holes with Nutella; spread chocolate chips (or callets) on top and heat to melt; sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top."

Now, I didn't have Frangelico or hazlenuts but I liked the idea of creating nutella filled holes in the already baked brownies. So that is what I did. I also used chocolate chips to spread on top to cover the nutella holes.

The verdict? These brownies were good, but fell a little short of my expectations. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips to create the sort of icing on top but I found that it was just too much chocolate. The icing ended up being much too sweet for my liking. When I poked holes in my baked brownies with a wooden spoon, I imagined the nutella melting and oozing inside the brownies. Unforunately, it did not do much oozing but rather stayed in its little hole so each brownie square had a nutella drop right in the middle. Maybe I should have taken the brownies out after 20 minutes, injected the nutella, then put them back in the oven for 10 minutes. Don't get me wrong though, it was nice to bite into a dollop of nutella but I would have preferred to taste nutella in every bite!


Nutella Brownies
Makes 9 large brownies
Brownie Recipe from Williams Sonoma: Dessert

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, plus extra for greasing
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
  
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup cake (soft-wheat) flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass.

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate. Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Sprinkle the sifted flour over the mixture and stir until just blended. Stir in the chips, if using.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Bake the brownies until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes, or longer if using a metal pan. While the brownies are baking, fill a pastry bag or a freezer strength zip-lock bag with a hole cut in the bottom corner with nutella. When the brownies are done, use the back of a wooden spoon to poke 9 evenly spaced holes and use the pastry bag to squeeze out nutella into the holes. After each hole is filled, sprinkle the brownies with chocolate chips and put the baking dish back into the oven to let the chips melt.

After a few minutes, take brownies out of oven and using a spatula, spread the chocolate chips so they become a smooth icing. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top of brownies, if desired.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool until the chocolate icing is still tender, like a ganache, before cutting into 2 1/2 inch squares.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I'm back after being gone for about 2 weeks! If you follow my twitter, you'll know that I've been vacationing on the east coast. I miss the cooler weather and the greenery over there! Coming back home to the oven that is Arizona (tomorrow's high is 109 degrees) was definitely not fun. Actually, my entire trek back home was not fun. Oh how I hate connecting flights, delayed flights, and now American Airlines.

But anyways, before I left I baked blueberry streusel muffins. I had way too many blueberries in my fridge and felt like baking. As I was flipping through my recipe books, I came across Ina Garten's recipe for blueberry streusel muffins in her cookbook Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics. Since I love Ina but haven't made enough of her recipes, I decided to give this one a shot.

Back in April, I had another surplus of berries (does anyone else continuously end up with way too many berries??) and decided to make streusel muffins. I used an Emeril recipe and unfortunately the muffins just weren't that great. As I mentioned in that post, the muffins were mediocre. I said that next time I think I'll use less flour for the topping and some cinnamon and brown sugar. So when I scanned the ingredients for Ina's streusel topping, I was excited to see that it included both cinnamon and brown sugar. That's how a streusel should be.

Ina's muffins turned out much better than Emeril's. The lemon and buttermilk really add that subtle tart tanginess and bring out the sweetness of the blueberries. The muffins were absolutely delicious right out of the oven: moist, warm, and sweet. But I'm sad to report that they weren't as delicious the next day. Also, a word of advice: these muffins expand a lot in the oven so be cautious as to how much batter you fill into each cup. Do not fill each cup completely full.

The amount of sugar and butter this recipe calls for is a little ridiculous. On occasion I don't mind making something indulgent, but I'd like to have a stand-by muffin recipe that I don't feel guilty about. Any suggestions?


Blueberry Streusel Muffins
From Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics
Makes 20 muffins

Note: Wash blueberries in a strainer under running water and pick out any stems and leaves.

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups buttermilk, shaken
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (2 half pints)

For the Streusel Topping:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and blend with your hands. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork, mixing just until blended. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Don't overmix! With a standard (2 1/4-inch) ice-cream scoop or large spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared cups, filling them almost full.

For the topping, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food preocessor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the butter is in very small pieces. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until crumbly. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the streusel on top of each muffin. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Rosemary

Making meals for one or two people is paradoxically difficult, it would seem that the less people you have to cook for, the easier cooking should be, but in most cases it isn't. Condensing a recipe that is meant to serve 4 or 6 people down to 1 or 2 people is not easy, and involves a lot of math (ew). How do you half a recipe that calls for 3 eggs? So whenever I find recipes that serve one or two people, I practically jump for joy.

I recently planted a mini windowsill herb garden (!) that contains: rosemary, basil, oregano, and sage. So far nothing has died! Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs and I had 3 chicken breasts waiting to be thawed and eaten in my freezer. I decided to search my recipe books and the internet for a simple rosemary chicken meal that I could make for myself. Somehow, I actually found a rosemary chicken recipe that serves one! Thank you Tyler Florence :)

On my mission to find recipes that serve less people, I stumbled upon a preview magazine at Target by America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated titled Cooking for Two 2009: The Year's Best Recipes Cut Down to Size. This preview (you can order the hardcover recipe book which is 312 pages long here) is 64 pages long and features 63 recipes like Chicken with Couscous and Spinach, Chicken Kiev, Grilled Chicken Fajitas, Pan-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables, Beef Wellington with Madeira Sauce, Lighter Meat Loaf, Baked Manicotti, Lasagna, Pan-Fried Crab Cakes, Seafood Risotto, Ricotta Gnocchi, Potato Gratin, and New York-Style Cheesecake that all serve 2 people. I was so excited when I saw this, I immediately put it in my shopping cart. Not only does this magazine feature recipes made for 2, it features amazing recipes that would be extrememly hard to cut down to size by myself. Several of my next posts will probably feature recipes from this magazine!

Anyways, onto the Pan-Roasted Chicken that I found courtesy of foodnetwork.com before I bought the Cooking for Two magazine! I only had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on hand so that is what I used instead of boneless chicken breast with skin and wing attached. I was a little worried it would be dry and flavorless, but it definitely wasn't! Not to mention, boness skinless chicken breasts are healthier. The chicken ended up be tender and perfectly cooked. The shallots were softened and very sweet and the mushrooms were tender and substantial. The rosemary added a perfect pine-y flavor that complemented the sweetness of the shallots. I used chicken broth instead of water for the sauce to add more flavor. My sauce was not very thick but it added a brightness and freshness to the dish. This recipe was quick and easy and left hardly any dishes to be cleaned. I will definitely be making this chicken again!

Pan Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms and Rosemary

• 1 (6-ounce) boneless chicken breast with wing attached, with skin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 fresh white mushrooms, halved
• 2 shallots, halved
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup water (I used chicken stock)
  
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Season the chicken on both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place a cast-iron or regular ovenproof skillet on the stove over medium heat. Drizzle the pan with the oil and lay the chicken in the hot fat, skin-side down. Cook for about 5 minutes until the skin begins to set and crisp. Throw in the mushrooms, shallots, and rosemary. Stick the whole thing in the hot oven and roast for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked, and the mushrooms and shallots are soft and roasted.
The last thing to make is a quick sauce using the flavors left in the bottom of the skillet. Take all the stuff out of the pan and arrange on a dinner plate to keep warm while preparing the pan sauce. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered chicken fat and return the skillet to the stovetop. Stir in the water and lemon juice and cook over medium heat, scraping up the flavors with a wooden spoon. Cook the liquid down to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Drizzle the pan sauce over the dish, season with salt and pepper.

Shrimp Rolls

This week's pick for Craving Ellie in my Belly was chosen by MacDuff over at Lonely Sidecar. These are technically lobster rolls but you can substitute shrimp which is what I did because I like shrimp and it was on sale! The rolls are very easy to make and assemble and require no real cooking, unless you count toasting the rolls as cooking. I hate celery, HATE it, so I only used scallions. The rolls ended up being creamy, filling, but a little bland. I didn't have any appropriate seasoning to add to make them more flavorful so I just loaded up on the salt and pepper. If I ever make them again I'll definitely try adding some more flavor. Some other Craving Ellie members suggested using curry powder or old bay seasoning, which I think would definitely create the flavor element the rolls are lacking.


Shrimp Rolls

• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt or 2/3 cup regular, plain nonfat yogurt
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallion greens (about 1 scallion)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 pound cooked lobster meat or cooked shrimp, cut into 1/3-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 whole-wheat hot dog buns
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  

If using regular yogurt, place it in a strainer lined with paper towel and set the strainer over a bowl. Let the yogurt drain and thicken for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, stir together the thickened or Greek-style yogurt, mayonnaise, celery, scallion and lemon juice. Fold in the lobster meat and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Chill until ready to use. Just before serving, open the hot dog buns and brush the inside with olive oil. Heat a grill pan over moderately high heat and grill the bread, cut side down, until toasted, about 3 minutes. Fill each with 3/4 cup of the lobster mixture and serve immediately.

Ellie Krieger's Pasta Primavera

So, this is pasta primavera, round 2 (Click here to see round 1). Ellie Krieger vs. Giada de Laurentiis, who wins? Ellie's recipe contains more ingredients, sauteing of the veggies, and a sauce. Giada's recipe contains roasting the veggies and no sauce. I found that Giada's recipe was slightly easier since roasting takes virtually no effort and there was no sauce to worry about thickening. On the other hand, Ellie's recipe is healthier because of the whole wheat pasta. But I do have to consider the fact that I used sweet Italian sausage when I made Giada's pasta primavera, which might very well be an unfair advantage.

And the winner is.....

Giada! Giada's primavera recipe tasted delicious the next day for lunch. Ellie's recipe, not so much. For someone like me, who doesn't have a family to feed and likes to utilize leftovers for lunch, that's a big advantage. Either way, both recipes were great. I did have some problems with the sauce thickening in Ellie's recipe which wasn't surprising since some Food Network reviewers had the same problem. It still came out fresh and suprisingly fulfilling for not having any meat.

Pasta Primavera

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 red bell pepper, cleaned, seeded and cut into strips (6 ounces)
• 1/2 pound thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms (4 ounces)
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 (6 ounces)
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/2 cup 1 percent milk
  
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large carrot (6 ounces) peeled and sliced into strips with a peeler (about 2 cups carrot ribbons)
• 3/4 pound whole-wheat linguine
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup shredded basil leaves

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook garlic until soft, about 1 minute. Add peppers and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, asparagus and tomatoes and cook until softened, an additional 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute more. Add chicken stock, milk, salt and pepper and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until liquid has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in carrot strips.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Toss pasta with vegetables and sauce. Add pasta water, if necessary, to loosen mixture. Serve garnished with Parmesan, parsley and basil.