Reading Time: 4minutesI’m not going to lie to you. I never made creamed corn before I started making shepherd’s pie. I never had any ambition to make it. I never had it growing up. My grandmother used to make a thousand things but never once do I …Read More….
Reading Time: 7minutesSo spring is right around the corner. Just a few short weeks until winter is behind us and I don’t have to worry about things like polar bears or the wife slipping on ice. It’ll be sad to see the season go, but with spring …Read More….
Alright, before you get all googly eyed and start to develop a puddle of drool on your keyboard, let it be known that I do not like these brownies.
When I walked into the kitchen to make them, I had a very different end product in my mind. It consisted of these brownies, topped with salt and a white chocolate butter cream frosting with all sorts of pizzazz on top of them. It was going to be the post that launched me into food blogger stardom! I was going to rule the world!!
[strokes cat, clash of thunder]
But the butter cream failed to turn the color I wanted it to turn, because Heaven forbid the red food coloring I bought for this very purpose actually turned the cream red and not hot freaking pink. This was supposed to be my Valentine’s Day post! I wanted red frosting on my brownies, not hot pink! The butter cream was a flop and it was pretty much downhill from there. I forgot to sprinkle the salt, the rest of the ingredients (which shall remain nameless) sit here unused because of the lack of frosting to stick to. By the time the brownies came out of the oven, I was already over them. As if they asked me to the prom and an hour later I caught them under the bleachers with my bff.
Not right brownies.
Oh, and on top of that, they sit there and mock my sweet tooth! I take pride in my taste for sweet treats. I’ve always said I’m a dessert guy and would be the one to look at the dessert menu at a restaurant before the dinner menu. But these damn brownies and their overflowing goop of caramel that oozes out just by looking at it hard enough made me question myself. They make me feel like I’m one of you normal people when it comes to sweets. I don’t know if it was the time it took to make them that made me weak or that they really are just that sweet. All I know is that I made them so they’re going on the blog.
Don’t get it twisted. If you’re a chocolate and caramel fanatic then these are for you. I thought I loved caramel. But it’s yet another kick to the groin these little demons are giving me while I’m already down.
2 sticks ~ Butter 8 oz ~ Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Squares, chopped 1/4 cup ~ Cocoa Powder 1 1/4 cup ~ Sugar 4 each ~ Eggs 1 tablespoon ~ Vanilla Extract 1 1/4 cup ~ Flour 1/2 teaspoon ~ Salt
Caramel Filling:
1 each ~ 14 oz Bag of Caramel Squares 1/3 cup ~ Heavy Cream
Notes:
These brownies will ruin your life.
You’re going to need a 9 x 13 pan for this.
If you have chocolate chips but don’t have chocolate baking squares, I’m not going to cry about it.
If you’ve never bought caramel squares before, they’re in the grocery store, either in the same section as the chocolate chips, or in the candy aisle.
Ok, enough with the chit chat. Let’s make some cavities:
Turn your oven on to 350 and line your pan with either parchment or aluminum foil. I’m more of a parchment kinda guy when it comes to baking but since I’m all out I used foil. Take some butter and get a nice coating on the foil. Heck, to be safe go ahead and spray it with cooking spray too. You’ll understand when this monster comes out of your oven.
Now, when it comes to melting chocolate, depending on what I’m making or what it’s for, I’ll either use the microwave or set up a double boiler. I always like using a double boiler because I can control the melting better. I can stir and see exactly how the process is going rather than just wondering how it’s going from the outside of the microwave. To do a double boiler, just get yourself a sauce pan with about 2 inches of water and set it to boil. Then take a bowl, I use glass, and put your chocolate and whatever else you’re melting inside of it, and put the bowl on top of the sauce pan. You want the bottom of the bowl to fit just inside the rim of the pan, and you do not want to water to be touching the bowl. We’re using the indirect heat from the steam to melt the chocolate, not the water. The steam will melt it at a steady enough pace and once it’s done you just take the bowl off and you don’t have to worry about burning or overheating.
But if you’re straight up melting chocolate and nothing else, you’ll want to be careful with water. One drop of water while melting your chocolate can ruin your entire week. If you want more info on that, check this page out since it’s not something we have to worry about right now.
If all of this sounds like too much, you can be lazy and put the chocolate and everything else in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for 30 second intervals until it’s melted. It’s up to you.
Whichever way you go, put the chopped chocolate, butter and cocoa powder in a bowl and melt it until it’s smooth. Take it off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes until you can touch it and it doesn’t feel hot. Warm is ok. We’re going to add eggs to this, and I don’t think you want chocolate scrambled eggs.
Once it’s cooled down, whisk in the sugar, the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla extract. When that’s all incorporated, stir in the flour and the salt but slowly.
Not because it’s flour and you can make a mess. I really don’t care if you make a mess or not, I’m not going to clean it up. No, stir slowly because you don’t want to over mix it. This is the reason why you always make brownies by hand and never with a stand or hand mixer. If you over mix the flour, you’ll create gluten. And gluten is not something you want in your brownies. They’ll come out cake-like and will be dry and flat as oppose to crumbly and soft.
When you stir in the flour, do it slowly, and stop stirring as soon as you see all of the flour incorporated.
Pour half, yes, half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it out, do whatever you have to do. It’ll look like it’s too thin of a layer, and you’ll question yourself up and down, but trust me, it’s fine. Just make sure it’s evenly spread out. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes.
While that’s baking, let’s work on the bane of my existence: the caramel filling.
Unwrap every single one of the tiny caramel squares. The annoyingly tedious, seemingly never ending, caramel squares.
Put them into a sauce pan with the heavy cream and put them on medium heat. Stir occasionally until you have a nice smooth caramel sauce.
If my wife wasn’t pregnant, I totally would’ve spiced this up with some Baileys Irish Cream. I don’t drink, but I know a few things. And one of those things is how happy-happy Baileys gets with caramel. Boy, oh boy…
Judging by how long it takes you to unwrap those hellish little squares, by the time the caramel sauce is done the brownie is probably out of the oven and cooled by now.
Whatever the case, let it cool for 20 minutes or so when it does come out.
Once the brownie and sauce are ready, commence the sensual bonding and getting-it-on music…
Something I forgot to do in all of my excitement at this point, was to salt the caramel. So if you dig salted caramel, go for it. A little sprinkling with a sea salt should do the trick.
Once the caramel is poured on the brownie, take the other half of the batter and slowly and carefully pour it on the caramel. The batter got a little stiff on me after sitting there for so long, so I put it in the microwave for 10 seconds and it was fine.
Do the same you did for the first layer. Once it’s all in the pan, just spread it out until everything is evenly covered. It might be a little more difficult with the caramel there, but if you poured it around enough, it should be easy to just push a little around to the open areas. Again, it’s going to feel like you don’t have enough, but if you were good at splitting the batter in half, then you have nothing to worry about.
Leo and Mikey approve.
Bake for another 15 minutes.
When it’s done, let it cool completely before you cut it.
You can take it out of the pan using the foil, and just put it on a cooling rack, foil and all, till it cools. But just don’t cut it for at least an hour or two. Why? You just baked caramel sauce at 350°. You might as well have lava in that brownie.
When it’s ready, cut it up and watch it bleed like the heathen it is.
While writing this, I kept thinking on how I was taken aback by the river of caramel that flows in your mouth with each bite. I thought of how I can enjoy these after making them. And it hit me: Put one in a bowl, microwave for like 30 seconds and then plop a couple of scoops of ice cream on there with some chopped nuts…. I think I’d be able to handle that quite well.
Reading Time: 5minutesIf I knew I would live after the fact, I would have no problems injecting Alfredo sauce into my veins. It’s easily one of my favorite sauces and I think a lot of it has to do with my unhealthy obsession with parmesan cheese. Seriously, …Read More….
Reading Time: 6minutesSorry. I know you guys have probably been snowed in and made prisoners in your own homes by the below freezing temperatures hitting most of the nation. Just sitting there bundled under mountains of blankets waiting for me to update my blog with another soul …Read More….
It was a long time ago, but yes, I did win first place in a Chili cook-off. It happened, and for a moment, something I made was considered to be best in the world. It’s a great feeling and something that I hold dear to my heart since at the time, I was basically at the beginning of my cooking career. That young, I honestly had no idea what I was really doing. I walked in and just signed up for the competition because I wasn’t doing anything that day. I still remember the words the Judge spoke before it started. As if no one else was there, he stood in the middle of the room, stared right at me, and he said:
“…Make the best Chili in the world. Or I’ll eat your soul.”
(it might have been “And I’ll eat the bowl” but I could be wrong.)
So I looked around, then back at him, and then I said:
“…Okay.”.
And I made the first thing that came to my head, and it just so happened to be the best Chili in the world, it was the best Chili in the world. Considering how clueless I was with cooking, I knew putting stuff together was as easy as 1 and 1 making 2 and 2 and 1 making 3… It was destiny.
I just grabbed ingredients here, spices there, a dash of this, a splash of that, I would taste it and then add and adjust with whatever I saw fit. I liked what I made but I didn’t think it was good enough for anyone else.
Needless to say, the Judge was stunned. A lip smack and an empty bowl, and the Judge was done. He asked me with the last spoonful in his mouth, “Be you Angel?”. And I said, “Nay. I am but a Chef.”
Unfortunately, because of my careless nature back then and not really keeping track of anything, I have no record of what I actually put in the pot. Which is terrible, especially now since I have this food blog and I could have shared the actual recipe with everyone so the story can ring true.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a great, lick-your-bowl kinda Chili that you will want to make as often as you can. But I have to warn you….
This is not the greatest Chili in the world. No, this is just a tribute. I couldn’t remember the greatest Chili in the world. No, this is a tribute to the greatest Chili in the world.
The Greatest and Best Chili in the World ….Tribute
1 package ~ Bacon 2 pounds ~ Stew Meat 2 pounds ~ Ground Beef 2 each ~ Onions, medium, diced 1 each ~ Green Bell Pepper, diced 1 each, plus teaspoon of sauce ~ Chipolte Pepper in Adobo Sauce 2 tablespoons ~ Garlic, chopped 2 1/2 tablespoons ~ Chili Powder 1 tablespoon ~ Cumin Powder 1 tablespoon ~ Dried Thyme 1 tablespoon ~ Garlic Powder 1/4 teaspoon ~ Red Pepper Flakes 2 each ~ 14 oz cans Low Sodium Beef Broth 2 each ~ 28 oz cans Tomato Puree 1 each ~ 4 oz can Tomato Paste To Taste ~ Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Cumin Powder
Notes:
By now you’ve probably noticed the lack of beans in my Chili. There’s very complicated mathematical and scientific equations leading to answers as to why there are no beans, but the short form is that I just don’t like them. Problem with that? You can begin filling out a complaint form by clicking on the “X” in the top right corner of the screen.
Guess what? All you’ll need is a nice big pot. Don’t even have to turn the oven on. I love me some one pot cooking, it’s cleanups BFF.
For 2 people, this is going to give you enough Chili for a few nights. And remember, it’s always better the day after making it.
I’ve happily used ground turkey instead of ground beef before.
If you’re wondering what in the blue hell a Chipolte Pepper in Adobo Sauce is, I don’t blame you. It comes in a can that looks exactly like this and you can find it in the ethnic aisle of your favorite supermarket most likely next to the canned jalapeños. It’s my secret ingredient (shhh, don’t tell anyone) and basically what’s going to kick up the heat in the Chili. Which is exactly why I tell you to only use one along with about a teaspoon of the adobo sauce. I buy the smallest can which contains about 5 or 6 peppers. What you do with the rest of the peppers is your business, but if you use more than one in the Chili, don’t blame me if your garbage chute catches fire.
I’ve made this Chili without the chipolte pepper, and while it did taste like something was missing for me, it didn’t take away from how good it still was. So if you can’t find it or just don’t want to deal with it, feel free to skip the ethnic aisle and the scary canned pepper in the weird sauce.
No, I still don’t like beans.
You know, I’m always a little sad the first few weeks of January. Holidays come and go so fast I hardly have time to savor them anymore. And as if that’s not enough, to throw salt in the wound, at some point I have to muster up the strength to take down all the Christmas decorations. Because I celebrate Three Kings Day (or Epiphany, January 6th), I get a couple of extra days to depress myself with a present-less tree and half-working yard decorations. But they have to come down eventually. Maybe next season I’ll start putting stuff out around September like the retail stores do.
But anyway, just because the merriness is over, doesn’t mean it’s automatically spring. If you live anywhere that is not Florida, the end of December brings a cold, bitter warning:
Winter is Coming…
And if you’re smart, you’ll heed that warning. Because when you’re at home and you have below freezing temperatures knocking down your doors, you’re going to wish you had some of this stuff in your freezer:
First thing you’re going to want to do is chop up the onions, pepper, garlic, and the one lone chipolte pepper (a decent sized one, don’t be chicken). I don’t like the onions and peppers cut too small. Medium is good for me. You’re going to add all of that at the same time so if you want to put them in the same bowl, go nuts. Next, dice the bacon and check the stew meat to make sure there are no gigantic chunks in there. Try and have all the pieces of stew meat uniform, so if some pieces are bigger than others, cut them in half.
The way we’re going to have to do the meat is in stages. You can’t just throw it all in there and expect it to magically cook. There’s going to be a lot of adding and then draining and then removing and then adding. So have a big bowl ready to hold all the cooked meat in until we’re done.
Turn on the heat to your pot and when it’s hot, put the bacon in. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy, draining the drippings into a bowl as you need to. You want to save the bacon fat because 1) I always find it hard to throw away bacon fat, and mainly 2) Because you’re going to be using that to saute everything else. Once the bacon is done, remove it from the pot and set it aside. And now the obligatory picture of cooked bacon:
Next, add some of the bacon drippings and sear the stew meat. If you notice a lot of liquid in the pan, drain as much as you can in the sink. The meat isn’t going to brown with all that stuff in there. Once the stew meat is done, remove it from the pot and set it aside.
Now, add more of the bacon goodness, and cook the ground beef. Same thing with the liquid, just drain it. Once it’s done and you don’t see anymore red, remove it from the pot and set it aside. You should now have a huge bowl or plate filled with glorious meat.
If you notice not so much bacon as the picture above it, it’s because I may have had some. Quality Control. It’s all about quality control.
It’s all downhill from here. add a splash of bacon juice and saute the vegetables including the chipolte pepper. Something I like to do is add the chili and cumin powder, thyme, garlic and red pepper flakes to the vegetables as they’re cooking. This really brings out the flavors and helps to make a better base for the Chili.
The fun part! Once the vegetables are soft, add all of the meat back into the pot. Add the 2 cans of beef broth and stir it around. You want to let it heat up, and once it boils, add the tomato puree and paste then stir it up again.
And the fun is over. Now you wait. Put the temperature down to a light simmer for a whole hour and a half!Check it out once in a while and stir it around. I leave mine uncovered, but if you find it splashing around everywhere just take a piece of aluminum foil and place it on top of the pot. Don’t crumple it around, just lay it on top.
After an hour and a half taste it. I’m telling you right now, without a doubt or hesitation, you’re going to have to put salt in it. No lie, I put more than a tablespoon in there sometimes. It depends on the beef stock and the tomatoes. but before you put the salt, crack some pepper in there and add about 2 teaspoons more of each the chili and cumin powders. Add the salt by the teaspoon, stir it and then taste it. I have faith that you’ll be able to tell when you’ve seasoned it well enough. Once you’re done seasoning, put it back on the burner and simmer it for another hour and a half! If you’re keeping count at home that’s a total of 3 hours! Wow!!
Oh, relax, it’s only 3 hours. Some chili’s have you simmering it for upwards of 6 or 8 hours. So I don’t want to hear it.
Once the total of 3 hours is done, it’s ready to go! Bowl it up and go to town. Like I said though, a rule of thumb for most all soups but especially Chili… It’s always better the next day. After it’s sat there in the fridge and all the flavors get all happy-nice with each other, it’s freaking great. I love to enjoy a bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and saltine crackers. Add whatever toppings you enjoy. Heck, you can even find a way to add beans in there, just don’t go asking me how to do it. And don’t bother telling me you added them either because I probably won’t like you afterwards. Matter of fact, you’re lucky I’m not deleting this entire post before it’s even published because of the possibility that you may use my recipe to harbor your beans. Yes, I’m serious.
Beans aside, this Chili is awesome and I hope you enjoy it. I’ve been making this recipe for quite a few years now and it is loved by all who try it. I won’t hesitate to say that it’s award worthy even. And that’s peculiar.
Why? Well, the peculiar thing is this my friends:
That Chili I made on that fateful day, it didn’t actually taste anything like this Chili!
*♫* This is just a tribute! You gotta believe me! And I wish you were there, it’s just a matter of opinion! ..Good God ..gotta love it!.. *♫*
Reading Time: 6minutesAlright, I know I said it was going to be a cookie extravaganza, but don’t get mad at me. It’s not the end of the wor… Well… Let me not go there yet. I’ll save a joke for my next post. You know… Just in …Read More….
Reading Time: 6minutesOut of everything I make during the holidays, this has got to be my favorite. I’m a lover of spices and can appreciate the assault on the senses they can do. I think that’s a big reason why I love holiday baking. I get to …Read More….
Still the first week of the month and I already feel like I’m slacking. I have quite a few holiday goodies to throw your way so I really should get on the ball here. I mean, here I am, a cookie fanatic missing out on the cookie making season. If this blog has done anything consistently well, it’s making me ashamed of myself.
What? I said cookie and you stopped caring about everything else I was saying? Yeah, I get like that too. I don’t know if that has anything to do with my love for the holidays, but I’m not one to question such things. Cookies are life’s way of saying, “hey… I like you.” But that’s only on good days. On bad days, life gives you lemons. It’s almost always a cookie when it’s a good day.
So I guess this is my semi-official introduction to my Holiday Cookie Posting Extravaganza! (working title). Semi-official because maybe one day I’ll feel like something other than a cookie and I don’t want to be held accountable for lying to you. If you want all the legal information, it’s in the fine print at the bottom of the page under the copyright information that’s there for decoration since no one really looks at this blog.
This cookie is a showstopper. It’s made its rounds through the blogging world and Pinterest and has found its way into my belly on more than one occasion. I have to thank CanadianDana for introducing me to this behemoth for the first time a few years ago. I have to say, it’s fairly breathtaking if you’ve never seen one. I’m willing to bet that if this is your first time seeing a cookie of this stature, you’re probably still looking at the picture and you’re not even reading this. It’s forgivable and understandable. Imagine how the milk feels! I’d bet this is as close to a ménage à trois that milk is ever going to get…
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies: (adapted from here)
2 sticks ~ Butter 1 cup ~ Brown Sugar 1 cup ~ Sugar 2 each ~ Eggs 1 tablespoon ~ Vanilla Extract 4 cups ~ Flour 1 teaspoon ~ Salt 1 teaspoon ~ Baking Soda 3/4 teaspoon ~ Cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ~ Nutmeg, freshly grated (optional) 1 bag ~ Chocolate Chips At least ~ 12 Oreo Cookies
Notes:
I used the Candy Cane stuffed Oreo’s. Because, you know, it’s Christmas time. I admit, they’re a little weird at first. But after a few bites you’re used to it.
You can use this recipe any time of year with regular Oreo cookies.
Heck, you can use this recipe with anything really. Doesn’t have to be Oreo’s. You can use Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups… Like I also did.
If the dough does not feel workable, add a little more flour. You want to be able to shape it without it sticking to your hands.
If it is sticking to your hands, try washing your hands and drying them. Dry them good because the moisture in your hands could cause the dough to stick to them.
If you’re still having problems, refrigerate the dough for about an hour and give it another go.
The recipe can make about a dozen cookies. But trust me, you don’t need any more than that.
I hope you have room in your kitchen for the biggest cookies you’ve ever made:
Preheat the hotbox to 350.
The first step to making these is probably the most important step in all of cookie making. Don’t get scared, come on, get out from under the table. I’ll break it down for you:
It’s called the Creaming Method. It’s a method with a specific order of putting your ingredients together and for good reason. It gets its name from the first step, which is creaming together the fat (butter or lard) and the sugar. It’s named after this step because it is the most important step. Make sure you cream it right because you’re setting the stage for the rest of the show. When creaming the sugar and fat, you’re incorporating air into the fat, which will essentially be the base for your cookie. So when you bake the cookies, the air you created will act as a leavening agent of sorts, expanding with the heat, and creating a lighter, fluffier cookie.
I might create a separate post just for discussing the Creaming Method soon. It’s that important.
But that’s later. Now we continue this..
Take the butter and sugars and cream in the mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Don’t forget to scrape the edges and the bottom. Once it’s fluffy, add the eggs one at a time as well as the vanilla, while mixing slowly.
The easiest way to do the next part is to take all of the dry ingredients and put them into one bowl. Then add a third of the dry ingredients and slowly turn on the mixer until it is just combined. Turn it off and repeat 2 more times until the dry ingredients are gone. Finally, add the chocolate chips and mix them in until they’re well incorporated.
Now the fun part!
Spray a parchment lined cookie sheet. Then take an Oreo cookie and place a spoonful of the cookie dough on the bottom and another spoonful on the top.
Now with your hands, mold and press the dough around the Oreo till you form a general cookie shape. You want it completely covered so if you feel like you need a little more dough then add some on the spots where needed.
In case you’re wondering.. Yes, it is a lot of dough
Once they’re made, put them on the cookie sheet at least 1 inch apart, 1 1/2 to be safe. Put them in the oven for about 10 minutes. I say “about” because everyone’s oven is different. My batch actually stayed in for around 15 minutes. They’re done when the edges and bottom are a nice golden brown. So keep an eye on them.
And that’s about it.
I’d like to take this time to state once again that these cookies are freaking huge. I have fairly big hands and i can’t wrap my fingers around one. So please, be very careful if you have small children in your home and these are on the counter. If a cookie falls on a child’s head, it could knock the kid out cold.
Oh! I forgot. I did mention that I also made some with Peanut Butter Cups, didn’t I? Well yeah… Just do everything I said, but instead of Oreo’s, use Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and boom!