The menu started with spicy shrimp with a sweet pineapple salsa and it just kept getting better with each subsequent dish. Dinner plates were piled high with salty mojo-marinated pork, sweet plantain and sweet potato mash, spicy black beans and rice and citrusy cabbage slaw. Although the pork is a lengthy (3 day process) the recipe below is well worth the effort.

Oh, and for dessert…coconut custard tart. Yum!

Mojo Marinated Pork Cubano (Lechon Asado)
chow.com
serves 6

For the spice rub:
2 tablespoons whole cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon whole coriander
2 tablespoons dried chile molido
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon paprika
5 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)

For the mojo:
1/2 cup garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup cumin, freshly toasted and ground
1/2 cup coriander, freshly toasted and ground
2 tablespoons jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Scotch bonnet peppers, finely chopped
4 cups canola or vegetable oil
7 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sherry vinegar

For the spice rub:
In a dry sauté pan, toast cumin, peppercorns, and coriander over medium heat for a few minutes until spices just start to smoke. Remove spices immediately from the pan. Grind smoked spices in a spice or coffee grinder. Mix together with remaining ingredients (except pork).

Trim any excess fat off the pork, discard the fat, and cut pork into six pieces. Liberally massage all of the spice rub into pork pieces. Place pork in a large resealable plastic bag or in a glass dish. Cover and leave in the refrigerator 24 hours.

On the second day, make the mojo.

For the mojo:
Combine garlic, cumin, coriander, jalapeños, and Scotch bonnet peppers in a stainless steel bowl.

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil until hot (approximately 175°F). Pour warm oil over spice mixture and let cool to room temperature.

Simmer 2 cups of the orange juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/2 cup. Cool to room temperature.

Combine oil-and-spice mixture, reduced orange juice, remaining 5 cups orange juice, cilantro, and sherry vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth (do this in batches). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add 4 cups of the mojo to pork, cover, and marinate another 24 hours.

On the third day, preheat oven to 300°F and arrange the rack at the bottom. Place pork in a large baking dish or in a large, heavy pot with a tightfitting lid, and add remaining mojo and enough water to cover pork in liquid.

Cover with foil or a tightfitting lid and place in the oven. Cook until pork is fork tender, about 4 to 5 hours. (Check pork periodically and add a little water if the liquid is reducing too quickly.) Serve.

Let’s start at the beginning — Valentine’s Day.

As I’ve written before, Kyle and I have a Valentine’s Day tradition. He cooks….I eat….perfect. This year was no exception and he pulled together a great meal of salad, steak, roasted veggies and…drumroll please….espresso lava cakes!

I repeat – Espresso Lava Cakes. Choooocoooolate!!!!

Speaking of my love for chocolate…

Years ago Kyle went to Switzerland for work. When he returned, I was amazed that he came home without anything for me. I mean, the guy goes to Switzerland and I’m left at home to receive nothing upon his return? I’m not really someone who gets hung up on gifts, but he went to the land of Swiss chocolate and he didn’t even bring me a square???? He claimed he didn’t have time to buy anything (work trip — yadda yadda), and my exact response was…

“Wasn’t there even a chocolate left on the pillow that you could have brought me?”

“I didn’t know you liked chocolate,” he replied. Uh, WHAAAAT? This man, whom I had known for seven years didn’t know that I liked chocolate?

First of all, a broad assumption can be made that most people (I won’t narrow this to just women here) like chocolate. Second, any time I’m asked what flavor I want of something, it’s chocolate — chocolate milkshake, chocolate donut…you get the point. There was also a period of time in my life when I couldn’t pass up a piece of chocolate cake. EVERYwhere I went, I sought out chocolate cake. Simply couldn’t refuse it. Boy do I miss my teenage metabolism…

But to sum it up – I love chocolate.

Note: To give Kyle a little credit — a couple years later he went to Italy and, learning from his prior mistake, came home with some awesome shoes and an avocado green sequined belt for me (that he picked all by himself). If there’s one thing a girl could love more than chocolate, it’s shoes and accessories. All was forgiven.

But to get back to my Valentine’s Day meal. The kid really stepped it up in telling me he loved me this year — and he did it through chocolate. More specifically, he used these chocolate cakes to tell me he loves me best!

While the title seems to imply that the chocolate will flow like lava, it’s really just a moist cake with warm melty pieces of chocolate mixed in. No lava flowing, but the topper of an espresso whipped cream makes up for that oversight. Of course, bonus points were given when Kyle went off-recipe and added a pinch of Espresso Brava Salt that I had in my cupboard to bring an extra oomph! to the dish. Um, can you say YUM?!?

Chocolate Espresso Lava Cakes with Espresso Whipped Cream
Bon Appetit February 2002

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
12 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips (about 4 1/2 ounces)

1 cup chilled whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Sift flour, cocoa powder, 5 teaspoons espresso powder, and baking powder into medium bowl. Place butter in large bowl; add both sugars and whisk until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk in dry ingredients. Divide batter among six 1-cup ovenproof coffee mugs (about 2/3 cup in each). Top each with 2 tablespoons chocolate chips. Gently press chips into batter. Cover and refrigerate mugs at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Combine cream, powdered sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder in medium bowl; whisk until peaks form. Chill up to 1 hour.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Let mugs with batter stand at room temperature 5 minutes. Bake uncovered until cakes are puffed and crusty and tester inserted into center comes out with thick batter attached, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Top hot cakes with espresso whipped cream and serve.

Optional – top with a pinch of Espresso Brava Salt.

My mom loves soup. No matter the restaurant or the menu, she is always curious to know the soup options and, chances are, she will want to order it — especially for lunch.

I, on the other hand, am not as big a fan of soup. No matter how cold the day is or how I’m feeling, I am much more tempted by sandwiches and other entrees, and very rarely consider ordering a soup. Especially not a brothy soup — no thanks!

I wish I was more like my mom. In so many more ways than this, but I do find her love of soup endearing and something I wish I shared. In such cold weather, a big bowl of soup might be just the thing to eat — if only I shared her love of soup.

There is, however, one soup that we both love — Mushroom Artichoke Soup. And if you tried it, I bet you would, too.

The recipe comes from a cooking school back in my hometown. My mom got the recipe while attending a class there and she passed it on to my sister and me. Now it’s a staple in all our households. In fact, I’ve made it at least five times just this winter! That’s saying something for someone who doesn’t love soup!

It’s such a simple recipe, using fresh yummy ingredients. You start the soup by sauteeing shallots and diced carrots. I like my carrots to be thicker dice (but not chunks) so they retain shape and texture throughout cooking. Toss in a bunch of mushrooms until tender, then add in flour, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and broth. Simmer until slightly thickened, then add artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and bay leaf. Simmer and add cream just before serving.

There are some variations you can make by using different mushrooms, adding more broth to thin it out (like my mom and sister like to do), or omitting the cream. I like the recipe the way it is below — light, but creamy and full of bright flavors. It’s easy enough for a quick weeknight dinner and makes enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

Mushroom Artichoke Soup
adapted from From the Field Cooking School recipe
serves 4-6

1 lb sliced mushrooms (any kind – I prefer crimini)
1/2 c shallots, thin slice
2 lg carrot, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1-1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp dried thyme (x2 for fresh)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1-14 oz can broth (I prefer veggie)
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained & quartered
1/8 c sun dried tomatoes, drained & chopped
1 small bay leaf
1/2 c cream (or half & half)

In a large pot sautee shallots and carrots in butter until shallots soften. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are just tender. Stir in flour, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and red pepper. Add broth & cook until slightly thickened. Add artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and bay leaf.

Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Stir in cream and let heat through. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up the bowl.

I wish I could say that I was involved in the rest of the pie-making process but, truth be told, after helping with the idea for the flavor I left town for a few days. When I returned on Sunday (just in time for dinner), she had made a delightfully light Meyer lemon mousse pie with a gingersnap crust.

Someday I’ll actually be in town when she makes the pie and I’ll catch her in the action with my camera (especially to learn how to make her homemade pie crust). Someday…

Lemon Mousse pie
from 500 Pies & Tarts by Rebecca Baugniet

¾ cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks
pinch salt
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
¼ cup water
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
zest of 1 lemon to decorate

Preheat oven to 350. Press gingersnap crust (see below) into 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool to room temp.

Blend the lemon juice, zest, sugar, egg yolks, and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly- not as much as lemon curd. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a large saucepan. Set aside for a few minutes while you fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Add the lemon mixture to the gelatin and cook over medium heat for 3-4minutes, stirring continuously until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour the mixture into a metal bowl and set the bowl in the ice bath. Chill, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 min, until it begins to thicken.

Beat the cream using an electric mixer, adding 1 TBSp confectioners sugar at a time. Gently fold the cream into the lemon mixture, 1/3 cup at a time, until well combined. Pour the filling into the piecrust and refrigerate for 3 hours or until the filling has set. Sprinkle with lemon zest before serving with a dollop of whipped cream.

Ginger crumb crust:
1 c ginger cookie crumbs
¼ c melted unsalted butter
1 TBSP granulated sugar or honey
1 TBSP all purpose flour

Mix in food processor or if you have the crumbs you can mix by hand.

Kate has a passion for baking pies. Her initial inspiration came from the movie Waitress. If you haven’t seen it, in the movie Keri Russell’s character is constantly baking pies. Since watching that movie, Kate is always trying new recipes. She regularly sends me photos (she lives in Atlanta so I have to be satisfied with eye candy only) and tells me about all the pies she’s tried. The photo above is courtesy of Kate.

Since I don’t do much baking, I thought I would share some of her kitchen adventures with you and have Kate guest-blog occasionally. In this post, she references a homemade crust, but we don’t get into it this time. Perhaps we’ll have to touch on that subject in an upcoming post. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Praline Pie

Fall is my favorite time of year to cozy up and bake pies so I was thrilled when Katie asked me to guest blog on her site. I started on this endeavor of learning the art of pie-making a few years ago when my son was born. My sister bought me a used copy of Pie by Ken Haedrich. I never would have imagined the number of pies that I would make from this bible for pie-makers. Haedrich has an amazing approach that makes even the most complex pie feel like something you can master in your own kitchen. The recipes are tried and tested and many of them are even tweaked from the original owner. The real gem of this book, however, comes from the pages and pages of techniques and ingredient secrets.

With my mother-in-law’s birthday approaching, I asked her for her pie request. She immediately said that pumpkin pie was her favorite. So I thought about that and made a few decisions right from the start. 1. I would make it with real sugar pumpkins and 2. I would have to find something that was special…no regular pumpkin pie that you whip up last minute before Thanksgiving.

I opened up my favorite Pie book in search of the perfect pumpkin pie and, I dare say, I might have found it in Diane’s Pumpkin Praline Pie. Haedrich took this particular recipe from a cook and cookbook author in California named Diane Rossen Worthington. In introducing it, he was quick to point out that there are two kinds of pumpkin pie. The kind for pumpkin pie purists “bereft of fanfare and flourishes” and the kind that really wow a crowd because they are so over-the-top. I’m guessing you know which category this pie falls into.

I spent the first day preparing my crust – a basic flaky pie crust that I have made dozens of times and could do in my sleep. Next it was time to learn how to roast my adorable little sugar pumpkins that I picked up from Berry Patch Farms, my local pumpkin patch. It is amazing how simple it is to create fresh pumpkin puree for pie-making. Simply place the clean halves of the pumpkins facing up or down and roast them at 375 degrees with a little water in the bottom of the pan. After 50 minutes you will have soft fleshy pumpkin that is falling from the skin. A good tip is to wait and let it cool before scooping it out.

Day two of the Pumpkin Praline Pie was to roll out my crust and create this beautiful pie. This is really a three part pie, so as someone who loves the art and process of pie – making it is a fun project. It involves pre-baking the crust, baking the pumpkin pie and broiling the praline as the finishing touch. After a long day in the kitchen I sat and looked at my pie hoping that perhaps this pumpkin pie would change my mind about pumpkin pie, which I usually do not prefer…it did not disappoint.

Diane’s Pumpkin Praline Pie
From Pie by Ken Haedrich

1 single pie crust (homemade please!)

Filling
3 large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 ¾ cup fresh pumpkin puree or 15oz of canned puree
¼ cup light cream or half and half
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
3 Tbsp bourbon or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Praline Topping
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp heavy or whipping cream
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Garnish
Fresh Whipped Cream (I added 2 tsp of pumpkin spice for every ½ cup of whipped cream and it was the perfect addition to this pie)

Prepare pastry and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling it out.

Roll out pastry into 13 inch circle on a lightly floured piece of wax paper. Invert over a 9 ½ inch deep dish pie pan. Carefully pull off the wax paper and tuck the pastry into the pan. With your hands form an upstanding ridge. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.

Prebake your pie crust by placing a piece of foil over the crust and tuck it in so that it is a second shell but leave top of foil like wings so that you can easily grab them. Fill the foil with dried beans or pie beads (if you are fancy!) Place in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Slide rack out and remove foil with beans. Prick the crust with a fork all over and twist slightly to enlarge the holes. Lower oven temp to 375 degrees and continue baking 10-12 minutes. The crust might pull a little or bubble. Prick the bubbles with fork and use back of spoon to push the crust gently back to the pie pan. Let cool. Lower oven temp to 350 degree.

Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Using mixer beat on high speed until light and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin, light cream, salt, spices and bourbon. Blend on low speed until evenly mixed. Pour filling into cooled pie shell.

Place pie on center oven rack for 20 minutes. Make sure you rotate the pie 180 degrees then continue to bake 40-45 minutes until filling is set. When done, the perimeter of the pie will have puffed slightly. Also the center will look a little glossy. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Preheat broiler and adjust one of the oven racks so that it is 6-8 inches away from the broiler. Combine all praline toppings and scrape over cooled pie evenly. Place pie on the oven rack and let bake until melted and bubbly. This whole process will take about a minute and you should rotate the pie as it is broiling. Do NOT walk away! Transfer to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh whipped cream (see note above). You can also add some pecan halves for show as a finishing touch on top. Just press into the warm praline.

I first made the Warm Red Cabbage Salad recipe that Emily suggested (recipe is below with my changes). I loved it the first night, served with a roasted Callister Farms chicken (I am continually impressed with how good their chicken is), but the following days the salad just kept getting better. With time to rest in the fridge, the flavors mellowed and blended together – the rosemary became a background pleasure and the balsamic vinegar came out a bit more. For leftovers, I simply heated the salad until warm (not hot) then topped with roasted pumpkin seeds (original recipe called for sunflower seeds) coated in brown sugar and salt, golden raisins and feta. I’ve made this twice now and I can’t get enough of it.

Although the salad made a very large portion, it didn’t even use half of the huge red cabbage from my CSA, so I turned to Susie’s recipe suggestion: Braised Red Cabbage from Wolfgang Puck (via The Food Network website). Another fantastic dish of beautiful red cabbage and apples braised in red wine and orange juice with a cinnamon stick (I was out of nutmeg, so I left it out and it was still fantastic). I served this with a pork shoulder that I made in my crock pot with onion, apples and garlic. Again, as I continued to eat leftovers throughout the week, the flavors continued to blend and it just got better and better. I also heated the pork with the cabbage to infuse some of the flavors into the meat, and that was also quite good. I have more plans for the cabbage leftovers to serve on top of a brat instead of sauerkraut. Note: the original recipe makes an insane amount of braised cabbage. I halved the recipe and it was still a lot of food.

I still have half a head of cabbage in my fridge and I have a feeling the recipe that Mimi linked to for Spicy Soba Noodles with Chicken and Cabbage will be made in the very near future.

A big thanks to my readers who suggested such fabulous recipes!

Warm Red Cabbage Salad
adapted from The Complete Tassajara Cookbook

1/2 cup pepitas
1 teaspoon natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
fine grain sea salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 pound head of red cabbage, quartered and cut into thin ribbons

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
2 ounces golden raisins (or other plump, chopped dried fruit)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Roast the pepitas in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Sprinkle on the sugar, and a couple pinches of salt. Stir until the sugar melts and coats the seeds (your pan will need to be hot enough). Transfer the seeds immediately to a plate so they don’t stick to the pan. Set aside. (You can use roasted salted pepitas for this. If you do, just heat in the dry pan until warm, then continue with the sugar only.)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion for a few minutes with a couple pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic, and the cabbage, and a few more pinches of salt. Stir and cook until the cabbage softens up just a touch. Then stir in the rosemary, most of the raisins, and the vinegar. The cabbage will continue to get more and more tender even after you remove it from the heat, so keep that in mind, and do your best to avoid overcooking it – where it collapses entirely. Fold in half of the feta cheese, most of the pepitas, then taste. Season with more salt if needed. *Serve garnished with the remaining raisins, feta and pepitas.

*I like to make mine ahead of time and refrigerate without the toppings to allow the flavors to blend and mellow. Remove from refrigerator and reheat in microwave until warm (not hot). Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with raisins, feta and pepitas.

Serves 6

Flipping through her The Art of Mexican Cooking cookbook, I was drawn to this shrimp recipe because I love chipotle chiles! Ripened and smoke-dried jalapenos, chipotles bring a smokey heat to dishes that brings depth to the spice, rather than just hot for hot’s sake.

The recipe turned out to be very simple. So simple, in fact that when it came time to add the dry white wine and I realized I didn’t have any to use, I used what was on hand…literally. In my hand was a bottle of Model Especial, so I just poured some in. Perhaps the original version is better, but my version with beer worked out just fine. I served the shrimp over Arroz Verde (green rice), to contrast the deep red chipotle sauce.

The shrimp were just tender and were amped up by the smokey heat of the rich tomato sauce. This sauce is begging to be used in more dishes – I’m thinking enchiladas, huevos rancheros…the possibilities are endless. The onion, although it was a smaller amount than the original recipe called for, added a sweetness that really worked well together. The rice was good, but perhaps I would like it better using cilantro instead of, or in combination with, the parsley. I just don’t like parsley much – but I keep trying!

Camarones Enchipotlados (Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce)
Adapted from The Art of Mexican Cooking
serves 2

1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled and butterflied with tail shell left on
sea salt and pepper to taste
2 T. fresh lime juice
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
3 medium tomatoes, broiled (see below)
2 chiles chipotles in adobo (to taste)
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup beer (or dry white wine)
1/8 tsp. Mexican dried oregano

Season the shrimp with salt, pepper and lime juice. Set aside to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan; add the drained shrimp, reserving any liquid, and sliced onion and fry, shaking the pan and tossing the ingredients for about 3 minutes (shrimp will not be cooked through). Remove shrimp and onion with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In a blender, blend tomatoes, chipotles and their liquid, and garlic to a textured sauce. Reheat the oil, add the sauce and fry over medium-high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, for about 8 minutes. Add the beer, oregano, marinade and salt to taste and cook for another minute. Add the shrimp/onion mixture and cook for about 2 minutes – the shrimp should be just cooked and still crisp.

*Broil tomatoes in a single layer in a pan that is just wide enough to fit them. Allow to boil and blister on one side, then turn and repeat.

Arroz Verde (Green Rice)
Mexico the Beautiful Cookbook
serves 3-4

1 cup long grain white rice
3 oz. fresh spinach
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1 T. chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. oil
3 c. hot water

Soak the rice for 5 minutes in warm water, rinse well and drain.

Rinse the spinach well, place it in a saucepan with no added water, cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender, add the parsley, onion, garlic and 1/4 c. water and puree. Set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet, add rice and saute for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. When the grains begin to separate, remove from the heat and drain off the excess oil. Add the spinach-parsely mixture to the skillet and saute for 2 minutes. Add the hot water and salt to taste. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Roasted-Tomato Sauce, Sausage, Kalamata Olives and Mozzarella: The tomato sauce recipe was just ‘ok’. There is a quicker and much tastier recipe for tomato sauce in the magazine for the Steak Pizzaola. Next time – I’ll use that one. Otherwise, this was a really great combo – yum!

Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Grilled Asparagus and Mozzarella: Although the pesto recipe is really good – you got to love tangy arugula! – you could just as easily use the ramp or citrus pesto recipes that are also in the magazine (this would be an easy way to use up leftovers from previous recipes). We grilled the asparagus for just a minute or two with a brush of olive oil and then piled it on the pizza.

Caramelized-Onion, Rosemary, and Pine Nut Topping with Blue Cheese: This was my favorite pizza. Of course, with caramelized onions and blue cheese, how could you go wrong? The onions were sweet and the blue cheese was salty – perfect combination!

The study researched 18 recipes that have been published in each of the 7 editions of The Joy of Cooking (1936 – 2006) and found that the mean average calorie density has increased 35.2% per serving over the past 70 years through changes in ingredients and larger recommended serving sizes. Interestingly, the recommended serving size and caloric values increased most significantly from the 1997 edition to the 2006 edition. The overall effect? More calories packed into less servings.

This had caught my eye so I decided it was time for an experiment. I set out to the library. The only editions of The Joy of Cooking that I could find there were 1975, 1997 and 2006. I grabbed the latest two editions (as these had the highest calorie jumps) and took a seat. The 2006 edition indexed the “Joy of Cooking Classic Recipes” for me, so I started there. The list contained recipes like Country Captain Chicken (a curry dish…who would have guessed?), Chicken Morengo (a dish that apparently Napoleon loved), Brownies Cockaigne…

Wait…WHAT?!? Brownies? (Internal monologue: Hmmm…I am a little hungry. It’s noon and I haven’t eaten for awhile. This Joy of Cooking stuff is interesting, but brownies…those sound pretty tasty. Maybe I’ll just jot down the recipe quick…”)

Needless to say, I decided to leave research in the hands of the capable physicians who did the study and,a rmed with my brownie recipe, (which incidentally only changed over the years to decrease the vanilla by 1 teaspoon and suggested smaller serving sizes) set home. Not long later and I was tasting these brownies. Let me tell you, they are over-the-top, slap-me-across-the-face good. Chewy, moist, chocolately…and, as their name suggests, an extreme luxury.

Lessons learned – The Annals of Internal Medicine study taught me two things: 1. Trust your own moderation when it comes to monitoring your food intake, recipes are not all that they appear (I’m doing this by giving away most of my brownies…any takers?) and 2. Some luxuries are worth the calories (in moderation, of course).

Brownies Cockaigne
Joy of Cooking 2006

1/2 c. unsalted butter (1 stick)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat. Once completely melted, take it off the burner and cool.

4 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Beat until eggs and salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla while continuing to beat until thick. Switch to a wood spoon or rubber spatula and stir in cooled chocolate until just combined. Stir in flour and chopped nuts

Pour batter into a greased baking pan lined with foil (9×13 pan for chewy brownies and 9×9 pan for cakey brownies) and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

While I was rummaging through my soup recipes, I came across a couple recipes that I made late in the fall. Given the weather, I think right now is a great time to catch up on these comfort soup recipes. The two soups that I want to share are for corn chowder and tomato-cilantro soup.

I’ll start with the corn chowder. I love this corn chowder recipe; it has definitely become of one my stand-bys when I’m in need for something tasty. I use Cascadian Farms frozen organic corn, so it’s easy to keep the ingredients on hand and pull out on a cold day. I like to make mine with large chunks of corn kernels and potato, so it has a hearty texture. In the picture, I actually substituted the chives for cilantro and used white wine instead of sherry, as another variation of the soup. There are more variations to try as well, making it spicy with cayenne pepper added to the onion mixture or throwing in some cooked chicken before serving. Every time I’ve made it slightly different and I’ve loved all the varieties.

The tomato-cilantro soup is a new recipe that I made for the first time this fall. It was from another food blog that I love, Orangette, so I knew it would be tasty! I followed her advice and used Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes and I doubled the amount of fresh lime juice, as I love citric flavors. It was fantastic…a combination of some of my favorite flavors. The link to this recipe is here. I served my soup with homemade tortilla chips and a quick guacamole. Yum!

Corn Chowder
from The Complete Vegetable Book
4 T. butter
1 large onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloved, minced
1/2 cup potato, finely diced
1 1/4 c. milk
6 T. medium sherry
2 1/2 c. vegetable or chicken broth
3 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/3 c. light cream
2 t. lime juice
2 T. snipped chives
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and garlic and fry over gentle heat without coloring it. Add the diced potato and cook for a few minutes. Add the milk, sherry and broth, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add the corn, return to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
When the soup is ready, pour 3/4 of it into a food processor (I do about 1/2) or blender and puree until smooth. Add the puree to the soup remaining in the pan and return to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cream and lime juice, adding a little extra of both if necessary to obtain desired consistency and taste. Heat thoroughly and stir in the chives.