Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies

I decided to make these, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, tonight.  And I'm so very, very glad I did.  I originally wanted some brownies with a bit more flare, but Sadie saw this picture and absolutely insisted that we try these.  And we don't regret it.  (And they were really easy to make.)

*  I've added 10 minutes to the cooking time on the original recipe post on Mel's blog.  Ours were still quite liquidey in the middle after 35 minutes.  So we did 45 minutes and they were perfect.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies


INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (8 oz) butter
8 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Alternatively, you may use parchment. These are pretty sticky at first!

Melt butter and chocolate in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the hot chocolate mixture. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.

Whisk in remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. Whisk in salt and cocoa powder, then add flour and stir until it disappears (do not overbeat).

Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature then chill for an hour or more. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, cut into squares.
Makes 1 13×9 inch pan (yield depends on how big you cut your brownies, but they are rich, so small is fine.

Recipe Source: adapted from Cookie Madness

Cherry Coke Jello Salad

I was on the phone with my sister when I was making this the other day, and she laughed.  I asked her what was so funny.  She lives in Buffalo, New York, where there aren't very many Mormons.  Therefore, there isn't very much jello hanging around.  It's this weird phenomenon - where you have Mormons, you're gonna have jello.  She said that, when people she works with over there find out she's a Mormon, they all say stuff about jello to her.  "Oh, so you must make a lot of jello..."  She and this one dude were in a little joking tiff about something or other, and he goes, "So what are you going to do to me - make me some jello?"  I thought it was funny.

This recipe involves my favorite thing in the world - coke.

Cherry Coke Jello Salad

1 (15 oz) can dark bing cherries, cut in half
1 (15 oz) can crushed pineapple
2 (3 oz) packages of cherry jello
1 (12 oz) can coke

Drain juices from the fruit into a large saucepan.  Heat them until they simmer.  Dissolve the jello in the juice, mixing well.  Add cola and fruit, stirring well.  Pour into a pretty large dish - I had to use my casserole dish for this. 

Lasagne

Um, did you know that there really aren't any pretty pictures of lasagne?  Trust me.  I've been out there looking and...nope.  This one is kind of okay looking, but it's misleading, because this guy puts eggplant in his lasagne, and I don't.  So whatever.

I originally got this recipe from an LDS ward compiled cookbook, but I've fiddled with it and changed it a ton.  And here's how we like it.

Lasagne

Meat mixture:
2 pounds Italian sausage or ground beef*
1/2 Tbsp parsley
1/2 Tbsp basil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup freshed, chopped tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

8 ounces lasagne noodles

Cottage cheese mixture:
1 carton of large curd cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly

Brown meat slowly.  Drain the fat off.  Add the rest of the ingredients that are listed under "meat mixture."  Simmer, uncovered, until thick.  Stir occasionally.  Cook noodles in boiling water - follow package instructions for length of time needed.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Combine all of the ingredients in "cottage cheese mixture."  Place 1/3 of the noodles in a 9X13 pan, then 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese slices, and 1/3 of the meat mixture.  Repeat layers.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

*  If you go with the Italian sausage option, get it as mild as you possibly can.  Also, if you go with the Italian sausage, don't add the following three ingredients on the list: parsley, basil, or salt.  It's just wayyy too spicy with the spices in the sausage, plus the ones in the ingredients.  If you get ground beef, definitely add those next three spices.

Cheesesteak Subs

Mel's Kitchen Cafe just hits the spot for me.  All the time.  I looove her recipes.  I made these cheesesteak subs of hers last night and they were easy and really yummy.

Cheesesteak Subs

*Makes about 4 sandwiches (more if you are serving kids and can get away with putting less meat on their sub)
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half moons
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
1 pound deli roast beef, cut into 2-inch strips
Salt and pepper
4 (6-inch) sub rolls, split partially open lengthwise
8 slices provolone cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the broiler in your oven and adjust a rack to the upper-middle position. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter, Add the onion and cook until softened and golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and oregano and cook for a minute, until it smells fragrant. Add the A-1 sauce and the beef, stirring well to coat the beef with the sauce and onion/butter mixture. Cook until the meat is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the sliced rolls on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide the beef mixture among the rolls. Top with the cheese and broil until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes (don’t even take your hand off the oven door handle – stand right there so they don’t burn!). Serve immediately.

Carne Asada Tortas

Oh, yummy, yummy, yummy.  My fam has eaten these for the past three nights, and they are heavenly.  The original recipe has you grill the skirt steak, but my hubby is gone and I'm scared of trying the grill by myself.  I know, dumb.  So I modified it a bit to cook the steak in my crockpot.  If you stay tuned after the recipe, I'll tell you what I did to modify it for crockpot use.

Carne Asada Tortas
Serves 4-6
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
Marinade:
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
Chili Mayonnaise:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
4 to 6 torta rolls, telera rolls, bollitos/bollilos, or french rolls
vegetable cooking spray
Garnish:  fresh salsa, sliced avocado, shredded lettuce

Place skirt steak in large ziploc bag.  In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice, chili powder, oregano, and cumin together; set aside.  Place 1/2 of the onions and citrus fruits on each side of skirt steak in ziploc bag.  Pour orange juice mixture over all. Close the bag and place in a container (in case it leaks) and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours, or overnight.

Chili mayonnaise:  In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, chili powder, and cumin together.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium high.  Slice torta rolls in half, lengthwise.  Spray each side with vegetable cooking spray and place, cut side down, on heated grill.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes, watching very carefully.  Remove from grill and keep warm.  Remove meat from marinade and grill 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until desired degree of doneness.  Remove from grill to a rimmed cutting board and slice across grain of meat into 1/2" strips. Spread each half of torta roll with an equal portion of chili mayonnaise.  Layer a portion of meat on bottom of each roll.  Top with desired garnishes and serve.

*  How to do this in a crockpot - Put the skirt steak in first.  Then cover with all of the marinade ingredients.  Add one cup of water and one beef bouillon cube.  Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

*This recipe was taken from Barbeques - Parties and Potlucks, 2001, California Cookbook Company.

Fruit 'n' Cream Salad

I've had this recipe fooooooooooooorrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr... (What movie?)  I got it from LeAnne, a lady who lived down the street from me when I was growing up.  She's, like, a size 2, but so many of my really yummy, really naughty and caloric recipes come from her.  I'm trying to figure out if she just exercises really, really hard or has good genes.  Probably the genes.  Because I exercise really, really hard, and well....let's just say that I'm not a size 2. :)

Fruit 'n' Cream Salad

16 oz. sour cream
8 oz. cool whip
3 oz. jello (your choice of flavor to match fruit)
4 cups fresh fruit, sliced (or 20 oz. frozen fruit, thawed)

Mix sour cream, Cool Whip, and dry jello until well-blended.  Refrigerate for one hour.  Fold in fresh fruit before eating.

* LeAnne's note:  If using frozen fruit, you may need more dry jello.
* Kar's note:  I haven't ever used this with frozen fruit, so I'm not sure how much more dry jello you'll need.  I'll do some experimenting and update this entry.  ALSO, there have been times that I haven't waited an hour before folding in the fruit, and it's been totally fine.

Ben's Cornbread

I'm not sure where Ben got this recipe, but it is amazing.  Our ward has a chili and cornbread cook-off each fall, and Ben's cornbread won a couple of years ago.  It's moist and soooo delicious.

Ben's Cornbread

Ingredients:

Bread:
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or grapeseed oil, if you have it)
1/4 cup melted butter
2 1/2 cup buttermilk

2 beaten eggs

Cinnamon Honey Butter:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Combine dry ingredients, mix well, and make a well in the center. Set aside.
3.  Beat together eggs, oil, butter, and milk.
4.  Pour into the well.  Stir just until dry bits are moistened.
5.  Pour into a sprayed or lightly buttered 9X13 pan.
6.  Bake 45 minutes.  Cover with foil for the last half hour.
7.  Serve with cinnamon honey butter.

To make up butter:
Combine butter, honey, and cinnamon.  Mix in mixer until light and fluffy.