brownies, take II for this blog

Today I made this recipe:
http://www.scharffenberger.com/re0103.asp
with some modifications. They were good (with those ingredients, it would be hard not to be) but still don't have the elusive flakey top that I like on brownies. They were pretty cakey, not fudgey.

4 ounces SCHARFFEN BERGER 99% Cacao unsweetened Chocolate (2 scored sections) 2/3 cup butter 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups unsifted flour (less flour for moister brownie) *I used about 1 1/2 c. 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt chocolate and butter over low heat in a large heavy dutch oven. Remove from heat and mix in sugar with wooden spoon. Crack eggs into pot, add vanilla, and mix (dirtying a whisk is optional). Gently lay the flour, salt, and baking powder on top of the gooey chocolate mixture. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder with a fork without digging into the chocolate. Mix flour, salt and banking powder in separate bowl. Pour into chocolate mixture. Grab your wooden spoon and stir everything together just until all flour is incorporated. Do not overbeat. Pour into greased 9" x 12" (or 8" x 12") pan. Bake for 25 minutes (check at 20). Brownies are done when toothpick comes out pretty clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then cut into 2 " squares. Makes 24 brownies.

I baked almost exactly 25 minutes.

yellow split pea soup

Like most things here - nothing special, but I like to remember the amounts I used.

1 lb of yellow split peas, soaked (for about 24 hours because I kept forgetting to deal with them)
handful of pearled barley
1 large onion
2 carrots
3 stalks of celery
4 cloves of garlic
~1 tbs of thyme
salt
chardonnay (to deglaze pan)

I sauteed the onions, carrots and celery with thyme and liberal sprinkles of salt for maybe 10-15 minutes. Dumped them into the crockpot, which had been slowly heating up (on high) with the split peas and the water they'd soaked in. Dumped in the handful of barley and the chopped garlic. Deglazed the frying pan with chardonnay, dumped that in the crockpot, left it on high for about 4 hours. It could go longer, probably.

Has a reasonable amount of flavor.

lentil/pea/potato curry

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 onions—finely chopped

2 cloves garlic—minced (crushed)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 large potato—peeled and cut into bite-size cubes

½ cup red lentils

14 oz (420g) canned tomatoes—chopped

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup green peas

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the potato and lentils and stir to coat with the spice mixture. ADD the tomatoes, coconut milk, stock, garam masala, salt and sugar, bring to the boil and cover with a lid. REDUCE the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. WHILE the curry simmers, cook the rice. ADD the peas to the curry and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. REMOVE from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lemon juice. SERVE on a bed of rice.
I made this tonight, but
a) omitted cilantro because it's icky
b) definitely started the rice before I made everything else (because brown is the way to go)
c) used extra ginger and garlic
d) accidentally spilled a bit of the canned coconut milk I was using

http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_lentil_curry.htm

lentil spaghetti sauce

I found it here but it's a recipe I'd used before and lost. I used to eat it over pasta or rice but lately I just eat it plain like a stew, which is also good.  I'm adjusting it to what I've actually been doing:

1 bag (16oz) dried lentils 
oil
3/4 cup chopped onion (or more)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon dried whole basil (or more)
1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano (or more)
**I do not add any salt while cooking and rarely end up needing it, because most bouillon and most canned tomatoes have salt. 

Sort/pick over lentils to remove any debris or stones. Rinse them if you're feeling ambitious. Put them in a 3 quart pot with a few extra inches of water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, put lid on, cook til soft-ish (anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.) If they're getting dry add more water. It's not rocket science but I try not to end up with a huge amount of water when they're done, just enough that they stay covered.

Meanwhile: Chop onions and garlic. Put a few tsp of oil in a heavy pot (mine is 4 1/2 quarts), turn on heat to medium, let it heat up. Add onion and garlic and red pepper and oregano; saute until tender.  Add tomatoes, vinegar, and bouillon and simmer over low heat. Once lentils are mostly soft, dump them into the pot, add dried basil, stir well, and let it cook on a very low flame for a bit to help the flavors meld. (It can burn/stick more easily at this stage so watch out.) This tends to taste better after it's sat for a few hours or the next day - it's good as leftovers and good to freeze.

variation on lentil-rice casserole

I made a modified version of "Herbed Lentils and Rice" yesterday that turned out OK. I made it on the stovetop, in a probably 6-quart pot, using close to two cups of brown rice, two cups of lentils, and one large onion (which I did not sautee first.) I'm not sure how much water I used--probably close to 8 cups. I cooked it on the stove with the cover on until the rice was done - probably at least 45 minutes - and I didn't put the cheese in at all. Instead, I've been microwaving individual bowls of it with slices of cheese on top, and mixing the melted cheese into the rice and lentils before eating. And I subbed Mozzarella for Swiss because that's what I had. It's not great without cheese, but with the cheese, it's pretty tasty. And the whole thing made about 12 cups' worth.

Middle Eastern Chickpeas with Spinach

from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Sauce:
2/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tsp chopped fresh mint (I omitted)
dash of salt

Beans:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin (I used 2 tsp)
pinch of saffron (I omitted)
1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas, with liquid reserved (16 oz can) (I used close to two cups that I cooked myself)
10 oz fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, coarsely chopped (I used prewashed baby spinach, which should still be chopped)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Combine the yogurt, garlic, mint and salt in a bowl and set aside to blend the flavors.

In a large skillet [or heavy-bottomed pot], saute the onions in the oil on medium heat until softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, coriander, cumin, and saffrom, and continue to saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the chickpeas and 1/4 cup of their liquid and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the peppers are just tender, adding more of the reserved liquid if necessary. Add the spinach and cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, until the spinach is bright and wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and add salt and pepper.

Serve immediately over orzo, topped with the yogurt sauce.

notes:
I omitted the saffron (expensive) and mint(didn't have any) and basically doubled the cumin. It's not very flavorful, it seems. Maybe omitting a few threads of saffron and some mint was a big deal. Maybe it needed more salt, since I used dried beans cooked from scratch instead of canned (which have added salt). More yogurt sauce (and less liquid) might help; the tanginess of the yogurt was a high point. Baby spinach should still be chopped. I didn't eat it over a grain as they suggest. I don't think it has enough flavor to carry bland rice or orzo anyway. Maybe pita on the side would work, though.

Pinto Beans

Lately I've been eating a lot of pinto beans. They're cheap and I've realized they're a lot tastier than I thought, even with relatively little added to them. They also tend to make this nice goopy "gravy" which is pretty tasty and makes a bowl of pinto beans into a more cohesive dish (as opposed to just a bowl of beans.)

I usually cook one 1-pound bag of dried pintos at a time:

Sort and rinse 1 pound of dried pinto beans. Dump them in a large pot. (6 quarts?) Cover generously with water. Put the lid on and bring to a boil, watching carefully to make sure it doesn't overflow. Let it boil with the lid on for a minute or two, then turn off the heat. Let sit for at least an hour. I've been letting it sit for much longer than that.

When you come back and are ready to give the beans your attention again, peel and quarter a medium-large onion and stick that in the pot. Peel and slice 2-3 cloves of garlic and add it in as well. Splash a few drops of oil in the pot to prevent things from boiling up and getting too foamy. (This may or may not help, but I like to think it does.) Turn on the heat again and let it cook on as high a flame as possible without boiling over. I keep the lid on if I can find that magic temperature that's low enough that it won't boil over. Cook forever and ever (probably a bit over an hour?) until the beans are soft, adding a little water from time to time if necessary.

When they're done, add in salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder to taste. I eat them plain, sprinkled with cheese, or in a burrito. Originally I cooked them to mix with salsa, but I discovered they're nice without the salsa too.