TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2021
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
HOME & LIVING
CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIES
So gooey,
so good
Julie Hirschhorn
Miami Herald
There’s an important ques-
tion all dessert lovers must
answer at some point in their
lives: Do you prefer cakey
brownies or fudgy brownies?
For me, the answer is
simple. I want the fudgiest,
gooey-est, most chocolaty
brownies I can get my hands
on. In fact, if it were up to me,
I’d just take a spoon and eat
the batter as is. But the CDC
tells me that’s not exactly safe,
so we’ll go with the second-
best option: Brownies that are
fully baked, but still warm
and gooey.
These brownies were the
very fi rst recipe I learned
how to make. And for a while,
they were the only thing I
made. I’ve since ventured
into making other desserts,
but I always come back to my
brownies.
I have two secrets for this
recipe. The fi rst is adding
semi-sweet chocolate chips
to the batter. It makes the
brownies fudgier and you get
more chocolate, and when
is more chocolate ever a bad
thing? Spoiler alert: It’s never
a bad thing. The second is
replacing half the amount
of butter with unsweetened
applesauce for a healthier
twist. I promise you’ll never
even know it’s there.
I’ll say this: Baking these
brownies is easy. Cutting
them up into neat squares is
the hard part. I recommend
chilling them in the freezer for
about two hours before cutting
with a plastic knife (I know
that sounds weird, but this
trick has changed my life).
Whenever I make these
brownies, I remember my car-
dinal rule of cooking: A recipe
is only as good as the cleanup
process. This recipe only re-
quires a bowl for mixing and a
baking dish. The end result is
gooey brownies and minimal
cleanup. Could you ask for
anything better?
Serve warm with a scoop
of vanilla ice cream for a
One-pot version
of chicken fricassee
Dreamstime/TNS
Gooey, chocolatey fudge brownies.
brownie sundae that’s out of
this world.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE
BROWNIES
Adapted from Ghirardelli’s
Classic Chocolate Brownies
4 ounces semi-sweet
chocolate baking bar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
cut into pieces
Gretchen McKay
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Here’s a quick and light version of a classic French stew,
chicken fricassee. Here I’ve shortened the usual slow cooking
time for the stew, but it captures the essence of the dish’s tra-
ditional flavor. Microwaveable brown rice, which takes only a
minute to microwave, helps make this an easy, one-pot meal.
Shiitake mushrooms and a hint of nutmeg add flavor. Shii-
take mushrooms have a dark brown cap and meaty texture.
They’re available in most markets year-round, but you can
use any type of dried wild mushroom or portobello.
“Beans and greens” in
Pittsburgh usually evokes
the humble dish served at
the city’s old-school red sauce
Italian-American restaurants.
Traditionally made with
cannellini beans and escarole,
it’s an iconic Italian comfort
food best served in a bowl. It
often features hot sausage or
banana peppers as add-ins
and a sprinkle of grated Par-
mesan on top.
Yet the dish doesn’t have to
speak just to southern Italy
to fi ll our appetites and make
us happy. A recipe from the
vegetarian cookbook “Leaf”
by Catherine Phipps puts a
Latin American spin on the
Italian classic.
Pinto beans and chopped
tomato are paired with a
fresh mix of spinach and kale
lightly seasoned with garlic,
cinnamon and cumin seeds. A
charred tomatillo salsa adds a
bright and zesty fi nish.
Don’t be put off by the
many different elements —
each step is easy to make in
its own right, and both the
tortillas and salsa can be
made ahead.
Speaking of which: I don’t
have a tortilla press and
so rolled the dough out by
hand. As my sister noted on
social media (grrrr), they
didn’t come out perfectly
round. Far from it. But even
with their jagged edges, they
tasted great. I just need more
practice.
This recipe makes a fi lling
vegetarian main course, but it
also could be served as a side
with chicken or beef. Serve
the tortillas on the side as
you would bread, or fi ll them
taco-style with the greens and
beans.
I didn’t add any cheese
but shredded cheddar would
totally elevate this dish. You
CHICKEN FRICASSEE
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
1 package microwaveable brown rice to make 1 1/2 cups
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced celery
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fl our
1 cup unsalted chicken broth
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 slices multigrain baguette
Microwave rice according to package instructions. Measure
1 1/2 cups and save remainder for another meal. Set aside.
Remove visible fat from the chicken thighs and cut into 2- to
3-inch pieces. Heat oil in a medium-size nonstick skillet. Add
chicken and brown about 2 minutes. Turn chicken over and
add onion, celery and garlic. Saute 3 minutes. Sprinkle fl our
over the vegetables and chicken and stir until absorbed. Add
chicken broth, red bell peppers, mushrooms and reserved 1 1/2
cups rice. Stir to combine all ingredients. Cook 2 to 3 minutes.
Add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Divide between two
dinner plates and sprinkle tarragon on top. Serve bread on the
side. Yield 2 servings.
also could top the beans and
greens with a fried egg for
extra protein.
PINTO BEANS
AND GREENS
WITH CORIANDER
TORTILLAS
For salsa
10 1/2 ounces tomatillos,
dehusked
2 jalapenos
2 garlic cloves
4 spring onions, trimmed
Juice of 1 lime
Few sprigs of cilantro
Few mint leaves, roughly torn
For tortillas
1 cup all-purpose fl our
1 cup blue or yellow
masa harina
4 tablespoons fi nely
chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 ounces vegetable
shortening, melted
and slightly cooled
For beans and greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of ground cinnamon
14 ounces spring greens,
kale or chard, shredded
8 ounces cooked pinto beans
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
Sea salt
Make salsa: Put tomatil-
Let Your
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Heat a cast-iron frying pan and
when medium hot, cook the
tortillas for a couple of minutes
on each side until they are
dappled brown. They may also
puff up a bit, but will subside
as they cool. Keep warm until
ready to use.
Make beans and greens:
Heat oil in a large lidded frying
pan or Dutch oven. Add red
onions and cook over medium-
high heat until softened and
slightly charred. Add garlic,
cumin seeds and cinnamon,
and cook for a couple more
minutes. Add greens to pan
along with ½ cup water. Press
down in pan then cover.
Cook until greens have just
wilted, about 5 minutes, or 10
minutes for a softer texture.
Stir in beans and tomatoes
and cook just long enough for
everything to be piping hot.
Check for seasoning and ad-
just accordingly. Stir mint into
salsa and serve with tortillas.
Serves 4.
— “Leaf” by Catherine Phipps
(Quadrille Publishing; 2019)
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los, jalapenos, garlic and
spring onions in a frying pan,
preferably cast-iron. Cook
over medium-high heat for 15
minutes, shaking the pan, until
everything is charred. Keep a
close eye and remove garlic
and chilies when they blacken.
Remove from heat. When
cooked, chop fi nely or put in
food processor and pulse to a
chunky puree. Add plenty of
salt and the lime juice, then stir
through the cilantro. Set aside.
Make tortillas: Put fl our, masa
and cilantro in a bowl with the
salt. Pour in shortening, then
2/3 cup tepid water. Mix thor-
oughly — if it’s crumbly, add a
little more water, a few drops at
a time. Keep mixing to a mini-
mum, so you don’t work the
gluten too much. You should
end up with a soft, slightly tacky
dough that will fi rm up more as
the lard/shortening re-solidifi es.
Divide dough into 16 equal
balls and roll out as thinly as
you can, or press in a tortilla
press, making sure the dough
is pressed between plastic
wrap or nonstick baking paper.
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in chocolate chips. Transfer
batter to baking dish, making
sure to lick the spoon clean
every now and then. Bake
the brownies until a toothpick
inserted into the middle comes
with just a few soft crumbs
attached, about 25-30 minutes.
Cool completely, then cut into
9 large squares or 16 small
squares.
Yield: about 16 brownies.
■ This vegetarian version puts a Latin American spin on the traditional Italian classic
Tribune News Service
Shopping List
To buy: 1 package microwaveable brown rice, 3/4 pound
boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1 bunch celery, 1 carton
unsalted chicken broth, 1 red bell pepper, 1 container shiitake
mushrooms, 1 bunch fresh tarragon, 1 bottle ground nutmeg
and 1 multigrain baguette.
Staples: olive oil, onion, garlic, flour, salt and black pep-
percorns.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8-by-8-inch oven-
safe baking dish. In a micro-
wave-safe dish (a 2-cup glass
measuring cup works great for
this), add your chocolate and
butter. Microwave, stirring of-
ten, for 1 to 3 minutes until the
mixture is smooth. In a large
bowl, mix together melted
butter, chocolate, vanilla,
salt, eggs, baking powder,
applesauce, and sugar. Fold
New twist on old ‘beans and greens’
Linda Gassenheimer
Countdown
• Microwave rice and set aside.
• Prepare ingredients.
• Cook the recipe.
1/4 cup canola oil (for a
healthier substitute,
you can swap the oil for
unsweetened applesauce)
1 cup brown sugar, dark
or light, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose fl our
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet
chocolate chips
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LA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL
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BAKER HIGH SCHOOL
To place your order, contact Devi Mathson today!
541-963-3161