Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Prepared Pantry Article

How to Make Turtle Brownies
By Dennis Weaver

Convert Ordinary Brownies Into
Extraordinary Brownies.
Includes directions for cutting fancy brownies
These are so good.  We call them turtle brownies.  Take fudgy brownies and smother them with caramel frosting and fudge frosting.  Sprinkle them with pecans.  The chocolate that you see on top, that’s curls of chocolate.  You can make those with a knife or vegetable peeler and a bar of chocolate.  We also sell chocolate curls premade and in tubs.
Both our Uncle Bob’s and New York Brownies are made with gourmet Ramstadt Breda cocoa.  With better chocolate, they’re better than what you get in the store.  Uncle Bob’s is fudgier and the New York Brownies are more cake-like.
But what really makes these brownies is the frosting.  This is the best ready-to-use frosting I’ve ever found.  The caramel is made with caramel, almost melted caramel, and chocolate is almost like fudge.  It’s stiff enough to pipe but a few seconds in the microwave and it’s pliable enough to spread.  It’s a very glossy, attractive frosting.
Cover the brownies with caramel and then drizzle swaths of chocolate over the caramel or reverse it and cover the cake with chocolate and drizzle it with caramel  I’ve got a one-inch wide spatula that I use to spread wide swaths of the contrasting frosting.
We get this frosting from a wholesaler that sells to fine bakeries and restaurants so you know this has to be good.  If you don’t find it fantastic, we’ll give you your money back.
For the best presentation, use parchment paper and a cutting board.
To make fancy brownies, line the pans with parchment paper and slice them on a cutting board.  (That saves cut marks in your expensive bake ware too.)
  1. Spread shortening across the bottom of the pan and up the side.
  2. Press a sheet of parchment paper into the pan.  Press the paper into the creases and corners folding the paper so that it stays in the corners and doesn’t protrude into the batter.  The shortening will hold it in place.
  3. Put the batter in the pan and bake.
  4. After baking, wait about five minutes and lift the brownie cake from the pan by grasping the edges of the paper.  Place the cake on a cooling rack.

  1. Sandwich the brownie cake between two large cooling racks.  Hold the two racks together and invert the cake so that the parchment paper is facing up.  Peel off the parchment paper so that the cake can cool.
  2. Put the rack back on the cake and re-invert it.
  3. After the cake has cooled, slide it to a cutting board.  Trim the edges with a serrated knife so that you will have uniform brownies.  (The kids will love the cut edges.)  Use a ruler and the point of a knife to measure and mark for cutting.  Cut the brownies into uniform pieces.
A clean, slightly damp blade will slide better through the cake.  Keep a warm, damp cloth handy and wipe the blade between cuts.
If your brownies are gooey (and those are the kind that we like), put the brownies in the freezer for an hour before cutting.  A partially frozen cake is easier to slice.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Carrot Pesto Quesadillas


My diet is better but my running has gone south.  In my last post I mentioned going on a 12 mile run.  It turned into a 9.5 mile run.  I kind of just fell apart at 8 miles. I took this weekend off from long runs and next weekend will try 12 again (I still got in three short runs over the weekend).  Running is such a mind game!  I was out of GU on that run and I really underestimated how much I probably needed it.  So yesterday I went a little crazy and bought like $50 worth of GU. I think I learn something new every time I attempt a run longer than 7 miles.

Now that I am back into my low calorie/weight loss phase (It’s not really a phase; it’s really a lifestyle I sometimes take breaks from) I made and ate the following pesto over the weekend. It turned out great so I pretty much slathered it on everything throughout the weekend! Looks like I am back into the groove and hopefully it will show tomorrow morning on the scale!





Carrot Pesto Quesadillas

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp. carrot pesto (see recipe below)
-1 whole wheat tortilla
-1 oz. mozzarella (shredded)
-leaves torn from 1 Brussels Sprout

Smear pesto over ½ of the tortilla.  Sprinkle cheese and leaves on top of pesto. Fold tortilla over (in half).  Coat a grill pan with cooking spray.  Grill quesadilla on medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cheese is melted and tortilla is crisp.  EAT!!!

Carrot Pesto

Ingredients:

-1lb. carrots (peeled and rough chopped, I used baby carrots)
-3.5 oz. pistachios (shelled, roasted, and salted)
-4 oz. Manchego (rough chopped for the processor)
-2 cloves fresh garlic (peeled)
-1 Tbsp. tomato paste
-red pepper flakes (pinch)
-1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
-S & P

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until you reach your desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Use in quesadillas, on a sandwich, as a dip, or tossed with your favorite pasta.


pes·to
[ péstō ]
1. basil sauce: a sauce or paste made by crushing together basil leaves, pine nuts, oil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic.
2. flavorful paste: a puréed or finely minced paste of herbs and vegetables, tomatoes, or olives, used as pasta sauce, bread spread, or in cooking

que·sa·dil·la
[ kày sə deeyə ]
  1. grilled filled tortilla: a tortilla filled with cheese and other ingredients and grilled


I had to make sure I was OK calling this a pesto 
quesadilla.

 Definitions courtesy of Bing Dictionary.

You might think my carrot pesto is unique, but it’s not.  People have whipped up pesto out of just about every edible vegetable imaginable.  Here are some cases in point:



I think you get the idea…..

Next time I make this I will cut the recipe in half.  I am going to be eating carrot pesto for days!  This is OK because it turned out great. But, I get bored easily unless I am eating chocolate and peanut butter.  I could probably go for years eating that glorious combination for every meal.

Because of the pistachios and Manchego I figure there is probably ~100 calories in 2 Tbsp. of this pesto.  I think I am being ultra-conservative with that number.  And it is still way less calories than if I would have added ¼ to ½ cup of olive oil, and I even so get probably 90% of the flavor. With the tortilla, the pesto, the mozzarella, and the Brussels Sprout I bet I was less than 300 calories with one of these quesadillas.  More like 280.  Last night I threw the quesadilla on top of a tossed green salad and that was dinner.