Monday, February 14, 2011

brownie and milk, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g: a recipe

Meet my Valentine, my puggle, Bowie!


It's Valentine's Day so it's only fitting that I feature chocolate in this blog post. I attempted a homemade brownie recipe from Allrecipes.com a few days ago that did not pan out even though this particular recipe had over a thousand reviews at 4 1/2 stars out of 5... I blame my lack of baking skills for the result of my brownies. Boooooo!

I was inspired again after walking down the magazine aisle at my local Target and seeing the cover of Bon Appetit's February issue... "Best-Ever Brownies" it says! Well damn, might as well give it a second try...


Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts:
From bon appetite's February 2011 issue by Alice Medrich

Ingredients:
  • nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, chilled
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1 cup walnut pieces tossed in the 1 tablespoon of flour
Directions:

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325 degrees. Line 8x8x2 inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 treaspoon salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.





And you know what? They turned out awesome! Eat with a glass of icy, cold milk... or pair it up with a glass of red if you want to get fancy. Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

coffee & chai... i mean thai

Spent the early afternoon in the U-District the other day and (as always) my first stop was Trabant Coffee & Chai right behind American Apparel on the corner of University Way & 45th. It is my most favorite coffeeshop in Seattle! It began when my little sister, Abby, started going to UW a few years ago... I would make excuses to drop her off while she went to classes just so I could have my coffee and then proceed to do some shopping. I always have my coffee "for here" just so I can look at how pretty the coffee art is as I people watch and thumb through the Stranger. Their coffee and tea is fair trade, nutty, strong, not too sweet, no nasty burnt aftertaste and lip-smacking good. Oh and no need to order a double tall, their 12 oz size automatically comes with a double shot of espresso, gauranteed to make you jittery for a coupla hours. :) For any coffeeshop, I usually order a hazelnut latte, but my new favorite is their omanhene mocha...


Right after, I met up with a friend just 2 blocks down 45th at Araya's Place for lunch. I've always wanted to try this place because I've heard nothing but great things from online reviews to word of mouth. This is a vegetarian Thai restaurant and it was my first time eating at a vegetarian/vegan joint. I love veggies... I love meat even more, but this place did not make me miss meat! They have both a menu and buffet option. We were reluctant to try the buffet only because they usually consist of hours old food swimming in grease. Not at Araya's. When we asked for menus, our waiter persuaded us to take a look at the buffet. Everything looked hot and fresh... so we left our menus in the dust. It was all super tasty!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

one word: pho

I thought I'd start my first post with something I am so in love with... and that's pho. This big bowl of yumminess is something I just can't live without. It's food crack... or maybe it's the MSG... or maybe it's just so damn good! I have it at least once a week... I never go more than 3 weeks without it.

I was 18 yrs old when I had pho for the first time. It looked like a fancy, gourmet version of all those Top Ramen meals I've had as an after school snack. I thought it was going to be awesome, yet it was not. I hated it. The broth was too sweet and it had a curry-like flavor to it. Don't get me wrong, I like sweet and I like curry... just not together. Fast forward 9 yrs later, I was going through beauty school and I happened to be sick with the flu. My classmate said I should go just behind the school to the pho place to have some. I'm thinking, "ehh..." Figuring that my stuffy nose would probably help with not having to taste the sweet, curry flavor. I ordered it, sipped the broth and fell in love. But wait, it wasn't sweet and curry-like! Little did I know that all Vietnamese places make their broth different. I couldn't wait to be well again so I could breathe in the aroma and really taste it! For the rest of my beauty school year, that's all I had for lunch... probably 2-3 times a week. Yes, I was bloated and no, I didn't care. It was yum yum in my tum tum!

I've tried numerous pho places in the greater Seattle area but there is only one that keeps me coming back, and that's Pho Asia Noodle House just on the corner of Everett Mall Way and 7th. Their pho is consistent and sooo delicious. There are a number of pho places that make the broth in the way I don't like and they're quite popular. Just not for me, I guess. I see the pho broth as a blank canvas. I like to choose whether or not to make my broth sweet, so I just like putting the hoisin sauce in a little side dish to dip my meat or veggies in. As for the curry flavor, sorry, not a fan.

Last night for dinner, I ordered the #10 rare steak, brisket and tendon... before and after... and yes, I like it REAL spicy!



Wow... I'm drooling just looking at it...