Koobdooga Book Club
World's Best Brownies
Janice made these for the March 2007 Koobdooga bookclub –
touted as the best brownie in the world… It’s true.
It's not the world's easiest, cheapest or healthiest; it's the world best in
taste!
The recipe comes from The
Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten. Her inspiration came
from the Chocolate Globs in the SoHo Charcuterie Cookbook. In its heyday, the
SoHo Charcuterie was at the cutting edge of New York restaurants. The giant
confection was a blob of chocolate dough filled with chocolate chips and nuts.
For the original recipe,
click.
| Half Batch ½ lb Butter (can reduce to 1 1/4 sticks - vp) 14 oz Semisweet Chocolate 3 oz Dark (80–100%) Chocolate 3 Extra-large Eggs 4 tsp Instant Coffee Powder 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract 1 cup Sugar 1½ tsp Baking Powder ½ tsp Salt 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour 3 Tbsp All-purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups Walnuts Full Batch |
A half batch uses a quarter-sheet
baking pan (about 9x13-inches) and makes 48 1½x1½-inch brownies. A full batch uses a half-sheet baking pan (about 13x18 inches) and makes 54 2x2-inch brownies. Pre-heat oven to 350°. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or butter and flour the baking sheet (quarter sheet baking pan for a Half Batch or a half sheet baking pan for a Full Batch). If the chocolate is in bars, chop into smaller pieces, about the size of chocolate chips. Set aside half of the semisweet chocolate for use later. Slowly melt the chocolates and the butter until just soft. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature. In a medium bowl, stir together all but 3 tablespoons of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add (or 1/4 cup for a full batch) to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and the remainder of the chopped semisweet chocolate in a medium bowl with 3 tablespoons (or 1/4 cup for full batch) flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour onto the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate. Notes: |
— Janice
Blessed are the Cheesemakers
| Small farm cheeses are a passion with me. Washington state is blessed with many ways: amazing summers, beautiful mountains and forests, rugged coastlines, wineries and some the best small farm cheesemakers. | |
Valerie's Cheeseoluscious List. (click) |
|
| For the Blessed are the Chessemakers bookclub meeting we sampled a selection of Washington Cheeses. We consistently liked the the cheeses from the women run dairies. Our favorites: Estrella Family Creamery: Domino and Morbier, Black Sheep Creamery: Mopsy's Best, Sally Jackson Guernsey in Chestnut Leaves. | |
| Washington State Cheeses we had for our Blessed are the Cheesemakers bookclub meeting: |
The Cheese Sheet (click) |
— Valerie
Koobdooga Kooler
The Koobdooga Book Club signature drink. Created by Valerie for her Kool Koobdooga friends.
| Odwalla Lemonade or Limeade Raspberry Sorbet Gray Goose Vodka or Black Seal Rum (Sarah's choice) Lemon or Lime or Orange Wedge Cosmopolitan Rimming Sugar (from Nantucket Off-shore Seasoning) |
Select a glass sized to your preference,
moisten the edge and dip in the rimming sugar. Add a scoop of raspberry sorbet; again sized for the glass. Add vodka or rum, from none at all up to 1/3 of the glass. Fill with juice. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon, lime or orange. And Enjoy! Also wonderful semi-frozen for 1-2 hours. |
— Valerie
Jolie's Cosmopolitan
Make sure you don't get carried away!
| 2 oz Gray Goose L’orange
Vodka 1 oz Cointreau ¾ oz Lime Juice (about ½ a lime) Splash Cranberry Juice Cocktail Wedge of lime |
Rim a martini glass with course sugar.
In a cocktail shaker containing ice, add all ingredients. Shake 25–50 times. Strain into the glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime. |
— Jolie
Sarah's Grilled Beef with Grapes
From Typhoon!
Portland, Oregon
This is one of chef/owner Bo Kline’s
more nouvelle Thai dishes, a refreshingly simple composition that packs a bold
flavor, thanks to the chile- and garlic-enhanced dressing. The recipe could also
be transformed into something of a steak salad, with the sliced beef served over
an ample bed of greens rather than just a tuft of mesclun alongside for garnish.
Makes 2 servings
| 2 top sirloin steaks (8-10
ounces each) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 cups lightly packed mesclun greens 1 cup halved green and/or red seedless grapes Dressing: |
For the dressing, whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, and chile in a small bowl. Set aside. Preheat an outdoor grill. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, rub the grill rack lightly with oil, and grill the steaks, 3 to 4 minutes per side for rare, or longer to suit your taste. Put the steaks on a cutting board and let sit, cover with foil, for 5 minutes. Slice the steaks thinly against the grain with a sharp knife and arrange on a serving platter or individual plates. Add a mound of the mesclun greens to one side and drizzle the dressing over the greens and the beef. Scatter the grapes over the beef and serve right away. |
— Sarah
Lucy's Butternut Squash Soup
| 4 tablespoon sweet butter 2 cups finely chopped yellow onions 4 to 5 teaspoons curry powder 2 medium-size butternut squash (about 3 lbs.) 2 apples peeled, cored and chopped 3 cups chicken stock 1 cup apple juice 1 shredded unpeeled Granny Smith apple (optional for garnish) sour cream (optional for garnish) |
1. Melt the butter in a pot.
Add chopped onions and curry powder and cook, covered, over low heat until
onions are tender, about 25 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, peel the squash (a regular vegetable peeler works best), scrape out the seeds and chop the flesh. 3. When the onions are tender, pour in the stock, add squash and apples, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until squash and apples are very tender, about 25 minutes. 4. Use a hand-held blender and blend right in the pot. (Or you can puree in a food processor, but this can be very messy and time consuming.) 5. Add apple juice and check for the desired consistency. 6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, simmer briefly to heat through, serve immediately, garnish with shredded apple or sour cream. |
— Lucy
Sarah's Herb Bread
(From The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German.)
A very spicy bread to perk up a meal. Good with chicken or fish.
Served at the
| 1 1/8 cups water 1 egg 2 tbs. margarine 1/2 tsp. salt 1 1/2 tbs. sugar 1/2 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. thyme 1/2 tsp. black pepper 1/2 tsp. dried parsley 1/8 tsp. celery seed 1/8 tsp. sage 1/4 cup wheat germ 1/4 cup oats 3 cups bread flour 2 tsp. yeast |
This recipe is for the medium-sized bread
machine: 1 to 1 1/2 pound loaves.
Place all ingredients in the bread machine in the order given. (NOTE: If your machine uses a different size, let me know and I'll give you the larger/smaller amounts.) |
— Sarah
Sarah's Zuppi di Peperoni Gialli (Yellow Pepper Soup)
(for about 6)
From Verdura by Viana laPlace
| 1 medium onion, peeled, chopped 1 carrot, peeled, chopped 1 celery stalk, peeled, chopped 1 lb of potatoes (Yukon gold, red russets, etc), peeled and thinly sliced 3-4 yellow peppers, roughly chopped 1c chicken/vegetable stock (optional) 4c water olive oil grated parmesan cheese |
Sauté (over medium heat) onion, carrot and
celery with a light coating of olive oil for about 15 minutes. Add the
potatoes, peppers, stock and water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a
gentle simmer/bubble, mostly cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Use a hand (immersion) blender or a food mill (ask at a cooking store) to almost puree the soup. "Pureed" is probably a bit too fine; a food mill will process the veggies into tiny pieces without pureeing. Salt and pepper to taste (more pepper!). Can serve room temperature to hot. When serving, drizzle some olive oil over the soup, and sprinkle with cheese. |
— Sarah
Cocoa Syrup
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show:
Good Eats Episode:
Art of Darkness II: Cocoa
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 5 cups
| 1 1/2 c water 3 c sugar 1 1/2 c Dutch-processed cocoa 1 tbsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp kosher salt 2 tbsp light corn syrup |
In a small pot, bring water and
sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt, and corn syrup. Whisk
until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce until slightly
thickened. Strain and cool to room temperature. Pour into squeeze bottles.
Squeeze into cold milk and stir for delicious chocolate milk or serve on
your favorite ice cream. And, hey, it's fat free! |
— Sarah