Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies and the Mama-land

I've made these brownies three times since my last blog post.

And yes, I know it’s been awhile. About that…

So much has been going on. Stressful things, fun things, happy things, scary things… The scary/stressful are long gone now, so let’s talk about some of the other stuff.

I went to Mexico to visit my mom and took a total of two, count em, TWO pictures on my iPhone over Mother’s Day. Adam also took one of me at a palapa-covered restaurant to make a third. These are them:

Buenos dias. I'll take two of everything.

How's that for a nice day?

My friend Dan, with a mango and his iPhone.

Guys, I was too busy eating cotija cheese and onion enchiladas, fresh seafood, and carnasa tacos to stop and take pictures. Also, I drank a lot of piña coladas… They were made with fresh pineapple and coconut—how could I not?

Oh I love the motherland for so many reasons. My mama is there, and I love my mama. Everything tastes so darn good. (It’s true. I constantly annoy my friends/hubby with squinty eeehh-I-don’t-think-so faces when they invite me to Mexican restaurants in LA. Most of them will never be good enough. Don’t get me started…) And I LOVE the weather. What can I say? My ancestors worshipped the sun.

And as excited as I was to see my mom and reunite with her cooking, she asked me to bake her something “yaammi-yaammi” before coming to her house.

I am the designated baker in my family, and that is A-OK with me.

So I baked peanut butter brownies because I had made them twice before my trip and they were a SMASH hit with my brother and my friends. And trust me guys, my brother would tell me if something I baked wasn’t top-notch. (And he has.)

Guess where I got this recipe? … Surprise! Betty Crocker, again. Yeah. I have trouble branching out once I’ve found a source of baking recipes I can trust.

Stay tuned for next time when I attempt to replicate my mom’s salsa and her cotija onion enchiladas! (I wish I had a cooking show.) But for now, make these brownies for your mom. Or yourself. My mother, the cooking guru that she is, ran around our beach village sharing them with her neighbors. They even kindly dismissed that hint of an American accent I can’t ever seem to kick, they were so impressed. That should tell you something.

Hasta luego, amigos.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

adapted from Bettycrocker.com

Feel free to substitute all chocolate chips for the peanut butter or butterscotch chips. If you'd like, save a couple extra chips to sprinkle over the top of the brownie batter before baking for a prettier presentation. Also, these brownies need to cool completely before cutting or else they tend to fall apart. Lastly, this recipe doubles very well baked in a 9x13 inch pan. Brownies will be thicker and will require a slightly longer bake time, so keep an eye on them for doneness.

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Jiff brand and doubled Betty's amount of peanut butter successfully)

• 1/3 cup peanut butter chips, or butterscotch chips

• 1/3 cup baking cocoa

• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches. Mix sugars, butter, milk and eggs in medium bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

Divide batter in half (about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons for each half). Stir peanut butter and peanut butter chips into 1 half. Stir cocoa and chocolate chips into remaining half.

Spoon chocolate batter into pan in 8 mounds, checkerboard style. Spoon peanut butter batter between mounds of chocolate batter. Gently swirl through batters with knife for marbled design.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely about 1 hour. For 16 brownies, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.

¡Huaraches! ¡Sopes! ¡Sin grasa! ¡Sin colesterol!

Perhaps you already have an idea what a huarache is from the carne deshebrada post. If you've ever had a sope, you might even have a better shot at guessing what I'm referring to.*

Sope, pictured above

Huarache

The sope (as in, "Too bad my mother didn't wash my mouth out with a soh-peh instead of a bar of soap") and the huarache are actually cousins--both are shaped and fried masa dough topped with an assortment of fillings and sold on street corners across Mexico. (ON STREET CORNERS. And we eat hot dogs in America. We'd lose big time in a street-food competition.) Huaraches, however, are shaped like huaraches, while sopes are shaped like round little boats with raised edges. They both taste especially good with fillings like grilled shrimp, refried beans and crumbled cotija, potato and chorizo, and carne deshebrada en salsa roja.

There is a man in the town where my mom lives who sells "¡HUARACHES! ¡SOPES! ¡SIN COLESTEROL! ¡SIN GRASA!"

That is, "Huaraches! Sopes! Fat free! Cholesterol free!"

Yeah I know. I wish he was telling the truth too... but he's not. (Sorry if this post title totally got your hopes up.) The huaraches and sopes he sells are freshly fried and dripping in melted panela cheese. That dude, by the way (or that güey, depending on where you're from) has been selling those in the same spot since I was a little girl and still looks the same. The colesterol and grasa have apparently made him ageless.

Since huaraches and sopes are so closely related, I went ahead and made both tonight. I decided to keep things simple (and vegetarian) by making refried bean and cotija huaraches and sopes, but feel free to experiment with other fillings like carnitas or carne deshebrada en salsa roja.

Refried Bean Huaraches and Sopes
makes 8 sopes or 8 huaraches
The main difference between sope/ huarache dough and the dough for plain tortillas is the addition of baking powder.

Dough for Huaraches or Sopes:
• 2 cups masa harina
• 1 3/4 cups of water
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• vegetable oil for frying (if you want to be strictly traditional, use lard)

Huarache and Sope Toppings/Fillings:
• grated Panela Cheese or Crumbled Cotija Cheese
• hot refried beans
• pico de gallo or fresh chopped tomatoes
• salsa of your choice
• crema
• guacamole
• shredded lettuce
• Tapatio

For Huaraches:
I made medium sized huaraches tonight--the same as the ones the huarache man in my mom's home-town makes. I have, however, seen huaraches the size of my 7 foot tall brother's feet. As long as you maintain the huarache shape, feel free to experiment with size.

Mix together all dough ingredients, except oil or lard. Knead until thoroughly combined.
Cut dough in half, and divide each dough half into 4 portions. Form each small piece into torpedo shaped logs, about 3 inches long by 1 inch wide. Using the palm of your hand, flatten each log slightly.

Place each log between two pieces of plastic wrap (like we did when we made tortillas) and roll using a rolling pin into ovals, roughly 8 inches long and 4 inches wide.


Cook's Note: Huaraches may be made up to this point up to 2 hours ahead of serving. Store between pieces of wax paper and cover lightly with a damp paper towel in the fridge.

Heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat and add enough shortening or lard to coat the bottom of the pan. Place a huarache in the pan and cook for 1 and a half minutes until the bottom is golden. Flip over, and allow the bottom side to cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until golden. Remove huarache from pan and allow to drain on paper towels.


Top with cheese, pico de gallo, salsa, lettuce, crema, guacamole and hot sauce (if desired). Serve immediately.

For Sopes:
Mix together all dough ingredients, except oil or lard. Knead until thoroughly combined. Cut dough in half, divide each half into 4 portions. Form each piece into small balls.
Flatten each ball into a 3 inch circle using a rolling pin, the bottom of a plate or a tortilla press between 2 pieces of plastic wrap (like we did when we made tortillas). Fold sides up about 3/4 an inch. They don't have to be perfect! Prick the bottom of each sope lightly with a fork.


Heat about 1/4 of an inch of oil in a cast iron skillet to about 350 degrees. Fry sopes about 1 minute on each side, or until lightly crispy and slightly golden.


Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Top with beans cheese, pico de gallo, salsa, lettuce, crema, guacamole and hot sauce (if desired). Serve immediately.




*To what I'm referring. This isn't an English lesson, but it will bother me for the rest of my life if you think I think it's okay to end a sentence with a preposition. I must, however, preserve the colloquial effect of my blog, and I can't do this without occasionally splitting infinitives, using comma splices, forming passive verb sentences (with or without subjects) and ending sentences in prepositions. You understand, right? And you also understand that I have obsessive tendencies that prevent me from letting things like this go, right? Good. I feel a lot better now.

Carne Deshebrada en Salsa Roja

I know that's a mouthful if you don't speak Spanish, so let me break it down. Carne deshebrada en salsa roja simply means shredded beef in red sauce. It isn't especially difficult to make (as most traditional Mexican dishes are not in my opinion) but it does require a lot of time. The recipe calls for a tough cut of meat that stews for hours until it becomes tender and ropey. The cooked beef is then shredded and mixed with a homemade red sauce that might consist of beef stock, onions, garlic and dried california or guajillo chiles. (This is exactly the way my mother makes it.) Depending on where else you may find it in Mexico (and depending on whose native Mexican mother you consult) carne deshebrada might even be served without the red sauce, making it taste more like a spicy, shredded American pot roast.

Think of it as common comfort food. People in Mexico eat carne deshebrada at all times of the day (how's that for a morning hangover cure?) over rice, in sopes, burritos, tacos, on huaraches, or simply with a side of tortillas and beans. I can guarantee you won't ever find a taqueria in Mexico without carne deshebrada on the menu, just as any self-respecting LA taco truck wouldn't be caught dead without this staple either.

Wait, are you still hung up over me saying " on huaraches" (wah-rah-chehs) before? Because if you think that word translates into "leather sandals," you'd be right.

I'm not trying to imply that the beef is so good you can serve it on a leather sandal, although this statement probably isn't untrue (I haven't tried that combo yet to say for sure)... Huaraches in relation to Mexican street food refer to something else entirely.

But that's a whole other story. I'm going to save the huaraches post for next time.

Today, it's all about carne deshebrada--a basic but important Mexican dish that warrants its own post. Learn how to make carne deshebrada en salsa roja and you'll be adding one of the most versatile Mexican recipes to your culinary repertoire.

Carne Deshebrada en Salsa Roja

You will need a food processor or a blender to make the red sauce.

serves 4-6

• 1.5 pounds of flank steak or brisket

• 2 cloves garlic, smashed

• 1 bay leaf

• salt and pepper

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1.5 ounces dried California or guajillo chiles (guajillos are spicier), seeded and stemmed, and soaked in hot water to rehydrate for 20 to 30 minutes

• 1/2 a small onion, roughly chopped

• 1 1/2 cups of beef cooking liquid

• salt and pepper to taste

For the Beef:

In a large pot, add enough water to cover the beef, garlic, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender and ropey.

Drain beef, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid, and place on a large platter. Once the beef is cool enough to touch, use the tines of a fork to shred into small pieces.

Strain reserved cooking liquid and skim fat off the top.

For the Sauce:

Place the rehydrated chiles, garlic, 1/2 onion, and 1 cup of cooking liquid in a food processor or blender until the sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Clean and dry the same pan used to simmer the beef. Heat vegetable oil in pan over medium-high heat and slowly (and carefully!) add red sauce. Simmer about 5 minutes and add the last 1/2 cup of cooking stock. Stir to combine and add shredded beef to sauce. Simmer until beef is heated through.

Chocolate Pudding, but don't tell anyone it's made from tofu

Unless they're like me and think it's awesome that something so delicious could be remotely good for you. But here's the thing, a lot of people (uh like my dad or dad-in-law) would probably complain about this pudding before eating it if they knew its primary ingredient was tofu.

Better just to feed it to them, let them ooh and aah over how yummy it is, and THEN drop the tofu bomb.

Sorry parents. This is what you get for raising your children in California.

This pudding sets to a thick and silky consistency--some say it's more like mousse, but I think it's a little too dense to call it that. Creamy dark chocolate pots? Tofu pudding mousse? Vegan chocolate pudding cups? ... It doesn't matter. Just eat it. It tastes good.


Tofu Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Alton Brown via foodnetwork.com
serves 6
I've seen this recipe done many ways, using the same ratio of chocolate chips to tofu. This happens to be Alton Brown's recipe with a few modifications: I reduced the coffee liqueur from 1/3 cup down to 3 tablespoons (everyone complained last time that the alcohol flavor was overpowering) and made individual pudding cups instead of one entire pie. If you happen to be in a pie mood, feel free to pour this filling into the pie crust of your choice.

• 2 cups good quality chocolate chips--semi-sweet or 60% cocoa, or a mix of both
• 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur
• 1 block silken tofu
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon honey (Note: if you want to make this recipe 100% Vegan, replace honey with 1 tablespoon of refined sugar.)
• fresh fruit and chocolate curls for serving, optional

Place a small metal bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Melt the chocolate and coffee liqueur in the bowl. Stir in vanilla.

Combine the tofu, chocolate mixture, and honey in a blender jar or food processor. Liquefy until smooth.

Pour the filling into 6 4-oz molds and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until the filling is set.

Fideo--Mexican Spaghetti?

Kind of. When I'd ask my mom for spaghetti growing up, this is what I got.



I'm pretty sure I went through half my life eating tons of Mexican dishes without knowing they were distinctly Mexican. Didn't your mom use leftover corned beef to make taquitos? No? Hm. That's weird.

(You should try that, by the way. If there's corned beef leftover in this house on Wednesday, I'll tell you how.)

No matter, though. Let's talk about fideo. It simply means "pasta" in Spanish, and in Mexico it specifically refers to thin spaghetti-like pasta that's toasted and cooked in a very light and fragrant tomato sauce. According to my mother, there is only one way to make Fideo, and that's the right way.

So she probably wouldn't approve that I used chicken stock in place of chicken bouillon cubes in this recipe... I don't know. Those things kind of weird me out so I avoid them when I can. People in Mexico do like their bouillon cubes, though.

If you make this dish, you're in for some home-y (not homie) Mexican goodness. It's a simple meal, but it hits the spot every time.

Fideo
serves 4
My mom would want you to know that adding shredded chicken to this dish makes it Fideo con Pollo, not Fideo... just in case you run into her and she tells you you did it wrong.

• 12 ounces fideo cortado (short fideo), fideo or vermicelli pasta
• 1 can (14 ounces) fire roasted chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 chopped chipotles en adobo, minced (optional)
• 1 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Queso Fresco for serving (suitable substitutes include feta or parmesan)
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken or smoked turkey (optional)

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the noodles and onions, stirring constantly. If using regular fideo or vermicelli pasta, break the noodles up into short (3 inch) peices with a wooden spoon. Continue to fry noodles until most are golden brown in color. (It's okay--some will be dark brown.) Add the garlic.


Add the tomatoes, chipotle, chicken stock, cumin and oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed and noodles are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in chicken or turkey, if using, and continue to cook until heated through.

Serve with crumbed or grated queso fresco.

Espresso Brownies for my favorite law student

One time I shipped Rochelle espresso brownies for her birthday because I figured she's in law school and could use all the extra caffeine she can get.

She cut them up, froze them, and took one to school every morning for breakfast. And when someone asked her if they came from Starbucks she became thoroughly offended and flatly informed them that they were in fact home-made brownies shipped all the way from California!

Rochelle came home yesterday and I drove out to visit her with more espresso brownies. She cut into them immediately... I think we hugged, then she then she ran to the kitchen with the brownies... In fact, I'm not sure she even used a knife she was in such a hurry. Rochelle, did you use your index finger cut these?

Rochelle and I graduating from college

She might have. Which is to say that these brownies are absolutely amazing. Espresso is the perfect accompaniment to chocolate, and in brownie form, the pairing is a total home-run. In fact, I always add espresso powder to my brownies and ganaches if I have it on hand; a little bit of coffee will always intensify the flavor of chocolate without over-powering it.

The original idea for these brownies came from Giada De Laurentiis, who added espresso powder, chocolate chips and a creamy espresso glaze to a boxed brownie. If you choose to make your brownies this way, might I suggest using Ghiradelli chocolate brownie mix? In my own at-home taste tests, I've concluded that these are hands-down the best boxed brownie.

I made these brownies from scratch, however, using my favorite Alton Brown cocoa brownie recipe. They bake up super dense and fudgy, which is exactly the way I think brownies should be.

Espresso Brownies
adapted from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food and Giada De Laurentiis via foodnetwork.com
makes 1 8x8 inch tray of brownies
I like Alton's baking recipes because he includes the option to measure ingredients by weight, making for more precise results. If you have a kitchen scale, by all means, haul it out for this recipe.

• 4 ounces or 1 1/3 cups cocoa powder
• 3.5 ounces or 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 ounce or 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large eggs or 7 ounces
• 1/3 ounce or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 7 ounces or 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 ounces or 1 cup brown sugar
• 8 ounces, 2 sticks or 1 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons hot water

Place an oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 F. Prepare an 8-inch square pan by greasing it with cooking spray.

Sift together 2 tablespoons espresso powder, flour, cocoa and salt.

In an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the eggs at medium speed until light. Add vanilla. Mix in sugars and reduce speed to medium-low, incorporating thoroughly.

Add the butter and the remaining dry ingredients in three alternating doses, starting with the wet and finishing with the dry. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

Cool brownies.

Make icing by dissolving 2 teaspoons of espresso powder in the 2 tablespoons hot water. Whisk in 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature, and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Pour and spread evenly over brownies. Chill in fridge for 15 minutes to set before cutting.

Vanilla Bean Lemon Squares

I made lemon bars because it's practically spring

in Southern California.

It wasn’t spring in London yet. No, it most certainly was not.

So, needless to say, I’m happy to be home. This weather rocks, (I can’t believe I used to be one of those annoying people who complained about Southern CA not having seasons) and I get to cuddle with this guy because he loves me and we’re BFFs.

And I get to use an oven that isn’t the size of a microwave and a microwave that isn’t the size of a shoe box. And I don’t have to worry about screwing up measurement conversions anymore.

I made lemon bars using some ancient Betty Crocker cookbook I found at my in-laws’ house. I *know* I always use Betty Crocker recipes but seriously, it's because she never does me wrong. Besides, our moms used these recipes and their moms used them too--what better proof that they're actually reliable? They also happen to be simple recipes that respond very well to creative interpretation.

For example, I added a vanilla bean to the crust, which only seemed to emphasize it's buttery shortbready goodness. As for the rest of these bars, you can look forward to a crispy, crackly top and a creamy tart lemon filling.

Vanilla Bean Lemon Squares
adapted from Betty Crocker

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ vanilla bean, scraped for seeds
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix flour, butter, vanilla seeds and powdered sugar.

Press in ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches, building up 1/2-inch edges. Bake crust 20 minutes.

Beat granulated sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, baking powder, salt and eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly in center. Cool; dust with powdered sugar. Cut into about 1 1/2-inch squares.