Recipes That Rock: 2008

[maggiethecat]

This recipe is the bastard stepchild of all the reasoned, skilled, hard-won knowledge and artistry of the brilliant posters in the Pastry Forum. I would quail if I weren’t so enchanted by this recipe, and I think it would be a great little after-school snack for kids who are old enough to stir but too young to deal with ovens and flames. The caveat is that although it's hot chocolate fun plain, it’s so much better topped with some ice cream.

The recipe comes from instructables.com, home to tonnes of DIYourselfers like me. (In college I crocheted my own shoelaces. I wish I’d made this up, but it’s true)

Brownie in a Mug

4T Flour

4 T Sugar

2T cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

2T oil (Just fine, but next time I’ll use melted butter)

2T water

Pinch of salt

Dump everything into a mug and mix thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, so you don’t get lumpy bumps of flour in the final result. Stick the mug in the microwave and blast for one minute -- the center should still be slumpy. Top warm mug brownie with ice cream.

No way it’s as good as sex, but hot chocolate brownie in two minutes is sensuous as heck.

Edited December 15, 2008 by maggiethecat (log)

[BigDan]

Looks like I'm buying cocoa tomorrow.

[ilikefood]

Brownie in a Mug

Yes, this does sound excellent. Must try soon...

[maggiethecat]

His Handsomeness and I shared a mug tonight. It's such an odd thing: not baked, not a pudding, really dense. It's a Jetsons' brownie.

I'm thinking a chocolate base for trifle.

Edited December 15, 2008 by maggiethecat (log)

[Mr. Delicious]

OYSTER ROCKEFELLER DIP!

We put this item on our dinner menu in lieu of spinach and artichoke dip. The response was amazing!

Oyster Rockefeller Dip

[Pat W]

OYSTER ROCKEFELLER DIP!

We put this item on our dinner menu in lieu of spinach and artichoke dip.  The response was amazing!

Oyster Rockefeller Dip

←

Wow! How in the world do you get fresh oysters, not to mention, pecan smoked bacon in Bismarck?

And on a more serious note, I hope you got through the blizzard OK. Every time I'm about to complain about the miserable cold here, I think of North Dakota and stop whining.

pat

[Mr. Delicious]

OYSTER ROCKEFELLER DIP!

We put this item on our dinner menu in lieu of spinach and artichoke dip.  The response was amazing!

Oyster Rockefeller Dip

←

Wow! How in the world do you get fresh oysters, not to mention, pecan smoked bacon in Bismarck?

And on a more serious note, I hope you got through the blizzard OK. Every time I'm about to complain about the miserable cold here, I think of North Dakota and stop whining.

pat

←

The blizzard was actually pretty tame compared to some. The bitter cold was the worst part. As for the fresh oysters, we have to order them from Coastal Seafood in Minneapolis, MN, as well as all of our sushi grade fish for our monthly sushi nights. Then we substituted applewood smoked bacon for the pecan bacon.

[The Old Foodie]

Brownie in a Mug

←

I just tried this - what fun. But huge. I tried again at half the quantities, and it worked fine.

Then I did a gluten-free version, which was even better - more smooth and fudgy. Needed more water though.

For the GF version I used

2 T cornflour

1/4 teas GF baking powder

2 T sugar

pinch salt

1 T oil

1 and 1/2 T water

1/4 t vanilla.

Excellent. Great for your gluten-sensitive friends, and your non-GF sensitive friends (they'll never know, and honestly, the texture was fantastic)

Might add cinnamon next time.

[The Old Foodie]

Brownie in a Mug

←

I just tried this - what fun. But huge. I tried again at half the quantities, and it worked fine.

Then I did a gluten-free version, which was even better - more smooth and fudgy. Needed more water though.

For the GF version I used

2 T cornflour

1/4 teas GF baking powder

2 T sugar

pinch salt

1 T oil

1 and 1/2 T water

1/4 t vanilla.

Excellent. Great for your gluten-sensitive friends, and your non-GF sensitive friends (they'll never know, and honestly, the texture was fantastic)

Might add cinnamon next time.

←

It works pretty well as a gingerbread pudding too. Same recipe, but replaced the cocoa with more flour, used milk instead of water, 1/4 teas ginger and 1/8 teas cinnamon (could have taken more of each). Was definitely pudding-y, even after an extra 15 seconds. Might be better with half an egg?

[maggiethecat]

Janet, I'll try your gluten-free version and I'm thinking about tinkering with it too -- a butterscotch brownie maybe.

I agree that the original recipe is huge. After I posted this I halfed the recipe (and cooked it for 45 seconds) and it was still big enough for two.

[Kerry Beal]

Quiet times on eG have led me to go back through all the old cooking threads - and I ran into a great recipe that belongs here in "Recipes that Rock 2008".

It's for a dip called "Salsa di Parmigiano" and it's from Michael Chiarello on the Food Network site. It's made with parmesan and asiago cheese, garlic, olive oil and a few other things. The positive reviews of the recipe led me to try it - and it is excellent. The recipe calls for EVOO, but I just used my regular non virgin favorite. At lunch today Anna and I spread it on a toasted bagel - a tasty topping as a compliment to her fabulous french onion soup. I can see it as a nice topping on some grilled baguette, tossed with some hot pasta...

I think the next batch I might add some oil packed sundried tomatoes.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Here is a link to the old thread.

[Rover]

Pot-roast Chicken and Vegetables - from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - River Cottage. The simplicity of this recipe is what makes it amazing - one chicken, a few vegetables (mostly root vegetables), a couple of hours, if that - in the oven - stunning fragrances throughout the house and the easiest dinner to put before company or a simple dining solution for two. Dress it up or keep it simple - I've made this at least six times this year.

http://www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalRecipe...Vegetables.aspx

Rover

[kayswv]

Brownie in a Mug

←

I just tried this - what fun. But huge. I tried again at half the quantities, and it worked fine.

Then I did a gluten-free version, which was even better - more smooth and fudgy. Needed more water though.

For the GF version I used

2 T cornflour

1/4 teas GF baking powder

2 T sugar

pinch salt

1 T oil

1 and 1/2 T water

1/4 t vanilla.

How much cocoa?

Am making this tonight with our granddaughter as we enjoy New Year Eve while her parents go to dinner. Suddenly found the cocoa missing.

Kay

[chezcherie]

the original (non GF) recipe called for 2 tablespoons, so I think that would be the same. (JUst in case the original posters are reveling!) Happy New Year.

[The Old Foodie]

From TOF:

OOPS! One tablespoon of cocoa, as in the non-GF version. Sorry folks.

[The Old Foodie]

Here are my comments so far on my experiments with gingerbread in a mug (an adaptation of the brownie in a mug).

Going back to the original quantities (based on 4 tab flour) is easiest, unless you want to be left with half an egg:

4 Tab Flour

4 tab Sugar

2 tab Ground Almonds

1 egg

2 Tab milk

1/2 -1 teas ground ginger (depending on how gingery you like it)

1/4 teas each of nutmeg and cinnamon

60 seconds wasnt quite enough for this amount - but I was using a fairly tall thin mug - it would presumably be different in a short squat mug.

This is a big "cake" - more than one serving. As I said, if you halve it you have half an egg left, - or you make it twice.

It is definitely puddingy, and needs to be eaten warm.

So far, the GF version is a bit soggy - I need to try a different combination of GF flours.

{not sure if this should be in a different thread? - the Cooking in a Mug Experiment?}

[Emily_R]

I don't know folks -- I'd petition for the "cake in a mug in the microwave" things to be moved to a separate thread. Maybe its just my skepticism, or having read other cooking forum sites where people tried various microwave cake-in-a-mug things and did not have positive things to say, but I just don't feel like they are really in line with the true "recipes that rock" credo...

[Chris Amirault]

Since we're now in 2009, I'm going to go ahead and close this topic -- and perhaps someone can start one for the new year!