Dr. Larue's Famous Fudge Brownies

Dr. Larue's Famous Fudge Brownies

Hands down – really, the best!

Makes: never enough!

Dr. Larue's Famous Fudge Brownies 

I know. I know.  You have heard it all before. But did I steer you wrong on the very best flourless chocolate cake (http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2013/02/ottolenghis-flourless-chocolate-cake.html) or the quickest best ever doubly delicious double fudge chocolate cake? (http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2013/07/devilishly-delicious-double-fudge-chip.html) This is the best ever – Fudge Brownies. I hear it freezes beautifully but frankly, it has never lasted long enough in my house to make it to the freezer.  Watch out – it will be your sinfully awesome chocolate go-to fancy schmancy chocolate brownie too!

A few words on the ingredients – the cornerstone of the perfect brownie: The difference between the European-style butters and standard butters is the butterfat content.  Regular butter has 80% butterfat and 20% water, while butters like Plugra have about 2.5-3% more butterfat. This gives them a slightly creamier, richer taste. It is the only butter I use when baking. See discussion of different cocoas: http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2013/07/devilishly-delicious-double-fudge-chip.html

Lastly, I much prefer vanilla paste for all my baking over vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is made by infusing vanilla into some sort of alcohol, usually bourbon, which bakes off during baking leaving the vanilla flavor behind. Infusing vanilla beans into thick, sweet syrup makes vanilla bean paste. The primary difference is that the vanilla beans are scraped into the paste, so you get all those lovely little vanilla bean specks in whatever you are baking along with the vanilla flavor. 

• 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter – it is worth it to use European butters – love Plugra
• 2¼ C sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1¼ C Dutch-process cocoa (Droste, Lindt, Valrhona, etc.)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp espresso powder, optional (love it)
• 1 Tb vanilla paste (or extract)
• 1½ C unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2C chocolate chips – semisweet or bittersweet pending preferences

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 9” x 13” pan. (Vegetable or butter spray will work)

In a medium sized microwave safe bowl, or in a pan set over low heat or double boiler, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the microwave, or heat, briefly, just until it is hot (about 110-120 degree F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder and vanilla until smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. If you want the chips to remain visible in the brownies (I usually do!), wait about 20 minutes before adding them to the batter. Otherwise, they will melt. Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9” x 13” pan. 

 

The brownie batter

In the pan

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. 

How the edges should look when it is done - see how shiny the top is!

Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.  I love them with a vintage port –yum!

Larue

Hummus with Maiitake & Oyster Mushrooms

Hummus with Maiitake & Oyster Mushrooms

Serves 6 

Hummus with Maiitake & Oyster Mushrooms

This basic hummus recipe is super smooth and rich in tahini augmented with cumin and a lot of lemon. But, it should be regarded as a sublime base – use as is – or enhance with toppings of your choice. I chose Hummus with Maiitake and Oyster Mushrooms for this recipe. The silky, cumin-laced hummus gets a contrasting texture and a savory boost from the tangle of mushrooms on top. But, you could certainly serve the hummus alone with a drizzle of olive oil, or turn it into a very substantial meal with the addition kawarma (lamb) & lemon (for a future blog!)

Political and nationalistic discussions about hummus – where it started and how; who first added sesame paste, crushed chickpeas – are endless. Many feel that it was the Egyptian Arabs who first made hummus, though celebrated Jewish author Meir Shalev feels there is clear evidence that Jews ate hummus in biblical times. Regardless of origin, one is still left with who makes the best hummus now. Top quality tahini is a key ingredient. This paste is made from ground, hulled sesame seeds. It is creamy, oily and smooth with a nut butter consistency and rich in calcium. Look for tahini in a glass jar or can, in the ethnic food aisle of your grocer or in health food stores. You can also find fresh tahini in the refrigerator section next to the prepared hummus in larger well-stocked grocers.

This recipe is a good springboard to begin your quest of the best hummus. You will be amazed how truly simple it is to make – to the point of wondering why you would ever opt for grocery store hummus of questionable age and ingredients.

 

Key ingredients

For Hummus:

• ¼ C dried chickpeas
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 6½ C water
• 1 C plus 2 Tb tahini paste
• Juice from 2-3 large lemons
• 1 preserved lemon, rinsed and finely chopped  (optional; see http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2012_09_01_archive.html or can purchase at the grocery store)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6½ Tb ice-cold water
• Salt

For Mushroom topping:

• 1 C pine nuts
• 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more
• Canola oil, for frying
• 1 lb thinly sliced mushrooms, oyster and maiitake mix
• Kosher salt
• Parsley, chopped for garnish (garnish)
• Sweet paprika, for garnish
• Olive oil for garnish

To make hummus: The night before, put the dried chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with cold water at least twice their volume. Leave to soak overnight.

 

Soak the chickpeas overnight

The next day, drain the chickpeas. Place a medium saucepan over high heat and add the drained chickpeas and baking soda. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the water, optional ¼ of the chopped preserved lemon and bring to a boil. Watch carefully so it does not boil over. Cook, skimming off any foam and any skins that float to the surface. The chickpeas will need to cook between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on type and freshness. Once done, they should be very tender, breaking up easily when pressed between your fingers, almost but not quite mushy.

Drain the chickpeas. You should have roughly 3½ C now. Place the cooked chickpeas in a food processor and process until you get a stiff paste. With the machine running, add the tahini paste, fresh lemon juice, and remainder of the preserved lemon, cumin, garlic and 2 tsp salt. Finally, slowly drizzle in the iced water and allow it to mix for about 5 minutes, until you get a very smooth and creamy paste.

Chopped preserved lemons....these are homemade, but now can be purchased

In the food processor and ready to blend

Smooth consistency after processing

Transfer the hummus to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If refrigerating, make sure to take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving.

To make Mushrooms:

Heat oven to 300 degree F. Toss pine nuts and olive oil in a bowl until evenly coated. Transfer to a baking sheet; bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

 

Toasted pine nuts

Pour canola oil to a depth of 2 inches in a 6 qt Dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat until a deep fry thermometer reads 350 degree F. Working in batches, add mushrooms, and fry until crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season immediately with kosher salt.

 

Sliced oyster mushrooms

Frying the mushrooms

Spread hummus on bottom of a serving dish, forming a shallow well in the center; fill well with fried mushrooms and pine nuts. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and paprika and drizzle with olive oil.  Serve with pita or flat bread to accolades.

Hummus can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days or frozen for future use. It can be eaten as described here or simply spread on a plate, drizzled with your favorite high quality finishing olive oil, and eaten with a pita or bread.

Larue

This recipe was adapted from “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

Wild Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette

Wild Mushroom & Blue Cheese Galette 

Serves: 6

This is special – rustic AND elegant at the same time.  Also a great time to grab those fresh mushrooms you have been meaning to try. Now, about the funk, or should I say, fungi: with over a pound of wild mushrooms and five ounces of blue cheese, this is not a recipe for feeble palated. That I managed to find a blend with an especially pungent bouquet — a gigantic fresh porcini, a few ounces of bunapi champignon (a new discovery, and possible favorite), oyster and shiitake — didn’t reduce the overall olfactory impact, either.

While the recipe is on the fussy side — freezing flour, rolling out sticky dough and then pushing back the finish time even further by cooling the filling first — not a one of these steps does anything but improve the outcome. I think of this like a great side dish for a dinner party; it’s rustic enough that it won’t upstage any rack of lamb or Thanksgiving turkey, but intense enough that it will get the affection it deserves.

Galette is a French term that refers to a variety of flat round cakes, usually made with flaky pastry dough of some kind that can be sweet or savory. I love them. These “tarts” are not molded in tart pans. Instead, filling is placed directly on top of a sheet of rolled out pastry and the edges of that pastry are folded up and around the filling. The tart becomes crisp during baking and the galette, as a whole, manages to be both rustic and elegant at the same time. There are no galette rules or galette police – so feel free to shape them however you want.

For the pastry:

• 1¼ C all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 8 Tb (1 cube) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ¼ C sour cream
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• ¼ C ice water 

For the filling:

• ¼ ounce dried wild mushrooms, such as chanterelle, porcini or shiitakes
• 1 C boiling water
• 2 Tb unsalted butter
• ¾ C sliced green onions
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• ½ tsp chopped fresh thyme
• ½ lb assorted fresh wild mushrooms, such as chanterelles, porcini, shiitake or bunapi, brushed clean and large mushrooms thinly sliced.
• ½ lb fresh button mushrooms, brushed clean and thinly sliced
• 5 ounces Stilton or other good-quality blue cheese
• Glaze: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water
• Coarse finishing salt

(For photos on how to make the pastry, see my December posting on a vegetable galette. The method is identical: http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2013/12/vegetable-galette.html.)

To make the pastry, in a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for one hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry fork or blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and add the boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes until softened. Drain the mushrooms and mince finely.

 

Three types of mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degree F.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the green onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Increase the heat to high; add the fresh and rehydrated mushrooms, and sauté until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid they released has completely evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.

 

Sauteeing the mushrooms

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Crumble the blue cheese into a bowl, add the cooled mushrooms and stir well.  Spread the mixture over the dough, leaving a 1½ -inch border. Fold the border over the mushrooms and cheese, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze. Sprinkle glaze with a small amount of coarse finishing salt.

 

Ready for the oven!

Bake until golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, and then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. I loved it with a full fruity red wine such as a Syrah or Zinfandel.

 

Ready to eat

Bon Appetit

Larue