Recipes... The Return of the King (of PAIN!)

So, another recipe... This one is one of my favorites, and I hope it will be one of yours as well. It is great on anything you'd want to put barbecue sauce on, and can be easily spiced up with the addition of any number of awesomenesses. On barbecue, on grilled chicken, and even seitan braised in it is excellent! Enjoy!


UNCLE OTTIS'S BARBECUE SAUCE

2 cups tomato puree
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 cup chili sauce
1 tsp lemon pepper
3 tbs vodka



Lightly saute the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil until translucent.

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often.

Recipes... The Two Desserts

Recipe time... Here's a couple of recipes from my personal collection, both desserts. I realized that most of my written recipes are desserts, for the simple fact that I hardly ever eat them, and I don't have the brainspace to memorize them like I've memorized my favorite pasta dish (spaghetti, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, minced garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, in whatever quantities you want. Booyah.) So, I write my favorite ones down with the hopes of impressing a member of the opposite sex... or at least putting them in a sugar coma to lower their inhibitions... You'd be surprised how well a well made dessert works when accompanied with booze...

The first one is pure decadence. I mean, cheesecake and brownies on one plate? Are you kidding?

CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

½ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup AP flour
1/3 cup cocoa
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 oz. Cream cheese
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp sugar

Stir butter, sugar, and vanilla together.

Add eggs and beat well.

Separately mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stir well.

Spread batter evenly into greased 9x9 Pyrex pan.

Beat together cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth.

Dollop cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter. Swirl together using a knife or skewer to produce a marble effect.

Bake 40 minutes at 325 degrees or until knife comes out clean.

Cool in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

The second one would be perfect for a light dessert that you want to make into breakfast the next day. And I know you want that.

By the way, the muffin method is simple. Mix all the dry ingredients together, mix all the wet ingredients together IN A SEPARATE BOWL, pour the wet onto the dry, and mix until just brought together. It will look like a shaggy mess, but limit yourself to about 10 to 15 stirs ONLY.


ORANGE WALNUT QUICKBREAD

Dry:
12 oz Cake flour
1 oz powdered milk
½ oz baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Wet:
6 oz sugar
2 eggs
5 oz orange juice
6 oz water
1 ¼ oz oil
½ oz orange zest

Etc:
6 oz chopped walnuts

Mix using muffin method.

Fold in walnuts.

Bake in 2 8 x 4 loaf pans, greased and floured, at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.


So there ya go... Enjoy! And let me know how these worked out for ya!

Recipes... The Fellowship of the Veggies

Far too lazy to write an actual post today. Actually I'm reading an excellent book, Predictably Irrational, so I'm rather engulfed in that. Here's a recipe for Italian Giardinera, a semi-pickled collection of awesome veggies with the flexibility to be adapted to anything you find at the farmer's market. Try it on sammiches, blend it in a food processor with cream cheese for awesome bagel topping, toss it in pasta salad, and the liquid it marinades in is perfect for a green salad. It keeps in the fridge for up to three months. Enjoy!


GIARDINERA

2 Green bell peppers, diced
2 Red bell peppers, diced
4 Banana peppers, sliced
1 large celery stalk, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 red onion, Frenched
1/2 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup salt
water to cover
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. Dried oregano
1 tsp. Red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. Black pepper
1 5 oz jar pimento stuffed green olives, drained and chopped
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil

In a bowl, combine the green and red peppers, the banana peppers, celery, carrots, onion, and cauliflower.

Stir in salt, fill with water to cover.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Drain and rinse the vegetables.

In a bowl, mix garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and olives. Pour in vinegar and olive oil and mix well.

Combine with vegetables.

Place in 5-6 pint sized jars, adding more liquid (equal parts oil and vinegar) to come about 3/4ths of the way up.

Refrigerate for two days before using.