Crockpot Dark Chocolate Brownies

This recipe is a little bit more hands-on and labor intensive than baking up a batch of the same in an oven. With just over two and a half hours of "baking" to go, the kitchen smells really good right now.. like freshly baked brownies. The brownies cook most of the time with the heat of the ceramic base of the slow cooker and also by steam. The final half hour is done with the lid off the cooker. Hopefully it'll be ready in time for tonight's "slow cooked foods potluck".

Ingredients

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c organic sweet ground cocoa

1/2 c organic granulated sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon chunks

9 oz dark chocolate, chopped into 1/2" chunks

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. In a heatproof bowl, microwave butter and dark chocolate together in 30-second intervals, stirring each time until the chocolate is melted. About 1.5 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs together with sugar.

3. In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add melted butter/chocolate mixture. Stir to combine. Add egg mixture and stir to combine.

4. Lightly butter the center of some parchment paper and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the brownie mixture and use a spatula to smooth the top.

5. Cover and set cooker on "low" for 4 hours. Cook with lid on for 3.5 hours, and then with the lid off for another half hour.

6.  Remove brownies from crockpot and let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before cutting into.

Dutch Oven No-Knead Bread

If ever there was a bread dough that had a minimal amount of effort, this one is up there. The dough is a little bit harder to work with because it is very sticky. But, after an hour in the oven, I have this beautiful, rustic-looking boule. A minute in the microwave is enough to heat 1.5 cups of water to just under 110 degrees F in a Pyrex glass measuring cup. I started the dough at night and baked the bread in the morning. Makes a 1 lb 10 oz loaf.

Ingredients

3 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Vital-wheat gluten
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c warm water

Directions

1. In a 5-quart mixing bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, wheat gluten and salt. Gradually pour in water and stir to combine. Be sure to get all the flour incorporated, but don't overmix. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or put a plate on top of the opening. Let sit for 12 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place cast iron pot (the dutch oven) with its lid into the oven and let the pot heat up for 20-30 minutes.

3. On a heavily floured surface (~ 1/4 c flour), turn out risen dough onto some flour and shape into a rounded mass, like a boule. Carefully add the dough to the hot pot and replace the lid. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.

4. Carefully remove bread from pot and let cool on a wire rack. The bread should make a hollow sound when tapped.

Nut and Seed Bread (no sugar, no flour)

This comes out looking and tasting like a very dense, protein-rich bread. It is held together by the emulsion power of the ground flax seeds and eggs in the dough. With a food processor and seed grinder, this "bread" is really easy to prepare. You don't even need a special seed grinder to mill the flax into a flour, just use an electric coffee bean grinder. A decent one will run you about $15.

This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.

Ingredients

1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.

1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.

4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Coronation Chicken for Salad or Sandwiches

Made this dish for an afternoon tea party I hosted on Saturday. It can be served by itself as a chicken salad or with bread as a chicken salad sandwich. The recipe comes from Brian Yarvin's The Ploughman's Lunch and Miser's Feast cookbook. The origin of this dish, according to the author, is that it was one of the dishes served on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It looked like there was too much mayonnaise in it. I made adjustments after the fact and the updated recipe is below. 

Ingredients

3 c (1.5 lb) cooked chicken meat, chopped into small pieces
1 c apricot preserves
1/2 c dried apricots, finely chopped
3/4 c organic mayonnaise
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp red wine
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp mild curry powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 bay leaf

Directions

1. In a small pot, cook onion in olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add curry powder, tomato paste, lemon juice, a bay leaf and red wine. Stir to combine. Continue cooking until the mixture forms a paste-like consistency. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine onion mixture with the diced chicken, mayonnaise, cream, apricot preserves and chopped dried apricots. Season with salt and ground white pepper.

3. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Apricot Shortbread Cookies

These cookies came out softer instead of hard and crisp like typical shortbread, probably due to the moisture in the preserved apricots. I had to use a lot more flour for dusting to roll these out. Since the dough is going to go into the refrigerator after mixing, it's better to use chilled butter than room temperature butter.

apricot shortbread cookies, a perfect complement to tea

Ingredients

2 c all purpose flour
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c dried apricots, finely chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse briefly until combined. Add butter by the tablespoon and pulse into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form. Add vanilla extract and pulse to combine.

2. Take dough out and put it into a re-sealable container. Let dough chill in the refrigerator for an hour, or until firm.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

3. Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper and roll out half the dough until it is 1/4" thick. Cut into shapes. Prick each shape with the tines of a fork.

These cookies will not expand much, so laying out the cookies half an inch apart will suffice.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are browned and the tops are lightly browned.

5. Let finished cookies cool on a baking rack before eating or storing.