Shanes Blondies with Lowlights

My friend and fellow Bakespace member, Shane, made these wonderful Blondies on his blog Culinary Alchemy. Everyone on bakespace was making them so I had to give them a try. They were fantastic and Ive made them many times since. I bet youre wondering why they are called Blondies with Lowlights. When I was making them Steve came over and asked where the chocolate was. I explained to Steve that these were Blondies and not Brownies. Steve said that he would not eat them without chocolate. So in an effort to make Steve (and the chocolate lover in myself) happy I added a small amount of chocolate chips. The chips melted and swirled in the pot. A few days later a few of us were discussing Shanes blondies on the forum. Someone else did the same thing I did and commented on the pretty swirl. Shane popped in with a little joke and called them blondies with lowlights! If you know anything about coloring hair you know that lowlights are when you bring in some strips of darker color into your lighter hair, you know, the opposite of highlights. It was a perfect name and thus Blondies with Lowlights were born. So I guess if you make brownies and swirl in some white chocolate you can call them brownies with highlights!

Blondies with (or without) Lowlights

Cooking Time: 30
Servings: 16
Preparation Time: 15

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar
2 Large eggs
1 large Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 cup Heath Toffee Chips (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (for lowlights)


Directions:

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a sauce pan, melt butter.
Stir in the brown sugars, stirring until "melted and the mixture just begins to bubble (This is similar to making a Pecan pie)
Whisk eggs and yolks together with Vanilla.
Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold Flour into the egg mixture.
Fold in Pecans and toffee chips (if using)
Spread into the pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark pans)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Lift via parchment and cut when cooled.


Note: I like mine more on the thicker side so I use a pan thats slightly smaller.

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WBB 8 Christmas Special

Its warm and cozy inside. The spirit of Christmas is vibrant outside. Your home is fragrant with the aromas coming out of your hearth. The mood is upbeat. You want to do your best. Put out the best food on the table, the best of gifts for your loved ones and pray your best for everyones happiness.

Are you surprised when I ask you to send me your favourite Christmas breakfast for Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 8? It can be as decadent as you like it to be. Whatever is your favourite on the menu this Christmas, is going to be a part of the round up.

The announcement comes in a little late as Ill be away during the Christmas week. The round up will happen after Jan 7th which is the last date for you to send me your favourite breakfast entry.

The usual -

1. Please post your Christmas breakfast entry between the 17th Dec 06 to 7th Jan 07 - preferably in the Christmas week. Link it to this post. If you use Technorati tags - use the tag WBB8.
2. Email me the URL of your entry with your name and location at saffrontrail@gmail.com with the mail titled WBB8 latest by 7th Jan, 2007.
3. If youd like to have a picture posted too, resize it to 160X120 pixel or 120 X 160 for a vertical pic and mail it along with the url.
4. Your recipe should be servable at breakfast.


Tags: WBB8, Christmas, Christmas breakfast, foodblog event, WBB

Picture courtesy: Getty Images

See whats going on for Christmas at Daily Tiffin - our food and family blog.

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Kitchen Diary Day 7

Yesterday nothing much happened in the kitchen.  The joiner came back late afternoon to sand off the plastering in the joins between the plasterboard.  Today, we painted the new walls to match the rest of the kitchen.  The colour of the paint is Barbados Sky.

Last night we had ready-made mashed potatoes with our meal (all heated in the microwave).  Tonight we are having smoked mackerel & salad with microwave chips (fries), I havent had those in the house since Andrew left home!

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Indian Style Empanadas

Indian Style Empanadas

I adapted the empanadas dough recipe from here laylita.com since dough making details are already given in the link I just go ahead with potato stuffing.

Potato and pea stuffing ingredients

Potato ( boiled, peeled and diced into cubes) – 2 nos

Dried green peas ( soaked overnight and cooked) – 1 cup

Red chilli powder – 1 and ¼ tsp

Garam masala powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves ( chopped) – few

Oil – 1 tsp

Potato Empanadas

Method

1. Prepare the empanadas dough and set aside.

2. To make filling. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and when they crackle add  boiled potatoes, peas, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt. Stir well until everything is mixed well and potatoes are slightly mashed. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Roll out empanadas dough into small discs like making puris, spoon pea and potato filling onto each disc and seal the edges. Bake in pre-heated 200c oven for about 15 to 20 mins depending on your oven settings.

4. Serve hot.

Empanadas Recipe

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Pork Bhoonie

1 kg Pork with less fat cut into medium pieces
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
½ teaspoon turmeric Powder
2 teaspoon chillie Powder
2 green chillies sliced lengthwise
3 onions sliced finely
1 cup chopped Methi / Fenugreek leaves (Venthium greens)
Salt to taste
3 Potatoes peeled and cut into quarters
3 tablespoons oil

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the pork, chillie powder, turmeric powder, green chillies, Methi / fenugreek leaves and mix well. Stir fry for a few minutes till the meat become firm and the leaves shrivel up. Add the potatoes and sufficient water and simmer on low heat till the pork and potatoes are tender.

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Hunter beef

Hunter beef

Ingredients

• Beef 1 ½ kg
• Cinnamon 4 sticks
• Black pepper whole 2 tbsp
• Cloves 1 tsp
• White cumin whole 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice ½ cup
• Salt 3 tsp
• Jiggery 3 tbsp
• Kalmi shora (peter salt) 2 tbsp leveled

Method

• Grind the whole spices finely, crush jiggery, mix with lemon juice and all the grinded spices, prick beef pieces very well on both sides with fork, and marinate beef in this mixture for 5 days in fridge. On the 5th day tie it with string, put enough water in a pan for it to get tender, cook on low flame till water dries and beef tender, cool and cut in slices.

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Samosa Pie with Apple Butter Chutney

I dont deep-fry! Ive said it before and I pretty much mean it. But it did occur to me that you could bake samosas, like a pie. And then it occured to me; well why not just make a pie with samosa filling? So I did.

It also occurred to me that I could adapt this recipe to make a pie crust that was sturdy yet flaky and not too rich, and it worked fairly well. I may try tweaking it a bit more, but its certainly good enough to go on with. We really liked this, both warm from the oven and cold. Which is good, because it was a bit time consuming to make. I made the dough and the filling the night before, and assembled the pie the next day. That is not a bad way to do it at all. The result is an impressive and tasty vegetarian main dish - Im thinking it could very well get served at Christmas time along with the Vegetarian Tourtiere for a meatless feast.

And yes, that is lettuce from our garden in the last picture. It occurs to me that Im amazed.


Start the Dough:
1 cup hard unbleached flour
1 1/3 cups hard whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cold water

Mix the two flours and the salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in the boiling water with a fork, then the cold water, until a rough dough forms. Turn it out and knead it briefly, until it is all amalgamated and smooth. Wrap it in parchment and put it in a plastic bag. Refrigerate until wanted, at least one hour to overnight.



Mix the Spices:
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seed
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seed
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
3-4 pods of cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt

Toast the whole cumin, coriander, fennel and cardamon in a dry skillet until slightly toasted and aromatic. Turn them onto a plate to cool, then, grind them. (Discard the papery outer shells of the cardamom.) Mix them with the remaining spices, and set aside until needed.



Make the Pie Filling:
750 grams (1 1/2 pounds) potatoes
6 large shallots
2 or 3 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

Wash, trim and cut the potatoes into dice. Put them in a pot with water to cover, and boil until tender, about 7 or 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the shallots finely. Heat the oil in a large skillet, and add the well-drained potatoes. Fry for several minutes, until browning in spots, turning regularly. Add the shallots and continue cooking for several minutes, turning regularly, until the shallots are softened. Start with the 2 tablespoons of oil, but add a little more if it looks like it may stick.

Add the ginger and spices, and continue cooking for several more minutes, turning to ensure the spices are evenly distributed. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool somewhat as you proceed.

Finish the Pie:
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
flour to roll the dough
1 1/2 cups frozen peas

The butter needs to be quite soft and spreadable, although not melted. Use 1 teaspoon of it to thoroughly butter a 9" pie pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Divide the dough into 2 not quite equal portions, about 60% and 40%. Roll out the larger portion on a floured board into a large rectangle, very thin. Turn the dough and sprinkle with more flour as needed to keep it from sticking while you work.

Take 60% of the 1/4 cup of butter - (just eyeball it, okay?) - and spread it as evenly as you can over the dough. It doesnt have to be all that even; see the first picture. Fold up the bottom line of the dough to roll the whole thing up into a cylinder. Roll the cylinder of dough into a coil (second picture), and roll it out flat again, into a circle this time. The circle should be large enough to fit into your prepared pie pan.

Mix the frozen peas in with the potato filling, and put it in the pie crust.

Roll out the second piece of dough and smear it with butter in the same way as the first piece of dough. Coil it up, and roll it out to fit on the pie as the top crust. Pinch the edges sealed and cut some vents in the top of the pie.

Melt the remaining teaspoon of butter, and brush it over the top of the pie. Bake for 1 hour and 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm to room temperature with the chutney.

Make the Chutney:
1/4 cup apple butter
the juice of 1 small lime
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

Mix in a small bowl.




Last year at this time I made Aunt Hildas Spanish Cream becomes Ricotta Panna Cotta. Quicker to make than to type.

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