Brownies and injera
I'm still getting used to this early morning thing. I woke up at 9!
Last night I made brownies (recipe to follow). I ate one before dinner and brought 3 to the restaurant so D, Mike and Mike's wife, W, could have one. (Mike's wife also has the initial M, which could be confusing, so I'll go for W.) Everyone loved them. Then we went all out and got a bottle of blackberry honey wine, and W pointed out, "This tastes like Manischewitz. I like that on ice cream." It was very sweet; we polished off the bottle. The pathetic truth: a little over a glass of this has left me feeling mildly hungover this morning. Mildly.
We were eating at Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant between 106th and 107th on Amsterdam, closer to their hood than ours, but it's an uncomplicated subway ride. At Awash you eat with your hands, using spongy bread (injera) to scoop up the red lentils and such, but I brought chopsticks to give people the option.
Afterward we tried to find a movie to see, either El Crimen Perfecto (a Spanish-subtitled flick about rival department store managers) or The Baxter (billed as a quirky rom com), but both were elusive and we headed home.
Here's the brownie recipe. I originally got it from Crystal's blog, then discovered I already had it in one of my cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. Crystal recommended adding in 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 c walnuts, but I found the brownies took longer to cook than the cookbook said. Whether this was because of the additions or not, I don't know, but I might try it without the additions next time. Although it came out perfectly well when it was finally done!
Moosewood Fudge Brownies
1/2 c butter (1 stick)
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 c lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c unbleached white flour
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly coat an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
In a pot large enough to hold all of the batter, melt the butter and chocolate together on low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat by hand or with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir in the flour and mix until the batter is thoroughly blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until the brownies are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and are still fudgy in the center. If you prefer more cake-like brownies, bake an additional 5 minutes.
Last night I made brownies (recipe to follow). I ate one before dinner and brought 3 to the restaurant so D, Mike and Mike's wife, W, could have one. (Mike's wife also has the initial M, which could be confusing, so I'll go for W.) Everyone loved them. Then we went all out and got a bottle of blackberry honey wine, and W pointed out, "This tastes like Manischewitz. I like that on ice cream." It was very sweet; we polished off the bottle. The pathetic truth: a little over a glass of this has left me feeling mildly hungover this morning. Mildly.
We were eating at Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant between 106th and 107th on Amsterdam, closer to their hood than ours, but it's an uncomplicated subway ride. At Awash you eat with your hands, using spongy bread (injera) to scoop up the red lentils and such, but I brought chopsticks to give people the option.
Afterward we tried to find a movie to see, either El Crimen Perfecto (a Spanish-subtitled flick about rival department store managers) or The Baxter (billed as a quirky rom com), but both were elusive and we headed home.
Here's the brownie recipe. I originally got it from Crystal's blog, then discovered I already had it in one of my cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. Crystal recommended adding in 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 c walnuts, but I found the brownies took longer to cook than the cookbook said. Whether this was because of the additions or not, I don't know, but I might try it without the additions next time. Although it came out perfectly well when it was finally done!
Moosewood Fudge Brownies
1/2 c butter (1 stick)
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 c lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c unbleached white flour
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly coat an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
In a pot large enough to hold all of the batter, melt the butter and chocolate together on low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat by hand or with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir in the flour and mix until the batter is thoroughly blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until the brownies are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and are still fudgy in the center. If you prefer more cake-like brownies, bake an additional 5 minutes.
Comments
As you may have noticed from the comments I have made on food on my blog, food is a lot less varied in Spain, at least in the small towns where I have been travelling, than it is in New York. I am looking forward to being back in New York and enjoying Indian and Ethiopian food. And, who knows, maybe making brownies with the moosewood recipie!
One other thought: I think you and D would have a tough time here, as vegetarians. Do you eat any meat at all, i.e. chicken or fish? I have been trying as an experiment today to not eat red meat, and I find my options limited to tuna fish, gazpacho, and Spanish omlette. Spain has very good tasting food, but everything seems to come with ham.
If you want to go to Awash for your birthday or something (or before), I'm game!