Healthy Brownies?????

No, I am not kidding! Not only are these brownies low in fat and calories, but they are made with 100% whole wheat flour! Why would anyone ever deviate from the best loved ooey gooey sinful alternative? Summer is quickly approaching. Need I say more? I was a little skeptical about this recipe for obvious reasons, but I was pleasantly surprised. These brownies are not chewy and they aren't very gooey, but they are moist, chocolaty and delicious. One recipe makes 24 brownies each containing a meager 137 calories and 6.6 grams of fat! My chocolate loving husband thought these were really good and both of my kids loved them! My favorite brownie recipe? Probably not. My favorite healthy brownie recipe? Definitely!

Ellie Krieger's Double-Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour (or 1/2 cup each whole-wheat and all-purpose flours)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally; do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.

Whisk the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and brown sugar until smooth, then add the yogurt, oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with walnuts, if desired. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool almost completely in the pan on a rack before slicing.

Per brownie (without nuts): Calories 137; Fat 6.6 g (Saturated 2.8 g); Cholesterol 40 mg; Sodium 55 mg; Carbohydrate 16.5 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 2.4 g

Per brownie (with nuts): Calories 160; Fat 9 g; (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 40 mg; Sodium 55 mg; Carbohydrate 17 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 3 g

Chicken Balls (Ebelskivers)

For about a year, my 4-year-old had been wanting chicken balls for dinner. She created this idea that you could form chicken into balls and dip them in "white ketchup." For a while, every time we went out to eat she asked me if they could make chicken balls for her. Finally, I found a recipe for chicken meat balls. She told me that she liked them, but I could tell she wasn't truly satisfied. Then I got an email from my sister-in-law with this recipe for Chicken Ebelskivers with a buttermilk dipping sauce. I made them for dinner and my kids LOVED them!! The next day, my 4-year-old asked me when we were going to have chicken balls for dinner again. You may be asking, "What are ebelskivers?" They are these fun spherical Danish pancakes. You have to have an ebelskiver pan to make them. I have the Williams Sonoma nonstick pan and I love it. Ebilskivers were already a breakfast favorite around here and now they are a dinner favorite too!


Chicken Bites (Ebelskivers)

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups whole milk (I used 1 ½ cups skim milk + ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
8 ounces chopped, cooked chicken breast meat
5 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (or 5 tsp dried)
1 shallot, finely chopped
Buttermilk Dressing

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and , using a wooden spoon, stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Gently fold in the chicken, parsley, and shallot, taking care not to deflate the mixture.

Brush the wells of the ebelskiver pan with some of the remaining melted butter and place over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add about 2 tablespoons of the batter to each well.

Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp, 3-5 minutes. Use 2 short wooden skewers to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the other side, about 3 minutes longer.

Transfer the finished pancakes to a platter and keep warm in 200 degree oven while you repeat to cook more batches. Serve right away with the buttermilk dressing for dipping.

Buttermilk Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I substituted some of the mayonnaise with nonfat plain yogurt)
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (or 2 1/2 tsp dried)
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, parsley, cheese, and dried onion until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 8 hours, to blend the flavors.
Makes about 1 cup

Bread Anyone?

I love making bread to go with dinner but sometimes I know I won't have time to make the bread and the dinner. I have found the answer! This very delicious sourdough bread recipe requires very little work before baking since it is actually mixed the day before. Once you mix the dough, it just sits on your counter for 19 hours until you need to do anything else. It was really nice that after shaping it into the loaf it rose for 2-3 more hours because that was well before I needed to get dinner started. The bread is supposed to cook in a dutch oven, but that doesn't mean you have to use charcoal outside. The recipe has instructions for baking it inside too.

When I pulled the bread out of the oven, it made crackling noises that the kids thought were really cool. This bread is not very sour for sourdough, but I think my kids probably like it better that way. The texture was like sourdough bread: dense, but spongy and moist at the same time. One of the best things about this bread is that it will impress any dinner guests with its artisan look and taste. I can't wait to try this recipe with rosemary or other twists! Thank you Alton Brown- this recipe is definitely "Good Eats!"

Click here for the recipe and enjoy!!

Red and green pasta for a crowd

Looking for something that tastes fancy, without the fuss? This is one of my favorite pasta recipes of the moment. It makes a LOT, so is perfect for a crowd. A simple salad, vegetable, and/or easy garlic bread makes a meal good enough to serve to friends. My mom brought this recipe to me from a church activity. I'm not sure whose it is, but thanks, whoever you are!

Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Pasta

1/2 c. sun dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
6 chicken breasts, cut into strips (or chunks)
2 cloves garlic
1 T. olive oil
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 c. basil pesto (a small jar of premade makes it easy)
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1/4 c. choped fresh basil
3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
16 oz. pasta (bow ties are my favorite for this, but anything would work, even whole wheat)

Soak sun dried tomatoes in chicken broth. Saute chicken in the olive oil and garlic mixture over medium heat. Remove a few tablespoons of broth from the tomato mixture and stir cornstarch into broth. Stir broth, tomatoes, pesto, pine nuts and basil into a skillet with chicken. Mix cornstarch mixture into the above. Cook a few minutes until thickened. Cook pasta. Add feta cheese to the sauce and serve over pasta.

My notes:
I've adjusted this recipe depending on what I had on hand. I usually use much less chicken (2 or 3 breasts cut in chunks). I have done it without the fresh basil, although I prefer the fresh bite added in. You can add some fresh diced tomatoes at the last minute to give the pasta pretty red "decorations." You can leave out the pine nuts, or serve them on the side if someone is averse (but they add a delicious crunch, you won't want to miss). I would garnish with extra ribbons of basil that are fresh and green. There are enough delicious flavors here that leaving one thing out won't ruin the recipe, but my favorite is with EVERYTHING!

P.S. Sorry no picture again, I forgot to take one before we ate it all and figured it's better without than no post at all. Enjoy!

Soup for a Cold Day

I'm back! Laurel inspired me to start posting again. This is one of my mom's most delicious soup recipes. It is packed with vegetables and tastes delicious and creamy, even though it is only "creamed" with evaporated milk. My husband and girls all love this and eat it fresh AND left over. Here it is:

Winter Vegetable Chowder

Serves 4 ( I made a double batch last night since the leftovers are SO yummy)

1 chopped onion
½ c. sliced celery
2 T. butter
1 large potato (peeled)
1 c. sliced carrots
2 c. water
1 T. flour
1 tsp. beef bouillon
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp basil
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ c. sliced zucchinis
1 can corn
2/3 c. evaporated milk
½ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Cut potato into 1/2 inch cubes. Add potato, carrots, water, bouillon, salt, basil and pepper. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently 30 min.

Stir in zucchini and corn with liquid. Boil gently 30 min.

Combine flour with small amount of evaporated milk. Stir in remaining milk and add to vegetable mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just comes to a boil.

Remove from heat and stir in ½ c. cheese until melted. Garnish with more cheese.

Best Pumpkin Muffins Ever!

I am truly embarrassed that it has almost been a year since my last post on this blog! This past year, I have been trying a lot of recipes by Ellie Krieger. I love almost all of her recipes. I made her pumpkin muffins last week and just had to share that they were the best pumpkin muffins I have ever made! I have to admit that I omitted the pumpkin seeds and added chocolate chips to the batter. This might be why they were so good! I always reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees when I make muffins, because I have dark muffin pans. If I forget to do this, the bottoms are always a little too dark. I once-and-a-halved the recipe and we ate them all in 2 days! Click here to view this very delicious recipe. Hopefully Catharine and I will post a little more often this year!

Lets Eat Turkey

The turkey is the most anticipated and most stressed over part of Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing can make you more proud than a perfect turkey and nothing can be more embarrassing than a dud! For those who have never cooked a turkey it can be very intimidating. The first time I cooked a turkey on my own (not counting the one Catharine and I cooked in college) I was a nervous wreck. We invited 16 adults (including my in-laws) to come for the feast. Catharine told me about the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe and I was intrigued. You brine the turkey before roasting it. The coolest part of the episode was the method for roasting the turkey. You put foil over the turkey breast so the legs and breast can be done at the same time. The dark meat takes longer to cook than the breast so if you wait until the legs are done, the breast will be dry. The foil solves this problem. Here is a link to the roast turkey recipe. You can also watch the video of the episode from there.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

We also cooked a turkey on the rotisserie. We pierced 2 oranges with cloves and put them in the cavity of the turkey. As it rotated on the rotisserie, the juices from the clove studded oranges moistened the meat. It was amazing! Here is a link for this wonderful recipe:
http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/view.aspx?c=poultry&r=176

Good luck on your turkey this Thanksgiving. They don't call it Turkey Day for nothing!