Holiday Brownies

Brownies!

I wanted to get into the holiday spirit in a couple of ways. For one thing I felt like doing some baking. But really, what I really wanted, was to have some special medicated snacks available over the holidays. I'm a grown ass man (with no kids) and I want to celebrate on Christmas.  Now, I don't want to be ducking in and out of the house all day -- I'll be with family for one thing -- so I thought it would be a great idea to make some heady treats!

a jar of ABV (already been
vaped) material

This kind of food goes by many names: "special" brownies, space cakes, cannabutter, etc. But no matter what you call it, for the social- and health-conscious consumer, eating your recreational herb is about as good as it gets. I use a vaporizer most of the time, and you can actually bake with the leftover material. Yep, you can use it again. When consumers use a vaporizer, they dump the used material into a glass jar. Because you don't use a flame when vaporizing, none of the plant matter or potent ingredients get burned away when you vaporize. This is great news when you're actually vaping -- 100% of the carcinogens are eliminated. But it's even better news once you're finished vaping -- you have leftovers to bake with.  It's commonly known as ABV (already been vaped) material.

ABV + oil & heat = Yay!

You can actually add the ABV directly to a recipe -- any recipe that uses oil -- or, ideally, you can use it to make "green" oil or butter ahead of time, which you then use in whatever recipe you want. The basic idea, just like baking with regular herb, is that the heat and oil activate the chemical ingredients, which, of course, you then eat. Consumers in more progressive areas are well aware of the variety and creativity abundant in the medicated snack industry.

Here are some basic principles:

1. If you're going to put the ABV directly into the recipe, use something like a coffee grinder to grind the material up. You want it to be really fine.
2. Add an extra egg to make the batter gooier to mask the ABV.
3. Use about an ounce of material per batch of brownies. (You need about 4 or 5 times as much used as you would fresh.)
4. If making the butter or oil ahead of time, you just need to heat them together over very low heat in any of a variety of ways, and then strain it.
5. Use a low temperature -- about 280-300 -- for all baking of this type. This is key.
6. Check out Kads Baker's demonstration!

ground up nice and fine in the Magic Bullet

I used 71.8 grams of ABV in
a double batch of brownies.
It was plenty.

oil and material

It will sizzle when heated!  

I sort of did both techniques. I did make the oil ahead of time and strain out a bunch of the matter, but I let plenty of it go in, which is no big deal. So I'm sure I ended up adding about half of the material into the recipe anyway. To make the oil, I dumped the ABV into a glass baking dish and then mixed in the oil. I put it in the oven for about an hour at 300 degrees.

Here's the brownie recipe I used after I made the oil:

• 1 cup ABV oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix the oil, sugar, and vanilla, and then beat in the eggs.
2. Combine the remaining dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture.
3. Spread the batter into a 9x13 greased pan and bake at 300 for 45-60 minutes.
4. Brownies are done when inserted toothpick pulls out cleanly.
5. It might take longer to bake since the temperature is low.

After they cool, try just a couple of bites to see how strong they are. Wait an hour or two to feel the effect before eating any more!

Family Style Mac and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese -- and pork chops. And I really like when the mac n cheese incorporates some tomato or tomato sauce. Friday night I made tomato sauce, and I had a couple of servings with pasta, but I was wondering what else to do with the leftover sauce.  So I decided to add it to some mac and cheese!  I figured I'd grab some pork chops as well.... 

I've heard this style of mac and cheese referred to as "family style" before, so that's what I'll call it.  Here's what I used today:

• 16 oz cooked pasta (today I used orecchiette)
• shredded cheese, today I used:
• 7 oz TJ's unexpected cheddar 
• 12 oz TJ's raw milk cheddar
• 4 oz goat cheese
• pork chops (I used 3 boneless -- dipped, breaded, and browned)
• tomato sauce (I only had about 8 ounces today)
• bread crumbs on top

breaded and browned, not cooked

1. First I dipped the pork chops in milk/egg mixture.
2. Then I rolled them in a breading mixture.
3. Brown in butter for a few minutes.
4. Cook the pasta.
5. Add all (pasta, pork chops, cheese, tomato sauce) to a deep dish.
6. Top with bread crumb mixture.
7. Bake for an hour at 350.

Mmm, I am eating this right now.  The flavor is great.  The breading did not stick to the pork chops, though.  I shouldn't have mixed in any bread crumbs -- just stick with a flour mix. The pork chops are also kind of dry.  But when I baked it at 350 for an hour they weren't done.  So I added another 15 minutes at 400.  But maybe if I had just let it sit they would have cooked through.  Hmmm. It could have used less pasta or more cheese. Or a creamier cheese -- like a mozzarella.

It was hot and bubbly when it came out

Next time try:

• just flour mixture on pork chops, not bread crumbs -- too soggy
• Bake a little longer
• More cheese, try mozzarella

Green Beans with Salsa Verde

I really need to try this recipe.  It looks simple and fresh, and contains ingredients I like and am familiar with.  I'm always looking for ways to cook/eat/serve green beans.  

Green bean salsa verde recipe

Spaghetti Sauce

Check out this video of the sauce cooking

Alright, so, this JoeSoBakery weblog is going to have to include cooking as well as baking.  I mean, I have enough of these god forsaken blogs already, I'm not adding another one.  But I want to keep track of recipes that I cook (not just things I bake), particularly staples and recipes I want to use again and again. I want to both master the basics to the point where I have a great traditional whatever-it-is-I'm-making plus gain the skill to spin off my own versions to suit different tastes or handle various pantry situations (i.e., make do with what's on hand).

ingredients

On this rainy Friday night I'll make a spaghetti sauce, which is definitely something I need to master.

I've made tomato based sauce before, but never anything that came out that well.  I just want to start with a basic, traditional spaghetti sauce, and then work on adding a little spice to it.

1. Heat 2 T olive oil in large saucepan. Add:

2 small onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic

2. Cook till tender, 3-5 minutes.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 2-3 hours:

2 can tomato paste + 1 can water

1/4 C. beer or wine

4-8 small tomatoes, or canned (24 oz.)

sugar

basil, oregano, 2 bay leaves

Try: 

• chopped green pepper
• spicy: maybe a chile pepper or red pepper flakes, or salsa verde
• add cooked gimme lean at the end
• cream cheese???

Ok I'm about to eat this... over spaghetti with goat cheese on top...

The sauce has a very nice thickness.  There could be a little more liquid to soak the noodles, but the viscosity is overall nice.  The flavor is good.  It's actually  very good.  It is, however, too spicy.  That's because I used the canned salsa verde and some green chile pepper -- because I didn't have enough tomatoes.  I had a little bit of ketchup to add to counter balance the spiciness.  Meat would be great in this sauce. Or even gimme lean -- that's a good idea!  I actually like the goat cheese.  When I take a bite of the pasta that has a chunk of the goat cheese, it gets really creamy and gooey.  Could I use cream or maybe cream cheese?  To give it a nice creamy cheesiness?!  You know, it's actually not even too spicy.  I think if I skipped the green chili pepper and just used some of the salsa verde it would work out well.

Next time:  Just 1 bay leaf -- don't use anything spicy

Check out this demo (on the left) and video of the sauce cooking (right).

viscosity demo :-)

Today's cooking playlist featured Talvin Singh, 50 Cent, Nate Dogg, Non Phixion, Squarepusher, Betty Lavette, Tommy McCook, and Arrested Development, in that order.

Banana Bread with Blueberries

Last year when I started learning to bake I was making a lot of pies.  When I wanted to try something different I thought I would try banana bread -- partly because it was a size pan that I had, a nice 5x9in glass pan, and partly because  I happened to have some bananas laying around at the time.  It was really easy to make, and I've probably made it 4 or 5 times since then...

Today I cooked a big breakfast for the first time in my new apartment, and I wanted to keep it going after I ate.  So I went right into the banana bread, took some good pictures, and experimented  by adding blueberries.

Start by smashing about 4 bananas in a big bowl.  I decided to add some blueberries as well.  One of the things I try to do is add more fruit and reduce the amount of sugar I use.  

Then all you do is add the following ingredients one after the other, put it in a buttered pan and bake for an hour at 350:

• 3-4 bananas
• blueberries or other fruit (optional)
• 1/3 C. melted butter
• 3/4 C. sugar -- I reduced this to only 1/2 a cup, which is healthier (plus I used the blueberries)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. baking soda 
• salt
• 1 1/2 C. flour

That's it!  I used a 5x9 inch glass baking pan and baked for an hour.  It turned out splendidly, and the added fruit is a total bonus.  I do encourage drinking while cooking/baking.  Today I enjoyed some Magic Hat HIPA.

I like sorting my music in iTunes into various playlists for different moods, events, subgenres, etc, and one category I have is cooking lists.  So today I went with a classic, "Cooking List 01," which features Chuck Berry, Eminem, Cake, Ella Fitzgerald, and mc chris, among others.

Check out the rest of the pictures:

smash the bananas, but not the blueberries

melted butter -- I used Earth Balance

about half a cup of sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla

1 beaten egg

just a cup and a half of flour

pour it into a little bread pan

bake at 350 for an hour

looks great!

time for a slice

Introduction to JoeSoCookbook

Two things I do are: 1) dabble, and, 2) go in phases.  This means I try a lot of new things but don't necessarily master them.  I don't mean to suggest this is unique or special to me, but it means I need to document what I'm doing because I don't always commit a new skill to memory -- physically or mentally.  The mechanics don't become permanent; instructions are not ingrained.  I think this type of hobby-ing lends itself well to keeping a weblog.  Other people can read it if they want to -- but it's a way for me to keep track of what I've learned and experienced in a particular hobby.  What projects I'm doing, what I still need to do, what has been put on hold...and why.

I went through a sewing phase in the Fall of 2011 when I bought a sewing machine and turned an old flannel sheet into a pair of pajama pants.  I did a few other projects, helped with Halloween costumes, made a few mistakes, learned some lessons...but it was only a phase.  I stopped after a few months, and I'll go back to it at some point in the future.  I'll have to relearn how to set up the freaking bobbin and all that crap again --  should have kept a blog.

In the Summer of 2012 I become a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Pirates -- I went into a going to 2 out of every 3 Pirates games and selling a third of my tickets for a good profit phase.  I was hoping they would have a magical season and make the playoffs.  I was hoping they would end 2 decades of losing, so I bought tickets in July for the rest of the season and kept a blog of my experience.  I think it turned out really well and I want to apply a similar approach to some of my random hobbies.

One thing I was doing a lot in the Winter and Spring of 2012 -- after the sewing phase and before the Pirates phase -- was baking: pie, cake, and bread.

I was really working on making a good, classic pie: Dutch Apple, with that cinnamon-y crumbly crust.  SOOO GOOD!  Making a really good pie crust, it turns out, is not easy.  And when you do manage get it right, that doesn't guarantee you will get it right the next time!  One technique I tried was shredding frozen sticks of butter with a cheese shredder to try and ensure the flakiness of the crust.  I also made some blueberry, raspberry, and regular apple pies as well.

I focused on two other recipes besides the pies: banana bread and cinnamon crumb cake.  I do have to say I got really good at both recipes.

The banana bread was really easy and really good.  You just mush up a few bananas, mix in bunch of other stuff, put it in the bread pan, and bake it!  Hahahaha I know those are really thorough instructions, and, you know, you would think -- in a baking blog -- you might see an actual recipe posted, with real tips on preparing it, but I will get to that eventually.  I'm just saying the banana bread was easy.  The recipe fit on a small post-it note and I could always make it without having to go to the store (if I had bananas), which is huge.  I need simple recipes.  When I get the inspiration to bake something, I want to already have all the ingredients. Simplicity is key.

This principle also applies to other hobbies.  When I went through the sewing phase, I would have a moment of inspiration when I would want to work on something, but then I would realize that the sewing machine wasn't set up -- I had to wind the bobbin, thread the needle, all this crap you have to do to get it ready.  I would just want to sit down, line up some cloth, step on the peddle, and go!  A sewing machine can be pretty bad-ass if you're not always fucking around with everything!  I mean, it's loud, sharp, dangerous, it moves pretty fucking fast, and you can make some really cool shit.

So yeah the banana bread had really basic ingredients and was really good.  Here's a confession.  I love to eat junk food.  Well, it doesn't have to be junk.  I just like to eat sweets from time to time.  I often found myself stopping off at a convenience store to grab some Little Debbies or stocking up on Entenmann's at the grocery store.  So I decided to make a little deal with myself.  I said I could eat as much "junk food" I wanted -- IF -- I made it myself.

One of my favorite little convenience foods is Hostess apple pies.  So I was like, alright, I gotta make my own apple pie!  And I did a really good job.  What did I learn...?

You can cut way down on the amount of sugar -- it doesn't have to be syrupy sweet!

Crust is hard to make

Doing the criss-cross crust across the top looks classy and rustic

Crumbly top on the Dutch Apple is amazing

Frozen berries work fine in a pinch

You can make multiple pies at once and freeze before baking!

I learned about this great, simple Mark Bittman recipe -- apple pie pizza.

The other recipe I worked on was cinnamon crumb cake.  The one thing I came up with on my own for this was to add chopped apple.  It worked out really well and added a juiciness to the cake.  And again, you can cut down on the sugar if you use fruit!  Also with this cake I realized that you can mix all the dry ingredients ahead of time.  So I would prepare 4 to 6 cakes worth at a time, then whenever I wanted to whip it up, it was like I had a cake mix already prepared -- my own cake mix!  So this is another great principle that I came to appreciate.

My "principles" as a baker are evolving:

• Junk food is ok when you make it yourself!
• Simplicity: use few ingredients.
• Lower the amount of sugar by 25% and increase fruit.
• Prep extra dry mixes (cake, pie crust, bread) or full pies (and freeze) ahead of time.

So, what will I do in this blog?  Whenever I get back into a baking phase (or just have an isolated baking event), I will document my experiences.  I will add the actual recipes I was using for pies, banana bread, and cinnamon cake, and I'll take pictures of course!  I can pose questions when I need help in case I have any readers who can help me (or any readers, period).  And I will, of course, promote my other blogs, which are going to start popping up now as I go through phases and dabble.