Butterscotch "Pantry" Brownies

May 9th is National Butterscotch Brownie Day

Who is the world came up with these ideas? There are only 365 days in a year- are butterscotch brownies, of all things, that important that we need an entire 24 hours devoted to them? 

Apparently!

And who am I to argue? 

These little morsels are, well, butterscotch morsels. Found in the baking aisle of your grocery store, they have many uses, most of which I've yet to learn about. As far as I'm concerned, they go well in cookies, brownies, and cakes. Please feel free to comment if you have any ideas of other applications...

Now, I'm sure I'm not the only one to use this phrase, but as I cannot at the moment recall where it came from, I'll take the credit (until credit is due): 

"Pantry Brownies"

AKA throw-everything-you-can-find-in-your-pantry-that-might-work brownies.

So that is what I did.

Feel free to substitute any chocolate, morsels, nuts, etc.

An important aspect of "Pantry Brownies" is the ability to know your audience, thus assuring the satisfaction of all who will eat your amalgamation of sweets. For instance, I considered leaving out the chocolate pieces. For one thing, we had no chocolate chips. For another, these are butterscotch brownies- not chocolate brownies! However, I knew that my father would rather eat bugs than a dessert with no chocolate, so I threw whatever small pieces of chocolate I could find right in. Similarly, an entire cup of nuts for this size recipe is quite indulgent. But I knew that my mother wouldn't eat the brownies without sufficient nut content! Alas, this is the quandary of baking for others!! 

My Pantry Brownies consisted of the following:

1 Cup Flour 

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed

1/3 Cup Milk Chocolate, chopped

1 Cup Butterscotch Morsels

1/3 Cup Dark Chocolate, chopped

1/2 Cup Hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 Cup Salted Almonds, chopped

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 Cup (2 sticks) of butter*


*I wanted to go for a more "fudgey" consistency. If you'd like your brownies to be more "cakey", cut the butter content in half. 

Start with the basics.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt- set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. 

Remove from the heat and beat in the egg and vanilla. 

Throw in the brown sugar and whisk until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth and shiny. 

               At this point, start tossing in the flour mixture in a few batches, making sure to stir thoroughly in between.

When all of the flour mixture is combined, add your mix-ins. Now would be the time to switch from a whisk to a spatula- which I neglected to do. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of banging to get all the mix-ins out of the whisk!

Pour your batter into an ungreased pan (I used a 9x13) and bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes. 

Cool, cut, serve, and enjoy. 

And thank me for giving you an excuse to use those pecans/candy bar pieces/sprinkles you haven't been able to find a use for :)

Diana Discovering Endive (On-deev)

Last month I went to the IACP (International Association for Culinary Professionals) Annual Conference in New York City. My fourth day there they put on a Culinary Expo at which dozens of vendors displayed their products. One company that I found quite interesting was California Endive. Their presence at the conference was obvious- I'd met a man my first day there who, instead of giving me a business card as we sat and ate our breakfast, handed me a card with facts about endive (pronounced "ON-deev"). I found this to be intriguing and walked away from that meal hoping to hear more about what he had to say. 

That day, at the expo, I came across the California Endive table and was mystified by their display. It appeared they wanted to show us how endive are grown, and this was at the forefront of their exhibit:

More about how endive is grown later....

I ended up talking to the man in charge, who told me he would send me some endive if I feature it on my blog. I wanted desperately to experiment with this- what is it? Vegetable?  Lettuce?  Fruit? 

Funny you should ask, as I've done some flighty research and would love to share with you what I've found.  

The two types of endive we will be exploring are Belgian endive and Red Belgian endive. 

Endive (again, proper pronunciation is "ON-deev") is a member of the chicory family. This means that it is from the same species of plant as curly endive, escarole, radicchio, and frisée. Endives are torpedo-shaped, usually about 4-6 inches long. They are delicious served raw, as in my application that follows, or cooked, as in the recipes I mention later. Obviously, the endive that I received are grown in California but, as the name references, they originate in Belgium. The story of the "accidental discovery"of endive by a man named Jan Lammers in 1830 is described in full detail at Endive.com. I don't want to spoil anything :)

So why so special? Why have an entire enterprise devoted to promoting the discovery of endive? 

Well now we need to discuss how this nutty- tasting, beautiful garnish of a vegetable is grown. As stated on their website

"...The first growth takes about 150 days in the field, where the chicory plant grows from seed into a deep root. Tops of the leafy plant are then cut off, their roots dug up and placed in cold storage, where they enter a dormancy period. As necessary, roots are removed from cold storage for their second growth, which takes 20 to 28 days in dark, cool, and humid forcing rooms... "

So you see, this is why endive should be discovered and loved by all- they are available at peak condition year round. It's not easy to say that about a lot of delicious produce, except perhaps some mushrooms. So I say to you all DISCOVER ENDIVE!

Apple, Hazelnut, and Blue Cheese Endive Snacks

An amalgamation of recipes from my brain, Fine Cooking and Epicurious.com

About three years ago I was taking a Catering and Banquets food production class and we were currently studying about appetizers. We each were in charge of a recipe, we created it, then at the end we got to display and taste each other's work. I don't remember what recipe I had, and I don't remember who got the endive recipe, but boy to I remember the endive recipe! I used it as an appetizer at my family's Thanksgiving dinner that semester! So here is, as I said, an amalgamation of some recipes I could find online and what I remember from that recipe back then (which I tried to, but couldn't find). 

To start, you'll need:

At least four Belgian or Belgian Red Endive. 

Two celery ribs, sliced vertically into about 4 strips, then diced.

An apple, preferably something like a Gala, Pink Lady, or Fuji. Cut, cored, and diced the same size as the celery. 

About a cup of hazelnuts, toasted and as much skin removed as is your preference. 

4oz of Blue Cheese, crumbled (this should yield about a cup).

3 Tablespoons of mayonnaise.

3 Tablespoons of lemon juice (I put a lot in mine because I like the acidity- use your discretion). 

Literally just put everything except the endive in a bowl and mix it up until everything is coated. 

I guess I really do like acidity, because I also decided to add some tomatoes to the party. 

So there are two choices for the next move:

1. Spoon the mixture into the leaves for an incredibly fast, easy, and delicious appetizer that I promise you'll make again. 
2.  Wash some lettuce, cut up some cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, etc and throw everything in a bowl with your mixture. Make sure you cut up those endive leaves and toss them in there! It will add a lovely nutty and crunchy feeling to your salad!

Endive is much more versatile than to simply use as a means for dipping (dip in hummus!), or a salad accompaniment. In fact, had I had the time, I would have loved to show you this recipe from Melissa d'Arabian for Stuffed Belgian Endive. I also thought this recipe for endive gratin from Cookthink looked awesome!

I implore you- think outside the box- what happens when you fry endive? Would endive go well with fruit? What wines pair with endive? Search, learn, and DISCOVER ENDIVE!