Peanut Butter Brownies for Valentine's Day

It’s only fitting that for Valentine’s Day, this post includes two of my long-time loves, peanut butter and chocolate. The two are a perfect pair, like rainy days and a great book, Kate and William, and bagels and lox.

Both ingredients are heavy players in my diet; peanut butter and bananas, peanut butter on toast, hot chocolate, dark chocolate before bed; there typically isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t have either chocolate or peanut butter.  

I typically eat chocolate and peanut butter separately, but admittedly Reese’s are my favorite drugstore candy item, and I recently fell in love with McConnell’s Double Peanut Butter Chip ice cream. Why not combine the two into brownies?

These peanut butter brownies are perfect for sharing at work, sharing with your Valentine on a hike, and turning into a hot fudge brownie sundae for eating by yourself (which admittedly is me this year as Z is out of town skiing).

My Valentine’s Day will start with laying in bed all day a springboard Pilates class (I’m slowly but surely becoming stronger) and hopefully a massage (thanks to the amazing company Soothe). In the afternoon, I’ll whip up a batch of these brownies again for post-dinner ice cream sundaes.

The first time I made these brownies, I checked to see if they were done, but I was more focused on Downton Abbey  multi-tasking and accidentally dropped a pan of half-cooked brownies on the floor. Oops. So, don’t make the same mistake I did and try to keep up with the Crawley Family while making peanut butter brownies.

  

Peanut Butter Brownies 

From Cook’s Illustrated

Makes about 16 brownies

Note: do not use a natural peanut butter (one where the oil separates from the butter itself). While I never eat Skip or Jiffy, this is the recipe to use it in.

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup peanut butter, room temperature

Adjust oven rack to middle position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 8-inch baking dish with foil and coat foil with cooking spray. 

Melt the chocolate and butter in small bowl in microwave, or in heatproof bowl set over pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally to combine. Cool mixture for several minutes. 

Whisk sugar, baking powder, table salt, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in flour until no streaks remain.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Drop peanut butter in 10 small dollops spread out evenly across the batter. Without touching the foil lining, run pairing knife through batter to create swirls.

Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center of pan comes out clean, 25 to 27 minutes. Cool brownies on wire rack for 1 hour. 

Using foil, lift brownies from pan to cutting board. Slide foil out from underneath brownies, and cut brownies into 2-inch squares.  

Back to Basics: Chocolate Pudding

Last week, I gave you lots of Valentine's Day posts (see gift guides 1 and 2, plus this amazing dinner recipe). In my mind, Valentine's Day isn't Valentine's Day without a really great chocolate dessert.

I love rich over the top dinners. They remind me of special dinners out with my family. Dinners where we would have to dress up, the waiter would bring us kids Shirley Temples to drink, and there was no real children's menu. These meals always ended with dessert--typically a rich, traditional dessert like chocolate mousse, creme brulee, or chocolate molten cake.

I recently went out to dinner at Chapeau! (the exclamation is their doing, not mine), and had an absolutely fabulous meal. Of course it ended with dessert, and while I loved my chocolate cake, I was unable to even eat half of it.

That's when I knew I made it. I was an adult. I already felt as if I needed to spend every night that coming week at Soul Cycle, and I knew that if I finished the dense and rich chocolate cake in front of me, I might need two straight weeks at Soul Cycle.

Luckily this chocolate pudding delivers in the great chocolate dessert department without making you feel as if your date needs to roll you home. Chocolate desserts, definitely sexy and Valentine's Day appropriate. Chocolate desserts that leave you in a sugar coma, definitely not sexy.

This pudding has tons of chocolate flavor (thanks to 6 oz of chopped chocolate) and is the grown-up version of the chocolate pudding you loved growing up.

In some ways, it's pure nostalgia. It's an American pudding without eggs or cream--similar to the pudding that comes in that little box. It's adult chocolate flavor though is outrageous, in the best way possible. I added a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, just to balance out the chocolate.

The best part: it looks so cute served in individual ramekins, and you can make it in advance. The pudding has to be made 2-3 hours ahead of time so it can set in the fridge, and you can even leave the puddings in the fridge for 3 days.

This is what you want to make for dessert this Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding

Adapted from John Sharffenberger via Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

6 ounces chopped semi- or bittersweet chocolate

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in whole milk to prevent lumps, then add milk more quickly. 

Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and the sides. Use a whisk if lumps form. After 10 minutes or so, before the milk mixture simmers, the mixture should thicken and cover the back of a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate and stir for another 2 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is fully incorporated and the pudding is thick.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Either pour into one large serving bowl or divvy out into individual servings. Chill until the pudding is set, about 2 to 3 hours.

If you dislike pudding skin, put some plastic wrap over the pudding and smooth it gently into the surface of the pudding before refrigerating.

Slow Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Fennel

Today, I'm bringing you a beautiful and delicious salmon dish. While I love the idea of serving it for Valentine's Day, it's really easy enough to recreate any day of the week. Why do you need a made-up commercial holiday as an excuse to make a great meal?

All this recipe takes is a little bit of time. It just requires some upfront vegetable slicing, and then you place the salmon in the oven and let it slowly roast.

This is a great Valentine's Day dinner recipe--it seems fancy and elegant (salmon! roasted citrus! fennel!) but it really is simple to make, allowing you to spend more time with that certain someone. It also feels special--out of the ordinary--from the typical dinner routine. The salmon looks best when it's perfectly imperfect, so you don't have to worry about making it look picture perfect.

Zach and I are forgoing restaurants this Valentine's Day and you should too. I guarantee this salmon dinner is better than the prix-fixe menu with overdone steak. Pop open a bottle of wine, starting preparing some citrus, and enjoy the night in with your love!

Slow Roasted Salmon with Citrus and Fennel

From Bon Appetit 

Serves 6

1 medium fennel bulb, thinly slice

1 blood orange or navel orange, thinly sliced and seeds removed

1 Meyer or regular lemon, thinly sliced and seeds removed

1 red Fresno chile or jalapeño, thinly sliced

4 sprigs of dill, plus more for serving

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 2-lb skinless salmon fillet, preferable center cut

3/4 cup olive oil

Flaky sea salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Toss fennel, orange slices, lemon slices, jalapeño, and dill together in a shallow baking dish. Season with kosher salt and pepper.

Season salmon with kosher salt and place on top of fennel and citrus mixture. Pour oil over the entire dish.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until salmon is just cooked through (the flesh will be opaque).

Transfer salmon to a large platter, breaking the fillet into large pieces. Spoon fennel and citrus mixture over the salmon. Discard cooked dill sprigs and add fresh dill. Season with flaky sea salt and more pepper.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Food Gifts

These are the cutest gifts you'll find out there! They are deliciously sweet and filled with cheer--sure to make even the gloomiest person feeling the love on February 14th.

1) Microwaveable chocolate fondue. Need I say more? Bonus points if you also bring marshmallows, strawberries, and pound cake. {link}

2) These spunky chocolate covered pretzels are sure to delight your valentine. These are the gifts I would give to all of my girlfriends! They're basically a party in a box. {link}

3) Mouth.com continues to crush it in the gift department. This Valentine's Day collection comes in two sizes (XO and XOXO) and features some of the best chocolate and sweet treats in the country. {link}

4) Top-notch coffee and Jeni's ice cream. The key to my heart is now available for $52. {link}

5) These cups fit perfectly on a mug and come in the cutest colors. Bring a whole bunch in to the office to spread the Valentine's Day spirit! {link}

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Her

Happy Tuesday! All this week, I'll be bringing you some Valentine's Day gift guides. You'll find the perfect present for the lovely lady or man in your life.

Today's gift guide is for your favorite lady--be it your mom, sister, girlfriend, or wife. Celebrate the love with everyone in your life!

1. Liberty has the greatest prints, and I love that you can find so many bright and fun home goods through them. Any baker would love to have this beautiful cake stand on her kitchen counter. It makes any cake (be it from a box or from scratch) look more delicious.

{link}

2. Every lady needs some Oscar de la Renta in her closet. These earrings, in a festive red, don't break the bank! Give them to her before dinner, so she can wear them out! {link}

3. The blush ombre silk robe of my dreams. Give her this silk robe and then make her breakfast in bed! {link}

4. Fulfill her Downton Abbey fantasies by gifting her an antique tea cup. This Etsy site has some great finds. Bonus points if you give her this tea as well.

5. Roses are overrated. Beautiful bud vases--with a fresh flower or two--are the cool floral gifts this year. {link}

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Frittata

Every year, Zach surprises me on Valentine's Day with Nutella, strawberries, and mimosas in bed. Now that we live on opposite coasts, I find myself clinging to little traditions like this. This year, I was hoping since Zach was going to be in town for Valentine's Day, he would find a way to recreate this special tradition.

Then Storm Pax happened, and Zach's flight was delayed until Saturday morning.  So long Valentine's Day tradition of decadent breakfast in bed. I took the news by moping around and feeling sorry for myself.  After a day of being very annoying, I came to understand that change is natural, and though traditions are meant to tie us to the past, they can also adopt to our lives now.

So this morning, I woke up early, went to the store, and bought the ingredients for a great brunch at home. I kept with our traditional theme of strawberries and mimosas-but had to make a few changes to add my own flair (and to adjust for Whole Foods choosing not to carry Nutella...really Whole Foods?). 

I ended up surprising Zach with blood orange mimosas, Philz Tesora coffee, strawberries, croissants, an arugula salad, and butternut squash, onion, and goat cheese frittata. The menu was different from how we typically celebrate Valentine's Day, and we were not celebrating on Valentine's Day, but it was still lovely and romantic.

This frittata is an easy brunch dish to throw together--especially if you cook the butternut squash the day before.  

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend with your Valentines!

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Frittata

3/4 cup butternut squash, diced into cubes

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons salt, divided

2 teaspoons black pepper, divided

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 onion, chopped

3 ounces of goat cheese (feel free to add more)

6 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of black pepper. Bake in the oven, turning the squash occasionally with a spatula, for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Leave the oven on--you are going to need it again soon!
• Meanwhile, in a small pan on medium heat, melt the butter.  Add onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.
• Spray an 8x8 in. Pyrex dish with cooking spray. Layer the squash, onions, and goat cheese in the dish.

• In a medium sized bowl, whisk the 6 eggs, and remaining salt and pepper together.  Add in the milk, and whisk again.
• Pour the egg mixture into the Pyrex dish.

• Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the eggs are completely set on top. The frittata should look similar to very firm scrambled eggs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Valentine's Day Pizza Party

I am a big fan of stay-at-home date nights. I love going out to eat and trying new restaurants, but sometimes there is nothing more romantic than staying at home, cooking a delicious meal together, and then cuddling for the rest of the night. When I think of date nights, it conjures up ideas of fancy meals that might take a few hours to make, but I am much more partial to interactive and fun meals that are simpler to make.

These pizzas are one of my favorite weeknight date-night meals. Not only are they incredibly easy to make thanks to Trader Joe's, but they are also so much fun to put together. This is a great meal to put together for Valentine's Day--especially since everyone will be celebrating on Friday after a long week at work.

My friend Kara and I made three pizzas--fig, goat cheese, prosciutto, and arugula pizza, margherita pizza, and potato, egg, and rosemary pizza.  Feel free to customize!  For example, Kara loves prosciutto, so she add that to her fig and goat cheese pizza, while I was more partial to the potato, egg, and rosemary pizza.

Open up a bottle of wine, start rolling out the dough, and great ready for a great date night.

Weeknight Pizzas

Feel free to use whatever ingredients you like, and whatever amounts of topping you like, which is why I do not specify certain amounts of topping.  Use your creativity...the options are endless!  

1 potato

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary

3 packages of Trader Joe's pizza dough

Flour, for rolling out the dough

Olive oil

Fig butter

Goat cheese

Prosciutto (optional)

Arugula

Marinara sauce

Basil

Burrata cheese

Two eggs

Parmesan cheese

• Let the pizza dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut the potato into small slices.  Toss with two tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/2 tablespoon of rosemary. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the potatoes are soft and begin to turn brown. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Toss a cutting board with some flour.  Using a rolling pin, begin rolling out the pizza dough until the crust is approximately one inch thick.  Go for any shape you want--though rectangles and circles are the easiest and most traditional.
• Once you have three crusts ready to go, coat three cooking sheets with olive oil.
• For Kara's fig, goat cheese, prosciutto and arugula pizza, first coat the pizza with fig butter.  Then top with goat cheese chunks and a few slices of prosciutto.   

• Place in the oven and let it cook for 15 minutes.  Depending on how thin your pizza is, it may take longer.  You want to make sure the dough seems crispy and and the edges are nicely brown.
• Top the pizza with arugula before serving.  

• For my margherita pizza, top the pizza dough with marinara sauce and fresh basil.  

• Place in the oven, and let it cook for 15 minutes, until the edges of the dough is nicely browned. 
• Top the pizza with fresh buratta right before serving.

• For my potato, egg, and rosemary pizza, coat the pizza dough with olive oil.  Place the cooked potatoes onto the dough, creating a single layer. Crack two eggs onto the pizza.  Add the remaining salt, pepper, and rosemary, and grate a little bit of Parmesan over the pizza.  

• Cook in the oven until the egg is set and the edges are crisp, about 12-15 minutes. 

Valentine's Day Chocolate Truffles

This Valentine's Day, I am especially grateful for all of my valentines, not just my boyfriend. I love my boyfriend, and I am ecstatic that he is coming to DC for Valentine's Day weekend. However, there are so many people in my life whom I love--old friends, new friends, sister, brother, father, grandparents, mentors, sorority sisters, roommates--and I want to make sure that I take some time to thank them for making my life a little bit better. Life is too short to not celebrate all of your loved ones on Valentine's Day.

These chocolate truffles are the perfect gift, no matter who your valentine is.  They only require about 10 minutes of actual cooking, and the recipe only calls for a few ingredients, making it easy to cook up a large batch for all of your valentines.

To all my valentines near and far, I am thinking of you this Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Truffles

Adapted from Ina Garten

Note: the better the chocolate, the better the truffle

1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate

1/2 pound semisweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons of liqueur (I prefer Grand Marnier or Frangelico's)

1 tablespoon prepared coffee

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa Powder

• Chop the chocolate finely with a sharp knife. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. 

• Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the liqueur, coffee, and vanilla.  Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll each ball of chocolate in your hands to roughly make it round. Roll in the cocoa powder. They will keep in the refrigerator for at least a few weeks, though you should serve them at room temperature.