Spicy Brownies (High altitude)

When I made the move from Wisconsin to Colorado it was a big change. Well, some things were the same. When comparing Madison, Wisconsin to Boulder, Colorado, someone once told me that “the only difference is swapping out lakes for mountains.” Madison and Boulder both have the same college town feel, the same hippies and each their own pedestrian –only streets downtown. If you took Boulder and plopped it down in the middle of some lakes and fields, you would have Madison.



The big difference between the two cities however, is altitude. An avid baker, this difference affected me to a great extent. Why were all my cookies paper thin? How come my muffins were concave? Why are my cakes falling? Cooking at altitude (as we’ve discussed before), is lame. While most of my baking forays were edible, they were dense and made me sad. Sad baking.

This is how the first few months at altitude went, until I discovered Pie in the Sky by Susan G. Purdy. This cookbook is just what I was looking for. Susan spent an enormous amount of time testing and re-testing her recipes at sea level, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 and 10,000 feet. I was even more encouraged knowing that she did her 5,000 ft cooking in Denver. Not only was she at the same altitude, but she was testing these recipes in the dry Denver air, perfect.



Sad baking soon turned to happy baking. Pie in the Sky also taught me how to adjust other recipes (like in our Franken-cupcake journey). So for my high-altitude friends, go buy this book. Your kitchen will soon be a happy one!

When you want brownies don’t go out and buy a mix, homemade brownies are so much more fantastic. They require so few ingredients and take mere minutes to whip up. Making brownies this weekend, I was in the mood for something a little different. While spinning thru my spice rack I settled on adding some cayenne pepper to my regular brownie recipe. The pepper adds a very subtle kick to the chocolate, while the chocolate chips send you on chocolate overload.

Spicy Brownies
Adapted from Pie in the Sky by Susan G. Purdy

(High-altitude adaptations in red)

½ cup Cocoa powder
½ cup All-purpose flour (plus 1 tbsp)
1 cup sugar (minus 1 tbsp)
1/8 tsp salt (1/4 tsp)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 eggs (3 eggs)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
6 tbsp butter (8 tbsp) – melted and cooled
1 cup chocolate chips

- Mix cocoa powder, flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add eggs, vanilla and butter
- Mix ingredients until blended and add chocolate chips, maybe add some nuts too!
- Scoop batter into an 8x8 pan
- Cook at 325 for 30-35 minutes (375 for 20-27 minutes at altitude)

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

It has to be said, I love ice cream. Luckily I have a morsel of self control when it comes to eating my ice cream. I can bring home a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and it will last a number of days in the freezer. Usually day one and two are pretty good. Once you get to that third day, and there is half a container left, that it gets a little tricky. Leaving just a bit in the bottom seems silly, so day three I eat it all.

The same cannot be said about all ice creams. If I buy a pint of Blue Bunny ice cream, it is difficult to only eat a single portion. The reason behind this must be the quality of the ice cream! Ben & Jerry’s is so rich, just a bit will do. Blue Bunny is what, a dollar for a half gallon? Cheap ice cream requires more to satisfy!

Homemade ice cream is the most satisfying of all. Not only do you control the quality of the ingredients, but you get that satisfaction that you made it! You invite people over and serve them some ice cream, proudly saying “I made this!” You tell your coworkers that you made ice cream this weekend. Ooo’s and Ahhh’s follow, pride fills your body.

So dust off your ice cream maker and whip up a batch of rich, delicious Oreo cheesecake ice cream. Enjoy it with some friends and feel all warm and fuzzy when they compliment your churning skills.

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup milk
1 ½ cup heavy cream
1 cup crushed Oreos

- Beat sugar, cream cheese and egg together
- Bring the milk to a boil on the stovetop then slowly beat into the cream cheese mixture
- Return to the stovetop and cook on low, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened
- Remove from heat and pour through a mesh sieve into a clean bowl
- Add cream
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight
- Freeze in your favorite ice cream maker, adding the Oreos when the ice cream is semi-frozen, then transfer to a container and freeze solid

Spanish Chicken with Mustard-Green Onion Sauce

As a child, I thought that raw chicken looked like so much fun. It was all slimy and wiggly. It also looked pretty tasty in my younger self’s opinion. I imagine that it would have a similar texture to chewing gum, which, as a child, sounded pretty interesting. Chicken chewing gum. Perhaps I’ll work on that idea for another post. Luckily for me I never decided to taste test the raw chicken and have thus lived to adulthood.



Over the years I have discovered many better ways for eating chicken. I am a huge fan of coating it is Buffalo sauce and eating it in many forms (as I exemplified in my recent two week visit home). It is also quite excellent right from Wegmans. Buying one of those whole roasted chickens from the grocery store is a fantastic plan when you have no plan. However, after eating a lot of chicken, I have discovered my favorite recipe. It’s quick and easy, the only thing holding you back from making it now is probably a lack of one of the spices.

This dish consists of a spice rub, a mustard-green onion sauce and chicken. The sauce is a simple vinaigrette which is also wonderful on salads. Sometimes I make it just to pour over lettuce. The spice rub is a combination of six spices, three of which you probably already own. Since this is such a simple dish, this post will also be a simple one. So here it is, my go to meal, Spanish Chicken.

Spanish Chicken with Mustard-Green Onion Sauce
From Bobby Flays Restaurant – Bolo

Mustard-Green Onion Sauce
½ cup white wine vinegar
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
½ thinly sliced scallions
3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Spice Rub
1 ½ tbsp Paprika (Spanish if you have it)
½ tbsp cumin
½ tbsp ground mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt

4 Chicken breasts

To make the sauce, whisk together the vinegar and mustard, slowly add in oil until emulsified (combined). I used my fancy salad dressing blender, but you can do this by hand. Season with salt and pepper then add scallions.

To make the rub, combine all the spices and mix thoroughly. You can use the seeds; just grind in a coffee grinder!

Heat your grill to medium (I used a grill pan since I live in an apartment; I imagine that using an outdoor grill would only produce even better results!).

Brush a little olive oil on both sides of the chicken and rub each side with the spice rub. (You should use all of your rub) Place on the grill and cook for 5-6 minutes before flipping. Cook for another 7 minutes or until cooked through.

Spoon some of your sauce onto a plate (and on your salad!), then place the chicken on top. Enjoy!