Turkish Coffee Chocolate Brownies

Hi everyone, after a few weeks without eggs, we finally scored some. To celebrate? I baked brownies – the best brownies I know how to make. They’re fudgy, deep-dish, and decadent with a high fat (butter & chocolate) to flour ratio. We ate some, froze some, and left some for neighbors. In addition to lots of bittersweet chocolate in the batter, I dial up the intensity with 1/4 cup of espresso powder and an infusion of fragrant, freshly ground cardamom seeds blooming in vanilla extract. It’s a flavor profile I love every time I encounter it. They’re Turkish coffee chocolate brownies, and I’d happily use my last eggs and chocolate to make them.

Brownie Tips

– Chocolate: I love Amy Guittard and her family’s San Francisco-based chocolate. For these brownies I use a bag of Guittard Organic Bittersweet 74%. That said, any good bittersweet chocolate over 70% is great. If you can only get semi-sweet right now in the 60-70% zone – they’ll still be delicious, but look for bittersweet as your first choice.

– Grinding spices: If you have a coffee grinder at home, you can grind the cardamom seeds along with your beans when grinding the espresso powder. That said, it’s probably easier to use a mortar and pestle to quickly grind the cardamom – your coffee grinder will retain the cardamom scent for a while if you don’t clean it which takes some effort. To clean a coffee grinder you can grind a handful of white rice to clear it of other ingredients and scent.

– Invest in good cardamom: Many of you are familiar with Diaspora Co. turmeric, but don’t sleep on the cardamom. I use it here and it is incredibly fragrant and special. Other things you can do if you have a jar –  steep pods in tea, grind a couple seeds with your coffee beans in the morning, toss a few pods into stews, etc. Freshly ground spices can make a huge difference in your baking.

Coffee Choice

A dark, robust roast is welcome here. Anything labelled espresso. You’ll want the coffee beans ground espresso-fine.

Brownie Pan Size

You have some flexibility here. I call for baking in a 8×8-inch pan. If you only have an 9×9-inch brownie pan, I’ve baked these in that size as well, they’ll be a bit thinner, and you won’t need to bake as long. A 9×13-inch pan will result in a thinner brownie, you’ll need to bake for even less time. 

One variation I want to mention. I love using almond extract here in place of the vanilla extract called for.  I’m out right now, but if you have some, consider using it!

Other baking ideas: Maybe you’re not in the mood for brownies, but cookie recipes sound good right now? I love these snickerdoodles, these shortbread cookies, and this Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie. On the cake front, a lot of people are baking this One Bowl Banana Bread right now. Kim Boyce’s Rosemary Olive Oil Cake is wonderful, or if you’re up for a bit of a project, make the Violet Bakery Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake. 

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Ten Freezer-Friendly Pantry Soups

Hi everyone. Not surprisingly, I’m getting a lot of requests for pantry soup recipes right now. I made a couple myself this week (a red cabbage version of ribollita, and a simple farro & bean soup), and it’s the kind of cooking I love most. I hope you’ll find some inspiration in this collection of favorite soups and stews that rely on pantry staples like beans, grains, rice, canned tomatoes, and the like – ingredients you might have in your cupboard. Keep in mind, many of them are very adaptable, meaning that I encourage you to make substitutes if you don’t have an ingredient or two! I’ll give some easy swap suggestions in the list below. And if you aren’t sure if a substitution will work or not, please message me on Instagram – I’m more than happy to help you come up with a plan.

1. Chickpea & Rice Soup with Garlic Chile Oil – A chunky rice soup, studded with lots of chickpeas, flecked with kale, and drizzled with a vibrant garlic-chile oil. It has peanuts, and a dusting of turmeric. It freezes beautifully, and you can experiment with a range of toppings.

2. Ribollita – This classic Tuscan stew is such a great way to get everything you need to use in your kitchen into one delicious pot – day (or two)-old bread, carrots that are no logger snappy, leafy greens, etc. I had a cabbage that needed a purpose the other night – chopped it, and into the pot it went. Use beans from your pantry stash, canned tomatoes, and a medley of vegetables. It’s also a great way to eat the rainbow, and get a wide range of healthful ingredients into your bowl.

3. Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter – Green lentils (or split peas), topped with a curried brown butter drizzle. This version calls for cubes of pan-fried paneer on top, but you could skip that and just do a bit of grated cheese. Or! You can certainly explore a vegan version – infuse some olive oil or coconut oil with spices, and brown some tofu in place of paneer. A different beast, but also really good.

4. Curried Tomato Tortellini Soup – A fortifying lentil and tomato-based stew, dotted with plump, tender dumplings, spiked with a range of spices, and boosted with plenty of spinach. It’s so delicious, and simple, week-night friendly, and great for leftovers. Also, no shame in using frozen spinach, here. It cuts the already minimal prep time here down to near nothing.

5. Spicy Taco Soup – You can make this one in an Instant Pot, but you don’t have to. It’s pretty much just a dump & stir situation consisting of a hearty melding of beans, corn, taco spices, and quinoa. Frozen corn is fine. I bring the creaminess and crunch factor in via the toppings – toasted pepitas for the later, ripe avocado or guacamole, and a dollop of yogurt for the creamy.

6. Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup – A simple yet satisfying lentil soup where the tang of tomatoes plays off the earthiness of lentils, with a fragrant bolt of saffron yogurt as the closer. It has been up on my site for years, and I’ve been meaning to reshoot the photos for nearly as long. A lot of you have cooked this, and have left some great adaptations in the comments – I’ve pulled a few favorites into the main post.

7. Vegetarian Split Pea Soup – A delicious, healthy, textured soup made from an impossibly short list of ingredients. Seriously, just five! Simply green split peas and onions cooked until tender, partially pureed, seasoned and flared out with toppings.

8. Coconut Red Lentil Soup – Based on an Ayurvedic dal recipe in the Esalen Cookbook, I love this recipe so much. It’s worth trying even if you don’t have the exact spices. Just wing it a bit! No ghee or coconut oil, use olive oil. No ginger? Try some garlic instead.

9. Simple Farro & Bean Soup – The sort of hearty, timeless, comforting soup that helps in times like these. I made it earlier this week and felt a bit better because of it. There’s chopping to do, which keeps the hands busy and mind focused. The foundation ingredients are flexible and straight from the pantry – grains, canned tomatoes, beans. And if you have a lot of produce that needs to be used, a soup like this is perfect – eat some, freeze some. The ultimate pantry soup.

10. Richard Olney’s Garlic Soup – The ultimate comfort soup. Creamy and full-bodied without the use of cream, it is made by simmering a dozen or so cloves of garlic in water with a few herbs, then thickening the broth with a mixture of egg and shredded cheese. It’s hard to beat a big ladleful poured over crusty, day-old walnut baguette with a finishing slick of olive oil.

And if none of these pantry soups seems to hit the spot for you, here’s an entire section of soup recipes. Or, here’s a round-up of blender soups. Or a collection of amazing vegetable broths. xx, -h

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Simple Farro & Bean Soup

I’m updating this soup from the archives (2010)  because it’s the sort of hearty, timeless, comforting soup that helps in times like these. I made it this afternoon and feel a bit better because of it. There’s chopping to do, which keeps the hands busy and mind focused. The foundation ingredients are flexible and straight from the pantry – grains, canned tomatoes, beans. And if you have a lot of produce that needs to be used, a soup like this is perfect – eat some, freeze some.

I want to keep my original post here because it reminds me of how I felt cooking it for them ten years ago. // (February 23, 2010) I spent the night at my mom and dad’s house last week. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but they live an hour south of San Francisco in Los Gatos. It’s nice cooking in their kitchen this time of year because the view from the sink is quite beautiful. The hills surrounding their house are an electric shade of green and the old craggy-skinned oak trees are covered in moss and lichen. They say coyotes have been out recently, but when I was growing up it was mainly deer, skunk, and raccoon, (and the occasional rattle snake). I made a big pot of farro and bean stew for them – simple, hearty, and straightforward. They both went back for seconds, and I took that as a good sign.

The recipe below ended up being quite a departure from the recipe I photocopied, folded, and slipped into my overnight bag – regardless, I wanted to mention the book the inspiration came from – La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy. I’ve been reading through it at night. It’s the culmination of the work of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. It is an organization of thousands of members who would visit villages, towns, and farms all across Italy to document cooking techniques and ingredients – in order to preserve the culinary heritage of their country. The resulting volume is 930+ pages huge. The farro soup section has five or six recipes.

Over the years I’m made tweaks and variations to this soup, and topped it with any number of things. Here are a couple of favorites.

Harissa & feta: We ate the soup drizzled with harissa/olive oil and a good amount of feta cheese. Highly recommended for those of you sitting on harissa. Whisk together a ratio  about 1/3 harissa paste to 2/3 olive oil. Drizzle over the top of the soup.

Cilantro-garlic: Pictured here drizzled with a cilantro-garlic olive oil. Puree the leaves and stems of a bunch of cilantro with 2-3 cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, and olive oil to cover.

A version with heirloom beans, Savoy cabbage, and kale.

Your Bean Strategy

You have a lot of latitude here. I’ve done versions of this soup with dried beans, and canned beans. I’ve used I used Sangre de Toro beans, Rosa de Castilla , cannellini beans, and (as you see pictured here) canned chickpeas. I used Sangre de Toro beans the first time around. The second time I used Rosa de Castilla. Both were good (the pot liquor from the Sangre de Toro was intense in a good way), but the Rosa de Castilla were great – they held their shape, then melted in your mouth. Red beans are traditionally used. Canned chickpeas work wonderfully too. They’re all delicious, use what you think you might like, or what you have on hand. And remember, if you use dried beans, great! Save the bean broth and use it in combination with the water called for in the recipe for a wonderful, fully-bodied broth.

A Creamy Soup with No Cream

One last variation you can explore if you like. If you mash a cup of your cooked beans before adding them to the soup it results in a “creamier” broth. I skipped that step in the recipe below, opted for a more clear broth (as you can see above), but keep the idea in your back pocket.

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Egg Salad Sandwich

I have strong opinions about egg salad sandwiches. Usually I take a pass. Like, if I see one on a menu, or at a deli, I choose another sandwich. Egg salad tends to be so gloppy, or too much mayo, soggy bread (yuck), or the trifecta of all three. But it doesn’t have to be this way! When I make egg salad sandwiches at home it’s heart emojis all around. I like to use well-toasted bread rubbed with garlic. The egg mixture I make isn’t much of a departure from the classic, but the devil is in the details and ratios. There’s crunch from chopped celery and onions, a dollop of wholegrain mustard, and just the right amount of yogurt in place of mayo.

A Couple Egg Salad Tricks

There are some tricks I like to deploy when constructing an egg salad sandwich. The eggs are a soft component, so I like to introduce crunch and structure wherever possible, for contrast. So, in this recipe you have crunch celery and onions. Good quality, extra toasty slices of bread bring more crunch and structure. And I like to add a few sturdy, fresh lettuce leaves between thread and the egg salad to keep the bread from going soft.

Invest in Good Eggs

You want to use really great eggs if you’re making egg salad. The ones where the yolks are rich and bright yellow. Eggs from pastured hens. Peeling really fresh eggs can be challenging, so I tend to use good eggs, but the ones that have been in my refrigerator longest are the ones to use here. For easy peeling.

Getting the Eggs Cooked Just Right

I’ve realized that 90% of the challenge here is properly boiling the egg. You need to boil them so the centers set yet stay moist. You also need to avoid the dreaded grey ring that surrounds the yolk in many hard boiled eggs. I use a strict technique that works flawlessly for me every time. Basically, you need to avoid over-cooking. To do that you simply move the eggs into a bowl of icy water after removing them from the water they were boiled in.

Egg Salad Sandwich Variations

Once you get your sandwich the way you like it, it’s fun to play around with variations. Here are a few faves.

– Egg Salad with Broiled Gruyere: Broil some thinly sliced gruyere cheese onto your toast, top with the egg salad mixture, sprinkle with fried shallots, and serve open-faced. Inspired by a version I would eat on occasion at Il Cane Rosso in San Francisco.

– Curried Egg  Salad Sandwich: This is so good!  I think of it as a wintery version where you add curry powder, chopped apple, toasted pecans, and onion.

– Chickpea Salad Sandwich: You can use the same general idea for a vegan version. Pulse a couple of cups of cooked chickpeas in a food processor and proceed with the recipe, adding more yogurt if needed to bring the ingredients together.

More Ideas and Tips from You

There are so many great ideas from you down in the comments. I wanted to highlight a few here!

Lirion says, “Don’t freak out, but my egg salad uses eggs and a mango relish. Yup, that’s it. After assembling and before adding the second piece of bread, a shot of fresh cracked pepper and all of 5 grains of salt.”

I love a secret ingredient, and Quinn says, “I keep my egg salad ingredients to a minimum, eggs, shallots, chopped pickle, mustard, a lil mayo, and salt and pepper. oh, and I add Old Bay too.”

Or listen to this variation from Shawn! “I just made some delicious Japanese flavored egg salad with homemade wasabi mayo. For the mayo I used two egg yolks, 500 mL of olive oil, and two tsp of rice wine vinegar. After the yolk had accepted all of the oil I added fresh dill, lemon juice, salt & pepper, and a sizable squirt of wasabi paste. For those of you who like a little crunch I suggest chopped water chestnuts drained and briefly pan fried. Eat it on bread as dark as pumpernickel or as white as wonder; it’s all about the mayonnaise.” Genius!

Kate lends some technical insight, “I’ve found the best tool for mashing up eggs for egg salad is a grid-style potato masher. Those square holes make the perfect sized bits of egg white. More consistent, yet chunkier than the results you get with a fork. “

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Bryant Terry’s Amazing Green Rice

Hi all, I hope everyone is hanging in there during all of this uncertainty. I’ve been trying to stay off my phone and focus instead on doing things that are positive and productive close to home. There’s a lot of cooking and baking going on and I wanted to share this gem of a recipe. It’s an amazing green rice from Bryant Terry’s new book, Vegetable Kingdom. If you’ve got some greens on hand, and some rice, you must, must, must make it. It really is so good. A blender of green juice made from kale, spinach, and a creamy stock is cooked with onions, garlic, green pepper, and long-grain rice. It all cooks together into an intensely green and fragrant pot of fluffy grains.

Give it a Try, Really!

Let me just also say, I know some of you are shy about cooking rice.  Even if you think you’re no good at cooking it, push those thoughts aside and give this recipe a try. It’s worth a go. Because even if you don’t nail your rice perfectly, close enough is good enough here, and you can make adjustment based on your experience the next time around! Also, consider doubling the recipe while you’re at it, its a great way to up your greens consumption. I’m going to list the ways I’ve been using this green rice for leftovers below.

Green Rice Leftover Ideas

There are so many(!) things you can do with leftover green rice. Here are a few to consider.

Fried rice: Cook day-old rice in a skillet with extra garlic, a bit of chopped up omelette, a bit of tofu, maybe add a handful of broccoli?

Onigiri: Shape the green rice into chubby triangles and pan-fry until crusted and golden. You can even tuck a bit of tofu or a few edamame into the center for added surprise.

Green Burrito with Guacamole: Do a version of this quinoa burrito, but use this green rice in place of the quinoa.

Green Rice Soup: Make a green version of this rice soup (I actually made this for dinner last night) – basically thin the rice out to desired consistency with stock or water, season, and go from there with toppings, etc.

Green Rice Cakes: Whisk an egg or two into the rice (1 for each cup of rice), shape into patties and pan-fry into rice cakes.

Whole Grain Green Rice: Do a version using brown basmati or brown jasmine rice. Up the liquid, and cooking time a bit based on the rice you’re using, and package instructions.

Topping Ideas

It’s all about the crunch here. Toasted nuts, crispy shallots, toasted nori, citrus zest, sesame seeds, crumbled kale chips.

More ways to find Bryant! On Instagram, his site, on Twitter.

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