Mothers and Grandmothers: Grandma's Buttermilk Brownies AKA Lazy Cake

This recipe was brought to me by Nick's mother JoAnne. It is actually Nick's great grandma Cole's recipe.

The best thing about this recipe: I hope I am not sacrilegious when I call it "lazy cake" but it has the same ingredients as cake, without all of the hassle. It is moist, chocolaty buttery goodness. It may not be good for the waistline, but it is good for the soul. I make these for Nick's Birthday every year.
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Oleo (must be an Iowa thing...I use butter)
1 cup water
3 TBS Cocoa
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk*
2 tsp Vanilla

This makes 2 13X9 pans, so feel free to halve it.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat together the Oleo, water and cocoa until the oleo melts. Stir occasionally. While still hot, pour over first mixture and mix well.

 

In a small bowl mix eggs, soda, vanilla, and buttermilk. Beat well and pour into first mixture.

 

 

Pour into buttered pans and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool and frost with the recipe on the back.

Buttermilk*: 3 Tblsp dry buttermilk and 1/2 cup water.

Frosting
1/2 cup Oleo (butter)
3 Tablespoons Cocoa
6 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of powdered sugar

Mix oleo, cocoa, milk in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly and do not boil, until butter melts. Take from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and then frost.

 

Yum!



 



I love Nick's mother because I see a lot of similarities between the two. Quite the introvert, you can see that she observing a lot and is very clever, but she reveals very little. She never shies away from doing the hard thing, or the right thing, and is very independent. She doesn't put much stock in status symbols, or fancy things used to impress other people. She is who she is and is honest and authentic. She has a huge heart for animals; you can find her feeding kittens in her yard or adopting blind puppies in her spare time. My favorite memory was a trip we took before her wedding. We did a lot of fun things getting ready for the wedding, and we all came together like a family. I think this recipe is a lot like her. You don't need to make a fancy cake with chocolate on a double boiler and an electric mixer. You can use the same ingredients in a simpler way and get the same delicious result.

The Perks of Being Friends with Gardeners: Part 2

This is my Stackable Eggplant Parmesan. I didn't top it with mozzarella because I didn't have any in the house. However, we can pretend that I did it on purpose as a way to cut out the calories, or something. By omitting that extra layer of cheese, you can focus more on the natural flavors of the eggplant. Yeah, I'll go with that one.

 

 

First, slice the eggplant and salt them. Leave them to "weep" out their bitter juices in a colander for a half hour. Then rinse off really well.

 

Then, put slices in an egg wash and breading made of Italian breadcrumbs and seasonings with at least 1/4 cup of parm. Fry them in batches until they are golden brown.

 

 

 

Spoon tomato sauce onto the stacks with some more parm.

 





 

Repeat. Remember, the largest slices should go first so you can have pretty and stable stacks. If your slices are thinner, you can probably just serve it as is. If you don't think they are really cooked all the way, you can put it in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes at 375 or so.

 



 

This is my favorite way to eat eggplant. The Italians really know what they are doing.

Special thanks to Brandon for providing the (free) produce. It IS more satisfying knowing that it is freshly picked from a local garden. He has such a cheerful and helpful spirit. I am really glad to know him. Bon Appetite!

The Perks of Being Friends with Gardeners: Part 1

I am very excited to write this post. My co-worker, Brandon, was kind enough to leave 2 eggplants and a watermelon on my desk one morning. He knows all about my cooking blog, and I told him if he gave me the produce, that I would make a blog post in honor of them. Here we go....
I used Ina Garten's recipe for Roasted Eggplant Caponata. It's meant to be eaten with pita chips, and I don't think anything else could really do. I used Balsamic vinegar instead of red wine, because I generally don't like red wine vinegar at all. However, I think Balsamic was a little too "heavy" for the dip as a whole.

I would certainly use this dip if I was serving any vegan friends. There aren't a lot of dips for them besides hummus---and it is much tastier than hummus. I would also serve this at an elegant get together, or a party for a bunch of hard-core foodies.

 I would maybe not make it for people who really like American food only, or don't really like to eat new things, or are really picky eaters. I have to say that Nick didn't really like this, but I thought it was a good dip. It was also a little expensive, so you don't want to waste it by serving it to people who won't fully appreciate it.

1 large eggplant (1 1/2 pounds)

Good olive oil

4 ounces jarred roasted red peppers, chopped

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

3 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Toasted pita triangles, for serving

 

 

1) Roast your beautiful eggplant at 400 degrees. Prick the eggplant with a fork all the way around and slather with olive oil. After 40-50 minutes it should look like this...

 

 

 

 

 

2)...Beautiful! It will be very hot so let it cool and then get rid of the skin.

 

 

3) Put all of the ingredients in a food processor until it looks like this:

 

 



 

 

4) If you want to make pita chips, just cut up some pita bread into 4ths. Brush some olive oil and sprinkle any herbs or seasonings that you want (garlic salt, oregano, parsley, etc). Bake in an over for 10 minutes at 375.

 

Voila!

 

 

 

 

You can also serve with a side of watermelon.

 

 

Tomorrow I will show you what I did with the other eggplant, and on Monday I will post the final post for "Mothers and Grandmothers."