Mississippi Mud Brownies and FOOD

I've been busy in the kitchen lately.  It is bad when what constitutes an "amazing" weekend for me is one in which I don't leave the house at all and spend the better part of both Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen? Cause that was this past weekend, and it was basically amazing. I've been busy trying out new recipes, tweaking old ones, using a rice cooker for the FIRST TIME, loving the rice cooker,  then deciding to use it to cook a large amount of dried chickpeas so I can finally start getting away from using canned beans. Cans be damned! Unfortunately, I get so busy in the kitchen, and then get so excited to EAT, that I rarely remember to take pictures of my food anymore!

And so, here is a collection of the recipes I've tried over the past few weeks:

• Chicken Pot Pie Soup from How Sweet It Is served with these Biscuits from Smells Like Home

• My favorite Asian Ginger Carrot Dressing from SkinnyTaste

• These Buffalo Chicken Rolls from Can You Stay For Dinner? were a huge hit at my house

• The Classic Butternut Squash Soup from Cooks Illustrated (similar recipe found here)

• Creamy Cauliflower Soup from How Sweet It Is

• I made a Poppy Seed Dressing from Lottie and Doof which I enjoyed as a fun alternative to my usual salad during the week.
• Sweet Potato Apple Pork Chops from Part Time Housewife

• Chocolate Peppermint Bark Ice Cream from William Sonoma
  

• Beef Wellington from Simply Recipes served with Hericot Verte with Shallots from Smitten Kitchen (minus the tomatoes)

• Pumpkin Angel Food Cake from Betty Crocker (minus the ginger cream filling)
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes from For the Love of Cooking

• Chocolate Chewies from How Sweet It is - These are just like the ones I get at Whole Foods!

• I also made a pound cake for Christmas, but I can't find the recipe. Plus, though it was good, it was a "heavier" pound cake, leading my father-in-law to dub it the "two pound cake".

For a book club meeting I hosted last Friday I made:

• Spinach and Feta Ebelskivers from my Ebelskiver cookbook with recipe found here 

• Served with a Feta Dipping Sauce from Martha Stewart

• My "go to" hummus from Allrecipes.com with carrots and cucumbers

• Skinny Baked Brie Phyllo Cups with Craisins and Walnuts 

Our book this month was Gone Girl and since it took place in Mississippi, I decided to make Mississippi Mud Brownies from Bev Cooks for the ladies. Let me tell you, these were amazzzing, and a huge hit.

Mississippi Mud Brownies:
Taken from Bev Cooks

What it took for 12 servings:
for the brownies:
* 2 sticks butter
* 2 cups sugar
* 4 eggs
* 4 Tbs. cocoa
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup chopped almonds, plus more for garnish
* 1 cup marshmallows
for the sauce:
* 3/4 cup powdered sugar
* 1/2 stick butter, room temp
* 3 Tbs. cocoa
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1/4 cup evaporated milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add one egg to the mixture at a time, beating after each one.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt and cocoa. Stir into butter mixture and combine well.

Add the vanilla and chopped almonds to the mixture. Stir to combine.

Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour brownie mixture into pan and bake 40-45 minutes,  or
until a toothpick comes out clean. Bring out of the oven, sprinkle the marshmallows over the top, and stick
back in the oven for 5 minutes. You don’t want the mallows to brown, just starting to soften.

While it’s baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa and vanilla in a bowl. Add the evaporated milk to create a wonderful chocolate sauce. If you need to add more, go for it.

Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the brownies, let cool at room temperature for at least an hour.

Pure Heaven....