One pound chocolate brownies

So chocolate, much rich. 

I recently got a wonderful baking magazine with a lot of different recipes. I wanted to try something simple, then I stumbled upon a brownie recipe!

Recipe

• (2) 4 oz 70% Cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade (I used fig jam which worked fine)
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 2 1/4 cup sugar ( I used packed brown sugar)
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• (2) 4 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 13 X 9 inch pan with parchment paper or grease with butter. 

Using a double boiler or having one pot on top of the other melt the chocolate and butter together. Once this is smooth, remove it from heat and add marmalade as well as half and half. 

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add in the chocolate mixture as well as the vanilla. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Bake for about 30 minutes and cool before cutting!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Madelines

Absolute yum. 

The name of these say it all. Brown Butter Orange Madelines. Are you jumping up and down just thinking about it?? I found this recipe browsing A Cozy Kitchen's Instagram and I had to try them. I was especially intrigued by the orange zest and the way you brown the butter. I have no experience making madelines so I was excited!

Note: I didn't have a madeline pan so I used a cast iron pan I have for making cornbread which is in the shape of corn :) 

Check out the recipe on her blog! 

I doubled the recipe and put it in the fridge for several hours, it worked perfectly. 

A Cozy Kitchen Recipe

Cream Earl Grey Black.

Trying a new tea again and this time I'm reporting my thoughts as well as my mom's!

Today's Tea: Cream Earl Grey Black from

This tea includes a slight hint of vanilla and cornflower petals!

Mom's thoughts: She decided to not use a strainer when pouring her tea

• It has a strong, bold flavor (Maybe I brewed it too long hehe)
• Love the fragrance 
• If the petals and fragrance weren't there I wouldn't have liked it as much

My Thoughts:

• Incredible fragrance, it almost smells like perfume 
• This is almost like a dessert tea
• The cream flavor is very strong and tastes like you're drinking a cream coffee or dessert

Dragonfruit Devotion

I've been so set in my ways of drinking solely black tea. One of the main purposes of this blog was for me to explore other types of tea and to share my experiences with you! I can't really call myself a true tea lover unless I've tried as many as I can get my hands on. My dear friend gave me some tea from Teavana and because it was fruit flavored I was scared to try it, but I did today!

Brew time: I let this tea brew for about 8 minutes and it was steeped just fine. 

Color: The brewed tea was a pink color, like grapefruit colored. 

Smell: The aroma was very sweet like sugar and already puts the idea of "sweet" in your head before you even put your lips to the glass. 

Taste: I was underwhelmed by the sweetness. I think because I was expecting dragon fruit to be overly sweet I didn't add honey or any sugar. There was quite a punch of flavor when you take your first sip and with the small amount of sweet also comes a bit of a tangy taste. halfway through the glass I kind of imagined it as fruit juice served hot, hot juice. All in all I think it was good but not my favorite. I might a bit of honey next time because I think it would mix well with the fruit. 

Look: BEAUTIFUL 

Probably my favorite looking tea. 

Cast Iron Teapot vs Samovar

Cast Iron Teapot. 

This Christmas my sweet guy got me a beautiful cast iron teapot. I love the little flowers on it and how it keeps my tea so warm! Being from an Iranian family, I almost feel like a traitor using this kind of pot instead of the classic samovar. I had my reasons. 

Below is an image of each pot. The samovar image I provided is from a google search and you can find more modern, less expensive versions on amazon. 

First off, the samovar is usually a much bigger teapot and being the only one I would be making tea for it is somewhat of a waste. I also don't usually drink more than one glass at a time. I try to limit my tea drinking to one in the morning and one in the evening. 

Brewing

• Samovar: The samovar provides a much more vibrant tasting tea as you are not only pouring hot water over the leaves but then keeping them warm by putting them on top of a kettle. If you truly want to taste the tea fully brewed this is the best method however it takes time.  
• Cast Iron: The cast iron pot provides a much better brewed leaf than the other small travel teapot I had. The metal helps keep in heat and the enamel coat on the inside keeps the metal from interfering with the taste of the tea. Although the samovar brews the tea best, it is a matter of having time to do so. In the morning where I have tea before work to get me going, I would have to wake up at least 30 minutes earlier to get the true brew of the samovar. The cast Iron teapot lets me enjoy a pretty good brew in a timely fashion. 

Price

The kind of samovar pictured below or any model that looks similar to it can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand! As mentioned above there are more modern versions of it on amazon with two pots on top of each other that are affordable but I have yet to find a pretty one. That's right my decision was partially shallow as well :) 

I would suggest looking up cast iron pot on amazon and you can find many for under $50 with beautiful designs! Make sure to get one with a stand so that it doesn't burn your surfaces, a tea basket included and one with a coating on the metal so you're not drinking metal tea!

Samovar.

Photo credit: dima barsky via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Walnut Snowballs

Cure those winter blues.

These are my stepdad's favorite cookie so I decided to make a big batch of them for him for Christmas! They are from Special Desserts by Ann Amernick.   

• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350. You should line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, I just used a greased sheet which also worked fine. 

Cream the butter and sugar together then stir in the vanilla and walnuts. 

Sift together the baking powder and flower. Add in the dry mixture in thirds mixing with a rubber spatula after each addition. Form small walnut sized balls and bake for 15 minutes. The snowballs should be set but not browned. Let the snowballs cool then cover them in confectioner's sugar. 

Voila! 

Yaldā

12/21/15

Persian Celebration of Light. 

 Monday was shabeh yalda. On  the longest day of the year Persians celebrate the triumph of light over darkness and its called yalda. The traditions include staying up all night eating (pomegranate is a must), drinking tea and reading poetry. Many love to read the poetry of the famous poet Hafez. Often people sit outside on a corsi which is like a heated bench. 

An important part of yalda is tea, of course! Here's the tea I had last night with some interesting sweet. The little cubes are called ahb-nabat or rock candy. They are sweets you drink with tea often made of sugar, hard at first but dissolve as you drink your tea. The ones I had last night had  bits of pistachio in them...so good! I don't think you can find the pistachio ones online but here are the ones with saffron. 

Support Your Local Tea Shop - Na Tra Tea's

I have lived in Takoma Park since I was 8 years old. It's a pretty small town so you get to know all the businesses. A month or two ago I was driving down a street I frequent and saw a a new tea shop, only a few minutes walk from my apartment. Na Tra Tea's. I visited one other time as the shop owner made her shop a UPS sure post pickup spot to get more traffic. I walked in to get a package and thought to myself...this is going to be my new spot.  

How cute!

This was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Today I took a trip to Na Tra's. It was unusually winter like today so I bundled up tight and started my walk. The shop is only about a 5 minute walk from my house but it felt a little longer as the wind whipped my face. By the time I got there, I was ready for tea! 

My best friend from college Ashley recently asked me if I've tried rooibos tea,  I had not. Today when I walked into the shop and was overwhelmed! What to choose! I wanted to be adventurous and my eyes fell on "Red Hot Chai." A Rooibos blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, chai spices and a kiss of vanilla.

Aster Tefera is the owner and she is a delight! She was so welcoming and warm.  Although I ordered the red hot chai she offered me a sample of the house tea which had a very "middle eastern" taste.  Cardamom and cinnamon, I think I'll have that next time. 

We chatted about Iran and Ethiopia (where she is from) while she prepared my tea, it was a wonderful, genuine conversation. Once my tea was ready I sat down and it was delicious! If you haven't had rooibos you need to try it! More importantly, this small tea shop needs your support. Head on down to Takoma Park and say hello to Aster! Their tea will cheer you up :) 

Green Tea Tasting

Green Tea. 

So far,  I've mostly talked about black tea but tonight I had a delicious glass of green. My aunt sent me this loose leaf green, it's straight from China! I'll have to ask her where she ordered it from because there is no English on the packaging to give me a hint.

Green and black tea are very similar in taste and in benefit. Both black and green tea have an intoxicating smell, full body with a lingering taste on your tongue. 

This green tea was exceptional. I have had other green teas that didn't have as much flavor. Have you never had green tea? Here are some great health benefits:

1) Better digestion

2) Improves your skin

3) May have fat burning properties

4) Improves brain function

Don't mind me eating a cookie before dinner. 

GF Chocolate Crinkles

Let me start of by saying that I am fortunate enough to not have a dietary restriction such as gluten intolerance but some do! I went to a Christmas party on Saturday and the host cannot have gluten so I decided to look up a recipe for a gluten free holiday cookie. 

Apparently Betty Crocker has a whole line of gluten free products and recipes. Before you judge, take a look at these bad boys...

Check out the recipe: 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used apple sauce)
• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
• 2 cups granulated sugar (I used packed dark brown sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Normally I like to bake completely from scratch and am against boxed mixes but because this was an experiment I followed the recipe. I got the Bisquick Gluten Free mix from target, it was a bit pricey although there is a promo code now where if you spend $10 you get $3 off! 

You start off by mixing the apple sauce, sugar, vanilla and melted baking chocolate together. Then mix in the eggs one at a time making sure it is evenly distributed. Pour in the mix and make sure you scrape the bottom so there isn't any mix left. The recipe says to refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I only had an hour and it was fine. I would suggest longer because it will make the powdered sugar  step easier. 

Next take a teaspoon or tablespoon and roll little balls dunking them in powdered sugar. I poured powdered sugar in a bowl and this made it easy to cover it completely. Place on a baking dish that is oiled in some way or on parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes. This time will depend on how big you made the cookies.  

Let these cool before you try them! I would say that these are good however they are a bit cakey and I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Enjoy!