Ringing In The New Year

After last week's explosion of cute embodied by my two younger cousins, I'm sorry to say that 2013 has, for lack of a better word, sucked so far. (You know things are bad when you start identifying with Peter Finch in Network.) Luckily, there is hope on the horizon in the form of a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise to be taken by myself and James. Of course, one of the stressors involved said cruise when I realized that an oversight on my part meant that we needed to book different departing flights to the tune of $600. But one of the great things about dating the Nicest Guy Ever is that when I make stupid mistakes he's more worried about me and my reaction than any fall out I may have caused. 

                        Me, James, and his creepy facial hair shortly before 12

I am happy to report, however, that 2012 ended deliciously. And really, isn't that what truly matters? My friends and I have something of an annual tradition where we rent a hotel room in downtown Hartford, dress up, and go out. In previous years we've made crackbabies and bean dip during the pre-outing festivities, but this year I "kicked it up a notch", as some TV chef used to say. Since I didn't get to do any holiday baking I made up for it (and how) with a little dessert called Slutty brownies, which involves a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, a layer of oreos, and a layer of brownie baked together in a pan. 

                                           Action shot!

Now, I did not invent Slutty brownies and thus, have no attachment to the name. I'm not really sure why they are called Slutty brownies and given the longstanding social and political implications of the term slut, I'd much prefer Promiscuous brownies or Sexually Liberated brownies.  I myself referred to them as Turducken brownies when in conversation with my parents, which may have ultimately been even more confusing if less vulgar. In any case, they are called Slutty brownies and they were invented by my new hero, The Londoner. 

                                                     playing coy

In her version, you use premixed cookie dough but for mine I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and my God it was worth the extra effort. I added about a tablespoon extra butter (using my trusty Kerrygold Unsalted) and about 2 tablespoons water. This batter is particularly dry so for other recipes, you may just need one. Either way, all you want to do is add more moisture since the dough will be baking for longer than the recipe calls for. Then came the oreo layer. 

James picked up the cookies for me while I started the dough and since he is generally less health conscious than me I was secretly hoping he would come back with a bag of Double Stuff. But he completely surprised me when he gave me a bag of Reduced Fat oreos. At first I was all like "Are you f**king serious? You talk about eating hotdogs and pizza every day and this is when you decide to get healthy?" But honestly, it was a good decision. You can't tell the difference and these brownies are so rich that you'll be thankful for that 30% reduction in fat. 

                                 It really is a thing of terrible beauty

As for the brownie layer, I used Ghiradelli's dark chocolate brownie mix because they make awesome brownies and making the cookie dough from scratch was, quite frankly, enough for one dessert. I had a hotel party to get to! After assembling the layers in a paper lined 9 x 9 pan bake at 350 for 30 minutes and you're done. Your mouth is ready to get dirty, verrrry dirty.

Sunday Brunchin' At Firebox

Hey, want to hear something awesome? Of course you do. I found my new favorite brunch place in CT: Hartford's Firebox. I've been wanting to go to this place since it opened a couple years ago, but like so many other things in my life, it took awhile to make it happen. But, I am so glad I didn't give up. Everything from the food to the atmosphere is great. See that? That's a DJ! At brunch! In Hartford! It's the kind of place you'd expect to find in a city like Boston or New York, but unlike those places there isn't a 40 minute wait for a table and the prices are reasonable. Firebox is a part of Billings Forge and is housed in a beautiful, old brick building. They are part of the farm to table food movement and grow a number of ingredients in their garden out back.

Doesn't the word 'tavern' make your mouth water? No? Just me?

I had the eggs benedict with salmon pastrami and James had some egg and sausage thing served in a personal-sized cast iron pan. The hollandaise was so friggin good. Next time we go I'm asking for an additional side of hollandaise because I am gross and the accompanying heart disease is well-worth it. Also, salmon pastrami? Did you know this was a thing? I had never heard of it before I ordered it, but needless to say I am now a fan. In the middle is our order of homefries accompanied with a dollop of smoked paprika aioli. I have recently been introduced to the wonder that is smoked paprika, but this aioli took my adoration to a new level. Yet another thing to speed along that heart disease.

 All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing meal that I'm sure was helped along by the two mimosas I had. It was also really nice to see how they incorporated other Hartford-area businesses and foods into the menu when possible. The toast my benedict came with was from the good ol' Hartford Baking Company. Basically, this is the kind of place that makes you go "Yeah! Hartford could really be something!" but then you look around and realize there's only six people in the entire restaurant on a gorgeous Sunday. I guess the place is pretty hopping during the weekend and happy hour, which is encouraging because this is the kind of place that Hartford needs.

Culinary Time-Travel: Heirloom Apples

Last week, James and I made our annual pilgrimage to Belltown Hill Orchards in Glastonbury for apples, donuts, and more. I was thrilled to see that they had a variety of heirloom apples for sale and picked up a few.

Clockwise from top: Cox's Orange Pippin, a dessert apple that originated in England in 1825 and perfect for pie-making, the lovely, sweet, red Honeycrisp developed in 1960, and the tart, green Newtown Pippin, allegedly Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple.  

I first learned about heirloom apples last year while doing research for the book and loved the idea of cooking heirloom recipes WITH heirloom ingredients. It's culinary time travel! Luckily, heirloom fruits of all kinds seem to be having a moment right now, if NYT trend pieces are to be believed.  And really, considering that most grocery stores only stock around three varieties of apples out of the 7,500 available, one of which includes the abhorent Red Delicious, we could all benefit from a little more apple variety.

I first made a pie using a mixture of heirloom apples and a recipe for Blue Ribbon Apple Pie from my Cook's Country cookbook, which is filled with lots of old-fashioned, classic, "heirloom" American recipes.

Mmmm tastes like history!

Then on Saturday I made yummy vegan pancakes with warm apple topping from the Post Punk Kitchen. Not quite culinary time travel, but delicious all the same. So whether you're making an old fashioned apple pie, or just looking to spruce up an old recipe, heirloom apples are a great addition. Keep an eye out at the farmer's market or, if you're lucky, your grocery store for heirlooms.