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24 Apr 17:51

The Honey Badger Cocktail

by Erica

I’m quite sure that, were it not for that viral YouTube video of a Honey Badger, there would be no cocktails celebrating this ferocious, Cobra-snake-eating badass of an animal.

The Honey Badger is what you might call an interpretive cocktail. Drinks based off memes are, by definition, not classics. There are as many variations of the Honey Badger Cocktail as there are things that a real live honey badger will attack and eat. I tried a few (research, you know) and decided none of the existing Honey Badger Cocktails captured the spirit of an animal who Does. Not. Give. A. Shit. This one does.

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My version of the Honey Badger is, like the animal itself, a weird-ass little thing. This drink might not be for you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good – very good, in fact – but it’s a drink for people who have a certain audacity, who don’t mind a cocktail that’s vaguely reminiscent of pit barbecue.

The Honey Badger Cocktail

We’re going to start with chipotle-infused bourbon. Get yourself a few dried chipotle peppers (not the ones in the can) and soak them in a big double glug of bourbon overnight. While you’re getting your prep out of the way, mix up a few tablespoons of 1-to-1 honey simple syrup and let the syrup cool.

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The next day you’ll have a base liquor that’s smokey and spicy and caramel-y and a rich honey syrup.

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To make the drink, you’ll need your chipotle bourbon, honey syrup, aromatic bitters and fresh lime.

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To decorate the rim of your cocktail glass, mix a few tablespoons raw sugar with a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of dried chipotle chili powder. If you don’t have chipotle powder, a teeny pinch of cayenne can be substituted. Don’t go crazy with the spice here unless you hate your guests.

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Generously rub the edge of a cocktail glass with a lime wedge, then dip the rim of the glass in the chipotle sugar.

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Shake the bourbon, honey, lime and bitters  together hard with cracked ice, then strain into the prepared cocktail glass.

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Serve right away. Or do whatever you want, you sassy little honey badger, you.

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Printable Honey Badger Cocktail Recipe

5 from 1 reviews
The Honey Badger
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A spicy, smokey cocktail for the Honey Badger in you.
Author: Erica
Recipe type: Cocktail
Serves: 1
Ingredients
For the Chipotle Bourbon
  • 4 dried chipotle peppers
  • 1 cup (8 oz.) mild bourbon
For the Honey Syrup
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons boiling water
For the Chipotle Sugar
  • ¼ cup organic or raw sugar
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ - ½ tsp chipotle chili powder, to taste
To Make The Cocktail
  • 2 oz. chipotle bourbon
  • 1½ tsp. honey syrup
  • 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 dash aromatic bitters
Instructions
For the Chipotle Bourbon
  1. Combine the dried chipotle peppers and bourbon in a half-pint mason jar. Lid tightly and soak at least 12 hours, and up to a day. Strain the chipotle bourbon. Will keep indefinitely.
For the Honey Syrup
  1. Stir the honey and boiling water together until the honey fully dissolves. Lid and cool completely before proceeding. Can be made up to a week ahead, keeps several weeks in the refrigerator.
To Make The Cocktail
  1. Mix together the chipotle sugar ingredients, then pour out on a small plate. Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with wedge of lime, then dip the rim of the cocktail glass into the chipotle sugar. Set glass aside.
  2. Add the chipotle bourbon, honey syrup, freshly squeezed lime juice and aromatic bitters to a cocktail shaker or mason jar filled with cracked ice. Shake hard for 15 to 30 seconds, then strain the cocktail into the prepared glass.
  3. Serve immediately.
3.2.2925

 
02 Apr 12:55

Sunprint Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs in 5 Easy Steps

by Erica

You know those things you see on Pinterest that look awesome when someone else does them, but you’re pretty sure they’re going to be a total disaster when you try them? These Sunprint-style eggs dyed with red cabbage were firmly in that “Likely Pinterest Fail” category for me.

“This can’t possibly work,” I thought. But, my son was clamoring to dye eggs for Easter, and I happened to have a red cabbage languishing in the crisper, and they just looked so pretty. I had to try.

I’m shocked how well these eggs turned out. They took a while, but each step was really simple. And in the end – not a Pinterest Fail at all.

Here’s how you make ‘em.

Step 1: Make Natural Dye With Red Cabbage

Sunprint-Dyed-Eggs81 2

Just chop up a red cabbage, core and all, and put the pieces in a medium saucepan. A 4 or 6-quart pot works well. I have something close to this.

Cover the cabbage with water and bring the water to a simmer. Cover the pot so the cabbage water doesn’t evaporate away, and continue simmering for about an hour, until the water is deep purple.

Strain out the sad grey cabbage pieces and return the cabbage water to the pot. You’ll probably have 6 or 8 cups of natural dye, but the total amount doesn’t matter too much. Set the dye aside for Step 3.

Step 2: Prepare Your Eggs

Sunprint-Dyed-Eggs-Method

While the cabbage is simmering in the water, carefully prepare your eggs. Make sure the smoother (usually upper) portion of the leaf is facing the surface of the egg.

Set out strips of ripped up old pantyhose or cheesecloth. Set the leaf on the pantyhose, then the egg atop the leaf. Pull the pantyhose snuggly around the egg, so the leaf is held very firmly in place. Tie the pantyhose so it stays put around the egg. Try to get the knot on the opposite side of the egg as the leaf.

Holding the pantyhose securely and tying the knot was the only tricky part of this whole thing. I had my 11 year old tie the twine while I held the pantyhose and that really helped – so get the kids involved in this!

Step Three: Dye Your Eggs

Sunprint-Dyed-Eggs58

We’re just going to pretend that we are making hard boiled eggs, but as if we don’t care if they turn out pretty overcooked.

Add your prepared eggs and 3 tablespoons distilled vinegar to the saucepot with the dye. Put the eggs leaf-side down in the dye. The dye should fully cover the eggs. If it doesn’t, you might need to move your eggs and dye to a smaller pot.

Bring the eggs and dye to a bare simmer over medium heat. Let the eggs simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot. Let the eggs sit in the cooling dye bath for an hour.

Step 4: Color Check

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At this point, check your egg color. Carefully pull an egg out of the dye bath. Don’t unwrap the pantyhose yet, but look at the color. It should look distinctly blue to blue-grey, depending on the starting color of your eggs. If the eggs look great to you, set them on a towel to dry without unwrapping them.

If they look pale blue or just barely tinged, return the color-check egg to the pot, then move the whole pot of eggs and dye to the fridge. Refrigerate for several hours, or up to overnight. When the eggs have achieved a deep blue color you like, transfer them to a towel to dry for at least an hour before unwrapping.

Step 5: Unwrap (The Great Unveiling!)

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Just snip off the pantyhose and pull off any leaves clinging to your eggs. If the eggs aren’t completely dry, give them a bit longer before handling them.

And You’re Done!

Mine turned out a gorgeous steely-blue color, not the brighter blue of my Pinterest inspiration, but I love them.  I just wish we had made more than 4 eggs.

Go make some natural red cabbage dye, hunt around your yard for cool leaves and make these. Promise me you’ll use them in some kind of awesome Easter centerpiece or display? These things are way too pretty to hide.

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Printable Instructions

5 from 1 reviews
Sunprint Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs in 5 Easy Steps
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Ingredients
  • 1 head red cabbage
  • Water
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 4 to 8 raw, large white eggs
  • Several intricate, soft leaves such as chervil, fern, or parsley.
  • Portions of old pantihose or cheesecloth
  • Twine
Instructions
  1. Chop cabbage and add to a 4 quart saucepan. Cover cabbage with water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lid cabbage and continue to simmer until the cabbage water is deeply purple, about 1 hour.
  2. Strain the dye bath of the cabbage pieces and return the cabbage water to the saucepan.
  3. While the cabbage water is simmering, press soft leaves against eggs and hold in place firmly with a section of nylon pantyhose, or cheesecloth. Tie the pantyhose snuggly around the egg so the leaf is held firmly against the eggshell.
  4. Carefully lower the eggs into the dye. Add the vinegar, then bring the eggs and dye to a simmer over medium heat. Bring the eggs and dye to a bare simmer over medium heat. Let the eggs simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot. Let the eggs sit in the cooling dye bath for an hour.
  5. If you like the color of the eggs at this point, remove the eggs but do not not unwrap. If you prefer a darker color, refrigerate the eggs in the dye bath for several hours and up to overnight.
  6. When the eggs have achieved your desired color, set them on a clean, lint free towel to dry for about an hour before unwrapping or handling.
  7. Remove the pantyhose or cheesecloth and the leaves carefully, and display.
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31 Mar 12:21

Stupidly Easy Banana Bread

by jules

Stupidly Easy Banana Bread-2

One afternoon late last year, Fergal and I were out on our daily walk when a car pulled over and stopped in front of us. Given we live on a quite country road, you can imagine this made me a bit wary….

I was relieved when a super fit lady got out of the car. She didn’t look too dangerous. Anyway she ran across the road, introduced herself as Heather and asked if we knew about the local play group.

I told her we did and were planning to start going in the new year.

Fast forward a few months and I’m not sure who is loving play group more… Fergal or me.

While he get to explore the swings and sand pit and bikes and trucks, I get to chat with the other mothers about growing veggies, knitting, how to operate a chain saw and of course cooking!

So when Heather said she had the best banana bread recipe, I quickly gave her my email address. When the email came through with the title ‘Stupidly Easy Banana Bread’ I knew it would be a winner.

Trust me it lives up to its name!

But that’s not all.. I’ll let you in on another of its virtues. Yep, it’s sugar-free.

I love how the ripe bananas, cinnamon and coconut oil provide enough sweetness without needing any extra sweetener.

Since I’ve decided to make April my first ever month of going sugar-free, I’m planning on trying out a few of the variations below. Especially the carrot and ginger.

And while we’re talking sugar-free baking… Do you have any delicious sugar-free recipes? Or tips for going sugar-free? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below…

Stupidly Easy Banana Bread-2

Stupidly Easy Banana Bread

Adapted from my lovely neighbour Heather.

I love this ‘bread’ served as a cake for afternoon tea with some double cream. OR it’s also lovely toasted for breakfast smeared with butter or ricotta.

enough for 6-8
takes: 45 minutes
3 ripe bananas
100g (3.5oz) coconut oil, melted
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
220g (8oz) almond meal

1. Preheat your oven to 160C (320F) fan assisted. Line a loaf pan 24cm x 12cm (approx 9.5in x 5in) with baking paper.

2. Mash bananas until smoothish then add coconut oil, eggs, baking powder, cinnamon (if using) and almond meal. Thoroughly mix everything

3. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the loaf is golden and feels springy when you touch it.

4. Cool in the pan then slice and serve.

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Variations

different spices – Heather uses a combo of nutmeg and cinnamon but I didn’t have any nutmeg so skipped it. Ginger or mixed spice would also be lovely.

no coconut oil – just use melted unsalted butter. Or Heather says she sometimes skips the oil.

less oil – Heather uses 35g (1.25oz) coconut oil but I prefer more to make it super moist and help lower the GI.

coconut oil too hard – just pop your jar in the oven while it preheats. Be careful not to forget about it!

nut-free – you could try replacing the almond meal with flour, I’d probably increase the oil as well.

no fan assist on your oven? – increase the set temp to 180C (350F).

no banana – I did try this with pureed ripe figs and while it was OK, I preferred the banana version. But talking to Heather today she said she was short of bananas and substituted in some grated carrot and cloves and it was a winner. Will be trying that this weekend for some Easter baking. I’m also keen to try substituting in mashed roast sweet potato or roasted pears.

And if you’re following the Jules & David Project, you can read all about menu thirteen: feeling italian (part 2) over here.

Happy Easter!

Big love,
Jules x

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23 Mar 03:47

Deadly Sin

I have eagerly kneeled face-first into way too many areas of effect trying to pick stuff up. All Corypheus had to do was set a treasure chest on fire and that would have stopped my Inquisition in its tracks.
14 Mar 21:13

How To Make Corned Beef Brisket At Home

by Erica

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, it’s time for another giant cured meat tutorial. Our cured meat of focus? Why, corned beef brisket, or course!

As you certainly know, there is no corn in corned beef. Originally corned beef was cured with chunky rock salt. Someone thought those nuggets of salt looked like corn kernels I guess, and corned beef has been confusing people ever since. If there were any logic in the world, we’d all just start calling it “Salted Beef” but I think we can all agree that tradition trumps logic 98% of the time.

So, you want to make your own corned beef at home? Great news, it’s really, really easy. Read on to learn how.

Step 1: Trim Your Beef Brisket

If you are starting with a whole beef brisket, you have an intimidating and rather amorphous hunk of fatty meat. To turn this into succulent corned beef requires a bit of knife work. If you are buying an already-trimmed piece of brisket, you can skip this step.

Meet Your Meat

This is what a whole brisket looks like, fat-cap up.

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And here is the same hunk-o-meat, fat cap down. In the fat-down position, the very defined grain of the meat is visible. This grain is the key to understanding how to deal with a brisket.

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The Critical Issue Of Grain

Once the brisket is cooked, it should be sliced ACROSS the grain so that the finished meat is tender and delicious. Even if you cook the brisket perfectly, if you slice WITH the grain you end up meat that feels like rubber bands in your mouth.

The problem is, the full brisket is comprised of two-sub muscles, called the FLAT and the POINT. These two muscles have grains that run opposite each other, separated by a thick layer of fat. If you cook the brisket in one piece and then slice it, half your beef will be tender and half will chew like rubber-bands. This cross section shows the problem:

Corned Beef26

So our goal here is to follow that internal seam of fat to separate the FLAT from the POINT.

Trim excess fat from the underside of the full brisket to make it more clear where the FLAT and the POINT diverge.

In the photo below, you can see the general area of the FLAT, which is roughly rectilinear, and the POINT, which is…uh…pointy. If you look closely, you’ll see the grain change and fat seam that marks where to start cutting.

Brisket Flat Point 4

Just patiently follow that fat line until you have two distinct pieces of brisket.

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Eventually you’ll get to a point where the two pieces separate, or come close enough that a quick slice will finish the job. Here are my two pieces of brisket, the FLAT and the POINT, fat-cap-side up now. If you like a very lean brisket, you can trim additional fat from the brisket. I opted not to.

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Step 2: Turning Plain Ol’ Brisket Into Corned Beef Brisket

The difference between brisket and corned beef brisket is a few days soaking in a brine. That is the entire difference. There’s no smoking, drying, stuffing or worrying about a pellicle, which makes corned beef brisket the easiest meat-cure I’ve ever done. If you can stir salt and water together, you can make corned beef.

Brine For Flavor and Color

Start by combining the ingredients for your brine. The brine is a basic combination of salt, sugar and pink curing salt (this is what I use), enhanced with spices. Pink curing salt is what gives corned beef that red color, instead of the vague-grey color of pot roast.

I feel like I’ve covered pink curing salt a zillion times, but for folks who find this post via The Googlenator without having read my other Giant Meat Tutorials, see the footnote for important information on pink curing salt.

You can follow my spice suggestions, or use a ready-made pickling spice mix, or go wild and do your own thing. The brine is your first opportunity to make corned beef flavored your way.

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Add your brine ingredients to a large food-safe tub and add 2 quarts boiling water. Stir to dissolve, then let the brine cool to room temperature. (While the brine is cooling is actually a great time to trim your full brisket).

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Once the brine has fully cooled, add in your hunk-o-meat and press it down under the brine.

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If you started with a full brisket, you should be able to brine both halves in this quantity of brine. Just make sure the brine can fully surround the meat. See how part of the the brisket is sticking up out of the brine? That’s no good. Press all the meat under the brine, then cover and transfer the brisket in it’s brine to the fridge.

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Step 3: Wait!

Now you wait patiently for the brine to fully suffuse your meat with the salty, spicy cure.

But How Long?

Good question, and one of the biggest variables in the corned beef recipes I read.

I pulled the FLAT from the cure after 3 days. Once I braised and sliced it (more on that later) it was clear that a 3-day soak was not long enough for the brine to fully penetrate the meat. The flavor was good, but the center of the corned beef was grey in places – not too pretty.

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See that grey dot in a sea of pink? If you make corned beef like this and find a grey center section in your meat, nothing is dangerous and you can still eat the meat. The cure just didn’t fully penetrate the meat.

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I let the thicker POINT brine for 5 days and got a more uniform cure and, I think, better flavor development.

Brine Time Conclusion

From my experiments I conclude:

  1. The brisket should brine at least 4 days, and up to a week, to ensure the cure can fully penetrate the brisket.
  2. Thicker, larger pieces should brine longer than thin or small-cut pieces.
  3. If time is short, time in brine can be shortened to 2 or 3 days, but appearance will suffer as parts of the center of the beef will be grey.

Step 4: Cook Your Corned Beef

Cooking your corned beef is your next opportunity to add flavor to the dish. You could just simmer the corned beef in water, but then you’d lose out on this awesome, flavor-building opportunity!

I cooked the FLAT and the POINT separately, two days apart, using two different braising recipes. The FLAT was braised with onion, carrot, celery, spices and Guinness beer. It turned out fine, but the beer made the braising liquid more bitter than I liked.

The POINT was braised in apple juice with a few spices thrown in. This was fast and easy, and the apple juice added a wonderful sweetness that went very well with the salty corned beef and the cloves and star anise I used in my cure.

Because I had a far better result with the apple juice braise, that’s the recipe I’m sharing below, but I want to be clear: you can pick your braising liquid. Stock, juice, wine and more can be added to your braising liquid.

Whatever you choose, you’ll need 4 cups total liquid. The corned beef is plenty salty all by itself, so there’s no need to add additional salt to the braising liquid.

Braise Your Corned Beef

Adjust your oven rack to the center-low position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Pull your hunk-o-beef from the brine. It’s not exactly pretty, but it’ll do. You’ll probably see a bunch of spices clinging to the beef. Rinse the beef under running water to get those spices and any brine off the surface of the corned beef brisket.

Corned Beef14 2

For this simple apple braise we’re using 4 cups apple juice or apple cider, plus a few spices. Just pop your corned beef into a large, shallow pot or dutch oven and add in the liquid and aromatics.

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Bring everything up a gentle simmer over medium heat.

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Using a Parchment Drop-Lid For Braising

I like to use a parchment “inner lid” when I’m braising big hunks of tough meat. This is a trick I learned from All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking, one of my all time favorite cookbooks.

The idea behind using a parchment drop-lid is that you keep the moisture of the braise more tightly around the meat, leading to a more flavorful and tender product. If you don’t have big sheets of parchment in your kitchen for this and 99 other handy things, you can just skip this bit.

To make a parchment drop-lid, just fold a full-size sheet of parchment in half widthwise, then in half lengthwise. Fold the open edges of the parchment up to make a triangle shape, then cut or rip the triangle so that, when the parchment is unfolded, you gat a large, rough circle.

Parchment Drop Lid
If using, smooth your parchment drop-lid right over the brisket…

Corned Beef40 3

…then lid your pot or Dutch oven and transfer the whole thing to the oven and cook for about 2 hours, or until the corned beef is falling apart tender.

Corned Beef20

Step 5: Slicing and Serving Your Corned Beef Brisket

Once your corn beef is tender and succulent, pull it out of the oven.

Corned Beef42

At this point, there’s only one thing standing between you and corned beef perfection. That’s right, it’s our old friend the GRAIN.

It is critical that you slice your corned beef brisket across the grain so avoid that rubber band effect we discussed earlier. If you left the fat cap on your brisket you may want to scrape that fat off now. Not only is braised fat rather disgusting, it makes it difficult to see the grain.

Here’s the FLAT of the brisket. Note the strong upper-left to lower-right diagonal muscle striation. We want to cut across this. I’ve positioned my knife to show the angle you should follow when slicing your corned beef brisket.

Corned Beef43

And here’s the POINT, with a bit of the fat layer scraped away to show the grain. Again, my knife is positioned to show where you’d want to cut. (My knife is actually slightly off-angle in this photo because I was trying to take pictures and slice at the same time, but you get the idea.)

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When you slice your corned beef properly, the muscle fibers presented to your teeth are very, very short and easy to chew. They seem tender and succulent instead of long and stringy.

Final Results: Flat

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Final Results: Point

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Printable Recipe For Corned Beef Brisket At Home

Corned Beef Recipe
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
For The Brine
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • ½ cup organic sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons pink salt
  • 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
  • 1 small cinnamon stick, crushed or broken into pieces
  • 2 bay leaves, crumbled
  • 7 whole cloves
  • 1 tsp dried garlic, or several fresh garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3 star anise pods
  • 2 quarts water
To Complete The Recipe
  • ½ brisket, about 4 pounds, trimmed
  • 4 cups apple juice or apple cider
  • 2 star anise pods
  • 4 whole cloves
Instructions
Make The Brine
  1. Combine the kosher salt, sugar, pink curing salt and all spices in a large food-safe plastic tub or bowl. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil and add to the brine mixture. Stir well to ensure all the salt and sugar dissolves, then set the brine aside to cool to room temperature.
Cure The Beef Brisket
  1. Fully submerge the trimmed beef brisket in the cool brine. Cover tightly, then transfer to the refrigerator.
  2. Brine beef brisket for at least three days, and up to a week. Once per day, stir the beef in the brine and make sure it's fully submerged.
Braise the Corned Beef
  1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Removed the corned beef brisket from the brine and rinse well.
  3. Add the brisket, apple juice, star anise pods and cloves to a large, oven-proof pot or Dutch oven. Bring the apple juice to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then cover brisket with a parchment drop lid (optional) and the tight-fitting lid from the pot or Dutch oven.
  4. Transfer the pot to the oven and cook for about 2 hours, until the corned beef brisket is falling-apart tender.
  5. Slice brisket across the grain and serve hot, with sauteed cabbage and potatoes if desired.
3.2.2925

Footnote: Pink Curing Salt, Prague Powder, Nitrites, etc.

Pink Salt, also called Prague Powder, InstaCure or DQ Salt is a curing salt. You don’t use it for flavoring or seasoning – you use it to preserve meat and a little goes a long way.

It’s called Pink Salt because it is dyed pink so no one mistakes it for table salt. This is what it looks like:
IMG_3782

It is NOT the same as Himalayan pink salt! I saw a website telling people they needed to use Himalayan Pink Salt to cure their meats and I almost choked on my slab of pate. Not the same thing!

So, to emphasize: Himalayan salt – or any other fancy boutique finishing salt of any color at all – is NOT what you need here.

The Two Standard Formulations of Curing Salt

Prague Powder #1 (also called InstaCure #1) contains table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite and is used for sausages, cured meats, pates, deli meats, etc that are cooked – smoked, baked, roasted, canned, whatever. Basically any cured meat that isn’t long-aged like a dry-cured salami. This is what we use when we make corned beef, bacon, Canadian bacon, etc. You can get it here.

Prague Powder #2 (also called InstaCure #2) is used for long aged dry-cured meats like prosciutto and hard salami. It has table salt, sodium nitrite (6.25%) and sodium nitrate (1%). The nitrate acts as a kind of slow-release preservative for very long-cured meats. We don’t use it to make corned beef or other short-cured items.

Nitrites? Are You Ni-Trying To Kill Me?

“Wait!” I hear some of you saying, “Nitrites! Oh my God, evil toxic additives.” Hold on a second – before you slam your laptop lid in disgust, let me break down my position on Pink Salt for you.

Remember our old frienemy Mr. Botulism Toxin? (See: How Not To Die of Botulism) Did you know that botulism was first described “as a ‘sausage poison’ and ‘fatty poison’, because the bacterium that produces the toxin often caused poisoning by growing in improperly handled or prepared meat products.” (Wikipedia.) Even botulism’s name comes from a cured meat product: botulus is Latin for sausage.

Sodium nitrite in the form of pink salt, when used according to established standards, prevents the growth of C. Botulinum and the development of the botulism toxin in cured meats. That’s why it’s in there. As an added bonus, the nitrite enhances color, flavor, and texture in the cured meat.

Okay, so on one hand we have this established risk of botulism growth in improperly cured meat products. On the other hand we might have the potential risk of nitrites. So we have to ask ourselves, what is the risk from nitrites when used according to established guidelines? I believe the answer is – little to none, but of course this is something you should investigate if it concerns you. For more info, I recommend The “No Nitrites Added” Hoax by Michael Ruhlman. I am, personally, firmly in the pro-Pink Salt category.

10 Mar 15:26

Sleeps With Monsters: Mass Effect and the Normalisation of the Woman Hero

by Liz Bourke

Commander Shepard image by DeviantArt user DazUki

With Mass Effect 4 rumors swirling this week, please enjoy this Sleeps With Monsters encore post, originally published May 29, 2012.

Let’s get something out of the way before we start. The Mass Effect franchise ending? IT DOES NOT EXIST AND WE SHALL NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN. Somewhere in an alternate universe, Garrus and Tali are having cocktails on a beach, while Jack teaches junior biotics how to swear, is all I’m saying. (Other people like Chuck Wendig and Brit Mandelo have had things to say about Bioware’s failure to stick the dismount of an otherwise brilliantly-written RPG series. So let’s leave it there.)

But that’s not what I want to talk about today. What I want to talk about is how—provided one plays as Commander Jane rather than Commander John—the Mass Effect series normalises the idea of the Woman Hero.

[I was an archaeologist. I know what I’m doing.]

You may have noticed that Woman Hero is my term of choice here, rather than Heroine. Whether we like it or not, heroine is still a word that embodies connotations which differ in many and manifest ways from hero. Gothic and romance novels have heroines. Thrillers and action stories have heroes: if these also have heroines, the heroine almost always takes second stage to the hero. Where the heroine has pride of place, she’s (again, almost always) intimately connected to, or in some way (emotionally, intellectually, or politically) dependent upon, a hero, whose actions and reactions are either vital to her as a character, or to the resolution of plot and theme. The reverse is much less true, and much less often true (once one might have said Not at all true), when the Hero stands centre stage. The Hero does not depend: his actions are not contingent actions.

Heroine is a word with a history. That history carries with it a metric crapton(ne) of implications, a bunch of which place heroine in opposition or in contrast to hero.

Commander Jane Shepard is not merely our protagonist and player-avatar in the Mass Effect franchise. She’s an ἥρως in practically the original Greek sense: a warrior of outstanding (legendary, potentially superhuman) achievements. Moreover, since Shepard’s interactions with other characters remain substantially the same regardless of whether one is a John or a Jane, it’s established that Commander Jane Shepard isn’t remarkable because she’s a woman. She’s extraordinary because she’s Shepard. This is reinforced by the ubiquity of other female characters who possess a wide array of competences: Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, asari archaeologist/information broker Liara T’Soni, quarian engineer Tali’Zorah vas Neema, Doctor Chakwas, Miranda Lawson, the asari Justicar Samara, and human weapon of mass destruction Jack (“Subject Zero”). And although the visible people of the human Alliance’s high command trend male, Mass Effect’s galaxy at large is populated with a multitude of interesting women, both human and alien.

And Shepard.

Marie Brennan wrote something pertinent to this disquisition at SF Novelists, not so long ago. In “The Effect She Can Have,” concerning another Bioware property, Dragon Age 2, Brennan says:

“It took me a while, though, to figure out that there was something else going on in my reaction—something beyond appreciation of the clever structural game the writers were playing.

She.

... [I]t allows you to experience the novelty of a woman being the most important damn person in the world.”

The most important damn person in the world.

There’s one scene in particular in Mass Effect 3 where that’s hammered home with a vengeance. How often is the “most famous officer” referred to with a female pronoun?

Dr. Liara T’Soni: Shepard was also a deadly tactical fighter. Most enemies never saw her coming. She was a soldier, and a leader—one who made peace where she could. And it was a privilege to know her.

The dialogue will be different depending on the game one plays. But the sentiment is the same. Commander Jane Shepard isn’t an extraordinary woman. She’s simply extraordinary. Full stop. No qualifiers. When one considers the amount of crap extraordinary people who are also women have directed at them even today—the likes of Hilary Clinton and Angela Merkel in the political realm,* household names like Lady Gaga, writers like Toni Morrison—this is immensely validating.**

* Whatever one thinks of their politics, there’s no escaping the fact that achieving their present positions took extraordinary drive.

** In researching this post, I discovered that Canada’s first female Major-General was appointed in 1994, while in 1995, Norway appointed the first ever female commander of a submarine. And as of 2005, the British forces have permitted female soldiers to enter the new Special Reconnaissance Regiment—which is the only Special Forces regiment in Britain to recruit women. Speaking of extraordinary.

In “The Effect She Can Have,” Brennan goes on to mention the dislocating effect of “having people speak in such monumental terms about this woman. About any woman... [A] male character can inspire such loyalty in their followers, or scare a room full of people just by walking in”—but as she notes, the female equivalent of this power fantasy remains a (slightly shocking) novelty.

Whatever the Mass Effect franchise’s gender-related worldbuilding flaws (there are male gaze issues with the presentation of the “matriarchal” asari as a species, although these are less pronounced in the final analysis than I feared they would be—and rather less pronounced than many television series which have featured female aliens: I’m looking at you, Torchwood and Doctor Who—and the presentation of the female krogan in Mass Effect 3 as more rational and less warlike than the males is not necessarily the best of all possible decisions that could be made), the manner in which it assumes (on grounds of gender, at least) an equal-opportunity future (and peoples its background across the three instalments with human women and men of all orientations: I confess, I did a little chair-dance when I realised there were romance options in ME3 that only worked for characters attracted to the same sex) is a choice that remains radical in its implications.

The manner in which it presents the Woman Hero as normal, as a character, and as a choice, in the case of Commander Jane Shepard, also remains radical. Playing as Commander John Shepard, I found myself annoyed at how predictable the hero’s development—and dialogue—could be. Playing as Commander Jane...

It was refreshing, and satisfying, and disorienting all at once. But the arc of the story is the same. Merely by removing the emphasis from the Woman part of heroine to the Hero part—in creating a Woman Hero who is extraordinary as a Hero, rather than as a Woman—Bioware made the experience innovative and fresh.

Perhaps in another generation or three, the Woman Hero will be as Normal (and annoying) as the square-jawed Hero himself. But right now?

Right now, I find Commander Jane Shepard delightful.

 

Image by DeviantArt user DazUki


Liz Bourke also appreciates the fact that several of the romance options in the Mass Effect franchise involved smart characters. Competence is sexy and brains are hot.

08 Mar 15:42

Thirty

by Boum

Yep, so the week-long daily comic strips end on my birthday — my thirtieth birthday. I’m kinda sappy but HEY! Needed to get this out of my system. Pierre-Luc is back and I’m having cheesecake tonight and I’m not gonna let the thirties get me down. BRING IT

08 Jan 18:50

How To Make Canadian Bacon At Home

by Erica

One thing above all others makes my kids happy: Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza. (I’ll admit, I’m fond of it, too.) So, confident in my general bacon-making abilities I embarked on a Canadian Bacon making experiment.

I’m happy to report that homemade Canadian Bacon is, if anything, even easier than belly bacon and tastes great in all sorts of things – diced up with eggs, sliced thin on a sandwich, cubed up in a soup with beans. And, yes, it makes a damned fine pizza topping.

Canadian_Bacon

A Bacon By Any Other Name

In the United States we think of bacon as the cured, smoked belly of a pig. What we Americans call Canadian Bacon is brine-cured, smoked pork loin. It’s closer to “Back Bacon” and has a texture more like lean ham than belly bacon.

Canadian Bacon has nothing to do with Canada as far as I can tell – maybe some of my readers North of the border can chime in. In Canada there is a traditional product called peameal bacon which is a brined, unsmoked pork loin rolled in yellow crushed dried peas or cornmeal. I think this is what evolved into what we here in ‘Murica know as Canadian Bacon.

In any event, what we’ll be making today is made from the loin of a pig, and it’s both delicious and very straightforward.

Know Your Bacon!

Ok! Let’s Get Started!

Making Canadian Bacon at home is easy – if you’ve ever brined a Thanksgiving turkey, this is way less hassle than that.

You’ll need a whole pork loin. The loin is a lean, cylindrical muscle tucked right up alongside the spine. It’s a common cut that is easy to find at good butchers, grocery or warehouse-type store. If you buy or raise your pig as a whole or half animal think a bit about if you are willing to give up the other premium cuts from the loin primal to make Canadian Bacon. Those include pork loin roasts, loin chops and pork porterhouse steaks. For my latest batch, I used the loin from half a naturally raised hog I bought from my friends at Adalyn Farm.

You’ll need common ingredients and spices. Details in the actual recipe.

Just like when we made belly bacon, we need pink curing salt and a way to smoke the pork. These two require a bit of planning ahead, so here’s what you should consider.

1. Pink Salt

Pink salt is a special curing salt that includes sodium nitrite. It keeps cured products safe from botulism, and makes your Canadian Bacon pink and juicy instead of pork-chop colored. Order it online. This is what I use.

This recipe calls for what seems like an insane amount of pink salt, and I’ll admit I balked a bit at the quantity involved when I first tested this recipe. After researching, I learned that wet brine cures for items like Canadian Bacon and ham require a much larger amount of pink salt than items like belly bacon that get cured with a dry rub. The reason is simple dilution from the water content of the brine.

If nitrites really freak you out, as long as you keep this product refrigerated at all reasonable times during curing and processing, the total smoking time is less than 2 hours, you keep your smoked pork loin refrigerated and freeze the extra, you can skip the pink salt. But what you make won’t be Canadian bacon – it’ll be smoke-roasted pork. Still super delicious, but more perishable and not quite the same, flavor-wise.

The only thing about pink salt that bothers me is the dye that turns it pink. The actual nitrites themselves don’t worry me at all. I’ve included my footnotes on pink salt and nitrates from the belly bacon tutorial at the end of this post so you can see where I stand and then make your own decision.

2. Smoker and Woodchips

I’ve made this Canadian bacon, or slight variations of it, three times now. In the photos that follow you’ll see me using the small “Little Chief” Electric Smoker given to me years ago by my sister and brother-in-law. It’s an older version of this model. We have since upgraded to an electric smoker (this one) and OMG the difference is incredible. We’ve run a lot of smoked meat since we got our new smoker and it’s done just great.

My dad came over and said our smoker reminded him of the set-up his father had. My grandpa converted a broken refrigerator (or maybe upright freezer) into a smoker by drilling a couple of holes into it and adding an electric hot-plate to the bottom. The chips sat on a tin pie plate on top of the hot plate. So if you are handy, you might be able to rig-up a DIY smoker on the cheap.

(Personal side note: my grandpa grew the best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten, spray-painted every tool he ever owned bright red and liked to say “You need to have a certain amount of shit hanging around.” When he passed away, my father opened up his garage. It was jam-packed with an uncountable number of things, all painted red.)

If you like this sort of thing, eventually you’ll want your own fancy smoker – something insulated with adjustable temperature controls and an auto-shut off timer. But in the meantime, there are a bunch of other ways to rig up a temporary smoker. Here are a few:

For wood, I used bags of hardwood apple chips from the grocery store, like these. They aren’t too expensive. I used maybe a quarter of a $5 bag to smoke a full pork loin. Apple wood with pork is a natural, but use what you like.

Making Canadian Bacon: Step by Step with Photos

Make your brine. This is as simple as bringing all the ingredients up to a simmer just to ensure all the salt is dissolved. I’ve played around with slight variations on the aromatics in the brine and all versions have turned out well. You can also scale this brine as needed. Just keep the ratio of water, salt, sugar and pink salt the same. Let the brine cool all the way and pop it in the fridge to chill before you use it.

Canadian Bacon

While your brine is cooling, meet your meat!

Get yerself a full pork loin. It should weigh about 10 pounds. A bit more or less isn’t that big of deal, but if you have some massive 14 pound pork loin, you may have to cut it into thirds and scale up the brine to compensate. Alternatively, if ten pounds of Canadian bacon sounds intimidating, halve the brine quantity and use a 4 or 5 pound center-cut pork loin roast instead of the full loin.

Trim up the pork loin. After some debate with myself I left the silverskin on the loin on this batch. I wanted to keep that thin layer of fat. This was a risk – silverskin can be impossibly chewy but it turned out fine – no rubber band quality. So I say trim your pork loin and remove visible silverskin but don’t strip it of fat to do so.

Canadian BaconIf you are using the full lion, cut it in half as shown below and place each half in a heavy-duty, gallon-size zip-top plastic bag. If you are using a 4 or 5 pound roast, you’ll only need one bag. Duh.

Canadian Bacon

Add the cold brine to the bags with the pork loin, dividing up the brine equally and trying to get the aromatics more-or-less evenly represented in the bags, too. Squeeze as much extra air out as you can and try to get the meat fully surrounded by the brine.

Canadian Bacon

Pop the brining pork loin in the fridge and leave it there for 3 to 4 days. If your chunk of pork loin is small, err on the side of a little less time and if it’s jumbo, err on the side of a little more time. Don’t exceed 5 days though or your loin will be too salty. Once a day, or when you think of it, give the bag a little flip to keep the meat brining evenly.

Canadian Bacon

When Brine Time is up, it’s time for the fun part: drying and smoking. Before you smoke meat (or fish), the outside of the meat should be so dry that it feels a bit tacky. This layer of dry meat is called the pellicle and is important for good smoke flavor and color. To form the pellicle, you’ve got two options:

Pellicle Option #1: Slow, Easy and Health Department Approved

Rinse off your brined pork loin, then pat dry with a lint free towel. Set the loin pieces on a cooling rack set over a sheetpan and place the loin pieces uncovered in the refrigerator for a day or so.

Pellicle Option #2:  Faster, More Work, Freaks Out The Health Department People

Rinse off your brined pork loin, then pat dry with a lint free towel. Set the loin pieces on a cooling rack set over a sheetpan and place the loin pieces on your counter. Set a big fan in front of the loin pieces and dry them in front of the fan, turning the loin pieces periodically so they dry uniformly.

Your loin isn’t going to spoil, since it just spent 4 days absorbing salt and nitrite, but don’t be stupid. Don’t dry your pork at room temp in summer in Arizona in a house without AC. And don’t let the drying go on more than two hours or so – if you don’t have a powerful fan that can get the job done in that timeframe, go with the Slow Dry Method.

Whatever method you opt for, make sure the pork loin has full air flow all around it and isn’t touching anything.

Canadian Bacon

Now it’s time to smoke! Get your smoker set up and loaded with applewood chips or your chips of choice. Different smokers require slightly different set-ups, so just follow the instructions for your particular smoker. I use dry smoke. As a reader commented on the big bacon post, dry smokes and wet steams.

Canadian Bacon

Load your brined, dry pork loin into your smoker and hot smoke until the pork hits an internal temperature of 150-degrees. If you are using a smoker with a temperature control, set your smoker to somewhere around 225-degrees.

Canadian BaconCanadian Bacon

When your Canadian bacon is fully cooked but juicy with a beautiful smoked exterior, remove it from the smoker.

Canadian Bacon

If you possibly contain yourself, wrap the Canadian bacon well and let it chill well before slicing into it. I did not have that level of self control. This stuff is incredible. It will last for a few weeks in the fridge, and if you wrap it well in reasonable-sized hunks you can freeze it for 6 months.

Canadian Bacon

Printable Canadian Bacon Recipe

Adapted very lightly adapted from Micheal Ruhlman’s Canadian Bacon recipe at Ruhlman.com

Canadian Bacon At Home
 
Ingredients
For the Brine
  • 1 gallon water
  • 6.4 oz salt (This is 1-1/4 cups of the Diamond Crystal brand Kosher salt I use)
  • 40 grams / 3 tablespoons pink salt (6.25% sodium nitrite curing salt)
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 8 garlic cloves, peeled and rough chopped
  • 4 fresh or dried bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme, or a generous handful of fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
  • Juice of 2 lemons
For the Canadian Bacon
  • 1, 8-to-10 pound pork loin
Instructions
  1. Combine all the brine ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. Stirring occasionally, heat the brine over medium heat until the salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Let the brine cool, then pop it in the fridge to chill.
  2. While your brine is chilling, trim the pork loin of any excess fat and slice in half to form two, 4-to-5 pound cylinders. Put each piece of pork loin in a heavy duty, gallon-size freezer bag. Divide the brine and the aromatics evenly between the bags, squeeze out excess air and seal the bags well.
  3. Brine the pork in the the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, flipping the pork periodically to ensure an even brine.
  4. Rinse and dry the pork, then allow to dry to form a pellicle.
  5. Hot smoke the pork at 200 degrees until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 150 degrees.
3.2.2925

 

Footnote: Pink Salt, Prague Powder, Nitrites, Etc.

Regular readers will remember this footnote from it’s original appearance in the Giant DIY Bacon Tutorial. If you already know my take on this stuff, feel free to skip.

Pink Salt, also called Prague Powder, InstaCure or DQ Salt is a curing salt. You don’t use it for flavoring or seasoning – you use it to preserve meat and a little goes a long way.

It’s called Pink Salt because it is dyed pink so no one mistakes it for table salt. It is not the same as Himalayan pink salt! I saw a website telling people they needed to use Himalayan Pink Salt to cure their meats and I almost choked on my slab of pate. Not the same thing! So, to emphasize: Himalayan salt – or any other fancy boutique finishing salt of any color at all – is not what you need here.

There are two standard formulations of curing salt.

Prague Powder #1 (also called InstaCure #1 and DC Cure #1) contains table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite and is used for sausages, cured meats, pates, deli meats, et.c that are cooked – smoked, baked, roasted, canned, whatever. Basically any cured meat that isn’t long-aged like a dry-cured salami. This is what we use when we make Canadian bacon. You can get it here.

Prague Powder #2 (also called InstaCure #2) is used for long aged dry-cured meats like prosciutto and hard salami. It has table salt, sodium nitrite (6.25%) and sodium nitrate (1%). The nitrate acts as a kind of slow-release preservative for very long-cured meats. We don’t use it to make bacon or other short-cured items.

“Wait!” I hear some of you saying, “Nitrites! Oh my God, evil toxic additives.” Hold on a second – before you slam your laptop lid in disgust, let me break down my position on Pink Salt for you.

Remember our old frienemy Mr. Botulism Toxin? (See: How Not To Die of Botulism) Did you know that botulism was first described “as a ‘sausage poison’ and ‘fatty poison’, because the bacterium that produces the toxin often caused poisoning by growing in improperly handled or prepared meat products.” (Wikipedia.) Even botulism’s name comes from a cured meat product: botulus is Latin for sausage.

Sodium nitrite in the form of pink salt, when used according to established standards, prevents the growth of C. Botulinum and the development of the botulism toxin in cured meats. That’s why it’s in there. As an added bonus, the nitrite enhances color, flavor, and texture in the cured meat.

Okay, so on one hand we have this established risk of botulism growth in improperly cured meat products. On the other hand we might have the potential risk of nitrites. So we have to ask ourselves, what is the risk from nitrites when used according to established guidelines? I believe the answer is – little to none, but of course this is something you should investigate if it concerns you. For more info, I recommend The “No Nitrites Added” Hoax by Micheal Ruhlman. I am, personally, firmly in the pro-Pink Salt category.


Related Stuff…

(These are affiliate links. Purchases made through these links cost you nothing extra but allow me to bring you more giant step-by-step cured meat tutorials. Full financial disclosure here. Thanks for your support, guys.)

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing and Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing, both by Michael Ruhlman. If you want to go deeper into cured meats, you would be hard pressed to find a more enthusiastic guide than Ruhlman in these two books. Also check out his excellent personal website.

Pink Salt. Remember, you want Prague #1 for Canadian bacon and everything cured that isn’t long-dried. This link goes to the same pink salt I use.

Wood Chips. I like Applewood because it’s mild and has a fruity note that complements pork wonderfully. But play around – there are lots of different kinds of smoking wood.

Dedicated Smoker. If you have the room and the funds, there are a lot of options out there. I love my Masterbuilt Electric Smoker and can recommend it completely if you have the money and space for a dedicated smoker.

17 Oct 20:25

(Giant) Skillet Brownie

by A Beautiful Mess

Best ever skillet brownie (click through for recipe)  I was just thinking the other day, "I don't make brownies nearly as much as I should." I feel like I've been neglecting this dessert group. And as a massive chocolate-lover, I have no good excuse. I mean, brownies are awesome! If you bake much at all, then you probably already have all the ingredients you'll need. Also it takes minimal dirtying of dishes as well as baking skills to make brownies. 

Can you stir? Good, then you can totally make brownies.

Best ever skillet brownie (click through for recipe) What's fun about this particular recipe is it's the perfect amount of batter to bake in a twelve inch cast-iron skillet. You've probably noticed that I use my cast iron skillet a lot. It's one of my most beloved kitchen items. Honestly, it reminds me of great-grandma, Lula. She was from Oklahoma and a definite foodie. Her style was very good-ol'-country-cookin' and I think our tastes very much align. :) Anyway, she was a cast-iron gal too, so I'm just following in her footsteps. 

Enough about (awesome) grandmas, let's bake some brownies.

Brownie batter(Giant) Skillet Brownie, makes one for a 12 inch cast iron*

1 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
7-8 oz. dark chocolate, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (optional)

*If you do not have a 12 inch cast-iron skillet, you could bake these in a 10 1/2" x 7 1/2" baking dish. The bake time may vary by a few minutes, so watch it towards the end. I also tried baking this in a 13" x 9" baking dish, and I felt it turned out too thin and didn't bake through before getting too crispy at the edges. Just FYI.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

How to bake a brownie in a cast iron skilletIn another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Now combine the flour mixture, the butter mixture, and melted chocolate in one bowl, and stir until just combined. Be sure to let the melted chocolate cool some before adding as super hot chocolate could begin to cook the raw eggs and make your batter lumpy (in a bad way).

Spoon the batter into a well-buttered cast-iron skillet. Top with peanut butter chips if using. Bake at 350°F for 32-35 minutes. If you like your brownie more gooey at the center, remove after 32 minutes. If you like it soft but baked through, then bake at the full 35 minutes. Test the center with a toothpick as oven temperatures and cook times can vary.

Best ever skillet brownie (click through for recipe)    Mmm... brownies. (Insert sound of drool.)

Best ever skillet brownie (click through for recipe)Serve with ice cream and/or a tall glass of milk. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

16 Oct 21:44

Homemade Candy: Salted Butter Caramels

by A Beautiful Mess

Homemade caramels (click through for recipe)The holidays are just around the corner. But before they start to sneak up on us in full force, I vote we all take some time this month to make some homemade candy. In collaboration with Chronicle Books to promote Rachel Khoo's new cookbook, I made these amazing salted butter caramels! 

Did you know that making your own caramels is super easy? It is. Honestly. The only real trick to it is that you'll likely want a candy thermometer. I resisted buying a candy thermometer the first few years I got into cooking. But finally, I took the plunge, and you know what? It has turned out to be one of my more used kitchen items. Go figure. 

But, if you are still resisting the ol' candy thermometer, good news, you can still make caramel. 

Homemade caramels (click through for recipe)  These are not your average caramels. Oh no. These are salted butter caramels from My Little French Kitchen. Did you know that Rachel Khoo has another cookbook out!? I loved her last one, so I was super excited to check this one out as well. And if you like French cooking and beautiful photos, then you'll love this cookbook. You can see my copy in the photo below, and it's pretty full of Post-it notes already. To me, if I immediately start filling up a cookbook with Post-its (on pages of things I want to cook), that's a very good sign.

OK, let's make caramels (or caramel sauce... you'll see).

How to make homemade caramel  Salted Butter Caramels, 3/4 cup sauce or 15-20 caramels (depending how large or small you cut them).
Recipe from My Little French Kitchen by Rachel Khoo.

3/4 cup sugar
7 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more for the top is you wish)

Place half of the sugar plus 2 tablespoons of water in a medium saucepan or pot. Cook over medium/high heat until the sugar dissolves, begins to bubble then turns a deep amber brown. This may take 5-7 minutes depending on how hot you have your temperature turned to. It's best just to keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too dark or burnt. 

Once it turns that deep amber brown, remove from the heat and add in the remaining ingredients. Be careful as you do because the mixture may bubble up or spit at you (how rude!). 

How to make homemade caramelOnce you've added all the ingredients, return the pot to the heat source and add your candy thermometer. 

Now, if you want to simply make caramel sauce, you don't really need a thermometer. Just cook over medium heat for an additional 3-4 minutes. If you want to make caramel candies (like I did), you'll want to cook the mixture until it reaches 260°F or "hard ball" stage. 

How to make homemade caramel Once the mixture reaches 260°F, remove from heat and pour into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle on a little more salt (course grain sea salt is best) if you desire. 

Allow the caramel to cool for at least an hour before you cut it into smaller pieces and wrap in parchment paper.

Homemade caramels (click through for recipe) Easy, right? Another excellent use for this recipe might be to dip apples in the hot, liquid caramel, then allow that it set for 30 minutes to an hour. Caramel apples? Yes, please! Enjoy. xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

track

03 Oct 11:14

Art by Venn Diagrams

by Lauren Panepinto
-By Lauren Panepinto

As a designer, I have a deep love of infographics, and I have an especially soft spot for Venn diagrams. Sometimes I think the interwebs is constructed of 60% cats 30% porn, and 10% venn diagrams. And here are some fantastic ones that specifically pertain to being a working artist. 

Some of the below are original, some are adapts of different venns I have found, and some are redesigns of pretty internet-famous ones. I apologize for not being able to credit where they originated, I tried, but sharing has obliterated the original credits. (Remember to watermark your images, folks!) The "being a successful freelancer" venn idea has been kicking around for some time, but was most recently the topic of a Neil Gaiman speech. The rest are bits and pieces of conversations I've had over and over again through the years. Enjoy!







26 Aug 22:18

Potion Tokens

by M. S. Corley
Designs I made for a Kickstarter campaign that will make challenge coins for table-top RPGs if its funded.
If you play Pathfinder or DnD or any of that, please help out with the campaign if it interests you!

23 Aug 10:57

Halfway Homemade: Gummy Candy

by elsiecake

Homemade gummy worms www.abeautifulmess.comIt's no secret that I love playing around with gelatin. With unflavored gelatin you can make marshmallows, homemade jello shots and all manner of fun kitchen experiments. I decided to try making homemade gummy candy. I adapted the recipe found on the side of the gelatin package and used store bought fruit juices to flavor these. You can make all different kinds of fun shapes using different techniques. How to make gummy candy at home www.abeautifulmess.comLike, you can make gummy letters. Whoa. I couldn't resist. :)Homemade gummy candyHomemade Gummy Candy

1 cup fruit juice (I used Welch's White Grape Cherry and Grape)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 packets unflavored gelatin

In a bowl combine 1/4 cup of the fruit juice with the lime juice. Sprinkle on the gelatin and let that sit for a couple minutes. It will start to look weird/alive. Don't be alarmed.Making gummy wormsIn a small pot combine the remaining 3/4 cup juice with the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture reaches the boiling point remove from heat. Pour into the bowl with the gelatin and stir to combine. Allow to cool slightly before pouring into a square baking pan or candy molds. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.Homemade fruit gummies www.abeautifulmess.comTo make fruit shapes (or any shape) buy some candy molds or ice cube trays. I bought my fruit shaped ones from Amazon. Peel the gummies out after they are set. Don't worry, they won't tear. My first batch did tear, which meant I didn't use enough gelatin (I tried again and the recipe you see above is the winner). Toss the shapes in sugar so they won't stick together.Homemade gummy wormsTo make gummy worms pour the gummy batter into a square baking pan. After it's set peel the gummy candy from the pan and lay out on a cutting board. Use a pizza cutter to slice the gummy into thin strips.Gummy letters!Instead of slicing the gummy candy you can use small cookie cutters to cut out cute shapes. I bought my mini letter cutters from Amazon as well. Gummy candy recipe www.abeautifulmess.comHave fun making your own gummies! You can store these in the refrigerator or at room temperature. If your house gets warm though I would recommend storing them in the frig. If they get warm they are more likely to stick together. And if they get too hot they can flatout melt. Gross. Watch out for that. :) xo. Emma

13 Aug 08:23

The Star Trek saga from last night's Breaking Bad, in animated form

by Charlie Jane Anders

The Star Trek saga from last night's Breaking Bad, in animated form

Last night on Breaking Bad, Badger got baked and explained his can't-miss idea for a Star Trek episode: a pie-eating contest that turns deadly. So. Many. Pies. And now, Vulture has put up an animated version, which is quite possibly the best animated Trek since 1974.

Read more...


    


27 Jul 12:47

This lady is shocked by Gandalf's return in Lord of the Rings

by Rob Bricken

I don't know how this lady made it to this point in her life without somehow reading Lord of the Rings, watching the megapopular movies, or even just hearing someone mention that Gandalf sticks around past the Mines of Moria, but watching her complete surprise at Gandalf's return is a complete joy.

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26 Jul 23:43

Whole wheat sandwich bread

by Sarah
A few years ago, I posted a recipe about homemade sandwich bread.  It was yummy, it was tasty, and it was full of white flour.  It worked for us.

Then?  Then, a Wondermill came in to our lives.

Suddenly fresh and healthy whole wheat flour was right at my finger tips.  I had to learn how to remake bread.

And lord have mercy, I'm so glad I did because this bread is even better!

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Makes two 9x5 loaves

2 cups of hot water (~110 degrees)
1 tblsp, plus 2 tsp active dry yeast (my favorite is Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup honey, preferably raw
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup olive oil (I use Costco's organic)
1 cup King Arthur Flour bread flour (optional)
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (if you're buying it at the store, look for "whole wheat pastry flour")
5 tblsp vital wheat gluten

I make this in my Kitchen Aid mixer.  If you mix by hand, your arms will be banging, but I have absolutely no idea how long the directions below will take you.

And once you get the hang of it, go crazy like I do, and make 8 loaves at a time!  That way I'm only baking every 2-3 months.  The loaves freeze beautifully.

1) In a mixing bowl, pour in the hot water, and add the 1/3 cup honey.  Stir to combine. Add the yeast, and stir to combine.  The yeast will not mix in to the water completely; you just want to whisk it around a bit.  This will create the "sponge".

Set aside for about 30 minutes, or until the yeast has activated and more than tripled in size.
After 5 minutes
After 30 minutes
2) Add the salt, olive oil, vital wheat gluten, bread flour, and whole wheat flour to the sponge.  If you want a 100% whole wheat dough, omit the King Arthur bread flour, and add another cup of whole wheat flour, plus an additional 2 tblsp of vital wheat gluten.

Using a bread hook in your mixer, mix the dough until it clings to the hook and almost all the dough is off the sides of the bowl.  If the dough seems "shaggy" or is still sticking to the bowl, slowly add more whole wheat flour by 1/4 cup.

 Add a drizzle of olive oil to a clean bowl and place the dough in there, turning to coat.


Cover the bowl with a wet rag, and set aside until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3) Punch the dough down, return it to the mixing bowl, and mix it with the hook for an additional minute.
After 1 hour

4) Grease up two 9x5 bread pans.  I melt a little butter and then brush it on the bottom and sides of the pan, paying special attention to the corners.

5) Remove the dough from the bowl, and break it in two equal chunks.  I eyeball it to get the "equal" proportion.


6) Flatten out one portion.

Like you're rolling a sleeping bag, take one side and roll it up (think like a cinnamon roll).


Pat the edges to fit the size of the bread pan (these are my favorite pans in the whole wide world), and put it in the greased pan.

7) Let the dough rise until doubled in size.  It typically takes about an hour depending on how warm your house is.

8) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Bake both loaves together for 32 minutes, or until the loaf makes a hollow sound if you "thump" it. That's right, we're thumping loaves.

9) Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Then, flip over to remove the loaf.  Quick like a bunny rabbit, flip the loaf over on the rack so that the top doesn't cave in.  Allow to cool completely before storing.  We always store the loaf we're currently eating in a bread bag (yes these things really do work).  The others get wrapped in foil and then stored in a 1.5 gallon Ziploc.

This homemade bread is beloved in our family.  There is a special little munchkin who adores it with homemade strawberry jam!
What do you mean you have to take a photo for your stupid blog?  I want my bread mommy!




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19 Jun 14:01

‘The LEGO Movie’ Trailer Will Convince You a ‘LEGO’ Movie Isn’t A Ridiculously Stupid Idea

by Scott Beggs

The LEGO Movie

It was only natural to respond to Warners  announcing a LEGO movie by throwing things. When they first went public with the idea in 2010, it was just another toy adaptation from a studio drooling at the success of Transformers and fighting for viability alongside a lot of other plastic-based movie pitches.

If you’re a fan of Clone High, the news of Phil Lord and Chris Miller signing on to writer and direct provided some hope. That hope grew as story details emerged, but for everyone else out there that’s still incredulous that this is anything but moronic, the trailer should melt away the rest of the cynicism.

Check it out, and enjoy Will Arnett as Batman:

It looks exactly like the big adventure Lord and Miller have promised — complete with some wise words from Morgan Freeman, the sinister threat of President Business (voiced by Will Ferrell) and a playful CGI/stop-motion looks fantastic.

The LEGO Movie is also still a giant commercial for LEGOs, but if business is going to infect filmmaking, it should at least be done with some flair and storytelling skill. Lord and Miller promise to bring that to the kid’s table here even if it’ll be weird to see product placement inside of product placement.

And it can’t be worse than Battleship, right?

The LEGO Movie hits theaters February 7, 2014.