Nanaimo Bars

• I have seen these bars on various blogs lately, and by no means are mine the prettiest, but these are just soooo yummy that I had to share this recipe. Apparently the bars are originally from Canada and have been slowly making their way down South. I've only met a couple of other people in Kentucky who have even heard of them, but my Canadian friends know this stuff and speak very highly of it.

If you are looking for a yummy, no-bake treat, don't let the 3 separate layers scare you away. These are totally worth it. And super easy. I brought them to an economics study group and I am pretty sure the only reason that 10 people did not eat the entire 8x8 pan is because they are just so good and rich that you don't need but a tiny piece to be satisfied.

Nanaimo Bars

(generic recipe that is easily found online)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons custard powder
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate
  • 2 teaspoons butter

1. In the top of a double boiler, combine 1/2 cup butter, white sugar and cocoa powder. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Beat in the egg, stirring until thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the graham cracker crumbs, and coconut. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8 inch pan.
2. For the middle layer, cream together 1/2 cup butter, heavy cream and custard powder until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Chill to set at least 15 minutes.
3. While the second layer is chilling, melt the semisweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons butter together in the microwave or over low heat. Spread over the chilled bars. Let the chocolate set before cutting into small (1inch x 1inch even) squares.

Easy Red Beans (and Cornbread!)

Do you listen to any NPR or PRX or such? If you don't, I highly recommend you stop what you are doing and go do some exploring of some seriously good stuff. Earlier this week I was listening to Snap Judgement (one of my new favorites) and the host was telling a story that involved him eating red beans when he was a kid. I just couldn't get the thought of red beans out of my head after listening to the show, so I decided to make some. I think this is one of my new favorite dinners. It took just half an hour to come together and all of it was made from scratch (well, the beans were canned, but that's it).

Easy Red Beans

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

6-8oz kielbasa, sliced into bite size coins

1 (15oz) can of red beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Oregano to taste

Thyme to taste

Cornbread, for serving (recipe in post below)

Place first four ingredients into a skillet (make sure you put a little oil in the bottom of the skillet) over medium heat and cook until onions are soft (about 7 minutes). Add the rest of the ingredients and cook 3 more minutes. Serve with corn bread.

Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread

I made this cornbread to go with the red beans in the post above.

A month or so ago, I saw that the local co-op grocery store had 5lb bags of locally, fresh milled, yellow corn meal and I just couldn't pass it up. ...I have no clue what to do with corn meal. This sounds familiar, doesn't? Maybe reminiscent of my cherry-glut week this summer?

Well, the bottom line is that I looked up what to use corn meal in and decided that cornbread sounded delicious. From my research, I found out that, if you are a purist, cornbread has no flour and no sugar in it. Also, the recipes that claimed authenticity did not have butter. I had no idea cornbread was not made with butter. Anyway, I stuck with the no flour and no butter, but I had to add just a subtle sweetness, so I added a tablespoon of sugar and also served it with local honey from the farmer's market. Soooo good. And it was so easy! I definitely will be making this again, it took only 25 minutes from start to finish!

Cornbread

Adapted from Snug Hollow Farm Bed and Breakfast

2 cups cornmeal (white or yellow, I used yellow)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup oil, divided

2 eggs, beaten

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons oil to dry ingredients and stir well. Heat remaining oil in a 9 inch black cast iron skillet until smoking (be careful). Pour cornbread mix into hot skillet and place in preheated 425F oven.

Now the fun begins. Ater the cornbread has baked for about 10 minutes, shake to see if the middle is set (mine wasn't read until 14 minutes). If it is set, remove from oven, and, working very fast, run a spatula around the sides of the cornbread, lift and flip the corn bread in the skillet so that the top is now the bottom. I had trouble with this, so I got a big plate, turned the cornbread out on the plate, and then put the cornbread back into the skillet with the old top now on the bottom. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes. When you turn it out it will be golden on all sides. Just do not over-bake it, k?

Oatmeal Layer Brownies

Does anyone else have an obsession with regional cook books? Specially Kentucky cook books? I only have three right now, but I can easily think of at least two more that I would love to have in my collection. Does Kentucky even have that much of a cuisine style to justify more than one book?

-Apparently it does, and I am the consumer that proves it. I love this latest one I acquired. It's called "Beyond the Fence: A Culinary View of Historic Lexington." Every one of its recipes that I have tried so far is just delicious. I especially love the recipe for peach pie (I might put it up here if I like the peaches at the farmers market this weekend). If you are looking for a good cook book and are in the Kentucky area, I definitely suggest this. You can find it at a number of places, including Joseph Beth and the Windy Corner Market.

The recipe for oatmeal brownies is not exactly what I think of as a "traditional brownie" because the chocolate is concentrated into a layer, instead of being mixed through out. But seriously, don't let that fool you. These seemingly oat-y bars will satisfy even the biggest choco-holics.

Look! I actually took an ingredients picture. Maybe, if you are really lucky, I might someday actually take pictures throughout the cooking/baking process like a "real" food blogger.

Oatmeal Layer Brownies

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 (12oz) package chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Stir in oats. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; stir until well mixed. Gradually add dry misture to butter mixture, stirring until well mixed. Spread 1/2 of mixture in a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

In a glass bowl, microwave chocolate chips, condensed milk and butter for 1 minute on high. Stir. If not smooth, microwave again on high for 30 seconds more and stir (repeat if needed). Stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate filling on top of oatmeal butter mixture in pan. Using a spoon or your fingers, crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture and dot/drop onto the top of the chocolate.

Bake 25-30 minutes until oatmeal mixture is beginning to brown on top. Cool completely and cut in 2x2 inch squares. Enjoy!

Mocha Panna Cotta

When I get a chocolate craving, I just have to follow it. This particular chocolate craving led me to make a mocha panna cotta.

I happened to have a lot of extra cream sitting around, as well as some gelatin left over from when I made marshmallows a few months ago, so I figured I would try it. I can't quite decide how to describe it... Somewhere between flan ans jell-o? Either way, I would definitely make it again, if for no other reason than that is is chocolate and "panna cotta" sounds fancy.

Mocha Panna Cotta

Asapted from Giada, Serves 2-3

• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• Blocks of white and/or dark chocolate, optional

Place the milk in a heavy, small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves, but the milk does not boil, about 2 minutes. Add the cream, espresso and cocoa powders, sugar, and salt. Stir over low heat, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Pour the cream mixture into 2 martini glasses (or whatever glasses you want to serve this in), dividing equally. Cover and refrigerate, stirring every 20 minutes during the first hour. Chill until set, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, use a vegetable peeler on the chocolate blocks to create about 1 tablespoon each of the white and dark chocolate shavings. Sprinkle the shavings over each panna cotta and serve.

Cherry Pork

So this recipe was supposed to go up during cherry week a while back, but I got distracted with going out of town. I brought this pork to a girls' night and served it with couscous and everyone really liked it (the pork was so tender!). However, I didn't have enough time to eat all of the leftovers before going to Florida, so my very smart roomie popped the meat in the freezer.

I am so glad she did! I wasn't completely convinced of this recipe's merit until, after defrosting the meat and sauce, I tried it again with a salad for a side. Man, I am so glad I didn't pass this over. I will definitely be making it again. Maybe the sauce just gets better after a day or so. I know that's how my saffron sauce is (recipe will come in a bit for that).

Anyway, if you are hankering for a new way to use those fresh cherries of the summer, here's a good meal.

Cherry Pork with Rice

Serves 2-3
Adapted from the Seattle Times

*Feel free to double or triple this

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound
½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup pitted Bing cherries (see note)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch bits
1 cup brown rice, cooked (the sauce tastes so good mixed with the rice!)
Salads for a side

1. Cut the pork tenderloin into medallion-size pieces. Sprinkle the rounds with the salt and pepper.

2. Put the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, and when the oil is hot, cook the pork, turning once, until the surface of each piece is golden brown, about 7 minutes altogether.

3. Use tongs or a fork to transfer the pork to a plate. Toss the cherries in the oil left behind in the pan. Pour the chicken broth and balsamic vinegar over the cherries and turn the heat to high.

4. When the broth has boiled down to about half its original volume and the cherries are tender, about 5 minutes, return the pork to the pan, along with any juices that have collected on the plate.

5. Reheat the pork in the sauce for a minute, then transfer it to serving plates. Swirl the butter into the pan juices and pour some of the sauce over the pork, but save most of the sauce and cherries to pour over the brown rice that you have made to serve as side. Serve pork medallions with the rice with the sauce and a nice salad.

Note: When fresh cherries are out of season, use frozen whole cherries, which are available year-round. If doing so, add them to the boiling sauce after it has halved in volume.