Last Chance to Vote!!!

Have you voted today in the Manischewitz "Happy Thanksgivukkah Recipe Contest?" I'd be so grateful if you voted for my Cranberry Orange Thanksgivukkah Rugelach!

There's a $1000 grand prize waiting for me, if all of you could please vote for me. The more the merrier for this party!

Just click here to vote, and then be sure to share with all your friends. Voting ends today!

Another Day, Another Vote!

Have you voted today in the Manischewitz "Happy Thanksgivukkah Recipe Contest?" I'd be so grateful if you voted for my Cranberry Orange Thanksgivukkah Rugelach!

There's a $1000 grand prize waiting for me, if all of you could please vote for me. The more the merrier for this party!

Just click here to vote, and then be sure to share with all your friends. Voting ends tomorrow!

Have You Voted Yet???

Have you voted today in the Manischewitz "Happy Thanksgivukkah Recipe Contest?" I'd be so grateful if you voted for my Cranberry Orange Thanksgivukkah Rugelach!

There's a $1000 grand prize waiting for me, if all of you could please vote for me. The more the merrier for this party!

Just click here to vote, and then be sure to share with all your friends. Voting continues each day (1 vote per person per day) until November 24.

Have You Voted for Me Today?

Have you voted today in the Manischewitz "Happy Thanksgivukkah Recipe Contest?" I'd be so grateful if you voted for my Cranberry Orange Thanksgivukkah Rugelach!

There's a $1000 grand prize waiting for me, if all of you could please vote for me. The more the merrier for this party!

Just click here to vote, and then be sure to share with all your friends. Voting continues each day (1 vote per person per day) until November 24.

Cranberry-Orange Thanksgivukkah Rugelach + A Voting Request

 

According to Wikipedia, rugelach [rug-uh-LUCK] are "a Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic (European) origin. Traditional rugelach are made in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling." Some are filled with chocolate, some with apricot, and they always seem to contain nuts. They're a bit like pastry, a bit like a cookie.

These are more cookie and less pastry, and I've varied the fruit filling because next Thursday is Thanksgivukkah - a mash-up of Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah - and Turkey Day flavors were warranted for the traditional Yiddishche treats.

Remember that Jewish "days" actually begin at sundown and then continue through the night and the day, ending at the next sundown. The first day of Hanukkah begins on the evening of Wednesday, November 27 and continues until sundown on Thursday, November 28. That means that it coincides with Thanksgiving!!! It's only happened once before, since Thanksgiving is a relatively new holiday; and it's not going to happen, by mathematicians' calculations, for another 70,000 years. Yup, 70,000! Thanksgivukkah is literally, truly, amazingly a once-in-a-lifetime holiday!!!

This calls for a celebration!

So for the next few posts, I'm taking traditional Jewish foods and putting a Thanksgiving-ish spin on them in honor of the holiday ... like with these rugelach filled with cranberries, which are also featured (very slightly tweaked) in the Manischewitz "Happy Thanksgivukkah Recipe Contest."

There's a $1000 grand prize waiting for me, if all of you could please vote for me and then share the link on Twitter or Facebook or email or even good ol'-fashioned word of mouth so your loved ones can help, too. 40% of the judging to determine finalists will be based upon votes, so the more the merrier for this party!

Just click here to vote, and then be sure to share with all your friends. Voting continues each day (1 vote per person per day) until November 24. There has been some mishigas with the site and with difficulties in voting; so if you have trouble, don't start schvitzing - I appreciate the thought! THANK YOU to everyone for your help - it's a mitzvah (good deed)!


Cranberry-Orange Rugelach

Filling:
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons orange marmalade

In a medium saucepan, toast the walnuts over medium-low heat just until fragrant; place into a small mixing bowl.

Add the cranberries, sugar, and water to the now-empty saucepan; bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium. Cook until mixture is very thick, stirring constantly and pressing down onto the cranberries to mash them. You should have 1 cup of filling; stir filling mixture and marmalade into the walnuts and set aside.

Dough:
1 cup butter-flavor shortening, at room temperature
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine shortening and cream cheese; stir in egg and salt. Stir in sugar, then stir in flour - dough will be crumbly. Empty the dough onto the countertop and knead until it comes together. Divide dough into 4 portions.

Roll one portion at a time into a 12" circle on a lightly floured countertop. Spread with 1/4 of the cranberry mixture, spreading to within 1" of the outer edge.

Cut the dough into quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 equal portions to make 16 portions. One at a time, starting with the outer edge, roll a portion of dough towards the center to form a spiral. Place onto the prepared cookie sheet and repeat until the entire circle of dough has been rolled.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cookies are golden and feel set when pressed. Let cool on a rack. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

To finish the cookies, place a scant 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar into a large freezer baggie. Add two dozen cookies, shake to coat them in sugar, then remove them to a serving tray and repeat with remaining cookies.

Makes 64 cookies.

Strawberry Orange Daiquiri

Anyone who knows me - frankly, anyone who spends 4 seconds with me! - knows that I'm a prissy girly-girl.  (One of my favorite t-shirts even proclaims it!)  I don't drink beer; I don't like it, although it's fabulous to cook with.  I don't drink hard liquor like bourbon or whiskey or tequila, and I loathe gin.  I don't even drink very much at all, although I do like to go to wine tastings and try to learn a bit while having fun.

But if I'm going to drink, I like the froofy drinks that usually come with paper umbrellas or fruit skewers or whipped cream.  What can I say?  They're light, they're festive, they're sweet, they're perky ... they're me!

This is an ideal cooling drink for summery weather, and it offers a flavor as vibrant as its color.  It's easy to make and easy to drink - not very strong at all.

And it's perfect for when you're just relaxing in the backyard, enjoying a beautiful evening with friends.

Strawberry Orange Daiquiri

1 10-ounce package Daily's Strawberry Daiquri, frozen
1 pint blood orange sorbet
6 ice cubes, crushed

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whip into a frenzy until well combined.  Serves 4.

Almondina Crunch Coffee Cake

I love getting packages in the mail, because they're usually food-related!

And one I received recently was no exception.  It contained a generous sampling - for marketing purposes - of Almondina cookies, which are similar to very thin biscotti.  They have only 30 calories per cookie, feature nutritious almonds, are both kosher and pareve ([PAHRv] = neither meat nor dairy), are made without cholesterol and preservatives, and are very adaptable.  I've eaten several of the sweet varieties (Gingerspice, Chocolate Cherry, Choconut) on their own, as desserts and snacks; and I've eaten a couple of the savory varieties (Brantreat, Sesame) with cheese and as croutons.

Over the weekend, I felt like baking; I heard a coffee cake calling to me ... a bit of comfort after several very stressful weeks.  Instead of the usual cinnamony streusel topping, though, I thought I'd add a bit of crunch instead.  So I crumbled some of the Almondina cookies, mixed them with just a touch of sugar and butter, and sprinkled them over the batter.  Oh, the house smelled so fabulous as this baked!

And the cake turned out beautifully, with lots of flavor from the addition of the crumbled Almondina cookies that contributed ginger and nuts to my coffee cake.  Such a simple pleasure!

Almondina Crunch Coffee Cake

Cake:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup apricot all-fruit spread

Topping:
6 Almondina Gingerspice cookies, crumbled
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 cup butter, melted

Glaze:
1/2 confectioners' sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9" round baking pan.

In large bowl, stir together butter, sour cream and egg; add sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in flours and spread into prepared baking pan.

Dollop the jam over the top of the batter, then swirl it in gently with a knife.

Combine the Almondina crumbs and brown sugar; stir in melted butter.  Sprinkle topping over the batter.

Bake coffee cake for 30 minutes, until golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely.

Combine confectioners' sugar and orange juice; drizzle over the coffee cake.  (Add a bit more juice or a bit more sugar, as needed, to make it the right consistency.)  Let glaze set, then cut and serve.

Makes 12 servings.

"Chopped Challenge" - Spiced Potato and Bacon Pasties

My very good blogging buddy Angela - who features lovely simple but sophisticated recipes on Seasonal and Savory - offered the following for my "Chopped" challenge, in which I had asked readers to suggest ingredients that I would then have to use in creating dishes:

"Hmmmm...how about harissa, oranges, and bacon"? 

Since no course was mandated, I thought about making an appetizer of roasted chickpeas with crumbled bacon in a coating of orange and harissa ([hah-RIH-suh] = a very spicy, vibrantly colored North African pepper sauce).  I gave serious consideration to making a sweet, spicy and salty dessert.  But then I had a new idea ....

Angela spent some time in Michigan's Upper Peninsula ("da U.P., eh?" as they say up there with their quaint Finn-Canadian-ish accents).  Thus, she is well acquainted with the requisite Northern dietary mainstay: the pasty [PASS-tee], a hand-held pie that miners could bring with them for lunch.

Now, no self-respecting Yooper would serve a pasty flavored with harissa - it would be a sacrilege.  Chopped beef, potatoes, onions, rutabaga, salt, and pepper - that's it for the filling.  But I'm a troll: someone who lives under the bridge - south of the Mackinac Bridge, that is - in the state's Lower Peninsula.  No one expects me to know how to make a proper pasty anyway, so why not have some fun with it?

Pasties are dry ... very dry.  You'll note that the above listing of essential ingredients doesn't include any kind of liquid to bind them together.  And those starchy vegetables are served in a crust.  This serves a practical purpose, of course, to make them more transportable.  But "dry" is an understatement when talking about pasties, as is "bland."  The harissa was very welcome for livening things up a bit.

Ketchup is the usual accompaniment to pasties, though sometimes gravy is served.  Rather than incorporating the required oranges into the main course itself, as I was doing with the harissa and the bacon, I thought they would lend a brightness to a sauce which, as far as I'm concerned, is a mandatory condiment for this dish.

So for my 500th post (wow!), I offer you a hearty winter meal with a nod to Michigan's history but featuring a unique flair!  Everything turned out perfectly, with great flavor.  I like to call these "Troll Pasties," with love and affection for both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas!

 

Troll Pasties

Filling:
1 large baking potato, cut into 3/4" dice
1 large rutabaga, cut into 3/4" dice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon harissa powder (or use 1 tablespoon prepared harissa and eliminate the water)
2 tablespoons water
6 strips bacon
1 small onion, chopped


Preheat the oven to 400F.  Stir the potato, rutabaga, oil, and salt together in an 8"x8" baking dish.  Stir together the harissa powder and water; pour over the vegetables and stir to coat.  Bake for 1 hour or more until the vegetables are golden and very tender.


Cook the bacon in a large skillet; dry bacon on paper towels and crumble.  Drain most of the fat from the skillet and saute the onion just until translucent.  Stir the bacon and the onion into the potato mixture; cool to room temperature.

Crust:
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cold water
1 egg


Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the shortening until the mixture resembles meal.  Add the 1/2 cup of water bit by bit; mix with your hands until the dough holds together well and forms a ball, using more or less water as needed.  Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 350F.


Divide the dough into 6 portions.  One by one, roll a portion into a 10" circle.  Place 2/3 cup of the filling onto half of the dough.

Lightly dampen the dough around the filling, then fold dough over to form a semi-circle.  Trim the rough edges, then crimp the edge of the dough; press the edge with a fork to seal the pasty.

Place onto a greased baking sheet.  Repeat to make the remaining 5 pasties.  Combine the egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush over the pasties.


Bake the pasties for 50-55 minutes until lightly golden brown.


Gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1/2 cups chicken stock

juice and zest of 1 orange
juice and zest of 1 lemon

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and salt; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Slowly add the stock, incorporating each addition before pouring more.  Add the juices and zest; bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes until thickened.

To serve: Place 1 pasty onto a dinner plate and serve with gravy.

Makes 6 generous servings.

Orange, Date and Almond Salad

Tu B'Shevat [TOO bay shuh-VAHT] - the Jewish New Year of the Trees - began at sundown last night and continues through today.  It is traditional to celebrate the holiday by having a tree planted in Israel; by eating a new fruit; or by holding a seder in which specific fruits are eaten in a particular order, along with the recitation of blessings.

It is also customary to enjoy dried fruits and nuts - such as figs, apricots, pecans, walnuts, etc. - although eating any type of fruit is a lovely way to acknowledge the beauty and bounty of trees.

According to MyJewishLearning.com: "The Bible expresses a great reverence for fruit trees as symbols of God's ... beneficence. Special laws were formulated to protect (them) in times of war and ensure that the produce of trees would not be picked until the trees were mature enough and tithes were given from them."  Respect for trees and care for the environment are deeply ingrained in Judaism.

Just because the recipe for today's salad is ridiculously simple and only requires 4 ingredients, don't underestimate the impact of its taste!  The brightness of the oranges, the sweetness of the dates, the tartness of the pomegranate molasses ... it's an intensely flavorful combination.  And the almonds contribute a lovely crunch to contrast with the softness of the fruits.

In honor of Tu B'Shevat, you can serve the Orange, Date and Almond Salad featured below which showcases the glorious produce of trees.  You could also offer some other dishes which feature a variety of delicious fruits and nuts, such as olives, lemons, cherries, chocolate, oranges, quince, bananas, hazelnuts, and more:

Braised Chicken Thighs in Lemony Olive Sauce

White Chocolate and Cherry Brownies

Lemon-Glazed Cherry Pasties

Chocolate Cherry Kugel

Zesty Lemon Spaghetti

Chocolate-Glazed Orange Cake

Quince-Glazed Baked Yams

Banana Nutella Cake

Triple Orange Brownies


Don't forget to read about my "Chopped" challenge: dare me to use ingredients you suggest, and I'll post about my creations!  Click here for the terms ....


Orange, Date and Almond Salad

4 large oranges
3/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
1/3 cup almonds, lightly toasted, chopped
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

Cut the ends off the oranges, then stand them upright and slice off the peels.  Turn the oranges on their sides and cut into thick slices, then place onto a serving dish.

Sprinkle the dates and almonds over the oranges.

Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over everything.

Serves 4.

Cookie Week: Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

I adore orange marmalade! The sweet-tart combination, the texture, the gorgeous color ... I love all of it.

I have two favorite ways to eat marmalade:

1) With peanut butter in a PB&J, which my friend Susie recently served to me in charming finger sandwiches at afternoon tea without even knowing how much I love this combination!

2) In these cookies, where the flavors of the orange and the chocolate chips marry to form a perfect union.

With only a few basic ingredients, these cookies can be mixed, baked, and ready to give or serve with virtually no notice. But they're so delicious and fragrant, with their amazing citrus aroma, that they seem very sophisticated even though they're so simple.

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
6 tablespoons orange marmalade
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a baking sheet

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and egg; stir in marmalade, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the flour and the chocolate chips.

Drop batter by measuring tablespoons onto the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden on the edges. Remove to a rack and cool completely.

Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes 48 cookies.

Don't forget these oldies but goodies - they're fabulous!

Ginger Shortbread Cookies

Holiday M&M Cookies

Chocolate-Glazed Orange Cake

Surprisingly, given his penchant for fame and marketing, the gift shop at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has virtually no merchandise bearing the man's face, name, signature, or any other connection.

When my BFF Wendy and I were there recently, we found many books, some posters, a lot of kitsch, and very cute "Wonder Woman" and "Super Girl" make-up mirrors (now Wendy's and mine, respectively) in honor of the current featured exhibit: "Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross". But nothing in the shop screamed "Andy Warhol" ... very strange. They kinda missed the point, didn't they ...?


I happen to love Andy Warhol, and spent a weekend in Chicago 20+ years ago with my then-husband specifically to see an exhibit at the Art Institute. That the artistic design of everyday products was respected and elevated to the level of "fine art," and that our modern surroundings - such as grocery store aisles, where I practically live - were deemed as worthy of documenting as landscapes in past times, is an attitude I esteem. That Warhol also threw some irony and humor into the mix ... well, that only makes him more intriguing. The man was fascinating.

At the gift shop, the most representative item I could find to commemorate my having finally found my way to this long-elusive site was a set of "Desserts" note cards. These not only feature Warhol's own sketches of treats, but they also offer recipes for the pictured items ... oh, this was clearly a souvenir meant for me!

I didn't need to make strawberry ice cream or a frozen pink lemonade - it's cold out. But an orange cake? Simple, fragrant, rich, seductively moist ... a slice of this cake is perfect with coffee or tea or cocoa.

I tweaked the recipe a bit, because that's what I do. Warhol took Campbell's soup cans and made them his own; I did the same thing with this cake.

Andy Warhol himself once stated: "Food is my great extravagance." How could I not love the man?

Chocolate-Glazed Orange Cake
(adapted from a recipe developed by Stephen Bruce of Serendipity 3)

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, softened
zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from the 2 oranges you zested)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8" round cake pan, line the bottom with foil, then grease the foil.

In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, zest and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one by one. Beat in the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. On low speed, slowly beat in the orange juice and buttermilk.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let rest for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the cake from the pan; remove foil from bottom of cake, flip over so the top is up, and let cool completely.

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Melt the chocolate chips and cream together; stir until smooth, then spread over the top of the cake. Let the glaze set for 30 minutes before cutting the cake.

Makes 8 servings.

Ricotta Cheese Pudding

I haven't made my Chocolate Cannoli Cake in ages. It's a lovely dessert with an orange-scented ricotta cheese mixture swirled into the batter; remarkably, it's both rich and light at the same time.

The other night, I wanted the flavors of the cake but didn't want to bother baking. I'd also just made a blueberry cake that morning, and hardly needed a second seductress in the house calling to me sweetly!

So instead, I simply took the ricotta filling that is swirled into the cake batter (minus the raw egg, of course, since no cooking would be involved) and made it into a pudding instead.

This is light, refreshing, and absolutely ridiculously easy to make. If it's too hot out to cook or you need an elegant finish to a summer meal, this is the dessert you've been waiting for.

It's also perfect if you just want a slightly sweet, cool dessert at the end of the day. This pudding can be anything you need it to be ....


Italian Ricotta Cheese Pudding

1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
very finely grated zest of 1 large orange
juice of 1/4 orange
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
5 cinnamon graham cookie sticks, crushed

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl; mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight for the flavors to develop, then spoon into decorative serving glasses. Sprinkle cookie crumbs over the top of the puddings.

Serves 4-6.

Red, White and Blueberry Sangria

I hadn't made sangria for ages and ages, until one evening it just seemed like the perfect thing to drink while sitting on the front porch on a beautiful evening. Champagne is for weddings, beer is for football games, and sangria is for sunny summer days!

And this variation - a festive holiday concoction featuring red wine, white sparkling lemonade, and blueberry syrup - is ideal for today's 4th of July celebrations.

Sangria is easy to make, is a gorgeous deep vibrant shade of red as the sun shines upon it, and is sweet and refreshing. Pair it with burgers, chicken, ribs, corn, potato salad - all the traditional foods 'n' fixin's - and you've got a party!

I've given instructions for making the blueberry syrup; but there's not really a recipe for the sangria, merely a simple "how to" for making this fabulous drink by the glass. And it's one of those things where you can modify the proportions to suit your own tastes, or even make a non-alcoholic version using cranberry juice (or one of the multitude of variations on that basic version). Feel free to multiply everything and place it into a pitcher for serving many.

Enjoy the parades, proudly wear your patriotic colors, offer thanks to those who've sacrificed for our freedoms, and toast the holiday with this celebratory sangria.


Red, White and Blueberry Sangria

Blueberry Syrup:
4 cups blueberries
4 cups water
1 cup sugar

Bring everything to a boil in a medium saucepan, then lower heat to medium; boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then mash the blueberries. Strain out the solids and reserve the syrup.

Into each large wine glass, place:

1/4 cup blueberry syrup
2/3 cup red wine
2/3 cup sparkling lemonade
4 ice cubes
1/2 lemon slice x 2
1/2 orange slice x 2

"Hot Damn!" Triple Orange Brownies

"I have only two words to describe these," Tom said when he tried my Friday night brownie experiment: "Hot damn!" He -- the most disciplined eater I know, a former vegan and vegetarian, a man who enjoys food but treats it more like fuel than entertainment -- proceeded to eat two of them. This is unheard of! You should have joined us for dinner just to witness it!

I was in a reasonably new store last week, which sells only oils and vinegars. It's called Fustini's, and I'm proud to say that it is a Michigan-based chain (with other stores in Holland, Petoskey and Traverse City). Oh, it's open and bright and the staff is wonderfully welcoming. There are small vats on display, with little plastic cups just waiting to help you sample the wares. And truly, you could sample every single item if you wanted to -- I've managed to get through about half of the offerings already without any effort to shoo me away.

So far, I've found a balsamic vinegar named "Better Than Chocolate" that is so sweet and rich that I could drink it straight. I combined a bright and vibrant lemon-flavored olive oil with a subtle and slightly perfumed violet vinegar to find that they complemented each other perfectly. One of my absolute favorites was the cherry vinegar, tart and luscious. Oh, the salads! The marinades! The sauces! How much fun could I have with some of these products??? I've already dropped some downright-obvious (why be subtle?) hints with Tom and Jeremy that some holiday gifts from this charming little store would be most gratefully appreciated.

Then, after leaving, I had a potential epiphany ... and that's where my Friday night experiment comes in.

The woman I'd spoken with when I first found the shop told me that she likes to enhance cake mixes by infusing them with some of the wares she sells. And so, later I thought: "If I usually bake a vegan chocolate cake using apple cider vinegar and baking soda for leavening, then why not use one of those flavored vinegars to really perk up the flavor???" But I've been more in the mood for brownies lately, so then I thought I could substitute a flavored vinegar for vanilla extract or coffee or maraschino cherry juice, or any of the other liquids I usually add to the batter.

I still had some of the gorgeous blood orange vinegar I'd bought at Fox and Obel in Chicago when Jeremy and I were there in June -- it would be perfect! And I could use an orange-flavored chocolate, rather than plain ol' baking chocolate or chocolate chips. And -- it gets better! -- I could swirl in some orange marmalade, a technique I sometimes use with raspberry jam. The wheels in my brain, they were a-spinnin'!



So on Friday night, as Tom put his brand new rice cooker to work and made a lovely dinner of Cuban rice and beans with cheese, I stirred up a variation on my usual brownie batter. The brownies baked as we ate, and smelled absolutely divine.

Impatient people that we are, we didn't wait for the brownies to cool; they were a bit messier for still being warm when I cut them, but who cares about the appearance of a dessert that's about to disappear anyway???

So we each took a brownie and sat down on the sofa. We took a taste, and Tom uttered his above-stated phrase upon experiencing the luscious, warm, moist, rich chocolate which was scented and enhanced with orange. He then stated: "You'd better tell your readers that they have to make this! I'll hunt them down if they don't! They must make these brownies!"

And so, this is your mission should you choose to accept it. I don't know how readily you can find orange vinegar in your town, but it's worth any hunting you may have to do to procure it. (I'm sure you could also use fresh orange juice or some liqueur, as well.) Orange marmalade is easy to find, but finding one that isn't nearly entirely made of high fructose corn syrup may be a challenge. (I actually found some at a dollar store, of all places -- the best ingredients of any brand I'd looked at, at the dollar store!) And Lindt chocolate should be easy to find; I was lucky that it was on sale last week, just waiting for my little project.

I happen to be a devoted worshipper of chocolate and, particularly, of brownies. And I have to say, immodest as it sounds, that these are just about the best brownies I've ever eaten ... I know they're the best ones I've ever baked.

So take Tom's advice. Bake some Triple Orange Brownies for holiday gifts. Bake them for a tree-trimming party. Bake them to reward yourself for finishing your Christmas shopping. Bake them simply because it's Monday! Just bake them. You'll thank me, I promise ....

Triple Orange Brownies

1/2 cup butter
1 3.5-ounce bar Lindt Excellence Intense Orange chocolate bar, broken into pieces
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons orange-flavored vinegar
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8" square baking pan.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat, stirring frequently.

Stir in the sugar, then stir in the eggs one-by-one. Add the vinegar, then stir in the flour, baking soda and salt; mix until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Place dollops of the marmalade over the top of the batter, then gently swirl them into the batter just a bit.

Bake for 30 minutes without peeking, then let cool a bit before serving. (FYI: I added no nuts to the batter, though Tom and I had talked about adding walnuts and they would make a good addition. The chocolate bar contains tidbits of almonds, and one is peeking out in the picture below.)

Cut into 12 or 16 pieces, or just grab a fork and start devouring ....