Caramel Brownies

I have, on occasion, created a sweet confection or two for my small group at HCBC UT (best small group ever!). From those confections, one in particular was begged for the most often - Caramel Brownies. And so, with big news to deliver to them this week (more on that in another post when I have time and brain enough to), I decided it was time to break brownie with them again. And so, a sort of pictorial "how to make caramel brownies" - not that it is difficult.

1. After looking at the ingredient list, I went to the grocery store in search of the few things I did not have on hand. It was there that I realized something truly tragic - while the recipe calls for 6 ounces of evaporated milk, evaporated milk is sold in 5-ounce or 12(ish)-ounce cans. Drats! Not needing extra evaporated milk, I opted to be short an ounce and hoped it did not spell an early disaster for my brownies.

2. Unwrap a whole bag of caramels. Not the best part of the process, but undoubtedly better than when I cut up gumdrops into eensy pieces for zucchini muffins. Talk about sticky and time consuming.

3. Then I put the caramels in a pot with the evaporated milk over low-ish heat.


4. Then I read the recipe and realized half the evaporated milk was supposed to go in the batter. So...1/3 cup evaporated milk with a hint of caramel infusion went in the batter.

5. I melted a lot of butter. And the batter glistens in its new fatty addition. Purdy!

6. To make cutting easier, I lined the bottom of my 9x13 with parchment and gave it a little spray with the non-stick spray stuff (both under the parchment and on top of it).

7. The good part about having so much butter in the batter is that when I put half of it in the bottom of the pan, it was fun to smoosh and spread around with my fingers. I suppose if someone had textile issues with gooey oily things this would be a dark part of their experience.

8. While the bottom half of the brownie baked, I continued to stir the caramels. It was beginning to look a lot like ice cream topping.


9. When the timer beeped at me, out came the brownies and on went the chocolate chips...


...and then the caramel. Can I eat it now?


10. Since the batter is not too spreadable over a layer of liquid caramel, I smooshed super ball-sized bits of batter in my hands to flatten it, then laid it over the caramel, eventually covering a good deal of the sticky stuff.


11. Back in the oven it went, and I was left with a dilemma. What to do with a pot with caramel sauce clinging to its sides and no apple slices to be found?


12. Twenty minutes later and the brownies were done. And self-control began to weaken. Brownies are for small group, but warm brownies with warm chocolate chips and caramel - they would not notice one little piece missing, would they? Sadly for me, my college kids are smart and would notice something missing...especially since my piece of choice would have been from the middle of the brownie pan.


13. Finished products sliced and oozy chewy deliciousness. I could not get any pictures of my group eating them because they were too quick for me.

Commercial Issues

There is a commercial on TV right now that aggravates me every time I watch it. It is a commercial for Time Warner promoting its all-in-one packages. In it, a gentleman about my age states, "I want the world to revolve around me..." and then goes on to enumerate all the things that should revolve around him (a meeting starting when he gets there, TV shows on when he can watch them, etc.) If you do not loathe this commercial already, allow me to explain why I do. It promotes selfishness. This is not to say that all or most commercials do not do this, but this one is so blatant. They are clearly marketing toward the young and "hip" demographic, a demographic which needs little reminder to think first of themselves.

I have watched news stories (60 Minutes, evening news, etc) that address the growing problem of people around my age entering the work force. They think the boss should work around their schedules, abilities, and timetables. They expect to make as much money as their parent(s) do right out of college. And, in some companies, areas of H.R. are developing ways to address the growing concern with "helicopter" parents - parents who apply for their child's job for them, come to the interview with them, and call the company when their child is unhappy with the job or to check up on how he or she is doing.

Is that the root of it - parents who raised their children to think they are the most important person? I do not think parents are the only ones to point a finger at, but they may be part of this new problem. People my age were raised getting trophies even if they lost a sports game, hearing they were great in everything...even if they were not. Why do we wonder how those kids on American Idol are convinced they are the next Aretha Franklin? It is because their parents, friends, and teachers thought it better to tell them they were the best than to point them in a direction that may be better suited for their talents and abilities.

The dawn of reality TV also began during my generation, where anyone who wanted to be on TV reasonably could. Real World, Survivor, Bachelor, Big Brother, the list goes on. All of this comes down to one person - me, my, mine, I. We grew up thinking we were the best, and so when we perform in a "less than best" manner at our employment or friendship, we assume "I am not the problem, the other person is." That is dangerous.

The result of all this, in my opinion, is that we are stunted. When we are criticized or a needed improvement is pointed out to us, we attack the person rather than confront our own possible weakness. We cut people down without a second thought and are shocked when others do the same to us. We think we can be all and do all, and that is just not possible. Perhaps the most worrying area in my opinion is that since we think we are the most important person, we constantly put ourselves above everyone around us. We look at friendships not as "what can I give?" but "what can this person offer me?" Our priorities come before and above our friends'; we are self-seeking and relationally stunted.

We do not play well with others. We play great beside others, but not with others. Because "with" means someone's opinion is being sacrificed for the good of another's. "With" means I may not win or get the attention. "With" means I have to put someone else's needs and wants above my own. And if I am putting my needs beneath that person's needs, will that person one day put me above them? Will my grand act of unselfishness be repaid? Or will they "forget" so I have to ask them "Remember the time when I did (blank) for you?" If they are going to forget, what is the point in helping in the first place?

I have no solution, no 12-step plan to combat this. Just the hope that I will remember to think about someone else every now and again, and hope that if I do not, someone will prompt me to get over myself. And I will think about what they said before I think about how I am better than them.

My Go-To Fish Cooking Method

If you, like me, enjoy fish, but get tired of the pan-grill then put lemon juice on top method, here is a great change of pace. I cannot remember where I first saw, then used, this method, but I remember liking and and using something like in on the fly since then. So far, I have only used this on fish like salmon or steelhead trout, so I do not know how it would translate onto a more delicate white fish.

Honeyed Fish with a Kick

1. Heat a skillet (cast iron works best) on medium heat.

2. Take your fish fillet, remove skin (if not yet removed). Blot with paper towel to dry so that seasonings can stick to the fish and not the pan.

3. Drizzle the fillet on one side with honey. Don't drench the fish with honey, just a light cover.

4. Sprinkle honeyed fish with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (as many flakes as you like - the more the hotter). Feel free to add whatever fresh or dried herbs you like, I like the pepper flakes against the sweetness of the honey.

5. Add a quick splash of olive oil in your skillet and add fish **honey side down** when oil begins to shimmer.

6. While fish cooks on one side, repeat step 3 & 4 (honey and seasonings) to the uncooked fish side.

7. When cooking side has a good honeyed crust to it (3-5 minutes depending on thickness), flip fish and cook other side. The other side should take about the same amount of time as the first side, maybe a little less.

8. Take off skillet and eat. What you will find is the seasonings have cooked into the honey crust, creating a tender fish with a nice spicy sweet crunch to it.

Good with: mashed potato, risotto, on a salad (spinach would be great), with a salad, green beans, some crusty bread, steamed broccoli with lemon juice, or whatever pleases your palate.

*Special thanks goes to my HEB fishmonger who suggested steelhead trout as a substitute fish after a long season of salmon. Steelhead has a lighter flavor than salmon, but still has a heartiness like salmon.*

African American Lives 2

Thank you, internet banner ads! I was on a website just now and noticed an ad for The Root. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a website dedicated to ancestry, namely that of African-Americans. And I realized, this was something I watched on PBS last year. It is a special where Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps "famous" African Americans (Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg, T.D. Jakes, Quincy Jones and others) find their history both in America and Africa through looking at records and through DNA testing. When I watched it last year, I was utterly fascinated with both the stories these people had in their history, and with the technology that exists to tell people what areas of the world course through their blood.

And now, you can watch it...well the second "season" of it! It comes on next Wednesday (Feb. 13) at 9 pm ET (8 central) on PBS. It is just about the neatest two hours of television a person can watch on a Wednesday night. I have to miss the "live" broadcast due to church commitments, but I am taping it for sure. To hear the history of people, famous or not, and to watch them discover the hardships and successes their ancestors came through can only be described as bonding. Bonding lives together that before seemed separate and even alien. I wish I could think of a way to entice you even more to watch this show, but I can't so, I will beg. Please, sit down and watch this. Learn about famous people, learn about America's past, even your past.

**Just saw that it is probably a two-part series that began on Wed, Feb. 6. Check your PBS stations for rebroadcasts so you don't miss anything. I am taping Wednesday's broadcast from 2-4 am Friday morning so I don't miss it.

Pie ala Stove

Since my budget is too tight to afford full cable, and I would be terribly distracted by a full offering of channels, my Food Network obsession has been limited to watching Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis over lunch at my parents' place. Then, a few months ago while flipping stations on a Saturday morning, I came across a cooking show on PBS. I had watched some of PBS's culinary offerings before but had not been overly impressed. But then I caught an episode of America's Test Kitchen and I had met the public television's version of Alton Brown. Each episode, they make one or two dishes "the right way" after having tested recipes numerous times and variations to come up with what they think is the best way to make the food item. Each episode also features an equipment corner, where testers evaluate cooking utensils and accessories, and the tasting lab, where testers vote on the best brand of food product (chocolate, Italian dressing, red wine vinegar, etc.).

I usually am able to catch an episode over the weekend, and their dishes look great, but I had never actually made any of them. Sure, they looked good on screen, but did it translated to me and my kitchen? The test came when they did an episode on skillet dinners. The first dish they made was skillet chicken pot pie, which looked good even though I am not a chicken pot pie fan. I think it is due to the frozen meal pot pies more than an actual aversion to them as a whole.

However, their second skillet meal offering piqued my interest, Skillet Tamale Pie. This appealed to me more both because it was not a pot pie and because I already had most of the ingredients on hand. So, I decided to test America's Test Kitchen. Could I make this in thirty minutes or less? Would it actually work? How would it taste?

I am not sure if I made it in thirty minutes or less, but it was simple to make, and half the time was baking. Yes, baking. It is a half stove top, half oven dish. You mix all the tamale ingredients in a oven-safe skillet (or, pour it into an oven-safe dish if you were not sure about it, like me), then you dollop cornbread on top of the skillet mixture, smooth it out, and pop it in the oven for ten minutes. And the results? See for yourself...

And the taste? Wonderful. Warm, hearty, tasted like something mom would make on a cool Monday night growing up. The meat (I used turkey because it was in my freezer) was tasty, the tomatoes were a nice burst of flavor, and I should not have cut the chili powder dosing in half because it could have used more heat. The cornbread was fabulous - not doughy, not dry, the thing I was most worried about with the skillet-to-oven action. Skillet tamale pie is like having a bowl of chili with the cornbread on top like a thick "crust." And it reheats great. Add a little more cilantro on top of the reheated dish, little cheese, maybe some sour cream, and you are good to go.

Allison's America's Test Kitchen test results - a solid "A."