June's Hot Fudge Brownie Dessert

I've been remiss! With 2 pregnant mothers how am I not making the classic Molten Lava Cake kicked up to extreme?! Here it is, for all lovers of anything chocolate and yummy gooeyness.

This is the original recipe, origin unknown. Probably my Grandma May McPherson. You can tell because of the sifting bits. I wouldn't bother. It's lumpy anyway. Enjoy!

June's Hot Fudge Brownie Dessert

1c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 c. milk
2 tbsp melted butter or shortening
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and cocoa. Add milk, smelted butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Pour into 8x8 baking dish and cover with sauce ingredients.

Sauce
Mix together 1/3c. Brown sugar, 1/3 c white sugar and 4 tbsp cocoa. Sprinkle over the uncooked butter, then pour 1 1/2 c. hot water over the surface of the pudding.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Best served immediately and with ice cream cuz why not?

Cheesy Roasted Tomato and Sausage Bake

Bring home a basket of farm fresh tomatoes and green peppers and it's not long before the kitchen is filled with the tantalizing smells of roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic, the flavour base for today's casserole. Yum!

This recipe is prepared in easy steps: roast off the tomatoes, cook the sausages and penne, combine everything with mozzarella. Top with ooey-gooey cheddar. Bake 'er.

Ingredients:

6 large field tomatoes - 4 cut into quarters, 2 diced in 1/4 in pieces
1 or 2 jalapeno pepper - depends on your heat love
4 cloves of garlic - peeled, not chopped
1 large onion - cut into quarters
salt/pepper
olive oil - for drizzling

8 sausages ( I used mild Italian and Johnsonville beer bratwursts)
5 slices of bacon - cut in 1 inch pieces
2 green peppers - chopped in 1 inch pieces
1 cup mushrooms - cleaned sliced thickly
fresh parsley, basil - 1/4 cup each
1 tsp paprika
salt/pepper

500g of penne 

1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar
1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1.Combine first 5 ingredients in a flat pan. Drizzle and coat with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees until everything is soft and mushy (about 25 minutes). Remove tomato skins.

2.Cook penne until al dente (8 minutes)

3.Saute bacon, sausages and green pepper over medium heat until sausages are browned and pepper is soft. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more.
Add roasted tomatoes and jalapenos with juices to sausages.

4.Combine penne and sausage melange with mozzarella. 

Pour into oiled casseroles (this filled 1 large and 1 medium sized dishes). Top with remaining diced tomato, shredded cheddar and breadcrumbs.

Cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Next time I'll take a few pics as I go along, but I find that I tend to scroll  through obvious pictures of chopped onion to get to the ingredients and method.

These dishes are always are work in process, based on what's fresh and the mood I'm in. Substitutions are encouraged, as is feedback. We cook to share.

Cousin Reunion at Sharbot Lake

I just spent a magical day at Sharbot Lake, hosted by my sister Marilyn and her husband Brian. Our long-lost cousin "Big Barb" (I am Little Barb) and her husband Rick were visiting  on a welcome trip from B.C.  Here's the requested recipe for the tri-veggie dip. Easily manipulated according to what's in your pantry.

Colorful Vegetarian Pâté -from Canadian Summer Living 2014

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
 1/4 tsp cumin and pepper

1 pkg light cream cheese, softened
3/4 c chopped, drained roasted red peppers

2cups lightly packed basil leaves
1/4 c pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

In a food processor, blend kidney beans. Add lemon juice, 1 tsp oil, cumin and pepper. Whiz till smooth. Spoon into plastic-wrapped 1.5 L loaf pan and refrigerate.

In a food processor, purée cream cheese with red pepper until smooth. Spread over bean layer. Refrigerate.

In a food processor, pulse together basil, pine nuts and garlic. With machine running, gradually add remaining olive oil and process to a coarse paste. Pulse in Parmesan cheese. Spread over red pepper layer.

Cover and refrigerate up to two days. Garnish with fresh herbs.  Serve with crackers, pitas.

Notes: Totally substitute with what's in your pantry. Chick peas for kidney beans. I used basil and cilantro. Folks thought the red pepper layer was salmon. Not a bad thought.

This is soft like a dip.

We didn't invert as I wanted the pesto on top. Treasa and I teamed it up and slid the plastic out.

I know...pics!!!

~B