brownies

easy as 2,4,2,4,1

• 2sticks butter
• 4oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2c sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1c flour

double boil butter, chocolate.
mix sugar, eggs, flour.
combine everything

put it all in a 13x9 buttered pan. 350F for ~35mins or until appropriately moist

the addictive green beans

• 1.5lbs fresh green beens, ends snapped
• 1T dijon mustard
• 2T red wine vinegar
• 3T evoo
• salt, fresh ground pepper
• >1/2c chopped walnuts (depends on your taste)
• 8oz blue cheese, crumbled
• 2T chopped fresh parsley (optional)

beans

1. bring pot of water to a boil
2. add beans and cook covered just till tender (~4min)
3. drain, run under cold water, pat dry

sauce

1. in a large bowl, whisk together mustard, vinegar, s/p, evoo
2. keep whisking till well mixed, slilghtly thickened (some people like to add evoo a little bit at a time)
3. add beans, walnuts, cheese to the sauce

toss around until well distributed. sprinkle parsley on top

crisp/compote/yummy dessert type thing

preheat to 400F
in a med-big bowl make the topping

• 8T salted butter (1 stick) slightly softish
  
• 1c brown sugar
• 2/3c flour
• 2/3c sugar
• 2/3c rolled oats
• whole bunch of walnuts
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• last time we used some fresh cardamom
• mix it with your hands and try to get the butter to latch on to all of the other stuff. mix it a lot. feel free to add more oats/flour/sugar to get the right consistency, but this proportion has worked well.
  

get a standard baking dish (9"x15"?)

• fill it with fruit. i usually use granny smiths or some tart apple, lately we've been using stone fruit (apricot, plum, ...) what's fun is that the fruit doesn't need to be totally ripe yet, it's all good.
  
• spray w/lemon juice and some remy (optional i guess)
• add the topping, try to get it evenly spread around and such.

cook until golden brown, ~20mins. good w/vanilla icecream

the chana masala dish that goes w/the pulau

• 1 large onion, chopped medium
• 1 6oz can tomato sauce
• 2 15 oz cans garbeenzo bons (chick peas)
• 1/3c oil
• lots of garlic (2-3 cloves)
• 1T chana masala
• 1/2t turmeric
• 1/4-1/2c water

1. heat oil over med flame
2. add garlic, onions, saute until transparent
3. add salt, turmeric, stir
4. add tomato sauce, lower heat, cover, simmer a few minutes
5. add the rest of the spices, cover until oil rises (~10mins)
6. add chick peas, water
7. stir, cover, simmer ~30mins
8. can be made 2-3 days in advance.

serves 4, i usually make a double of both whenever i cook it.

that awesome rice with crack in it

pulau:

• 1c raw Basmati rice
• 2c cold water
• 4T butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4t garam masala
• 1/8t turmeric
• kosher salt
• peas
• apricots
• currants

1. melt butter & saute onions ~4min over medium heat until transparent
2. add rice & stir gently 2-3min
3. gently stir in garam masala & turmeric
4. add water & salt
5. bring to a boil, stirring often
6. reduce heat, cover not quite completely & simmer until water is almost absorbed and the rice's surface is covered with little steam holes (~10-12min)
7. stir, add peas or apricots & currants
8. cover pan tightly & reduce heat to lowest possible setting
9. turn off heat and let sit undisturbed ~5min