Irish Soda Bread

Food Category: Bread
Source: www.foodnetwork.com
Prep Time: 30 Min.
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 15-20 (depends on how thick you cut the slices)
Special Utensils: Baking pan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup currants
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons fine salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or Buttermilk substitute)

Instructions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter a baking sheet.
Put the currants in a medium bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 15 minutes and drain.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cake flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and, using your hands, work it into flour mixture, until it is about the size of small peas. Stir in the currants.
Add the buttermilk and stir with a spatula, just until the flour is moistened and comes together in a shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead lightly until just smooth, about 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and place on the center of the prepared baking sheet. Using a sharp knife cut a 1/4-inch-deep "X" into the top of the dough to let the fairies out. Bake until well browned and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped lightly with your knuckles, about 1 hour.
Transfer the bread to a rack and let cool completely before serving.

Nutritional Facts (per loaf):
3335 Calories
83.4 g Protein
622.1 g Carb
22.6 g Fiber
55.1 g Fat
18.1 g Sat. Fat
117.8 g Sugar
64 mg Cholesterol
420.4 mg Sodium
602.8 mg Calcium

Rating (1-10): 10

Cocoa Brownies

Food Category: Desert
Source: Based off of Alton Brown's Recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_17907,00.html)
(PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE MODIFICATIONS)
Prep Time: 10-15 Min.
Cook Time: 45 Min. +/-
Set Time: 10-20 Min.
# of Servings: 6-8
Vegetarian: No
Special Utensils: Parchment or Wax Paper, Brownie Pan (Alton recommends an 8" square pan, I tend to use a rectangular one this makes the brownies thinner but there are more pieces to go around.)

Ingredients:

Soft butter, for greasing the pan
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
Alternate:
Wax/parchment paper
Crisco (less healthy but the brownies come out of the pan easier)

4 Large Eggs
1 cup Sugar (sifted)
1 cup Brown Sugar (sifted)
8 ounces Melted Butter
1 1/4 cups Cocoa (sifted)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Flour (sifted)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan (Alton's recommendation).
Alternate: Lightly Crisco down sides & bottom. Cut a piece of wax/parchment to approximately the right size & snip the corners at a diagonal towards the center (so they fold in) & put the paper in the bottom. Then lightly Crisco parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes.
Alternate: Pour the batter into the greased rectangular pan and bake for 35 min & then check every 5 min for doneness. You may want to do this anyway because every oven is different.

Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Recommendation: if you use the wax/parchment paper method you can use two cooling racks (with the brownies in between) to flip the brownies & take off the paper right away. This way the brownies cool faster.

Nutritional Info

HA! You think this is Nutritional! You've got to be joking. :-)

Rating (1-10): 10