Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Who doesn't love crispy fried shrimp?  It's such a quick and easy meal to throw together.  I always keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer, which makes serving this that much simpler. 

We are definitely shrimp lovers in our household, I know I've said that before.  What I like about using cornmeal is the coating doesn't become too thick and you can actually taste the shrimp and the seasoning as opposed to a mouthful of breading.  My kids really appreciate this.

What I consider "a super bowl" is not THE Super Bowl. It's a sophisticated little serving dish from Villeroy and Boch that's perfect for serving onion dip. I'm of the opinion you can never have too many bowls. Perhaps there is a food stylist somewhere deep inside me, struggling to be free.

Recently I had a creamy mushroom soup with chopped green beans and a topping of crispy onions. It was soup based on that classic, and in my opinion somewhat disgusting, Thanksgiving side dish, the green bean casserole. But the soup was delicious, proving some classics really are good if made with great ingredients. That was my idea for this dip which, coincidentally I served at Thanksgiving this year. But I think it would be great for that other major American holiday, Super Bowl Sunday.

I basically increased the seasonings and onions in a dip recipe I found on the Whole Foods Market website, which has lots of great ideas, by the way. The dip is filled with onions, leeks and garlic, a few seasonings and a rich and a creamy base that is vegan and healthy.

Most people would call them muffins, or maybe cupcakes. But, that sounds so ordinary. You know. Just the same old, same old. Not that I don't make muffins or cupcakes. But when I do, and when I put them on a plate with a sauce and a topping, they become babycakes. And suddenly, they become extraordinary.

This is exactly what happened when I mixed a second bowl full of Maple-Walnut Cake batter that I made for my All About Food newspaper column this week. I greased some glass custard cups, spooned some of the batter into them, filling them almost to the top. They took only about 20 to 25 minutes to bake. Once I took them from the oven, I allowed them to cool in the cups for about 10 minutes, then nudged them out with a table knife and transferred them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

The baked cakes have the texture of moist banana bread. Loads of toasted walnuts give them great crunch, not to mention the health benefits they offer. If you're not a pumpkin pie-lover, I could see this cake, sauce and maple cream topping showing up when it's time for dessert on Thanksgiving.

Oh.

No, really, oh. Oh as in “Oh my, these brownies”  and “Oh damn, these brownies.”  Oh as “Oh I can’t believe this recipe is so amazing” and “Oh there goes any bit of self control I had.”

Get the picture?

You can roll your eyes a bit when you say “Oh”.  It helps.

Even though I don’t claim to have the world’s largest sweet tooth and go for salty over sweet most days, I can’t help but claim this brownie recipe as one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Because to me, brownies seem like the perfect treat in theory. Chocolately, studded with fun things like nuts or fruit, small and compact and enough to satisfy thanks to their rich nature. But sometimes, well, you can’t help but feel let down sometimes when you bite into a brownie that’s dry, too moist or not moist enough, tastes like a mix or worse, doesn’t resemble a brownie at all.