Weird, right? Putting a chili next to a gooey brownie? Chocolate is good at any time, in any shape or form but.....chili. Let me tell you, it is the most delicious combination ever. The savory spice of chili powder and cayenne pepper balance with the rich and sweet flavor of an otherwise very traditional brownie to deliver a big kick to your taste buds. And really, the idea of sweet and savory isn't that new. It's like bacon with maple syrup and pancakes....or melted cheddar cheese on apple pie. Or am I the only one who does that? Alright, bad example. But if you still trust me, try these spicy brownies.
Brownies are impossible to mess up. No matter what you do, there is always some butter, chocolate and brown sugar to carry you through.
And that's a convenient fact of life for me because I had a little bit of trouble getting these baked all the way through. They passed the toothpick test at first, but when I cut into them, they were still completely raw. Had to heat up the oven again and put them back in a couple times until I finally got it right. But what do you think, did I mess them up?
There's a reason why I led with the brownies. This next recipe for split pea soup isn't exactly the most attractive. Some, like my roommate, would even go so far as to call it "swamp in a bowl". But before you turn green like this soup (haha) just hear me out. Split pea soup with ham is a classic home-made dish that's perfect for cuddling up on the couch with a crusty piece of bread, watching tv because it's too cold and rainy outside to put on anything but pj's. That's not just my imagination at work, it's actually what I'm doing. Like, right now while balancing my laptop on a pillow. The only thing better than eating this soup is writing about it so that everyone else can enjoy it too.
I really do love this soup. My German grandma used to make it all the time in the winter. There wasn't much food available in WWII Europe except cabbage for sauerkraut, potatoes and lentils. So that's what they ate, soups like this one that could take very basic ingredients and make them into something filling and warm. The Latvian army apparently specialized in making huge batches of this stuff for their soldiers and for some reason my grandpa loved it, so he always insisted on having us make it for dinner. Of course, we can put some other good stuff like ham into the pot now.
But there's one thing that I will never change about split pea soup, and that's Maggi. Call it the German equivalent of soy sauce, it's salty and mushroom-y made from fermented wheat (or something like that). It's not difficult to find in any grocery store and I would never eat split pea soup without it.
Spiced-up Brownies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Yield: 16
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 11 oz dark chocolate
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Whisk flour, salt, cocoa powder, spices in a medium bowl
- Coarsely chop chocolate and butter into 1 inch cubes. Put in medium glass bowl along with espresso powder over a small saucepan of simmering water over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. It is important that you use this double-boiler technique (don't put it directly into a saucepan) to keep the chocolate from burning. If you don't have a glass bowl, you can melt the mixture in the microwave.
- Remove chocolate mixture from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large mixing bowl
- Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk by hand until combined. Whisk in the remaining eggs and vanilla. Be careful not to overmix or your brownies will turn out cakey.
- Slowly fold the flour into your chocolate mixture using a spatula. Don't worry if you can still see a little bit of the flour. You don't want to overmix the batter.
- Pour batter into a 9x13 baking pan that has been greased with butter or cooking spray. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean with just a few crumbs sticking to it. Sorry to give you such a wide range of cooking times, but like I said, this one caused a little bit of trouble for me.
Split Pea Soup
Grandma's Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds smoked ham, sliced
- 1 large onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 large carrot
- 1 medium potato
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 lb dried green split peas
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 8 cups water
- Peel and dice onion, celery, carrot, potato. You want the pieces to be large enough to be considered "chunky" but not too big that they won't be able to be scooped up by a spoon. Finely chop parsley and garlic, then roughly chop ham into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add water and scrape the bottom of the pot with a cooking spoon
- Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, covered, over medium heat.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, occasionally stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot
- Salt and pepper (or Maggi!) to taste.
