Week Four: Oven Held Hostage

It's been a month since my beautiful and as yet unused Viking Oven was rendered inoperable by a faulty door lock mechanism. Every morning, I peek into the kitchen to see whether the Oven Fairy has made an overnight visit and miraculously repaired my poor oven. So far, no...

After a lovely overnight in the country (thank you, sister/sister-in-law) and an afternoon spent picking black raspberries, I need to take advantage of this wonderful fresh and highly perishable treat...so my "soul sister" and I will take to baking tomorrow, in her oven.

Among the things I propose, this totally yummy-sounding brownie recipe. I'll let you know how it turns out!

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e your kind of healthy. LEARN MORE AVERAGE RATING: 0 / 5, 0 VOTES 0 USER REVIEWS | RATE OR REVIEW THIS RECIPE Fudgy Dark Chocolate- - Raspberry Brownies Photo: Con Poulos BROWSE RELATED RECIPES BY TOPIC: BAKED, AMERICAN, DESSERT, SNACK, FRUIT, CHOCOLATE, BUFFET, POT LUCK, NUT FREE,ALCOHOL FREE, HIGH FIBER, DAIRY FREE, VEGETARIAN, SHELLFISH FREE, SOY FREE, PORK FREE, LOW SODIUM, AVERAGE Baking brownies in parchment paper lets you lift them out of the pan when they're cool and makes dividing them into picture-perfect squares a snap. For a more precise cut, refrigerate beforehand. Ingredients Serves: Prep: 12min |Cook: 48min |Total: 1hr 10min 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 5 tablespoons trans-free margarine 2 large eggs 1 large egg white 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup raspberries 1 tablespoon Confectioners' sugar (optional) Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Press parchment paper into the bottom of a 9" x 9" baking pan, making sure there is enough paper to overhang two opposite edges. Coat generously with cooking spray and dust lightly with flour. 2. Combine the chocolate and margarine in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool 2 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, combine the whole eggs, egg white, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Whisk the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture, stirring until combined. Gently fold in the raspberries. Pour the batter into the pan. 4. Bake for 48 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the foil from the pan and cool completely on a rack. Cut into 16 squares and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired, before serving.

Tandoori Chicken

After years of ogling tandoori chicken in Indian restaurants, it was time to figure out how to make this in a kosher kitchen at home. Impossible, you say? Nope! Thanks to the growth of non-dairy products for aging baby boomers with lactose intolerance, you can find soy-based anything.

I used Whole Soy & Co.'s Plain organic soy yogurt, which is kosher, pareve, vegan, casein, whey and gluten free, and has no cholesterol. Amazing, huh? How do they make something that has nothing? (How very Zen.) The texture did seem a little non-yogurty, but once I transferred it to a mixing bowl and began adding the other ingredients, it started looking and smelling like a potentially delicious and exotic dish.

1/3 cup soy yogurt

2-3 tbs tandoori spice mix * (more or less to taste)

1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced

1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets, thinly cut

Combine soy yogurt and spices and dip cutlets in mixture, making sure to cover all surfaces of the chicken. Place chicken in zip-loc bags or a plastic container and pour any remaining marinade over the chicken. Seal and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, turning the bag or plasticware several times to insure that chicken is fully covered with marinade.

Cooking options: I used a non-stick grill pan and grilled the cutlets until slightly browned. Cutlets can be broiled or baked at 400 degrees 20 minutes. And if you have access to a charcoal or gas grill, go for it!

Serve with basmati or jasmine rice. Garnish with a thin slice of lemon or orange.

*Tandoori spice - I used Fairway's Tandoori, which has an OU seal. The label reads salt, coriander, paprika, garlic, cayenne and other spices. While it was tasty, I found it very Americanized. Here's a more traditional Tandoori spice recipe:

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red chilli powder (adjust according to preference)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon cumin powder
½ tablespoon mustard
½ tablespoon garam masala powder

Optional Spices:
few pods of cardamom
pinch of saffron

Salt to taste

And here's a great YouTube video with a fellow far more entertaining than I. He'll show you how to make Tandoori Chicken using chicken legs!

B'tayavon, everyone!

Hey There - Nice to See You!

Welcome! Three weeks in the new home, and I was hoping to be a bit more settled. Still surrounded by walls of boxes and feeling a bit like things will never be organized...sigh. But the new home came with an unbelievably terrific dream kitchen, complete with-you guessed it-a Viking Stove. Be still, my heart!!! A gazillion pounds of burgundy steel wonder just crying out for a culinary workout.

And that would have happened, too, if I hadn't experienced an EPIC FAIL when I used the self-clean mechanism to kasher the oven for its inaugural run. The oven heated up hotter than the Pompeii lava flow...and I set to dreaming of fabulous meals, mouth-watering desserts and the cooking experiments I'd never previously performed...EXCEPT the oven never opened again after the cycle. NEVER. NEVER until the very nice Viking repairman came and literally laid on the kitchen floor with his skinny piano fingers jammed into the oven door hoping to bypass the locking mechanism...and lo, two weeks later, we are still waiting for the back-ordered part.

But fear not, dear reader! I have recouped and determined to make the best of it, have cooked my little heart out atop the range. Question: do people actually like cooking on an electric stovetop? I'm not sure I do. I've spent an inordinate amount of time cursing at pots of water that seem to take forever to boil, rice and orzo that stick to the bottom of their pots, chicken that browns painfully slowly. Sure, I'll adjust...or we'll all cultivate a taste for the slightly crunchy.

Next posting: New! Improved! Kosher Tandoori Chicken!