Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Stout Brownies

Brownies are one of the best sweet comfort foods of all time.  As a member of ShopRite's blog panel, I had received a huge bag of delicious chocolate chips and other baking supplies that came in handy when making this delicious recipe that I found in the recent Bon Appetit magazine for chocolate stout brownies that I made for the Super Bowl party that we went to for the now Championship NY Giants (whoo-hoo).  The stout adds a nice, rich flavor to the brownies, similar to the way it did when I made my chocolate stout cupcakes awhile back. These are just pure chocolatey goodness!  I adapted the recipe from Bon Appetit a bit and eliminated the frosting, because quite frankly they don't need anything else.  These are fudgy, chewy, moist and amazing.

Chocolate Stout Brownies (adapted from this recipe)
1 cup chocolate stout (I used local Brooklyn Brewery Chocolate Stout, but you could also use Guinness)
16 oz Shoprite chocolate chips
2 sticks uf unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

First, boil the stout, and reduce one cup to half a cup of stout.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a 9 x 9 metal baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang.  Bring the stout to a boil in a medium sauce pan and cook until reduced to half a cup, about twelve minutes.  Allow to cool.

Stir 12 oz of the chocolate chips and two sticks of butter in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (like a double boiler).  until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally.

Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl to blend, and then gradually whisk in the chocolate mixture.  Add about 1/4 plus 2 T of the stout from the pan, then fold in the flour and the salt.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies until the surface begins to crack and a tester comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool for at least twenty minutes before slicing.  No glaze needed!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Stout Brownies

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

As a member of ShopRite's Potluck Blog Panel, I received a gift card earlier in the month to head down to my local ShopRite here in Brooklyn to purchase some fresh local New Jersey fruits. Now, I am a big fan of using fruit in baking during the summer months (read: pie, cobbler, crisp, more pie, repeat) so I couldn't resist picking up some fresh New Jersey blueberries and peaches for use in my next baking experiment. I came up with this terrific recipe for a blueberry-peach cobbler which is just loaded with fresh summer fruits. The recipe doesn't overload on sugar, so it really showcases how good the fruit you use is - in my case, the very best peaches I've had yet this summer!

Sasha's Blueberry Peach Cobbler
Fruit filling
6 ripe peaches
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 T cornstarch

Cobbler Top
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
5 T butter (chopped into small pieces)
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream

Combine the ingredients for the fruit topping in a bowl and toss. Place into a 9x6 inch or similar casserole dish and spread evenly. To prepare the top of the cobbler, combine the dry ingredients and mix in the butter (after chopping into small piece) using our hands to combine. Mix in the egg and heavy cream to make a nice moist dough.

unbaked cobbler!

Spoon the dough on top of the fruit in lumps, or cobblestones, as I like to think of it. Bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown and until the cobblestones come out clean when a toothpick is inserted.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Souffle

You know I love blueberries, so when I received a gift card from ShopRite as part of my participation in the PotLuck ShopRite blog program to go to my local ShopRite in Brooklyn and buy some of ShopRite's local New Jersey fruits, I knew that blueberries were the way to go. Now, I love farmers market fruit, but it is so expensive. I was truly impressed with the quality and freshness of ShopRite's peaches and blueberries that I bought for use in two desserts last weekend - a peach/blueberry cobbler and a blueberry souffle. Both were fresh and juicy with vibrant colors, just they way they should be. Perfect, locally grown fruit that was just right for use in these two recipes and doesn't break the bank.

Blueberry Souffle (recipe from derived from the Food Network)
1 T butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 T for dusting the souffle dishes
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
3 egg yolks
5 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 400 before you begin. Butter the insides of 4 10 ounce ramekins and lightly dust each with a bit of sugar. Beat the egg yolks with 1/4 cup fi sugar and then beat in the blueberry puree, beating well. Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer on high. Once foamy, add the remaining sugar slowly while beating on high for several minutes until meringue like peaks form. Fill the souffle dishes to the brim and smooth the tops. Bake the souffles in the middle of the oven for ten to twelve minutes.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Souffle

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies are easy to make, and always rewarding and delicious. They are so cute in that there is a thumbprint in the center of each cookie with your favorite flavor of jam or pie filling. They kind of remind me of hamentaschen with respect to how they taste, although they obviously look different.

I had received some of ShopRite's blackberry preserves awhile back as part of the ShopRite blog panel, Potluck, that I am involved with. I knew right away that they would be perfect for making thumbprint cookies, but it took me a bit of time to get around to it. The blackberry preserves for these cookies are perfect with a bit of lemon as a flavor combination, so in devising this recipe, I decided to add a bit of lemon zest and lemon juice to the cookie dough. This provided a subtle lemon flavor to the cookies that went just perfectly with the blackberry preserves.

Sasha's Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies
2 1/3 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks of butter
3/4 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Blackberry preserves

To prepare these cookies, in the basin of a stand mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium high for about three minutes. Then, mix in the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. The mixture may curdle slightly, but this is not a big deal, and I promise it will work out in the end. In a bowl, combine the baking powder and flour and beat into the mixture until it forms a dough.

Prepare two cookie sheets. Form the dough into small balls and press flat, but not too thin. Each should be about an inch in diameter.  Using your thumb, make an imprint or indent into the center of each cookie. Fill this indent with some of the blackberry jam - about half a teaspoon at the most. Only use enough to fill the indent and don't overdo it or it will not bake nicely.

Bake each sheet of cookies (this recipe makes about two dozen) one at a time in an oven preheated to 350 for 20 minutes. Allow to cook and enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemon Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies

Sasha's Kitchen: Sweet Pea Pesto

Pesto time - one of my favorite pasta dishes, and each time I make a pesto, I like to try something a little bit different. A few months ago, last time I made a pesto dish, I was visiting my parents in Rochester and we made a spicy pesto with caramelized U12 scallops, which was delicious. Yesterday, I received my most recent shipment of food from ShopRite as part of the Potluck Blog Panel. Each of the shipments have a theme, and the theme this month was the 40th anniversary of the ShopRite Can-Can Sale which was a winter sale on canned food that started in the 1970s after the holidays where customers would stock up on canned food for the winter.

This is the perfect time of year for some quality canned products in the dead of winter in the northeast (hello, I think blizzard number two is coming this weekend) since fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce this time of year. I was planning on making a simple fettuccine pesto for dinner, but decided to jazz it up with the delicious can of sweet peas that I found in the box. I had never head peas in my pesto before, but it was a perfect combination and a wholesome and delicious dish. I made my pesto from scratch. I like to experiment with different pestos, including a hazelnut pesto, but this time I did a traditional basil pesto. If you wish, you could add caramelized scallops to this dish, but I kept it vegetarian this time, and mixed in some goat cheese, which adds a light and creamy texture to the pesto and is much healthier than heavy cream.

Sasha's Sweet Pea Pesto
Bunch of fresh basil, stems removed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 oz fresh vermont goat cheese, crumbled
fresh pasta (I bought fresh fettuccine rather than the boxed kind for this recipe)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of ShopRite little gem sweet peas

First prepare the pesto in a food processor by pureeing the olive oil with the basil and pine nuts until smooth. Set aside and cook the pasta and warm up the sweet peas in a pot. Mix in the sweet peas and goat cheese with the pasta, and mix the pesto to coat. That's it - this is a nice and easy dish which is perfect for wintertime and is simple, easy and heathy, too!

Sasha's Kitchen: Sweet Pea Pesto

Sasha's Kitchen: Spagetti & Meatballs (Variation No. 1)

I love making spaghetti & meatballs. Each time, I like trying out different twists with my tomato sauce, with different results, most of which are pretty delicious.  The sauce I made the other night was definitely a winner thanks to the incorporation of Italian San Marzano tomatoes - the very best kind of canned tomatoes to use in any pasta sauce. I received a can of ShopRite's San Marzano tomatoes and they worked beautifully in my sauce. I hadn't tried making tomato sauce with San Marzano's before, but they are certainly the best - and you definitely want to use genuine imported Italian ones like these. The meatballs are also delicious. I usually don't put artichoke hearts in my sauce, but I did this time since I had received a can of delicious ones from ShopRite as a member of the Potluck Blog Panel.  Eataly in Manhattan is also a great place to buy different imported varieties of San Marzano tomatoes and other Italian foods. I am sure I will share different variations of my pasta sauces in future posts as well. In this sauce, I incorporated carrots, which I love in my homemade marinara sauces - they sweeten up the sauce just a tiny bit and add some delicious texture and flavor.

Sasha's Meatballs
1 lb lean ground beef
one small onion, diced
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Sasha's Marinara Sauce
1 large 24 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato puree
1 small can of tomato paste
2 cans of water, using the can from the tomato paste to measure
1 T butter or canola oil
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
two handfuls of carrots, diced
4 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

To make the meatballs, combine the ingredients above with the meat and form medium sized balls. I hate touching cold raw meat, but these are so good, so I make them anyhow.

For the sauce, saute the onion and garlic in a saute pan with a bit of canola oil for about five minutes over medium heat. Combine with the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then simmer for about a half an hour until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. In the meantime, bake the meatballs until they are cooked through - about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Then add to the pot of sauce and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes so that they can absorb the sauce. Serve with a bit of grated parmesan cheese.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spagetti & Meatballs (Variation No. 1)

Sasha's Kitchen: Veal with Roasted Red Peppers and Mushrooms

I was excited to use the delicious looking jar of roasted red peppers from Greece that I had received from Shop-Rite in the mail as a participant in the ShopRite "Potluck" blog panel. I had already planned on making veal marsala for dinner. Then, I decided to go with the marsala theme, but vary things up a bit. This dish is kind of a take on veal marsala, but its quite untraditional - and better than even our best veal marsala. I jazzed up the sauce with a bit of lemon and some Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce that I got some coupons for as part of a Foodbuzz  promotion. So this is all about some great ways to use the goodies that I received. The roasted peppers from ShopRite in particular were delicious - and made a perfect complement to the marsala sauce and the mushrooms. The Lea & Perrins really jazzed up the marsala sauce in the best way ever - and is a must (in small amounts) in all of my marsala dishes from here on out.  I also used some of ShopRite's extra virgin olive oil that I received - fresh from Italy. It was delicious, and great quality and complemented a nice dish.

Sasha's Veal with Roasted Red Peppers and Mushrooms
flour
1 lb veal scaloppine or veal cutlet
ShopRite extra virgin olive oil
baby bella mushrooms (one package)
1 jar ShopRite roasted red peppers
1 onion, diced
3 sprigs of thyme
1 cup marsala wine
1 cup of chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce

First, dredge the veal in flour and season with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides, and set aside. Dice an onion and saute in olive oil. Add a bit more olive oil, as well as the mushrooms and red peppers and thyme, and cook until softened. Add 1 cup of marsala wine and cook over medium high heat, and allow to reduce by half, as the mushrooms, pepper and onions will soak up the flavor of the marsala. Add the chicken stock and reduce until you have a proper sauce.  In the meantime, you can cook the veal to your liking in the oven before adding it back into the sauce and cooking over medium heat for another few minutes, as the sauce thickens. Add the Lea & Perrins and juice of half of a lemon towards the end. Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Veal with Roasted Red Peppers and Mushrooms

Sasha's Kitchen: Asian-Style Sesame Chicken

I wanted to create an Asian-style sesame chicken dish that was lighter than typical chinese food, and healthier - avoiding frying the chicken and using high quality meat and ingredients. As a member of the Shop Rite blog panel, I received a bottle of ShopRite's Asian Style Garlic Sesame Sauce to try out in creating this dish - that was my inspiration. As it turns out, the combination of the high quality Empire kosher chicken and the ShopRite Asian Style Garlic Sesame Sauce was stellar - a healthy and delicious twist on a classic dish. This was a high favorite with my husband, who requested that I make the dish again the next week. ShopRite's sauce would also likely combine well with beef or salmon. I paired the sauce and chicken dish with traditional snow peas and jasmine rice.

Sasha's Asian Style Sesame Chicken
3 T low sodium soy sauce
2 T Sesame Oil
2 T honey
1 package chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2-3 cups snow peas
3-4 T ShopRite Asian Style Garlic Sesame Sauce
1 cup jasmine rice

Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil and honey in a bowl and whisk together. Marinate the chicken for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade and saute in a pan until cooked through with the scallions. Shortly before the chicken is done, add the ShopRite Asian Style Garlic Sesame Sauce and cook to completion. Meanwhile, steam the snow peas and cook a cup of rice to serve with the sesame chicken dish.

Sasha's Kitchen: Asian-Style Sesame Chicken

Sasha & Brad's Kitchen: Butternut Squash Risotto

Squash and pumpkin are my two favorite vegetables this time of year.  I plan on making some squash soup for thanksgiving to rival the pumpkin soups I made this time last year and shared here. I figured that squash (or pumpkin) would make a delicious risotto, and I was definitely correct. I engineered this recipe, but this time my husband executed and prepared it - it was a delicious and perfect fall treat, prepared using the delicious ShopRite risotto that I received as part of the ShopRite blog panel that I am part of. You really could make this with fresh pumpkin as well, and it would also be great. You can prepare this using fresh butternut squash from your garden, or make it easy on yourself and buy it already cut up. Either way, the dish is surprisingly easy to make once you have the risotto making art down pat. Risotto is one of my husband's favorite dishes (both to make and to eat) and this one is certain to appear again on our dinner table. Brad and I are hosting Thanksgiving for my family this year, so I am really excited to try some great new pumpkin and squash recipes along with our holiday turkey!


Sasha & Brad's Butternut Squash Risotto
1 lb fresh squash, broiled and diced
1 onion, diced
2 T of butter or olive oil
1 cup white cooking wine
4-5 cups of low sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of risotto
1/2 tsp cinnamon

To prepare the risotto, first roast the butternut squash at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half, until cooked. If you are using fresh squash, then get rid of the skin. If using cut up squash, you can then cut into smaller pieces. Squash is really hard to cut before you broil it - I always have a hard time cutting whole squashes open before putting them in the oven!

Cut up the onion and saute in the butter or olive oil. Then add the rice and coat in the olive oil / butter. Add the white wine, and allow to reduce by half. Add the chicken stock, one cup at a time, allowing the first cup of chicken stock to reduce by at least half before adding the next cup. In total, you will add somewhere between 4 to 5 cups of chicken stock before it gets to the right texture. Just before the risotto is done, mix in the cinnamon.

Usually we make risotto with parmesan cheese, but this time we left it out and it was just perfect - and healthier too! I did garnish with a tiny bit on top.

Sasha & Brad's Kitchen: Butternut Squash Risotto

Sasha's Kitchen: Asparagus Truffle Risotto

I've been making a lot of risotto recently, so when I received ShopRite's private label risotto in my recent shipment of products to try from ShopRite as a member of their new blog panel, I was ready. I love the combination of a bit of truffle oil in my risotto, so I decided to combine with some fresh asparagus. You can use just about any vegetable in risotto. If i did this again, I might even add a bit of sweet corn, as well. I used La Tournagelle Infused Black truffle oil, which is a bit expensive, but a little goes a long way. It's certainly less pricy than buying actual truffles, that's for sure. I was impressed with the high quality of the ShopRite arborio rice in the private label risotto. It had just the right consistency for a perfect risotto.

Sasha's Truffle-Asparagus Risotto
2 cups of arborio risotto rice
4 T of olive oil (I used the ShopRite private label olive oil, once again)
3 cloves of fresh garlic
1 onion, diced
1 bunch of fresh asparagus, chopped, ends discarded
4 sprigs of thyme
1 cup of white cooking wine
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 T of truffle oil
1/3 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the risotto, saute the asparagus, onion, diced garlic and thyme for about 5 minutes over medium heat, using two tablespoons of the olive oil. In another saute pan, add the arborio risotto rice to the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and coat well.  Add the white wine and cook over medium high hear for a few minutes.  Add the asparagus/onion mix and the truffle oil. Then add the chicken stock, one cup at a time, and continue heating over medium high heat, allowing the liquid to reduce. When each cup is reduced, then add the next cup of the chicken stock. Once all of the chicken stock is reduced, the risotto should look expanded and cooked al dente. Then stir in the grated parmesan cheese. Delicious!

Sasha's Kitchen: Asparagus Truffle Risotto

Sasha's Kitchen: ShopRite, NYC Food & Wine Festival and Tyler Florence

I'm very excited that I am going to be part of the ShopRite blog panel. It is such a great opportunity that my blog was chosen and I look forward to tasting, cooking with and reviewing many new private label ShopRite products. This weekend, I had a great dinner meeting the other panelists at Abe & Arthurs in the meat packing district for dinner. Brad and I also had a great time on Saturday tasting all of the samplings at the NYC Food & Wine Festival that ShopRite co-sponsored.

At dinner with the ShopRite folks, we got to meet Tyler Florence from the Food Network, who signed copies of his new book. Below the photographs, I included some videos that I took (or Brad took) using the FlipCam handheld video cam that the ShopRite folks gave each of the bloggers. I hope to get better at using it so I can take some videos of cooking as well.  Another note - the whiskey sour pickles from Brooklyn Brine were amazing and can be ordered online (I plan to do so right away).

Sasha's Kitchen: ShopRite, NYC Food & Wine Festival and Tyler Florence