BYU Mint Brownies

As a student at BYU, I was a big fan of the mint brownies that were served in the dorm cafeteria and that could be purchased at the Cougareat Food Court. I was excited to find this recipe in BYU Magazine.

• 1 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 T. honey
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 T. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Mint Icing:

• 5 T. margarine
• dash of salt
• 3 T. milk
• 1 T. light corn syrup
• 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. mint extract
• green food coloring (several drops)

Chocolate Glaze:

• 6 T. butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Make brownies: Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool.
2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring (until it is a nice green color). Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.
3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen icing.
4. Prepare chocolate glaze: Microwave butter and chocolate chips together at 50% power until just melted, stirring occasionally. Add vanilla and stir.
5. Remove mint-covered brownies from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate glaze.

Toasted Butter Pecan Cake

Erin made this cake last night. It is another recipe from Taste of Home magazine. If you don't like pecans, you definitely won't like this cake. But, in my opinion, any recipe with lots of butter, sugar, and pecans must be a winner!

This recipe calls for a total of 2 2/3 cups of chopped pecans. As you can see from the picture, it is loaded with them. I think you could easily get away with using quite a bit fewer and still have it be delicious (maybe 1 to 1 1/2 cups in the cake and then a few pecans sprinkled on top for appearance). Also, this recipe makes a ton of frosting. Either frost it extremely generously, or expect to have quite a bit of frosting left over.

• 1 1/4 cups butter, softened, divided
• 2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk

Frosting:

• 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (2 lbs.) powder sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 T. milk
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

In a small heavy skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter. Add pecans; cook over medium heat until toasted, about 4 minutes. Spread on foil to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and remaining butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Beat just until combined. Fold in pecans. Pour into three greased 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, powder sugar and vanilla. Beat in enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Store in refrigerator.

Sweet 'n' Tender Cabbage Rolls

Picture from Taste of Home magazine

Erin and I found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine. We made it together and it is one of my new favorite meals! Basically, they are meatballs wrapped and cooked in cabbage and a delicious sauce. The hardest part about making them is wrapping them in the cabbage leaves, but it is also kind of fun. It is cooked in a crockpot and so it works perfectly if you prepare them the night before and cook them the next day. If I were feeding a family, I would probably make two batches. For just the two of us, Erin and I made one batch but only cooked half of them. We froze the other half and cooked and ate them several weeks later. They froze well and tasted great even the second time around!

By the way, the reason I say the mushrooms are optional is because I don't like mushrooms. I don't think that I'm a picky eater, but after nearly three decades of trying things and trying them again, there are a couple of foods that I am confident that I don't like (e.g. mushrooms & olives).

• 1 large head cabbage


• 2 eggs, beaten


• 1/2 cup milk


• 2 cups cooked long grain rice


• 2 jars (4 1/2 oz. each) sliced mushrooms, well drained (OPTIONAL)


• 1 small onion, chopped


• 2 tsp. salt


• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes


• 1 tsp. dried oregano


• 1 tsp. dried basil


• 1/2 tsp. pepper


• 2 lbs. lean ground beef

Sauce:

• 2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce


• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar


• 2 T. lemon juice


• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cook cabbage in boiling water just until leaves fall off head. Set aside 14 large leaves for rolls. (Refrigerate remaining cabbage for another use.) Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each reserved leaf, making the V-shaped cut.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, rice, mushrooms, onion and seasonings. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Place about 1/2 cup on each cabbage leaf, overlap cut ends and fold in sides, beginning from the cut end. Roll up completely to enclose filling.

Place seven rolls, seam side down, in a 5-qt. slower cooker. Combine the sauce ingredients, pour half over cabbage rolls. Top with remaining rolls and sauce. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie is probably my favorite kind of pie. For a long time I have been wanting to learn to make a good, traditional pecan pie. Well, I discovered that they are much simpler to make than I ever expected. This recipe is from Joy of Cooking.

You may use either light or dark brown sugar and either light or dark corn syrup, depending on your taste. I used light brown sugar and half light and half dark corn syrup. The recipe also calls for 2 cups of pecans, but 1 1/2 cups was plenty. Pecan halves look more traditional, but I used the more finely chopped pecan pieces. I think they make the pie easier to cut into slices and, as you can see from the above picture, still make a very nice-looking pie.

Erin and I usually use the refrigerated pie crusts that you unroll and put in the pie pan. We pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes at 375 degrees with tin foil over it, but the pre-bake may not be necessary.

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup corn syrup
• 5 T. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups pecans

Thoroughly whisk all ingredients except pecans together in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in the pecans and then pour into the pie crust. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the edges are firm and the center seems set but quivery, like gelatin. Rotate 180 degrees halfway through baking. If the crust starts becoming too brown before the pie is ready, wrap tin foil around crust to prevent it from burning.

Remove from oven, allow to cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

Butterscotch Pecan Pie

This is another very good pecan pie recipe. I found it in the book "Pie" by Ken Haedrich. If you like butterscotch flavor and feel like adding a little excitement to your traditional pecan pie, I highly recommend this one. This recipe also calls for 2 cups of pecans, but 1 1/2 cups is just fine.

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (light brown works fine too)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
• Generous pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups coarsely choppped pecans

Prepare the pie crust, partially pre-baking for 10 minutes as in the recipe above. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Gently warm the corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter together in a medium-size saucepan until the butter melts. Turn off the heat and add the butterscotch chips. Scatter them around rather than dumping them in one spot. Set the pan aside for 5 minutes, shaking it once or twice to move hot liquid over the chips. After 5 minutes, add the salt and whisk to smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together just until frothy. Whisk in the vanilla. Whisk a little less than half of the hot liquid and whisk until smooth. Add the pecans and stir well. Turn the filling into the cooled pie shell. Using a fork, gently rake the filling to distribute the pecans evenly.

Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake until the perimeter of the filling has puffed up and perhaps cracked slightly, 40-45 minutes. Rotate the pie 180 degrees halfway through the baking. When done, the center may wobble a little, but it shouldn't seem soupy.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool.

Pulled Pork Barbecue with Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce

I love barbecue! I found this recipe for pulled pork in Weber's Big Book of Grilling. I cooked it in the crockpot because it's not barbecue weather here in Iowa yet. It's extremely easy to make and tastes great! This recipe, when served with the Hot Pepper Vinegar sauce, is considered "Carolina-style barbecue." Carolina-style barbecue uses a vinegar-based barbecue sauce, as opposed to the tomato-based sauces most commonly used elsewhere. Erin prefers the vinegar-based Carolina-style. To me, it's not true "barbecue" if there isn't smothered in a thick, tomato-based sauce, but I also like the kick that the Carolina-style adds. So, when making my sandwhich, I usually try to get the best of both worlds and put them both on!

The best meat to use for pulled pork is a pork shoulder roast (interestingly, it is also sometimes called a "Boston butt.") A 4-5 lb. roast serves about 10 people.

The Rub:

• 1 T. paprika
• 1 T. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne

1 boneless pork shoulder roast ("Boston butt"), 4-5 lbs.

The Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 T. sugar
• 1 tsp. tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• kosher salt (to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Hamburger buns or other rolls.

I usually start the night before by making the rub (mix all the rub ingredients together) and rubbing it all over the pork roast (although it would be just fine to do this about 30 minutes prior to cooking). Put the roast into a crockpot and begin cooking on low ~6-8 hours before you want to eat.

There is no need to put water or anything else in with the roast, but I like to put about 1/2 a cup of the vinegar sauce in with it to add a little more flavor. As it cooks, you will notice that fat and it's own nature juices make a sauce that the meat cooks in.

To make the vinegar sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

When the meat is done (~6-8 hours on low setting; doneness can be verified when a meat thermometer inserted into the roast reads at least 185-190 degrees), it is time to pull the pork! I usually remove the meat and place on a pan or cutting board. I scrape off as fat as I can, and then I use a fork and my hand to shred the pork. It comes apart very easily and I think it is fun to do! I put the shredded meat back into the pot so that it can soak up the juices and oils that came out during cooking, but it would be fine to dump out the juices and serve the meet more dry.

Serve the meet on the rolls and top with the vinegar sauce and/or other favorite barbecue sauces.