Eva's Kitchen - Eva Longoria Parker [53]
2. Use a slotted spoon to divide the berries among 4 champagne glasses—let as much or as little vinegar into the glass as desired. Top with a spoonful of whipped cream. Serve cold.
FROM AUNT ELSA’S KITCHEN Use fresh strawberries in season—remember they are only truly in season locally for about 3 weeks, depending on where you live. Underripe berries are not sweet enough to offset the tart vinegar.
brownies
Brownie mixes are easy, I know, but what you gain in time you lose in flavor. This recipe comes together quickly and yields fudgy brownies with more chocolate taste than you’ll ever get from a mix.
MAKES 20 BROWNIES
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 × 12-inch baking pan.
2. In a heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt the butter and chocolate. Set aside to cool completely.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended. Add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla and stir until well blended. Add the flour, salt, and the nuts, if using, and stir just until combined.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it, about 25 minutes. Let the brownies stand in the pan on a wire rack until completely cool. Slice into squares and serve.
5. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
FROM AUNT ELSA’S KITCHEN If using a glass baking dish, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
chocolate sweetheart pie
If ever a dessert earned the adage “more is more,” this is it. Each and every time I serve this chocolate pie, piled high with chocolate-drizzled strawberries that hide a cloud of sweetened, vanilla-laced whipped cream, it elicits enthusiastic oohs and ahhs from my guests. They have no idea how incredibly easy it is to prepare.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
1 store-bought, refrigerated, 9-inch piecrust
8 ounces semisweet (60%) chocolate
2⁄3 cup corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 2 cups)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the piecrust, gently pushing it into the edges of the pan. Place in the refrigerator until needed.
2. In a heavy saucepan, heat 6 ounces of the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, until just melted. Stir in the corn syrup and ½ cup of the cream. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Place the pie shell on a baking sheet and pour the chocolate mixture into the pie shell. Bake until a knife inserted 1 inch from the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let stand on a wire rack until completely cool; the center of the pie will sink as it cools.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, place the remaining ½ cup of cream, the sugar, and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream onto the center of the cooled pie. Top with the strawberries.
5. Place the remaining 2 ounces of the chocolate in a small dish and microwave on high power just until melted, 30 to 60 seconds, stopping and stirring every 10 to 15 seconds. Remove from the microwave, and stir until completely melted. Drizzle the chocolate over the strawberries. Serve at room temperature.
strawberry rhubarb pie
Until I left Texas, I had never even heard of rhubarb, which grows in more temperate parts of the country. The first time I saw someone mix strawberries with rhubarb was when Cindy Crawford shared her recipe on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This odd-looking, sour-tasting fruit did not seem to me a good candidate for a pie so good that one would go on national television to sing its praises. But I decided I had to try it myself. I discovered a fruit filling with a beautiful shade of pink (lighter or darker, depending on the color of your rhubarb)