Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate!!!

Sorry for yelling but these are one of the most moist fudgy style brownies you'll ever make. Please do me one really big favour and make these for dessert this weekend. I promise, fingers crossed, you will not be disappointed.

Every kitchen repertoire needs to have a solid recipe for scratch brownies and this is mine. You know those special treat nights when you've just got to have something chocolatey for dessert? One of these will certainly do the trick. And don't forget the vanilla bean ice cream. Mmm, Brownie a la mode.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Until recently I've only ever made these delights with none other than all-purpose flour. Albeit unbleached but still refined and white. Yes it has it's place in the kitchen for certain occasional purposes, but I wanted to see if I could make a change for a slightly healthier perspective. Hey a brownie is a brownie and it's still dessert. Anyway, taking a leap of faith that it would work, I swapped the super refined all-purpose flour out for one of my favourites, whole grain red fife. Locally from Peterborough Ontario, it's Canada's oldest wheat discovered by David Fife. It's quite nutritious too.

Time for a mini history lesson!

When I was younger we got to visit my family often in Peterborough since my dad grew up there. There was this one time when we took a trip to the historic Lang Grist Mill; the site where David Fife first started grinding red fife wheat into flour. The mill is part of the Lang Pioneer Village from the early 1800's that's still grinding red fife wheat into flour to this day.

I'm going to have to get back here one of these days.

A rich decadent chocolate treat that is quick and easy to get in the oven in no time flat. The best part is I couldn't even tell that I used red fife flour instead of all-purpose. 

Your family will go crazy for these.

Best Ever Chocolate Brownies (makes 16, 2-inch squares)

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Ingredients:

• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup red fife flour (you may also use all-purpose if you prefer it or can't find red fife)
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter using a bain marie (place the chocolate + butter in a heat-proof bowl and place over a snug fitting saucepan of simmering water, but don't let the bowl touch the water). Stir consistently until melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Add the brown sugar and vanilla to the chocolate mix and stir to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, add to the chocolate batter, and mix well.
5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center is almost firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool in the pan. Cut and serve.

**Note** To bring your eggs to room temperature just gently place them in a bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let them sit in the water for 2 minutes and remove.

Millet with Butternut Squash & Kale

Just like I promised I'm back with a new recipe this week featuring millet!

If you're new to my "Great Grain's" series you can check out my first post Great Grains: Millet where I've introduced millet as the first grain of the series and given a detailed description of the grain including nutritional benefits, general cooking, uses etc. Otherwise, if you know your grains and seeds well, then I've got a delicious side dish for you.

But first I have to share some exciting news. I have been featured on Spry Living! They are the companion website for Spry magazine, a newspaper-distributed health and wellness publication reaching 9 million households monthly. Their website is a great resource recipes, nutrition, fitness, weight loss, and healthy living. I was contacted about being featured earlier last month, so I've been keeping it under wraps somewhat until now. Something that's hard to do when you're brimming with excitement.

Spry living is currently running a new series of recipes this month for healthy casseroles and my recipe for Baked Ziti and Marinara Sauce is currently being featured as part a part of it. The series is called Health in 30: Healthy Casseroles. Every day for the month of February they post a new casserole dish that is health minded but just as warm, delicious and comforting.

There's that Ziti!

Now getting back to today's recipe...

I've used a little trick for this one. Instead of directly adding herbs (fresh or dried) to the recipe, this time I decided to use a Bouquet Garni, which is French for a little bundle of herbs tied together with string and mainly used in, but not limited to soup, stock, and stews.  Have you ever heard of it or used one before? The bouquet of herbs are cooked with the dish but removed before consuming. Of course there is also the dried version where you take your dried herbs, wrap them up in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it together with a piece of string so they don't spill out. For easiness you can leave one end of the string longer to tie to the handle of the soup pot. When your done you wont have to go fishing for it.

For the millet I used nice little bouquet of fresh thyme.

Fresh, easy, and full of flavour. Just the way I like it.

Millet with Butternut Squash & Kale {Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Vegan}

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(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, passed through a garlic press
• 3 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 cup millet, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups no-salt added chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, tied together with string or kitchen twine (also know as a Bouquet Garni)
• 2 cups chopped baby kale, washed and stems removed
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the millet and toast for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add broth, diced squash, and thyme sprigs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the squash tender.
5. Gently stir in the chopped kale to wilt, which will only take 1-2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and season with a pinch of salt and pepper if desired.
7. Serve warm.

**Notes** 

• You may also store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator and reheat for lunches and weeknights. This dish can also be served cold. 
• If gluten intolerant, Pacific Foods broths are all certified gluten free.

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you haven't already, make sure you eat something chocolatey!