Sweets for the Sweet

I know, I know- sure, I got our Valentine's Day dinner posted before too long after the day, but here I am almost a week later posting the dessert I made for us. But things kept me a little busy this weekend. Things like taxes. Blech. And a friend's wedding. Hurrah. Anyway, here I am with the goods, tardy but not absent. I worked with what I had in the kitchen, which included semisweet chocolate and half a bar of cream cheese. This recipe is supposed to turn out different than it did in my case, but that's because I decided I wanted more of a flavored topping than a completely marbled cream cheese brownie. So I sort of plopped the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and ran a knife through it to marble it just a bit, but keep most of the cream cheese sitting atop the chocolate. I liked it a lot, but I'll try it the regular way sometime soon too.

Super Fudgy Brownies with Cream Cheese Crust
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16












Brownie batter:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Cream Cheese batter:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9" square pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on the two sides. butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Whisk cream cheese and butter. Whisk in sugar, egg, and flour. Spoon mixture over brownie batter, leaving some spots of brownie batter showing through. Run knife through pan to marble top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached., 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Use a dampened serrated knife to cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

My notes: Doing it this way you will probably have a bit of the cream cheese batter leftover. Just an FYI.

Valentine's Day Dinner

I decided I wanted to put a little extra effort into Thursday night's dinner, since it was Valentine's Day. But at the same time I needed something not too difficult for a weeknight. In the same issue of Everyday Food and in fact just one page before the warm spinach salad below, I found my inspiration. The EF recipe for Open-Faced Cheeseburgers with Mushrooms and Onion was the starting point for my less-fancy sounding Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks. The recipe called for fontina cheese and tomatoes, serving the mushroom and onion on the side, and resting your burger on a slice of sourdough. I canceled the tomato, substituted swiss cheese, and eliminated the bun altogether- instead choosing to place our burgers directly on the mushrooms and onion. Josh loves mushroom swiss burgers, and I'd never made them in any form before so I knew this would be a good Love Day treat.

Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks
Adapted from Everyday Food; Serves 2












1-2 tablespoons olive oil
5 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
1 pound ground beef chuck
Worcestershire sauce
2 slices swiss cheese

• In a large skillet, heat 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
• Add onion and remaining 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes (if bottom of skillet becomes too dry, add a little water and scrape up browned bits). Return mushrooms to skillet; stir in vinegar, and set aside.
• Season your beef with salt and pepper and several dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Very gently mix and form meat into patties. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook to your personal preference. Add swiss cheese slices several minutes before burgers are done to allow cheese to melt over top. Serve burgers on top of mushrooms and onion.

My notes: The original recipe called for broiling the burgers. I cooked mine in my grill pan on the stove. This was easier for me since Josh gets home much later and I eat before him. Does your husband like to grill? Put him in charge of the burgers while you make the mushrooms and onion. However you'd like to prepare the burgers is up to you, but I highly recommend you prepare it all soon!