two-bite brownies

about 72 mini-cupcakes

vegetable-oil cooking spray

4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

8 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1/2 t salt

3 3/4 c granulated sugar

8 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line mini-cupcake tins with liners. Spray liners with cooking spray. If not using liners, mix 1 T cocoa powder with 1/2 c flour, spray tins with cooking spray and dust cups thoroughly with the cocoa-flour mixture.

Melt butter and chocolate in a 4-qt heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until smooth. Whisk together flour, cocoa and salt. Remove pan from heat and whisk in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated, and stir in flour mixture until blended.

Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling cups to top, and bake in middle of the oven 25-30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering. Cool 5 minutes in tins and turn out onto racks. Repeat with remaining batter.

cornmeal-crusted black bean cakes

1 16oz can black beans, drained but not rinsed
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 c diced red or yellow bell pepper
1/2 c corn flakes cereal, crushed, or finely crushed corn chips
1 T chopped cilantro
1 t chipotle chile powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t granulated garlic
hot pepper sauce
1/3 c cornmeal
2 T olive oil

Combine all ingredients except cornmeal and olive oil in medium bowl; refrigerate 1 hour.

Place cornmeal in large shallow bowl. Shape bean mixture into 6 3" patties, using 1/3 cup per patty. Gently press each patty in cornmeal to coat.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Gently cook patties in batches, 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly browned, turning once. Serve with your favorite salsa, guacamole or sour cream.

6 servings, 160 cals, 6 g fat, 6.5 g protein, 21.5 g cabs, 6.5 g fiber

citrus roast chicken

1 4 lb whole chicken
1 T chopped fresh oregano
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1 T chopped fresh cilantro or rosemary
1 t kosher salt
1 t ground cumin
2 T butter, softened
3/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t paprika
5 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 small orange, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 small onion, quartered
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken; trim excess fat. Starting at heck cavity, loosen skin from breasts and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.

Combine oregano and next 7 ingredients (through paprike) in a small bowl. Rub oregano mixture under loosened skin and over breasts and drumsticks. Place garlic in body cavity, arrange orange, lemon, and onion quarters in cavity.

Tie ends of legs together with twine. Lift wing tips up and over back, tuck under chicken. Place chicken, breast side up, on a roasting pan coated to cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until thermometer registers 165 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes. Discard skin. Remove orange quarters, squeeze juice over chicken. Discard oranges, garlic cloves, lemons, and onions.

lemon-almond buttermilk loaf

from Epicurious.com

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

2 c sugar

3/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs

1/4 t almond extract

3/4 c buttermilk

3/4 c ground almonds

1 T grated lemon peel

5 T fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x2 1/2" metal loaf pan. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 c sugar and butter in large bowl until well-blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in almond extract.

Add dry ingredients to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each, beating until well blended after each addition. Add ground almonds and lemon peel and beat 1 minute. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until deep golden brown and cracked on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir remaining 1/2 c sugar and 5 T lemon juice in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Place rack on baking sheet. Turn cake out onto rack, top side up. using skewer or toothpick, poke holes 1 to 2 inches apart all over cake. Brush top and sides of cake with all of lemon glaze, allowing some glaze to soak into cake before brushing with more. Cook cake completely.

dilled new potato salad

from prevention.com

2 lb small waxy potatoes

1-2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

1 c lightly mashed haas avocado (about 2 avocados)

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 T reduced-fat sour cream

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 T finely chopped fresh dill

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes in large pot and cover with cold water (add salt if desired). Bring to a boil and cook 20 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Chill in refrigerator for about an hour.

Slice potatoes and place in large bowl. Stir in celery. Mix avocado and lemon juice in small bowl . Add sour cream, scallions, dill and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine with potato mixture. Serve immediately, garnishing with more fresh dill if desired.

Add more lemon juice to leftovers to help maintain color. Keep tightly covered and chilled.

4 servings, 273 cal,10 g fat, 6 g protein, 43 g carb, 8 g fiber

oven-seared salmon with snap peas

4 6oz salmon filets, skin removed
4 T butter, divided
1/4 c minced shallots
4 T chopped fresh dill or tarragon
1 1/2 c diagonally thinly sliced sugar snap peas (1/8" slices)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle salmon lightly with salt and pepper.

Melt 2 T of the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add salmon, increase heat to medium-high. Cook 60 to 90 seconds or until salmon just begins to lightly brown. Turn salmon, place on small rimmed baking sheet.

Melt remaining 2 T butter in same skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots, cook 10 seconds or until fragrant. Sppon 1 T of the shallot mixture over slamon; sprinkle with 2 T of the dill. Bake 4-7 minutes or until salmon just beings to flake.

Meanwhile, ad peas to skillet; toss to coat with shallot mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 2 T dill and season with salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes or until peas are tender-crisp. Serve salmon wiht peas.

4 servings, 365 cals, 22 g fat, 38g protein, 5 g carbs, 1 g fiber

sun-dried tomato biscuits

from This Is Atlanta Cooking, Rathbun's episode

1 1/4 c buttermilk

1/2 t salt

1 t sugar

freshly ground black pepper

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c cubed unsalted butter, chilled

1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes, warmed and softened, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butter into flour until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in baking powder, salt, and pepper. Stir in tomatoes. Pour in buttermilk while folding until most of the flour is incorporated. Do not overmix. Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and gently form dough together. Sprinkle flour on top and use biscuit cutter to cut into rounds. Bake on ungreased sheet for about 12 minutes.

spicy hot chicken soup

This soup is excellent for eating when you have a cold. From the Penzey's catalog.

about 8 servings

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)

2 T vegetable oil

2 medium onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 t cayenne pepper

1 t powdered ginger

8 c water

2 T chicken soup base

3/4 lb extra wide egg noodles

2 scallions

Cut the chicken meat into 3/4" cubes. In a large, heavy pot or soup kettle, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, and then cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the onions and garlic until everything is starting to brown up, add the cayenne pepper and ginger.

Stir constantly for about a minute, and then add the water and chicken soup base. Let everything come to a slow boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Bring a separate pot of water for the noodles to a boil, add noodles and cook for 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time on the bag. Drain the noodles and add to the pot of soup, turn off the soup, let stand 5 minutes and serve. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of chopped scallions.

Noodles don't reheat very well, so if the soup won't be eaten all at once, add some cooked noodles to each bowl, top with soup, let stand a few minutes for the noodles to absorb the chicken flavor, and keep the rest of the noodles in a covered container in the fridge to add to the reheated soup the next day, or just cook new ones.

basic Brussels sprouts

from Alton Brown

1 lb Brussels sprouts

1/2 c water

1/4-1/2 t kosher salt

Cut off the stem end of the Brussels sprouts and remove any yellowing outer leaves. Cut each Brussels sprout in half from top to bottom. Place the Brussels sprouts, water and salt into a 3 to 4 qt saucier and cover. Place over high heat and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove, toss with a bit of butter, and serve immediately.

cinnamon-almond snaps

These are strangely addictive, especially with tea or coffee. Excellent for the holidays. I have no idea where we found this recipe, but we didn't create it ourselves.

makes about twelve dozen small cookies

3 c all purpose flour
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 3/4 c blanched sliced or slivered almonds

Sift first four ingredients into medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in both sugars. Add egg and egg yolk; beat to blend. Beat in vanilla and salt.

Add flour mixture and beat until dough comes together in moist clumps. Add almonds and knead gently in bowl wiht hands until blended.

David dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each into 10" long log, about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" in diameter. Wrap dough in 2 layers of plastic and place in freezer until frozen, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 1 month ahead. Keep frozen.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Working with one log at a time, remove plastic and cut crosswise into 1/4"-thick-rounds. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1" apart. Bake until light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies ot rack and cool completely. Store airtight at room temperature.