Nothing says St. Patrick’s Day like a green beer at noon. At least, that’s what it meant in college. Now that I’m “all grownup” drinking green beer, especially before noon, is “frowned upon”. Yet, I have to do something to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, and nothing is more Irish, or more celebratory, than Guinness.

I happen to absolutely love Guinness. (We drank quite a few on a cruise we recently took to the Bahamas. I think all of the bartenders on the ship came to know us as the Guinness Couple.) You may have noticed my Guinness Mustard a few weeks ago. Now, it’s Guinness Brownies. Ah, Guinness Brownies. They are moist and a little malty, super rich and very chocolatey. I love them so.

No better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than with a batch of these brownies. Trust me.

(Oh yeah – I used whole wheat pastry flour. Makes them “healthy” right?)

Guinness Brownies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into cubes
8 oz. dark bittersweet chocolate bar(s), chopped – I used 70% dark. Your call here.
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup natural cane sugar
1 1/4 cups Guinness Extra Stout beer, room temperature and foam skimmed off
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 60%)
1/8 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375° and line a 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment (or grease it). Whisk the flour, cocoa powder and salt together. Set aside.

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate bar pieces, milk chocolate and butter together until fully melted. (Make sure you don’t burn the chocolate or it will be clumpy.)

In a very big bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until slightly frothy. Very slowly, pour in the chocolate mixture while whisking the eggs. If you go too fast, you’ll have scrambled eggs, so take your time.

When your chocolate mixture and your eggs are combined, whisk in the Guinness. Fold in the flour mixture very slowly, making sure not to over-mix. You want to see some crumbly bits still in there.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, top with the cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the baking dish and let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes about 2 dozen large brownies.

I love recipes that taste better the next day and the day after. I bring my lunch to work, so if I can make a big batch of something on Monday and enjoy it for the rest of the week, I’m happy. This is one of those salads. The chickpeas and orzo absorbs the tangy, peppery vinaigrette until they’re tangy and peppery themselves. A little slice of prosciutto (or Serrano ham if you can afford it) and it’s my idea of a perfect lunch.

Chickpea & Orzo Salad with Piquillo Pepper Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. sherry vinegar
4 piquillo peppers (or 2 – 3 roasted red peppers)
1 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. orzo (preferably whole wheat)
2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bunch chives, chopped (I used garlic chives)
8 slices prosciutto (or Serrano) ham

Place the oil, vinegar, salt and peppers in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Cook the orzo until al dente, then drain and run with cold water to stop the cooking. Place the orzo, chickpeas and chives in a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Let marinate for 2 – 3 hours (optional).

Serve topped with a slice of prosciutto or 2.

Makes 4 servings as an entree or 8 as a side.

Every year I look forward to the last weekend in February. It’s when the big white tents go up on South Beach and chefs and food lovers flock to the beach to eat and drink everything in sight. Last year, I left disappointed and a little hungry. This year was a completely different story. My favorite year by far. Some of the highlights were beer brewed by Florida International University Students (Rye and IPA), Potato and Shrimp Croquettes with pickled red onion from Gia at the Eden Roc Hotel, Ravioli from The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, OH and Steak with horseradish cream from Luma on Park in Winter Park, FL.

The Whole Foods tent also came strong this year. It’s no secret that Whole Foods is one of my favorite places on earth and their hospitality tent was giving away smoked salmon, caviar, plantains stuffed with chorizo and avocado cream and little toasts with vanilla honey goat cheese. The goat cheese was so simple, but such a tasty little bite that I wanted to attempt to recreate the recipe at home.

This spread is basically just goat cheese whipped with honey and vanilla bean. The honey is a nice contrast to the tangy goat cheese and the vanilla adds a little exotic flavor. It’s a great little snack on crackers or with some strawberries and pretty amazing paired with a fresh mimosa.

Vanilla Honey Goat Cheese

8 oz. goat cheese
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 vanilla bean
2 tbsp. water

You can use a food processor or mixer to whip the goat cheese, but the process is the same. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and place all of the ingredients in a bowl (or food processor). Mix until well combined and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Serve with crackers and/or fruit.

My little old blog is up for Best Food Photography on Saveur’s Best Food Blog Awards! Can you believe it? I honestly cannot. i must still be under the influence of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (more on that tomorrow!).

The competition is super-talented and I’m honored to even be considered, so I’ll need your help, please. Register and vote here and I’ll love you forever.

Fine, I’ll still love you even if you don’t vote for me. I’ll prove it with the super-delicious recipe I’ll be posting tomorrow.

Finally a recipe that doesn’t revolve around carbs! I’ve been getting a lot of collard greens in my CSA box lately which usually means a big pot of Caldo Gallego soup. After scouring the fridge and freezer for a smoked ham hock (I usually have a couple in my freezer for emergencies like this) and coming up short, I decided that Caldo Gallego wasn’t an option and came up with something new to do with my greens.

This is a simple side of collards is flavored with what you all might recognize as my favorite ingredient – chorizo. I think it might be my most-recurring ingredient after olive oil or salt. What can I say? I’m a sucker for spicy cured pork products. I also love how the rendered fat – bright orange and flavored with pimenton – coats everything with a luscious meaty flavor. And it takes these collard greens to a whole new level.

Chorizo makes them spicy and smoky, sherry lends them a nice bite, honey balances the bitterness in the greens and toasted almonds add the perfect amount of crunch. I actually ate this as a main dish with some brown rice and it was one of my favorite things I’ve made all year. Definitely a keeper!

Spanish Collards w/Chorizo, Sherry & Almonds

6 cups collard greens, stems removed and roughly chopped
4 oz. spicy Spanish chorizo, casing removed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. honey
pinch salt
1/4 cup blanched and slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 350° and toast the almonds for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the begin to brown. Remove and set aside.

While the almonds are toasting, make your collards. Set a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the chorizo for 5 – 7 minutes or until the fat is mostly rendered.

Add the collard greens, sherry, water, honey and salt. Give everything a big stir, cover and let simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until your collards are wilted and tender.

Toss with the toasted almonds and serve.

Makes 4 side servings or 2 main servings (if served with rice, bread or pasta).

For the past couple of months, Tom and I have been training for the A1A (Beach-front avenue!) Half Marathon and Sunday was the Big Day. For me, training was both exhilarating – you feel so accomplished when you’ve run a 10K before breakfast – and painful – patellar tendinitis isn’t particularly fun. Training made me hungry, made me hobble around like an old lady, made me stop drinking beer and wine on Saturday nights (the worst part by far) and made me actually stop wearing heels.

On the Big Day, we woke up at 3:30AM and had some homemade power bars and bananas and were on our way. The weather was great – 60 degrees – and we started our run heading east toward the most beautiful sunrise over the ocean. I didn’t have my best run, but Tom ran with me (almost) the whole way and my official time was 2:05:15. We crossed the finish line with our families cheering us on and then celebrated with a nice, big breakfast of French Toast, Eggs, Bacon and Bloody Marys. All in all, a wonderful, completely exhausting day.

So, what does all that have to do with Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta? Well, it was all part of our pre-race meal. This dish is one of those things my mom made all the time when I was growing up and my brother and I loved like crazy. It’s a super simple recipe: sauteed chicken with lots of garlic, olive oil, spinach and white wine all tossed with pasta, covered with cheese and baked. Delicious. So, I made a batch and my mother-in-law made Tom’s favorite spaghetti and meat sauce and we all carbo-loaded on Saturday night before the Big Day. Perfect pre-marathon food, but good pretty much all the time.

And now, I’ll happily return to beer and wine on Saturday nights, heels at work and a lot less pasta recipes on the site.

Mom’s Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta

1 lb. pasta (I used whole wheat shells)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs.), diced
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
5 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°. Set a large pot of water to boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil, salt it and cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, set a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, heat the olive oil then add the chicken. Brown the chicken on all sides – about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and simmer with the chicken until it’s fragrant and begins to turn golden – about 3 minutes.

Add the salt. spinach and white wine to the skillet and cook for an additional 3 – 5 minutes, or until the spinach begins to wilt. Toss the contents of the skillet with the pasta and place in a casserole dish. Cover with cheese and bake for 25 minutes.

Makes about 8 servings.

Yeah – I have no business whatsoever calling this Chicken Cordon Bleu. It’s more like Spanish-style stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in ham and cheese. But that’s not the most eye-catching title. Whatever you call them, these chicken breasts are pretty amazing. Also, pretty simple to make.

Just butterfly some chicken breasts and stuff them with spicy Spanish chorizo and Piquillo peppers (roasted red peppers work too). Close them up, wrap them in ham and cover with a slice of provolone cheese and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Into the oven for a bit, and out comes a one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever made.

Tom says that only a Cuban would come up with the idea of chicken stuffed and wrapped in pork. And he’s kind of right – we do think pork makes everything taste better. (Sorry vegetarians!)

Chicken Cordon Bleu (but with chorizo & piquillos)
Feel free to brine your chicken before using. I didn’t (because I’m lazy) and the chicken was still surprisingly juicy. Must be all that pork fat and pepper juice.

4 chicken breasts
4 oz. spicy Spanish chorizo, casings removed and roughly chopped
8 piquillo peppers (or 4 roasted red peppers)
4 slices of black forest ham
4 slices of provolone cheese
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
8 toothpicks

Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a casserole dish. Butterfly the chicken and stuff each breast with 1 oz. chorizo (1/4 the amount) and 2 piquillo peppers (or 1 red pepper). Close the chicken breast up with your toothpicks.

Wrap each chicken breast with a slice of ham and place in the greased casserole dish. Cover each piece with a slice of cheese and sprinkle all over with the smoked paprika.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melty and brown.

Makes 4 servings.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit persnickety about my kitchen. I like everything to be immaculately clean and orderly – counter tops shining and everything put away. No toaster or blender or mixer out on the counter. I like as much space as possible to make a real mess on when I’m cooking. So, it’s an absolute wonder that I’ve kept my new Ad Hoc at Home cookbook on the counter for the past month. It’s just so beautiful and inspiring and I like to peruse it while I’m wondering what to make for dinner.

One of the recipes that kept catching my eye was a Fig & Balsamic Jam that sounded like the perfect accompaniment to a large hunk of Manchego taking up room in the cheese drawer (Yes, I keep an entire drawer of cheese… Don’t judge me.). Of course, it’s winter and fresh figs are still a few months away. But I wanted some fig jam now! So, I tweaked the recipe to see if it would work with dried figs. And happy surprise – it did!

This jam is super quick and endlessly delicious. Paired with cheese, it’s just dreamy. Brings a little bit of summer to your plate. I highly recommend you make it as soon as possible.

In case you’re wondering, that’s a Fig jam, Manchego and chorizo sandwich in the background. My favorite kind of food…

Fig & Balsamic Jam
Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home.

1 lb. dried mission figs (or other dried figs), roughly chopped
1 cup demerara sugar (or cane sugar)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Place the figs, sugar, balsamic and water in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Once it comes to a bubbling simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the figs have absorbed most of the cooking liquid.

Remove from heat and carefully use a blender or food processor to puree the jam, breaking up any large pieces of dried figs.

Stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely to room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Makes about 2 cups jam.

This is one of those weeknight meals that I’m always a little hesitant about posting. Caramelized onion and mushroom pasta – isn’t that too easy? Are people going to roll their eyes at this? They might. Yes, it’s a very simple recipe, but everyone needs simple recipes to add to the weeknight repertoire, so I’m posting it anyway.

This pasta is just easy enough to make after work, but still interesting enough to make a Tuesday a little more exciting. It starts off with some onions caramelized in butter. Once they start to melt into sweet deliciousness, add some shiitake mushrooms and cook until everything browns and melts together. To brighten it up, make a quick pesto-like sauce with Italian Parsley, olive oil and lemon juice.

Toss some pasta with the mushrooms and onions, top with some parsley pesto and dust with Parmesan cheese. The pasta gets a nice, deep brown flavor from the shiitakes and an herby lift from the parsley. It’s a really simple, really delicious dish any night of the week.

Caramelized Onion & Shiitake Pasta

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 small (or 1 very large) yellow onions, diced
1 lb. shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed and sliced
1/4 cup Italian Parsley leaves
2 tbsp. olive oil cup olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
1 lb. pasta
Parmesan cheese for dusting

Heat a large saute pan over medium-low. Once it’s hot, melt the butter and add the onions. Saute for 20 – 30 minutes or until the onions soften and begin to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 10 – 15 minutes, then add the salt.

While the mushrooms and onions are cooking, prepare the parsley pesto. Chop the parsley leaves and finely as possible, then mix together with the olive oil and lemon juice. Set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions (don’t forget to salt the water!) – until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain.

Toss the pasta into the large saute pan with the onions and mushrooms and add the pasta water. Mix until well-combined.

Serve in bowls, top with a spoonful of the parsley pesto and a generous dusting of Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 entree-sized servings or 6 side servings.

I have no time for a lengthy post today, so I’ll let the picture speak for itself. (Hello delicious melty cheese!) Basically, this dish is polenta (that’s corn grits to you Southern Folk) that’s been left to cool, then cut into pieces and layered with a spicy sausage and eggplant tomato sauce and ricotta and mozzarella cheese. It’s creamy and spicy and corn-y and delicious!

Go make it now!

Stuffed Polenta

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 pint oyster (or your favorite) mushrooms, diced
1 lb. spice Italian sausage, casings removed
2 28 oz. cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes (like these)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 eggplant, finely diced
1 cup red wine
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 tbsp. garlic cloves, smashed and minced

2 cups polenta (corn grits)
6 cups water
1 tbsp. salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup ricotta
1 cup mozzarella

I used my pressure cooker to make the sauce. It tastes nice and long-simmering after just 15 minutes, but you can also simmer on the stove for about an hour to achieve the same result.

Place a pressure cooker (or pot) over medium heat. Once it’s hot, melt the butter and saute the onions for 5 – 6 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Now add the sausage and brown a bit, breaking up any large chunks.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, eggplant, red wine, salt oregano and garlic cloves. If using a pressure cooker, lock the pressure lid on and bring the heat up until the lock clicks. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes. Carefully release the pressure and remove the lid. Set aside. If you’re not using a pressure cooker, cover the pot, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for about an hour.

While the sauce is cooking, make your polenta by placing the grits and water in a pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It’s done when the polenta is creamy and tender. Stir in the salt and butter.

Optional step: Pour the polenta into a rimmed cookie sheet and let cool for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375° and grease a big casserole dish. Place half of the polenta on the bottom and add a layer of the tomato sauce (about 1/4 – 1/3 of the big pot), then layer on the ricotta. Add the remaining polenta, cover with some more sauce and top with the mozzarella cheese. You may have lots of leftover sauce. It freezes well and tastes great on pasta or pizza!

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.

Makes 8 servings.