WE'VE MOVED!!!

Hi! Jamie here. We felt a little limited by what this platform had to offer, and have moved over to TypePad. It's super easy to get to: www.itsallaboutthegarnish.com will take you there directly. Just be sure to re-do your RSS feed so you continue to get updates from us!
If you're a subscriber, I'll move you over soon, not to worry.

Thanks so much for dealing with our growing pains! And, let us know what you think of the new design!

Crab Feed Brownies

Do you not really like baking, always pass up dessert, or generally just not like sweet stuff? These brownies are for YOU! I don't usually like desserts and these are heaven to me. 100 Kiwanis crab feed attendees loved them last week. Calistoga is begging for the recipie (wink...). And seriously these are the easiest brownies to make. Ever. Even easier than the 'mix'. You know by now that I'm all about the organic, true tastes that you can find in simple stuff. This recipie is easy enough for any kid to prepare and could become the 'signature recipie' for anyone - even party-foul bakers. Steal it, please. You'll make the world a better place by serving this warm plate of happiness with a giant glass of milk.

• 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate (usually comes in a bar, usually by the choc chips in the store)
• 1 cube of butter
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder (this is different from baking soda- make sure you have the right one)
• Handful of choco chips or chunks. Or peanut butter chips would be good. Or peppermint bark, wow.

THAT'S IT - really. 8 ingredients.
Chop up the chocolate and add a stick of butter to a microwave safe bowl. Melt this slowly (30 seconds, stir, repeat) until the chocolate is melted. Set it aside and in the meantime mix the sugar and eggs together. Add the vanilla and baking powder. Mix a little. Add the choco mixture. Stir in the flour and don't mix this too much. Just until it's combined. Add the chips. Pour into an oiled/sprayed square baking pan. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until they look done. Cut them into little squares because a little goes a long way. I do 5 rows of 5.
And I apologize in advance for how many extra pounds you may gain or how late you will stay up (caffeine) because of these crazy brownies.

Guest Post: Andy's Peppered Shrimp Over Avocado and Corn Salsa

Well, he did it again. Our friend Andy presented us with this stunner over the weekend:

Take it away, Andy:

Peppered Shrimp over Avocado and Corn Salsa

This marinade can be used successfully with just about any kind of white meat; shrimp, chicken even lobster tails (I'm going to try it with scallops next time!) The salsa is light and easy to prepare, and in my opinion, really brings the dish together. You may get a little frustrated when you read the ingredients because there are no measurements. I left my measuring spoons in the drawer for this one on purpose. You can make it as spicy or tame as you like. I wouldn't recommend more than a tablespoon of any one dry spice though.

Ingredient list (Marinade):

Olive Oil

Limes

White Wine

Pepper

Salt

Garlic

Ground Coriander

Chili Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Chipotle Pepper

Any other fun pepper you might have on hand, like poblano or serrano if you're brave!

Add all your dry spices in a bowl. I mixed mine in a sealable plastic bowl so I could add my shrimp to it, shake it and toss it in the fridge for a few hours. Now add your olive oil and white wine. Add enough to adequately marinade whatever meat you decided on. Then squeeze in a lime or two and whisk everything together. Drop in the shrimp, toss to coat and throw it in the fridge for at least an hour, up to four hours.

Fire up your grill and cook your shrimp until opaque, usually a few minutes per side. When using shrimp, get the biggest ones you can afford. They're easier to cook on the grill and more impressive when you serve them. Get rid of the marinade when you put the shrimp on the grill (it had raw meat in it, duh!) At first I tried cooking mine on some foil on the grill, but I wanted more smoky flavor and the cool grill marks on the shrimp. This would be a good time to use that grill basket you have lying around.

The salsa:

One ear of white corn, shucked

One large ripe avocado, diced as small as you can without making it into mush

One or two green onions, chopped(use both the green and white part)

One jalepeno, seeded and finely chopped (don't use the pickled ones, if you don't have a fresh one omit the ingredient and use a few pinches of cayenne pepper instead)

One ripe tomato, diced (I used two romas, I like them for this salsa because they aren't too runny and they're easy to dice)

Two limes

Salt and pepper to taste

Once your ear of corn is shucked and cleaned, carefully take a sharp knife and cut the kernals off. Use nice even strokes straight down the length of the ear. The sweet corn is fresh, not cooked, and it adds a consistency and fresh taste to the final product that will be lacking if you decide to use something frozen or canned. Add them to a non-reactive mixing bowl. Add the avocado, onions, tomato and jalepeno. Juice a lime or two into the bowl and lightly toss. Be careful here or you'll crush the avocado and make a mess of the whole thing. Salt and pepper to taste. Don't be shy, a couple of pinches of salt won't really be enough, but you can't remove it if you add too much. You could also use a quarter of a red onion but not too much if you substitute-too much red onion will overpower this salsa and you'll lose the taste of the fresh sweet corn and the zing of the jalepeno.

Presentation: Spoon the salsa into martini glasses and top with your grilled shrimp.

Super Bowl Snack: The Battle Between Good and Evil

Spinach-Bacon Bites
(Or as I like to call them: The Battle Between Good and Evil)

Hors D'Oevres aren't generally considered to be healthy. Sure, you can try to convince yourself that those Ranch Dressing-covered sticks of celery and carrot are part of your daily requirement of vegetables, but we know the truth. The fact is, party food is supposed to be bad for you. That's part of the fun! The recipe below is an attempt to assuage the guilt of gorging with wild abandon. Is it healthy? No. But, it IS 75% spinach, and that has to count for SOMETHING, right?

1 medium red onion, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt, pepper, seasonings (it's up to you!)
2 cups frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed of juice)
1 cup Panko (Japanese white breadcrumbs, you can find them by the soy sauce)
1 cup crumbled cheese (bleu, feta, ...something STRONG)
1 package thinly cut bacon, pieces cut in half crosswise

Sautee onion until it begins to brown at the edges, about ten minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Mix eggs, seasonings and spinach in a large bowl. Add Panko, and combine. If the mixture doesn't begin to ball up (almost like dough), add more Panko until it does.
Roll mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. Stuff each ball with a bit of cheese, and wrap with 1/2 slice of bacon.
Heat a large skillet to medium-high. Place as many bacon-spinach balls as you can, without squishing them, into the pan. Make sure the bacon 'seam' is touching the bottom of the pan. The heat will 'seal' them.
Cook for about 5-7 minutes. Turn once, cook for another 5-7 minutes. Remove to a serving tray and garnish with additional sprinkles of cheese. Kid yourself you're eating something wholesome.
* Photo note: I'll post the photo after I've cooked them!