Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches and Outrageous Brownies

Last night was my last official Barefoot Contessa evening in the kitchen…well for a while. I made smoked salmon tea sandwiches and the outrageous brownies. The tea sandwiches were by far the easiest recipe in the entire book. I used apple-wood smoked salmon and toasted 100% whole wheat bread. I didn’t serve it cold because I was too anxious to try it, but I think I will next time.

Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches with Herb Butter, page 56

Everyone had been raving about the outrageous brownies and being a chocoholic, I knew that was one recipe I wanted to try before moving on. Since I didn’t have the gi-normous pan size that Ina recommended, my plan was to half the recipe. Well about half-way in I forgot that I was doing half of the recipe and used the full amount of eggs (6!), so I just decided to go back and do the full recipe; more chocolate always sounds better to me. But I forgot about the size of my pan until I put it in the oven…..In order for the middle to cook, I had to leave it in longer. When the edges looked like they were done, I put foil over them to keep them from burning. The edges came out a little crispier that I would have liked, but the inside was decadent and rich. I had never cooked with coffee grounds so I was nervous that the brownies would be a little crunchy, but they weren’t at all. I will probably try this dish out again but with a bigger pan.

Outrageous Brownies, page 172

Alright Ina, thanks for all the recipes and culinary tricks, but I'm putting you on the bookshelf for a while so I can learn some different cuisines (but don't worry, I’ll be back).