WICKED BACON & COFFEE BROWNIES

I've always been a sucker for rich and highly flavorful noshes such as brownies or smoked bacon. I like my food to be tasty, comforting and naughty, so there is no wonder that those two items occupy the top of my list when it comes to my favorite grubs...

As much as I care about my health and diet I cannot resist a viscious treat especially if it's good. I believe that we aren't meant to go through our existence without having a little indulgence here and there. It would not be worth going through life's pitfalls if we were only meant to suffer. As a matter of fact if it were not for the very gratifying and comforting pleasures of life we would surely not stay on the boat for so long. It would be a pretty tough ride otherwise. Everybody needs an encouraging reward now and then. And if I go to Hell for thinking or behaving hedonistically, I don't mind as I'm 100% sure it is full of epicureans as all the sad and bitter people end up in Heaven!!!

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
- English Proverb -

Anyway, now that the weather and Nature's look are autmnal I am really starting to crave chocolaty desserts and "dirty" baked goods. So, the other day I got the idea to make brownies that would be original and diabolically droolworthy. For that I inspired myself from Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet Brownies" (this recipe can be found in her "Pure Desserts" cookbook) and created a totally new recipe that came out of my airy-fairy imagination.

As I had been meaning to try confectioning a sweet goodie with bacon since quite a while I thought that it would be awesome if I added that visciously delicious and crispy charcuterie to my brownies. In order to counter balance the round and exhalirating aromas of smoked bacon I also used 72% dark chocolate, Turkish coffee (not the brewed version but the fine coffee powder), pure vanilla bean paste from Australia and pink salt from Himalaya.

In my opinion, real Brownies that make make you drool incontrolably and have that oomph quality to them have to be super fudgy, moist, chewy, sludgy, dense, full of character, ever so slightly "cakey", intensely flavorful and mindblowingly calorific. If they are not in this way, then there's no fun and they are then granny chocolate cakes (I don't mean to insult grannies, though) and that's all.

Thankfully, those "Wicked Bacon, Turkish Coffee & Dark Chocolate" carry their name very well as they are indeed pornographically gorgeous and simply to die for. Those are Brownies with balls. They are soooooo bad!

~Wicked Bacon, Turkish Coffee & Dark Chocolate Brownies ~
Recipe by Rosa @Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Ingredients:
240g (8oz) 72% Bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 Tbs (90g) Unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
3 Large eggs (63g)

1 Cup (210g) Castor sugar
1/2 Tsp Himalayan salt
1 Tsp Pure vanilla bean paste
1/3 Cup + 1/4 Tbs (46g) All-purpose flour
3/4 Tbs Turkish coffee (fine ground coffee from Turkey)
2.5oz (75g) Smoked bacon

Method:
1. Fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels, and cool completely. Cut in small pieces.
2. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350˚F) and position a rack in the lower third of it.
3. Butter a 20 x 20cm (8inch) square baking pan and cover the bottom with parchement paper. 4. Place the chocolate and the butter in bain-marie bowl and place it in a pan of almost-simmering water.
5. Stir constantly until mixture is melted, smooth and warmish. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside.

6. With a mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla together on high speed until the mixture is thick and pale in color, about 2 minutes.
7. Whisk in the warm chocolate, then fold in the flour and the coffee. Whisk energetically in order to get a shiny, viscous and homogenous batter. Then mix in the bacon.
8. Scrape the batter into the greased and paper lined pan and spread the batter evenly.
9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes.
10. Cool in the pan on a rack.
11. Once the brownies are cold, invert them on rack and peel off the paper.
12. Turn right side up on cutting board and cut into sixteen 5cm (2inch) squares.

Remarks:
The original recipe didn't contain as much salt nor did it comprise bacon and coffee. You can make those brownies without those ingredients and with less salt (1/4 tsp), but don't forget to replace the coffee by the same amount of flour (1/3 Cup + 1Tbs).

Serving suggestions:
Eat those brownies whenever you need a chocolate fix and accompany them with a glass of very cold milk.

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~ Irrésistibles Brownies Au Bacon, Café Turc Et Au Chocolat Noir ~
Recette par Rosa @Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Ingrédients:
240g de Chocolat noir à 72%, haché grossièrement
90g de Beurre non-salé, coupé en morceaux
3 Gros oeufs (63g)
210g de Sucre cristallisé
1/2 CC de Sel de l'Himalaya
1 CC de Pâte de vanille naturelle
46g de Farine blanche
3/4 CS de Café turc (poudre ultra fine)
75g de Bacon fumé, cru

Méthode:
1. Faire frire le bacon à température moyenne jusqu'à ce qu'il soit croquant. Le retirer de la poêle et le faire égoutter le bacon sur du papier ménage et le faire refroidir complètement avant de la couper en petits morceaux.
2. Placer la grille au tiers inférieur du four et le préchauffer à 180° C (350˚F).
3. Beurrer un moule carré à brownies de 20 x 20cm et recouvrir le fond de papier sulfurisé.
4. Mettre le chocolat dans un bain-marie et le placer au-dessus d'eau à peine frémissante.
5. Bien mélanger de manière constante jusqu'à ce que le tout soit fondu, lisse et chaud (pas trop tout de même).

6. Battre ensemble les oeufs, le sucre, le sel et la vanille avec un mixer pendant 2 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit pâle et mousseux.
7. Incorporer le chocolat chaud au mélange oeufs/sucre et bien battre avec un fouet afin d'obtenir un mélange homogène. Ajouter la farine et le café. Bien battre afin que la pâte soit visqueuse, lisse et brillante. Ajouter le bacon et bien incorporer.
8. Verser la pâte dans le moule et bien lisser.
9. Cuire pendant 25 à 30 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le pointe d'un couteau inséré au milieu du brownie en resorte propre.
10. Faire refroidir sur une grille.
11. Une fois les brownies froids, les retourner sur une planche et enlever le papier sulfurisé.
12. Les retourner du bon côter et les couper en cubes de 5cm.

Remarques:
La recette originale ne contient pas autant de sel, et ne contient pas de café ou de bacon. Vous pouvez confectionner ces brownies en utilisant moins de sel (1/4 CC) et n'oubliez surtout pas de remplacer le café par la même quantité de farine.

Idées De Présentation:
Manger ces brownies à n'importe quelle heure de la journée ou de la nuit et consommer avec un bon vert de lait très froid.

TURKISH COFFEE - CAFÉ TURC

"Ah, how sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have coffee....", Johann Sebastian Bach in 1732.

Until now, I have very rarely blogged about beverages. It is not that I don't like to drink, it's just that I never really think about writing on that subject. Well, thanks to Zarpandit from "Cikolata & Istanbul" (Turkey), I'm about to change things a little...

Since she sent me a packet which contained two little cups and saucers as well as some "Turkish Coffee" and a "cezve", there was no way that I was not going to grab the opportunity to blog about that unique drink.

"Turkish Coffee" is a very fragrant, strong and dark coffee prepared in a "cezve", a small pot that holds either one or two servings. Compared to other coffees, this one is made by putting water, sugar and ground coffee in a pot, bringing that mixture to the boil and serving it unfiltred.
This way of making coffe was introduced to Turkey over four and a half century ago, not long after a Turkish governor brought back beans of coffee Arabica from Yemen. Within a century, first Venice, then London and Paris were introduced to coffee via the Ottomans, which naturally acquired its epithet “Turkish” to become “Turkish Coffee”.

At the origin, coffee comes from Ethiopia, the true home of the plant, where it still grows wild in the forest of the highlands. It is believed that its cultivation as well as use began as early as the 9th century and that Ethiopian ancestors of today's Oromo people were the first to have discovered and recognized the energizing effect of the coffee bean plant. Knowing that, one can imagine that it is their coffee ceremony that has been exported to Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus and the Balkans where similar methods of preparation exist.

I am a real sucker for good coffee and I must say that since I have discovered "Turkish Coffee", I can't drink any other coffee without thinking that it is less flavorful and pleasant. Divine!

~ Turkish Coffee ~

Recipe for one cup.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Water
2 Tsps Ground Turkish coffee
Cristallized sugar, to taste
A "cezve" or Turkish coffee pot

Method:
1. Place the water in the "cezve".
2. Add the coffee and the desired amount of sugar.
3. Stir well.
4. Place "cezve" on low heat.
5. Slowly bring to a boil (the coffee is ready when a layer of foam appears on the top of the pot).
6. Serve.

Remarks:
Don't put the pot over high heat, leave it alone otherwise you'll have no control over the high-rising foam.

Seving suggestions:
Turkish coffee is always served with a glass of water. You need to drink the water first to clean your palate!
Find a comfortable spot in which to savor your delicious coffee and remember, drink it sip by sip.

***************

~ Café Turc ~
Recette pour une tasse.

Ingrédients:
1 Tasse d'Eau
2 CC de Café moulu turc
Sucre cristallisé, selon goût
Un "cezve" ou pot à café turc

Méthode:
1. Mettre l'eau dans le "cezve".
2. Ajouter le café moulu et ajouter la quantité désirée de sucre.
3. Bien mélanger.
4. Mettre le "cevze" sur le feu et faire cuire à feu très doux.
5. Porter lentement à ébullition (le café sera prêt quand une mousse se formera en surface).
6. Servir.

Remarques:
Ne pas faire cuire à température trop élevée et ne pas laisser le pot sans surveilleance autrement vous ne pourrez pas contrôler la mousse qui débordera.

Idée de présentation:
Le café turc est toujours servi avec unverre d'eau car il faut la boire avant afin de se rincer le palais!
Afin de pleinement apprécier votre café, installez-vous comfortablement et n'oubliez pas de le boire à petites gorgées.