Snow Day Brownies and "Quick" Tacos Al Pastor

School was closed starting at 3 pm yesterday for the massive snow-mergency.  I made treats.  Not terribly creative (I largely copied recipes, as you will see) but I cooked, and traversed the snowy tundra of the Central West End to go to the grocery store.  I made brownies because it's a snow day.  Then we watched Machete, and I was overcome with a need for Mexican food.  But the entire city was shut down for this storm, so if I wanted Mexican I was going to have to put on my boots and my giraffe hat and trudge my way to the store.  Which I did.

Snow Day Brownies

These brownies are an adaptation of Bon Appetit's Brown Butter Brownies from this month's issue, plus some other stuff that happened to be lying around in the pantry.

10 tbsp butter, cut into pieces

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder (the proper way to measure cocoa powder is to scoop it from the container to the  

      measuring cup like flour.  I was feeling lazy, so I elected to just scoop straight from the container.  

      My water measurements take this into account.  If you do it the right way, you probably won't need 

      as much water)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, chilled

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp flour

1-2.25 oz package hazelnuts

6 or more fun sized Kit Kat Bars

4 oz mini marshmallows (give or take)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line a 9 x 13" pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside.
3. Melt butter over medium and cook until nut-brown.  Remove from heat immediately and pour into the mixing bowl with the sugar and cocoa.
4. Add vanilla and 5 Tbsp cold water and mix until blended.
5. When the mixture is no longer hot, add eggs one at a time, beating completely after each addition. Batter will be thick and shiny.
6. Add flour and stir until combined.  Fold in hazelnuts.
7. Evenly distribute Kit Kats along bottom of pan.
8. Pour batter over Kit Kats.  You will have to spread it pretty thinly, which won't be easy, as the batter is thick.
9. Bake about 20-25 minutes, until a butter knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven.
10. Pour marshmallows over the top of the brownie pan and broil until golden brown.
11. Let cool about 10 minutes before lifting the foil to remove the brownies from the pan.  Cool completely before cutting.

"Quick" Tacos Al Pastor

When I say "quick" what i mean is "doesn't have to marinate for 24 hours and slow cook" like most pastor recipes.  Apparently, Rick Bayless, who is the man when it comes to Mexican cuisine says pastor is pretty much impossible to successfully execute at home, but he does this recipe when he just has to have the basic flavor.

Admittedly not the most appetizing photo of all time.  But (1) it was dark so the conditions for food photography were not so good and (2) I made these tortillas from scratch without a rolling pin, so they're not lookers.  Finally, I should note that I put the avocado directly on my taco, which the boyfriend, being from southern California, finds strongly objectionable because it is not traditional.

1 lb pork chop, sliced 1/2" thick

1 onion, sliced

1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo

1-8 oz can pineapple chucks, canned in juice

3 cloves garlic

4 tomatillas, husked and sliced in half

   salt

  tortillas (I made mine from scratch using my mom's recipe, which I will not give you.  You can find 

               your own recipe or buy some small ones from the store)

1 avocado

1 lime

  cilantro (if you like that sort of thing)

1. Heat a skillet over medium high.  Spray with cooking spray.  Add tomatillas and garlic cloves.  Cook 3 minutes, then flip and cook 3 minutes on the other side.
2. Transfer tomatillas and garlic to food processor (or Magic Bullet in my case).  Add two chipotle peppers in their sauce.  Puree until smooth and salt to taste.  Chill until ready to eat.
3. Puree the rest of the chipotles and sauce.  If too thick, add a little water.
4. Rub chipotle puree into both sides of the pork chops.
5. Heat a grill pan (if you have one) to medium high.  Put the pork on the pan so that it makes full contact.  Add onion and pineapple around the pork, pouring pineapple juice over everything.
6. Flip the meat after about 3 minutes, stirring the onions and pineapple.
7. When meat is done, remove to cutting board.  If necessary, continue cooking onions and pineapple until soft.
8. Shred meat using two forks, or cut into small pieces.  Chop onion and pineapple into small pieces. Toss all together.
9. Assemble tacos: place a small amount of meat mixture, a slice of avocado, and a dab of the salsa you made earlier onto a tortilla.  If you like cilantro, sprinkle some of that on there too.

Meat cooking.