procrastination and the power of the visual

It is amazing how productive I can be during finals. I mean, I am on a roll. In the past 48 hours alone, I have: mailed in my parking tickets, secured a part time job for the summer, written that last blog post, written this blog post, and made THESE:

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies. I had half a tub of mascarpone leftover from my tart and I didn’t know what to do with it. So while I was procrastinating, I happened to see this which led me to this recipe. I just happened to have the exact amount of mascarpone, as well as a whole bag of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and Ghiradelli cocoa powder. “PERFECT!” I said to myself as I put aside my english paper again.

I would like to note that I adore my paper topic. However, I love it so much that I don’t want to ruin it by writing about it. Especially when writing about it involves 15 pages! I have never written something so long (maybe a lab report). Especially not about LITERATURE. I will pause right now to reccomend that anyone who hasn’t read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God should go read it immediately. I am rarely effected by a novel. Especially not a book that one would read as “classic literature” <insert haughty accent>. However I was floored by this book. It is vivid and vibrant and so beautiful. Anyone out there who is as addicted to food blogs as much as I am is surely a visual person, and Hurston’s language is as visual as you can get. As I read more and more criticism, I continue to be more and more impressed. For anyone who cares (probably no one, but that’s ok), I am writing about Janie’s ability to visualize herself and her self empowerment, as relating to the power of the visual and the female body.

But back to procrastination…These brownies were superb. They hardly belong in the “brownie” category. More like “fudgy bite of heaven” category. And, you know what? They were not hard to make. This was my first experience with ganache. SO simple and SO delicious. I think next time I would like to use a darker chocolate.

Some more “visual power” for you:

Read Full Post »

strawberry mascarpone tart with balsamic glaze

Last week I spent one whole day eating. Then skipped lunch the next days so I could eat more. Especially more of THIS:

Let me just talk briefly about thursday, though. First of all, I was very tired, having stayed up until 2 am finishing a presentation. I woke up a little later than I wanted to, so my breakfast was a little late. Then I went to class. Then I was supossed to meet a friend for lunch. Then I went to my afternoon class where we had a long day of presentations. Our prof. brought us snacks as a treat. From there I went to the Relay for Life VIP reception, which was catered, where I ate a whole bunch of snacks and watched everyone sample the beer. So I ate more snacks and complained about how my 21st birthday was in one week. From there I went to dinner with my english class at a prof’s house, where I continued to eat and watch everyone drink wine and complain about how my 21st birthday was in one week. From there I went to our Relay for Life wrap up committee meeting where we got ice cream and sundae stuff to treat the committee. And I ate half a pint of ice cream. What a day! Delicious, but fattening.

But I knew there was more to come, for Friday was the Equestrian Team End of the Year dinner & trail ride. As usual, I was assigned the task of dessert.

I was fretting because I wasn’t sure if people wanted chocolatey or fruity or cakey or creamy. I had originally considered doing this lemon-strawberry tart thing, but I was concerned about my ability to make lemon curd. I had never done it before and I was pressed for time, because I had to finish my research paper before I could go bake. And then there was my iGoogle home page.

This little beauty showed up on my Simply Recipes gadget in my time of need. It was my first time ever making a tart, and it went really well! The tart itself was refreshing and the team polished off the entire thing. The balsamic was subtle and tangy. It was a really interesting addition. My glaze had gotten a little sticky because I let it cool a little too long and it was difficult to glaze with, so I actually would have liked MORE balsamic on my tart, but it was still good.

Next time I make this tart: I will cut my strawberries in halves to make decorating a little easier. I will let my strawberries drain a little more. My only option for draining was a colander and I didn’t get as much of the juice out as I would have liked. They were a little too wet so the top of the tart got a little juicy when I cut it… Now for the recipe:

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Balsamic Glaze

Prep time: About 2 hours, including refrigeration of the dough

• Crust (used Easy Tart Crust recipe from Epicurious)
• 2 lbs strawberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp orange zest, divided
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 12 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Bake crust, following directions, weighting it down with pie weights (I used parchment paper with uncooked rice). Let cool.

2. Whilst the crust bakes: Combine your strawberries with half of orange zest and granulated sugar so the strawberries are coated with sugar. Let sit for 30 min to macerate.

3. Mix together the mascarpone cheese, confectioner’s sugar, the remaining orange zest, lemon juice and the vanilla until well combined. Refrigerate until needed.

4. After the strawberries have macerated for 30 minutes, place a sieve over a bowl and drain the liquid out of the strawberry mixture into the bowl. Take that strawberry liquid and put it in a small saucepan. Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the saucepan, and bring to a boil on medium high heat. Boil until the liquid has reduced to the consistency of syrup, remove from heat and let cool. I let mine cool too long and it became kind of goopy…Maybe I boiled it too long too?

5. Assemble the tart. Spread the mascarpone mixture over the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange the strawberries on top of the mascarpone mixture. Use a pastry brush to brush on the balsamic glaze.

Read Full Post »